Black London 🔪

Violent crime and assaults on retail staff are rampant throughout the capital because of....Brexit. "The formalisation of Brexit in 2019 closed the borders to essential consumer goods, the Covid pandemic of 2020 saw retailers take on a frontline role and the recession and cost-of-living crisis have afflicted consumer pockets and retailers’ resilience alike." https://www.swlondoner.co.uk/news/31052024-the-west-end-britains-cultural-or-criminal-capital

Assuming she wasn't an English teacher or I'm sure she'd have had something to say about his verbiage. "A man who killed his partner by stabbing her 17 times after she dumped him - before telling the emergency services he had “ended” her - has been convicted of murder. Leon Murray was found guilty yesterday (Friday, May 31) of killing his ex-partner Keisha Christodoulou the day after she left him. Keisha, 32, ended the relationship on October 31, 2022, but Murray went to their flat in Deptford the next day and stabbed her 17 times. He then changed his clothes and went to pick up their six-year-old daughter from school. At the school, he told a staff member that ‘it is done’ and that he had ‘ended’ Keisha." https://www.mylondon.news/news/south-london-news/man-stabbed-ex-17-times-29275958

Boots, Battersea.

Ever get the feeling you've been cheated?

"Croydon has received the damning title as London’s most violent borough, according to the latest data. Figures assessed by defence solicitors Lawtons showed that Croydon had more than 10,000 violent instances last year, a staggering five per cent year-on-year rise." https://www.mylondon.news/news/south-london-news/croydon-named-londons-most-violent-29259684

Newsflash - Croydon tops shoplifting charts! Quick, let's find stock photo of White person stealing goods and suggest that lack of money is the leading cause. "The data suggests that from 2022 to 2023, the three boroughs most affected by rent inflation also saw no increase in median annual earnings. It’s clear that shoplifting has become a symptom of these hard times, but if the current increase in shoplifting continues, it could lead to habitual offending. Even if prices drop in the future, shoplifting rates may remain high unless more policing and initiatives are implemented to address the issue." https://www.swlondoner.co.uk/news/31052024-shoplifting-hits-record-high-in-south-west-london

Black's defence - "My gun went off without pulling the trigger....." Must have been an automatic. "A man has been found guilty of a fatal shooting less than a year after being cleared of another killing. In April 2023, 22-year-old Tyrese Miller was shot in the chest at close range. Drug dealer Denzel Kwateng has been cleared of the murder but convicted of manslaughter after the jury deliberated for more than 41 hours. In 2022, the 22-year-old was cleared over the fatal stabbing of 17-year-old Denardo Samuels-Brooks following an Old Bailey trial. At second his trial, Kwateng claimed in his defence that he had only pointed a gun at Mr Miller as a prank when it went off without him pulling the trigger. A jury also found Kwateng, of New Addington, south London, guilty of possession of a firearm and ammunition with intent to endanger life, and perverting the course of justice." https://www.mylondon.news/news/south-london-news/man-shot-dead-revenge-attack-29268598

This is the moment Sainsbury’s staff drag a suspected shoplifter into a backroom and repeatedly kick him as he lies on the floor. A shocked customer filmed the incident, which happened at a branch in Mile End Road, Tower Hamlets, London.

They only had one job..... "Breuklyne Jeffers and Tamica Reid-Foster, both just 18 at the time, were arrested after a guard discovered 5kg of cannabis hidden inside two seemingly abandoned suitcases on a near-empty train from London Euston to Edinburgh." https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13471479/women-smuggle-cannabis-train-London-Scotland-Covid-lockdown-avoid-jail.html

Tradesmen wondering why they can't leave their van unattended in Lewisham. "Mr Awan told the Standard: “I was just changing a customer’s tap in the middle of the day. It should have been an £80 job but when I came out I’d had £8,000 in tools pinched." https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/trade-workers-rally-london-tool-theft-epidemic-police-reports-insurance-b1160835.html