‘Killer clowns’ issue sinister threat to hospital sparking warning to medics
HOSPITALS are now potential targets in the "killer clown" craze as a warning is issued to staff after one is put on a "hit" list.
Schools have been key places for people dressed as creepy clowns to single out children to scare, and now hospitals are on alert.
An Instagram account, Killer Clowns North East, posted a message about a "hit" to Newcastle's Royal Infirmary this week.
This resulted in a warning issued to staff at the hospital advising them to be vigilant and report suspicious activity to security.
The craze has hit a group of Clown Doctors hard as professional clowns are forced to postpone appearances and are speaking out against the current craze of terrifying clowns.
A public celebration of the work of the Clown Doctors at the Great North Children's Hospital has been pushed back due to the current fear surrounding clowns.
The group was due to celebrate 10 years of "bringing smiles and laughter to hospitalised children and their families".
Martin Wilson, director of Durham-based TIN Arts, which runs the Clown Doctors programme, said a planned celebratory event at the Great North Children’s Hospital on Thursday had been postponed.
“We were called by security at the hospital who were worried that a member of the public might see people wandering around with red noses on and misconstrue what was happening,” he said.
“We were going to have a banner in the foyer with a large photograph and they advised us not to do that.
“I can understand that if someone wasn’t familiar with our programme and saw one of our guys wearing a red nose then they might report it to someone else.
“I can see, with what’s going on at the moment, that this might cause a bit of a panic and someone might ring the police and we’d find ourselves in the news for the wrong reason.”
Mr Wilson said the clown doctors would go onto wards at the Great North Children’s Hospital tomorrow, as they do every Thursday, but not appear in any public areas – as had been planned originally.
Mr Wilson said: “We’ve been celebrating 10 years and in that time we’ve met 31,000 children and young people and delivered over 1,000 sessions.
“Most of our work is done at the Great North Children’s Hospital at the RVI and Ward 23 at the Freeman (Hospital).”
He said the programme had been initiated after someone at Arts Council England, North East had seen a Clown Doctors scheme elsewhere in the country.
“He asked around to see if anyone was interested in delivering such a programme and at that time I’d just been in hospital with my five-year-old son, who had been very poorly, and it struck a chord with me.
“It can be a struggle for children in hospital because it’s a very strange environment. I hadn’t seen my son smile for a long time so the whole thing made sense to me.
“We started in 2006 with Arts Council support and it was a good fit for TIN Arts because we specialise in programmes that address the needs of people who may be vulnerable or have different backgrounds.”
The clowns, which often brighten the days of unwell children, have names such as Dr Ronald Rumtumtumich, Dr Melanie Mughugger and Dr Lulu McDoo.
They provide therapeutic support for the children and do not put on shows, even walking with them to surgery on occasion.
The clowns in hospital wear a white coat and red noses, but no make up or masks - unlike the creepy clowns deliberately scaring people all over the UK.
He said his daughter had mentioned the "killer clown" craze and put it down to "silly people doing something related to Halloween ahead of Halloween".
Dr Wilson hoped the public celebration of their work would be able to take place "when the fuss dies down and this goes away".
The craze started in America and has spread to the UK, with reports of clowns appearing in Australia and other countries.
People wear the scary outfits and masks to deliberately frighten others and have caused chaos and fear throughout Britain as they continue to terrorise.
Yesterday afternoon police flocked to the gates of schools in Essex after an Instagram account opening on Monday threatened 20 clowns would visit them with knives.
Two 10 year olds, who were approached by clowns carrying "weapons" as they played in separate parks are now afraid of leaving the house.
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Drivers in Manchester were startled to see two clowns running at their cars on Sunday, and a mum-of-two was left with terrified children after one jumped on her car.
The Sun revealed this week that the teenage son of an England football star has been suspended from his private school for making “killer clown” threats to other kids.
The lad was ringleader in a sick social media stunt that caused eight schools to be evacuated. Police were called in.
Jobless 18-year-old, Connor Jones, was one of the first to be charged and punished as the unusual craze grips the UK.
He was fined £90 and received a public order offence on his criminal record.
A criminologist has revealed why people act differently when they put on costumes such as a clown mask, as the 'killer clown' craze spreads.
The craze has even got so out of control that popular circus, Zippos, has announced its shows will no longer feature clowns.
The craze has become so frustrating for some, that they have formed Clown Hunter groups on Facebook to try and patrol the streets.
On Monday, a group of pranksters appeared on Good Morning Britain to defend dressing up as clowns and scaring people, but distanced themselves from the people taking part in the current trend.
And a 10-year-old boy told the story of how he was chased by a person dressed as a clown and badly bruised after a rock was thrown at him.
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