'We know a lot of people around here, but I don’t trust a single one'
22.10.2023 - 06:09
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
A mum waits for her youngest son to finish school. For now, she’s at peace. She knows he’s somewhere safe.
But that calm will disappear at 3.30pm. Once they’ve walked back to their estate together, she won’t let him out alone. She can’t risk him being hurt.
It’s a sense of dread felt by many in Harpurhey. Following a spike in serious assaults, anti-social behaviour and even a death – the mum-of-six says she would rather “be at war” than live there any longer.
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“It’s like Beirut,” she told the Manchester Evening News. “It’s just all trouble. I’d rather be at war than live here. We know a lot of people around here, but I don’t trust a single one. Not a single one.”
The 46-year-old grew up in the north Manchester suburb and has lived there for many years.
It’s been just weeks since her other son was attacked by a balaclava-clad gang – only heightening her fears of raising children in the area.
“It’s gone downhill over the last five years,” she added. “The crime, the stabbings, people will fight and someone will have a knife. It’s just backwards and forwards with families.
“My son broke his collarbone and he’s scarred right across there. He was walking down the road and a group jumped him. They tried to rob him, he had a Gucci bag and a Canada Goose coat on.
“He tried to run away but they kicked him and he landed on the concrete steps. In hospital, we could see the bone piercing the skin.”
The mum says she’s even sent her four eldest children to live with their father in Bolton just to keep them away from the area.
“It wasn’t too bad here years back,”