Horror as teenager beaten in ‘Hitler’ attack
THE FATHER of a Jewish teenager who was racially and physically abused in a park has spoken of his concern over both the attack and the police response.
Alexander Goldberg, the former chief executive of the London Jewish Forum and current Jewish chaplain at the University of Surrey, described how his 16-yearold daughter, Hannah, had been in Stoneyfields park in Edgware with two friends.
The girls — who were wearing what Mr Goldberg described as skirts which made them identifiably Jewish — were approached by a gang of youths.
Miss Goldberg was subsequently called a “c***” and told “Hitler should have killed all you Jews when he had the chance… you should have all been gassed”.
When she and her friends attempted to walk away, a basketball was thrown at her head, cutting her and causing her to bleed. She was then kicked in the chest and punched in the face by two of the gang during the attack on Saturday, May 27.
The police were called by a passer-by, but despite the three Jewish girls waiting for almost two hours, the police “could not find” the girls in the park.
Mr Goldberg told the JC his daughter was now focusing on her GCSE exams.
He said: “She’s recovered from the injuries she got during the attack. Her initial response has been quite calm and collected. She described it as ‘individual moronic behaviour’.
“We’ve had to put in a local police complaint about the 999 call. They claim they sent a car, and that’s now subject to investigation, but the girls claim they waited for an hour to two hours. They waited a long, long time.”
Mr Goldberg said the family were liaising with CID over the incident, and the police apologised this week after admitting something “went wrong” with their response.
Mr Goldberg said: “Whatever happened, something went seriously wrong, whether it was dispatching, whether it was getting someone on the scene, or whether the officer didn’t look around or had the wrong address, we don’t know. But that is now being investigated locally by the Met.”
Mr Goldberg, who used to work for the Commission for Racial Equality, also spoke of his concern at the nature of the racial abuse.
“You’ve got young people in their teens using the Holocaust and Holocaust imagery to abuse young Jewish girls,” he said.
“This discourse has become more acceptable within social media, within public circles, and within mainstream society and also in the politi- cal arena. I’m concerned about the fact that my daughter was attacked, I’m concerned for other people’s children, I’m also concerned about the lack of police response.”
Detective Chief Superintendent Simon Rose, Barnet borough commander, said: “We received a 999 call to Stonyfields Park from a member of the public who came to the aid of Hannah and her friends at 19.18. It was treated as an emergency call.
“We arrived at the park at 19.37, but could not find the caller or Hannah after a search of the area.
“We eventually made contact with Hannah and her family the following day after they contacted us.
“I’m very sorry we did not manage to make contact at the time.
“I agree something has gone wrong and we are looking into why so we can learn from it and prevent it happening again.
“We are now working with Hannah to identify the suspects.”
She said it was ‘individual moronic behaviour’