‘People are scared of them’: Group of ‘drunks’ accused of threatening mall customers

Intimidation, threats, public intoxication, theft and fear of retaliation.

This is the reality facing Edgeware Village workers most days - and they say these issues can be put down to a group of “drunk” individuals who dominate a seating area on the corner of Cornwall St and Edgeware Rd.

Workers describe a “posse” of about three to four men drinking a “box of Cody’s,” who “harass” customers for money, often intimidating them if they refuse or do not give enough.

Police say they are now increasing their presence in the area following requests from the Edgeware Business Association to address the issue, which has worsened in the last three years.

“There needs to be a co-ordinated approach with police and businesses in the village. I’m not sure of the extent of the problem but police presence will help,” said Malcolm Pearce, association chairman and St Albans Pharmacy owner.

Peter Timbs Meats St Albans manager David Timbs has had enough. A police presence would not do any harm, he said, but he just wanted them to disappear.

“Every day they’d sit on that chair with a box of Cody’s. When they run out of drink they harass customers for money. They hang around our food caravan and intimidate customers,” he said.

“People are scared of them. I don’t have a solution, but when one [police car] drives past, that’s not really a presence is it?”

On one occasion Timbs caught one of the men leaving his store with a jacket full of stolen bacon, which led to a physical altercation. Some regular customers were no longer visiting the store because they felt threatened.

“One of our customers was shaken up because she gave them money but it wasn’t enough. We usually just get the lads out back telling them to move on, but if you do that, and you do it to a stage where it’s going to annoy them, they’ll tag your building.”

Next door, Real Fruit Parlour was tagged with graffiti in December. Front-of-house worker and chef Chadi Coira believes it was retaliation for fighting back.

“There’s this dude that always walks around stopping people before they get a chance to open their car doors, harassing them for money. He always says that he’s down from Wellington because his dad’s died and needs money for the bus,” she said.

Her co-workers were “terrified,” so she would usually tell him to leave.

“I saw him at Riverside Market one time. I was like, don’t come back. And after, that’s when the tag happened so it’s a bit suspicious.”

Although Coira did not fear him or the group, she just wanted them to “go away.”

A Madras St resident, who did not want to be named, said a man knocked on her door last month at 9am asking for money.

She was only wearing a nightgown at the time. “He said: ‘Oh, you’re not wearing much,’ and tried to put his hand through the door,” she said.

FreshChoice Edgeware owner Stephen Anderson said the group was recently trespassed by police from entering the supermarket due to aggressive behaviour towards staff and shoppers. Anderson said a meeting between police and retailers took place before Christmas, which resulted in the trespass notice and the prompt to increase their presence.

 

In spite of the notice, the group still came back to harass and “frighten” customers for food and money.

“These guys say to us, well you can’t do anything because we’re on the footpath,” he said.

“I haven’t seen the police round here for ages, I think they can do more. Why can’t they start arresting these guys?”