Boy 'strangled and punched' on way home from school in Earlsfield

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Community Editor
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Boy 'strangled and punched' on way home from school in Earlsfield

Postby Community Editor » Mon Sep 28, 2020 10:45 am

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A 12-year-old boy was assaulted in broad daylight when walking home from school on Monday.

Residents in Strathville Road jumped in to stop a boy being strangled and punched, at around 4pm on 21 September.

The boy was on his way home from London Oratory School, Fulham when he was followed by a group of four boys from a neighbouring school.

Recounting the incident his dad said: "At the entrance to Strathville Road near Mood Café, the boys confronted him and asked, 'Where are you going? Where do you live?' And then they said, 'Empty everything from your pockets and bag or we will kill you!'"

“He kept saying no, leave me alone, at which point they grabbed him by the throat and began strangling him and punching him.

“This lasted for a few minutes until a neighbour shouted from one on the nearby windows which startled them, they then threw my son to the ground by the bins and fled via two scooters.”

A woman walked the boy to his door, where his Dad attempted to go back out and find the gang.

He said he found two outside Dounesforth Gardens, and after his son confirmed their identity, he confronted them.

“They were swearing and sent a lot of abusive language directly at me and at other neighbours that came out on to the street.

"After a couple of minutes of receiving this torrid abuse I restrained a boy so he could not flee the scene. At that point the second boy punched me in the face.

“I’ve never been assaulted or punched in my life, and it turns out this was by a 13-year-old boy. I must say the whole episode was terrifying and very stressful. Especially as I underwent heart surgery about 10 weeks ago at St George's hospital,” said the dad.

Both boys were restrained until police came, where they were handcuffed and taken away in a police van.

The family says they are shocked that the assault happened in such a “tight-knit community.”

“Our son is still shaken and does not want to venture outside on his own. He is now back at school, but we walk him to Earlsfield station to make sure he’s not accosted again,” said the dad of two.
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Jonny Dyson Property Consultants
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Re: Boy 'strangled and punched' on way home from school in Earlsfield

Postby Jonny Dyson Property Consultants » Mon Sep 28, 2020 1:37 pm

This is a truly horrendous story and I can only feel for those concerned.  It does however mirror some similar situations from this time last year around Clapham Junction and Wandsworth Town stations, where multiple kids muggings took place.  At the time I spoke to the police about it and they were adamant that they had only heard of one incident and that it was a boy from a local private school who was wearing a £6,000 watch and therefore was probably "asking for trouble" (their words not mine).

It's pretty clear that they have absolutely no idea what's been going on, and have no intention of doing much about it.  We need high visibility policing at the various stations from 4pm until 6pm so that these kids can be protected and feel safe to be able to walk home - it's that simple.  I know of at least three kids who have been attacked in this way and have been utterly traumatised as a result.  It's about time the police started taking this seriously as it will only get worse when the clocks change and everyone is walking home in the dark...

 
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muddyboots
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Re: Boy 'strangled and punched' on way home from school in Earlsfield

Postby muddyboots » Mon Sep 28, 2020 9:38 pm

This is shocking and so sad.
We have a school system that requires really young children to go from a local primary school to suddenly travel alone for secondary.
The least that can be done is to protect young children.
Just like you have lollipop ladies, there should be wardens at busy stations and routes after school.
Obviously, we can’t stop it all, but it’s like we are forded to just leave our kids on their own and hope for the best.
It’s unacceptable.
Poor boy and family.
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windmill26
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Re: Boy 'strangled and punched' on way home from school in Earlsfield

Postby windmill26 » Tue Sep 29, 2020 1:58 pm

Do we know which neighbouring school the 4 boys are attending?
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NoodleFan
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Re: Boy 'strangled and punched' on way home from school in Earlsfield

Postby NoodleFan » Mon Oct 05, 2020 8:05 am

Poor family.
This has happened for the last two years around October time, in the Wandsworth Common area. So much so that parents were taking it in turns to monitor the roads after school. The police are very aware as they came and spoke to the kids about it.
With a lot of kids having to carry laptops now because of COVID, I am dreading the clocks going back.
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Lulubear
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Re: Boy 'strangled and punched' on way home from school in Earlsfield

Postby Lulubear » Mon Oct 05, 2020 9:04 am

Well done to the Dad, his son, the neighbour and the other onlookers for catching two of those four boys and getting them arrested!  I have heard of other similar incidents of kids being similarly threatened for their mobile phones and other possessions.  Yes, the police should step up on this.  Many children now carry mobile phones for their safety because they travel quite a long way to secondary school on public transport but this is also making them a target.  And laptop use is becoming widespread in schools.
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Mary1956
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Re: Boy 'strangled and punched' on way home from school in Earlsfield

Postby Mary1956 » Mon Oct 05, 2020 9:25 am

Children absolutely need more protection and more police or cameras should be on the streets so we'd be able to immediately catch the people responsible for the violence and hatred. That's what the taxes are paid for, so our streets should be safe!
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Concerned_Dad
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Re: Boy 'strangled and punched' on way home from school in Earlsfield

Postby Concerned_Dad » Mon Oct 05, 2020 9:55 am

Unbelievable really.

But sadly all to believable given the normalisation of aggression and violence in all forms of digital media: let's be honest, that is the biggest influencer of kids behaviour.

The police do like to hide in their nice warm police stations doing "complex cases" and "anti terrorist" work - sounds better than visibly patrolling the streets and forming human relationships with the community.

On a tangential point I struggling to believe that any parent would be stupid enough to send a kid to school with a £6k watch - you might as well paint a target on his back. My kids have phones but they are deliberately old models that won't attract too much attention and I have explained to them that this is for their personal safety and they get it - they all know someone who has been mugged.

The laptops thing is more of a worry as they do need something that functions at a decent level and is not too heavy to lug around.
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Bridget Dagnall
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Re: Boy 'strangled and punched' on way home from school in Earlsfield

Postby Bridget Dagnall » Mon Oct 05, 2020 10:17 am

Perhaps some Police time would be better spent making it safe for children to travel to and from school rather than patrolling the Common for groups of more than six.
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ellesmum
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Re: Boy 'strangled and punched' on way home from school in Earlsfield

Postby ellesmum » Mon Oct 05, 2020 11:05 am

Absolutely awful, and, I think, from the description, this was possibly one of my daughter's old classmates.
We, my 12yo daughter and I, have just moved away from the area after being subjected to over 6 months of abuse, harassment, and physical assault from our neighbours, which was just around the corner from this incident, on Penwith Road, and, sadly, I found the police "Safer Neighbourhoods Team", who will no doubt be dealing with this incident, too, to be absolutely useless. They seem to be completely incapable of making the area safer. Much as I love Earlsfield, & miss the wonderful community around there, the few bad eggs who are being allowed to behave antisocially with no repercussions make me glad to be away from there.
My thoughts are with the young boy involved & his family.
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Jonny Dyson Property Consultants
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Re: Boy 'strangled and punched' on way home from school in Earlsfield

Postby Jonny Dyson Property Consultants » Mon Oct 05, 2020 2:17 pm

What I don't understand is what the police are prepared to do about it.  I also heard about the police visiting one school to give a talk which basically said 'just give them what they want, it's insured' - hardly inspirational.  Having collected my eldest from Clapham Junction pretty much every day for the last year and a bit I can safely say that I have, quite literally, NEVER seen any high vis policemen (or women) on my walk home.

As for parents patrolling the streets, what on earth has the world come to when this is the only option...?
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