Coming together in times of tragedy

We are still reeling with shock about the terrible loss of life of a young man, Ilyas Habibi, near Sutton station on Tuesday evening. Our heartfelt condolences and thoughts go out to his family and friends and I know that many people are deeply distressed by this terrible incident. We are a close-knit community and such a tragic loss of life is felt keenly by us all.

Crime rates in Sutton are considerably lower than most other parts of London and we are still one of the safest boroughs in our city. Crimes like this are rare here, which makes their impact felt all the more strongly. However, these crimes are still upsetting and unsettling but this doesn't mean that it is unsafe to walk our streets. 

On Wednesday evening I attended a public meeting held by the Met Police and our local police officers, which was well-attended. Many of the parents who took part spoke about the impact that this terrible event has had on their children. We all agreed that we need to understand why a growing number of young people think it is necessary to carry knives and how we can change these attitudes and prevent more young people from losing their lives so needlessly. 

This is a problem which affects us all and we need to listen to the young people growing up in our borough and understand how best we can address their concerns and persuade them that carrying a knife does not make you safer. On the contrary. That’s why the police and Council will be working together to talk to our young people and hear their views on how we can start to tackle this issue.

Our Borough Police Commander reminded us that Sutton is a very special place to live, work and bring up a family. Sutton’s task now is to work hard together as a community to ensure that everyone feels safe in our borough. 

If you have any information concerning the incident, please contact the incident room directly on 020 8721 4622, call the Police on 101 or report it anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Councillor Ruth Dombey
Leader of the Council