JUST below the surface of one of the most visited tourist attractions in the nation’s capital, a plague of daylight drug deals, fights, drunks and phone thieves is making life unliveable for residents.
The Borough of Camden, known globally as the former home of Amy Winehouse and Charles Dickens, attracts an estimated 100,000 visitors every week.
Recently, a man was arrested for holding an axe and reportedly threatening to kill another man on Camden Road, London[/caption]
Footage shows the moment a thug beat a passerby with a child’s scooter in a vicious attack in Camden[/caption]
Haul of weapons, including battle axes, knives, and nunchucks, seized by police in Camden during a five-day operation to tackle knife crime in the area[/caption]
Camden Market, a vibrant and crowded hub in the centre of the borough has become a hotspot for tourism, something petty thieves have been quick to capitalise on.
The market is infested with masked yobs who take full advantage of unsuspecting tourists – grabbing phones from pockets, hands and bags, security guards posted all along the main road do little to discourage the brazen robbers.
And, along quiet side streets away from the bustling centre of the borough, locals are seeing a worrying rise in offences with more serious crime taking place away from the prying eyes of patrolling coppers on a daily basis.
We recently revealed that Camden has the second highest crime rate of any area in London, beaten only by Westminster.
This is unsurprising, with some notable crimes in recent years, including an armed moped thug trying to rob Arsenal footballers of £200,000 luxury watches.
Dramatic footage showed the fearless player chasing off the two yobs — as one threatens to stab him in the street.
Last year, a thug beat a passerby with a child’s scooter in a vicious attack – while horrified onlookers watched.
The heinous act was caught on camera and shows the brawl on the Regent’s Canal towpath in Camden.
There are 195 crimes for every 1,000 residents in the North London borough according to the ONS, and that’s just counting the incidents that get reported.
Residents told The Sun they don’t even bother calling the police when their phones are nicked or they witness a drug deal because the cops are “doing nothing as per usual.”
Things have gotten so bad for locals that they have taken to calling the borough “sin city”, one resident described it as “the Sodom and Gomorrah of the UK.”
When The Sun visited earlier this week we witnessed broad daylight fights and drug deals – despite the heavy police and security presence.
According to the unlucky residents of the borough that’s nothing new, one council worker, who asked not to be named, said: “Every day, every day there’s something.
Bike thefts, phone thefts, stabbings, junkies, drunks.”
Camden Council worker
Phone snatchers
According to the people who call Camden home the worst is the phone thieves – dressed all in black and riding ebikes, they wizz around the borough pinching mobiles from unsuspecting residents and tourists.
The modus operandi has become so common that locals avoid using their mobiles while out and about out of fear that they will lose their treasured devices to a masked, ebike riding thief.
Almost every person we spoke to had a story of their phone being grabbed from their hand by a balaclava clad yob on a bike, or had seen it happen to someone else.
One worker at the market, Ahmed Gholami, 21, told us the brazen thieves had taken to targeting parents as they picked their kids up from school, stealing from them in front of their young children.
Ahmed would go on to tell us: “There’s a lot of crime here, someone stole my stuff just a few weeks ago.
Metropolitan Police Officers recovered a machete during a pre-planned operation[/caption]
A heavy police presence has done little to bring down the crime rates[/caption]
“I was working at the stall here and they just took my stuff. There’s a lot of crime, everyone does it.
“I’ve seen phone snatching a lot, people drop their kids off at school and on their way someone comes on a bike and ‘psht’, snatches the phone.”
For mum-of-one Anna Sabben, 32, the rise in petty crime has left her terrified of leaving the relative safety of her home.
Pushing a pram along an empty side street she told The Sun: “I don’t really dare to be on my phone when I’m out.
“You even get the odd person going around shouting and spitting on people, they’re probably intoxicated.”
Shipu Qureshi, 45, has worked in Camden for years, like the majority of Camden’s residents, he has also been the victim of phone snatchers.
Qureshi told us he keeps a mobile with a cracked screen in the hope that thieves will avoid targeting him.
He said it was stolen once before and returned moments later because of the damage, he added: “I was lucky because it was cracked, he chucked it on the floor. It’s terrible around here.”
Camden locals said the threat from petty criminals is near constant, aside from phone snatchers residents have to put up with hoards of drug users and dealers roaming the streets.
“I wouldn’t come out late”
On a quick break from work Qureshi told The Sun there was drug deals happening meters away as we spoke, he said: “It’s always, constant, there’s people dealing drugs round the corner.
“It’s intimidating for women at night.”
And, for 45-year-old Sharon McCarten, who has lived in Camden for most of her life, it is starting to become a very scary place to call home.
She said: “I’ve had my purse nicked twice, once on New Year’s Eve, I’ve seen the phone snatching, I see the boys wizzing about on bikes with their face coverings, it’s really bad yea.
“It’s especially bad around here because of tourism. I have a very big dog, that’s how I cope living in Camden.
“I wouldn’t come out late unless I was with people.”
For Sharon and dozens of other residents there’s serious concern that the petty crime will escalate.
In 2024 a teenage boy died after being stabbed to death just before midnight on New Year’s Eve at Primrose Hill, Camden[/caption]
Sharon McCarten told The Sun she wouldn’t leave the house alone at night[/caption]
Vera Wilde has lived in Camden her whole life but now says its a ‘s***hole’[/caption]
Many told us about fights that turned nasty and plenty of locals had stories about armed muggings and even violent stabbings.
Sharon said: “We do hear about stabbings a lot, it’s so sad when it becomes commonplace.
“People are getting desensitised to it.”
Sharon’s friend, Vira Wilde, 85, who has lived in Camden all her life has seen the borough’s decline first hand.
In no uncertain terms she told The Sun exactly what she thinks of the state of her hometown.
It’s a s***hole. There’s nothing here anymore, there’s just nothing here. Camden’s gone.”
Vira Wilde, 85, Camden resident
Fending for themselves
A heavy police presence in the borough does almost nothing to stop the mischief let alone dissuade serious criminals from operating.
Residents said they rarely bother reporting crimes to cops, even when they witness them with their own eyes, because inevitably its “after the event they arrive.”
One cafe worker, Michel, who asked us to only use his first name, said business owners were becoming increasingly worried at the lack of help from police.
Michel has seen tourists robbed, drunks misbehaving, drug users roaming the streets and even had fights break out right in front of his cafe.
He told The Sun about his fear that youngsters in the borough could be led down a dark path into violence if nothing was done.
Michel added: “Police don’t do nothing about it.
“Running a business and not getting help from the police is a worry, they never help.
“The problem here is the youngsters, they do fights, arguments, the police should do stop and search.
“It is a concern because nowadays they’re getting stabbed everywhere.
“We don’t see them [police] very often, not like the olden days. It’s a good place to work but it’s a bit scary.
“Police are doing nothing as per usual. Now that it’s getting dark it is a bit scary.”
Groups of coppers roam the streets on foot in an effort to lower crime rates[/caption]
Individuals believed to be involved in the drug trade were seen operating in broad daylight in the borough[/caption]
Camden is a popular spot with tourists, attracting an estimated 100,000 visitors a week[/caption]
Another business owner, JoJo Khan, 58, told us that shoplifting was becoming a serious problem for him.
He said he was afraid to confront the thieves in his corner and worried that he may be the target of violence if he tries to intervene.
JoJo told us: “Of course it’s all the time, smokers, drinkers, teenagers, they come in they pick stuff up put it in their pocket and they disappear.”
Escalating violence
The increasing levels of violence crime have brought the attention of local NGOs and charities, who can now be found campaigning in the streets of Camden against knife violence.
In a bid to dissuade youngsters from picking up a blade, Sam Ade, 40, a volunteer with knife crime lives matter, spends his days on Camden’s busy high street talking to people about the dangers of knife crime.
After our reporter and Sam watched a fistfight unfold in front of them Sam said: “There’s a lot of bullies, people just take things out of context and there’s a lot of drugs and things.
“People think it’s a free state and you can do whatever you like, if they had a knife they could stab someone.”
Sam continued: “The police try but there’s nothing they can do. There’s loads of drug dealers, we try to stay away from them but they’re all over. People come to Camden because it’s easy to get drugs.
Sam said that despite him and his colleagues good intentions they have become targets for petty criminals and yobs.
In a shocking revelation he said: “One of our staff was called a black monkey. People think they have the right to do that.
Camden is the sodden and Gamorrah of the UK, it’s sin city.”
Sam Ade, 40, knife crime campaigner
“We need more police here. We get a lot of phone snatching, drugs and things like that and it’s sad because the people that come here are tourists.
“It’s a fun city but there’s a lot of crime, fighting, beggars, drug dealers and drug users.”
A Camden Council spokesperson said: “We work closely with the Police to keep Camden residents safe and respond to issues in their communities.
“We’re stepping up our response to anti-social behaviour, including putting on more patrols in hotspot areas.
“Every reported incident is investigated by our Community Safety team, so we urge residents to report non-emergency anti-social behaviour via our online reporting tool, or by calling 0207 974 4444.”
Superintendent Matt Cox who leads neighbourhood policing in Camden said: “We are committed to addressing concerns raised by local residents.
“We have worked with partners, such as Camden council to reduce overall neighbourhood crime by 24%, robbery by 29%, theft by 27.5% and Anti-social behaviour by 5.5% compared to the previous year.
“We are arresting and charging more offenders as part of our initiative to tackle crime in the borough.
“We have recognised Camden Town Centre as one of our highest priorities in the borough and have an increased police presence within this area in order to identify issues, tackle crime including anti-social behaviour.
“Through effective policing, strong partnerships and working directly with communities we will continue to bring down crime rates throughout Camden.”
Dan Read, 24, told us Camden is like any area of London saying ‘if you walk around in the dead of night people will take advantage of that’[/caption]
Anna Sabben told The Sun she had seen drunks spit at people in the street[/caption]
Residents of Camden say drug dealers and users leave them feeling intimidated[/caption]
Shipu Qureshi said he carries a cracked phone in the hope it won’t be stolen from him[/caption]
