NEWS ROUND-UP
Retailers warned to be vigilant over acid attacks
Britain's Home Secretary Amber Rudd has appealed to retailers to be vigilant following a dramatic rise in the number of acid attacks across London. Police are concerned that acid has now become ‘the weapon of choice’ for rival gangs in the capital and retailers have been encouraged to report anyone purchasing suspicious amounts of the noxious substance from DIY stores or general retailers.
The city has witnessed a spike in the number of attacks, the latest of which happened last weekend near the Westfield Shopping Centre, Stratford where six male victims had acid thrown over them. Ms Rudd said it was important "not to understate how vital retailers will be in the fight against this scourge". She continued: "The availability of these products - many of them everyday household items - means that it will be tremendously difficult to ensure these harmful substances never get into the wrong hands.
"That is why I urge store owners and sales assistants, those working on the front line of this particular battle to be vigilant and to report any concerns to the police." More than half of the UK's acid attacks take place in London, which saw 458 attacks last year alone. This is in comparison to less than 200 in 2014. The Metropolitan Police in London are investigating links between criminal gangs and the rise in acid attacks. “We are seeing some links - although it has to be treated with caution because it's a small data set - a growing feature between named suspects in acid attacks who also feature in our gang matrix,” Deputy Commissioner Craig Mackey said.
Describing east London as a "hotspot" for attacks, he added that the majority of victims were aged between 15 and 29 and almost a third were Asian. At the weekend Police were called to Stratford Centre, opposite Westfield, following an "altercation" between two groups of males where a noxious substance was thrown. Ambulance crews treated six males at the scene for their injuries, and three of them were taken to hospital. A 15-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm.
Those reported injured were believed to be in a number of different locations, sparking initial fears that people had been sprayed at random. However the Met Police said those injured were connected to the initial attack. Ch Supt Ade Adelekan said: "I would like to be very clear concerning this incident. "What initially may have been perceived as a number of random attacks has, on closer inspection, been found to be one incident involving two groups of males." No-one suffered life-threatening or life-changing injuries. Witnesses at the scene said an argument had broken out among a group of people.
