Increase in Plymouth muggings

Councillor says "tittle-tattle" should be reported

Comments by a Plymouth Conservative councillor who described claims of attacks on young women as “tittle-tattle” have been condemned as “indefensible” by a Labour member. 

The remarks were made in the full council meeting on Friday 30 September by Tory member for St Budeaux, Cllr Pat Patel in response to a question by Labour councillor for Compton, Dylan Tippetts.

Cllr Tippetts, who is a student at the University of Plymouth, asked about measures to improve safety for students returning after the summer break.

“Since students have returned, there’s been a big increase in muggings of young women in the Mutley area,” he said.

“This has been a completely predictable event. However, the council administration have sat on their hands and not acted to keep our city’s young women students safe.

“One of the objectives of the Violence Against Women and Girls Commission is to ensure there is strong and visible leadership on violence against women and girls in the city. So, why is it you didn’t enact a strong and visible plan to solve a foreseen problem?”

As cabinet member for customer services, culture, leisure and sport, Cllr Patel  answer the question. 

He said: “Before freshers’ week and all that started, we did have a meeting of the board to decide what measures were in place, not only for freshers, but all other events coming up up to Halloween.

“Measures have been put in place such as the bus that takes people from the city centre to their home.”

Cllr Patel said £40,000 had been allocated for the bus service and added: “There is a lot of police presence, and what have you, around freshers’ week in the city centre and some of the surrounding areas.

“So, all measures have been taken and I’m not aware of a big increase in incidents.”

Cllr Tippetts thanked Cllr Patel for the response but said: “That’s not what I’m hearing on the ground. 

“I was speaking to one of my fellow classmates about a mugging she’d been involved in last week. 

“And it seems everyone in my class knows someone who has been mugged since they’ve returned, which is an absolutely terrible indictment on our city.

“So, I was wondering, would you and other cabinet members be willing to hold an open forum to listen to the experiences of university students and what they want to see change to make them feel safer during their time here in our special city?”

Cllr Patel replied: “On that I would say I haven’t heard anything yet. 

“So the first thing I would ask is, rather than have tittle-tattle within the classroom, has this been reported through the police as casework? Because it will only get action once the police and the authorities are aware of it. You know, you can have all the conversations you want in the classroom.

“And also the university has a process in place for reporting in to us in the council of any incidents that are happening and any causes of concerns within the students.”

On Monday, Cllr Tippetts released a statement saying he was “absolutely disgusted at Cllr Patel’s response to such an important and pressing issue, not just as ward councillor for Mutley Plain, but as a human being.” 

He added: “Sharing vulnerable experiences with classmates isn’t ‘tittle tattle’, it’s an act of bravery. 

“It’s indefensible that he dismissed the experiences of young women students in our city. 

“He should have accepted the invitation to hold an open forum to listen to students’ experiences rather than pass off any responsibility at the earliest opportunity.”

Asked for a response to Cllr Tippetts’ comments, Cllr Patel said: “We encourage students to report crimes directly to the police.”

Plymouth City Council set up the Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Commission last November following the abduction and murder of 18 year-old Bobbi-Anne McCleod in the city that month and the Keyham shootings three months earlier.