The Olympic site development hasn’t only brought jobs for the locals. Violence is on the increase too. Murders, rapes, muggings are now part of everyday life in East London. Fear is in everyone’s mind. Police recently launched Operation Armour to deter youth gang attacks. But crime prevails.
A few yards away from Iron Maiden’s birth place, streets are quiet. On a cold and windy Saturday afternoon, people stay inside their little houses or council flats. Doors and curtains are half-open and quickly shut when someone wanders by. Few businesses remain open outside the commercial hub of Stratford, the capital of the Olympic Games.
We met Ozzie Farouk, a 32-year-old taxi mechanic working on Thornham Grove, just outside the Olympic fenced area. “The Olympics? Yeah, killers, murders, muggers everyday round here. Stabbing people. All those billions of pounds for two weeks, it’s a waste of money.” The sturdy dark skinned part-owner of the garage knows what he is talking about. “I am here since 2002 (sic). For the last two years, every month someone is killed. That’s a lot. When we close the iron garage doors in the evening, we make sure that no-one is outside. We get into our cars and leave quickly.” According to Ozzie, the son of an Egyptian army officer, the violence comes from “coloured, young guys.”
On Carpenter’s Road, a group of youths ramble the streets, just yards from one of the future entrances of the Olympic Stadium. They shout: “No trespassing, mate!” when I pass them. “You don't want to look at them in the eyes. It may get you in trouble”, advises Tony McCormack, a regular of the Carpenters Arms pub. The Irish-born 37-year-old works on the Olympic site as a supervisor, for him “troubles come from the travellers and Europeans. Look at the Ukrainians who killed one of them on Carnarvon Road. That is our games.” A Lithuanian was indeed murdered dying from head injuries there, last year, but his three fellow countrymen were found not guilty of killing the 25-year old East European[1].
For Chris Holloway, violence has slightly moved away from the area. An archetypal EastEnder with a cockney accent, the marine-hat bearer claims that policing is being set up a lot more. According to Chris, violence is being drifted on a bit, but “if policing drops off, all that will come back on my estate.” The shoe factory worker’s opinion is not shared by other residents. Local Jamaican descendant, Princey is unemployed. “The Olympics? Let me tell you, mate: if crime and killings were part of the games, here will get the gold medal!” He takes his bull terrier dog for a walk before locking himself in in his council flat for the rest of the day. It’s getting dark.
Everyday East London wakes up in fear. Five minutes’ drive from Ozzie’s taxi business, in East Ham a father of four, Sellathrai Easwaran, died following an attack in the early hours of Saturday 6 November. Four young men were arrested last week.[2]
Words: 506 (without footnotes) – Recordings available on request
[1] BBC.co.uk (09/07/2010), Three not guilty of Stratford murder http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10573463m(accessed (accessed on 07 November 2010)
[2] Metropolitan Police authorities in Stratford were not available for comment either on the latest surge of violent crimes or the arrest of the four alleged killers of Sellathrai Easwaran.
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