Teenage girl gang hunted by police

Ordeal for child with learning difficulties

POLICE today appealed for help in catching three teenage girls who surrounded a 15-year-old girl with learning difficulties in the toilets at Oldham’s Sainsbury store and demanded she hand over her mobile telephone.

The victim was first confronted by the trio at Oldham Library, and they then followed her when she left the building to go to the supermarket.

The girl went into a toilet cubicle and called her mother to say she had been followed by a group of girls she knew.

The trio, aged 13 to 18, then followed her into the cubicle and one demanded her mobile phone and threatened to assault her if she did not give it up.

They surrounded the girl until a shopper went into the toilets and asked what was going on and told the group to leave the girl alone, giving the teenager time to leave.

She walked around the store, still followed by the group, until her mother arrived, and the two then walked together to Oldham police station to report the matter. The incident happened at Sainsbury’s Union Street store at around 4pm on Saturday, May 15.

Detectives investigating the incident believe the girls and their teenage victim have previously had run-ins, and have appealed to anyone who either witnessed what happened or has any information to come forward.

Officers are particularly keen to hear from the member of the public who intervened and helped the teenager.

She was white, with shoulder-length brown hair and wore three-quarter length jeans and pushed a light-coloured pram.

PC Craig Rice, from Oldham police, said: “These girls are bullies. Whether they have targeted the teenage girl because she has learning difficulties is impossible to say, but they have clearly singled her out and put her through quite a frightening ordeal. This sort of bullying cannot go unpunished and we need to find those responsible.

“No one should be confronted in this way and I hope the three girls involved are ashamed of themselves.

“I am particularly keen to find the woman with the pram who intervened and showed a lot of compassion by not turning a blind eye and stopping this group in their tracks before the situation got out of hand.

“Her information could be vital and I’m sure the girl and her mum would like to thank you personally, so please if you are reading this do come forward.

He added: “It is important to give the young girl and her family the satisfaction of identifying those responsible and ensuring she is no longer targeted.

“Please, if you can help us do that do the right thing and come forward.”

Anyone with information should call the Oldham Volume Crime Team on 0161-856 69577 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800-555 111.