Carl Beatson Asiedu murder trial under way

On 1st August 2009, Carl Beaton Asiedu and Peter Lama were stabbed in Goding Street, Vauxhall outside the night club, Life, after their group, Kid n' Play had performed at the venue.  Peter Lama recovered from his stab wounds, but tragically Carl Asiedu did not.  I reported the incident several years ago here and here and mentioned back in March 2010 that an Independent journalist had gone behind the scenes to examine the way police work on murder cases.  I also noted that one man accused of stabbing Carl had fled to Nigeria.  This week, nearly two years later, two men are appearing in court, one charged with Carl Beaton Asiedu's murder and the other with Peter Lama's stabbing.  I've been receiving a number of blog queries about the progress of the case. 

Junior Ademujimi-Falade, 20, is accused of the murder of Carl and has been on trial at the Old Bailey this week.  He denies murder.  Unfortunately, a second man accused of murder, Jeffery Okafor, fled to Nigeria using his brother's name and passport and has effectively disappeared.  Back in July 2010, various members of Jeffery's family were accused of aiding his escape... more info from the Croydon Guardian on the matter.

Abu Mansaray, 20, is accused of stabbing Peter Lama and has also been on trial at the Old Bailey this week.  He has denied stabbing Mr Lama.

See the BBC article on the stabbing too.

Child stabbed outside Manley House in Kennington

I've received reports that at approximately 8:20pm this evening, a male child was stabbed outside Manley House, Black Prince Road in Kennington.  Police were called and and the child was taken to hospital by ambulance.

6 people stabbed / shot on Vassall Road last night - When we needed the Big Society, were you there?

It's slightly south of the SE11 area, but I was horrified to read the SLP report of 6 people shot/stabbed on Vassall Road yesterday at about 21:30 yesterday.  The SLP also state that the youngest victim was 14, but this contradicts the following from Stockwell Park Neighbourhood Watch.

Stockwell Park Neighbourhood Watch have stated that two of the victims were stabbed at about 20:41 on Cowley Road.  An ambulance was called, and whilst the crew were attending, two youths on bikes cycled past and firde several shots on a hand gun.  Consequently, four additional people were injured.  None of the injuries are life threatening and the ambulance crew remained unharmed.  After initial assessment, the police believe the incident was gang related and that none of the victims were "neutral".  (I take that to mean that they were innocent bystanders).  The victims are said to be within the age range of 16-18.  No suspects have been detained and police presence in the area will remain high to deter further violence.

I regularly defend this part of South London as a safe place to live against voices to the contrary.  Violence around here is sporadic and usually not against innocent bystanders, but that doesn't excuse it. Sometimes  the distance between Cleaver Square and Vassall Road seems huge.  Lambeth Council currently spend money on youth and anti-gang activities, and yet such funding is at risk in our new Big Society.  Does the funding make any difference?  After each stabbing or shooting, I always ask, "what can we do?".  And I'll keep asking it because I don't want us to stop being shocked. 

As residents, bloggers, commuters and workers, what are our options to prevent young people from turning to crime?  What do we do about the disparity between the haves and have nots?  Is it disparity that is the problem here?  Are the residents who live in relative poverty having a chance to meet the residents who are affluent?  Where is the forum in which we can discuss these issues?  We have neighbourhood groups and residents associations, blogs, and newspapers, but how often do we meet people who are different from us?  Is our response to stay in after dark and to keep our heads down when we walk along our streets?  Do we know the young people in our midst, and how might our neighbourhood be a community that shares its gifts?

I maintain that these stabbings and shootings are not what define our area.  We're defined by our friendliness and our openness to celebrate and share cultural differences.  We're defined by the number of community groups and "friends of" groups that are regularly set up in our midst.  And then something like this happens, and we talk of youth, gangs, drugs, opportunities and education, but I'm not sure if we're seeing any change.  When we needed the Big Society, were you there, were you there?

For an 18th January update on this incident, please continue reading at Stockwell News.

Lansdowne Way Stabbing (July 2010)

I've just spotted a BBC Tweet which suggests there's been a stabbing on Lansdowne Way, Kennington.  Geographically, Lansdowne Way should be classified as Stockwell (or the boundaries of Oval) since it's a bit further south in Lambeth.  The 18 year old male in question has life threatening injuries.  There's a BBC Press Release here.

This has got to stop.  I really really hope that the man in question recovers.

I assume Stockwell News will report further as news becomes available.  Sadly, it appears that there was a stabbing just last year (June 2009) in Lansdowne Way June too.

Carl Beatson Asiedu - Goding Street murder

I didn't update the entry on the Goding Street murder in Vauxhall on 1st August since London-SE1 covered the story far more comprehensively than I would due to the fact that the car transporting the victim to hospital was stopped in Baylis Road by police on the way.

However, the murdered man was named as rapper Carl Beatson Asiedu and whilst several arrests have been made, the police are still appealing for more information. A special email address has been set up for enquiries. It is: carlsappeal@met.police.uk and metropolitan police would like anybody that isn't comfortable calling them to consider emailing them information about the stabbing. If you do have more details about what happened, you can always set up a free anonymous Hotmail or Gmail account and email police without them knowing your details.

Somebody must know something, and it's incredibly frustrating that so many cases don't appear to be satisfactorily resolved. There are a fair few people up and around in Vauxhall at 5am, given the vibrant scene in the area. Somebody must have been near or outside Life and noticed something at that time in the morning.

I still wonder whether justice might be done for Ashley Kemete's relatives, (he was shot in Kennington late last year). I remember a few people were arrested and bailed, but have heard nothing since.

Goding Street SE11 incident maybe related to Baylis Road SE1 incident

Somebody sent me a message on Twitter to make me aware that an incident has taken place on Goding Street, SE11, just behind Vauxhall tube station. A white tent has been erected and there is a heavy police presence in the area.

This is alarming enough, but London-SE1 has already reported that a man was stabbed to death in the early hours on Baylis Road, just up the road in SE1. See here for more info. Early reports from police are suggesting that the two incidents might be linked...

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Edit (2/8/2009) - see London-SE1 again here for a further update. It appears that the Baylis Road victim (a 19 year old male) was stabbed at in Goding Street, but only actually discovered by police when they pulled over a car that jumped lights in Baylis Road.

In addition, a second male was stabbed in Goding Street, but he recovered and has been discharged from hospital.

The BBC report on the incident is here.

Please contact the police or leave a comment if you've any further information.

Possible stabbing in Black Prince Road and questions about networking

Very occasionally, I wonder whether there's some form of news blackout that operates within the SE11 area. It's very difficult to find out certain pieces of information that it might be within the public interest to have made public.

A commentator yesterday remarked "I heard that there was a stabbing on black prince road on Friday 22nd May...any news?". My feeling is that this is probably not the case and nothing happened. Stabbings tend to generate a lot of hits here, with people searching for information. But the rumour of a stabbing must be grounded in something, most probably some sort of disturbance. It would be useful if there was a Lambeth police feed in which information was shared to alert residents to be on guard or remain watchful if anything was particularly amiss.

I understand that the issue of dangerous dogs was raised at Tuesday's hustings, dogs apparently being the "preferred" weapon of choice for those engaged in anti-social behaviour. However, I've not seen news reported anywhere on fights with dogs between youths. I heard that there have been a rise in burglaries on one local estate, but once again, no news.

My feeling is that the SE11 community is still not sufficiently networked. We have many civic organistions for linking people together, but many of them have significant overlap in committed members, and sporadic communication with those people who are not online. There's a low level of computer use/technological know how in both poorer and older communities locally (I saw a map of this that I might do a blog post about). The question is, how is this best overcome? I'm pleased with the contribution to this blog from regular commentators and anonymous lurkers, but my feeling is that there is still more local knowledge and resources to be shared.

In the meantime, don't forget the LGBT / gay hustings, which is on tonight at 7.30pm at the John Bull Community Centre. If you didn't make it to the last set of general hustings, I'm sure you'd be welcome to show up here, even if you've not got specifically LGBT questions to ask.

Fairford House stabbing in Kennington... they kept that quiet

Kennington Association news blog has a report from the South London Press about a stabbing in Kennington. I get a lot of hits for people searching for stabbings, (often old events), but I did wonder why I had so many hits for Kennington Lane. See the SLP news report for further info, but it transpires that a 22 year old man was stabbed eight times on 26th April 2009 in Kennington Lane, outside Fairford House. Tha man hasn't been named. Amazingly, he survived the attack (get well soon!), and two 17 year olds are in custody.

Does anybody know the whereabout of Fairford House on Kennington Lane (in SE11)? Google maps can't account for it, and I'm not sure whether it's a residential building or an office block.

I haven't seen this stabbing reported anywhere else... It would be very useful to have reports from Lambeth police force about crime in the area, but as far as I know, no such news is available. Please drop me an email if you work with/for Lambeth police force, and would be interested in making news public to local news outlets or bloggers, other than the SLP.

Oluwaseyi Ogunyemi (Seyi) named as victim in Larkhall Park murders

The BBC report that the Larkhall Park murder victim has been named as Oluwaseyi Ogunyemi (known as Seyi). Stockwell news is providing timely updates, so I'd recommend checking there first for more information.

My thoughts and prayers go to Seyi's family and friends.

Stockwell stabbing incident in Larkhall Park SW8

There was considerable helicopter noise around Stockwell last night, which is explained by the reports that two men were stabbed in Larkhall Park. A teenage boy has died. One other male is injured.

The police/media don't seem to have reported many details yet. Stockwell news quotes The Evening Standard, which suggests that the stabbings were part of local gang violence. The BBC have a report which offers little extra detail, along with a video of the taped off area that must have been shot last night. The Press Association say that four men are being held in connection with the stabbing.

The stabbing is some way outside the SE11 patch in SW8, but I've had various google queries here this morning from people looking for information.

Another stabbing: Tooley Street

There's been another stabbing at Tooley Street in SE1. This is of two men, one in his thirties and one in his teens, but fortunately, it is thought that neither of their lives are at risk. London-SE1 reports the rest.

Good grief. I thought that this was the season for goodwill and cheer.

Lambeth Council does something

There is a piece in the Guardian today (topped off with a lovely picture of lots of knives) that suggest Lambeth Council are launching an initiative. I realise that this, in itself, might be shocking to some people. However, having been a resident of an north London council who will not be mentioned, I will at least defend Lambeth on the matter of recycling. Apparently, since I last lived in Lambeth (2006), they've even brought in tetrapack recycling. *squee* How exciting! But since I'm nearly as much a recycling geek as I am a public transport geek, I shall save all of the posts about recycling goodness, and the possibility/likelihood of obtaining orange bags etc. until the move has taken place.

What's interesting from the three wheeled pleb's point of view is that Lambeth Council's initiative is about knife crime, which has some bearing on the SE11 area.

I have grave doubts that any council initiative can "solve" knife crime. I suspect that public money being spent in a certain manner might well go to solve the issue, but it's likely (although not guaranteed) that the money will be put to short term fixes rather than long term solutions. It seems to me obvious that the key to tackling crime is to tackle poverty. Whilst it is not clear that it is only those who live in poverty who commit crime, it seems that there is significant correlation. I was persuaded some years ago that one solution to the poverty/crime dynamic is to spend significantly on early years projects. If one engages with women on a single income at the stage when they are first pregnant, and teaches them about healthy eating / alcohol/drug consumption risk during pregnancy, then their child is significantly less likely (due to early intervention from development agencies) to engage in a life of crime. It must be stressed that such early intervention means that they and their children are given access to services and education that mean they're not left to fend for themselves. It's been quite a while sine I've looked at any of this, but Google for the "Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development" for a source about these ideas.

So... how long is the initiative?

The Guardian says:

the five-year strategy is the first "long-term comprehensive" initiative of its kind to be set up in England

It depends what they do over the five years as to how effective it is. I'm not convinced that a 5 year strategy is long enough to tackle the causes of crime. There's too much risk that fundign can be obtained for helpful services which will then fold in 5 years time.

So... where are Lambeth Council spending their money?

The Guardian says:

a series of initiatives that include increased investment in youth services run by and for local people, a specialist outreach team for hard-to-reach youngsters, parenting classes, and a network of police officers in primary schools.

I like the sound of the parenting classes, but I'd prefer it to say "ante-natal classes" since I think that the earlier the intervention, the better. I'm also a massive fan of Camilla Batmanghelidj's charity, Kids Company. It's a self-referring charity for children in South east London, and I believe they do some great work, offering mentoring, skills, and a safe place to hang about. I hope that they'll be on the receiving end of some of the cash (rather than somebody wasting money setting up new Lambeth bodies) to do the same thing. I'm a bit sceptical about the police officers in primary schools, but we'll see. I believe I also once read a BBC article on some research which suggests that teenagers who attend /unstructured/ youth clubs are more exposed to becoming involved with criminal activities. So let's hope that we have fewer youth clubs with very structured activities, rather than more youth clubs that effectively offer little more than a pool table.

Also, I figure that since most of Lambeth's initiative will have occurred too late to offer hope to those people in the 16-19 bracket, we won't have seen the end of the knife crime / stabbings for a while yet. So... The Lambeth Council initiative (if effective) will not really kick in for another 5 years (at least) especially if targeted at younger children, and things could get worse in the meantime. That means (and here I'm being rather pessimistic) that just as the initiative starts working, the public won't have seen the effects, and the whole initiative will be pulled just as it has begun to work (if it does) on the grounds that the public will claim that knife crime has risen, and that the scheme is a waste of public money.

I hope they prove me wrong.

My strategy (and personal goals):

1. Know your nearest neighbours (at least 2 households) well enough to offer them a cup of tea.
2. Know 15 people in your postcode (preferably outside if you're on a boundary) that are also on good enough terms with their nearest neighbours to be able to offer them a cup of tea.
3. Become involved in one youth initiative in your area (youth club, Guides, Scouts, parenting classes, Sunday school, mosque group, school reading scheme).

I figure that if everybody followed all three steps that we could virtually prevent all knife crime in the Borough of Lambeth... Even if we only followed the top 2 steps, we'd have created such a web of people that a great many social ills coudl be solved.

Maybe I should start a "have a cup of tea" campaign. The drawback? I don't drink tea :)

Update: Freddie Moody murder

Bathsheba over at Stockwell News (see blog roll) has a brief news round up and a few facts relating to those accused of the Freddie Moody stabbing. I don't have much more to add, and she's giving better coverage as it falls within her patch and slightly outside of SE11.

SW8 - Guildford Road death - furthur information

Furthur to the post made last night, it now appears that furthur information (from amongst other sources) ThisisLondon and Wimbledon Guardian has been released on the 18 year old male, stabbed in Guildford Street last night.

The man's name was Frederick Moody (and he was known as Freddy). He had studied for a short time at Kingston University, and was due to start work as an apprentice in the Construction Industry.

There are various "eye-witness" and "the neighbour said" results floating around the web, but I figure it will all be in the papers soon enough...

My prayers and thoughts are with the friends and family of Freddy, and with the friends and family of the 16 year old currently in custody. This sort of crime can only be described as scandalous in our society. It is a scandal that such a young life should be held in such low regard that it might be taken in this way. It is also a scandal that somebody did not become involved in the life of perpetrator(s) a little earlier in order to prevent them considering knives an option.

I want people to talk about the courage that young people require, not so much to kill, but to refuse to kill. It takes courage to live, to study, to get a job, especially in some areas of South London. It's a responsibility placed squarely on the shoulders of the entirety of London to ensure that all young people have the opportunity to grow in communities of virtue that promote the courage to protect, and not the courage to kill.

Edit: An online memorial site has been put up for tributes to Freddy Moody.

SW8 - Guildford Road stabbing

The BBC reported about an hour ago, and the Guardian a little bit later that a man (probably in late teens) was fatally stabbed in Guildford Road (SW8) at around 19:00 this evening. The reports say South West London, but most readers will be aware that that's only down the road in the area that falls between Vauxhall and Stockwell.

The Guardian report also notes that it will be the 21st teenage stabbing if the guy turns out to be under eighteen.

Another one. One too many. Somebody's somebody.

We can talk about knife crime as much as we like, but it doesn't seem to solve anything. Peace isn't easy to come by.

I have a friend who lives in Guildford Road. I hope she's ok.