Islington Tribune - by ROISIN GADELRAB Published: 9 November 2007
Youths sparks chaos aiming fireworks at children
YOUTHS caused mayhem across the borough on Bonfire Night, setting off fireworks in shops and firing them at police.
Officers were kept busy during the past week as irresponsible vandals toyed with explosives.
A five-year-old child narrowly escaped serious injury when a group of youths exploded a firework inches from her face.
The young girl and her 24-year-old mother were forced to dive for cover when they spotted the young men messing around with fireworks just outside City and Islington College campus on Camden Road.
The woman snatched her daughter out of harm’s way after she noticed one of the youths had a lit firework at his feet.
It went off in their direction and exploded near her daughter’s face, leaving her uninjured but shaken.
The group fled along Holloway Road.
Islington Police are appealing for information that will help catch the youths.
Although the number of fireworks-related calls fell by 51 compared to last year, the gunpowder season didn’t pass without a few explosive incidents.
Vandals set fire to the window of a Tesco Express Shop on Green Lane, when they released fireworks both inside and outside the premises on Halloween night.
On the same evening, two police officers and a member of the public had to run for cover when a group of youths set off fireworks at them on Hazelville Road, Upper Holloway.
They managed to catch a 17-year-old youth, who was immediately issued with an on-the-spot £60 fine.