This week 10, 20, 30 years ago
10 Years Ago
A couple have been jailed for importing £500,000 worth of cocaine wrapped in noodles.
Everald Lottry, 43, and Maxine Coleman, 42, of Crystal Palace Road, East Dulwich, were each jailed for six years at Woolwich Crown Court.
UK Border Force staff at East Midlands Airport intercepted a consignment of clothing from Los Angeles on April 4, but inside found tin cans containing cocaine wrapped in noodles.
Officers witnessed Maxine Coleman signing for the package at a property in Lausanne Road, Peckham.
Firefighter who rescued seven people after a fire in a group of flats were hailed as heroes.
The blaze, which is being treated as “suspicious” broke out in a four-storey block of flats in Campshill Road, Lewisham, early Wednesday.
Firefighters rescued a woman and a child from the third floor of the former Sir John Morden pub building. Another woman and child were rescued from the first floor. Three more women were rescued from other floors.
Two men and two women jumped from the first floor before the emergency services arrived and 31 others were evacuated by police.
Nine people, including two men and two women who jumped from the first floor, were taken to hospital by ambulance with injuries caused by the fall, along with smoke inhalation, but none were seriously injured.
A man who terrified residents by firing a shotgun out of his window in the middle of the night was sentenced to seven years in prison on Monday.
Inner London Crown Court heard how police swooped on the home of Errol Mathurin, 27, on March 16 after he fired shots into the street.
Mathurin claimed to have fired the weapon in an attempt to prevent a group of men from entering his home in Heron Road, Herne Hill. Officers found Mathurin hiding in a nearby back garden.
20 Years Ago
Commuters were left stranded after the firm running one of South London’s busiest bus routes folded at short notice.
Passengers were ordered off bus routes 185 and 42 as the news reached drivers, who stopped work on orders from their bosses.
At 3pm on August 21, receivers told bus company Easylink to call in its entire fleet with immediate effect.
Almost 100 Easylink staff were immediately made redundant.
Other drivers were offered temporary shifts with the routes’ new operators but drivers were told they would not be paid for their last two weeks’ work.
A council declared war on tenants who used their gardens to dump rubbish and allowed them to become overgrown.
Wandsworth council announced plans to fine “slobs” living in Tooting if they refused to clear up after themselves.
A “hit squad” was put together to tackle problem estates and the council warned that it would be sending the clean-up bill to tenants if they ignored requests to do the work themselves.
As part of the blitz on messy tenants, gardens were set to be cleared, streets swept and untaxed vehicles towed away, the council warned.
Dozy burglars who raided an antiques showroom in Battersea made off with £2,500 worth of beds, but forgot to take some of the most important – and valuable – parts.
Burglars struck at The French House in Queenstown Road while the manager was working in the basement.
The burglars took an ornate 18th century bed but left without some of the supports, rendering the furniture useless.
30 Years Ago
The trustees of the former Greater London Council’s old home came under fire for refusing to allow the public access to it.
The London Residuary Body (LRB) was criticised for being “obstructive” to potential buyers of the empty County Hall on the South Bank.
The London School of Economics (LSE), which submitted a £65million bid to take over the property, said it had been refused access to the site for months.
Japanese firm Shirayama had agreed to buy the building earlier in the year, but Environment Secretary Michael Howard then allowed the LSE bid to be considered.
LRB denied accusations it was deliberately trying to prevent access for fear of losing the Japanese bidder and said it could not allow access because it had made its security staff redundant.
Rising unemployment figures sparked anger from South London MPs.
In Lambeth, Lewisham, Southwark and Wandsworth, the number of people joining the dole queue had risen by nearly 2,000 in one month.
The figures also showed that unemployment in Wandsworth had doubled in two years, while it had risen by 80 per cent in Lewisham and 67 per cent in Lambeth over the same period.
Almost 90,000 people were out of work in the four boroughs, prompting local MPs to accuse the Government of “complacency”.
A high-speed train service was late on its maiden journey after a fire broke out in a factory near the railway line.
The new aluminium trains ran non-stop from Kent to South London stations, before taking commuters to Charing Cross.
British Rail bosses said they would eventually replace the “slam door” carriages completely but would be phased in gradually over three years.
The new trains had heating, ventilation and air conditioning.
Picture generic: Pixabay/einar_magnus –