Youth who attacked isle of dogs councillors is jailed

By Tom Derbyshire on February 21, 2008 10:53 AM |

Tagged with:

A YOUTH who attacked two Isle of Dogs councillors has been jailed for four months after failing to carry out his community service.

Phil Briscoe and Shirley Houghton, both Conservative members of Tower Hamlets Council, were set upon near the Barkantine Estate last September.

Thanks to CCTV cameras police tracked down the culprits, who were ordered to carry out community service by Thames Magistrates Court.

However, one of the attackers, a 17-year-old from the Isle of Dogs, failed to turn up for his community punishment and returned to court on January 24 when he was given a prison sentence.

Cllr Briscoe, who has campaigned for more security cameras on the Island, said: “It’s important that residents see that something can happen at the end of this process. It’s a good result because it
proves that there is a point to reporting incidents.

“The police case was aided by the fact the incident was captured on CCTV, which shows how essential it is to install more cameras on the Island.”

The CCTV that filmed the incident was a private camera operated by Toynbee Island Homes.

The councillors – a couple who married last year – said their car was also vandalised at around 5pm on Wednesday (February 13) last week.

It was parked in a residents’ car park off Westferry Road, and the “attack” was spotted by security guards. It was also captured on camera. Cllr Briscoe said: “The security guards chased them down the street, but couldn’t catch them.

“Some images were captured on CCTV, and we’ve passed them on to the police to see if they can identify the culprits.”

Story by John Hill
john.hill@wharf.co.uk