Six Cops Stop 40 Youths Ransacking Stores

A police officer has described how he and just five colleagues managed to stop a gang of around 40 youths looting a shopping park.

Pc Gordon Murphy, 30, and his fellow policeman had just two shields to protect them against a mob throwing missiles and trying to target the stores, in Catford, south-east London.

The officer, who lives in the area, said he and his colleagues charged at the hooded youngsters - despite them being so few in their number - as they tried to scare them off on Monday night.

He said: "We were able to create a small barrier at the end of the retail park", which is home to Currys, PC World, Harveys, Comet and a CarpetRight.

The father-of-one added: "As darkness fell, the young people started attacking - they were throwing bricks and bottles at us.

"There were two of us with small shields to protect other police officers and the property. Once they had thrown missiles at us they then rushed directly towards us, shouting and screaming."

"Their intention was to run at us mob-handed to frighten us to run away. Don't get me wrong, it did cross our minds, but I am a local police officer, I work in the Safer Neighbourhood Team.

"When you police the local area, you get to know people, you do get quite protective of your area and have a pride in it."

Pc Murphy went on: "We decided, as they ran at us, to rush back at them, with only six officers running back at 40. The mad thing is, they all ran back so we didn't even have to make contact with them.

"We just showed a show of strength, with our shields and our batons drawn, shouting as loud as we could: 'get back' and a few other war cries and the kids ran back across the road and continued throwing things at us."

Mr Murphy said he felt "proud" that he had managed to keep the buildings safe and added that he and a few others suffered minor injuries during the clash.

The small group protected the area on their own for about half an hour before backup could come and disperse the youths.

Team manager at Currys, Ridwan Haibe, said: "They did a fantastic job. We really appreciate the service that they have done for us."