‘SHAKE DOWN’ | 

Kids as young as 10 ‘robbed and assaulted’ by minor holding Wexford town ‘to ransom’

“The other day there was an incident where he took money from a 10 year-old child and threatened to punch their head in and told them ‘I’ll burn your house down and kill your family’.”

Wexford People

Yesterday at 10:00

A group of concerned parents have outlined how children as young as ten are being robbed, assaulted and threatened by a youngster who they feel is holding Wexford Town to ransom and is preventing kids from enjoying facilities such as the skate park at Min Ryan Park.

A minor himself, the main culprit, although he rarely operates alone, is reportedly well-known to gardaí.

Desperate for something to be done, the group of frustrated parents have outlined how this youngster has stolen phones, money, bikes and skateboards from their kids and it’s been alleged that he has being carrying some kind of make-shift knife or shiv, threatening to use it on other young teens.

Estimating that there’s been more than fifty incidents, parents recounted examples where children as young as ten have been stopped and searched by the culprit and their money taken.

Parents have been forced to take action such as urging their kids to avoid certain areas of town at certain times when the culprit is around or avoiding sending children out carrying cash.

Despite this, children have allegedly been marched to the shop and forced to pay for items via Revolut on their phones on occasion.

“The youngsters are terrified of him,” one distressed parent said. “After an altercation with my son, I was told that this young fella is going around with a make-shift knife looking for him. My young lad is 13 years old.”

The parents were united in their criticism of gardaí, who they feel are not taking the situation seriously enough.

“I told the guards about the situation,” this parent said. “They said that this young fella is all mouth and he wouldn’t actually hurt anybody. I told them a threat will turn into a promise one of these days and there’s a first time for everything. It’s not a risk I’m willing to take with my son anyway.

“We’re having to keep the kids away from Min Ryan Park, which is punishing them for nothing. They just want to go out and play with their friends. We’re sick of it at this point.

“The gardaí are well aware of this person and they get a couple of calls a day about him.”

“He gets them to jump up and down to hear if they have any money in their pockets,” another parent said. “On one occasion, he put his hand down my 12 year-old son’s pants to check his waistband to see if he was hiding any money.

“I don’t allow my lads to carry cash any more, but he’s demanded that they show him their Revolut balance on the phone and makes them bring them to the shop and buy him stuff.”

The parents revealed that the youngster involved is also targeting housing estates across the town for “shake-downs”.

“He follows the ice-cream van around,” one mother said. “He knows that the little ones will have change on them for it. The other day there was an incident where he took money from a 10 year-old child and threatened to punch their head in and told them ‘I’ll burn your house down and kill your family’.”

The youngster has also become a regular source of fear and anxiety among kids in Min Ryan Park.

“It’s mayhem up there,” one parent who regularly watches over the park said. “This kid is a minor himself, so you can’t do anything about it. I get calls about it every single day. At least four different kids have told me that this guy is carrying around a homemade knife as a threat.

“He feels untouchable. There’s been reports that he’s made videos outside of people’s houses to intimidate them and all sorts. He’s left to run amok. What will it take for something to be done?”

Many families who’ve fallen victim to this theft, assault and intimidation are wary of making official complaints to gardaí for fear of reprisals.

One child was told as he was being robbed that his head would be “smashed in if the guards arrive at my door because of this”.

It’s created a difficult situation, with gardaí telling parents that they need people to make statements in order to pursue the matter further.

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“There’s a feeling that if you make an official statement, it will put a target on your child’s back,” one parent said.

“How can you endanger a child? There has to be some other way of dealing with this. The gardaí know exactly what’s going on. Either someone is going to end up hurt or some hard-working parent will end up in jail for taking matters into their own hands.”

Wexford gardaí were unavailable for comment on the matter at the time of publication.