Grim Fandango

One of our bicycles is missing. Brockley Bikes write:

Earlier in the year we had the embarrassment of losing one of our courtesy bikes. Thankfully, after emailing our customer base, we were able to recover it. This is a much sadder day!! Someone has stolen our shop bike, The Orange Fandango.

It has been our company mascot for nearly a decade and is the reason everything we have is orange. We truly believe her to be one of Brockley’s Icons!! I am personally very upset about this event and feel the only way my faith in humanity can be restored is if we can get her returned to her rightful place.

We are offering a reward of between £50—£100 (depending on condition) for the safe return of our beloved Orange Fandango. It was stolen on the 6th November during the day from outside a house on Arica Road. We have had a couple of search parties out, but we have been unable to locate her.

CONTACT BROCKLEY BIKES IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION ON (020) 70645222 orangefandango@brockleybikes.com

Wine of the times

Jeremy [voiceover]: Shit. Can't ask how much. Restaurant, you have to pretend you're infinitely wealthy for some reason. [He starts looking through the wine list]. OK, flicking, looking. If only I knew the name of any other wine. What's a wine? Is the one Hannibal Lecter drinks real or a joke?
- Peep Show

Lewisham Council launches its war on gentrification in Brockley

Self Evident app to cut crime

BC Senior assuages his early-retirement-baby-boomer guilt by doing voluntary work for various good causes, the latest of which is a charity called Witness Confident, which aims to make reporting crime easier.

This week, the charity launched an app called Self Evident (full disclosure: BC provided a very small amount of help with the launch), which allows people to report crime quickly and reliably via their smartphone - including tagging the report with the date, time, location and even photos of the incident.

Similar in principle to the Love Lewisham app (developed by Lewisham Council to make reporting graffiti and flytipping easier and improve clean-up response rates) it's an initiative which should address two big problems:

Firstly, 1,000 crimes go unreported every day because the public think the process of reporting crime is too much hassle.

Secondly, it delivers the report to the police in a format that’s quick and easy for the police to deal with: the police are overwhelmed with the volume of reported crime with 500,000 calls to the police on the 101 service going unanswered each year.

It's a simple, free, smart way to reduce crime and police paperwork - hopefully everyone will support it.

You can download the app for IOS and Android here.

Armed robbery on St Asaph Road

Police are calling for witnesses after a four-year-old girl was held at gunpoint by a gang of armed robbers who threatened to pull the trigger in front of her grandmother at a house in St Asaph Road. The Standard reports: 

Rosemary Campbell, 47, was looking after her granddaughter at her Lewisham home when up to five balaclava-clad men stormed in with guns and knives in a “terrifying” broad daylight break-in. The raid, in which the home was ransacked while the gang searched the first-floor flat and demanded cash, happened just after 3pm on Monday. 

Detective Inspector Ian Cameron described the raid as a “terrifying attack”, adding: “I’m convinced that someone in the local area has seen or heard something that could assist us with our investigation.”

Witnesses should call the incident room on 020 8284 8337 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Pot tipped

When the Crofton Park plant-pot-tipper is finally caught, we will refuse to name them, lest we give them the publicity they crave. Presumably the same divs as the Brockley Cross tree-snapper:

Wuith thanks to Pam.

Lewisham Way witness sought

Police at Lewisham are appealing for witnesses to a robbery that occurred on 18 June 2013 at approximately 22:00 hours outside the Albertines Public House in Lewisham Way, SE4.

A woman in her 40s was assaulted by two women who took a number of items from her including cash before making off.  Two women both 21 years have been arrested in connection with the incident and have been bailed pending further enquiries

Officers are particularly keen to speak with a customer who was inside the pub at the time and is believed to have witnessed the assault but is yet to make contact with police.

If you have any information on this incident please contact Brockley Safer Neighbourhoods Team on 0208 284 8558 or if you want to provide information anonymously you can contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Ladywell dog puncher sought

The News Shopper reports:

The RSPCA are appealing for information after CCTV at Ladywell rail station appeared to show a man punching a dog and then throwing him against a wall.

Footage showed a man with his brown and white Staffordshire bull terrier on June 6 at around 2pm.

Full details here.

Sharia Law

In a recent article in The Economist, a new study by the Pew Research Center reported on the different meaning that sharia law has in different countries. Sharia law is the moral code and religious law of Islam. The survey of 38,000 Muslims conducted in 39 countries examined the opinions that Muslims in predominately Islamic nations expressed on a number of issues related to sharia law, such as religious freedom, the use of religious judges, and the execution of those who leave Islam.

In Morocco 78% of respondents think that non-Muslims are free to practice their faith and 79% of those think this is “a good thing.” Yet 83% of this group wants sharia enshrined in their nation’s law. A majority of Thais (77%) and Pakistanis (84%) yearn for Islamic law too. But most also say that other religions are free to worship (79% and 75% respectively) and they agree that this is “a good thing.” Religious freedom, however, is a slippery term, with implications for individuals and for the collective practice of faith. Muslims in some countries both strongly approve of religious freedom and support the death penalty for apostates from Islam. Three-quarters of Pakistanis who favor sharia agree.  

Views vary over how sharia should be applied. Tunisian backers when asked about specific features of sharia law, support the use of religious judges (62%), but have far less appetite for executing apostates (29%). And those countries where most support sharia are not always its strictest followers, though around three-quarters endorse it in both Indonesia and Egypt. And 74% of Egyptians who favor sharia also think it should apply to non-Muslims, the highest proportion among polled countries. To read the full report, please visit The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.

Stabbing incident under investigation

BC had reports that a man was stabbed near the Brockley Barge on Friday night. Lewisham police confirm:

We can confirm police were called to Brockley Road on 1 June 2013 by the LAS at approximately 00:47 hours following a report that a man had been assaulted at that location. 

The man was taken to a South London hospital and his injuries were not life threatening. He was later discharged from hospital. Lewisham CID are investigating.

Brockley journalist charged in corrupt payments investigation

This is Local London reports:

A Brockley journalist for The Sun has been charged with conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office over alleged inappropriate payments.

The tabloid's Whitehall editor Clodagh Hartley, aged 38, and Jonathan Hall, from HMRC, are both facing charges, along with Mr Hall's partner Marta Bukarewicz, who is not a public official.

It is alleged that between March 30 2008 and July 15 2011 The Sun newspaper paid £17,475 to Hall, mostly via Bukarewicz, in exchange for the unauthorised disclosure of information.

The information that was allegedly provided included details relating to the 2010 Budget and the coalition's deficit reduction plans. They are facing charges brought as part of Operation Elveden, Scotland Yard's investigation into alleged corrupt payments to public officials by journalists.

Lewisham: 'Least peaceful local authority'

Global think tank, the Institute for Economics and Peace, has released a report today, which finds that Lewisham is the 'least peaceful' part of the country.

The study defines peace as "the absence of violence or the absence of fear of violence" and is based on Home Office crime data (murders, violent crime, weapons crime and violent disorder) and police numbers from the last 10 years. Lewisham Central ward in particular was identified as an historic crime hotspot, which helped to secure the borough last place in the rankings (the bottom five are all London boroughs).

Overall, the fall in violent crime in the UK has led to the UK becoming a more peaceful place, according to the report.

Here's what the report says about our home:

In Lewisham the conception rate amongst under-18 year olds is 70.6, which is 1.8 times the national average of 39 births per 1,000.

Over 60% of households are deprived in housing, education, health and / or employment. Lewisham’s homicide rate is more than twice the national average at 2.5, with the 2011 period being the worst year for homicides over the last decade with 11 homicides recorded.

The homicide rate in Lewisham has fluctuated from year to year averaging seven homicides per year while the national trend has seen a sustained decline in both the number and rate of homicides. Weapons crime saw a large increase from 2003 to 2005 and has since declined although it still remains above the national average of 39 weapons crimes per 100,000 in 2012. It is important to note that the average over the last decade was more than double that of the national average.

Similarly, the violent crime rate has also followed the same pattern as weapons crime: a large increase from 2002 to 2005 and then a steady decline. Despite decreases in both weapons crime and violent crime over the recent years, the number of incidents still remains well above the national trends meaning that Lewisham receives the worst possible score of 5 for these indicators in the UKPI.

The public disorder rate rose to a staggering 1,126 incidents per 100,000 people peaking in 2009, which was more than three times the 10 year national average, before sharply declining through to 2012. Most of the crime in Lewisham occurred in the ward of Lewisham Central.

Full disclosure: BC's employers, Edelman, helped to launch the first Global Peace Index, produced by this organisation. And this is how they repay us!

With thanks to Richard and Nigel who drew it to our attention.

Police appeal for help with stabbing case

Lewisham Police say:

Officers from Lewisham CID are appealing for witnesses and information following a stabbing in Coulgate Street, SE4.

Police were called by staff at Brockley Railway Station at approx. 18:10hrs on Tuesday 2 April to reports of a man stabbed following a disturbance outside the station in Coulgate Street, SE4. Local officers, British Transport Police and the London Ambulance Service attended.

It is believed an altercation took place between the victim and a group of males that resulted in him receiving a stab wound to his chest. The suspects are believed to have then made off along Coulgate Street towards Brockley Road.

The victim, a 23-year-old man was taken by ambulance to a south London hospital where he remains in a stable condition. There have been no arrests and enquires continue.

Anyone with information is asked to call Lewisham CID on 020 8284 8339 or to remain anonymous Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Serious incident outside Brockley Station

Police attend the scene. Photo courtesy of Karen.

The air ambulance landed in the football cage in St Norbert Road. Photo courtesy of Alison.

The western exit to Brockley Station, parts of Coulgate Street and Mantle Road have been closed by police this evening, following a serious incident outside John Stainer Primary School. Emergency services are at the scene and an air ambulance landed at St Norbert Road to provide assistance.

Multiple BCers report that the incident was a stabbing. One BCer, Lucia, reports that the stabbing took place on the east side of the station and collapsed on Mantle Road. We will update the article as the facts emerge.

Murder investigation following Upper Brockley Road incident

Lewisham Police have confirmed that detectives from the Homicide and Serious Crime Command are investigating a suspected homicide following an incident at a residential address on Upper Brockley Road on Tuesday night.

Two people have been arrested and are currently in custody

There are no more details at this stage.

Violent Child Abuse On the Decline

A special report from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics finds that during 2010 roughly 2.8 million “children age 17 or younger… lived in a household in which at least one member age 12 or older experienced one or more nonfatal violent victimizations during the year.”  The data does not specify whether the child was present during the abuse or whether he was the victim of the attack, but it does provide insight into how diminished, yet still widespread, the issue violent crime against children is.  In 2010, 3.9% of children fell into the category of having lived in a household where violent child abuse took place, but this percentage has fallen over 68% since 1993, when approximately 8.7 million children, or 12.6%, lived in a household that experienced violent victimization.  Violent crimes occurred in low-income households (less than $15,000 a year) and in urban areas.  Additionally, households headed by one parent or a nonmarried adult were more prone to experiencing violent child victimization.

Religious Belief and Crime

In a study covering 67 countries conducted by Azim Shariff at the University of Oregon and Mike Rhemtulla at the University of Kansas, the authors compared crime rates to the proportion of citizens who believed in heaven versus hell.  Citizens of the various countries were asked if they believed in either heaven or hell, and the researchers subtracted the percentage of heaven-believers by the percentage of hell-believers; the following remainder represented the country’s “rate of belief.”  Shariff and Rhemtulla found that a higher rate of belief predicted higher crime rates.  Researchers suggested that the comfort of heaven without the possibility of eternal punishment in hell compels one to commit further wrongdoings.  In Monday’s daily chart, The Economist compiled the data into a graph to display the connection between the two variables.  Countries with low crime rates and low rates of belief more often than not fell in the Middle Eastern and Asian regions, while countries in South America tended to possess higher crime rates and rates of belief.