Plain clothes gardaí patrol Cork bus route to stop teens robbing

Plainclothes Gardaí have been patrolling the 202 bus to Mahon.
A number of first-year and second-year students have been robbed of sums of money while taking the bus to and from school.
Sergeant Stewart Philpott from the Garda Community Policing division said plain-clothes operations had been implemented randomly over the past two weeks in a bid to catch the culprits.
“It is something that came to light after a parent contacted us after her son was robbed of a substantial sum of money,” he said.
Sgt Philpott said there was no official complaint made to the Gardaí in relation to the situation, but they had taken steps to investigate the issue regardless.
“We have identified a number of people who we think may be involved in the activity, there is definite extortion, coercion and intimidation, but it is very subtle.
“It is first and second-year students being targeted by teenagers a bit older, roughly 15 or 16 years of age.
“We think they all know each other and that is why no complaint has yet been made.”
Sgt Philpott said they had visited the schools involved and offered basic crime prevention tips to the students.
“The advice is very basic, don’t carry large sums of money on you, be aware of who is around and you and try not to be alone.”