| News
& Community Local news-May E: [email protected] |
| Stepney
answers back to German slur-30/05/01 |
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Stepney Green may not be the most picturesque part
of London but locals have been stunned by German magazine Stern
dubbing it "The most miserable and rundown area in England."
Stepney folk have been deeply offended by this German
onslaught, which formed part of a damning article in the million-selling
news magazine. The article says: "Here, the most miserable and rundown
area in England, TB is raging in the living quarters where up to
10 people live herded together in one room. Even by the standards
of the Third World they seem undernourished."
Residents have angrily hit back at what they described
as a "ridiculous" and "vastly exaggerated" description of their
area. One furious businessman said: "It's complete rubbish. I've
lived here all my life and my shop has been in the family for 30
years so I know the East End. It might have changed quite a lot
in that time but there's no way people are living 10 to a house.
As for health services, the hospitals and surgeries are no worse
than anywhere else in London."
Kirit Patel, 50, who owns a newsagents on Ben Jonson
Road with his wife said: "The people round here are mostly Asian
and they have a lot of spending power. Business is good for us.
We took over this shop about six months ago. We don't live in the
area but we are thinking of buying a flat here as an investment.
I don't think it will be long before it becomes fashionable like
Hackney and Bethnal Green have become.
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| Bollywood
glamour comes to Brick Lane - 04/05/01 |
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An estimated fifty thousand people came to the buzzing
heart of Britain's Bengali community for this year's Baishaki Mela.
The event, bringing Bollywood glamour to Tower Hamlets', Brick Lane
took place on the 13th of May to celebrate the New Year 1408.
The unique one-day event gave people from all sections of the community
the opportunity to celebrate Bengali culture through an exciting
array of traditional and contemporary music, dance, performance,
arts and cuisine.
The day's activities began at 11 am with a procession of local children
and then moved on to the festival's main stages at Allen Gardens
and Altab Ali Park, where Bangladeshi stars including Parveen Sultana
and Rathindra Nath Roy, performed.
The event, which also included rickshaw rides and curry stalls looks
set to become a colourful annual rival to the Notting Hill Carnival.
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| Prostitutes
ply trade in OAP home-12/05/01 |
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Prostitutes are raising hell in
a Limehouse old folks' home despite desperate efforts to stamp out
the problem. The vice girls, who come to entertain their elderly
clients at the Tower Hamlets Council run John Lawder House, have
also encouraged a spate of robberies according to disgruntled female
residents.
The council had installed CCTV to curb the problem, however as the
hookers and pimps are smuggled in through the windows and up fire
escapes, the problem continues.
A Tower Hamlets council spokesman said: "It is a long-standing problem."
He also added that he believes the spate of thefts and the arrival
of the prostitutes are connected, they taking the matter seriously
and are doing everything in their power to put an end to the working
girls' activities.
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| Hackney
dope-traffickers jailed after hiding hashish in cakes-11/05/01 |
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Two hapless east-end drug couriers
who tried to smuggle cakes containing £50,000 worth of cannabis
into the country were jailed last week. The trial at the Old Bailey
heard how Daniel Taylor, 24, and Kingsley Ukpabi, 18, -both of Hackney-had
nearly 15 kilos of marijuana baked in Jamaican bami cakes.
However the pair's cunning plan was foiled when Customs officers
at Heathrow were alerted by the "strong smell" of 'skunk' emanating
from the duos luggage when returning to England last November. Giving
evidence, Ukpabi claimed to have been pressured into acting as a
courier by a ruthless Jamaican Yardie gang and relied on the defence
in law of duress.
Taylor chose not give evidence but had earlier claimed that customs
officers had planted the 25 cakes while he was being searched. The
jury took two and a half hours to reject the claims of both defendants.
Ukpabi will go to a young offenders institution while Taylor will
serve his sentence in prison.
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| Crown
Prosecution botch frees Stoke Newington 'child rapist'-11/05/01 |
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A police
manhunt has been launched today following a massive Crown Prosecution
Service (CPS) blunder. Angolan Lucas Poulino was charged with two
counts of rape after an incident involving a 14-year-old girl as she
walked home from a school disco in Stoke Newington last week.
The alleged assailant walked free after the Crown lawyer failed to
turn up for the hearing. The judge was obliged by law to release him.
Police rushed to his last known address when they realised what had
happened, but he has failed to appear Detectives are furious at the
'unaccountable' CPS about the way a man accused of such a serious
crime has been allowed to walk free. One detective said, "It is unbelievable.
The problem is that the CPS are never held to account over things
like this…We have to pick up the pieces and inform the victim that
the man she thought was safely locked up is now back on the streets.
You can imagine how that feels, particularly with a girl that young."
Poulino was discharged with 18 other suspects some charged with race
hate crimes and burglary. The court did not dismiss the charges and
it is now up to the police to locate and re-arrest all of the defendants.
A spokesman for the CPS said an inquiry had been launched. |
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