THE IRON HAND.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 20 January 1927, Page 9

THE IRON HAND.

• 4TERROR IN LONDON. DEADLY WEAPONS USED. Armed gangs of desperate young hooligans are spreading terror through the East End of London. Police and magistrates are set at savage defianee, and the menace to the community as a whole is a real one. It seems incredible to hear in these days of groups of youths and men between the ages of 18 and 25 roaming round armed with such deadly weapons as razors, knives, knotted ropes, studded belts, knuckle-dusters, bayonets, and even hammers and hatchets. It is oven more alarming to know that such weapons are used in the most brutal and cold-blooded way. That is the sort of thing that is going on almost daily in such East End districts as AVest Ham, Hoxton, Homerton. Houndsditeh and Hackney. Other cities —Birmingham, Sheffield and Glasgow, for instance —have been subject to reigns of terror in the same way, and for a long time have had gangs of desperadoes with an absolute contempt for law and order. The most savage affrays occur when rival gangs clash. The mere sight of a member of another gang is enough to set razors slashing and missiles flying*? For there are bitter vendettas which frequently lead to pitched battles in the streets with astounding fury. There is a loyalty amongst the gangsters worthy of a better cause, oaths of fealty are taken, and each gang has secret passwords and signs.

INFORMERS’ PERIL. Quite recently a police officer was od his beat in' a quiet street in. the East End, when he was felled by a cowardly blow from behind. A party of roughs proceeded to beat him into insensibility on the pavement. This was the vengeance of a convicted man’s confederates. Anyone giving information against the gangs to the police goes in peril of his life. Reprisals are carried out in the most callous and cruel manner. Shopkeepers and innkeepers are looked upon as “fair game” by the gangs, who help themselves to stock and make murderous threats of what will happen if there is any resistance or complaint. The police have to contend with a conspiracy of silence due to gang intimidation. Witnesses dare not come forward to give evidence against the hooligans. Again, police chiefs in gang ridden centres have protested that they do not receive strong enough backing from the magistrates. Sheffield has been the most notorious city in the country for the gang terror. But there has been a marked lull in the ruffians’ activities of late. The cause is significant. Nearly two years ago a man was murdered in a portion of the city infested by rival gangs. Two men wore hanged for the murder and several others were sentenced to long terms of penal servitude. The sentences had their effect in the comparative calm that has since reigned in the city. Sheffield gangsters often used firearms, coshers and broken beer glasses. GANGS’ WOMEN ADMIRERS. Glasgow has its “Norman Conks,” “Billy Boys” and other gangs, which, operating in the Bridgeton area, wage hitter war on one another to a degree that makes it unsafe for peaceable citizens to walk in the streets. Each gang has its young women admirers, who have been known to take more than a passive part in the wars. Birmingham has recently had a recrudescence of its old “slogging gangs,” which were for a long time suppressed as the result of stiff sentences, and in one instance a death sentence and a liberal dose of the. “cat.” A strengthening of the police forces in the worst districts is a remedy that is strongly advocated.