'Most of our children have been mugged'

Almost every teenager in a north London constituency has been mugged, a Labour MP has warned.

Emily Thornberry, who represents Islington South and Finsbury, said: "I suspect there are hardly any children in Islington who have not been mugged at some stage - and I am appalled that is a part of their lives. If you talk to kids it is the main thing kids are afraid of - and that's really sad."

Figures from Islington police record 1,229 muggings in the borough last year. More than 61 per cent of victims were under-18s, and some were under 10. The figures reveal that 568 victims said they weremugged by a teenager.

Ms Thornberry said: "Kids are robbing other kids but you don't hear about it. It can't be excused as a step up from playground bullying."

Islington police have created "safe" routes to get children to and from school. A Met spokeswoman said that in a borough with more than 180,000 residents an estimated 750 under-18s were mugged in 2007, which was "a small proportion of the population".