4 arrested after spate of bike thefts and robberies in the North Merseyside area
4 teenagers have been arrested in
connection with a spate of street robberies in the Sefton area of Merseyside.
The arrested teenagers who are said to have conducted the spate of thefts and
robberies within Formby and Southport area are reported to have targeted
children on mountain bikes.
The 3, 2 aged 15 and 1 aged 14, are from South Sefton and had been arrested
following a joint investigation by Sefton CID and Neighbourhood Officers in the
2 areas. It follows several incidents in March and April 2015 where
teenaged boys were approached and threatened before having their mountain bikes
stolen from them.
In 1 incident in Freshfield Road, on 21 April 2015, a 14 year old boy had just
said goodbye to his friend when he was approached by 4 other boys who pulled him
off his bike and assaulted him. The offenders also reportedly stole the boy's
phone and damaged his glasses.
In another incident on Southport Pier, the evening before, 2, 14 year old
friends were approached by 4 offenders and pushed over and punched before having
both their bikes stolen and a mobile phone was also taken.
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, south Liverpool 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 1st 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 4 counts of robbery and 1 count
of theft. 3 others remain on Police Bail pending further enquiries.
