A teenage boy on his way home from school was ambushed in Turnberry Park, beaten up and had his Nike Air Jordan trainers stolen
A teenage schoolboy was ambushed in a Birmingham park by a gang of ten youths who beat him and threatened him with a knife.
The ‘terrifying’ attack happened in Turnberry Park, Great Barr, between 4pm and 4.15pm on Wednesday, February 5.
The 14-year-old victim was set upon near a tunnel, which leads under the M6, as he walked home from Fortis Academy with a friend.
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The gang demanded money and emptied his pockets and, when he tried to run, one pulled out a ‘lock-type knife’, his mother said.
The teen had the knife held to his throat and was thrown to the floor.
Then he was kicked five times in the head and face and three times in the ribs.
The gang took the boy’s red and white Nike Air Jordan trainers from his bag, which were a Christmas present.
His mum, Terri Hancox, posted details of the incident online and said she had been told there had been four or five robberies in the park since Christmas.
She wanted to warn parents and children, saying: ‘I do not want any other child to go through this’.
The mum, from Great Barr, said: “He was on his way home with his friend when he was surrounded by a gang of about ten youths who demanded money.
“They originally said to him: ‘Do you have cash?’. He had a debit card but no cash so said ‘no’.
“They went through his pockets. All he had was a baguette wrapper.
“When he tried to run he caught a kid with his arm. That kid grabbed him from behind and put a lock-type knife to his throat.
“They threw him to the floor, where he was kicked repeatedly.
“They took his Nike Jordan trainers he’d taken for PE, out of his bag. They didn’t touch his iPad which the school give to students.”
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Terri continued: “He ran back to school. When I was told the first thing I thought about was ‘was he hurt?’
“A police officer said he was going to reach out to the neighbourhood policing team and see if they could put patrols in the area.”
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Terri said other parents had contacted her saying their children had also been robbed in the park.
She said: “I have had quite a few parents reach out to me saying similar things had happened to their children. There have been quite a few kids robbed in that park.
“Four or five kids have been robbed going through the park since Christmas. We need CCTV in there – even it it deters one person from doing it would be worth it.”
The group responsible were said to be aged 12 to 16. Terri said: “All the kids were wearing black trousers and shoes, which is uniform. They all had coats on. They appeared to be from one or two schools.
“Two had their faces covered. One wasn’t in school uniform and had grey sweatpants and a T-shirt on. They were all school age kids.
“We are looking at setting up a street patrol between the hours of 3.30pm and 4.30pm to make sure our kids can walk through that park safely.“
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Terri said she had contacted her MP Ayoub Khan. She said: “Within an hour we had a full email come back from him saying he’s already spoken to the police. He’s going to press the council to put some sort of CCTV in.”
Terri said her son had been ‘knocked for six’.
She said: “He was absolutely terrified about losing his new trainers and I was like: ‘You’re more important’.
“It’s knocked me too. We’ve lived here for 11 years and it’s gone downhill.”
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A spokesman for West Midlands Police said: “We’re investigating following a robbery in the park off Turnberry Road, Great Barr.
“A 14-year-old boy was approached by a group at around 4pm on Wednesday, February 5. The boy was assaulted and clothing was taken.
“It’s understood one of the attackers had a knife with them, although it wasn’t used.
“We know how worrying this would have been for the boy and we’re carrying out active enquiries to identify who was involved.
“We’ve stepped up patrols in the area and would ask for anyone with information to contact us. You can do this via Live Chat on our website, or by calling 101, and quote 20/136316/25.”