A Leeds suburb was put under a 24-hour crackdown by police after a boy was stabbed in the leg in Little London.
West Yorkshire Police targeted the wider area of Woodhouse, with increased powers to stop and search for offensive weapons. The crackdown lasted for 24 hours, from 2pm yesterday (April 7), after a boy, 16, was reportedly chased through Little London by a group armed with knives.
The boy was stabbed in the leg and rushed to hospital for his injuries, which were not considered to be life threatening. A pair of teens, aged 16 and 18, were arrested in connection with the attack.
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Nurse Sharma Matthews, 42, lives yards away from where a scene guard was put in place in Carlton Grove. The mother of three children aged 22, 14 and four, has lived in Little London her whole life and dreams of one day escaping, to a distant land with sandy beaches and “where the rum tastes different”.
'Sugar coating s***'
Sharma thinks the police are just posturing, she said: “The police are just sugar coating s***. There’s just a load of little minions in the area. But there are a lot of famous people that come out this area like [Burnley football player] Aaron Lennon. The people who are doing this in this area are not from round here, they all come from like Hyde Park, somewhere like that and out of towners.
“I don’t see them as gangs, I see them as a group of kids, school kids. It’s a racial thing as well. Your mind can’t help but see colour, so your mind just stereotypes normally, you don’t know what you’re thinking half the time,” added Sharma, giving her perspective as a black woman.
Yakob Zere, 52, who works in Next warehouse, was shocked to learn that Woodhouse was under lockdown. He picks his young daughter up from a school in Little London and has always seen it as a safe area.
Yakob said: “I’m surprised. I’ve never heard anything like this. It’s not good, scary, because it’s not safe. Before all this, this was one of the best areas, as far as I know.”
'The horse has bolted'
But Ken Mather, 76, who has lived in Woodhouse for 25 years, disagrees. The former electrician said: “It’s the way of the world nowadays. There’s people getting stabbed, you read about it every day. There’s probably some really nice people who live in Little London but there’s just a few idiots.
“My honest opinion is it’s not policed enough. I honestly cannot remember the last time I saw a police officer or even a parking attendant walking around the area.”
After pointing out the area was under a 24 hour crackdown, Ken responded: “That’s like shutting the gate after the horse has bolted. They’ve had many many months, if not years, running around here and no police.”
Senior officers at Leeds District authorised the use of Section 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 to detect and deter the carrying of offensive weapons in the area and to prevent serious violence. The order span across York Road, Harehills Lane, Claypit Lane, the A58, the A61 and Woodhouse Lane.
It gives police officers the power to search people or cars for offensive weapons or dangerous instruments without them having to have their usual grounds to suspect each person searched.
Superintendent Russ Hughes, of the Leeds District, said: "Violence such as this involving knives cannot and will not be tolerated and we will continue doing everything we can to identify those responsible and to take positive action against them.”
Do you feel safe in Little London? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.
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