MCK100

@NewWave I know how you feel. Like you, I've lived and spent prolonged periods of time in some pretty crazy places and always thought I could handle a bunch of kids. But, no - they got to me and I was shaking like a leaf afterwards. That's what age does to us. But I did engage with them, so bear that in mind. My advice would be to never let anything like that stop you doing the things you love. I'm certainly not going to stop using the park, there's no way they get to take away our cherished spaces! If you see them, just change tack and keep out of their way. My dog won't even go that way again, so that's that problem solved. (If I see them again, I'm going to keep taking photos from a safe distance).

@Dulwichway Absolutely - I'm in no way trying to say that what happened was life-changing. I've encountered way worse situations and think of myself as pretty tough, which is why I took them on and got pelted. I suppose I'm just taken aback because the park always seemed so safe. But the stats I've just posted contradict that. I suppose the one of the points of this thread is to point out that they weren't just numpty youths - I'd bet money on some of them being involved in more serious criminality. And to tell others to be vigilant.

https://www.met.police.uk/area/your-area/met/southwark/peckham-rye/on-the-team/top-reported-crimes-in-this-area If you look at the stats, clearly the police and SNTs have their work cut out. There is a massive spike in crime in that area in May - almost double previous months.

@first mate I assume Alice made a mistake, as she removed her reaction. I was wondering about park wardens. As I said, there was one there last night, who was incredibly helpful and proactive. As well as bringing me to the police, he caught up with a young guy on a bike who'd earlier been the victim of an attempted theft by these kids and linked him up with the police too. But I do wonder, as I've only very occasionally seen him riding around, how many they have and what hours they patrol. I've no doubt they'd be a strong deterrent if they had a better presence. They were nowhere to be seen the first time around. Update: I've just found this: https://services.southwark.gov.uk/community-safety/community-wardens The guy in the photo at the bottom of the page was the lovely warden of last night and I've just now remembered him telling me he's based in Burgess Park. Anyway, there needs to be more of them, as I rarely see one in Peckham.

It happened again tonight. This time a group of kids ( I hate saying that, because it makes them sound less intimidating than they are), threatened to throw a water bomb at me. When I dared them, they started lobbing them. Then they started saying they were going to kill my dog and one of them jumped over the fence of the Japanese Garden and took a running kick at my dog, who got out of the way. He jumped back over the fence, then came back, came within a meter of me and threw a water bomb really hard at me. I can't be sure it was exactly the same crowd as last time, though I suspect the male ring leader could be. The police came and were amazing - as was the park warden - and are fairly confident of the identity of one of them and think they may have tried to arrest him before. There were maybe as many as 15 of them, aged 16-18, all Caucasian, girls and boys (girls being just as aggressive as the boys). The ring leader is a slight man, dark hair / eyes, possibly with facial hair about 5'6", petite, wearing an all-blue tracksuit. So please be careful when you're in the park around 6.30 / 7pm. The local SNT have been informed.

I'm thinking of going to India at Christmas and it's been 18 years since I last visited. So long ago, I can hardly remember where I went (I was there for 8 weeks...). Has anyone been to the South recently? I'm thinking Kerala, as we fancy some beach action.

I'm not being sensitive, I just don't see the logic of the argument If you see a group of kids being obnoxious and intimidating, you're gonna avoid them and call the cops, whether or not they match the description of the original group.

The assault isn't alleged. But chances are, if you see a bunch of lanky under 18s, with tracksuits on, faces hidden by masks, lobbing missiles off the roof of the cafe in the park, it's probably the same lot. I'm pretty sure most of them were white, so there was no omission on that front, but I thank you for your generosity in thinking that my bourgeois over-sensitivity would compel me to protect the little scumbags from hurt feelz. However, if I did provide a detailed description here and if you then thought you'd seen a similar-sounding lot hanging around nearby, I'm not sure how this information would be remotely useful to you. Unless you were planning to confront them and ask them if they were on Peckham Rye last week and then give them a right telling off? So it was a strange post.

Agreed Sue - I was suspicious of this post. The poster has only posted once, too. If you were one of those kids, or you know them, I can tell you that I have some excellent photos of some of them on the roof, which I passed to the police. What they did was assault.

One of them climbed a tree and was breaking branches off and lobbing them at people as they walked underneath (myself included). When I stopped, looking shaken, they laughed at me. Then they moved to near the cafe, climbed onto the roof and lobbed a beer bottle, a shoe, and various other things off the roof. One nearly hit a woman sitting there. Needless to say they ran off just as I was calling the police.

Does anyone have any recommendations for a solicitor who specialises in lease law? I'm one of a block of flats which is facing a change in lease and we need some legal advice.

There are some bins in the park specifically for dog poo with lids you have to lift. I never use them because the idea of touching the lids makes me want to hurl.

It does seem particularly bad at the moment and there are definitely fewer bins. The problem with those bins - and presumably the reason they keep getting moved / removed - is that the foxes get into them and empty the contents all over the pavement. It's never pleasant to be greeted by poo bags and dirty nappies strewn across your path first thing in the morning. I don't think the type of person who doesn't pick up their dog's poo is going to change or suddenly start using bins, even if the council issued more. Those of us who pick up after our dogs know where all the bins are and just keep hold of the bag until we reach them.

Many thanks, Tiddles. You're a star!