Islington Tribune- News: Children in need

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Islington Tribune - by ROISIN GADELRAB
Published: 19 October 2007

PC Emlyn Hughes with the sponsorship form

Con kids pose as Children in Need charity collectors

CHILDREN as young as 12 are conning kind-hearted residents out of money by posing as collectors for Children in Need.
Two groups of children – one in Highbury Fields and the other outside Finsbury Park station – were caught carrying genuine sponsor forms and demanding cash
While on truancy patrol, schools officer PC Emlyn Hughes caught two of the children red-handed knocking on doors in Highbury Fields.
He said: “They are very convincing – it’s the innocence – because they are young. They were asking for the money straight up and people handed it over.
“I was in plain clothes. I asked them why they weren’t in school and why they were holding sponsor forms.
“I asked what they were doing for the charity and they said nothing, they were just collecting money.”
He added: “On that day they had collected £8 from three addresses. The victims said that, because they were children, they didn’t think there was anything going on.”
With less than a month to go until the nationwide Children in Need television appeal on November 16, the sponsorship forms are readily available.
PC Hughes said the children at Highbury Fields were caught out when they asked an off-duty police officer for cash. In total, more than 25 people have fallen victim to the tricksters.
He added: “They are getting hold of real forms. If the children are asking for the money straight up it’s a definite scam.
“Normally, you get sponsored, do the event and then come back and collect the money. Schools don’t ask children to go out and knock on strangers’ doors.”

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