7:00pm Monday 13th July 2009
By Thom Airs
A STRING of violent street robberies in Oxford – including four on foreign students – are being linked by police.
Extra officers will be put on patrol in Blackbird Leys after seven robberies in six separate incidents in and around the estate on Friday and Saturday nights.
Police believe that two men, in their late teens or early 20s, could be involved in all the robberies.
At about 9.35pm on Friday, a 40-year-old man was walking along a footpath off Barns Road, Cowley, when he was approached by two men, one of whom had a knife. The attackers held him down and stole his wallet At 10.20pm that night, a 17-year-old Spanish student was robbed in Little Bury, Blackbird Leys. He was on the phone to his family when three men who approached on bicycles grabbed him around the throat and ripped off his necklace At 11.50pm, a 21-year-old man was robbed on the pathway between the Kassam Stadium and Knights Road, Blackbird Leys. He was approached by two men who held him down and stole his passport and wallet. They threatened to stab him if he didn’t tell them his bank card Pin number Between 9.30pm and 10pm on Saturday, a 34-year-old man was approached by youths in Barns Road. He was threatened with a knife and forced to hand over his wallet, containing £50 The same night, two Spanish students, both aged 17, were robbed of cash and mobile phones by two men in Grenoble Road, Greater Leys.
At midnight an 18-year-old foreign language student was attacked from behind as he walked along Blackbird Leys Road. He was struck around the head and neck, forced to the floor and his money and phone were stolen.
The robberies come in the wake of unprovoked hammer attack on a 25-year-old Canadian tourist in Little Clarendon Street on July 7.
Det Sgt Steve Raffield said: “It isn’t unusual to see a seasonal increase in this type of incident, but this number in two nights is fairly unusual.
“At the end of the day, these people come over here to learn and they put something into the community, so it’s bang out of order for them to be treated in this way.”
Officers are studying CCTV and conducting door-to-door in- quiries. Extra police are also being put on patrols.
Det Sgt Raffield said: “We’ve pre-empted it to a degree this year, with an operation due to start this week involving an increased police presence and the response we give to robbery offences, which involves extra resources.
“All these robberies have occurred after dark and on, with the exception of two, lone young males.
“We advise a commonsense approach – don’t walk home alone along unlit and unoccupied streets.
“The best descriptions we have of the robbers are that they are light-skinned, of mixed race, in their late teens or early 20s.
“Someone will know who is doing this and we’re appealing for the community to come forward with information about them.”
Anyone with information should call Det Sgt Raffield on 08458 505505 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.
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