Crystal Palace Local

Messages of support have begun appearing on the boarded up jewellers shop which was trashed by looters in last week's riots.

Some of the messages on the boards at Crystal Palace Jewellers in Church Road support the shop, others support the whole of the area.

They range from the simple: "Lots of love - keep it going" and "I love Crystal Palace"  to the blunt: "******* little ******: Politics is a dirty word to these idiots."

From the proud: "Everyone who knows anything about Crystal Palace knows it is the dog's b*******"  to the thoughtful:  "An Englishman's home is their castle. "This is my Palace. "Leave it be."

The messages appeared as one individual involved in the raid on Crystal Palace Jewellers and who featured on The Sun's 'Shop a Moron' front page shopped himself to police in Kennington.

Aaron Douglas of Gibbs Square Norwood Park, pictured holding the shop grille, appeared in court last Wednesday.

Business as usual

On Saturday Blockbuster Video on Westow Street re-opened. Many of the doors and windows are still boarded up but one big window sign stated: "WE ARE OPEN. BUSINESS AS USUAL"

Widespread rumours that Sainsbury's was also invaded prompted a terse response from the company's head office: "I am afraid we are not commenting on individual stores and the rioting" said a spokesman.

This was in response to various questions including: "There has been a suggestion by a poster on the local Virtual Norwood blog that stores should issue photos of their unwanted visitors locally. "Is Sainsbury's doing this or does it have any plans to?"

At the time of writing Blockbuster Video's head office had yet to respond to the same question.

TIMELINE

MONDAY EVENING – August 8th

8pm Sainsbury's shuts early. (Blockbuster had shut by 7,40pm, Sainsbury's already had its tobacco cabinets locked.)

9.20pm Reports of a group of 15 youths with faces covered going up Central Hill heading for the Triangle.

9.33pm A load of kids kick in Blockbuster window, loot items and leg it. One eyewitness says they cannot have been more than 15 years old.

9.51pm A young girl on a bus in Beulah Hill yelling down her Blackberry she needs a phone. At All Saints she boards a 468 with male friends in hoodies for Croydon. "And off they skipped on the looters' express"

10.36pm A group of locals guard Blockbuster video. Pubs start to shut early.

10.40pm Hoodies reported on Ovett Close heading to Westow Street.

11.20pm The guardians of Blockbuster have gone and a group of looters are inside the video store helping themselves.

11.35pm Car at the top of Haynes Lane filled with loot from Blockbuster in piles so high "you can't see the thieves faces" Other looters run off down Haynes Lane.

MIDNIGHT

TUESDAY MORNING August 9th

Streatham Guardian reports: "Crystal Palace residents take a stand against looters" - first news report of the Blockbuster Guardians.

12.30am Police with dogs arrive - head for Sainsbury's

11.04 am Photo of two alleged looters on the Met police website.

Early afternoon: Shops on the Triangle start to shut amid rumours of a mob of looters on their way from Thornton Heath and gangs of youths congregating in Crystal Palace Park.

The events lead to a huge discussion on the local Virtual Norwood blog including the following comment from 'Dazza': "I particularly liked the sky report with the three young black looters heavily in disguise. One guy said he looted Comets as they did not respond to his email !"

"My fave bit was, as they were filming them walk off into the sunset, one's trousers fell down nearly to his ankles."

THURSDAY AUGUST 11TH

A Stockwell primary school worker who featured widely on TV news bulletins leaves court with a newspaper over his face.

The Daily telegraph solemnly reported: "A headline about 'copycat cretins' covering his eyes, he walked into a lamp-post."

MONDAY AUGUST 15TH

Janet Street-Porter Daily Mail: "They were surely the best-dressed rioters in modern history."

Andrew Pierce, Daily Mail: "A teenager caught with a stolen TV last week claimed that while she knew she was in the wrong, everyone else was doing it. Sounds familiar? It should. It's exactly the same excuse those MPs caught fiddling their expenses deployed in their rotten defence......"