Met Police map shows 100s of crimes around Townley Court, Stratford

Residents shared photos of the brazen drug use as police data revealed more than 200 crimes were reported in the past year on the estate, which covers an area smaller than two football pitches.

They included 28 violent and sexual offences, 11 burglaries, two robberies, 13 thefts and 108 incidents of antisocial behaviour.

The crimes were all reported around Townley Court, according to figures published by the Metropolitan Police Service.

Residents said disruptive nightly gatherings of drug users had continued in the week after the Recorder's reporting sparked promises of intervention from the Met Police and Newham Council (Image: Supplied)

Over the past three years, the tiny area of Stratford saw 542 alleged offences reported.

Residents claim these reports represent only a fraction of the estate's true crime rate, as many have “given up” calling police because little or no action follows.

We reported last week how residents were terrified to leave their homes on the estate, where addicts smoke crack and inject heroin in front of police officers, and sex workers service customers in front of children.

Our exclusive report made national headlines in the Sun, the Mirror, the Daily Star and the Daily Mail.

But tenants and homeowners said little had changed despite the embarrassing publicity, as they continued to witness flagrant drug use and find human faeces outside their homes.

Residents have complained that drug users and sex workers who participate in all-night gatherings outside their homes go to the toilet in their gardens or up against their buildings. This photo was taken days after the Newham Recorder's last report (Image: Supplied)

Crime map

The estate, off Romford Road, is a ten-minute walk from Maryland station.

The area around that stretch of Romford Road currently appears on the Met’s public crime map as the worst crime hotspot in the Forest Gate South policing district.

The Recorder zoomed in to examine three years of alleged crimes inside a small square off Romford Road, formed by three streets – Faraday Road, Vaughan Road and Dyson Road.

Townley Court sits at the centre of that square, which covers just less than 14,000 square metres.

The police data is published monthly and only goes back three years, so we analysed crime reports from May 2021 to April 2024.

In those three years, 82 violent and sexual offences were reported in the three streets surrounding the Townley Court cul-de-sac.

Residents said the nightly gatherings of drug users on their doorsteps left them frightened to leave their homes (Image: Supplied)

There were also 25 public order reports, 25 alleged thefts, 24 reported burglaries, 19 complaints of vehicle crimes and 14 criminal damage and arson reports.

But by far the biggest problem was antisocial behaviour, with 262 reports in three years.

In the 12 months up to April 2022, there were 62 alleged incidents. But the following year, to April 2023, saw reports rocket by almost 50 per cent to 92.

The next year, to April 2024, it was 108 – roughly another 17pc increase.  

The total number of reported crimes on the estate also escalated over the past three years.

In the year up to April 2022, there were 170 reported offences.

The figure dropped slightly to 168 in the year to April 2023, but then shot up more than 20pc, hitting 204 in the year to April 2024.

A woman was filmed by a resident as she smoked from a crack pipe in the entrance to a block of flats in Townley Court (Image: Supplied)

Decline

“It used to be such a lovely place to live,” said one resident, who has lived on the estate for more than 50 years.

Long-time residents said there had been occasional problems over the years, but felt the area had severely declined since the Covid pandemic.

Furious parents told the Recorder last week how young children were exposed to prostitutes walking around naked and performing sex acts with clients.

One man reported being threatened with a machete. Police have received reports of another man having a gun pulled on him.

On another night, a resident filmed another man smoking from a crack pipe at a large gathering, which blocked residents from using the front door to their own homes (Image: Supplied)

Our reporter found a knife hidden on the estate, which was strewn with used condoms, drugs wraps and excrement.

Since we reported that drug users and sex workers had obtained emergency fire keys allowing them to enter residents’ blocks, Newham Council has padlocked the emergency keyholes closed.

But drug users have continued to congregate in doorways, openly smoking from crack pipes.

The Met Police and Newham Council both pledged last week to increase night time patrols and conduct other work to clean up the estate.

The Met declined to comment on its crime map figures. Its website says locations are approximate and reported offences are also not included.