Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
are bike thieves targetting women for violent street mugging?
yesterday (mon 8th) at 5.30pm- broad daylight- outside seven sisters school i got mugged for my bike by a group of teenage boys. as i cycled past these boys - one of them shouted 'bike'and next thing i was drop kicked in my back - the bike was taken off me as ilay on the floor and i was kicked repeatedly by 8-10 teenage boys. these young boys continued to kick me in the back and head for some time after taking the bike. i gave chase and followed some of them to ida road- behind chesnuts park. these boys were all in Park View academy school uniform, short hair, afro-carribean and aged between 12 and 14.
i have since heard of two other such incidents in the local area where women have been kicked off their bikes by boys of the same description and the bikes stolen! one of these women was cycling along South grove last saturday, noticed a boy beside her and then he started high kicking at her head so she just gave the bike over to him before she got badly hurt. thats two similar incidents in a very small area in a few days!
are women being targeted as a soft option by boys in street muggings for bikes?
has anyone else heard of such incidents?
I think its vital to for warn women cycling to be extra careful about where they are and who is around them- especially in the vicinity of chesnuts park and surrounding areas. if i had been aware of these other incidents to women by teenage boys i would have taken a different route when i saw the boys ahead of me or would have stayed on main roads where possible
Mel
Tags for Forum Posts: bike theft
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Old-Age-Emporium(OAE) on
-
Concernedres, you certainly have something to be concerned about there! I take it you've already been on to the Head of Park View and the local police.
-
Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
-
Please accept my commiserations for your ordeal but I think this:
i gave chase and followed some of them to a road- behind chesnuts park
is especially worthy of mention. I am gobsmacked that you chased after them after taking that. Well done!
I suspect that if you were a member of the LCC they would like to know about this and potentially be able to do something too.
-
Permalink Reply by matt on
-
Mel
Suggest you email Park View Academy: admin@parkview.haringey.sch.uk
And contact the local SNT
Unbelieveable behaviour by these boys. Hope you're OK.
-
Permalink Reply by Liz on
-
Don't email, phone 020 8888 1722 and ask to speak to the head teacher immediately, who I believe is called Alex Atherton. From reports I have had of the head, he will be extremely angry that anyone from his school would be behaving in this thuggish manner.
If you have been mugged in this fashion, I would have thought this was a matter for the Met so in such cases anyone should phone 999 immediately if they are a victim or a witness to this crime.
Your local SNT team will be St Ann's all details here for contacting them and where they hold their next street briefing which is on the 31st.
-
Permalink Reply by Birdy_Too on
-
This is an awful event, I hope you're not feeling too downbeat, good on you for chasing them. They're obviously not too bright committing these violent crimes in their uniform. Surely they can be traced via the school? Like others I urge you to phone the school (and the police) and demand some action, this is not acceptable.
I was threatened about a year ago for my bike, it's not just women. I was walking out of the passage on Allison and a group of lads (14-16yrs old) aggressively demanded my bike, as they were a good few feet away, I jumped on a peddled off down the street. One minute later I would have been cornered in the Passage and I would be without bike. I reported it to the SNT and LCSP.
Also for anyone with bikes, Finsbury Cycles on Seven Sisters Road have a weekly police team, who engrave your postcode on the bottom of the frame, all for free.
-
-
Hi - I'm so sorry to hear about your awful experience. Something clearly has to be done about this.
I don't know if this is related or not, but I was in Chestnuts Park with my DH, daughter and nieces on Saturday and saw a bike theft/attack take place on a young boy; initially we though it was friends having a scuffle, although it became clear what was happening the more it progressed. The lad (16) and his young brother (about 7 or 8) ran over to us in tears asking us to call the police as they had done a runner with his bike after punching him in the face and threatening him with a knife. We did of course (as well as calling his mum), and they responded pretty quickly. The group who carried out the theft/attack were in their mid-late teens and of Afro Caribbean decent, so probably not the same individuals, but possibly part of a worrying trend in the area.
-
-
Unsupervised boys were well documented years ago by William Golding. Schools fault, especially if they are still in uniform. Can't believe the robbery squad did not drive you to the school.
-
Permalink Reply by jane on
-
Hi Katy
What time were you in Chestnuts Park on Saturday? I'm one of the people mentioned in the original post. I was turning into South Grove about 3pm, when a boy of about 15, ran alongside me as I was getting off my bike. As he tried to take it off me, I struggled to keep it, but he started on me with flying kicks.
His friend was just coming past, also on a bike (small, blue, boy's bike - I'm not very up on bike types). They were clearly together, and my first thought was that they'd nicked that one too (you wouldn't normally be hanging around on foot with a cycling mate?).
They headed up towards Ida Road... Sounds like I got off lightly compared to the two boys you spoke to (and Concernedres). Must have been pretty scary for them. It's possible they'd just nicked theirs before mine?
As an aside, while I was swearing my head off after them, another boy, similar age and also Afro-Caribbean background, stopped to ask me what was wrong. I was a bit wary, but told him, and he was genuinely concerned and straightaway started calling the police, before I told him not to bother - at the time, I thought it was just an opportunist crime, but now I'm not so sure.
And as another aside, I do think that if I had my wits about me, I might still have my bike. Normally, when someone runs alongside me (just like someone following you when you're on foot), I'd be a bit cautious or a bit more alert. But this time I told myself not to be so paranoid. Plus, I didn't shout/scream - until they were half way up the road! (I don't want to sound like a "it's my fault" victim - I know it's not my fault.)
-
-
Hi Jane - I just checked my phone and I called the police at 3.14pm on Saturday the 6th. The bike that they stole was a black and red mountain bike, it does indeed sound as though it could be the same ones.
Well done for keeping hold of your bike! I am getting really worried as my daughter is often on the front of my bike with me (have got one of those Weeride kids seats), and if they target me when she is on it they may not realise (or care) until they have grabbed it and hurt her.
-
-
May or may not be relevant - but 2 of the 3 youths who stole the bike ran off towards Ida road - whilst the other, rode off on the stolen bike down St Anne's towards Green Lanes. It is really very frustrating that the process that police have to follow seems to favour the criminals.
-
Permalink Reply by Chris brock on
-
Hi, I'm no expert in the law, but surely there's nothing to stop them knocking and asking if they can come in, as they are investigating an incident etc. etc. etc?
Or maybe I've watched too many TV cop shows
-
-
Someone I know who lives in the area and uses that park frequently said a local 14 year old he knows had his bike taken off him in similar circumstances but, this was a few months ago.
Same person also says that he's had to stop kids from Park View graffiting play equipment etc in Chestnuts Park. They were doing this after getting out of school. These kids couldn't believe someone was dealing with then directly; ie. when they ignored his requests to stop graffiting he took their cans/pens away from them. All they could say was ... 'we know our rights'!
© 2024 Created by Hugh.
Powered by
