GANGLAND GODFATHER

Louis Vuitton, Luella Bartley, Marc Jacobs, Anya Hindmarch and Sonia Rykiel are just a few of the shops targeted by "scooter gangs" - criminals on mopeds who drive through the windows and take what they want. Oddly, they don't clear out the shop; rather, they pick and choose very specific handbags. This suggests they are taking orders, possibly for collectors who don't want to wait. It's all speculative at this point, as tracking of the stolen goods has proved unsuccessful. Bold smash-and-grab thefts of handbags in London's upscale designer shops are increasing, reports British Vogue in the September issue. Metropolitan Police say the gangs work in groups of six or more young men, and there are currently about six gangs operating in London. They work for a middleman who shifts the goods which are thought to be transported overseas, "likely Russia and the United Arab Emirates where you can still get a high price for a designer bag."Designers aren'...

In London alone 27 teenagers were stabbed to death last year. There have been at least four deaths this year already. Two weeks ago, in a London suburb, a schoolgirl was beaten, gang-raped and then had caustic soda poured over her to eliminate traces of her attackers’ DNA. She is in a burns unit and fighting for her life. Three youths are awaiting sentencing for kicking to death a harmless disabled man in Sunderland. In Warrington a father of three was beaten to death for protesting at youths who were vandalising cars. A few miles away a woman of 60 had to be put on life support after a thug fractured her face for refusing him a cigarette. She will be permanently blind in one eye.