An overheard conversation has given some explanation as to exactly why local buses appear to be breaking down more frequently than before. I was a passenger on a Woolwich bound 99 bus last week, when it stopped in Erith town centre for a change of drivers. As is often the case during these changeovers, the drivers had a chat; I happened to be sitting in the seat nearest the front of the bus, opposite the drivers cab, and was able to hear the conversation quite clearly. The two drivers were bemoaning the fact that the buses they drove were breaking down far more regularly than in the past. They both agreed that the reason for this was down to penny pinching by the bus operator, Arriva. Apparently buses used to have a minor mechanical service every week, but Arriva had recently instructed their engineers to carry out the minor service on a monthly basis to save on parts and labour costs. This the drivers agreed was the main cause for the increase in mechanical breakdowns. I can only report on the overheard conversation and cannot guarantee its veracity; coincidentally on my return to Erith I photographed the broken down 99 bus that you can see in the photo above - click on the image to see a larger version. What do you think? Email me in confidence to hugh.neal@gmail.com.
Incidentally I was a passenger on a 469 bus from Abbey Wood Station on Friday lunchtime; the bus made its' way along Woolwich Road towards Upper Belvedere when I noticed a small group of banner wielding protesters surrounding a large white van parked at the roadside; the van was operated by a contractor on behalf of TfL and was equipped with ANPR cameras to monitor passing motorists for ULEZ compliance. The anti ULEZ protesters were using their protest banners to block the view of the van's cameras. Unfortunately I was unable to get a photograph of the incident at the time. It would seem that the anti ULEZ protests initially covered by the press are continuing, even if they are not getting the column inches that they received in the past. Local criminals are stealing legitimate plates from parked motor vehicles in order to circumvent the automatic number plate recognition system used to charge drivers for using the Dartford Crossing and also the controversial ULEZ charge. Vehicle number plate theft is now endemic in the local area. Indeed, according to a recent report published by the Daily Telegraph, highly organised vehicle crime gangs are using falsified car registrations to avoid detection by the police. One in twelve of the 37 million vehicles on UK roads could have cloned registration plates, according to the new research. The vast number of cloned plates, in which a car’s identity is disguised by the false use of an authorised registration or characters amended to a registration that does not exist, are associated with serious criminal activity. Dr Ken German, a director of the International Association of Auto Theft Investigators (IAATI), who collated figures from various official sources, said in the Telegraph article that according to the police there are thousands of cloned plates spotted every day by their automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) and CCTV cameras clearly in an attempt (they suggest) to avoid detection when stealing petrol, parking illegally, speeding or committing more serious offences such as burglary or robbery. About 1.75 million of the 37 million vehicles of all types in the UK (about 32 million of those being cars) are estimated be wearing cloned registration plates. This is made up of 250,000 vehicles of all types - including cars, motorcycles, HGVs, vans, caravans, motor homes, construction plant and agricultural machinery - reported stolen last year, plus the 500,000 vehicles written off by insurers. There are also about a million vehicles still un-recovered from the last decade. The remainder of the one-in-12 total - about 1.25 million vehicles - is made up of legitimate registrations that have been doctored so they read differently. More than 100,000 sets of number plates are stolen every year but many more will have been altered with paint, a felt tip pen or black tape to deceive ANPR cameras or witnesses to a crime.
Last Thursday marked the 40th anniversary of the launch of the now dominant word processor application - Microsoft Word. The very first version of Word – or Multi-Tool Word as it was initially known – came out on October 25th, 1983 for MS-DOS. It featured 16-bit graphics and text mode support, as well as support for a mouse. It is fair to say that Word was not quite an overnight success. It faced stiff competition from incumbents, such as WordStar, which, at the time of Word's release, accounted for nearly a quarter of the word processor market. WordPerfect also presented a threat, having debuted on DOS the previous year. The first version of Word was not exactly a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) application, but Microsoft soldiered on and added features incrementally over the years until the final iteration – Word 6.0 for DOS in 1993. By then, there was a new Word in town that would replace all competitors – Word for Windows. Word for Windows would go from obscurity to accounting for 90 percent of the word processor market by revenue in under 10 years. However, back in 1983, Word was just one option in a word processor market dominated by the competition. Just as Word once challenged the dominance of its rivals, it has seen its market share eroded in recent years by web based competitors like Google Docs and the free and open source LibreOffice application suite.
I don't normally comment on stories that make the national press, as professional journalists do a far better job than I; on this occasion I am making an exception to this rule due to the local connection to the story in question. As many will already be aware, Plumstead resident and minor celebrity Dave Courtney was found dead in bed after apparently committing suicide. Courtney was born in London in 1959. He grew up in a tough neighbourhood in Bermondsey, and became involved in crime at a young age. He was allegedly associated with the Kray twins, two of the most notorious gangsters in British history. In the 1970s and 1980s, Courtney was involved in a variety of criminal activities, including racketeering, extortion, and violence. He was arrested and charged multiple times, but he was always acquitted. In the 1990s, Courtney began to write books about his life in the underworld. His books were bestsellers, and he made a number of television appearances. He also began acting in films and television shows. In 1998, Courtney appeared in the gangster film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. He played the role of Dog, a debt collector who is beaten up by Vinnie Jones's character, Big Chris. The role was said to be based on Courtney's own life. After his appearances in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, and EastEnders Courtney became a well known media figure. He also wrote several books, including "My Life as a Gangster" and "Dave Courtney: The Real Lock Stock." Courtney became a minor celebrity. He wrote two books about his life, and appeared in several other films and TV shows. He also ran a nightclub and a debt collection agency. Courtney's life was one of controversy. He was accused of being a police informant, and he was also known for his violent temper. In 1991, he was convicted of manslaughter for killing a man during a fight. However, he was acquitted of murder after claiming that he had acted in self-defence. Despite his criminal past, Courtney was also known for his generosity and his loyalty to his friends. In January 2009 he was given an 18-month conditional discharge at Bristol Crown Court, on a charge of possessing live ammunition without a firearms certificate. His defence of not knowing that the single live pistol round was live rather than a stage prop prompted Judge Ticehurst to comment, "It perhaps undermines your street credibility and your stage performance that you cannot distinguish between a real round and a fake round. But perhaps that's not for me to say." In May 2009, Courtney filed for bankruptcy, reportedly owing £400,000 to creditors, including taxes of £250,000. He was a popular figure in the London underworld, and he was respected by many of his peers. In recent years, Courtney had suffered from health problems, including cancer and arthritis. He had also been struggling with his mental health, suffering from both anxiety and depression. Subsequent to his death, the following message was posted to his Facebook account:- "Following examination of Dave's personal effects by Mr Brendan McGirr, a video has been found that was filmed on the 5 July 2023 in his Camelot Castle home in Plumstead. The video clearly shows Dave had not taken the decision to take his own life lightly, and had gone into thorough planning and preparation to ensure as little pain as possible for his loved ones in the aftermath of his death.” Dave goes on to speak in the video, saying: “Well as you can all see I am in sound mind and body. Sorry I’ve took the coward's way out – don’t go racking your brains and thinking why, I will tell you exactly why. There is no woman trouble or nothing like that – I am hurting, I am disguising a lot of pain. I’ve got rapid ruminal arthritis which is crippling me up. I have to hide the fact that I can’t get up, downstairs and in and out of the car and I’m not enjoying it at the moment. That is really it. I don’t want to waste having a wicked life like I have, absolutely superb, any day I can think back on it was funny and brilliant and the rest of it in pain trying not to end it because it would upset everyone else. I’m not enjoying it and I do what I want so that really is why I am not here today. Don’t be sad, please don’t be sad. I’m sure I left enough people in this world to stick up for Dave.” Courtney was a unique and complex figure. He was a violent criminal, but he was also a charismatic and intelligent man. He lived a life of excess and danger, and he died tragically young. Courtney's legacy is likely to be debated for many years to come. Some will remember him as a ruthless gangster, while others will see him as a complex and contradictory figure. However, there is no doubt that he was one of the most colourful characters in the British underworld. His house - 29, Chestnut Rise, Plumstead, called Camelot Castle, was decorated with Union Jack flags and the cross of St George, a painted depiction of himself as a knight and a large knuckle duster. In May 2023, Courtney was diagnosed with bowel cancer. He also suffered from severe arthritis. His friends and family believe that his health problems may have contributed to his decision to take his own life, as is indicated by the posthumous video.
The following article has been published by Bexley Borough Neighbourhood Watch Association and outlines ways to avoid a number of scams:- "When somebody rings you, can you always trust the phone number that they are calling from? The answer is no, because scammers are increasingly using a technique called ‘number spoofing’, where they can mimic the number of a real company, and make it pop up on your phone screen when they call. Nick Stapleton has been investigating number spoofing scams for BBC Morning Live, including a case where criminals spoofed the phone number of the UK Supreme Court to fool people into handing over their money. Nick met with ethical hacker Doug Tognarelli, who works with businesses to increase their cyber security. In less than five minutes, he showed that he was able to spoof the phone number of the Supreme Court: the final court of appeal in the UK for all civil cases and most criminal ones. Nick Stapleton met with Maia, a forensic scientist, who was scammed in May. She received a call saying she had been the victim of identity theft, and that someone from the Supreme Court would follow up directly. She was told to search for the court’s phone number online, and it did indeed match. Maia told Morning Live: “They told me that they needed me to move my money to other safe accounts, because the investigation now will start, and then my bank accounts would be blocked. I was scared and I was like, hold on a second, Who am I transferring the money to? and the tone changed a bit; she was kind of threatening and told me that I had to cooperate”. To make the scam more convincing, Maia was told the call was also being monitored by the Ministry of Justice, and that she would receive a further call from them. Again, the phone number tallied up with the official one for the government department, which oversees courts and prisons. Maia felt pressured into cooperating with the caller, and she began to transfer money. After being on the phone for over two hours, she had transferred more than £10,000. Maia started to feel suspicious; so she went to the Supreme Court’s website. There she discovered a warning about scammers cloning their phone number. She said: “I was in a state of shock, and then I said ‘you need to stop now, I know that you're a hacker. I'm going to call the police’. At that moment, she hung up.” Maia reported the scam to her banks and luckily she was able to get most of her money back. In response to the BBC investigation, a spokesperson from the UK Supreme Court said: “We know that scammers are cloning our phone number and logo and have advisory messages to the public on our website. We never call asking for money or threatening arrest and advise people receiving a call, letter, or email to follow the scams advice on our website.” The Ministry of Justice told Morning Live: “We sympathise with anyone affected by these shameful scams. The Ministry of Justice will never contact you using an automated message. If you receive a call like this please hang up and report it to Action Fraud.” The Do Not Originate list is designed to stop scammers using phone numbers to trick people. It’s run by communications watchdog Ofcom, and stops certain numbers from being spoofed before a call can connect. Companies, government agencies like HMRC, and other public bodies can add their phone numbers to the list (pdf). Ofcom has told the BBC: “Scammers can cause huge distress and financial harm to their victims, and protecting people from harm is a priority for Ofcom. These criminals are becoming more sophisticated and tackling them requires efforts from a range of bodies. We’re working closely with the police, other regulators and industry to tackle the problem. “One of our initiatives in countering scam calls is the Do Not Originate list. This has proved to be an effective tool, and we review and update the list regularly. We don’t make its contents public, to reduce the risk of scammers using this information to their advantage”. Be Scam Safe. Remember: -
• Never give out your personal information in response to an incoming call, or rely upon the Caller ID as the sole means of identification, particularly if the caller asks you to carry out an action which might have financial consequences. No legitimate organisation will ever ask you to transfer money over the phone.
• It’s OK to hang up on a caller if something doesn’t seem right. You could be stopping a scam from happening.
• If you want to check if it’s a genuine organisation that has called you, you can hang up and call them back. Call the phone number on the organisation’s website. Remember this scam only works with incoming calls, not outbound ones that you make.
• Wait for a few minutes before making the call - this ensures the line has cleared and you're not still speaking to the fraudster or an accomplice.
• If someone calls you saying they are from your bank, you can hang up and call 159 to be connected to most major UK banks.” 159 cannot be spoofed and will never call you". You can find more information on this and other forms of fraud, and how to detect and avoid them by visiting the Bexley Borough Neighbourhood Watch Blog here.
Regular readers may recall that three weeks ago I broke the scoop story that the house where former EastEnders actress Sian Blake and her two small children were murdered and buried in the back garden of the bungalow at 54 Pembroke Road, Erith in 2015 was to be put up for sale by auction. On Tuesday the Sun picked up on the story and published an article on the situation, which you can read in full by clicking here. The bungalow failed to reach its' auction reserve price on Tuesday, and at the time of writing it remains unsold. I suspect that the bungalow will eventually have to be demolished and a new structure built on the site. For what is essentially a sleepy suburban residential street, Pembroke Road has a dark reputation. Earlier this year a man called Kai McGinley was shot dead in Pembroke Road at 8.50pm on February 9th. Six people are due to stand trial for conspiracy to murder and other charges at the Central Criminal Court (Old Bailey) on the 3rd of January 2024. The fatal shooting took place only metres away from the Sian Blake murder location. Comments to me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.
We have recently passed the 36th anniversary of the Great Storm of 1987. I doubt that many locals will be happy to commemorate the event, as the storm hit the London Borough of Bexley particularly hard. Something approaching twenty percent of the mature trees in the borough were uprooted or seriously damaged by the exceptionally high winds. I recall walking along the Woolwich Road in Upper Belvedere the morning after, and seeing a number of the large trees in the recreation park down across the road – the fire brigade were cutting them up with chainsaws requisitioned from the plant hire shop in Nuxley Road. One of the very impressive Georgian houses opposite the Eardley Arms in Woolwich Road was seriously damaged – the whole third floor and roof were crushed by a mature sycamore tree that had fallen directly onto it. I recall reading in the local paper that the insurance claim to rebuild the historic house was greater than if they had demolished it and built afresh. Just as well the listed building was lovingly rebuilt, as it is one of the nicest residential properties in the whole of Upper Belvedere. My most vivid memory of the Great Storm was looking out of my bedroom window at the fury of the weather outside; some workmen had been laying a new paved pathway directly outside of my parents house. A pile of large concrete paving slabs had been made ready for the workers to continue laying them the next morning – these I saw flying through the air as if they were pieces of paper. Very worrying, as my parents house was right at the highest point in the area, leaving an unrestricted avenue for the hurricane to attack. The garden shed roof ended up in a neighbours’ back garden – very much like one of the opening scenes from “The Wizard of Oz”.
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