Yet more gun crime

[crazynurse]

The sweet shop on Goodrich Road SE22, off the junction of Barry Road was held up by armed robbers on Wednesday @09.45.

Yet again, East Dulwich has been the subject of gun crime.

A few days ago it occured outside HSBC bank and also on North Cross Road at the willow.

Whats happeing to E Dulwich?????

I believe this is due to the lack of police in the area and the fact that the police station is shut for 23 hrs of the day.

And where are these so called wardens? The only time i have seen a warden in Dulwich was in a local supermarket shopping with her uniform on, very helpful.

labour also want to shut down the police station completely, i dreed to think the increase in crime levels.

I think Southwark needs to spend more money in making E Dulwich safer as they have spent ?100000s on other parts of Southwark.

Soon we be another Peckham GOD FOR BID

[dulwichmum]

Dear CRAZYNURSE,

I really do feel it is time we had a ducking stool constructed in Dulwich Park, wasn't there once a set of stocks in situ next to the book shop on Calton Avenue? My organic vegetables wilt at a terrifying rate (despite the purchase of a state of the art American refrigerator), and I would certainly be able to provide a ready supply of rotten tomatoes.

[shambles]

DM - you are so gracious by replying to this CRAZYNURSE that I must commend your manners. CRAZYNURSE - you refer to our friend Charlie who has indeed been the victim of a heinous crime. However, please don't make it worse by ramping up the 'everyone panic we're under siege' stakes by using capital letters.

[dulwichmum]

Dear Shambles,

Your attitude to this is entirely as it should be. The sun is rising and the world still turns. Dulwich is indeed a good place to live, lets not panic.

[Michael Palaeologus]

I dont think that we should be all together surprised. We are sandwiched between Peckham (Dodge City) and Brixton (Tombstone) so some wash-over crime is inevitable.

[Jeremy]

And let's not forget this incident in Peckham, which happened yesterday: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/6417095.stm

These armed robberies are certainly concerning, but it's these random acts of violence which really scare me. And Dulwich is still much safer than Peckham, even the less up-market parts like Goodrich Rd! (just kidding, any Goodrich residents...)

[mockney piers]

How on earth can you be shot AND unhurt; if it was a peashooter that's rather stretching the definition of shooting isn't it?

Mind you my teacher at school always assured me that I could have someone's eye out, so fair enough really.

[Ant]

He's well 'ard, obviously.

Speaking of crime: a woman had her bag snatched on Landells Road last night. At least I think that's what she was shouting about in amongst her screams for help. Sadly by the time I'd got on the phone to the police and got outside to have a look I couldn't see anyone. Hope she's OK and not too shaken up by it.

The police said they only had one other call, which surprised me. But on the other hand it sounded as if perhaps someone further up the road took her in while they made that call. When she started shouting it took me a moment to realise what I was hearing (and then mute the telly and confirm it) before I grabbed the phone. Perhaps by the time other people did the same they'd also heard whoever it was up the road talking to her and decided everything was in hand.

[spymum]

Oh dear - it is very scary - (please don't jump on me!) there is no denying it. Who would be armed to rob a tiny little sweet shop? Pathetic. Poor them, hope they're ok.

And I reckon ED is considered 'safe' and 'wealthy' so there will be no money 'wasted' on us, I fear - cash goes to the really nasty zones, which is not ED. What is happening is that the crime leaves 'home' and travels to areas where the pickings are better (like the Peckhamites burgling the big Telegraph Hill houses on the basis that there is plenty to nick). Maybe it is time to get a group together and sit down with the Community Police Officer (is there one?) otherwise it will get worse before it gets better (as in Telegraph Hill).

sigh.

spymum

(Blog: Posh Mum)

[Michael Palaeologus]

There is something in that Spymum. Sadly my experience of the public services is that they only react to a loud voice. Until a group of concerned citizens starts giving them a hard time, they will not act. Until, that is, somebody gets killed; then they will be out in droves - until the media go home that is.

[dulwichmum]

You said it Mr Mikewbate. Remember poor Damilola Taylor, there were more police in Peckham than Peckhamites! Where are they now?

We should never let these dreadul happenings allow us to stop living our lives as normal though. We are blessed here in Dulwich, in general a good place to live.

[Ko]

Ant

Whereabouts on Landells Rd was this??

I walk down that road on my way home in the evenings. I always worry that the Lordship Lane end is very quite, so would be interested to know what end it was - might have to change my route to Barry Rd but not sure if that's any better. Any info appreciated.

[Huguenot]

And there it starts... people stop walking down the street, the absence of witnesses eggs on the crims, the absence of customers closes the shops, closed shops push out residents...

Come on everyone, we should be using the street more when things like this happen?

[Ko]

You will see above that in this instance the mugging was at night and it was on Landells Rd. Given that Landells Road (a very long residential road) is usually deserted at night (I usually don't see anyone as I walk down it as I make my way home) I don't think my changing my route at night is going to make much difference to the shops or eventually push out residents (oh please!) I don't use the Barry Rd way even though it is a main road after someone was attacked at night by someone hiding in a front garden and another person was also recently attacked there. I want to avoid the trauma of being mugged or physically attacked if at all possible. I'm not going to apologise for that, nor should I have to.

As I live on Landells Rd, I would like to know what goes on there and feel that I should be able to ask on this forum where the mugging took place. Otherwise, I'm sure the community police officer will be able to tell me. Landells Road is so poorly lit at night that I actually walk down the middle of the road rather than the pavement. The street is so badly lit that any witnesses may not even be able to see much. Its common sense to take extra precautions at night. I also contacted my local councillor a couple of months ago about how to get the lighting improved. I think that's more positive and common sense action.

[Ant]

Hm, how odd. My message doesn't seem to have appeared. I'll try again, and apologies if it ends up appearing twice.

Ko, it was at the Lordship Lane end of Landells Road. I agree that the lighting's very poor (much like the pavements and the road surface). Who did you contact about it? I might have a word with them myself.

[capt_birdseye]

I don't really think it matters what route you take, it can also happen at any time of day. A few years ago I was mugged outside my front door (wasn't ED) at 8am! The nasty man claimed to have a gun and demanded my wallet and pin number, he said he'd be back to shoot me if I gave him a false pin.

[Keef]

I do hope you gave him a false PIN anyway!!!! What did he think, you'd just wait there for him?!? :-S

Ko, have you thought about taking Crystal Palace Road instead? I think the lighting is better, and there are usually people around... I've never seen any trouble there, although I'm sure there's been some everywhere over the years...

On a general note, the lighting in the area as a whole could do with improvement, if nothing else to make streets safer from crime!!! Not to mention to stop people falling over!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[mockney piers]

I loved the episode of that Irish chappie who does the undercover investigations, it was about a couple of years ago (when the press was going through another of its bouts of crime scaremongering). The premise basically involved him wandering around coldharbour lane at one in the morning in a suit, with a laptop, talking loudly into a mobile phone trying to get mugged.

The only thing that happened to him was the chaps hanging out in the late night cab offices/hairdressers and offies came out and suggested he might want to get a cab home as that wasn't very sensible behaviour.

Marvellous.

[capt_birdseye]

Keef Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I do hope you gave him a false PIN anyway!!!! What

> did he think, you'd just wait there for him?!?

> :-S

Didn't occur to me to lie, was bricking it. Besides, as he saw me leaving my house he knew where I lived. Helped himself to ?400 from the ATM, bank paid it back though, which was nice. He was on a mini-crime spree. Police reckoned it was a crack-addict fresh out of prison. He also held up a postman at knife point, forced some poor woman in to his car and drove her to the cash point and made her withdraw money. Think I got off lightly.

[Ko]

Thanks Keef - I'll try Crystal Palace Rd.

Ant - I contacted [email protected]. I also asked about road surfacing nut was told Landells Rd does not fall in the council's list of top 100 roads in the worst state of repair (that did make me chuckle because surely they should be called the bottom 100 roads rather than the 'top' one 100 roads - ha ha ha). Is it just me or has anyone else noticed that the Lordship Lane end of Landells Rd has the dodgiest surfacing ever?? The car goes bumpety-bump-bump all the way along it - the Whateley Rd end is surfaced properly though. Bizarre...

[Keef]

I must admit I'm impressed the bank paid it back! Thought they'd have said it wasn't their problem, good stuff!

[capt_birdseye]

Yeah, they paid up pretty quickly as well. I thanked them by closing the account a few months later.

[Ant]

Thanks Ko, have just sent an email asking what can be done to improve the lighting. One step at a time, I think, so I didn't mention the road surface or the pavement.

[Polly D]

Blimey Captain, that's horrible. KO I don't think I should read posts like yours: someone hid in a front garden waiting to pounce ... ??!! I'm with you there on walking in the middle of the road. I was jumped on and mugged by three big blokes coming out of Honor Oak Park station two years ago. I would sincerely rather be run over by a car than go through that again. CCTV was ... ahem ... "unfortunately looking the other way".

[Ko]

Polly - poor you! What wimps they must have been to have 3 of them! I'll walk anywhere during the day, but at night I'm a bit more cautious as I'm a bit of a scaredy cat in the dark with the dark shadows everywhere (must get it from my moggy who's such a scaredy cat that she won't even go out of the front door and will only ever go out in the back gardens! My other puss though is very brave and is always prowling around Landells Rd at night beating up any naughty cats.)