GIRLS are the ringleaders of a child gang responsible for bashing two mates last week and a string of other crimes in Cairns, a city night worker claims.
Ryan Roberts-Barlow, 18, and his friend Nathan Roff, 17, were bashed at the intersection of Sheridan and Thomas streets before midnight on Tuesday last week.
A gang of 12 drunken juveniles – some as young as 12 - were responsible for the attack.
Olly’s IGA night supervisor Daniel Hill said the gang was made up of about 30 people with 15-to-17-year-old girls forming the majority of group.
He also said the youths who attacked Mr Roberts Barlow, who also works at Olly’s IGA on Sheridan St, were continuing to roam the streets with sinister motives.
"They’re like dingoes, they hunt in packs and they just prey on people, there is no one-on-one fights," he said.
"Most of the members of the gang are girls.
"They have all these different whistles they do to each other, you’ll hear them whistling when someone walks by and it’s a call to the other gang members.
"They come into the shop with bags and just steal heaps of stuff."
Mr Hill, who has also been assaulted by the gang while at work, said police did not take a tough stance against the gang because they were juveniles.
"Police don’t do enough to stop them, they say they are just kids and that they cannot be arrested for what they’re doing," he said.
Another business owner, who asked not to be named, said the gang was being left to run wild.
Cairns police Sgt Bruce MacDonald said authorities detained six youths on Saturday night in relation to complaints from CBD shopkeepers.
"We detained six people last night from a block of units in relation to a number of theft complaints," he said.
