Teenage gang members held after crime wave

TWO MORE members of a teenage gang which is said to be responsible for a pounds 1.5m crime wave in a south London suburb have been arrested, Scotland Yard confirmed last night, writes Terry Kirby.

Police said the gang - which has a hard core of about 10 members - has committed hundreds of offences, including burglary and car theft, during the past 18 months in the Sutton area. Some of its members have committed dozens of offences while on bail.

Two members were arrested attempting to steal a car on Thursday night and appeared before Sutton Youth Court the next day. One, aged 13, was remanded into a secure local authority home; the other, aged 14, was given bail.

Six other members of the gang are said to be in secure accommodation or in custody, three are on bail and one is in a non- secure unit.

Lady Olga Maitland, the Conservative MP for the area, who raised the issue in the House of Commons, has backed complaints by police that the courts do not have sufficient powers to remand juvenile offenders into custody.