Spate of street robberies in Formby and Southport sees four teens arrested

Three 15-year-old and one 14-year-old quizzed over incidents targetting children on mountain bikes.

Four teenagers have been arrested in connection with a spate of street robberies in Formby and Southport where children on mountain bikes were targeted.

The three 15-year-olds and one 14-year-old from south Sefton were arrested following a joint investigation by Sefton CID and neighbourhood officers in the two areas.

It follows several incidents in March and April where teenaged boys were approached and threatened before having their mountain bikes stolen from them.

In one incident in Freshfield Road on April 21, a 14-year-old boy had just said goodbye to his friend when he was approached by four other boys who pulled him off his bike and assaulted him. The offenders also stole the boy’s phone and damaged his glasses.

In another incident on Southport pier the evening before, two 14-year-old friends were approached by four offenders and pushed over and punched before having both their bikes stolen and a mobile phone.

Other incidents have included mountain bikes stolen from outside houses and shops.

Officers involved in investigating the crimes have recovered several suspected stolen bikes during the search of a house in Aigburth and efforts are being made to trace their rightful owners.

Neighbourhood sergeant Ian Allum said: “These kind of crimes will not be tolerated by the police and we have carried out operations to stop them happening in the first place and catch the perpetrators when they do.

"Young people rightfully expect to be able to enjoy riding their bikes where they live without fear of intimidation or having them violently taken off them. We will continue to do what we can to tackle this issue and I would urge bike owners to help us by ensuring their bikes are security marked and registered at Immobilise.com. This will help the police reunite any bikes we find that we believe are stolen with their rightful owners.”

A 15-year-old from Bootle has been charged with four counts of robbery and one count of theft. Three others remain on police bail pending further enquiries.

Story Source: Southport Visiter