Small Heath bridge fenced in to stop yobs hurling bricks at cars

Feb 14 2009 by Mark Cowan, Birmingham Mail

A FOOTBRIDGE crossing a busy Birmingham commuter route has been fenced in – because yobs were using it as a platform to bombard passing cars with bricks and bottles.

The teen louts have left a trail of misery among drivers, shattering windscreens and damaging bodywork of cars passing along Small Heath Highway, in Small Heath.

Stechford Police said the bridge, crossing the A45 at the junction of Oldknow Road and Waverley Road, was being used by yobs targeting motorists with a potentially lethal barrage.

Between November and December, police had received 15 reports of stones being thrown at or dropped on passing motorists by young thugs.

One motorist suffered arm and leg injuries when a missile smashed through his windscreen as he drove beneath the bridge in his BMW.

Now the council has put up a roof and mesh panels to prevent objects being thrown onto the road below, which was designed to relieve congestion on parts of the Coventry Road.

Sgt Peta Griffin, from Coventry Road police station, said: “This was really dangerous, those responsible weren’t thinking of the consequences.

“If they had stopped and thought about what they were doing for a moment they would have realised it could have caused potentially fatal accidents.

“It did cause some serious ones and caused thousands of pounds worth of damage, not only to people’s vehicles but also to street furniture.”

She added: “The officers worked really hard to tackle this problem and put on extra patrols around the time schools were finishing for the day. The work they have done has completely stopped it.”

The move came after a meeting between Crime Reduction Officer PC Shaun Smith, the Small Heath Neighbourhood Team and city officials.

PC Daniel Pugh said: “Throwing stones at vehicles is potentially fatal. Fortunately, before the covering was installed nobody had been seriously injured.

“However, our officers and the council felt that immediate action needed to be taken to prevent serious or even fatal injuries.”