Teenagers behaving badly

UNRULY clusters of teenagers on the new footbridge and in the city centre are intimidating people, putting them off spending more time in the heart of town, it was claimed this week.

On Saturday night last those using the bridge were forced to step over teenagers who were rolling around on the ground, causing an obstruction, while at the Cityside end others were indulging in horseplay on the wrong side of the railings.

One of those who witnessed the teenagers’ antics was Waterside community worker Linda Watson, who said she would have to “think carefully” about visiting the town centre with her grandchildren again due to what she witnessed. She has now called on the powers-that-be to appoint wardens or to task community police

The teenagers were causing problems for people on Saturday evening last, according to Linda, who had decided to treat her two grandchildren, a boy and a girl, aged three and four, respectively, to an ice-cream in the town that night at about 7.30pm.

“As it was such a mild evening I decided to take my grandchildren for a walk and as they had really enjoyed walking over the new bridge when it was opened, I decided to take them across the new bridge. The children were very excited about looking at the water and could not wait to get to the other side because we had told them they would get an ice-cream at the new ice-cream shop on the other side of the city,” she said.

“When we walked off the bridge we could see there were clusters of teenagers larking around. Now, I have no problem with young people having a laugh, but this was different. We went into Waterloo Place to have our ice-cream and that is when it became apparent to us that these young people were doing more than just having some good-natured fun.

“Some of them were up on the walls and others were down in the square below them and they were engaged in shouting abuse and swearing at each other and the ones on the walls were spitting down on top of the others and throwing water bombs down on them. That part of the town was like a ghost town except for these young people, and this was about 7.30pm,” she said.

After the community worker bought the ice-creams the group made the return journey: “We didn’t want the grandchildren exposed to that kind of behaviour. It was very obviously not a family atmosphere and we found it very intimidating. It was coming up on 8pm so we decided to go home along the bridge, but when we approached the bridge we could see that behind the railing there was a ledge close to the opening for the bridge on the Cityside and there was about 12 teenagers on the ledge larking about. The boys were trying to push the girls into the water, and they were squealing and roaring. It was enough to put people off going onto the bridge.

“Further up a lifebouy had been removed from it’s mooring and a man who was coming over the bridge was trying to put it back in place, and as we got to him he said ‘This is disgraceful’. At that stage the language from the youngsters was really bad. We got half way across the bridge and there was another crowd of teenagers and they were rolling on the ground, so that people had to step over them to get passed. I thought it was madness,” she said.

The experience has put her off making family outings in the future: “I just feel that the town is now off limits for family outings. It has certainly put me off using the bridge and going over to the Cityside later at night when you can’t even take children over.

“I feel there should be some sort of community police or wardens on duty on the bridge and in the public spaces in the Cityside to stop this sort of thing from happening,” she said.

A spokesperson for city regeneration group ILEX, said representatives would be happy to meet Ms Watson to discuss the incidents, adding that anyone witnessing anti-social behaviour on the bridge should contact the police.

Meanwhile, a PSNI spokesman noting that anti-social behaviour can have “a devastating impact on the community”, and particularly on the elderly and vulnerable, said police wanted to work with members of the public to make communities safer.

A spokesperson for Derry City Council also said any incidents of anti-social behaviour should be reported to the PSNI, adding: “The appointment of security or wardens for the Peace Bridge would be a matter for Ilex, who own the Bridge. Its important to note that two of the Council’s Community Safety Wardens, who are normally employed to monitor the Northland area, have been redeployed over the summer months to monitor the city centre area, including the bridge. The wardens operate from Sunday through to Thursday from 8pm to midnight, but not on Friday or Saturday nights. The wardens will return to the student area of the Northlands once the new school term begins.”