Hamilton Hill: Ducks Deli Lunch Bar manager says youth crime is so bad even three-year-olds are raiding store

Like a seasoned and hardened criminal this masked figure walks into an unassuming deli in Perth’s southern suburbs armed with a large knife and a bag. The terrified staff flee before he allegedly helps himself to $800 worth of cigarettes. A brazen daylight robbery like this is nothing new to the people of Hamilton Hill but who police say carried out the raid last week is a shock — a 13-year-old boy. The boy, who police described as having a “large build”, has been charged with armed robbery. The manager of Ducks Deli Lunch Bar said the age of the alleged assailant who fleeced his business was, unfortunately, no surprise. Eric said youth crime in the area was out of control as he revealed children as young as three-years-old were regularly shoplifting from his store. “They come in a group of five, grab things (and put them) in the pocket,” he told The West Australian. “When they’re under 18, if you report to police, it really doesn’t help unless (they do something) serious you know … I don’t think it’s worth reporting it to the police.” Eric said the alleged robbery by the 13-year-old was the second time teenagers targeted the store to steal cigarettes since February. He said he reported the burglary to police after two males, whom he suspected were also young, were caught on CCTV breaking into the store. “A lot of people (from other stores) are telling me because of the economy poor people (are getting) more poor … and the smokes get more expensive, so they just come in and grab them,” he said. “They target the deli, supermarket, IGA … stealing is a big problem for us.” The young manager said staff did not feel safe working at the store since the armed hold-up, and they now kept a baseball bat under the counter for protection. The woman working on June 23 told The West at the weekend she ran because she “was so scared”. Five months earlier police had descended on the Simms Road deli when a man was stabbed three times in the leg while in a car outside the convenience store. Earlier this month, a 65-year-old retiree was left unconscious and bleeding on the ground in his Hamilton Hill retirement village 3km from the deli. The bashing was one of 92 robbery and burglary offences reported to police in Hamilton Hill over the past year.

Hamilton Hill: Ducks Deli Lunch Bar manager says youth crime is so bad even three-year-olds are raiding store

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