A 21-year-old Bermudian student was applauded in a national UK paper for starting a national discussion on gang violence.

Lindsay Grant, of Smith?s, was on a break from her business studies at the University of Leicester, when she was in a Spar supermarket in London?s Piccadilly just before midnight on Saturday nine days ago.

A gang of some 17 boys aged between 13 and 16 walked in, stole what they wanted and began to walk out ? without anybody saying a thing until brave Ms Grant started shouting at the gang to stop.

But her terrifying ordeal had only just begun as the gang waited outside for her and started throwing food.

?A few minutes later she caught a bus,? Will Hutton of The Observer said on Sunday. ?Eight of the same group got on ? and took a mobile from a man and a handbag from a woman as part of a whirlwind robbery before jumping back off.

?Again, she says, nobody said anything or tried to prevent them. Or made eye contact. Silence ruled.

?Only her boyfriend went to report the crime to the driver. Grant (she wrote to The Observer and I?ve talked to her) is outraged as much at the collective silence as she is at the behaviour of the boys.?

Ms Grant told on Sunday that she had to run from one of the gang members on the bus and when she got back to her apartment she was thankful she was not hurt.

?I didn?t think about it. I just talked to them,? she said. ?I do think Bermudians do speak up a lot.?

She said at 14 to 16-years-old they were just ?little boys? ? she did not think they were carrying guns.

?I could not let people do that,? she said. ?No one did anything.?

However, she said the next day on her way back to University she wrote a long letter about how she felt and sent it to the London newspapers.

?I was terrified but I could not be frightened,? she said. ?They reminded me of boys in Bermuda.?

She said being a Bermudian taught her to speak up for what she believed in.

?I don?t think this would have happened in Bermuda,? Ms Grant said. ?People would have said something. People need to look out for their neighbours, this could be people you live next to or a person walking next to you. You can?t have children come in and walk all over you ? give kids a consequence they might not be getting at home.?

She said Prime Minister Tony Blair had written a report that said violence in the UK needed to be addressed.?But that is something that we all can play a huge role in,? she said. ?What is more important? Your cell phone or your life? Most people think these boys are armed. But if you are in a gang of 16 people it would be stupid to hold weapons.?

Will Hutton?s comment piece published yesterday in the Observer was titled ? ?We really need Blair?s ?respect? agenda. Just ask Lindsay Grant?.

?Sitting there quiet and not being involved may keep you out of trouble,? she was quoted as saying, ?But what have you done for society and your next-door neighbour, besides allowing a situation to progress and people to walk all over you, your courage and pride??

Mr. Hutton said there was a growing swell of low-level disorder, verbal violence and lack of mutual respect in the UK today that resulted in daylight robberies and thefts which was made worse when neighbours did nothing to help.

?But it is also, as Lindsay Grant recognises, down to each of us to stand up,? Mr. Hutton said. ?We get the society we deserve.?

Ms Grant?s ex-Policeman father was very proud. ?I am glad she stood up for herself,? Donald Grant said. ?Boys came in and rampaged the shop. She was very annoyed and angry. She shouted at them. She was quite upset.?