‘Not enough cops to stop it’: Warning on youth crime crisis

After two incidents allegedly involving teenage gangs, a senior police officer has warned Sydney is staring down the barrel of a worsening youth crime crisis and the police force is not equipped to deal with it.

A senior police officer has warned Sydney is staring down the barrel of a worsening youth crime crisis after two incidents allegedly involving teenage gangs.

The prediction follows an alleged shopping centre stabbing and a police pursuit that ended with a stolen SUV crashing into innocent drivers.

In one incident, police allege a young man was stabbed and a woman assaulted by five teenagers, including two girls, at Westfield Hornsby on Saturday afternoon.

It’s claimed the group approached the 21-year-old man and 27-year-old woman at the centre on the lower north shore about 3pm.

The man was stabbed in the leg with a knife and the woman assaulted when she went to help her friend, according to police.

A senior police officer said kids are using the Metro to go to shopping centres where they shoplift or cause trouble.

The man was taken to Royal North Shore Hospital and was reported to be in a stable condition, while the woman received minor injuries. Police allege the incident was captured on CCTV, which enabled officers to track the alleged offenders to Castle Hill Shopping Centre, where three 16-year-old boys and a 15-year-old girl were arrested.

A senior police officer warned youth crime was not just an issue in regional NSW.

“Kids are now using the Metro to travel between places like Hornsby, Castle Hill, Rouse Hill and St Leonards to hit the shopping centres to carry out shoplifting or just generally creating trouble,” he said.

“Everyone is talking about places like Moree and bush towns with youth crime but it’s here in Sydney suburbs as well and it will get worse because there are not enough cops to stop it.”

The three boys were all charged with robbery offences and refused bail to face a children’s court yesterday.

The girl, who was granted bail to appear later this month, is accused of being an accessory.

Police are still looking for another female teenager allegedly involved in the assault.

The senior police officer also said youth crime is becoming as prevalent in cities as it is in rural regions.

In an unrelated incident, four teenagers were arrested on Friday after allegedly breaking into a house in Sydney’s south and stealing a four-wheel drive before leading police on a chase.

About 6am, police were called to Ilkinia Place, Engadine, following reports of the car theft.

Soon after, police spotted the car at the intersection of the Princes Hwy and Church St, Blakehurst and a chase ensued, only to be terminated when the vehicle reached speeds of 110 km/h on King Georges Rd.

Shortly afterwards, the four-wheel drive crashed into multiple cars stopped at the intersection of King Georges Rd and Stoney Creek Rd, where four people were seen running from the car.

Paramedics treated a woman, who had been inside one of the stationary cars, at the scene but she did not require hospital treatment.

The occupants of the other vehicles were not injured.

Three boys were arrested a short time later at Beverly Hills Train Station, with a fourth arrested on Stoney Creek Rd in the same suburb.

All four were taken to Kogarah Police Station and charged with multiple offences.

Police will allege in court that before stealing the four-wheel drive, the group entered two other cars parked on Croston Rd, Engadine, and stole items that included a wallet containing cash.