We live in UK’s ‘most crime-ridden’ uni neighbourhood plagued by gunpoint ambushes, soaring sex attacks & masked gangs

STUDENTS living in the “most dangerous” university neighbourhood in the UK have spoken of the horrors that greet them living there.

Gunpoint ambushes, sex attacks and street robberies have been carried out by balaclava-wearing gangs in the Cardiff suburb of Cathays and nearby city centre.

Medical phd student Yasmina, 26, used to live in Cathays but moved because ‘it is far too dangerous’WNS

WNSPopular student club Misfits[/caption]

WNSThe police van drives through the area[/caption]

Lively bars, bustling cafes and proximity to the Welsh capital’s four universities have made Cathays a popular neighbourhood for those choosing to study in Cardiff, but living there is becoming dangerous.

A new study has analysed police crime data to estimate the crime rate for popular student neighbourhoods across leading universities in England and Wales and used the information to pinpoint the least safe areas.

Cathays topped the “Most Dangerous” list with a staggering 32.5 crimes occurring per 100 people.

Over a 12-month period, 6,495 crimes were committed in the area, including the nearby city centre, of which almost a third – 31 per cent – were categorised as violent or sexual assault.

It also has the second-highest rate of shoplifting in the study, with 1,562 cases reported.

Bicycle theft is also common, with 416 reported incidents, according to the data compiled from police data.

In Cathays this week, students and locals said the findings tallied with their own experiences.

Most, especially women, told of feeling “unsafe” in the area, with many choosing to stay indoors after 6pm.

And several students said the end of their degree courses cannot come soon enough, so they can leave the city and live somewhere safer.

At 6-ft tall, rugby playing student Charlie Evans said he was left feeling terrified when he turned into a street after a boozy, black tie dinner celebrating the end of the season in June to find himself surrounded by around 20 balaclava-wearing thugs.

As the gang closed in around 21-year-old Charlie, a second year mechanical engineering student at Cardiff University, he somehow managed to squeeze his way through the gang and run to safety.

He said this week: “Another second and I’d have been mincemeat.

“There were about 20 of them, all wearing black balaclavas and I didn’t want to hang around to find out what they wanted from me. From the way they were shaping up, I guess they were going to beat me up and rob me.

“I ran as fast as I could for as far as I could and felt incredibly lucky to have got away safely, but it’s made me very wary about being out and about in Cathays late at night.

“I play rugby and I’m fit, but the next person these guys target might not be able to leg it quite so easily. It was a seriously scary experience.“

Charlie, from the Cotswolds, was back in Cardiff this week ahead of resitting end-of-second-year exams which he hopes to pass in order to be allowed to commence his third and final year at the university.

With him was with his friend and fellow-resitter Seth O’Brien, 22, who had an even scarier story of violence from the same month.

WNSCharlie Evans, 21, was terrified after being surrounded by around 20 balaclava-wearing thugs[/caption]

WNSStudents have described some of the crime they’ve experienced[/caption]

WNSCardiff University’s main building in Cathays[/caption]

Seth, of Taunton, Somerset, said: “Two of my best friends, both female students  who share a house in Cathays, were out celebrating their final exams in June at a local club, where they met up with a couple of soldiers and got chatting.

“Some other guys were hanging around them, but my friends weren’t interested.

“Later, when my friends and the two soldiers left the club together, they were followed by the other guys.

“Next thing, they pulled up in a car right across them and the driver wound down his window and pointed a gun at them. He threatened to blow their heads off if the girls didn’t get in the car.

“They knew that would be a bad idea so they immediately ran in the opposite direction as fast as they could. They literally ran for the lives and thank God they managed to get away safely.

“They were very lucky no one was hurt. There are some absolute head-cases around here and it doesn’t feel safe, especially for women. No one should have to be dealing with these kind of incidents at any time, let alone when they’ve chosen a city for an education.

“Sometimes it is just mental here.

“Nonetheless I’ve had a pretty good time in Cardiff and I love the university, despite the high level of crime.”

Civil servant Emma, in her mid 30s, works at a government building in Cathays and dreads for journey to and from her office.

She said: “My family is from Cathy and I’ve spent a lot of time here over the years. It always used to be such a nice place to be, but nowadays it is very dangerous.

WNSSeth O’Brien, 22, said two of his friends were held at gunpoint[/caption]

WNSShop owner Zahid Akbal says police officers call at his store almost every week to ask him to hand over his cctv footage[/caption]

WNSThe area is frequented by students from four universities[/caption]

“As a woman, you don’t feel at all safe. I personally haven’t been attacked, but I know plenty of women who have been, sometimes in broad daylight.

“I refuse to live here now, but obviously I have to come here every day for my job and I dread the daily commute.

“My mother still lives here and I always used to phone her on my mobile at lunchtime to ask her if she needed anything picking up from the shops and I’d drop it round for her during my break or after work.

“But now I daren’t even take my phone out of my pocket or handbag because it will get snatched. I know so many people who have had their phones grabbed by thieves on bikes in the street. It happens all the time around here now – it’s got as bad as London. If you’ve got any sense, you keep your phone hidden.

“Now I have to ring Mum from work, which isn’t really fair on my employer, but it’s the only way I can help her out.

“There is a lot of crime around here.”

Medical phd student Yasmina, 26, said she used to live in Cathays because that is where her university building is, but moved because “it is far too dangerous”.

She said: “There’s so much crime here. I live in a much safer part of the city, but I still have to come here every day to study for my phd and frankly I dread the journey.

“It just doesn’t feel safe walking around here. You see lots of youths looking for trouble and I hear stories all the time about people getting things stolen.

“One of my best friends had her bike stolen recently, but it was never found.”

Next to Misfits bar in the heart of Cathays, we find mini-market owner Zahid Akbar, 55, who told us police officers call at his store almost every week to ask him to hand over his CCTV footage in the hope that it will provide evidence for the latest crime on the street outside.

WNSCardiff University’s Student Union entrance[/caption]

WNSCardiff University is renowned for its Cardiff University is renowned for its world-class research, strong academic reputation[/caption]

“It is rather annoying, to be honest, because it takes my time and I think they should be putting their own cameras in place instead of relying on mine,” said Zahid, whose family have run the business in Cathays for almost 50 years.

He added: “It is a wonderful part of the city still, but crime is rising, like everywhere.

“From what I can tell, my cameras have picked up quite a lot of evidence of criminal behaviour over the years.”

Mr Zahid was keen to stress that he still considers Cathays a “fantastic” neighbourhood. “I honestly wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.

“The students are fantastic. They’re in my store all the time and I never have any bother with them.

“I think what’s happening is that local thugs are targeting the students, especially the women, in pubs and clubs.

They’ll try and pick up a female student in a bar and it will kick off as a result because usually their efforts are not welcomed. Next thing you know there’s five or six guys having a fight because the girl’s friends are protecting her.

“That’s why a few of the places around here are now student-only venues, which minimises the violence.

“I’ve never had any trouble with any of the students and I’ve been in business here since the 1980s.

“I was a student at Bristol university many years ago and that was a dangerous place to live. There were lots of no-go areas there and I rarely felt safe.”

It is against this backdrop of daily disorder that Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced policing reforms during a visit to nearby Cowbridge Road East earlier this month, during which she joined officers on the beat.

She insisted her new policing initiatives will “go back to the basics” by “getting back to the bobby on the beat”.

The changes provide named, contactable officers in place in every neighbourhood in south Wales, with the aim of providing a more direct link between the public and police to tackle crime. Their task is to restore confidence within the communities they serve.

Speaking in Cardiff, Ms Cooper said: “Communities are sick of the antisocial behaviour and shop theft blighting their town centres. There are too many neighbourhoods across the country who simply do not feel safe.

“A connection between the police and public has been lost for too long but restoring visible officers to our streets and giving communities a proper named contact will rebuild those bonds with the communities they serve.”

The Home Office said there would be 70 additional neighbourhood officers in south Wales by spring next year.

A Cardiff University spokesperson said: “ This study includes all crime in Cardiff’s city centre, as well as the student district.

“Cardiff is a major events city, attracting hundreds of thousands of additional visitors to major sporting and cultural events in the Principality Stadium.

“Police UK data show that just 16.5% of crime reported in the Cathays ward in June 2025 was in the Cathays student area.

“It is unfair and inaccurate to claim that Cardiff is a dangerous neighbourhood for students.

“We recognise that acts of crime do occur. We work in close partnership with Cardiff University Students’ Union, Cardiff Council and South Wales Police and have developed key initiatives designed to help safeguard students’ personal safety.

“These are available to all Cardiff University students and are directly communicated and outlined on our student intranet.”

The data was compiled from police data by Pablo Casino.

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