Shotgun gang shoots 13-year-old boy










By Emily Attwood







[align=left]A 13-YEAR-OLD boy was shot as he queued up to get into a party at a Scout hall.[/align]
[align=left]The incident happened at 11.45pm on Saturday in Melfort Road, Thornton Heath.[/align]
[align=left]The youngster was queuing up outside the Scout hall with friends when they were approached by a group of men.[/align]
[align=left]There was an argument and one of the men fired a shotgun which struck the boy. The men, described only as black, ran off towards London Road, Norbury.[/align]
[align=left]A police spokesman said: "At this stage the exact and one of the men discharged a shotgun which struck the boy in his body."[/align]
[align=left]The schoolboy, from Lambeth, was taken by ambulance to a south London hospital with gunshot wounds. His condition is described as stable.[/align]
[align=left]Detectives have said he was lucky not to have suffered more serious injuries due to the weapon involved.[/align]
[align=left]The Met's specialist gun crime unit Trident is investigating the incident.[/align]
[align=left]Anyone with information should contact the Trident incident room at Putney on 020 8785 8580 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111.[/align]
[align=left]Can someone please tell me what a 13 year old is doing out without his parents at this time of night??? Especially in that area, which is notorious for shootings???[/align]

@Lady Vee

My cousin lives over that way. When I check him and we driving somewhere he always telling me.. "there's a crack house over there" do you know 3 doors away from me is a crack house".. etc etc.

Is it Green Road or Lane/has got prostitutes walking down it. I fret for my female cousins let alone the one that get kidnapp in broad daylight the other day.

What people can see that and not react?

Never used to see that around there 10+ years ago. Its a social study in itself to see the decline in the place. Nuff Black people moved out from my way/ Brixton/Battersea/ Tooting / Stockwell etc to Thornton heath when the house prices rocketed in the 1990s.

The other day my cousin telling me her child have to take time off school because the council run out of money to pay its teachers.



EH? WTF? An increase in the Black population and suddenly school funding is cut? Smells fishy to me.

Your damn right what is a 13 year old doing out on street going to a dance. Damn when I was 13 I was riding my bike and playing footie and getting up to mild mischief. Had to listen dance on sound tapes.

Next news is going to be the 13 year old who shot his friend.

Funny how things can change so drastically within 20 years.

@ Mansamusa,

We moved into the area after living in Dagenham for 4 years. I'd heard Thornton Heath was bad (there used to be a pub on the High Street thatwas raided an closed down - my brother-in-law is doing time after getting caught up in it), but I assumed it couldn' t be that bad. Melfort Road is notorious - in fact all that side after the train station is bad. I wouldn't live around there if I could avoid it.

We're quite lucky because we live in a very quiet area, but it's obvious what's bubbling underneath. I've noticed that people who move out of this area move into predominately White areas (one person I know moved to Shirley, the previous owners of our house to Brighton), whereas we moved back into a Black area deliberately. However, I notice things like my son's speech is becoming bad. I'm forever pulling him up because he wants to finish every sentence with the word "man" - I'm his mother, and he's 5 years old and trying to talk to me like some hoodrat!

I also notice that you'd find the single White people living in Brixton/Clapham/Peckham et al, but when they start their famillies they move way, way out. By this time most Black famillies will be priced out of the market - I can't afford a decent sized house in Brixton now!

My personal view is that it doesn't matter where you live - the baddies will catch up with you sooner of later. I've also just read that they're extending the tramlink into Thornton Heath, which will attract more professional people, butI despair over our kids. How can I teach my child to respect himself and others when I know that he will want to "run with the pack" when he reaches a certain age? I'm seriously considering practically bankrupting myself to send him to private school, but then I think I don't want him ostracised when he grows up.

With regards to your comment about the council sending your cousin's child home because the school had run out of money...I never heard that story. I do think that the education system is failing Black children as a whole still, but in my opinion education begins at home. It is up to us parents to put a stop to this nonsense. Of course the government aren't going to care because we're not showing them that we do - the story I posted proves my point. We must start taking responsibility for our children and our habitat, otherwise our children will surely be the lost generation.

Very True whats been written about Thornton Heath.......As an older person I go back much further and I know 4 Families from Kennington area who moved to Thornton Heath environs...one to...Warwick Road....one to .Mayfield Road........one near The Bus Garage..etc....in 1967 or 1968....!.....They moved there cos it was considered a lovely Suburban area on the edge of London......Then in the 1990's all 3 that I'm still in contact with have moved out further as Lady Vee has said....one's moved to Edenbridge,Kent....One to Hastings,East Sussex and one to East Horsley,Surrey......a real social study over 40 years....

White flight as they call it.

A worldwide phenomenon.

@Lady Vee

Its not all bad. My little cousins live and grow up in the area. At18 he is no hood rat. No fool either and a respected young bro in his area too. It just shows the differencea stable home environement and some knowledgecan bring.Its had a sizable Black population for a long time as far as I can remember. Always had some lovely Blackgirls down therebut thats another story.

I hear what your saying about private school. Im not too happy aboutpushingmy child into an all white environment either.

If your lucky you can get into a good school around that way. But the feedback I get from my cous is there are few and far between..

Ill tell you something. From the gut. SouthLondon is South London and everywhere has its problemsbut that place is a tinderbox. When you start see yellow signs regular / where there was none before its a manfestation of nothing good.

@Mansa. Don't you know it. Back in the day 70-80's and on Thorton Heath was white territory where black man had to tread lightly, especially when they started to leave Brixton, Streatham etc.

Boy come like Crystal Palace and them side nuff things going on them areas. Simply makes you shake your head.

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