This week 10, 20, 30 years ago

10 Years Ago

Police were to train residents to find weapons on estates plagued by gang troubles.

The project was the first of its kind in the capital, launched by officers following a large-scale police sweep of two estates that unearthed six knives.

Officers carried out the search in the Coldharbour area of Brixton, following complaints from residents and community leaders of antisocial behaviour and long-standing gang activity in the area.

Teenagers from Sedgehill School celebrated a clean sweep with a record 100 per cent A-level pass rate.

The school, which is federated with Hayes School Bromley, saw its students’ academic achievements rise significantly over the years with a higher percentage than ever going to university that year.

Sara Singh, who was 18, got two A*s and a B and went onto study human geography at the London School of Economics.

She said: “It feels so surreal.”

Activists who were campaigning against the detention of a British man being held in a US prison camp took their fight to the head of the Met.

Members of the Save Shaker Aamer Campaign attempted to present a letter to Met Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe requesting an update on the former Wandsworth resident, who had been held without trial since he was arrested in Afghanistan in 2001.

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20 Years Ago

Workers complained that junkies were living in a lock-up next to their businesses.

They said the addicts were openly shooting up in the garage and had left it piled high with rubbish and dirty mattresses.

One businessman working next to the lock-up in Park Hill, Clapham, said it was like working in Beirut because so much rubbish had been fly-tipped on the site.

A mural painted by schoolchildren was unveiled in a park ahead of the arrival of a fair.

Youngsters from Surrey Square Infants and Junior Schools worked with professional artists Greenwich Mural Workshops to come up with the idea for their artwork.

The result took centre stage at the fair in Surrey Square Park after the children were given a sneak preview. They celebrated with a football game.

Hundreds of well-wishers lined the streets to cheer on firefighters pulling a bus to raise money for charity.

The team staging the 10th annual Deptford bus-pull were raising money for the Fire Services National Benevolent Fund.

They were joined in the test of strength by Deptford police and punters from the John Evelyn pub.

Each team had to pull the double-decker using ropes across a quarter-mile course against the clock.

The firefighters won with a time of two minutes and 23 seconds.

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30 Years Ago

Traders said plans to increase their rents would put them out of business.

The traders working in a parade of shops in Streatham High Road, feared that proposals to more than double some rents to as much as £22,000 a year would be the final straw.

The traders said they would be forced to increase their charges to customers, meaning they would shop elsewhere.

They said the going rate for similar properties was about £14,500 a year.

A stabbing victim made a heartfelt protest against violence from beyond the grave.

Tragic musician Bob Osborne’s song Running With The Gun was released by his family to help pay for a private prosecution of the man who killed him.

The killer admitted stabbing the musician in self-defence on the Fern Lodge Estate in Leigham Court Road and was cleared of murder and manslaughter.

Marauding packs of teenagers armed with knives were roaming trains and robbing lone passengers in South London.

One of the prime target areas for the gangs was Streatham Common station.

Clapham Common, Battersea, Tulse Hill and Clapham Junction were also used as boarding points by the youths.

Police said the usual targets were other teenage boys, who were stripped of their cash, personal stereos and bank cards at knifepoint.

There were 60 reported muggings on the network in August, 1993 alone