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| ROBBED BY 8-YEAR-OLD WITH KNIFE |
Gang attack at estate where tenants
fear muggers
VIOLENT crime reached new depths this week after police revealed
an eight-year-old boy had robbed a man at knifepoint.
The child, only 4ft 4in tall, was part of a five-strong gang who
jumped from bushes, robbed and beat their 18-year-old victim outside
Bushfield House on the Highbury Estate, in Highbury New Park.
Hardened police officers, including Detective Chief Inspector
Geoff Woolgar, head of Islington CID, was shocked by the incident
involving someone so young.
The incident sparked the inevitable debate, with Islington Police
Community Safety Board member, Janet Burgess, herself a mother
of three, calling for parents to “take charge of their children”
and for more youth clubs in the borough.
The boy produced a four-inch fishing knife from his trousers and
two other gang members, all aged between 14 and 16, hit the victim
about the head.
A 15-year-old girl then grabbed the man in a headlock while another
youth battered him about the head and body with a motorcycle helmet.
They stole his iPod and mobile phone before running off into the
estate.
The man was taken by ambulance to the Whittington Hospital in
Archway where he was treated for facial injuries.
Residents in Highbury – home to many famous names including
writer Nick Hornby – maintain that street crime is the number
one concern and robberies had massively increased in the past
two years.
Detective Chief Inspector Woolgar added that such crimes are dealt
with “very robustly”. Mobile CCTV, plain-clothes officers
and high visibility patrols have all been deployed in tandem with
the new Safer Neighbourhoods teams.
He added: “Our activity never stops and we are working with
the community. We can deploy mobile CCTV anywhere and experienced
operators man them.
“This incident is disgraceful but crimes with eight-year-olds
are fairly rare. But with the use of knives, the effect is disproportionate
to the crimes we deal with.
“An eight-year-old brandishing a knife is shocking to anyone
but sadly it’s a sign of the times.”
Mrs Burgess said that street crime is the number one concern today
and police on the street make a difference.
She added: “My three children are grown up but when they
were young they all suffered from similar incidents like this.
Parents should ask their children what they are doing and make
sure they don’t go out with any weapons. A knife is easy
to take from the kitchen.
“But we definitely need more youth club provision. A lot
of these kids have got nothing to do. There’s no doubt that
youth clubs have been cut back by the Lib Dems in the past few
years.”
Meanwhile on the estate a retired receptionist, who did not want
to be named, said several of her neighbours have been mugged recently.
A student Aman Tesfay, 16, said his mother worried when he stays
out late.
He said: “And my mum can’t come home late because she’s
worried about being mugged.” Mr Tesfay thought that the majority
of youngsters involved in criminal activity were from outside the
estate, although many of them knew others living there. “The
estate has got rougher due to drugs,” he added. “Kids
haven’t got anything to do so they just muck about robbing.
The police can’t do anything because the estate is so big.
As soon as anyone hears sirens they run.” |
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Angelino's finest are put to the test
WE came across Angelino Wines, sandwiched between two colourful and
aggressively self-promoting Australian wine sellers, at Islington’s
London Wine Event at the end of October.
Its owner is Farrell Anglin, whose imagination was caught by a lecture
on the history of wine making at Southgate College.
FULL STORY
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