Trial date for Carshalton teacher’s murder is set for October

Posted on March 12, 2025 by insidecroydon

Victim: Gemma Devonish

James Madden appeared in court yesterday and was charged with the murder of Gemma Devonish, the school teacher who was found with fatal stab wounds at a flat in Nutfield Close, Carshalton, on December 19 last year.

The local MP described the killing as “shocking and distressing”.

Madden, 38, of Railton Road, Brixton, was the long-term boyfriend of Devonish. He made his court appearance via videolink from HMP Belmarsh.

During a brief hearing at Croydon Crown Court, Judge Peter Gower KC set a trial date in October, with the trial expected to last around two weeks.

The plea hearing date has been set for next month. Continue reading →

Posted in Carshalton and Wallington, Crime, Knife crime | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Council finally paints double yellows so Kenley gets its 434 bus

Posted on March 11, 2025 by insidecroydon

A year after they literally “missed the bus” over Transport for London’s last-minute decision not to route the 434 to upper Kenley because of sightline issues on some suburban streets, and the ward’s Tory councillors are claiming the credit for finally getting a bus routed to serve the area.

On the buses: TfL is implementing changes to the 434, after waiting for action by Croydon Council for more than a year

In fact, the only reason for the delay in implementing the TfL route all this time had been Tory-controlled Croydon Council’s failure to paint double yellow lines along a short stretch of road.

The 434 runs between Coulsdon, Ridgemount Avenue and Caterham.

From the end of this month, the route will no longer serve stops on Godstone Road between Purley Tesco and Kenley Station, but will instead run via Foxley Hill Road, Higher Drive, Cullesden Road, Firs Road, Wattendon Road, Hayes Lane, Park Road and Hayes Lane.

“Locals have been asking for this for years,” one loyal reader observed. Continue reading →

Posted in Gayle Gander, Kenley, Ola Kolade, TfL, Transport | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

East Croydon bridge to open in October, as MP fails to update

Posted on March 11, 2025 by insidecroydon

East Croydon Station’s Bridge to Nowhere is expected to be open, and finally allow pedestrians to go somewhere, in October.

Blocked off: an MP’s ‘update’ provided zero information on dates or details of plans for the Bridge to Nowhere

That’s according to Jeet Bains, the council cabinet member for planning and regeneration, in a speech at a Town Hall meeting last month.

It is suggested that he was trying to claim it as some kind of achievement for Croydon’s Tory Mayor. Which might be a bit of a gamble, since Jason Perry was the cabinet member responsible when the plight of the Bridge to Nowhere was first revealed 12 years ago.

Inside Croydon’s moniker for the £24million pedestrian access bridge that was supposed to link Cherry Orchard Road in Addiscombe to Croydon town centre via Dingwall Road, now appears to be in everyday use. This website first coined the phrase in 2013, when work was competed but the access on the eastern side remained blocked.

That inaccessibility has remained in place ever since.

The bridge is now routinely referred to by its iC moniker by Heather Cheesbrough, the head of the council’s planning department which was at least partically responsible for this multi-million-pound omnishambles, as well as by Google’s AI-powered search engine, and even by two of the borough’s Labour MPs. Continue reading →

Posted in Addiscombe West, Commuting, Croydon Council, Croydon East, Croydon West, East Croydon, Natasha Irons, Planning, Sarah Jones MP, TfL, Transport | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Vital safety works for Croydon Flyover could start in 2026

Posted on March 11, 2025 by insidecroydon

Showing its age: built almost 60 years ago, the Croydon Flyover’s concrete pillars are flaking and rusting

Vital safety works to repair the ageing Croydon Flyover could begin next year, according to Transport for London.

It is three years since TfL highlighted the need to undertake safety works on the A232 urban motorway which runs from Park Lane out to Duppas Hill, and only now is the capital’s transport authority able to consider taking on this multi-million-pound project.

The Croydon Flyover is built of reinforced concrete, and was completed in 1969, bisecting Croydon Old Town from Waddon. The Flyover is used by 40,000 vehicles a day.

Continue reading →

Posted in Heidi Alexander, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, TfL, Transport | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Shocking increase in attacks on ambulance and TfL employees

Posted on March 11, 2025 by insidecroydon

Two separate surveys indicate a growing lawlessness among Londoners, with damaging consequences for some public sector workers

Murder on the Tube: Jorge Ortega’s killing at Ilford last year is one of an increasing number of assaults on TfL staff

Once every two days.

That is how often Transport for London employees working at the capital’s Tube stations are attacked and hurt while simply doing their jobs.

Those alarming figures are matched by the results of another shocking survey just released that shows a staggering rise in physical and verbal attacks on London Ambulance Service staff and paramedics, with more than 8,000 assaults on frontline workers in the past five years. Continue reading →

Posted in Health, London Ambulance Service, London-wide issues, TfL, Transport | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

By appointment only: council’s been breaking the law for years

Posted on March 10, 2025 by insidecroydon

By appointment only: Croydon Council’s tree preservation orders are not as accessible as the law demands

CROYDON COMMENTARY: The council made its public ‘access’ area at Fisher’s Folly appointment-only today.
But as DON WHITE found out, even before the covid pandemic, our local authority has been most selective about how it fulfils its legal responsibilitiess at the council offices

There are a number of areas where a local authority is required by law to keep their offices open.

One example I have experienced is in relation to the tree preservation orders – knowns as TPOs – under The Town and Country Planning Act (Tree Preservation) (England) Regulations 2012 [UK Statutory Instruments 2012 no.605].

This law states explicitly “a copy of the order shall be made available for inspection, free of charge, at all reasonable hours, at the offices of the authority by whom the order was made; and where an order is made on behalf of an authority, it shall be made available for inspection also at the offices of the authority on whose behalf it was made”.

So, by law Croydon must keep a register of preserved trees and make it available to any member of the public asking to see it. Continue reading →

Posted in Croydon Council, Environment, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Steve Reed MP | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Comedy satire brings Croydon Labour vote fraud to the stage

Posted on March 10, 2025 by insidecroydon

You’ve seen Inside Croydon: The Movie (and if you haven’t, why not?).

Now comes a comedy satire on stage, which the playwrights say they have based on Inside Croydon’s reporting, which was “incredibly insightful” and “a source of comedic and informative inspiration”. Ooo-err.

Paratroopers, written by Daniel Patten and Sol Alberman, is playing at the Lion and Unicorn pub theatre in Kentish Town later this month, ahead of a run at the Edinburgh Fringe this year.

Patten says that he and Alberman have been working on the play for more than a year, “researching all things Labour selections since January 2024”.

Paratroopers is set in Cackby, a fictional post-industrial town in northern England. An MP has died and party members – the theatre audience – gather at North Cackby Community Arts Centre to choose a successor.

But how much of a choice do they really have? Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Comedy, Croydon East, David Evans, Inside Croydon, Theatre | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Murder In Cairo: Gillman’s long pursuit of Cold War cold case

Posted on March 10, 2025 by insidecroydon

Congratulations to Inside Croydon contributor Peter Gillman, who yesterday saw his latest book, Murder In Cairo: Solving a Cold War Spy Mystery, given a front-page promotion by his former employers, while extracts were published as this week’s cover story in The Sunday Times Magazine.

Gillman was a long-time staffer at The Sunday Times, and an original member of its Insight investigations team under then Editor, Harry Evans.

Before he died in 2020, Evans told Gillman that the newspaper’s failure to solve the case of the murder of its chief foreign correspondent, David Holden, was the biggest regret of his career. Continue reading →

Posted in Inside Croydon, Peter Gillman | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Council settles legal challenge by blind man over postal voting

Posted on March 10, 2025 by insidecroydon

A Croydon resident who is registered blind has won a legal challenge brought against the council, which claimed that it had failed to make reasonable adjustments to make postal voting more accessible for him and other people with visual impairments.

In the post: Yusuf Osman has claimed another legal case success against Croydon Council

The challenge was launched after Norbury resident Dr Yusuf Osman was unable to vote by post without assistance in two elections held last year. He had to rely on a friend for assistance, compromising his ability to vote secretly and independently.

The council has now settled out of court, agreeing to make significant changes in the way it operates voting for blind people, and to pay Dr Osman a token sum in damages.

In the lead-up to the London Mayor and Assembly elections in May and General Election in July last year, Dr Osman was only sent hard copies of postal voting documents which contained no instructions or information in Braille. This was despite the council being aware of his visual impairment.

Croydon’s Returning Officer, in charge of the conduct of public elections in the borough – and paid extra for doing so – is Katherine Kerswell, 63, the council’s £204,000 per year chief executive. Kerswell was roundly criticised for her mismanagement of Croydon’s local elections in 2022.

Dr Osman owns software able to scan and read out plain text. But other information contained in tables or images is often interpreted inaccurately. The software does not allow him to identify where to cast his vote on the ballot, or assist with marking it. Continue reading →

Posted in Charity, Croydon Council, Norbury, Stephen Lawrence-Orumwense | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Halfords gears up to take on rival business’s redundant staff

Posted on March 10, 2025 by insidecroydon

Halfords has extended an offer of job interviews to all members of staff affected by the closure of the ATS Euromaster branches in Croydon, Beckenham, Morden and Sydenham.

Business opportunity: Halfords is looking to interview ATS staff and win over their customers

This follows ATS Euromaster’s announcement last month that 86 of its service centres, selling tyres, brakes and offering MOTs, are to close.

The Michelin-owned company is closing more than one-third of its network, blaming overcapacity, increasing costs and sluggish growth. It is reckoned 400 employees are affected by the closures, including in four south London centres. Continue reading →

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The Masterplan has just one aim, to make money for Westfield

Posted on March 9, 2025 by insidecroydon

CROYDON COMMENTARY: The Town Hall planners handing over Masterplan responsibilities for the town centre to Westfield, as Inside Croydon reported this week, has left reader CARL LUCAS angry that our council will be missing a significant opportunity for a sustainable future

Flats, flats and more flats: Westfield’s latest scheme, endorsed by Mayor Perry’s planning committee, could include 3,000 ‘units’

It’s an insult that Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield’s vague Masterplan “Framework” even made it to Croydon Council’s planning committee.

I view it as a statement of intent of how much URW can take the absolute piss and how unfit for purpose most of the people on the planning committee are.

Nicola Townsend, Croydon’s chief planner, needs her P45 for this.

Westfield were originally brought in for a reason, and it wasn’t to be a housing developer, yet now they propose 3,000 flats, front and centre.

All they’ve done since they arrived in Croydon in 2012 is slowly squeeze the life and soul out of the town centre. This Masterplan Framework has one aim, an attempt to make as much money as possible for URW. Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Business, Centrale, Croydon Council, Environment, Housing, Mayor Jason Perry, Michael Neal, Nicola Townsend, North End Quarter, Planning, Property, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 25 Comments

Read all about it! Croydon’s streets of crime from 100 years ago

Posted on March 9, 2025 by insidecroydon

A century of history: George Street, in Croydon town centre, in 1925, when judging by the newspaper reports of the day, crimes were being committed on a daily basis

SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: In the Roaring Twenties, the local paper was filled with reports from the magistrates court of armed crime, drunkenness and ‘inexplicable frivolity’, as DAVID MORGAN delves into the archives for more of the events of March 1925

Speakeasy: undercover reporters from The Croydon Times found night clubs operating into the small hours, with dancing and card games

The Croydon Times from exactly 100 years ago provides us with a picture of Croydon life back in the “Roaring Twenties”. It wasn’t roaring for everyone, though.

The number of law and order stories which filled the paper in 1925 revealed aspects of human frailty and shortcomings, tempered with acts of kindness. As well as reflecting a time when every local newspaper had its own, dedicated court reporter.

A youth by the name of Jesse, who lived in Selsdon Road, was stopped by the police for riding a tricycle without proper lights in South End. When the case came before Mr Francis Allen JP, Jesse was fined a half crown, 2 shillings and 6d – 12½p in decimalised currency. It was a lot of money in those days…

The 78-year-old father of the youth spoke in his defence. He agreed that the lights on his son’s tricycle weren’t working properly but that, in mitigation, the household had been in some upset due to illness. Continue reading →

Posted in Crime, David Morgan, History | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Croydon Photography Forum with Paul Bogle, Mar 17

Posted on March 9, 2025 by insidecroydon

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

Continue reading →

Posted in Advertisement, Art, Community associations, Croydon Photography Forum | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Resident to challenge LibDems in Sutton council by-election

Posted on March 8, 2025 by insidecroydon

INSIDE SUTTON: April 10 has been set as polling day, with the all-powerful Liberal Democrats picking a leader of the local Hong Kong community as their candidate to replace their absentee former deputy leader.
EXCLUSIVE by BELLE MONT, Political Editor

Standing up for residents: independent candidate Pamela Marsh

“I’m fed up with residents being sidelined and their money wasted on feeble projects and financial disasters.”

That’s what Pamela Marsh has told Inside Sutton are among her reasons for agreeing to stand as an independent residents’ candidate in the Sutton Central ward council by-election that is being held on Thursday, April 10.

Sutton Council confirmed the by-election date the day after Inside Sutton had broken the story that David Bartolucci, the former deputy leader of the Liberal Democrat group which controls the council, had been disqualified because he hadn’t bothered to show up for any council meetings for more than six months.

“The London Borough of Sutton has confirmed that a by-election will be held on Thursday 10 April 2025 to elect a new local councillor in Sutton Central ward,” the statement on the council website says.

“Information about the by-election, including deadlines to register and how to vote by post or proxy, can be found on the council’s Sutton Central by-election webpage.” Which is nice. Click here to visit the Sutton Council by-election page. Continue reading →

Posted in Barry Lewis, Nick Mattey, Ruth Dombey, Sutton Council, Tim Foster | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

I’d love every girl to find strength of knowing they’ve got power

Posted on March 8, 2025 by insidecroydon

CROYDON COMMENTARY: On International Women’s Day, TIA DEAN, who works as a teacher, talks about how her training in a Korean martial art can provide lessons in confidence in everyday life

Black belt: Tia Dean says the confidence she has gained from her martial art provides important life lessons

This International Women’s Day, I’m thinking about confidence – for me and the girls I teach at Overton Grange School in Sutton.

I’ve been teaching RE and philosophy there for six years, but martial arts has been part of my life for 18.

I’m a fourth-degree black belt in Choi Kwang Do, a South Korean martial art. It’s not really a hobby, it’s a massive part of my life.

I wouldn’t be who or where I am today, without it.

It started when I was 10. Growing up in Croydon, my mum entered me into a summer fair competition. I won six months of free martial arts training and a uniform. She dragged me along, worried about me starting secondary school in a tough area.

I fell in love with Choi Kwang Do on Day One, quit football and everything else, and stuck with it even when my two mates who’d started with me dropped out. Soon, my mum, stepdad, and brother joined in – it turned into a proper family thing.

The community kept me going. The self-defence and fitness were important, but the belonging was something else. Continue reading →

Posted in Activities, Schools, Sport | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Southern apprenticeship helped Croydon mum get on track

Posted on March 8, 2025 by insidecroydon

“Becoming a train driver is a real privilege and thanks to Southern and Career Returners, I get to live my dream every day.”

Letting the trains take the strain: Elba Lovelace-Francis has launched herself into a new career with a Southern apprenticeship

After becoming a mother for the first time, West Croydon resident Elba Lovelace-Francis wanted to take her career in a new direction and joined the world of rail after being out of work for 18 months.

Now, aged 33, Lovelace-Francis recently qualified as a train driver after completing her apprenticeship with Southern, thanks to the support she received from the rail operator and Career Returners.

“I was over the moon when I passed my final assessment and got my driver’s key, because I put my heart and soul into my driver’s apprenticeship,” said the fully qualifed woman train driver, speaking about her experience to mark today’s International Women’s Day.

“The first six months of the course were classroom-based and I enjoyed immersing myself in the theory, especially the 1,000-page rulebook which I must know inside out. The best bit was getting out on the network and learning the routes under the supervision of my driving instructor. Now I’m driving independently, which is fantastic. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Transport, West Croydon | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Handel’s Messiah, performed in Croydon Minster, Mar 29

Posted on March 8, 2025 by insidecroydon

Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Church and religions, Croydon Minster, Music | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Mortgage advice that’s tailored to you from Trinity Financial

Posted on March 8, 2025 by insidecroydon

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

Continue reading →

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Carers’ Centre staff now face redundancy under new provider

Posted on March 7, 2025 by insidecroydon

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Valued workers based in George Street look set to pay with their jobs so that Mayor Perry can dodge criticism.
EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES

Just days after Mayor Jason Perry denied he was performing a U-turn when he U-turned by announcing that the Croydon Carers’ Support Centre on George Street would remain open, and staff working at the centre have been told that they now face losing their jobs next month.

Mayor Perry and the council decided to change provider of statutory carers’ support services, from local charity the Whitgift Foundation to an out-of-borough commercial company, Carers First. Without the council contract, the Foundation could no longer afford to manage the Carers’ Centre, where they employed around nine staff.

The centre has been helping hard-pressed families in the borough for more than a decade. It was due to close on March 14, after Croydon Council opted to break provision for carers into three parts, with adult carers’ assessments now to be provided by Carers First.

When the news of the closure of the Carers’ Centre first leaked out – and was reported exclusively by Inside Croydon – the council issued assurances that there would be no job losses and that Croydon-based staff would be “TUPE’d over”, from the Whitgift Foundation to the pay-roll of Kent-based Carers’ First. Continue reading →

Posted in Adult Social Care, Business, Carers First, Charity, Croydon Council, Mayor Jason Perry, Whitgift Foundation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

3,000 children enjoy a special World Book Day at Waterstones

Posted on March 7, 2025 by insidecroydon

Rapt audience: Dominic Yoboue, author of Kara, has been one of the local authors doing World Book Day readings in Waterstones this week

More than 2,000 primary-aged pupils have been inspired and excited at a book shop in the Whitgift Centre this week, all part of activities around World Book Day.

The children, aged from four to 11, were visiting Waterstones to hear local authors reading their books and talking about their writing. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Education, Schools, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Birders leave a sign to mark life of RSPB founder Eliza Phillips

Posted on March 7, 2025 by insidecroydon

Croydon bird-watchers have installed a plaque to commemorate the life and far-reaching works of Eliza Phillips, one of the founders and most generous benefactors of what we know today as the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

Pride of place: unable to instal a blue plaque in her memory, Eliza Philliops now has an information board close to the site of her former home on Morland Road

Phillips’ home from 1890 until her death, aged 93, in 1916 was Vaughan House, on Morland Road, Addiscombe.

After being widowed for a second time, in 1885, Phillips made it her life’s mission to protect animals and bird life in Britain. The plumage trade and use of feathers in Victorian ladies’ hats was having a devastating effect on some of Britain’s native breeds of bird.

The Society for the Protection of Birds was formed by the 1891 amalgamation of The Plumage League, an anti-plumage group run by Emily Williamson, and the “Fin, Fur and Feather Folk” whose afternoon meetings were established in 1889 at Phillips’ and other supporters’ homes, including at Addiscombe. Continue reading →

Posted in Addiscombe East, Charity, Community associations, Environment, History, Wildlife | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

No Access Croydon: Kerswell closes off Fisher’s Folly to public

Posted on March 7, 2025 by insidecroydon

Fisher’s Folly: the council is shutting the public out of the public access area of what is sometimes known as ‘Bernard Weatherill House’, from Monday, March 10

CROYDON IN CRISIS: At short notice, the council has announced that there will be no public access to the its offices without an appointment, in the latest cut in services under Mayor Jason Perry.
EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES

The council’s latest money-saving scam is to close off Fisher’s Folly – the local authority’s office building – from the people that the council is supposed to serve – Croydon Council Tax-payers.

Access no more: Fisher’s Folly was designed to have a large area for the public to meet officials. Kerswell and Perry are having it closed down

Katherine Kerswell, 63, the council’s £204,000 per year chief executive, issued a missive to staff this morning, announcing that from Monday, Access Croydon, the ground-floor level area where the public have been able to seek assistance with a range of council services, will become No Access Croydon.

Actual face-to-face access to council staff will no longer be possible without a prior appointment.

Councillors, the people elected to represent the public in the management of the council, were only informed of this latest cut-back last night.

The move is likely to have a massive impact on people who have been rendered homeless, including families with small children, and who are in urgent need of emergency accommodation. Unless they manage to foresee their unfortunate plight and get internet access to arrange a Kerswell-ordained appointment, there is a very real possibility that they will be shut out of the council’s offices, unable to access the urgent assistance that they so desperately need. Continue reading →

Posted in 'Future Croydon', Bernard Weatherill House, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Housing, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

Location is coming to Croydon – and they want to film you

Posted on March 7, 2025 by insidecroydon

House hunters: Phil Spencer and Kirstie Allsop are returning to Croydon after eight years

Location, Location, Location is coming back to Croydon, and the producers want to hear from south London house hunters who are willing to appear on the programme.

They will be recording for series 29 – yes, 29! – of the popular Channel 4 show.

“Whether you’re a first-time buyer, looking for your next home, downsizing or relocating – whatever the reason for moving, we’d love to hear your story,” the producers say. Continue reading →

Posted in Activities, Addiscombe West, Property, South Norwood | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Mystery surrounds stalled opening of Grants’ Asian food hall

Posted on March 6, 2025 by insidecroydon

‘Coming soon’: Tokia Square was meant to open last Sunday, March 2, but there has been a ‘slight delay’ according to the business behind the project

Tokia Square, which promised “a dynamic food court offering an extraordinary selection of Asian cuisines”, has missed its grand opening date, with no explanation from the business behind the project for the delay.

“Tokia Square is designed to bring a unique culinary experience to Croydon, combining authentic flavours with a modern, vibrant atmosphere,” the owners promised last month, when announcing that their large-scale food hall was set to open in the Grants leisure complex on Croydon High Street on Sunday, March 2. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Tokia Square | Tagged , , , , | 16 Comments

Thornton Heath man found guilty of animal cruelty to pet dog

Posted on March 6, 2025 by insidecroydon

A man from Thornton Heath was given a suspended jail sentence and banned from keeping animals for 10 years after being convicted under the Animal Welfare Act after a prosecution brought by the RSPCA.

An XL bully called Raynor was in an emaciated condition and considerable pain and distress, caused by severe ear disease, when owner Nicholas Johnston took her to a PDSA clinic in Croydon in February last year.

The issue around the dog’s ears appeared to have been caused by the dog having had its ears cropped, as is the fashion for some owners. Ear cropping of dogs is illegal in this country.

When taken to the PDSA, the condition of the animal was so poor that the charity’s vet had no alternative but to have her put to sleep. Continue reading →

Posted in Charity, Crime, PDSA, RSPCA, Thornton Heath | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment