{"id":69,"date":"2025-05-07T15:00:49","date_gmt":"2025-05-07T14:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/natalie-wilson\/?p=69"},"modified":"2025-05-08T10:52:28","modified_gmt":"2025-05-08T09:52:28","slug":"viral-ballymen-of-jesmond-rumours-confirmed-hoax","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/natalie-wilson\/2025\/05\/07\/viral-ballymen-of-jesmond-rumours-confirmed-hoax\/","title":{"rendered":"Viral ‘Ballymen of Jesmond’ Rumours Confirmed Hoax"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Northumbria Police and Newcastle University reassure students that Jesmond \u2018Ballymen\u2019 robberies are a hoax following weeks of online speculation and terror amongst students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recent fears of unprovoked gang robberies amongst residents and students in the Jesmond\/Sandyford area have been dismissed following a statement released by Northumbria Police stating they have had \u2018no reportings of such incidents.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a joint statement<\/a>, Newcastle and Northumbria University provided further confirmation:
\u2018[Northumbria Police] are in close contact with both Universities.’<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

‘Please be assured, we will always act on any concerns raised by the community.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

This has brought relief to residents of these areas, many of whom lived in fear following such disinformation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Image of Canvendish Place by Natalie Wilson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is unclear where these rumours originated, however,  students were left terrified following online stories and speculation. Many unverified messages circulated social media with the collaborative \u2018Newcastle 2026\u2019 Snapchat \u2018story\u2019, a group notice board for university students, left flooded with screenshots regarding gang intimidation, robberies and attacks. Due to this, many students were subsequently confused at the legitimacy of these rumours and concerned for their general safety within these student areas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bradley Hennefer, a third year sports science student at Northumbria University, stated that the rumours alarmed him: \u2018I usually don’t think twice about walking anywhere, but it did make me feel a bit more on edge after I\u2019d seen people talking about it online.\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fransesca Crisannti, a second year business student also attending Northumbria University, expressed her feelings of fear and vulnerability during these times. She goes onto explain how her housemates had been informed of an alleged burglary that took place in a student house in Sandyford, just a few doors down to where Crisannti currently lives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018My housemate just put on our house group chat about what she had heard and obviously it scared me. She said about how two men had just walked into a house while everyone was sat in the living room, wearing balaclavas.\u2019 Crisannti also reveals how she posted a screenshot of this conversation to her Snapchat story expressing her concern for her and her friends\u2019 well beings and sharing it to others online. She also reveals that rumours of a girl being \u2018mugged at knife point\u2019 had also been circulating, again unnerving the twenty-two year old business student.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some students appeared to approach the situation light heartedly, with many incorporating these rumours with viral TikTok trends. With one user \u2018hiding jellycats\u2019, another \u2018protecting air fryers\u2019 and another guarding [alcohol].<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although these rumours have been debunked, it is important to note the importance of vigilance and street awareness when living in a busy city such as Newcastle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

PC Tom Head, officer at Greater Manchester Police, urges students to \u2018remember the inner city does not have the same level of security as the outer\/more rural home towns.\u2019 He goes on to remind students to \u2018Be aware of surroundings even when at home; just because you are at your front door does not mean you are safely in your home yet.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also goes on to add \u2018If you feel unsafe in any area leave or, call 999.\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more advice on student safety awareness, please see here for our guide<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Newcastle University also reminds students to utilise safeguarding facilities provided to them i.e  their free \u2018SafeZone\u2018 app which provides students of both universities easy access to the relevant emergency contacts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These contacts are  NOT a service for medical emergencies or issues away from the university campus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Northumbria Police and Newcastle University reassure students that Jesmond \u2018Ballymen\u2019 robberies are a hoax following weeks of online speculation and terror amongst students. Recent fears of unprovoked gang robberies amongst residents and students in the Jesmond\/Sandyford area have been dismissed following a statement released by Northumbria Police stating they have<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":288,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-69","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorised"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/natalie-wilson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/natalie-wilson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/natalie-wilson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/natalie-wilson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/288"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/natalie-wilson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/natalie-wilson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/natalie-wilson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/natalie-wilson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/natalie-wilson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}