Parents chanted ‘Get crime off our streets, keep our children safe’ as they marched from Old Street to Tolpuddle police station on Saturday

MORE than 150 parents marched from Old Street to Tolpuddle police station on Saturday to raise awareness of teenage muggings in the area, and pressure the police into doing more.

The mothers have been campaigning since November for a greater police presence in the area, the return of safer schools officers, and more council CCTV.

Chanting “Get crime off our streets, keep our children safe”, the mothers walked for more than an hour and spoke of how their children were now scared to go to school.

Organiser Sinead Masterson, whose son was mugged a few months ago, said: “Things have changed. London’s London, and it’s always come with its nitty-gritty bits. But it’s definitely changed, there’s not so much of a community feel any more.”

She added: “We used to know our community support officers, we used to see them in the street, they would keep us in check. When we were growing up, it wasn’t people with knives. The chances of your son walking out and getting robbed, it did happen, but it wasn’t like this. It’s happening on a daily basis here.”

Another mother described how her two teenage sons were afraid to leave the house, and said children now ran home from school in fear.

She said: “I’d say over 60 per cent of their friends have been violently robbed. They get intimidated by the youths down the street, the gangs, they are constantly hearing horror stories – and it’s daily, it’s absolutely daily.”

Ms Masterson acknowledged that the police “are trying to an extent”, but said more funding was needed.

“There’s only so much they can do from their end, but it also doesn’t help that there’s been so many cuts to the police. There’s not as much money to spend on them doing their foot patrols,” she said.

The mum described how her “belly goes” every time she knows her sons are walking to or from school.

“Unfortunately, we can’t be with them all the time. We’ve got to work. We have to work and pay our taxes, but it would be nice to see our taxes being used more resourcefully. It makes us panic, and it’s making the kids panic”.

Clerkenwell councillor Ben Mackmurdie said he wanted to reassure parents that the council were “on it”.

He said: “We’ve got a few things that we’re looking at. Victim support through the schools. So we’re funding that. We’re going to look at getting some youth workers down here, after school, and make sure the children get home safe. Obviously that’s funding, so that will take a little bit of time.”

Superintendent Jack May-Robinson, of Islington Neighbour­hoods team, said: “We are aware of recent concerns linked to robberies in the Islington area and are investigating those that have been reported to us.

“We appreciate the heightened community concern, particularly among parents, as several reports appear to involve young people.

“Please rest assured we have increased police patrols and are doing what we can to keep the community safe

“We have been working hard to reduce incidents of robbing in Islington. Since the start of the financial year we have seen a 13.5 per cent reduction of such crime in the area.”