Pictured: The machete-wielding vigilantes patrolling a 'stockbroker belt' village

UK Daily Mail
Friday, Jan 30, 2009

Clad in balaclavas with one waving a machete, these are the self-styled vigilantes patrolling the streets of their Surrey 'stockbroker belt' village to make locals feel 'safer'.

Police hunted down the leader of the mob - calling themselves the 'Merstham Justice Squad' - after the photo appeared in a local paper causing him alarm.

In the menacing picture the gang of men, aged 18 to 30, looked more Northern Ireland paramilitary than Neighbourhood Watch.

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The mob said they would interrogate any suspects they 'caught in the act' in kangaroo courts and hand down their own punishment if they found them guilty.

One member said: 'It's the older guys who will make up the panel who judge anyone we catch. They are sensible, law-abiding people and they will be fair. We are not a lynch mob.'

Full article here