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Camden News - by CHARLOTTE CHAMBERS
Published: 10 July 2008

Teen victim suffers his third mugging of 2008

Parents’ call for attackers to be brought to justice

BEING mugged has been described as a rite of passage by a Hampstead teenager who has been threatened three times in six months.
Ethan Ezra, 13, was chased through the streets of Hampstead by a group of boys on his bike two weeks ago, escaping only when he hid in a stranger’s garden.
He hasn’t been so fortunate in the past. Police are investigating a mugging in Asmara Road, West Hampstead, when he was threatened and a friend was punched by an older boy just because neither of them had anything worth stealing.
It follows an attack earlier in the year when Ethan was robbed of his mobile phone in Hampstead.
His parents warned this week that families need to make a stand against youth muggings by making sure they are all reported to police.
Ethan has already been spoken to by officers about his most recent mugging and will learn by the end of the week whether he will have to give evidence in court. He said around 40 of his friends had been mugged.
“That’s what the mentality is these days,” he said. “It’s sort of like a rite of passage. If it hasn’t happened, it’s going to happen. If you don’t have something they beat you and if you do they take it.”
When his phone was taken, he was worried that his attacker had a knife. “They asked for my stuff,” he said. “I said ‘no’ a few times but they put their hands in their pocket looking like they had a knife. Your life or a mobile phone? It makes me angry that it is so easy for them to get away with it.”
His mother Siobhan Ezra described the situation as a “vicious cycle” where teenagers are unable to fight back because of the threat of a knife and are too scared to go to court – or even make a police statement – because of the fear of reprisals.
“Your kids are told at school to stand up to bullies but you can’t tell your kids that,” she said. “Muggers have carte blanche to take things – they know we’ve said to our kids don’t fight back because you’re vulnerable to knife crime.”
But Mrs Ezra added that parents and their children have a social responsibility to fight back through the law rather than stay silent.
“I don’t want to be critical of other parents but as a society we have to take a stand. These are not master criminals that are going to take a contract out, these are kids bullying other kids. If police are asking us to support them then we probably need to.”
Her husband Michael Ezra added: “It’s very important there is a concerted effort from victims and their families as well as the police in bringing street criminals to justice. Otherwise the police effort will amount to very little.”
The family said they knew of other families who had decided not to make a police statement for fear of retribution from their children’s attackers. Recent debate about anonymity in court cases is likely further to scare parents away, Mrs Ezra said.
She also warned about an area – the first street off Hampstead High Street without CCTV, which had become notorious for muggings.
A police spokesman confirmed they were investigating an attempted robbery in Asmara Road. “A 16-year-old suspect has been arrested and is helping police with inquiries. He has been bailed to return to police later this month,” he said.

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