'Feral' teens in masks terrorising communities

Yogendran Mutthulingham said teenagers wearing masks targeted his shop leaving his family deeply distressed

"Feral" gangs of masked teenagers are terrorising communities in areas of the north-east of England.

The BBC has been told low level, anti-social behaviour (ASB) has escalated into serious and violent crime with one town described as “lawless".

New figures revealed that 40,800 reports went unattended by police in the region last year – an average of 111 calls every day.

Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner Kim McGuinness said the response was "not good enough".

Yogendran Mutthulingham, who runs a shop in Jarrow, said: “They come with masks, which makes it scary."

He said he had been the victim of shoplifting, criminal damage and racist abuse.

“They came with a knuckle ring and a knife, they steal anything they want.

"They swear at me with the P word. They broke my house door with a kick."

Mr Mutthulingham, who lives in the flat above the shop with his family, said he felt helpless.

“My wife was crying. She almost fainted. My sister was crying," he said.

“Every night afterwards, we couldn’t sleep. Mentally we are upset all the time because of these incidents.”

After hearing what happened, the local community raised more than £1,000 to help him with repair costs, Mr Mutthulingham said.

In Hebburn, one resident said the town had become “lawless” at night.

Another, who has lived there for 60 years and did not want to be named, said it used to be a “lovely, safe town” but now the community was at “breaking point".

Criminal damage, arson, shoplifting and shop staff being threatened are a regular part of life, she claimed.

“I’ve never seen such a decline in morals and disgusting, feral behaviour.”

'Really intimidated'

Shop owners said they warned each other on walkie talkies if large groups were congregating.

Some said they pulled the shutters down and pretended to be closed until the groups were gone.

“They feel really intimidated,” said Lesley Little, who has owned Halo hairdressers in the town for 20 years.

“It might be a laugh and fun to them but it’s not to us as business owners," she added.

“We’re trying to earn a living but it’s hard."

John Waldon, opened a boxing gym in Hemlington to give young people something to do

Police forces in the north-east of England received almost 73,000 anti-social behaviour reports in 2023.

The BBC has found officers did not attend the scene in 56% of cases.

The region’s largest force, Northumbria Police, did not attend almost 25,000 ASB calls, an average of just under 70 every day.

Ms McGuinness said its response was not "good enough” but that the force was “incredibly stretched".

A Home Office spokesperson said Northumbria Police was receiving £1.8m for "hot-spot patrols" this year to tackle anti-social behaviour.

Ms McGuinness said this represented an overall cut in funding for this purpose, though the Home Office said it did not "recognise" this claim.

South Tyneside Council said it was working with the force, schools and Neighbourhood Watch schemes to tackle the problem.

Cabinet member for housing and community safety Jim Foreman said a number of young people had been identified.

"There will be further work with the tenancy enforcement team, including visits to their families, and with the youth justice team,” he said.

‘Nothing to do’

John Waldon recently opened the Hemlington Boxing Club in Middlesbrough to give young people "something to do".

But, two years after a BBC Panorama documentary exposed high levels of anti-social behaviour and crime there, the estate still has problems.

“We’ve had people killed in stolen cars. There’s fires every week, they set fire to people’s houses,” Mr Waldon said.

“There’s nothing to do on a night. Our main goal is to get people in here so they feel safe.

“I’m sick of seeing Hemlington in a terrible light.”

The club has only been up and running for a few weeks, but it has big dreams.

“We want a world champion. They’re only normal people, aren’t they? Hopefully they can be a world champion from Hemlington,” Mr Waldon said.

Northumbria Police neighbourhood inspector Denise Easdon said the force was “committed” to tackling illegal behaviour.

She said, during a recent crack down in Hebburn and Jarrow, two youths were arrested in connection with a string of reports of burglary and criminal damage.

“Throughout the year, we run dedicated operations and initiatives to tackle pockets of disorder, identify perpetrators and ultimately keep our communities safe,” she added.

Cleveland Police's lead for ASB Ch Insp Nigel Burnell said reports of anti-social behaviour were taken "extremely seriously" and officers attended incidents based on threat, harm and risk.

“We take a holistic approach to problem solve antisocial behaviour incidents, working closely with our partners and putting initiatives in place with voluntary sectors and business premises to reduce and prevent incidents of ASB," he said.

“Dedicated hot spot patrols are carried out and it is important that members of the public continue to report ASB, so that we can gather information and intelligence and take action against those responsible."