Hampstead Schoolgirls Get Private Security Guards

The Daily Mail reports that "fearful" (for which read "hysterical") parents in Hampstead have hired private security to help usher their debutante daughters to and from school, for fear they'll be attacked by the street urchins that plague London. The Mail has even used a silly picture (posed by models, the caption soberly informs us), which shows the manifest dangers that threaten the fairer-sexed offspring of north London's finer families. Is this a cautious if understandable response to an increasing number of attacks? Not exactly: one 15-year old girl "felt she was being followed", while another described being "paranoid" about her safety. Seizing the opportunity, London Community Services, which employs ex-Gurkhas as security staff, offered their £1,000-a year services to distressed parents, and are now receiving up to 30 calls a day. As a way of inducing fear and paranoia into their children, these Hampsteadites couldn't do a better job if they were to let them hotbox with Acapulco Gold in the wet room.