Teenage bombers using lethal railway detonators

10:32am Wednesday 18th April 2001

Police fear the arrival of a new dangerous craze among schoolchildren following an incident in Woodside which left a 15-year-old with facial injuries.

Several explosive railway detonators have been stolen from railway tracks and trains, with sightings reported in school playgrounds.

A British Transport Police spokesman said: �We've had many thefts from trains and we're trying to tackle the problem.�

Detective Sergeant Peter Quinn, who investigated the latest attack, said: �The possibility of them taking somebody's hand off or eye out is very great.�

DS Quinn added: �What concerns me is one of the witnesses said it wasn't the first time he had seen one, he said he had seen them at school.�

An Ashburton pupil was walking with two friends at 12 noon on April 6, from Ashburton Park to Stroud Road, when a teenage BMX gang blasted his path with the railway detonator, knocking him off his feet and damaging his glasses.

The boy, from Beckford Road, was treated for facial bruising and cuts to his eye at Mayday Hospital, but was discharged later that day.

One of the injured boy's friends told police he had seen a number of the detonators at Ashburton school and had previously witnessed one exploding in the car park.

The railway detonators are usually laid on railway tracks in emergencies and triggered by approaching trains, to warn drivers of dangers further up the track.

About a dozen of the detonators are stored on board Connex trains and goods yards, but British Transport Police are responsible for tracking the stolen items.

The bombers are described as white males aged about 15 and were all riding BMX bikes. Police have no suspects and are appealing for witnesses.

Anyone with information should contact DS Peter Quinn on: 0208 6491212.

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