News / KNowle West

Troubled Bristol street starting to turn a corner after years of ‘relentless’ attacks

By Amanda Cameron  Wednesday Dec 23, 2020

Life on a troubled Knowle West street is finally starting to turn a corner after years of “relentless” attacks on shopkeepers and others in the area, according to official sources.

Newquay Road made the news a year ago when it was reported that bored groups of young people were terrorising people in the area, hurling racist abuse and lobbing digestive biscuits at shoppers.

The attacks were “non stop” until recently but things have started to turn around in the last few weeks, according to a Bristol organisation tackling hate crime.

Independent journalism
is needed now More than ever
Keep our city's journalism independent. Become a supporter member today.

Stand Against Racism and Inequality (SARI), which leads Bristol’s Hate Crime and Discrimination Services, told city health leaders in October that a working group had been set up to tackle the problem.

Alex Raikes, who is SARI’s strategic director, said: “We’ve got lots of shopkeepers and other victims being targeted by a large group of young people relentlessly.

“It’s just non-stop so at the moment we’ve got a huge multi-agency group to tackle all the complex issues going on there.”

Alex Raikes works for SARI. Photo: Bristol24/7

Since the meeting of Bristol’s health and wellbeing board, however, Raikes has told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the group is “seeing a turnaround” in the behaviour of young people in the Newquay Road area.

“I would say it has definitely started to turn a corner, it has definitely started to improve,” she said.

Police have confirmed the improvements, saying civil injunctions have been obtained against two teenage boys to prevent them from carrying out anti-social behaviour in the area.

Shopkeepers spoken to by the Local Democracy Reporting Service were unwilling to comment for fear of reprisals.

But Raikes said the retail workers were “traumatised” by years of “relentless” abuse and it was difficult for some of them to recognise that things were improving.

“It takes a long time for people to feel safe again after they’ve been attacked for a long time, and for people to feel safe to walk around in the neighbourhood when they’ve gone shopping and been abused,” she said. “It’s going to take a long time before they feel that.”

Raikes said the Newquay Road working group co-ordinated by SARI had seen some real successes in the past couple of months, thanks to a huge effort by a large number of organisations.

There were no incidents on Halloween or Guy Fawkes night – “that’s kind of unheard of for that area”, she said.
Some young people had even been helping to deliver food parcels.

“Every day and every night we’ve got something going on to try and encourage young people to take part in more positive activities,” she said. “That’s really beginning to work.”

Changes are being made in Knowle West. Photo: Lowie Trevena

Raikes said the problems stemmed from a complex mix of insufficient resources, support, awareness and “understanding of difference”.

As a result the working group comprised a diverse array of agencies, including youth groups, housing services, the police, community development workers, Bristol City Council, SARI and restorative justice charity Resolve West.

“We’ve been particularly getting to the bottom of who’ve been perpetrating the incidents many of which are local young people who just haven’t got resources or the right support networks around them,” she said.

“Many of them have got really caring parents who are also struggling to know what to do because locally a lot of resources have been shut down or gone to disrepair.”

Raikes said Covid-19 funding had been used to get youth services back up and running and there had been “huge” support from the local community to try and make a difference.

A basketball court has been repaired, local sports facilities reopened, and events held for young people, she said.
Police confirm ‘positive improvements’

In September 2019, Newquay Road saw more antisocial behaviour (ASB) than any other street in Bristol, with 12 reports according to the Avon and Somerset police crime map.

In November this year, police said they had seen “positive improvements” after taking 31 calls from shop staff reporting various offences in the previous 12 months.

Knowle West residents at Newquay Road. Photo: Claudia Collins

A spokesperson for police said: “We’re aware of the concerns of local shopkeepers about anti-social behaviour in Newquay Road and are working with them, the community and partners including SARI and Bristol City Council to address the issues.

“As well as carrying out thorough investigations where offences are reported, our approach includes referring young people who are at risk of becoming involved in ASB or crime to agencies providing diversionary activities and services offering family support.

“This approach is paying off with positive improvements recently. In the last two weeks we and our partners have worked really hard and were rewarded with no incidents over Halloween and Bonfire Night.

“We understand the impact of anti-social behaviour on people’s wellbeing and livelihoods. As well as continuing to work with the community and other agencies the neighbourhood team has a patrol plan in place to target hotspots.

“We will always prioritise attendance at calls reporting physical violence and any victim reporting a crime which has been motivated or aggravated by hate is offered support through SARI or other relevant agencies, as well as our own Lighthouse team.

“In the past 12 months we’ve had 31 calls from shop staff reporting public order offences, harassment and anti-social behaviour involving young people, including a report of racially-aggravated malicious communications in January after calls were made to a shop from a withheld number and a racially-aggravated public order offence reported in March. Both related to offensive remarks made about coronavirus.

“None of these calls related to assaults on shop staff by young people. In 21 of these incidents shop staff were making third-party reports.

“We’re progressing a number of investigations which may lead to either criminal prosecution of defendants or measures such as civil injunctions being put in place under ASB legislation.

“We always encourage people to report ASB at the time it happens, with as much information as possible about those responsible.

“This means that even if officers are unavailable to attend immediately we can investigate and target our patrol plans to deter and disrupt this behaviour.”

Amanda Cameron is a local democracy reporter for Bristol.

Main photo: Jez McNeill

Read more: Exploring south Bristol, the new wild west

Our top newsletters emailed directly to you
I want to receive (tick as many as you want):
I'm interested in (for future reference):
Marketing Permissions

Bristol24/7 will use the information you provide on this form to be in touch with you and to provide updates and marketing. Please let us know all the ways you would like to hear from us:

We will only use your information in accordance with our privacy policy, which can be viewed here - www.bristol247.com/privacy-policy/ - you can change your mind at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in the footer of any email you receive from us, or by contacting us at meg@bristol247.com. We will treat your information with respect.


We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By clicking below to subscribe, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. Learn more about Mailchimp's privacy practices here.

Bristol24/7 is an independent media outlet and community interest company. We're not owned by a large corporation and your contribution will help keep it this way. It will also help us grow and improve our content. By supporting us you will:
  • Support young people, charities and environmental projects in Bristol
  • Shape a Better Bristol
  • Enjoy exclusive perks
  • Comment on articles

Related articles

Choose payment frequency
Choose payment method
Credit/Debit
Apple Pay
Google Pay
By signing up to become a member you agree to our privacy policy and terms & conditions.
Fill in this form or email partnerships@bristol247.com and a member of the team will be in touch.
You've read %d articles this month
Consider becoming a member today
Independent journalism
is needed now More than ever
You've read %d articles this month
Consider becoming a member today
You've read %d articles this month
Consider becoming a member today
Join the Better
Business initiative
You've read %d articles this month
Consider becoming a member today
* prices do not include VAT
You've read %d articles this month
Consider becoming a member today
Enjoy delicious local
exclusive deals
You've read %d articles this month
Consider becoming a member today
Wake up to the latest
Get the breaking news, events and culture in your inbox every morning