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'My family's been in business for 140 years, now we have nothing'
10 Aug 2011A family who watched their furniture business burn to the ground in an inferno today said the rioters had "destroyed" their lives.
House of Reeves in West Croydon, which had been in the family for five generations, was left a gutted ruin after a 100-strong mob set buildings alight.
Owner Trevor Reeves said: "Words fail me. It's just gone. It's five generations. My father is distraught at the moment. It's just mindless thuggery."
His brother Graham added: "Our lives are destroyed, it will probably be someone else next week. It's horrendous, 35 years I have been down here."
He said the business was established in 1867, but he now had "nothing", adding: "Everything is just gone, we have just got nothing left. I was in the Brixton riots but this is worse."
Firefighters in Croydon were still struggling to extinguish fires lit by rioters today which forced a woman to make a desperate leap from a burning building.
The woman was seen jumping to safety as her flat above a chemist in Church Street turned into an inferno last night.
She fell into the arms of two waiting fire officers below and is believed to be receiving treatment at St George's Hospital.
Scotland Yard has launched a manhunt to find the rioters responsible for destroying homes and businesses during last night's raids. Gangs of about 100, aged between 15 to 25, looted at will and set fire to buildings. Officers started collecting CCTV footage from Croydon council in the early hours of this morning.
Extra staff have been drafted by the council to collate and log hours of CCTV footage in a bid to identify the gangs of thugs who terrorised the community after coordinating their attacks using Twitter and BlackBerry messages. Residents evacuated from flats in London Road watched helplessly as all their possessions went up in flames. Firemen, who tried to put out the blaze, were initially pushed back by gangs of teenage thugs who pelted them with bricks.
The fire began after more than 100 youths, dressed in hoodies and with their faces covered descended on the Church Street area near West Croydon station at about 8pm. With no police in sight, they began by setting alight to a double-decker bus before attacking the nearby furniture store.
Violence spread to Thornton Heath and Norbury.
Residents and shopkeepers today told of fears that there would be further violence. Paul Buckmaster, 28, said: "What's to stop them coming back again? They haven't been shown by police that this isn't on. It could be in daylight next time. The fact that they are coming off the trains shows that they are moving round in a co-ordinated way contacting each other on the BlackBerrys.
"It's in the air. People are scared. The Army should be called in as the police can't handle it. Are there even enough police for this?" A 26-year-old man found by police with gunshot wounds in a car in Warrington Road was today in a serious condition in a south London hospital. Two others, believed to be in their late twenties, were arrested at the scene for handling stolen goods.
Scotland Yard said the victim was not a police officer and was not shot by police. The case is being investigated by Operation Trident. More than a dozen people have been arrested in Croydon so far.
Croydon Central MP Gavin Barwell said: "I'm sickened to see this happening in my town. My first instinct is sympathy for the businesses and residents who have been directly affected by what's happened."
Mike Fisher, leader of Croydon council, said: "I am disgusted by the mindless hooliganism displayed by the criminal element that has come to Croydon."
Stores in the town centre and surrounding streets that were attacked include PC World, Tesco, Lidl and Argos.
Reader views (13)
@ Crazy Hippie:
I suppose if your home was gutted, burned or everything stolen, it'd be all right because you'd have insurance?
Read the clauses carefully -- riots, wars and Force Majeure (if you understand the term) may not be covered.
Even if they were, the insurance would not cover rebuilding the business from scratch, months, if not years, of inability to get the business on its feet again, the loss of livelihood of the staff, etc, etc.
I just hope that you were not one of those who passively let this atrocity go on just because you don't think it is such a big deal.
- Busybee, London, U.K., 10/08/2011 08:47
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..'every policeman and woman on the street now has to face the consequences of any personal error of judgement..'
They always did, just like the rest of us subject to the law of the land, and quite right too. They have many powers, but are citizens subject to the law in the same way as us, not a paramilitary caste protected by their uniform. I don't think any intelligent police officer would want to change that.
- mdj e10, london uk, 10/08/2011 01:44
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I don't know, I'm no expert on these things, I'll be the first to admit,but "end of the world"? I don't think so. I mean, ain't these business got fire-insurance? Ordinary householders are covered for riot damage through their homes insurance, and business can also claim from the police.
And look what Hitler did to us; compared to that, this is a damp squib.
End of the world? Nah. Get a grip people. This is not the spirit that carved-out an Empire.
- Crazy Hippie, Airstrip One, Oceania., 09/08/2011 17:48
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That 2nd picture is not Reeves Corner but the building in Broad Green, London Road.
- Ian, Croydon, 09/08/2011 17:15
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It's very sad what is going on but this loss of one business is nothing compared to the 100s of families who have lost their businesses due to the profligate spending of the Labour government. Sadly Labour lost the General Election but every cloud has a silver lining - we can now pretend it's the Coalition's fault.
The looters will be very grateful that people like myself are placing the blame on the government rather than on the looters.
- Jon, London, 09/08/2011 16:49
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This is not an Ian Tomlinson event (what the police did then was terrible). There is a time & a place for hard action and this is one of them - Jon, London
Jon, it's precisely because of the Ian Tomlinson and Mike Duggan events and many other police errors and panics that the police have their hands - and minds - tied now.
In the Tomlinson case a police officer is being held personally responsible and will be prosecuted for manslaughter or something similar. This means that every policeman and woman on the street now has to face the consequences of any personal error of judgement or emotional reaction under extreme pressure in volatile circumstances that they make.
The result is that for their own future and that of their pwn families it is better not to show up at all or if they do to remain passive and not intervene.
The police are hardly blameless but as long as we hold them to account for any misdeed it's going to be similar to what happens if a burglar breaks into your home: if he attacks you he seems to get off with it, if you attack him you end up on trial and having your life ruined.
The rights of the criminal yobs on the streets outweight those of the Met. And since most of them are children, the police cannot take the risk of harming a hair on any of them, it will be ten times worse than tackling adults.
- Tom Moncrieff, London, England, 09/08/2011 16:47
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Its very sad what is going on but this loss of one business is nothing compared to the 100s of families who have lost their businesses due to new laws and regulations the Government have introduced.
The media are focussing on the wrong points to try and gain public support.
- serox, London, 09/08/2011 15:36
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What is happening on the streets of our country is not just criminality, it is crime against the fabric of our society and as such should be classified as urban terrorism and should be dealt with on that basis. It is said that these are disadvantaged people who should invoke our sympathy. I would suggest that these people would be frightened to death with the offer of a job. It is far easier to rob, burgle, deal drugs and receive benefits from hard-working people than it is to work.
- Ron, Croydon, England, 09/08/2011 15:30
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There must be a way of stopping these criminals. One method could be to drop a very large net over them. This would prevent injuries to people and damage to property.
- Simon, London, 09/08/2011 14:05
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I have just seen Trevor on the news. I cannot say how sorry I am to see his furniture business burned to the ground!It is absolutely dreadful. Am having to blink back tears just thinking about it. I am so so sorry for Trevor and all his family.
- Shirl, southport, uk, 09/08/2011 13:50
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Looters love people like jod because he/she hasn't got the faintest idea what has caused this.
The looters may be relatively poor but they are not poor in the strict sense of the word - benefits provide them with the essentials. To put it another way, the looters did not break into Tescos because they had no food for their children.
The looters need to be taught a lesson. I would have no qualms about a policeman breaking a looter's leg with a baton strike. This is not an Ian Tomlinson event (what the police did then was terrible). There is a time & a place for hard action and this is one of them.
I blame successive governments for not giving courts the ability to punish criminals effectively, and for allowing criminals to sue people who try to stop them.
- Jon, London, 09/08/2011 13:41
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People rich and poor, the government must get together and build up these areas that were looted and start caring about the poor and that they have proper place to live, food and water and heating the the winter.
We are all accountable for our thoughts, actions and deeds, please read the Lotus Sutra interpreted by Nichiren Daishonin best English translation by Burton Watson, it shows a better path to take free from anger and violence.
- jod, London, 09/08/2011 12:52
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Why was Twitter and Blackberry messagenger not shut down!
- James, Bromley, UK, 09/08/2011 12:46
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