Police were called out to a meeting held in Woodside on Thursday night when it was interrupted by a man described by eyewitnesses as “aggressive”, “intimidating”, “rude” and “misogynistic”. The disrupted meeting was organised by… Croydon police.
Election candidate: TTIP’s Shane Sobers was described as ‘aggressive’ and ‘rude’ at Thursday’s meeting
The disrupter was Shane Sobers, a local boxing coach who is standing for election to the council on May 7 for the Taking The Piss Party.
Sobers arrived about 30 minutes into the Woodside Safer Neighbourhood Team’s regular ward panel meeting. It is suggested that Sobers had never before attended an SNT meeting.
Ward panel meetings are supposedly, according to the Met, to be “a community-led group where local residents meet regularly with our Safer Neighbourhood Team made up of dedicated police officers and [Police Community Support Officers] assigned to your area”.
Ward panel meetings are usually run by volunteers, and are the Met’s way of getting some feedback from residents about concerns around crime and anti-social behaviour.
At the time Sobers arrived at the Woodside meeting, there were no police constables present, only two PCSOs, a couple of councillors and members of the public.
“Shane Sobers arrived and started berating the meeting about various topics to do with crime,” according to one resident present. “He also stated that he didn’t believe in the police.
“The chair asked him to stop, as this wasn’t a political meeting but an SNT meeting.
“He started filming the meeting without obtaining the consent of anyone there. He was asked to delete the footage and refused.
“He was then asked to leave, and refused. The two PCSOs asked him to leave and he refused, saying that they weren’t police officers.”
With the meeting now thoroughly off agenda, the PCSOs were forced to call for back-up from colleague police officers. Once they arrived, Sobers left.
“It was a perfect example of the offence of ‘wasting police time’,” according to another member of the public attending the meeting. “But worse than that, he wasted all of our time, too.”
Another attendee at the meeting said of Sobers, “Not someone you want representing people as a councillor.”
According to TTIP, Shane Sobers’ “journey” (why is it always a “journey”?) began “with a law degree and a passion for boxing”.
For 15 years, Sobers has run the Croydon Boxing Academy, now based in a unit of Centrale, where he charges £45 per month for gym membership, and offers classes such as “white collar boxing”, yoga, strength and fitness.
According to TTIP, Sobers has “dedicated his life to the community and founded the Croydon Boxing Academy… Through boxing, Shane learned essential life skills, dedication and perseverance. It transformed his life”.
And TTIP says: “Living and working in Woodside has exposed Shane to the economic and social issues our community faces… Shane plans to listen and support the residents of Woodside with every issue that acts as a barrier to them having a good life in Croydon.”
TTIP was approached for comment about whether Shane Sobers’ conduct at this week’s Woodside SNT meeting was an example of how he “plans to listen and support the residents of Woodside with every issue”.
A spokesperson for TTIP told Inside Croydon: “We were only made aware of the incident upon receipt of a formal complaint regarding the matter on Friday afternoon.
“Since then, Taking the Initiative Party has commenced a full and thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident. We will provide further comment once the investigation has concluded and our findings have been established.”
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“A passion for boxing” = he enjoys hitting people