Teens behind Easter weekend chaos at Barnham station were from out of area, meeting reveals

The meeting was called by the Barnham and Eastergate Parish Council at short notice after a spate of anti-social violence over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend, which saw four teenage girls, aged 13 to 16, arrested on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker and possession of cannabis, having ignited a brawl on the station platform.

Many residents see this weekend’s incident as the tip of the iceberg of anti-social behaviour in Barnham and Bognor Regis, and used the meeting as an opportunity to call for harsher punishments for juvenile offenders, as well as a more visible police presence in the area.

The meeting was attended by local PCSO Caroline Wilson, as well as her Sergeant Lou Baileff, who revealed that the teens concerned are not believed to be locals.

"We are working very hard (...) to try and establish why they are coming to Barnham,” Sergeant Baileff said. “It’s very much a top priority for me to work out ‘why here?’ We know as a station in general it has a lot of links to other stations, even though it is a small village. So that’s obviously a factor, but I do think there’s going to be more to it than that.”

Residents also shared stories of their experiences with anti-social violence in the area, with some suggesting that, without proper youth provision, many teens simply don’t have enough to do, and turn to anti-social behaviour out of boredom.

In a statement released yesterday, prompted by the response to incidents over the bank holiday, Sussex Police revealed that more than a dozen arrests had been made in a bid to curb anti-social behaviour in Barnham. The arrests came as part of Operation Precinct, which launched in February in response to increased levels of anti-social behaviour in Barnham. Of those arrests, as well as the seven young people interviewed by appointment, three have been charged and nine will be dealt with via out of court disposals.

Four community protection warnings have also been issued, and nine people have been banned from the Co-Op store for stealing, with five more in the process of being banned.