Street Robbery in Greater Manchester

1
Street Robbery in Greater Manchester

• Victim report data (04/99 11/02)
• Interviews with 20 convicted street robbers-
  prisons, probation and YOT offices
• 3 focus groups with students

2
Criminal Careers
3
Criminal careers

• You do different crimes when youre younger.
  When you get older you want more innit, you want
  more things, you do bigger stuff

4
Motivations for committing street robbery
5
Drug users

• There was some girl stood at a bus stop and I
  hadnt had drugs for 2 days, I was rattling, I
  needed some money to get into town and I took it,
  didnt care
• I cant believe what I was doing you know, Ive
  been over it time and time again in my head and
  like, what the fuck was I doing doing something
  like that? I was off my face

6
Young Offenders

• I wanna look good, I want to have my own
  clothes, dont want to be scrounging off my mum
  all the time, you know what I mean?
• Yeah, on the street, thats how you get respect,
  do you know what I mean?, Yeah, most people who
  go out robbing show people they can, just so they
  can get street cred and get in there with
  everybody else

7
Easy targets

• You can spot em, you know if theyre wearing
  nice clothes or whateverproper clueless looking
  students, its obvious theyre not used to living
  in a city.you know, they dont quite fit in in
  the area, they look a bit wary about something,
  anything like that.

8
Drug Dealers

•  I would know somebody and I know they had a lot
  of drugs or a lot of money, and I know when they
  have that on them or in the house and what their
  movements would besomebody who I thought was
  proper nasty or whatever you know, Id think well
  he deserves it anyway

9
Drug Users

• I went to the phone box and this guy was in the
  house waiting to scoreand like I had a bat and
  when he came out I leathered im with it, and I
  just went see you later and legged it with the
  stash

10
Unacceptable Targets

• I come picky when I wanna rob someone I
  wouldnt like rob femalesCos it aint big, it
  aint hard to rob a woman is it?
• you get smackheads who rob old people, wholl
  see an old woman walking from the post office and
  snatch her handbag or something like that. I
  mean thats just not right. If I seen someone do
  that Id kill em, Id kill em on the spot.

11
Targeting the wrong victim

• A guy near here, I think he was a businessman he
  fought for his shit, he werent giving it up, so
  we had him for about 15 minutes, just punching
  the fuck out of him he gave it up in the end
• Ive had about 2 black eyes, where theyve
  actually fought for their shit, but when that
  happens they just get stamped up, they end up
  coming off worse with nothing, and getting fucked
  up

12
Intimidation and threats

• Interviewer Did you learn anything about how to
  be better at street robbery?
• Yeah approaching more violently, to intimidate
  themyoud run up to them, grab them and all that
  sort of thing
• Give me your fucking money!, thats the threat
  you get, whatever you wanna say, its a threat I
  can kill you, you know what I mean?just the
  words make them give it up or whatever.

13
Physical Violence

• If you go up to someone, hit him, no matter
  what, hes thinking argh, this guys hit me,
  this guy must be sicker than me.

14
Use of Weapons

• Ive never like used the knife, Ive sometimes
  shown it, but Ive never used it, Ive never
  actually had it right up to somebody as a weapon,
  Ive made threats you know saying Ive got a
  blade on me or whatever

15
Victim Reaction

• If I was walking down the road and I said yo,
  give me your money and he goes no, fuck off,
  theyre showing us that theyre not arsed, trying
  to take us. Dont get me wrong, I end up
  twatting em, saying fuck off you know what I
  mean, but they just end up getting it twice as
  bad.
• youd see them about to try and have a gobut
  its just like look you muppet, how dare you cos
  I know more about the streets than you do so how
  dare you turn round and try and