Our three-month nightmare at palms of feral youth gangs
Residents of a village subjected to a three-month nightmare by gangs of feral youths are calling for a return to old-fashioned policing after a string of incidents which has seen local business owners attacked and shops looted.
Locals in Barnham, West Sussex, say violent and intimidating gangs of youths acting like a ‘pack of animals’ rule the village streets at night, leaving them too scared to leave their homes.
Local Facebook groups for the previously sleepy village are full of posts from angry residents reporting attempted thefts, anti-social behaviour and drunken, ‘weed-smoking’ youths.
Business owners have been attacked, a pensioner’s dog kicked and residents abused by gangs of young people travelling between towns and villages along the south coast by train.
Sick of the lack of police presence, businesses have resorted to hiring their own private security firm to protect themselves and their premises.
Shocking footage of a group of girls assaulting an emergency worker at Barnham station was recently shared on social media
Muhammed Islam, 64, who runs the Passage to India restaurant in Barnham, was attacked by a group of youths earlier this month
Now residents are demanding a permanent police presence in the village at weekends and school holidays.
Cllr Sue Wallsgrove, a member of Arun District Council who represents Barnham, said: ‘It’s an utter nightmare. The past few months have been absolutely crazy.
‘There is a good train line and these youths use it to travel to the various villages on the route and cause mayhem.
‘They were coming here in gangs of up to 20 and stealing all sorts of things from the Tesco and Coop store.
‘They are emboldened by their numbers and they act like a feral pack of dogs. They’d never behave so atrociously if it was just two or three of them. But it’s like a tyranny.
‘My grandchildren can’t go out at night because it is too dangerous and I know several elderly people who have become prisoners in their own homes because they are too frightened to go out.
‘They tend to do their shopping and going out during the day and once it gets dark they stay safely inside.
‘Because police numbers are so depleted a private security firm has been brought in to act as a deterrent but they are only there between 4pm-8pm and then they leave. It’s got a bit better since the security firm started.
‘Youths have been arrested in connection with the incident on April 2 and others have been issued with orders banning them from various stores but it is still a problem.’
A group of teenagers hanging around in Barnham. Sussex Police say violent disorder and shoplifting in Barnham is largely committed by young people from out of the area
The attack on local business Passage to India saw windows smashed – two people have been arrested
Muhammed Islam was allegedly punched and kicked several times in the head and shoulders
The attack on May 19 was captured on camera, with a video being shared online
A separate incident saw a local Co-op store allegedly looted by a gang of young girls, who were caught on camera fleeing the scene
On May 19 Muhammed Islam, 64, who runs the Passage to India restaurant, says he was attacked by a group of youths as he tried to tell them that the restaurant toilets were for paying customers only.
He was left bleeding after allegedly being punched and kicked several times in the head and shoulders.
A 14-year-old girl and a 15-year-old girl from Yapton, West Sussex, were arrested on suspicion of criminal damage after the incident and released on bail pending further enquiries.
Several youths – teenage boys and girls – have appeared in court in recent weeks charged with a variety of offences.
Offences range from theft, criminal damage and assault to using threatening and abusive language and behaviour, trespass on a railway line and being drunk and disorderly.
But worried residents say the village needs a deterrent to stop the offences happening in the first place.
They say the problems occur within a stone’s throw of the railway station outside a set of shops and takeaway restaurants.
An elderly pensioner said one group of teenager kicked her Yorkshire Terrier, Max, as she walked past a group.
‘He knew what he was doing. He pretended it was a mistake but the whole lot of them started laughing like it was such a joke. My dog wasn’t injured but he was quite shaken.
‘People are genuinely frightened to go out in the evenings. It’s diabolical what they’re allowed to get away with.’
Outside the Lantern House Chinese takeaway, resident Deny, 42, who was too scared of reprisals to give her surname, said: ‘It’s been absolutely appalling for weeks and weeks now and we need the police come down here and have a presence because it is out of control.
‘The kids are all drunk on cider and alcopops and they’re causing havoc, abusing the takeaway staff, stealing booze and stuff from the Tesco and Coop across the road and generally causing mayhem.
‘By the time the police have got here they’re back at the station boarding a train out of here. We need some sort of deterrent to stop this once and for all.’
There has been a heightened police presence in the village since the latest attack on a restaurant owner on May 19
An emergency public meeting to address the surge in antisocial behaviour was attended by more than 200 residents of Barnham, West Sussex
Residents at the public meeting were told there were only 39 police officers on duty for the whole of West Sussex on Easter Saturday
One elderly widow said: ‘I live close to the centre of the village and it has become so bad that I won’t go out after dark for fear of being abused and shouted at or worse.
‘I went out a couple of months ago to pick up some food from the Coop and got such a mouthful from a group of girls. It was terrifying. I burst into tears when I got home.’
Several incidents in the small village have gone viral in recent weeks, including shocking footage of a group of girls assaulting an emergency worker at Barnham station.
Within 48 hours, a second clip went viral of another group of young girls appearing to loot the village’s local Co-op.
It comes amid local backlash against plans for a traveller site at Little Meadow in Yapton, just over two miles from the village.
A local consultation on the plans, which residents fear will only make the issues worse, concluded in February.
At a meeting of the Yapton Parish Council on February 14, members concluded they had ‘reservations’ about the proposed site and said it was ‘not appropriate’.
Barnham Railway Station. Residents who spoke at the public meeting on Thursday night said they believe train connections make their village a soft target
An emergency public meeting last month was attended by more than 200 concerned residents.
Josh, 34, a caterer, said: ‘What is surprising is that a large proportion of these feral teenagers are girls, probably aged between 14-16. They’re all off their heads on booze.
‘I told one of them if she didn’t pipe down we’d make a civilian arrest but she said she was 15 and if we touched her it would be an assault on a child. You don’t know where to turn and the cops aren’t taking it seriously enough.
‘There were a lot of police round after the assault on the restaurant owner but not before which is why it happened. The kids know the police haven’t got the resources. If there was a local officer they wouldn’t do it.’
At the Tesco Express staff were too worried to speak but one customer said: ‘I come in during the day because later on it gets too rowdy and the groups of youths start gathering outside. Frankly it’s terrifying.’
Another resident said: ‘All we’re asking for is a PCSO until these kids get bored and grow up. The trouble only happens on holidays and half terms when they’re off school – though I struggle to believe may of them go to school.
‘The girls are as bad as the lads and they’re like a pack of animals. They goad each other on.’
She said: ‘They use the rail network to get around so maybe train staff could help by checking they’ve got valid tickets because I suspect they haven’t.’
An elderly pensioner said one group of teenager kicked her Yorkshire Terrier, Max, as she walked past a group.
‘He knew what he was doing. He pretended it was a mistake but the whole lot of them started laughing like it was such a joke. My dog wasn’t injured but he was quite shaken.
‘People are genuinely frightened to go out in the evenings. It’s diabolical what they’re allowed to get away with.’
One mother-of-two, who grew up in Barnham, said: ‘All we’re asking for is a PCSO until these kids get bored and grow up. The trouble only happens on holidays and half terms when they’re off school – though I struggle to believe may of them go to school.
‘The girls are as bad as the lads and they’re like a pack of animals. They goad each other on.’
She said: ‘They use the rail network to get around so maybe train staff could help by checking they’ve got valid tickets because I suspect they haven’t.’
