This is madness

Image from BBC News

I’ve lived in Croydon for most of my life. As long as I can remember it has had bad press and thought of as a dangerous place. It’s not uncommon for there to be shootings and stabbings and a lot of it is gang related.

What happened last night was truly shocking, there have been riots in Croydon before but nothing on this scale. Local shops burnt to the ground, houses set on fire and families forced to run for their lives only to be left standing on the street to watch their memories and belongings burn to the ground.

The A23 stretches through Croydon from north to south, covering several miles and passing through a few of the smaller towns within Croydon. I’ve heard news that nearly all of the shops along it have been attacked at some point, some of them specifically so. 3 bicycles span only 3 miles on the south side of the A23 and all 3 of them have been broken into. One of them specialises in high-end road bicycles and the stock on the shop floor is worth a small fortune, one bicycle stolen was a replica team sky pinarello with full Di2 worth over £7,000. This video shows the damage to the store and one person cycling away with two bikes, both with the price tags still on. Cycle King and Bike Plus where also attacked by looters and stock taken. I’m waiting to hear back from De Ver and Evans to see if their stores where subject to attack through the night. It would appear that these shops where specifically targeted, they where broken into by small gangs and before any of the fires started and in the case of Bike Plus, it a few miles away from the town centre and is not the area that is usually associated with trouble.

I recall looking out of the window at around 9pm and seeing thick smoke rising from the town centre, shortly later it became apparent this was just the start. It was a bus that was on fire, but the rioters quickly moved onto an old furniture store which quickly went up in flames as the building was made of timber. After that plenty of buildings where set on fire, many of them with flats above them. Shops all along the A23 where broken into and looted through the night, many of them local business run by families.

The behaviour of these people is shocking and in my mind these are the people who are not welcome in this country. Unfortunately across London the police have been outnumbered, in some cases 50 to 1. We expect the police and fire services to protect our homes and communities but at present they just can’t do it!

There where rumours on twitter last night that troops from the Croydon Territorial Army base had been sent out onto the streets, it turns out that it wasn’t true. But just how long does this have to go on for before that does happen?


7 thoughts on “This is madness

  1. It was truly shocking what happened and such a terrible shame what they did to Reeves Corner! Btw its the A23 that runs through Croydon, now we just need to find some hoodies selling Pinarello’s and break their legs!

  2. So sad to see GB a victim, bought my first racing bikes there 20+ years ago. These shops mean much more than the price tags hanging from the bikes – the advice, exeprience and expertise that goes with selling machines for those who either want a bike to commute, or want something more goes so much more beyond a £ value on piece of expensive metal or composites.

    Those who robbed and looted this night will never get that, they’ll never cherish something that’s been crafted for a specific purpose. Do we think those who took these bikes would ever be inspired use them to achieve the feats of the likes of Coppi, Merckx, Indurain, Armstrong etc. and to dedicate all their lives to achieving something special … no chance, they’d never get past the first hill. They want everything now, for free, for no effort… they’ll never realise that anything actually worth anything is really only about the effort it took to obtain it.

  3. “these are the people who are not welcome in this country.”

    Are you racist? if not then please do not use a phrase like this, it insinuates/implies that all the rioters were from other countries and whilst not being directly racist the statement has horrible racist overtones. Statements like this stir up hatred and resentment.

    London is very multicultural, the thugs and thieves who perpetrated this attack on London were from all backgrounds, the only common factor is that they are scum.

    1. My statement has no racial background, I have not mentioned where these people might be from or the colour of their skin, none of my post has any racial comments or background.

      My personal opinion is to deport these people, put them on a cruise ship and sink it in the middle of the ocean. I don’t see why we should allow these people to ruin our towns, cities and neighbourhoods with little consequences. The public is going to be left to pay for all the damages. People have lost their homes, jobs and businesses for apparently no reason.

    2. They aint welcome in this country or this society.Thats not a racist thing, thats a societal reflex from their dirty shinanigans that have destroyed the lives of so many.

      The fact is the riots were a multi background build of people. Black, asian, white… they all kicked off and they all deserve full punishment for their acts.

  4. Facebook and Twitter also now have to be held to account, as do any other social networking and websites that allowed such incitement to be published.

    Government has played its part in the blame, too. Both this and the last administration cut back on funding to youth services, cut back on social services, cut back certainly on the Police until they were barebones. Volunteers were CRB’d out of youth work, too, as the volunteer has to pay for the checks and some groups require multiple CRBs (Scouts for example, as my Father found out when he volunteered).

    Kids only get negative influences in some areas. The estate I grew up in (Southampton) wasn’t as hardcore as some of the London boroughs, but I do remember the words “you’ll amount to nothing!” These kids then become the bad guy, everyone expects it of them. They havent the experience to know there is something else. Something positive out there. Some react because they’re terrified, they think it will scare the bad and the evil away, but at great cost to their own wellbeing and of those around them.

    Thats not to say they should go free. They should be punished to the full extent of the law. But the truth is there has been no prevention.

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