Monday, 4 November 2013

Chislehurst, Petts Wood & Bickley Crime



CRIME REPORTED WITHIN A MILE RADIUS OF

for CHISLEHURST – Bromley Lane
for PETTS WOOD - Greencourt Road
for BICKLEY - Bickley Park Road

2013
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUNE
JULY
AUG
SEPT
OCT
NOV
DEC
Anti-social behaviour
28
39
18
23
25
15
17
27
25
20
25
22
20
36
22
22
25
30
26
37
49
25
33
47
19
38
21



Bicycle theft
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
2
0
2
3
0
3
3
0
2
2
2
2
3
0
1



Burglary
10
35
9
13
32
17
11
20
8
15
23
15
13
12
10
13
5
12
14
12
21
13
17
17
14
16
9



Criminal damage & arson
6
12
6
7
8
11
5
12
3
11
4
6
5
9
10
8
3
10
4
9
15
4
5
6
2
9
13



Drugs
2
5
5
2
3
5
3
4
0
2
1
2
1
2
7
6
4
5
2
1
1
2
3
0
2
4
4



Other theft
4
11
17
11
14
7
17
18
18
16
15
14
14
13
8
13
10
10
18
11
10
12
14
7
15
13
7



Possession of weapons
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
0
0
1
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0



Public order
2
2
1
2
3
1
5
6
4
3
2
3
3
3
2
5
1
9
2
4
6
1
1
3
2
1
0



Robbery
1
0
0
0
0
1
3
0
2
1
2
0
0
0
0
2
0
2
0
0
3
0
2
1
1
1
2



Shoplifting
0
5
3
1
3
3
3
0
5
5
4
0
2
3
1
3
1
0
4
2
3
2
5
2
8
6
0



Theft from person
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
0
1
0
0
1
0
0
2
0
0
1
1
2
3
3



Vehicle crime
17
18
24
12
14
11
15
20
14
16
12
16
15
11
11
15
7
15
8
7
8
8
7
11
17
9
9



Violence & sexual offences
8
10
14
5
10
8
10
11
13
11
19
11
8
10
9
11
9
16
9
20
9
12
18
17
11
12
16



Other crime
5
10
3
4
1
4
3
3
0
3
3
2
0
0
0
2
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
1



TOTAL
83
147
100
80
113
83
92
121
92
103
110
91
83
100
83
104
66
114
90
105
127
81
108
115
96
112
86




At the suggestion of a number of readers we are pleased to bring you, for the first time in one table, the crime figures for each month, since the beginning of 2013, as provided by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, for Chislehurst, Petts Wood and Bickley.

The figures are broken down into 11 categories until May when they were expanded into 14 categories.

Each month we will update the figures and comment on any blips or trends in the Latest News section; the tables will accumulate in the Crime page.

Trends: September was an average month in terms of total number of reported crimes across the three villages. The most crimes were reported for Petts Wood which has been the case for 6 of the last 9 months.

Blips: In September, once again there were no reports of possession of weapons in any of the three villages, making three clear months in a row. Public order crimes were the lowest of any of the months this year although shoplifting showed a jump in Chislehurst. Vehicle crime was also at its highest in Chislehurst.

There were 4 shoplifting offences near Chislehurst High Street. In 3 of these instances, suspects were charged and are awaiting a court outcome.

The 17 vehicle crimes in Chislehurst were spread around the village. All are either under investigation or no further action at this time; no one has been charged.

We hope you like this new addition; let us know – leave a comment!

Sunday, 27 October 2013

Just how many coffee shops do we need in Chislehurst High Street?


Count up the number of places where you can get a cup of coffee:



1.    Cafe Nero
2.    Cafe Rouge
3.    Prezzo
4.    Chestnut Cafe
5.    Mirage 2
6.    2gether Shop
7.    The Queen’s Head
8.    Annabel’s



Not forgetting the estate agents. (Pop into any one of them and they may well make you a cup if you ask nicely enough; you probably won’t even have to ask if you buy a house while you’re in there).

So do we really need another one?

Village News has just learnt from a reader that there is a planning application in to Bromley Council to turn the right hand side of Wrattens into a Costa Coffee shop.

Last year Costa Coffee founder, a Mr Costa – believe it or not, likened coffee chains to Tesco, saying they have "taken over".

At least we don’t live in Purley, Mr Costa’s home town, where there are no fewer than six Costa Coffees, let alone other coffee outlets.

If you think eight coffee outlets in the High Street is enough, write to Bromley Council (www.bromley.gov.uk) and tell them. The planning application reference is 13/03091/FULL1.

But hurry up. The closing date for comments is.....tomorrow!
Photo: www.amazon.co.uk
www.chislehurstvillagenews.co.uk


Tuesday, 22 October 2013

Chislehurst fraudster gets 4 years



In the Metropolitan Police’s excellent “The Little Book of Investment Scams” it reports that investments where fraud is commonplace are land, wine, carbon credits, gold and jewels as well as stocks and shares.

Back in October 2010, Jim Budd of www.investdrinks.org was warning about Finbow Wines Ltd. Finbow’s representatives were talking about low value, high volume Italian wines to be supplied to China and Hong Kong that one could not normally invest in as an individual “...but demand is high and contracts to supply in place” with a buy back guarantee after 12 months. Jim Budd said, “All in all this is not a deal I would want to invest in”.

DINA SNELLING
Five months later and investors were beginning to realise that they were unlikely to get their money back. And earlier this month Dina Snelling of Invicta Close, Chislehurst, was jailed for 3 years and 11 months having earlier been convicted on two counts of conspiracy to defraud.

Along with her brother and cousin, Snelling tricked a large number of investors into investing in Australian wine, which would then be sold after a few years in storage.

This started as Nouveau World Wines Ltd which turned over £2.5 million, followed by Finbow Wines Ltd.

Although the trio sold thousands of bottles, only a fraction of the total sold was ever produced.

The combined monetary loss was over £4.5 million.

In sentencing Snelling at Southwark Crown Court, Judge Michael Grieve said, “These were highly sophisticated frauds over a very substantial period of time, a total of two-and-half years.”

“Nouveau investors for the most part lost the whole of their investment, none certainly had any return.”

“The victims were individuals and in many instances elderly retired persons looking for a better return on their modest savings.”

“They were not for the most part seasoned investors and the conspiracy relied on slick sales techniques.”

“There were a large number of victims, no figure has been put on it but over the time frame of both frauds it clearly ran into hundreds.”

“'You personally benefited through the payment of your rent in Australia, your removal costs when you went to live in Australia, and some £10,000 to fund your cosmetic surgery.”

Here at Chislehurst, Petts Wood and Bickley Village News we reckon that instead of spending money on a “boob job”, Ms Snelling may have been better advised to have had some facial plastic surgery, judging by the hundreds of individuals that she has scammed.

In the meantime, it’s worth repeating, “If it sounds to good to be true, it probably is”.