Peer pressure fuels phone crime

The surge in street robbery which brought such alarm to London last year was driven by teenagers' fear of bullying and peer pressure to own the most fashionable mobile phones, a Government study shows today.

The detailed research also says that although there has been some success in clamping down on mobile phone theft, frontline youth offending teams are warning that teenagers are moving on to other targets including designer sunglasses, minidisc players and palm-top computers.

Young People and Street Crime, a study conducted for the Youth Justice Board by leading academics, found that the importance young people place on image, together with economic and personal factors, were the main triggers in the surge in street crime.

The report will be published today as the Government is expected to disclose that the crime rate in England and Wales has risen again since the summer when it showed an annual increase of seven per cent. Burglary rates are set to jump sharply, heaping pressure on the Government after Lord Chancellor Derry Irvine sparked a backlash of criticism by saying it was right to keep first-time burglars out of jail.

And gun crime has risen by more than 20 per cent in the past 12 months, the figures are set to show, fuelled by record levels of offences involving illegal handguns.

The street robbery analysis, based on in-depth studies of four London boroughs and interviews with police, parents, victims and young people, reveals some of the patterns behind the unprecedented surge in street robbery.

Academics found that street crime was highest in "in deprived areas where there are pockets of affluence", where youngsters craved the latest fashion accessories and had a ready supply of richer victims.

Street robbery peaked at 232 offences per day in London in November 2001 and fell again to 153 offences per day by the end of last year after Scotland Yard began Operation Safer Streets.

Courts have got tougher in dealing with mobile phone theft, but today's report is clear that the priority must be prevention. Otherwise, it warns: "An increasing proportion of the young population risks going into adulthood with a criminal record as a result of the changing material expectations of young people, the breakdown of families and communities and the gap between wealth and poverty."

The study found that teenage boys with no positive male role models in their lives and those alienated from mainstream education were most at risk of becoming street robbers. Stealing mobile phones was their most likely first offence.

It states that young people said they "need" to possess the most prestigious model of mobile phone and other fashion items to have sufficient status among their peers.

It says: "Young people know who is most likely to be vulnerable by the way they look and dress. Those who look weak or unfashionable are more likely to be picked on."

The report adds: "Young people's motives for robbery included the 'buzz' it gave them and appearing tough in order to avoid getting picked on by others."

Lord Warner, chairman of the Youth Justice Boar, is expected to say the research shows the consumer culture has motivated offenders to rob. And as well as bringing them to justice, it is vital young people in high-crime areas are given constructive opportunities.