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Give us £3 - to keep your car 'safe'

Feb 10 2005

By Andy Shipley, Evening Mail

 

These are the teenage brothers who used threats of violence to run a car parking protection racket around Villa Park.

Amasiah Thompson, 15, and his 14-year-old brother Tobijah were seen by police intimidating football fans and charging £3 to "mind their cars" at the ground.

But their 23-year-old sister Charlene Duke told Birmingham Magistrate: "It's not just them in the area doing it. Everybody their age in Aston does it, they call it car minding."

Sgt Pete Henrick, of Queens Road police station, said he had seen the pair approach a fan at last Sunday's home game against Arsenal but the spectator failed to press charges.

"They've been seen on two occasions over the last month and we've been getting concerns from the community about car minding," said Sgt Henrick.

District Judge Caroline Goulborn passed an interim anti-social behaviour order on the boys and refused to protect their anonymity because they accepted the allegations.

Both boys, of Alfred Street, Aston, are now banned from entering a half-mile exclusion zone around Villa Park two hours before kick-off on match days.

The pair are also prohibited from harassing people and asking for money ahead of a full ASBO hearing next month.

Judge Goulborn refused to impose reporting restrictions on the boys' identities in the hope that their exposure would help tackle the car minding menace.

"Publicity of anti-social behaviour is a deterrent not only to you two but to others," she told them.

"There's a strong public interest in these cases and the public have the right to know that action is being taken and publicity will make that more enforceable."

City Council ASBO boss Dave Reddall applauded co-operation between the authority and the police for bringing the proceedings.

"It should send a clear signal out that intimidation of individuals at sporting events in the city will not be tolerated."

 

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