Good news from the local police as they succeed with a prosecution of a local serial robber and mugger who used a garden in Thornhill Square to stash a large haul of stolen iphones.

Police message begins:

A 22 year old man has been sentenced to three and a half years imprisonment for handling stolen goods and possession with intent to supply cannabis, possession of cocaine and money laundering.

Salah Karkar, of Cluse Court, Dame Street, N1, was sentenced at Blackfriars Crown Court on 3 May 2012, after pleading guilty to the offences.
Detectives from the Crime Squad in Islington carried out a proactive operation to catch Karkar after intelligence indicated that he was involved in large scale handling of stolen goods, particularly I-phones. A search warrant was carried out by the team on 11 August 2011 at his home address where officers found three laptops valued at £2200, a Carerra bicycle stolen from Islington Green, an I-phone snatched from the Packington estate, £900 in cash, 55 bags of cannabis and three wraps of cocaine.

Karkar was arrested and charged with handling stolen goods, possession with intent to supply class B drugs- namely cannabis, possession of class A drugs – namely cocaine, and possession of criminal property/money laundering.

Despite being on court bail, Kakar continued his criminal activity. Officers obtained a further warrant to carry out a search at an address in Thornhill Square, N1, linked to Karkar. There, they discovered a large rucksack hidden in the garden containing 20 Apple I -phones, all stolen in less than two weeks in street robberies across Islington and Camden, five pairs of designer sunglasses and two laptops stolen in a residential burglary from Frome Street and three Apple laptops stolen during three separate residential burglaries in Packington Street, Arlington Square and Danbury Street as well as a further £300 in cash.

All the laptops were stolen in burglaries committed after he pleaded guilty to handling the items in the August raid.

Investigating Officer, Detective Constable Phelim Redmond from Islington Crime Squad said:

“Salah Karkar is a prolific handler of stolen property who has shown a complete lack of remorse or sympathy throughout the investigation for the victims of the crimes from which he profited. Each item of property recovered by police represented a violation of someone’s home or person. Some of the victims were attacked in the street and others robbed at knifepoint.

” He was motivated by simple greed and I hope his sentence acts as a deterrent to other criminals”.

‘The Caledonian Ward Partnership Public Meeting is an opportunity for local residents to hear how all the different agencies have worked together over the past year and in some cases over many years to address issues of crime and anti-social behaviour in the Caledonian Ward. More importantly this is your opportunity to put forward your ideas on how to make our ward safer for everyone in our community….For further information please contact Mohamed Hammoudan, Team Cally Neighbourhood coordinator Tel: 020 7609-8959 Mobile: 07960670435 Email: bvmoteamcally@btconnect.com Website: www.teamcally.org.uk‘

Dear Resident,
Caledonian Ward Partnership Public Meeting: Wednesday 23 May at 7pm Venue: Jean Stokes Community Centre, Carnoustie Drive, N1 0DY (Map – go through the arch you can see here on google street view and the Jean Stokes Centre is on the immediate left on the other side)

In recent years residents have become much more aware of the issues of anti-social behaviour and the things that can be done to address this type of problem.

There are a lot of different organisations who have a role to play in directly dealing with, and helping to resolve, anti-social behaviour.

The Islington Met Police, Islington Community Safety Teams and Islington Housing Department work with local people, communities, other social landlords and various organisations to address problems of anti-social behaviour by working in partnership to use the most appropriate interventions to stop these problems and support victims.

A large number of calls are received by the police throughout the year from people complaining about ‘nuisance youths’. Some of these calls are not to report any crime, damage, noise or a direct threat but many are from people who feel intimidated by groups of youngsters who congregate in public places such as on the Caledonian Road and in parks and estates.

Children and young people are part of our communities and will always congregate; it’s a natural part of growing up and very few youngsters who meet in public places are actually committing any criminal or other offence.

Young people often gather in groups because it makes them feel safer, choosing places near shops because they are well lit and busy. In many cases they are actually unaware that their presence alone can seem intimidating to others.

However there is a difference between young people acting deliberately to cause damage or upset and those who have simply gathered to socialise.

The Caledonian Ward Partnership Public Meeting is an opportunity for local residents to hear how all the different agencies have worked together over the past year and in some cases over many years to address issues of crime and anti-social behaviour in the Caledonian Ward. More importantly this is your opportunity to put forward your ideas on how to make our ward safer for everyone in our community.

The meeting is also an opportunity for you as residents to meet your local councillors, shape the future of neighbourhood management in the Caledonian Ward and to contribute to the priorities for the area.

For further information please contact Mohamed Hammoudan, Team Cally Neighbourhood coordinator Tel: 020 7609-8959 Mobile: 07960670435 Email: bvmoteamcally@btconnect.com Website: www.teamcally.org.uk

The layout from YouTube user 04clemea follows on from our earlier coverage of the Kings Cross club for Super Models.

Advice on the whole process of voting, including an easy to use map of all London’s polling stations can be found over at the impartial London Elects website (London Elects is the team that organises the mechanics of voting – no I’d never heard of them either). I’d rather refer you to their map than do one myself.

And have a laugh into the bargain… not bad eh!

On the plan’s web page they say,

“King’s Cross is an important and vibrant area that will experience major growth and change in the coming years, mainly as a result of the King’s Cross Central development and improvements to King’s Cross Station.  These changes create both opportunities and challenges for local communities.

Islington and Camden Councils’ have therefore been working together to develop a Place Plan for the King’s Cross area.  This plan sets out a vision for the future of King’s Cross that reflects the priorities for the area.  It is supported by a set of actions to ensure that changes in the area deliver services, facilities and public spaces that meet the needs of people who live, work and visit the area.”

Click here to see the plan and click here to make your comments.