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Knife attack highlights safety concerns at city residence PAUL VINCENT Deputy News Editor
A man wu attacked by an armed mugger aa he walked through the Mary Chapman Court neighbourhood on Monday evening last week. The victim. who is not a student at UEA. was visiting his girlfriend In the council estate behind Mary Chapman Court (MCC) when he was attacked by two muggers brandishIng a knife. Shortly after the Incident, the victim asked some restdents of MCC for help and told them that his attackers had taken two mobile phones and 拢60. Mike and Jane SOC 1 (names have been changed to guard anonymity) were returning home at the time and say that the victim was wounded and had clearly been "held at knife point". Police attended the scene and arrested four people from Norwich. One male and two females were released on bail and a 37-year old man was taken Jnto custody, he appeared In court on Tuesday February 3.
This attack is the latest In a series of Incidents at Mary Chapman Court, the university's city-centre accommodation on Duke Street. Residents are very much concerned over their own security and that of their belongings with a complete lack of securtty personnel and no CC1V system. Concrete found the secure underground car park was easily penetrable, with one of the "locked" gates found ajar. Conllict between the residents of MCC and those of the neighbouring council estate is constant, with students frequently witnessing drugdealing on their doorsteps and even occurrences of prostitution. The problem is aggravated because the residence's courtyard is open to the public, thus compromising the security of parked bikes. as highiighted In the last Concrete. Peter Morgan CMP 1 explains that he has heard "many reports of violence. theft and vandalism In the adjacent council estate" and has "witnessed such things as drug dealIng taking place actually inside the
grounds of Mary Chapman". His flat was subject to an attempted robbery last semester In which a disguised intruder "demanded money while threatening us with an iron". Toby Brunt ART 1 comments that Mary Chapman "scares the hell out of me". he says that on one occasion he "was woken up by screaming" to Above: Mary Chapman Court. Below: 1he Residences' Alarm System find "a woman scrambling back over F=:=-:-:;-:;;n;r;:;;;::;;;:;:;;;iiii the riverbank". As with most restdents of MCC, the city accommodation was not his first choice of housing, he finds the location "very unappealing". A variety of 'other security worries are apparent at Mary Chapman Court. such as evidence of windows forced open. In addition, as with some campus residences, girls are now being allocated ground floor rooms. Director of the residences and services division Jenny Grant said that "following a recent safety/security review of MCC, a letter has been written to Norwich City Council asking about a number of issues such as CC1V. We will contln-