An 11-year-old boy was shoved to the ground and robbed of his scooter whilst on his way to school on Friday morning, prompting a police appeal for information.
The incident took place next to the A127 in Southend, near Kent Elms, between 7.30am and 8.10am. It was a time when many children and parents were travelling to nearby schools and the route was busy with traffic.
The boy was heading in the direction of Kent Elms when a man walking the opposite way suddenly pushed him off his scooter, grabbed the scooter and ran off with it.
The child fell face first onto the grass verge and was left shaken. His mother, Jo Oakley, said: “My 11-year-old was mugged for his scooter. He was pushed off his scooter, face first onto the grass verge, by an older adult male, who then ran or rode away towards Tesco. It’s a basic black scooter, not electric. It happened along the A127 just after Kent Elms.”
Neighbourhood police officers later located the scooter abandoned in a bush close to where the boy had been attacked, but the man responsible has not yet been found.
He is described as white, stocky, around 40 years old, with dark brown or black hair. He was wearing light-coloured jogging bottoms and a dark top. Police believe the busy location means drivers or pedestrians may have witnessed part of the incident without realising what had happened.
Officers have released a map showing the child’s route, the suspect’s route, the point of the robbery and the recovery point of the scooter, highlighting how close the attack was to the main road and surrounding homes.
MAP KEY:
- Red line: the child’s direction of travel
- Yellow line: the suspect’s direction of travel
- Blue circle: where the robbery happened
- Pink circle: where the scooter was found
Police are urging anyone with information, CCTV, dash cam or doorbell footage to check it in case the suspect was captured passing through the area. Any reports should quote reference 42/166342/25.
Information can be submitted through the Essex Police website or via the force’s online Live Chat service, which operates 24 hours a day.