Concerned parents had a meeting with police last month

POLICE activated dispersal powers across Islington this week in an effort to fight back against teenage muggings.

The action came after mothers in the Old Street area raised concerns about a number of their children being mugged in December and have been pressuring the police and council into doing more to prevent thefts.

The Section 35 Dispersal Zone was in place in the borough from Monday to Wednesday and gave officers powers to ban people from an area for 48 hours if they suspect them of behaving in a way that contributes to public harassment or criminal activity.

In a letter sent to parents, Inspector Julie Balaam wrote: “Officers will be engaging with groups of children and encouraging them to head home.”

Sinead Masterson, who has led action by parents, said: “I get it, but I don’t think that’s a solution. The problem isn’t that they’re hanging around on the street, it’s just that they’re walking to and from school, and after-school clubs. All of the children that have been robbed haven’t been the ones playing outside, they’re just walking home.”

Police further confirmed that they had arrested four people in connection with the phone thefts, and that they had been bailed pending further enquiries.

Ms Masterson said: “I’ve been told that they [the police] are really hoping for a custodial sentence, but not to get hopes up because it often gets thrown out.”

She added: “They’ve caught the people who did the robberies, but not the higher up people. Until you catch the big people, you could arrest four youngsters but they’re just going to recruit four more to do it.”

Richard Joy, who helps out on the parent patrols, agreed that jail time is often unhelpful.

“It’s not going to be beneficial to the community in the long run,” he said, “because if they get locked up, they’re just going to come out worse.”

Mr Joy added: “When I was young, I had no love for myself, no care for myself, and it just meant that I was going to do stupid things.

“That’s these boys. Some are worse than others. Some think that they are too far gone, but you just can’t give up. They just need support. More support and guidance, and care. And it doesn’t really seem like there’s much of that.”