Darren Deslandes murdered

On January 1st I heard on the radio that a man had been shot dead just around the corner in Queens Road at the Newton Arms pub. Soon after I heard the name of the dead man: Darren Deslandes. The name at that point hadn't clicked.

Then a couple of days ago I checked the Croydon Advertiser web site and saw a picture of the man who was murdered at the Newton Arms, and instantly I recognised him.

I've known Darren since he was 10. I didn't know him very well, but well enough to say "hi" and have a catch up if we happened to bump into each other. He was a decent man, with a regular job, in a loving family.

The sad fact is this: because this incident involves a black man killing another black man within an area of relative poverty, it doesn't carry the same coverage in the national media as other murders.


My abiding memory of Darren:

The 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles caught the imagination of Darren, myself and a few other local youngsters who lived off Brigstock Road/Nutfield Road in Thornton Heath. We had our own neighbourhood athletics tournament on the streets; 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, long jump. I remember Darren being a pretty good sprinter even though he was younger than the rest of us.

My thoughts are with his brother who was also shot and his family.

--------------------------------------------------
Tags croydon, greenparty