Support grows for our Hoodie crusade

SUNDAY Express readers are throwing their weight behind our Ban The Hood For Good crusade.

Support our Ban The Hood For Good crusade Support our Ban The Hood For Good crusade

Hundreds of you showed your support for the campaign last week – making it an issue that the Government will now find impossible to ignore.

Last week a harrowing series of stories emerged, highlighting the need for a ban on hoodies in public places.

Helen Franks wrote in to say: “I was attacked whilst getting into my car outside Waterloo Road Post Office at midday when collecting redirected mail.

“As soon as I sat down in my car a hooded young man entered my car and fought me until he split the leather straps on my bag. There was a struggle for a couple of minutes when he screamed at me face-to-face to let him have my bag.

“I am normally a very ‘together’ person with plenty of confidence, but this incident has clearly shaken me and made me feel extremely vulnerable with reduced confidence when I go out. I would certainly like to ban the hood for good.”

He screamed at me face-to-face to let him have my bag.

Mr Sarojini Patel, from London, said: “In February I was helping my friend in South Norwood to run his shop. I was on my own. It was Friday at 2pm when two hoodies came into the shop – two boys aged 14 or 15.

“One jumped over me from the counter and dragged me back in the kitchen. I was shouting for the help. He shut my mouth and started to hit me with his elbow to stop me shouting. Another took money from the till. I was so scared, thinking if they stabbed me with a knife I wouldn’t be alive. Since then when I see hoodies I am so scared.”

Readers sent in emails and letters calling for Home Secretary Jacqui Smith to act.

Among them was Jane Bowden, 25, a primary school teacher assistant for children with learning difficulties, from Canning Town, east London.

Her fiance, Peter Woodham, was shot dead in front of her on his doorstep in east London’s Canning Town after a campaign of bullying. In March last year Bradley Tucker was convicted of murder and jailed for 25 years.

“I back your campaign wholeheartedly,” she said. “There are so many young people wearing hoods these days and I find it scary and intimidating. They tend to wear them in big gangs, but not just when they are on the street but even in indoor supermarkets. That’s why I support the Sunday Express campaign.

“I am not against people having hooded tops. I have them and even my four-year-old son, Sam, has hooded tops – they are just another part of fashion.

“But what I do object to, and what just seems to be plain common sense, is to ban youths and everyone else wearing them in public places.

“Youths pull their hoods up when they do not want to be identified. You can’t see their faces and that’s the problem. CCTV cameras can’t see them either, so they get away with whatever they are doing.

“And you can’t recognise them from their hooded tops, because it is fashion, and there are millions of the youths all wearing the same tops.”

Miss Bowden went on: “Thugs used to wear masks to carry out their crimes – now they just wear everyday clothing and pull their hood over when they are doing wrong. They are inconspicuous.

“In all honesty, it’s ridiculous what is going on on the streets of Britain. There are stabbings, shootings, killings every day and no one cares.

“Peter was shot in broad daylight in front of loads of people. It’s lawless out there. Kids know they can literally get away with murder.

“The Government is wasting all this money on plastic police – we need real police. It’s disgusting how much cash is wasted on this initiative and this-and-that scheme. Everyone is passing the buck and no one is standing up being responsible for their actions.

“The authorities are wasting money and those committing these crimes, these killings, are getting younger and younger. Britain is spiralling out of control.

“And when people are caught, they claim they had a bad upbringing and from a broken home. Well, Peter was from a broken home but he wasn’t going out terrorising people, killing people or causing anyone any trouble.”

Miss Bowden also hit out at asbos, saying they were no punishment but “a label of respect”.

She added: “The Government needs to get tough. The person who killed Peter got 25 years - that’s not enough. He’s going to be out when he’s 40 and my Sam is going to have to live in the same world as that scumbag. That’s why I believe in this campaign so much. Good, honest, working people need to reclaim the streets. It’s not a gimmick – it’s about feeling safe on our own streets.

“Why should I have to cross the road when I see a gang of hooded youths ahead of me. Why should I feel vulnerable and frightened.

“It’s a small step but a vital one. If hooded tops are banned from being worn in public I can see who is ahead of me. I fully support this campaign and hope for once the Government sees sense and backs it as well.”

But there is hope that the hoodie menace can be driven off the nation’s streets, town centres and shopping malls.

In Laindon, Essex, a trial ban on youths wearing hoods in shops has been a “great success” in cutting crime, say police.

The tops, along with baseball caps and other hats, were outlawed after hoodies became established as the “street uniform” of local shoplifters and gangs.

Youths had been quick to realise that wearing a hood or a hat was the simplest and most effective way of avoiding detection by the CCTV cameras.

Store owners, supported by local police, began to refuse anyone hiding their face. Posters were put up in shops saying: “No hats or hoodies. In conjunction with Essex Police Against Retail Crime and to assist in the identification and prosecution of offenders, this shop will no longer permit the wearing of hats or hoodies in this store.”

Shopkeepers used their discretion with older customers or those covering their head for religious reasons. But the general idea was that there was no good reason for wearing a hood or a hat indoors.

Since it was introduced in 2003, the “no hats or hoodies” rule has proved to be an effective tool against law-breakers.

A spokeswoman for Essex Police said: “It was really, really successful. It cut down on shoplifting considerably.”

The rule, inspired by the banks and petrol stations refusing customers wearing motorcycles helmets, is still in force.

Your support is vital to the success of this crusade. So please let us know if gangs of hooded youths are terrorising your area.

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