It’s not very pleasant to come across them when out and about in London. Especially not when you do so in your own neighbourhood:
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(Taken with cameraphone in my local North West London High Street.)
Some time back Londonist referred to them as “murder boards” – although in my case above it’s not a murder as such. That was when there was talk that the Metropolitan Police were going to scrap them because they caused too much public anxiety. As far as I’m aware there seem to be more of them than ever. Perhaps it is a sign of the times. Perhaps so. Because a little bit of digging around the website of my local London Borough Council (Brent) provides some clue as to the state of behaviour on the streets round here. It does make very disturbing reading:
From Police witness appeals for last week: Woman manages to bite the hand of a hoodie who attacked her. 17 year old gets beat up by 15 hoodies who steal his Nokia 8310 mobile phone.
From the week before: Pizza delivery guy gets gashed in face by hoodies who stole his Nokia 6280 mobile phone. Young Spanish tourist had her rucksack stolen, in it were loads of money, camcorders etc. Italian tourist gets punched after having had a tomato thrown at him and demanding his mobile phone. Teenager on bus gets punched in face by hoodies who stole his Nokia 6230 mobile phone. Bloke gets punched and kicked by gang who stole his Apple iPod and cash. A man caught up in a “large” disturbance in Ealing Road area will lose his arm after enduring serious injuries – numerous weapons, baseball bats, sword, axe, recovered by Police.
More from the week before that, and the week before that.
Shudder.