UPDATED EVERY THURSDAY
Thursday February 13th 2003
All content © New Journal Enterprises, 2003.
 
 
 
 
 
 
NEWS   BY RICHARD OSLEY

Dad’s anger as victim of attack faces arrest threat
THE father of a teenager beaten in a vicious hammer attack has told how police threatened to arrest his son for driving a stolen car – even though the schoolboy was recovering in hospital at the time of the alleged offence.

Abdul Motin told the New Journal: “This is how these young boys get away with crimes, by giving a fake name and address.”
Stealing a car was a serious offence, he added, and police needed to be aware of the possibility of false names being given. “I worry that other innocent boys could get into trouble,” he said.

Officers ordered Mahbub Miah, 15, to attend Kentish Town police station on Sunday to explain why he was driving a stolen BMW in Kentish Town Road on January 25.

They warned his family that if he failed to attend the meeting he could be arrested at his Camden Town home the following day.
Mr Motin said: “I told the police that Mahbub was in hospital between January 24 and January 27, so how could he have done this? But they didn’t believe me.”

Officers only ruled Mahbub out of their investigation after detectives intervened and records from University College Hospital in Bloomsbury proved the teenager was undergoing treatment.

Mr Motin said: “It is important they catch the boy who did this so others can see they can’t get away with this.”

A family friend added: “If he had not been in hospital then the police would have continued to suspect Mahbub. We want the police to tell us when they have arrested [someone] for this.”

Mahbub was ambushed on his way home from school in Somers Town last month by a group of masked Asian teenagers and beaten with hammers and mallets before being robbed of his watch and cash.
The terrified pupil is now driven to and from South Camden Community School in Charrington Street by his father. He is too frightened of a repeat assault to leave his family home in St Pancras Way on his own.
Residents in Somers Town have warned that groups of teenagers are waging a crude gang war in the area, including two bands of youths who call themselves The Drummond Street Boys and The Cromer Street Massive.

Police have confirmed that tension among Asian teenagers in the area has risen but have insisted they are not working as organised gangs.
A police source said: “Youth crime is a problem is Somers Town but it is not a case of gangs fighting each other. The Cromer Street Massive are not a gang, they are a group of youths who hang around Cromer Street. There is no organisation.”

Officers are due to meet Asian community leaders at the Surma Centre in Robert Street at 4pm on Tuesday.

n Youth crime is also believed to be ris ing in Gospel Oak where residents have warned that teenagers are “out of control”. One resident told the New Journal that gangs are a constant nuisance in Queen’s Crescent. “They throw stones, smash car windows and rob and intimidate passers-by,” he said.