Local kids collecting pennies for the guy' were robbed of their takings by a gang of local youths. The theft occurred between 1.30pm and 2.30pm and the kids collecting money were situated outside the Premier pub in Kirkby Town Centre. A gang of up to 20 youths, some on bikes, decided to bravely rob the poor lads who were outnumbered and outsized by the gang. This is always the case. People who rob off their own are scum.

The lads collecting pennies for the guy had done well from their collections outside the Premier pub. The generosity of Kirkby people is amazing, and many of us have collected 'pennies for the guy' when younger and spent a great deal of time building 'guys' from old clothes and whatever we could use. Standing outside local pubs is a popular spot, but it seems that Kirkby Town centre is not safe for our kids to carry on this tradition. This is a sign of the times. Apparently some of the staff from a nearby shop tried to intervene but it was too late and the thieves had fled.

Kirkby is a small town, and after initial inquiries it was easy to discover the identity of the thief(s). The gang or one in particular, snatched the money, along with a mask which was being used to hold the collected money in. The lads who were robbed will be reluctant to report it - after all - could they be ensured that the gang would not take revenge for what some see as grassing? The thief is local, like the rest of this brave gang. We wonder why is the great CCTV system in the town centre (or the 19 CCTV's in N-wood) not actually leading to the many thefts there being discovered. We wonder why not ONE leaflet or poster has been put naming and shaming the worse offenders. Would the Police have even treated this as a crime? The truth is, there are kids who see that bullying and intimidation works. Worse still, they may even be given a trip to Alton Towers for being bad or a free computer if they stay off school long enough. Meanwhile, the decent kids are not only scared to speak out, they see the bad being rewarded. The community is scared to challenge these bullies. We have seen several grown men in Kirkby almost killed when they have challenged gangs of youth.

If your kids are out collecting 'pennies for a guy' - make sure they do so in a safe spot and make sure they never leave money on public display. We cannot allow the minority to spoil it for all of us. Good luck - Kirkby times will be donating a fiver to the kids who were robbed - call it the good deed for the day.