Now moped gangs with machetes strike next to Prince George’s school
THUGS riding mopeds – some wielding machetes – are terrorising pedestrians just yards from Prince George’s future primary school.
Locals said they had seen men on bikes waving the weapons near the £ 5,870- a- term Thomas’s School in Battersea, which the royal will attend from September.
Several of the incidents took place in daylight, with CCTV showing bikers threatening passersby.
Angry residents in the London area accused police of failing to tackle the threat for several months.
One, who asked not to be identified fearing repercussions, said: ‘There are break-ins every night, residents are terrorised every other day by [thugs] riding on pavements or at people. When police are called their response is “there’s nothing we can do”.’
One of the issues is that many thugs throw off their helmets as they speed off, since officers have to follow an ‘unwritten rule’ that makes it difficult for them to pursue suspects if it could endanger their lives.
CCTV footage of one incident showed thieves on mopeds trying to kick a passing cyclist off their bike before breaking into a car outside the prince’s new school. Witnesses said men later returned ‘to gloat’, pointing their fingers in a shooting gesture at members of the public waiting for police.
Officers attended the incident on May 2, but residents say this is just the latest in a crime spree in the area, which is nicknamed ‘ nappy valley’ for its high number of young families.
The riders wear balaclavas and the licence plates are often blacked out or missing, suggesting the mopeds are stolen.
Locals said they regularly see the thugs mounting the pavement of the pedestrianised Battersea Square, right by Thomas’s, and ‘weaving in and out of the tables’ of restaurants. A business owner said passengers on the backs of bikes have wielded machetes at passersby on multiple occasions.
One local who did not want to be named said ‘if they’re allowed to keep getting away with it something horrible will happen’.
Another said: ‘The police don’t chase them so it’s almost a licence to commit crime. They feel they can get away with any- thing.’ Residents and workers say they have reported the gangs to police multiple times but no action has been taken.
Guy Osborne, of the Battersea Safer Neighbourhoods Team, said police are ‘very aware’ of moped crime and that the issue is ‘a priority’. He said incidents involving weapons had not been reported to the police.
A Wandsworth Council spokesman said they are ‘working closely with the Met over the problem. Battersea has also seen a recent spate of violent knife crime, including three murders.
Meanwhile moped-linked crime is a growing problem in the capital, with figures yesterday revealing a crime is committed every hour by a thug on a moped.
One hammer-wielding thief in Belsize Park, north London, was photographed staring defiantly into a camera by a passerby as he tried to steal a motorcycle.
Former Scotland Yard detective David Videcette said: ‘Police are desperate to catch these people but they are conscious of the danger of them falling and suffering a serious injury.
‘The lads behind these crimes know if they don’t have a helmet they are unlikely to be pursued and that is why crime figures have gone through the roof. It is not the officers’ fault, it is the rules they work within.’
Campaigners have called for police to be given greater powers to tackle the problem before someone is killed.
‘Feel they can get away with anything’