Postcode war flare-up: Sydney school kids attacked with knives, punched, kicked

Police are working with schools and young people to stop knife crime and violence, as postcode war videos emerge of school boys being punched, kicked and threatened

Youth gang wars plaguing Sydney’s west are bleeding into school playgrounds, train stations and local parks, with students being chased, threatened with knives and attacked on their way to and from school by members from rival postcodes.

Experts say a string of horrific incidents have been fuelled by “drill rap” culture and postcode wars, which have flared up once again in Sydney’s west.

This year alone, there have been horrific displays of violence on school kids, many of which have been filmed and posted to social media in an attempt to “post and boast”.

In February, a teen boy had a knife pulled on him by an older boy in the school toilets at Chifley College’s Bidwill campus, before he was bashed by two others.

A teen boy pulls a knife on another student at Chifley College’s Bidwill campus.

A 35-second clip of the brutal attack was posted to social media on Tuesday, with some of the aggressors later claiming to be from a gang called OPK – while the victim was a “civ” – which means he has no gang affiliations.

Also this week, students dressed in their school uniforms were chased by members of the 67 Doonside gang as they walked home from school in Shalvey.

The gang members were allegedly driving a stolen car and ran at the school boys with machetes, asking them if they were linked to rival gang RFA.

The rivalry between the two gangs flared up two weeks ago, following a home invasion in Doonside, which ended with a police officer being stabbed.

Another horrific video emerged last month, of a 15-year-old boy being circled, punched and kicked by several alleged gang members at Chester Hill train station as he made his way home from school.

A group of teenagers claiming to be from the 67 gang chase a group of school boys, still in uniform, with machetes. Picture: Supplied

In January, footage emerged showing teens from rival Cabramatta and Mt Druitt gangs, some of them still in uniform, pulling huge weapons out of their school bags.

Police sources said they are worried about violence among school kids, particularly in postcode gang hot spots like Mt Druitt, where they were often called to Chifley College, which sits at the crossroads of gangs like OneFour, RFA and Lf70.

“School is where a lot of it starts, because you have kids from all different suburbs coming together,” one officer told the Telegraph.

“We’re doing a lot of work in the classroom to get ahead of this stuff.”

A former juvenile detention teacher, who asked to remain anonymous in order to speak freely about the issue, said “disputes in the community” are now being imported into schoolyards, while social media had emboldened teen gangsters to become “brazen” in their attacks.

“There’ll be some dispute in a community, and the thing with social media now is that they’ll film it … they’re actually producing evidence of an assault and don’t realise the consequences,” he said.

A postcode fuelled brawl earlier this year.

School children pulling knives from their school bags and pockets including a machete.

By the time they end up in detention, gang membership is so rife that staff have to “be careful” about how many youths from each faction they accommodate together.

Despite ‘post and boast’ legislation making it an offence to film a crime and brag about it online, the teacher said kids are largely unaware of the implications of the law and “that’s the price they’re willing to pay for that level of fame”.

“It’s quite shocking to me that anyone would think that’s not a cowardly and despicable act,” he said.

In recent months, NSW Police visited 77 schools across the state as part of Operation Pivot, conducting 105 high-visibility patrols of schools and known youth crime hot spots, along with 215 home visits – in a bid to stop kids committing crime.

A NSW Police spokesman said they had recently conducted several operations to stop youth knife violence in particular.

“Many of these young people lack an understanding of how dangerous these weapons can be and the consequences for having these weapons in public,” the spokesman said.

Coalition spokesman and former education minister Sarah Mitchell said engaging local police in school communities is essential in addressing youth gang violence.

“It’s really important that parents can have confidence that schools are safe places, so therefore it’s important that schools, The Department of Education and police work together to respond to increased violent behaviour in schools,” she said.

The NSW Department of Education said while there hadn’t been any gang-related incidents identified on school grounds, teachers and staff worked with police to ensure they safety of all students.

“We do not tolerate any violence in our schools and work closely with NSW Police and other agencies to promote positive behaviour inside and outside schools,” a spokesman said.