Girls 'fought like banshees'

Police and a 50-strong crowd of schoolgirls clashed in front of passengers at a south London railway station after a routine operation to check tickets turned to violence.

Police described the girls as like "screaming banshees" - but they in turn have been accused of heavyhanded tactics and of racially abusing the mainly black girls.

Officers claim the girls leapt on their backs and attacked one of them with an ironing board after two of the schoolgirls were arrested.

The disturbance broke out when pupils from Cator Park School For Girls arrived at New Beckenham station on their way home to find eight British Transport Police waiting to check their tickets.

As a train was about to pull out, a group of girls, whom police say had no tickets, tried to rush the platform to join friends who were holding the doors open.

After police grabbed two girls, violence between the officers and the pupils - some as young as 12 - quickly escalated.

One officer had to draw his baton after a girl tried to hit him with an ironing board. Others had girls clinging to their backs on the platform as they tried to take the two pupils away.

"It was an astonishingly violent confrontation considering their age and the fact that only girls were involved," said Detective Inspector Carl Skrzypiec of the Transport Police. "These girls were acting like screaming banshees. They turned into a howling mob simply because they were required to pay for their tickets. St Trinian's had nothing on them, it was mob rule.

"As one officer was attacked with an ironing board, the vile verbal abuse was being screamed at such a level that they couldn't be heard on their police radios as they called for assistance. Officers had girls clinging to their backs, scratching and punching. One girl tried to seize a baton and in the process burst another girl's lip with her elbow.

"Once we got the two arrested girls in the van they were screaming they were going to be raped."

Order was only restored when Met reinforcements arrived along with staff from Cator Park led by head teacher Merrill Davies.

She said most of her girls at the station were not involved and many were distressed by the violence they witnessed in the incident last Thursday. "We feel this was a oneoff incident which could have been avoided by the transport police adopting a different approach," she said. "Girls have said they were racially abused and assaulted.

"The school is investigating what happened. If the behaviour of any of the girls fell below the high standard we expect of them, we will be taking firm action involving their parents."

She said the 1,300-pupil school had an outstanding record and added: "We do not intend to allow one incident to overshadow the remarkable achievements of our school."

The clash was witnessed by former teacher John Fowler who was on the train. He said: "Some of the girls were furious at being held back despite having tickets. Certainly what I saw was inappropriate behaviour by the police. A big burly policeman dragging a 15-year-old girl down a platform is no way to calm a situation like this.

"There was a mꬩe and I saw a policeman draw his baton. There were no female police officers there and I feel the whole thing would have been better dealt with by ticket inspectors. If the police hadn't been there, there wouldn't have been a riot. You don't treat teenage girls like that, certainly not in south London."

Since the fracas, several transport police have been on duty at the station at the end of each school day. Officers are examining CCTV footage to try and identify about a dozen girls they believe to be ringleaders of the violence.

Some of the girls' parents are considering lodging official complaints.