This week 10, 20, 30 years ago

10 Years Ago

A husband paid tribute to his “wonderful wife” after the young South London mum was knocked down and killed by a car.

The family, from East Dulwich, had been having dinner with friends before Desreen Brooks, 33, was hit by a Mercedes in West Hampstead, north-west London.
Her husband, Ben Dutton, said he and their two-year-old son, Jackson, were lucky to be alive after they jumped out of the way of the car as it went down a high street.

He said: “Desreen was just wonderful in every way. Everything she wanted to achieve she did. She was an amazing mother, wife and daughter, and everyone who knew her loved her.”

Two friends were nominated for a joint Our Heroes Award after saving a library from closure and offering a second chance to reformed criminals.

Thanks to Kathy Dunbar and Gill Hart, New Cross Library was only shut for a couple of months when Lewisham council was forced to close it due to lack of funding.

The pair came up with an action plan to save it, backed by politicians and nearly 6,000 names on a petition, and the building in New Cross Road was open again by summer 2011 as the rebranded New Cross Learning.

Police named a man who was killed after being attacked in the street.

Thierry Christian-Gnanakumar, 22, from Catford was taken to hospital by ambulance after being attacked in Lewisham High Street

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20 Years Ago

The lives of more than a million South Londoners were entrusted to just four vintage fire engines as firefighters went on strike over pay and conditions.

The Army had to be drafted in to provide emergency cover using the 12 Green Goddesses.

The troops were forced to provide cover for an area normally covered by 16 stations boasting 820 firefighters and 26 fire engines.

About 200 troops were stationed in Catford Tulse Hill and Grove Park.

The then Prince Charles dropped in for a cuppa with pensioners in Southwark as part of celebrations to make the 250th anniversary of a group of almshouses.

The prince was at the historic Hopton Almshouses in Bankside.

Overlooked by the Tate Modern, the buildings were opened in 1752 after merchant Charles Hopton set up a fund to provide cheap housing for workman in Southwark.

Extra police patrols at the end of the school day turned Camberwell into a nicer place to shop.

The extra patrols were brought in around the Butterfly Walk shopping centre for four weeks in a bid to stop groups of kids congregating.

The patrols took place between 3pm and 6pm every weekday after shopkeepers complained that they were being intimidated by children loitering in the area before heading home on the bus.

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30 Years Ago

Penny-pinching social services staff managed to save more than £1m by mistake.

Following £3.5million in cuts over 18 months Southwark social services discovered it had £1.172million to spare at the end of the 1991/2 year.

Service cuts had been made across the board with pay freezes, cuts to the voluntary services, training and redundancies. The underspend was absorbed back into the council’s budget and spent on services in other departments.

More than 100 students had their course stopped halfway through term because nine lecturers lost their jobs in an education bungle.

The students, who were all studying at the Grove Park Centre at Coopers Lane School in Pragnell Road, Lee.

The nine lecturers had taken voluntary redundancy the previous year and education bosses at Lewisham council said they had made a mistake in rehiring them.

The mistake was discovered during the half-term break when it was realised that the move had broken the council’s own rules.

Students had to wait until the first day back after the half-term break to learn their courses were axed.

Scotland Yard drew fire for closing a drug-busting squad set up to smash South London’s network of drugs barons.

Operation Dalehouse had made 260 drug-related arrests in 14 months after it was set up.

It was also credited with a drop in the number of firearms on the streets. But the Met announced that the squad was going to be wound down to the disgust of Tooting MP Tom Cox.

He branded the decision “appalling” as Dalehouse had been making a dent in the illicit dealings of Yardie gangs who had links to the criminal cartels in the US and the Caribbean.

But the Met said the unit was being disbanded because it had achieved its objectives.

 

Picture: King Charles (formerly Prince) Dan Marsh/Flickr