‘Vigilante’ warning to parents after spate of attacks

POLICE ADVISE AGAINST ANY PLAN TO PATROL TRAVEL INTERCHANGE

POLICE have warned parents against carrying out their own vigilante patrols in response to a spate of robberies.

Insp Jon Evans issued a statement to reassure people in Altrincham after teenagers were robbed of money and electronic items in four attacks in the past fortnight.

Three of the robberies happened on Townfield Road, Stamford Park and Shaftesbury Avenue last Thursday.

A number of offenders assaulted teenage victims before robbing them.

Police attended on the night and one suspect was arrested, said Insp Evans. A number of other individuals have since been arrested and interviewed and inquiries continue.

A fourth robbery happened last Wednesday at Altrincham Metrolink stop in which two offenders threatened two teens and took a mobile phone from one of them. Police said CCTV is being examined in a bid to identify them.

Insp Evans said that neighbourhood officers will continue to patrol the locations ‘during the relevant times along with additional officers working under Op Sycamore (the GMP anti-knife crime initiative).’

He added: “I understand parents’ concerns about these incidents and know that there have been conversations about parents patrolling the Interchange area – whilst we cannot prevent this our advice is always that people should not put themselves in harm’s way.”

He said while the incidents had been ‘shocking and unacceptable,’ robberies are also ‘infrequent in Trafford’ and that he was arranging additional patrolling of the Interchange area.

Altrincham Grammar School for Boys told parents its pupils had been the victims of robberies in the area.

A statement said: “There have been a couple of incidents with our students, walking to the tram station at the interchange. They took a shortcut down the side of Tesco and were then surrounded by a gang. They took their air pods and phones and made them change the settings so that they were able to use them, and the youths threatened to stab them.

“We also had a similar incident where a sixth form student was mugged for his phone and wallet. They held a knife to his throat and made him change the settings on his phone.

“As always, please remind your son/ daughter to be vigilant when travelling to and from school. “

It is not known for certain if the robberies referred to by the school and police are the same incidents.