News

SOUTHWARK IN 2008

5 January 2009

January

THE 'NEWS' published the first image of Millwall's regeneration plan's for The Den and South Bermondsey area after it was leaked by the architects [at the time].

Despite the futuristic-looking tower blocks and several housing blocks dotted around the ground, Millwall Chairman John Berylson repeated his claims that the Den would remain as the 'centre-piece' of any future changes.

NINE-YEAR-OLD Jordan Harris lost his brave battle against a rare genetic illness putting a tear in the eye of thousands across the borough.

His five-year struggle against late infantile battens came to heart-wrenching end on Boxing Day when his doting Bermondsey parents Tina and Mark watched him slip away.

The family took The Jordan Jay Trust around the world in search of a cure for the illness that affects just 500 children across the world - including younger sister Jasmine.

COUNCIL LEADER Nick Stanton announced that 'nothing was safe' as Southwark battled to deal with 'savage cuts' to its funding from central government.

Closing leisure centres, halting large regeneration schemes and cutting social services were among the possible cuts to save the £30 million gap.

Cllr Stanton claimed: "For whatever reason, the government has decided to send our money up the M1" but insisted that every department would tighten its strings to get through.

NOTORIOUS MILLWALL pub The Golden Lion closed its doors for the last time on the popular matchday haunt after declining trade and the crippling smoking ban took its tole.

Manager Paul McGowan invited regulars to drink the place dry as they reminisced over the memories and misdemeanours of the Galleywall Road hotspot.

"It has been a great crack," said the loveable Irishman. "We had a number of great characters both sides of the bar."

SOUTHWARK POLICE announce the likely closures of three community police stations across the borough as part of the Metropolitan Police Authority's modernisation.

The 'aging' and 'not fit-for-purpose' Rotherhithe, East Dulwich and Camberwell stations were ear-marked to 'bring Southwark into the 21st century' despite uproar from campaigners.

Borough Commander Malcolm Tillyer announced plans for centralised custody suites, front counter facilities and a transport hub to replace the stations.

THE 'NEWS' revealed the groundbreaking design that Fisher Athletic plans for the Southwark Park Stadium - their proposed new home.

Three different plans were submitted to Southwark Council to consider with the most ambitious a £36m 10,000-seater sunk into the ground with a grass roof.

Bermondsey funeral director Barry Albin-Dyer, one of the scheme's main supporters, insisted that getting the former Surrey Docks club back to Bermondsey was essential to its survival having been ground-sharing at Dulwich Hamlet's Champion Hill stadium for five years.

THREE SOUTHWARK schools were exposed for running sex clinics offering out Chlamydia screenings and pregnancy tests to young girls without informing their parents.

The pilot scheme, which had been running for three months, was set to be rolled out across the borough if it proved successful.

The council gave its full support to the PCT-led scheme after Southwark had among the highest teenage pregnancy rates in Europe with claims that 'sometimes extra-ordinary actions are required'.

AN AIDE to Home Secretary Jacqui Smith revealed that she had visited a late-night kebab shop in Peckham for a tasty bite on her way home from Parliament.

Katie's Kebab's on Peckham Hill Street hit the national media after Ms Smith admitted to not feeling safe on London's streets at night - but an aide revealed she was partial to a Doner after a hard day's graft.

Shopkeeper Hasan Guner said he did not recognise the powerful politician until he had seen her on TV.

SOUTHWARK COUNCIL missed out on £18m of funding after a government goof 'over-looked' up to 10,000 of the borough's residents when it did its calculations.

Government used figures years out of date that led to an under-estimate of between 5,600 and 10,000 causing a three-year funding shortfall.

Council leader Nick Stanton said: "This situation would be laughable if it wasn't so serious."

LEADING PRIVATE school Dulwich College played host to a raunchy music video shoot with scantily clad women swapping textbooks for stockings and pigtails.

Table-topping H'two'0 stormed the charts with their dance hit 'What's it gunna be' with the video as popular as the funky beat.

The prestigious college in the south of the borough admitted that it might have to review its policy on filming and photo-shoots on the school grounds.

February

ROTHERHITHE GANGSTER Clifford Hobbs was sentenced to life imprisonment having been caught on the Costa del Sol.

The 47-year-old fugitive had been fleeing across Europe having orchestrated a violent break-out from a prison van outside the Inner London Crown Court four years before.

In an exclusive interview with the 'News', Flying Squad Detective Paul Johnson warned Hobbs' criminal associates, including Greenland Dock's Noel Cunningham - 'You're next'.

A COMMUNITY campaign got underway to save Old Kent Road's under-threat Livesey Children's Museum after it was targeted as part of the council's cutbacks.

Kids, parents and councillors lined the steps in demonstration to supplement the petitions and Facebook groups that were gathering up to 300 signatures a week.

Children as young as six told the 'News' it would be 'sad' and 'a shame' to lose the much-loved museum that cost £140,000-a-year to run.

SOUTHWARK COUNCIL refused to hand back any refunds having collected thousands of pounds from invalid parking tickets that drivers did not need to pay in the first place.

The 'News' unveiled the scam after dozens of tickets were incorrectly filled in - and therefore void - but still passed through the council contractors APCOA's system.

The council had ditched the practice eighteen months before but refused to reimburse any of the collected fines - thought to be up to £78,000 a year.

GEORGE ORWELL'S Big Brother was set to hit the streets of Southwark after the council announced plans to rig-up eleven CCTV cameras in local hotspots.

The talking cameras would enable operators to bark warnings or messages to petty crooks carrying out anything from graffiti and criminal damage to urinating in public.

Peckham Square, Camberwell Green, South Bermondsey station and Southwark Park Road's Blue Market were among those earmarked for the devices.

MILLWALL CHAIRMAN John Berylson vowed to hunt down and kick out the 'fools' among 'real fans' after a spate of misconduct brought the unwanted attention of the FA to the Den.

Referee Stuart Atwell was hit by a coin thrown by a Millwall fan during the 2-1 win over Southend after a spate of missile throwing came close to tainting the unblemished record at the Den in recent years.

Berylson insisted that the 'isolated idiots' should be reported, found and thrown out.

EIGHT OF Southwark's Post Offices faced the axe as part of a cost-cutting exercise from Post Office Ltd who claim their branches are being used less than ever.

Campaigns from angry users sprung up across the borough with Dockhead, East Street, Peckham Road, Nunhead and Melbourne Grove among the branches ear-marked for the chop.

The drastic cuts came at a time when the national company announced it was losing a remarkable £3 million-a-week.

THE ' NEWS' launched a campaign to save the much-loved summer carnival in Southwark Park as the council wielded its sword as part of ongoing cutbacks.

The Event, Southwark Park faced a £30,000 funding shortage with plans underway to cut the main stage from the action-packed day anticipated by thousands in the north of the borough.

Plans to invite big names such as The Proclaimers and The Blockheads were put on hold by organisers Bermondsey Beat as they awaited a saviour.

March

HIGH PROFILE police raids on pubs across Bermondsey and Rotherhithe have left landlords concerned that a new wave of drug dealers could soon move into their pubs.

The Jolly Gardeners pub on Rotherhithe New Road was boarded up after a Friday night raid netted over two kilograms of speed, a kilo of cannabis resin and approximately £8,000 in cash with ten arrests made.

The successful raid has caused panic among other local landlords without a drug problem who fear the dealers may target their pub next.

A BRAVE teenager who is battling a brain tumour celebrated her fourteenth birthday in style as she ran out at the Den with Millwall skipper Paul Robinson.

The treat, organised as Chloe Davies battles to overcome a brain tumour that was diagnosed over last Christmas, was agreed after the 'News' contacted Millwall to know of her plight.

BERMONDSEY BOXER David Haye cemented his position as one of the World's top fighters with a sensational stoppage over Welsh hitman Enzo Maccarinelli.

Former Bacon's College student Haye unified his WBC, WBA and WBO cruiserweight titles before announcing that he was set to leave them all behind to breathe life into the heavyweight division.

Haye took just five minutes and five seconds to demolish Maccarinelli at Greenwich's 02 Arena on the weekend his beloved Millwall battered Swansea.

AN APPLICATION to list the Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre could scupper the existing £1.5 billion regeneration plans.

Should the English Heritage accept the application, the anonymous applicants insist that redevelopment could go ahead to incorporate the existing building.

A BERMONDSEY pub has been trashed by rampaging Luton Town fans as the spectre of football hooliganism broke back into the open this Easter.

Whelans - a recently established 'Wall boozer - was the site of a violent pre-match battle thought to be initiated by away fans tanked up after hours of drinking at the nearby Wetherspoons, The Surrey Docks.

April

GERRY KENT, one of the most well known faces across Bermondsey and Rotherhithe, has died in police custody at the age of 51.

Kent, a lifelong Lions fan, died shortly after being arrested for alleged drink driving on his way to a Bexley pub.
Tributes and messages along with sensational tales of his past flooded in to the 'News'.

A CAMBERWELL granny has become the star of Lily Allen's BBC programme earning herself the fame as 'foul-mouthed Mary' and earning herself a pimped up mobility scooter.

Mary Spencer, 73, is a regular on BBC 3's Lily Allen and Friends where she quizzes celebrities quite close to the bone with the odd expletive thrown in.

CAMBERWELL BOXING legend and one of Britain's best loved sportsman of a generation was among Southwark's 2007-08 Blue Plaque winners.

Forces favourite Anne Shelton, Photographer Bert Hardy and University benefactor John Harvard were also awarded this time around.

GLORIA TAYLOR, mother of murdered Peckham schoolboy Damilola, died in the streets near her home days after proclaiming that the aftermath of her son's death would clear Britain's street of crime.

Mrs Taylor, 56, was found collapsed by her husband Richard as he returned from work as a high-profile community worker.

A FREEDOM of Information request revealed that the proposed depot for the Cross River Tram could end up just off the Old Kent Road.

Transport for London, who have since shelved the tram plans, earmarked a spot close to Ilderton Road to park up to 48 of the 'revolutionary' trams.

A CARE nurse who pleaded guilty to three counts of burglary was being linked to over 40 similar cases against elderly and vulnerable patients in her care.

Christine Aldridge, 34, had asked for a further seven counts against the infirm to be taken into account prompting a wider police investigation after £300 was taken from one patient back in November.

A FOURTEEN-YEAR-OLD boy became the third teenager to be stabbed in Southwark in a week having been found in a dingy garage underneath Bermondsey's Silwood Estate.

A twelve and thirteen-year-old were stabbed near to the McDonald's on the Old Kent Road earlier in the week with police desperate to stop the recent frenzy.

May

THE RELEASE of computer game Grand Theft Auto caused chaos at Surrey Quays, when a gang targeted shoppers who left the store after it opened at midnight for the games release.

One victim was strip searched in the car park to check if they had the game on them, and another man who was targeted dropped a new Playstation 3 he had just purchased causing it to be smashed. The shop replaced the damaged goods when he returned with the broken console.

THE BOROUGH was flooded in July after a burst water main engulfed Tooley Street in millions of gallons of water.

The incident left 4000 homes without water, caused operations to be cancelled at Guys and meant the councils call centre had to be closed for a number of hours.

BOTH OF Southwark's non-league teams ended the season with a victory, with Fisher squeezing into the play-offs and Dulwich missing out by just three points.

Fisher however were unsuccessful in their bid for promotion, when lost a two legged encounter against Hampton and Richmond on penalties.

TWO FATAL stabbings occurred in one week in Southwark, when fifteen-year-old Lyle Tulloch was killed outside a party on the Rockingham Estate, and Anthony Ogazi, 21, was attacked on Olney Street in Walworth.

VAL SHAWCROSS trounced her Liberal Democrat opponent Caroline Pidgeon in the election for the Lambeth and Southwark member of the London Assembly.

The Labour member increased her majority by 18,173 votes in retaining her seat, but Cllr Pidgeon still managed to get a seat in City Hall as she got in through the list system employed in the election.

A MURDERER, who chopped off the head of Camberwell man, was on the run after escaping from an open prison in Scotland.

John Bowden, 51, was allowed to go shopping in Forfar but failed to return at the appointed time. The family of Donald Ryan, who was killed by Bowden in 1982, spoke of their outrage that Bowden had escaped and was in an open prison without their knowledge.

A YOUNG woman walking along Tower Bridge Road, was killed by a falling branch after a bus collided with a tree in a freak incident.

Emily Diamond, 23, who worked in nearby Tanner Street died from multiple wounds after the 188 came into contact with overhanging branches as it travelled along the busy road.

A PUMA was reportedly spotted roaming the streets outside Borough Police Station, although police claim not to have spotted the 'tanned small cougar.'

The sighting was reported to Kent's Big Cat research, and a subsequent sighting was made week later at the site of the former London Park Hotel.

June

A FIFTEEN-YEAR-OLD Bermondsey schoolgirl was knifed to death in a block of flats in Waterloo.

Arsema Dawitt, who attended the Harris Academy in Bermondsey, was a devout Christian and tributes poured in from pupils and teachers at her school.

SOUTHWARK COUNCIL Chief Executive Annie Shepperd apologised for the Freedom Pass debacle, which left hundreds of elderly and disabled people without passes that entitle them to free travel.

The council failed to clear a backlog of applications, despite being given an extended two month deadline, which meant frustrated people queued for hours outside the One Stop Shop on the Walworth Road.

HARRIET HARMAN got a rude awakening this month when protesters climbed onto top of her house for an early morning protest.

Two men, from the group Fathers 4 Justice, claimed the Camberwell and Peckham MP had refused a meeting with them. Ms Harman told the 'News' she thought the protestors were squirrels at first before she became aware of the protest.

THE ROTHERHITHE Tunnel celebrated its centenary this month, and a special concert was held in Southwark Park to commemorate the event.

Regarded as a feat of engineering, the tunnel was originally intended for pedestrians and horse and carts but is now used almost exclusively by cars seeking to get across the river quickly.

COUNCIL CALL centre staff brought innovation to a new extreme by pretending to be answering machines, as confused residents called up with queries.

The 'News' tested out the centre after being told of the new system, and discovered that operators answered calls by reading out a message and did not acknowledge the caller before or after the message. A council spokesman said they would investigate to see if further training was needed.

TWO CHILDREN, aged ten and twelve, were involved in another stabbing incident in Walworth after being attacked on a busy Saturday afternoon.

The youngsters were approached on Penrose Street, opposite East Street Market, by two youths and when they refused to hand over their belongings they were both stabbed in the abdomen.

MILLWALL STRIKER Neil Harris finally ended months of speculation by penning a new one year deal with Millwall.

The contract meant the striker now had the opportunity to become the leading Millwall scorer of all time, as he currently was just six goals behind current record holder Teddy Sheringham.

BERMONDSEY HEAVYWEIGHT David Haye signed a prestigious deal with American promoters Golden Boy Promotions, giving him a real presence on both sides of the Atlantic.

Haye also promised to have his next four fights in South London with the 02 in Greenwich set to become his base.

July

ANOTHER SHOCKING month for Southwark started with two murders in two days, the first week of the month commenced with the stabbing of Hamouda Bessad, 34, outside an internet café on the Old Kent Road.

And only 24 hours later Dee Willis, 28, was killed on Bellenden Road in Peckham after being attacked by another woman.

A HUGE funeral was held in July following the sudden death of 34-year-old Mark Side from Peckham.

The popular father was killed in a motorbike crash in Deptford, with an estimated 800 people turning out to pay their respects.

A FOURTEEN-YEAR-OLD from Walworth became the youngest person to be murdered in London after he died from stab wounds, twenty days after he was attacked.

David Idowu, who was attacked on June 17, and was stabbed in the heart following an argument with a group of youths near Tabard Street astroturf football pitch.

EIGHT YEARS of campaigning ended when a new school in Peckham Rye was given the thumbs up.

A unanimous decision was passed by a planning committee to build the Harris Boys' Academy, on the former site of Waverley Lower Girls' School.

August

A YOUNG couple were sent down this week, after using a meat cleaver to chop off the head of a Chinese student, whose decapitated body was later discovered in South Dock Marina with the head turning up in nearby Greenland Dock.

Trach Lon Gian, 26, of Caroline Street, Dudley and girlfriend Mohn-Yusoff, 22, of Elderberry Close, Walsall were given minimum terms of 22 years and fifteen years respectively.

A MOTHER was jailed for the second time for letting her child bunk off school for months on end.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, got an 85 day sentence after her child missed 114 school sessions between September and November 2007.

NEW MILLWALL frontman Tresor Kandol, on loan at the club for six months, went straight into the club's record books by scoring just thirteen seconds into his debut.

The 26-year-old scored the fastest ever goal by a Millwall player on their first appearance, but could not stop the Lions losing on the opening day to Oldham.

CAMPAIGNERS CELEBRATED after a mental health unit at Maudsley hospital got a stay of execution.

Southwark Pensioners Action Group managed to convince South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust not to close the Felix Post Unit, until a replacement was fully operational.

A-LEVEL students in the borough once again achieved record results, with eighteen per cent more students than the previous year achieving an A-C grade.

Two thirds of kids across the borough got the higher grades, with increases in pupils gaining high grades in maths and sciences being picked out as a noteworthy achievement.

COUNCIL WORKERS were being bussed in an out of the Aylesbury Estate at a cost of £130 a day, following attacks made more than three years ago.

Estate residents reacted with disdain at the news, asking why they were not afforded such privilege themselves as the council confirmed the service would end this year.

AN EAST DULWICH woman was given the shock of her life when she opened her front door, and discovered a man pooing on her doorstep.

Sarah Mudge caught the grey haired man in his forties short just after 8am, and ran back inside her house at the shock of seeing him. She later went outside to find he had wiped his bottom on the copy of the Observer leaving a trail of soiled paper on her footpath.

THE BOROUGH’S GCSE students matched their A-level counterparts by breaking records in an outstanding batch of results.

The results saw 42.8 per cent of Year 11 students get five passes at A-C, including English and Maths, an increase of almost four per cent from the previous year.

FORMER MAYOR Anne Yates passed away this month after serving the Rotherhithe community for more than 30 years.

The Glaswegian born councillor, who represented the Rotherhithe ward up to her death, lived in the area since 1953 and was a councillor since 2002, taking on the post of Mayor in 2004.

September

RANK OUTSIDER Bermondsey Bob, named after the owner's dad, came in at a massive 150-1 at Salisbury Racecourse.

One lucky Bermondsey punter was rumoured to have won £20,000 after backing the horse on internet bookmaker Betfair.

COLOMBIAN GRANDMOTHER Gloria Burgos was beaten to death in the Bermondsey Street café were she worked. The 54-year-old was attacked as she prepared food for the next day.

A 22-year-old man from Crystal Palace was arrested and later charged with murder.

AN EAST Dulwich man became the first Southwark resident to be given a police caution for letting his dog ravage an apple tree in a community orchard.

The dog was caught on camera by a local resident as he attacked the tree and the 28-year-old man later pleaded guilty to criminal damage charges.

SOUTHWARK COUNCIL came under fire after the 'News' revealed that it was set to spend heavily on agency staff for the second year running.

Leaked figures showed that the local authority was on course to spend a whopping £38million on temps, having spent £32.5million the previous year.

AN ANGRY artist accused Southwark Council of "civic vandalism" after a much-loved mural in East Dulwich was ruined by an attempt to clear up graffiti.

The 30-foot painting, overlooking a Goose Green playground, was painted by Stan Peskett and depicted William Blake's Vision of Angels. The council covered the lower half of the mural with blue paint after repeated graffiti attacks.

DOZENS OF floral tributes, including one from his eight-week-old son, were left near the spot where a 28-year-old pedestrian was killed.

Robert O'Connell, 28, died after a blue Vauxhall ploughed into him near the junction of Heygate Street and Walworth Road.

WAYNE BURNETT walked out as manager of Fisher Athletic after just over a year in the job to take up the hot seat at Blue Square Premier club Grays Athletic.

Burnett told the 'News': "I've had some very good years at Fisher and thoroughly enjoyed my time at the club."

October

A YOUNG woman leapt to her death from the tenth floor of a Walworth tower block after a fire swept through her flat.

The woman was described as mixed race and between 22 and 26-years-old. Southwark Fire Brigade's borough commander Andy Snazzell confirmed that the cause of the fire was still being investigated.

THREE MEN who used a satellite navigation system to find their way to the home of their victim were jailed for the murder of Julien Warrington.

Alan Ellis, and brothers John and Declan Fitzgerald stabbed the 44-year-old father of six to death in his home in a case of mistaken identity after the killers had gone in search of the man who had attacked Ellis earlier in the day.

POLICE RELEASED the shocking x-ray image of a seventeen-year-old boy with a knife embedded in his head after his attacker was found guilty of attempted murder.

The boy had been stabbed during an attempted robbery at Tesco on the Old Kent Road in November 2007.

AS DEREK Brown was convicted of the double murder of prostitute Bonnie Barrett and Chinese DVD seller Xiao Mei Guo, his former cellmate told the 'News' that he was a "pervert" and "was always on about sex."

The 47-year-old Rotherhithe delivery driver was sentenced to at least 30 years despite neither women's body ever being found.

PLANS FOR the £1.5billion regeneration of the Elephant and Castle roundabout looked in danger of being shelved after City Hall warned the design would create traffic mayhem.

However, Mayor of London Boris Johnson insisted that he was still behind the scheme and that new ideas being put forward would improve the flow of traffic at the busy intersection.

MILLWALL POURED cold water on reports that they were on the brink of abandoning The Den in favour of a move to London's 2012 Olympic stadium.

"This is a rumour that is some way off the mark," said the Lions' executive deputy chairman Heather Rabbatts.

LIBERAL DEMOCRAT Wilma Nelson was elected as the new Rotherhithe ward councillor in a by-election following the death of Cllr Anne Yates.

Nelson, the former head of the Millpond Tenants and Residents Association, was elected after polling 56.4 per cent of the vote.

LYNN BOXING prodigy Obed Mbwakongo took the silver medal in a prestigious international competition.

The nineteen-year-old was part of a five man England squad who travelled to Finland for the Tammer Tournament and he came away as runner-up after going down 9-4 in the final.

SOUTHWARK COUNCIL hit out at the government after being left with the £4million pound bill for the inquest into the death of Jean Charles de Menezes.

The 27-year-old Brazilian electrician was shot dead at Stockwell tube station in July 2005 by police marksmen who mistook him for one of the men responsible for the previous day's failed bomb plot.

A CAMBERWELL doctor was struck off by the General Medical Council (GMC) after it was revealed that he masturbated a patient during a check-up.

Dr Lewis Dickinson, who worked in a surgery on Wyndham Road, was said to have abused his professional position during the incident, which took place in 2002.

November

A DULWICH community was in shock after three -year-old Bethany White was tragically crushed to death under the wheels of a delivery van, just yards from her home.

The toddler was killed after a DHL van drove into her in a quiet private car park at Duke's Court off Lordship Lane.

SUPERMARKET CHAIN Iceland was hit with a £17,000 fine after it was revealed that rodents had chewed through chocolate bars and biscuits on the shelves of its store in the Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre.

The first complaints about the unwanted diners came in April 2007, but Iceland said they were taking the blame for a pest problem throughout the centre.

THE NINE-MONTH supervision order handed down to the teenage girl who threw a ship's cat overboard was described as "no punishment at all" by the ship's director.

Kilo, a one-year-old moggy, died after being hurled from the gangplank of the HMS Belfast in February.

DAVID HAYE made an impressive debut in the heavyweight division after he knocked out Monte 'Two Gunz' Barrett in five rounds at the O2 Arena.

After flooring the loudmouth American, the Bermondsey fighter said he was ready to take on either of the Ukrainian world title holders, brothers Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko.

A SENIOR member of one of Southwark's ruling parties came out against the council's plans to impose a 20mph speed limit across the borough.

The scheme planned to come to force in 20010 sought to reduce road accidents. Tory councillor Toby Eckersley told the 'News' that he was "not convinced" that the scheme would be right for main roads in all parts of Southwark.

A POLICE raid on a Bermondsey boozer resulted in 21 arrests and the seizure of "a significant amount" of Class A & B drugs.

The operation involving around 100 officers closed down The Bramcote Arms on the Bonamy estate and was hailed as a success by police chiefs.

MILLWALL CHAIRMAN John Berylson promised manager Kenny Jackett a transfer window war chest to help the promotion-chasing Lions' assault on League One.

The American loaned the club £3.5million and said a share of the money would be used to help Jackett build a team capable of challenging for the title.

December

A DULWICH schoolboy was being hailed as the youngest referee in the world after taking charge of three Under-12s girls' rugby matches.

Eleven-year-old Harry Goodhew was still awaiting official confirmation for his record-breaking achievement after telling the 'News' that he "had command" of the young ladies.

MANAGEMENT AND staff at Surrey Docks Farm were celebrating after they landed a prize of nearly £60,000 in ITV's People's Millions giveaway.

The farm won the cash prize for its innovative mobile farm project which aims to tour schools and festivals promoting awareness of farming skills and healthy eating.

A TRANSPORT route linking Peckham to the busy shopping hub of Croydon was set to be axed just days before Christmas.

New timetables, published by the Southern Railway Group, revealed that from December 14 passengers to East Croydon would face the prospect of changing trains in order to complete their journeys.

THE SIXTEEN-YEAR-OLD who stabbed Borough schoolboy David Idowu to death in July was convicted of his murder at Kingston Crown Court.

Fourteen-year-old David became the youngest victim of the spate of teen murders to hit London this year when he died in Royal London Hospital, three weeks after the unprovoked attack.

SOUTHWARK'S EXECUTIVE member for health and adult care David Noakes survived calls for his resignation at an extraordinary meeting of the council's assembly.

Cllr Noakes came under fire from opposition members after it was announced that a coroner had called for an inquiry into social services' handling of the death of Bermondsey pensioner Engelina Lambert.

TWO TEENAGERS were found guilty of the murder of fifteen-year-old Peckham boy Lyle Tulloch after an argument at a party on the Rockingham Estate in May 2007.

Tulloch's father Tony Lee said his son's life had been taken away by the "sheer wickedness" of killers Damien Solobowale and Tobi Peters.

A PECKHAM woman celebrated her 103rd birthday with the daughter who she devoted her life to caring for.

Alice Leach, known affectionately as 'Queenie', spent her birthday with fellow residents and workers at the Camberwell Green Care Home and was joined by family and friends, including former Mayor of Southwark Columba Blango.

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