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Police near the scene of the shooting in Archway |
ISLINGTON NEWS | SEARCH FOR GANG | SHOT TEEN | GIRDLESTONE WALK, ARCHWAY
Crime chief slammed for claim attack is ‘not a local issue’
THE Town Hall’s crime chief has been condemned for playing down the local significance of a shooting which has left a teenager fighting for his life.
Detectives are investigating the role of gang rivalry in their search for the gunman who shot an 18-year-old in the stomach in Girdlestone Walk, Archway, on Friday night.
Although police are desperate to keep the most sensitive parts of their inquiry under wraps, well-placed sources have suggested that a serious line of inquiry is based on the possibility that tensions in neighbouring Camden spilled over borough boundaries.
The victim was still being treated at University College London Hospital last night (Thursday) in a “serious” condition.
Liberal Democrat councillor Terry Stacy, who is responsible for community safety projects, said on Wednesday: “I don’t think it will affect residents because Islington is very different to Camden – we don’t have the drug pushers outside the Tube station that Camden has. This is not a local issue – this has come into the borough.
“I would like to reassure residents the council and the police are working together extremely closely to deal with the fallout.”
?His comments have led to warnings that the seriousness of the attack has not resonated with leading figures at the council.
Lorraine Dinnegan – the mother of 14-year-old Martin Dinnegan who was stabbed to death last year in Holloway – said: “That could have been anybody, so it is an Islington issue. I’m surprised Cllr Stacy made a public statement like that. It’s a British problem – how can one person say it’s not our problem?”
Labour councillor Paul Convery added: “It’s a feeble excuse to say it just ‘happened to happen in our borough’. When blood is shed in the borough we need to take notice.
“We’re not a tranquil island that’s occasionally being invaded by wrong ’uns.”
The victim is a Somali who studied at Acland Burghley School in Tufnell Park on the border of Islington and Camden.
Eyewitnesses said he was found after dragging himself along the pavement, calling for help with the desperate cry: “Help me, I’m dying.”
Police have appealed for help but officers are wary of using the word “gang” in any of their public statements in case it scares the public.
It has not been suggested the victim had been part of criminal activity but the Tribune has been told that detectives are genning up on recent clashes in Camden Town among Somali youths to see if that might shed new light on the case.
Tensions in the neighbouring borough reached a peak at the weekend when Sharmaarke Hassan, 17, was shot in the head on Saturday night, dying in hospital four days later. Police in Camden have also recently been to court in a bid to get Asbos against 14 teenagers said to be members of the The Money Squad – a group known locally as TMS which features on the Met’s database of recognised “gangs”.
Islington police’s Chief Inspector Jane Johnson said: “This incident is very unusual for Islington and we are treating it extremely seriously. Operation Trident is investigating the circumstances surrounding it and is considering if there are any links with the Camden shooting. ”
Calls for better resources for young people in Islington, particularly for young Somalis, have grown louder through the week.
Abdul Ali, a youth worker with the Islington Somali Community advice centre, said: “We need somewhere we can call mentors to talk to them and we need more mentors.
“We’ve a group of youngsters who play football at Whittington Park but that’s the only place they can meet. Islington’s Somali community is different.
“In Camden, many youngsters come from other boroughs but from the beginning we decided to deal with this our own way. We tell the youngsters we want to talk to them.
“When they are bored they come together but they are not proper gangs. They start off by meeting, then drinking and smoking – then they become gangs.
“You have to talk to them one by one.”
Officers from Trident, the specialist unit for tackling gun crime in the black community, have yet to find a weapon.
Mike O’Shea, 24, who lives metres from the scene said: “I was woken up at about 3am when I heard a shot. I heard the guy moaning. He staggered up then went up some steps and onto a balcony, hitting on the patio doors. He was on his own.”
The owner of the balcony, where the injured teenager came to rest, said she was too frightened to open the door.
The woman, who asked not to be named, said: “I heard someone crashing through my gate, climbing up the stairs and banging on the window. He was saying “help me, I’m dying”. I didn’t open the door because it’s dangerous but my neighbour called an ambulance.“
n Two men have been arrested in connection with the incident but were released on bail |
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