'They face no consequences' Despair over 'feral' youths plaguing Edinburgh's Princes Street

Shopkeepers complain of being racially abused, sworn at and kicked by children as young as ten

Shopkeepers on Princes Street have called for tougher sanctions on feral youths causing havoc in the city centre, after some revealed they are being subjected to abuse, racism and physical violence on a daily basis.

Priscilla Amador, the manager of two souvenir shops opposite Waverley Market, said her staff deal with trouble “every single day” from kids, some of whom she said are as young as ten years old.

The 40-year-old said the youngsters come to the store to shoplift, and “scream abuse” and racist insults when staff intervene. She said she once had her hair yanked by a young girl after confronting her for stealing a toy highland cow.

She said other staff members have been kicked, and in July an employee at a nearby store, which has since closed its Princes Street store, was allegedly slapped in the face.

She said anti-social behaviour has been a problem for the last two years, but has got significantly worse in the last six months. She said she regularly sees the youths harassing tourists on the street, including spraying them using waterguns and chasing them with ropes.

“Every day from about 4pm it goes completely wild,” said Ms Amador. “Yesterday, I saw four boys jump on the back of a Lothian Country bus and ride all the way down the street.

“Then they came back and were pushing each other onto the road.”

Veeksha Murthy, who has been an assistant at the store for a year, said the behaviour has led to her feeling worried and scared about going to work.

“That’s the part that upsets me,” said Ms Amador. “They can say what they like to me but when I have a ten-year-old girl screaming racist abuse and telling my staff to ‘go back to India’, that’s what makes me angry.

“I don’t want them to have to go through that.”

Since July, dozens of extra police officers have been deployed in the Princes Street area as part of a new City Centre Policing Unit, which is partly funded by Edinburgh council’s Visitor Levy.

In the unit’s first month, Police Scotland said officers carried out over 200 “youth interactions” and had arrested 49 people.

In Scotland, a child under the age of 12 cannot be arrested, charged or prosecuted for a crime. For most offences youngsters will receive an “early intervention” such as warning.

But Ms Amador said the current lack of repercussions young people face is what is driving the behaviour, saying the troublemakers “know they are untouchable”.

“They have a sense of impunity that is so large,” she said. “There are more police officers on the street than before, but at the moment they just seem to just get a knock on the door and get a telling off.

“They have to face some sort of consequences. I know they are too young to go to jail but maybe they should be made to do classes, community work or some sort of extracurricular activity.”

Conservative councillor Joanna Mowat, who last week called for a balaclava ban in the city centre, said she agreed there needed to be further penalties for young people terrorising residents and visitors in the streets.

“The police say they can’t do anything, but we have to find a way,” she said. “A large part of the problem is they think they are immune, so there has to be some kind of consequence.

“A good first step would be making sure the police take them home, and to take their free bus passes away.

“I don’t think it’s a coincidence that they gather on Princes Street next to where all the buses stop.

She continued: “We have to keep the city centre safe and we can’t have them wandering around with impunity.

“This is becoming more and more visible and if the city centre gets a reputation for being an unsafe place, that's going to harm businesses and a lot of the jobs that rely on tourists being in that area of the city.”

Roddy Smith, CEO of Essential Edinburgh, the Business Improvement District for the city centre, said: “We are working closely with Police Scotland and our businesses to put in place measures to support the business community but importantly we need stronger political support to give the authorities increased power.

“If youths are causing problems and behaving in a threatening and intimidating manner they need to know they will face potential sanctions, at present they feel untouchable.

“We will continue to lobby for this at every opportunity, as well as putting forward solutions to tackle the problem including working with youth groups.

“Edinburgh city centre is a very safe place to come and enjoy yourself but a small minority of youths from across the central belt do at times challenge this perception.

“We need a co-ordinated approach between politicians, Police Scotland, community, youth and business groups to address the issue.”