This week 10, 20, 30 years ago

10 Years Ago

Police arrested 10 people as a murder inquiry got under way into the knifing of a 16-year-old boy.

Ambulance crews were called to reports of a stabbing in Launcelot Road, Downham, in the early hours of Wednesday.

The teenager, who is believed to have been stabbed inside a house, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Three teenagers aged 16 to 18 were arrested and later released.

Three people were later arrested in Deptford and four in Edgware, north London.

Police carried out house-to-house inquiries.

Traders hit out at barriers put up for Olympic events, saying they have stopped people from visiting their market.

Greenwich Market stallholders reported their worst days of business ever, despite 110,000 people coming to the town over the four-day equestrian eventing competition.

The route from Greenwich station to the park was fenced off to help ticket holders find the venue, effectively cutting off the market entrance in Greenwich Church Street.

Traders say Olympic stewards were preventing passing trade as they ushered spectators along the route.

Traders tried to hand out leaflets advertising the market but were told this was against Olympic rules.

They also say regular visitors stayed away because Transport for London urged people to avoid the area.

A sprinter from Catford prepared for the biggest week of his life. After losing his funding and suffering injuries that threatened his career, just being at London 2012 was a huge achievement for James Ellington, a former Forest Hill School pupil.

Ellington hoped to do more than make up the numbers in the 200m sprint. Ellington, who had recently become a father, drew headlines when he auctioned himself on eBay.

He was hoping to find a sponsor who would fund his £30,000 training programme after UK Athletics withdrew its support. Ellington eventually won a deal with King of Shaves.

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20 Years Ago

The mad cow’s disease scare was credited for Southwark having the worst hospital waiting lists in the country.

The borough’s north and south primary care groups (PCG) propped up the bottom two spots in the NHS league table, with some patients having to wait 18 months for an operation.

The delays came about following measures to deal with the human form of the disease, variant Creutfeldt-Jacob Disease.

Hospital bosses said fears the disease could spread prompted the Government to ban the use of certain reuseable medical instruments to cut the risk of transmitting the deadly virus.

Legendary Lambeth town crier Alfie Howard was shot in the head with a crossbow bolt.

The 90-year-old was sitting by the flower stall in Brixton Road when he was hit by the 18in bolt. But the great-grandfather said he was sorry to have been attacked in Brixton, an area he loved.

The pensioner was taken to King’s College Hospital in Denmark Hill, where he was stitched up. He said he thought the crossbow bolt had been thrown into the crowd rather than fired at him.

Campaigners announced plans to stage a protest march through Brixton to highlight the blight of crack cocaine dealers plying their trade in the area.

Led by London Mayor Ken Livingstone’s right-hand man on race relations Lee Jasper, the march was designed to help fed-up residents vent their anger at the dealers who made Brixton a mecca for addicts.

Mr Jasper said he thought the police could turn the problem around in the space of 12 months and urged as many people as possible to join the march.

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30 Years Ago

Police came under a barrage of stones and bottles as they tackled a hardcore of thugs at a family fun day.

And hours after things turned nasty at the Southwark Show, officers again clashed with hundreds of youths in Peckham.

The show saw thousands descend on Burgess Park but as the event drew to a close at 7.30pm trouble broke out.

Later in the evening, a Chinese Restaurant in Bellenden Road, Peckham had bottles pitched through its windows by the marauding mob and police were forced to take shelter as the crowd swelled to 300 youngsters.

An historic church looked set to be saved from deterioration after a buyer was found for it.

Housing association the Cooperative Dwelling Society (CDS) hoped to buy the listed St George’s Church in Wells Way, Camberwell to renovate it and turn it into housing for the poor.

The group hoped to acquire the church from owners The Celestial Church of Christ for £35,000 – £5,000 more than its estimated value at the time.

A restaurant owner got into the Olympic spirit by offering customers a free bottle of Champagne for every time Great Britain won a gold medal at the Barcelona Olympics.

Miguel Isik, who owned Don Miguel’s in Kennington said he would hand a bottle of bubbly over to the first customers through the door after the nation made the top spot on the podium.

Mr Isik was hoping for a bumper haul of medals and had ordered in an extra 12 bottles in anticipation of Olympic glory.

 

Picture: Pixabay/Agzam