MURDER IN THE MARKET: The latest violent stabbing incident off Surrey Street, thought to have claimed the life of one victim, has raised further concerns about crime levels in central Croydon
Crime scene: there was a large police presence and several ambulances called to the scene on Frith Road shortly after 9am
Inside Croydon has received eyewitness reports of a knife attack in central Croydon this morning. A man has been detained in custody, according to the Metropolitan Police.
The eyewitness reports suggest that there were two victims of the attack, one of them a fatality.
The attack appears to have taken place in an alleyway off Frith Road, close to a branch of Subway and opposite the Holiday Inn Express hotel.
There is a considerable presence of Metropolitan Police and London Ambulance Service vehicles at the scene, which has been taped off. With Church Street and Surrey Street market nearby busy with Saturday morning shoppers, the commotion had attracted a crowd of curious passers-by.
According to one witness, the attack occurred in broad daylight, at around 9am.
It happened in an alley way next to the Subway branch, at the Church Street end of Frith Road, and opposite the Holiday Inn Express hotel.
In a brief, holding statement issued by Scotland Yard at 11am, they said, “Police were called to Frith Road at 09:07hrs on Saturday, 31 May following reports of a stabbing.
“Officers, the London Ambulance Service and London’s Air Ambulance are in attendance.
“A man is currently in custody and a cordon remains in place at the location.”
The police say that further updates will be issued as the details become clear in a “fast-moving” situation.
This latest violent incident has raised concerns again about crime levels in the vicinity, close to where 22-year-old Rijkaard Siafa was murdered in a violent stabbing on Fellmongers Yard, off Surrey Street, in April 2024. Two men were convicted of murder earlier this year, but a third suspect remains at large.
Read more: They stabbed Siafa 13 times and then strolled off to the pub
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This is dreadful news and my thoughts are with all those hurt, their families, friends and those people who had to witness this incident.
We need to let the police investigation take its course and not speculate on the details of this incident, but I think we all agree that the levels of violence we hear about in Croydon are very worrying and we need to work together to tackle the underlying causes of violence.
And punish the offenders(s)?
No. Give them seats in the House of Lords, with all the other Tory crooks
What’s the point? They will be out in 3 years.
Church Street and East Croydon area are slowly turning into West Croydon. The quality of shops have descended into trash attracting the wrong ppl. It is devastating to see. Meanwhile Mayor Perry will probably flex that removing benches will actually do anything to combat this
When Jason Perry was campaigning to become the first Mayor of Croydon, he said “under Labour Croydon has suffered a tidal wave of crime”.
In his manifesto he promised a strategy to partner with the Police to provide mobile knife arches and wands, provide a mentor for every young person permanently excluded from school or under the long-term care of the Council, work with voluntary and faith organisations to establish self-help wellness groups and develop a strong partnership between the voluntary, business and statutory sectors in Croydon.
Instead he didn’t bother to hold community safety partnership meetings https://insidecroydon.com/2023/10/02/perry-fails-to-hold-any-safe-community-meetings-in-18-months/ and made sure the Council’s failings over teenage killer Hassan Sentamu did not see the light of day https://insidecroydon.com/2025/01/24/mayor-perry-accused-of-cover-up-over-sentamu-case-review/
The only thing Perry did on wands was to rip them out of the Brighton Road cycle lane. For arches, he had a photo taken of himself in front of the new Purley railway arch mural.
There’s not much evidence of progress with any of his other manifesto commitments on Crime, Safety and Community. That hasn’t stopped him giving himself a pay rise and awarding one to Councillor Ola Kolade, the Cabinet Member for Community Safety.
He’s a waste of space and a waster of our money
Green Party Fairfield Councillors Esther Sutton, Ria Patel and myself are thinking of those affected. We’ll be out speaking to residents in the area on Sunday. Please reach out to us if we can help.
Who in their right mind would ever go shopping in Croydon?