Machete brawls in street, locals too scared to go out & kid knifed next to cops… the bloody spree gripping crime hotspot

MACHETE brawls in the street and drug gangs stalking kids on the school run – this is the darkest side of life in crime-hit Woolwich.

Residents and business owners claim they are used to seeing such bold acts of chilling violence and live in fear of savage criminals threatening an area only 20 minutes away from the gleaming skyscrapers of Canary Wharf.

In wake of the tragic fatal stabbing of 14-year-old Kelyan Bokassa on a bus in broad daylight on January 7, residents say they refuse to step outside at night, terrified of being mugged, threatened or worse.

According to the latest police figures, the borough of Greenwich – of which Woolwich is a part – saw 144 stabbings in the last 12 months, marking a 5.6 per cent rise on the year before.

Community leaders, police and the council are working hard to stem the violence, but despite these efforts, locals fear their community has lost its way and witness incidents of crime and anti-social behaviour almost every day.

Maya*, 27, works as a tattoo artist in a shop on Hare Street in the town centre and has lived in Woolwich her whole life.

She revealed that her own brother lost his life in a shooting at 23.

“It’s continuous – Woolwich is actually getting worse, and it’s getting younger too,” she tells us.

“Every other day there’s something on this road alone and that’s just this part of town – there’s fighting, stabbing. It’s worrying, and everyone here feels it.

“But it’s so common now, that it’s almost a fleeting feeling.

“You almost can’t mourn for too long because there’ll be another one tomorrow.

“Everyone here wants to get out – it’s not somewhere you’d settle or raise a kid.”

Machete brawls

Mature Patel, who runs a convenience store on Thomas Street, revealed he has witnessed numerous stabbings outside his shop – with three happening on the same day.

“We had multiple stabbings outside here, one was across the road and one just down there – three stabbings in the space of an hour on the same road,” he told The Sun.

“The third stabbing happened right in front of the police. They were guarding a boy because they knew people were coming for him. They still came up to him, stabbed him and ran off.

“When you see things like that you start to lose hope. If they’ve got enough in them to do it in front of a police officer, then there’s nothing else to deter them from doing these things.

“I’ve had a few outside on the main road. It scares a lot of elderly people who come into the area as well. There’s a lot of people that live here that don’t like to come into the town centre.”

On Thursday it was revealed that a 15-year old and a 16-year old have been arrested and charged in relation to Kelyan’s murder.

Only a few months before the tragedy, in September, Daejuan Campbell was also stabbed to death.

After the attack on Eglinton Road, he hauntingly cried out: “I’m 15, don’t let me die”.

But these violent attacks are sadly far from isolated incidents in the South East London suburb.

Schoolkids targeted

Only a day before Keylan’s death, an 18-year-old was stabbed near Shooter’s Hill College – though thankfully survived.

Just outside of the town centre, we spoke with Rita Southgate, 37, who has a 16-year-old son attending the same college.

She fears he may become yet another young boy sucked into the violent subculture plaguing the area.

She also revealed that he was targeted by a group of boys while walking home from school, who came up to him offering the chance to “earn some extra money.”

There’s certain roads I don’t like my son to walk down on his own – certain houses you know to avoid

Rita Southgate

“There’s certain roads I don’t like my son to walk down on his own – certain houses you know to avoid,” she said.

“He was in his school uniform, walking down that road, and he was approached by a group of boys that asked him if he wanted to earn some extra money. 

“Thankfully he came straight home and told us but that is literally how easy it is for children to be approached.”

Mum to a 16-year-old, Emily, 40, also said that she was terrified in the light of the two recent stabbings – so much so that she declined to give her full name or have her photo taken.

“Of course it worries me. There’s an element of risk, you want to safeguard every situation that your kids are going into because you know what’s going on out there isn’t correct,” she said.

“This borough in particular has a crisis. And it’s been going on for a long time. 

“There’s no element of village anymore either. It used to be a community effort to raise your kids – you knew there were people looking out. 

“I feel like there’s a lot of work between parents, schools, and the police that needs to be done – on prevention rather than cure.”

Leanne Thomas, 36, who runs a local pub, also worries about crime and has started a petition for the council to run a school bus to help kids avoid the dangers out on the streets.

“Groups of children come here and bump into the wrong crowd. You lose count of the number of fights that have happened on the street in the last six months,” she said.

“There needs to be a lot more police presence. It’s a free for all.”

Community terror

Other people in the town centre said that they do all they can to avoid coming into the area, especially at night.

Many know friends and family who have been victims of muggings and anti-social behaviour.

Lesley Baxter, a local housing officer, is one of those people who find the town threatening and believes that more needs to be doing more to tackle local gangs.

“I think it’s a dangerous area now – I only come here when I have work,” she said.

“My husband’s friend was in the park and there were boys that were picking on the elderly. 

“In my day you had police on the streets all the time – but it’s not like that any more.”

Lesley also revealed that a close colleague of hers works in a nearby estate, and spoke about the devastating impact recent incidents have had on the community.

“She’s distraught. The kids around there are distraught,” she added.

“Everybody’s frightened – I’m scared.”

Janette Guy, 53, has lived in Woolwich for decades and has an 18-year-old son who attends a nearby college that recently has seen a number of incidents. 

“I’ve lived here 24 years, and it’s changed a lot – more homeless people, a lot of people hurting people. I kept my son off college for the week, because he found it quite hard to handle.

“I’ve heard a few shootings and that but have been lucky to avoid anything so far, but it needs a lot more work – and a lot more police.”

Timofei Osadcenco, 18, is a student living in the town centre and expressed a similar sentiment.

“One of my friends got robbed on the bus – they took his phone and his wallet.

“The recent stabbing also happened on a bus I use.

“I don’t really feel safe at night. There’s always groups of people drinking, smoking weed.” he added.

There’s a lot of anti-social behaviour on the street, and you never know who you’re going to run into

Artjom Hatsaturjants

“One day, I was sitting over there, and I saw a couple get robbed. A guy ran to them and just nicked their phone and ran away. And that was at 2pm, in broad daylight.”

Artjom Hatsaturjants, 42, has lived in the area for a decade and is also concerned about anti-social behaviour in the town.

“Crime worries me – when my wife comes home late, I’ll pick her up,” he said.

“There’s a lot of anti-social behaviour on the street and you never know who you’re going to run into.”

Crime hotspot

Aside from the high-profile stabbings that have made the news, numerous other brawls and fights involving knives, and sometimes even guns, have happened in Woolwich in the last year.

In September, a man was taken to hospital after a shooting in the middle of the night, only a five minute walk away from the high street.

In June of this year, another man in his 20s was shot on Ogilby Street, also only round the corner from the station.

And in May, a mass brawl on Thomas Street saw three people get stabbed.

Tom Pickering works for XLP, a youth charity that does extensive work around Woolwich and the wider borough of Greenwich.

They have seen first hand how young teens become sucked into a life of crime and violence.

“At the heart of it, we all crave belonging. And for young people, gangs can feel like a place to belong when everything positive has been stripped away,” he told The Sun.

“Gangs offer an illusion of power, money and protection. But it’s a trap that steals lives.”

Tom also revealed how gangs use the promise of favours to rope teenagers in, leaving them without any option but to commit to the lifestyle.

“They’re spotting what young people need and pretending to offer something that will help that young person.

“They may find someone who’s hungry and go, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll get you chicken and chips today.’

“But then they’ll approach another time and say, right I did that for you – now you owe me. And you get stuck in the cycle of power and debt to the game.”

In a statement, Rachel Taggart-Ryan, Greenwich Council’s Cabinet member for Community Safety and Enforcement, said that “resident safety is our priority and everyone in our borough should be safe and feel safe”.

He added: “As a council we work in partnership with the police, schools, young people and a variety of locally trusted-grassroots organisations on a range of work all year round to tackle the root causes of violence.

“We’ll continue to listen and work with families, young people and the community to prevent future tragedies.”

*Name has been changed