Police to patrol areas near schools after pupils targeted in violent robberies

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

Don't miss a thing by getting the day's biggest stories sent direct to your inbox Police patrols will be stepped up in Blackley when children return to school next week after a number of pupils were robbed at gunpoint.

Officers will be deployed around schools in the area as children arrive and go home. It comes after a gang of around seven thugs aged about 16 to 18 and armed with a handgun and machete stole mobile phones from five children as they were leaving the Co-operative Academy on March 23 One 14-year-old boy was pistol-whipped about the head and needed hospital treatment.

Three other boys were struck with the wooden end of the machete, one suffering a split nose. Following the attacks hundreds of people gathered at a 'Protect