On the pavement of a busy street used daily by thousands of commuters and sightseers, three men are stretched out in full view. One drinks from a can of Stella Artois, another sits slumped forward and barely conscious, while a third eats a pastry handed to him by a sympathetic passer-by.
A little further along, outside a convenience store, a man sleeps with a blue sleeping bag pulled tightly up past his chin. Across the road, in the gloom of a doorway, two people in torn tracksuits take turns inhaling from a crack pipe.
This is not Los Angeles’s notorious Skid Row, nor a hidden backstreet in New York. It is Covent Garden, one of London’s best-known tourist districts, surrounded by designer shops, the Royal Opera House and a string of upmarket restaurants.
It is also the area where, on Wednesday, four men were allegedly stabbed by a frenzied attacker.
In his first speech as Prime Minister, Andy Burnham promised to end rough sleeping at “the earliest opportunity”, pledging as he entered No10 to bring “long-term rough sleeping across the UK” to a close as quickly as possible.
But people who live and work around Covent Garden say the reality on the ground is increasingly grim, with drug dealing, homelessness and crime now part of daily life.
Restaurant staff describe parts of the neighbourhood as a “zombie zone”, with one comparing the scenes to Michael Jackson’s Thriller video. A security guard says theft has become so routine that he handles more than 50 incidents a day at the local Tesco.
When the Daily Mail visited a nearby store to ask about the attack, a receptionist reached beneath her desk and produced an eight-inch knife. “I keep this because I’m scared,” she said. “I don’t know what happened. This place used to be nice.”
The most recent Metropolitan Police figures reveal a staggering 514 crimes were reported in the Holborn and Covent Garden area in the month of June. That figure marks an increase of 16.8 per cent on the 440 which were reported six months earlier in January.
One barman at Do Mario’s, an Italian restaurant outside which the incident took place, told the Mail: ‘It’s a dump. You can go into Covent Garden itself and it’s alright, but in the outskirts… you walk around here at night or early in the morning and it’s like a zombie zone. You take your life in your hands walking after dark.
Shopkeepers, residents and business owners have told the Daily Mail that Covent Garden has become a ‘zombie zone’
Locals admit the streets of Covent Garden are plagued by homelessness
A man takes a lie down in the sun without shoes in front of four others nearby, one of which is cracking open a can of Stella Artois
Stella Gollovena, 47, has been charged with four counts of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm
One receptionist told the Daily Mail that she keeps an eight-inch blade (pictured) under her desk as a safety measure
Queen Elizabeth at the Royal Opera House for a gala ballet performance in honour of President Charles de Gaulle in 1960
‘When I had a shop down the bottom of the road [Endell Street], there were mornings when I went into the shop and a thief was coming out.’
‘I’ve worked in the West End for thirty or forty years,’ another waiter interjected. ‘The homeless are the homeless and that’s it, they’re not the problem. I feel sorry for them.
‘The junkies are the problem. If they take a bottle from here they’re going to sell it so they can feed their habit.’
Regulars in Covent Garden say they witness dealers, usually riding bicycles, distributing drugs on a daily basis.
One shopkeeper added that, on her commute to and from work, the waft of marijuana or crack is almost ever-present. A number of flats opposite the aforementioned Italian restaurant have installed gates in front of their doorways to deter pipe-smokers.
Many of the shopkeepers the Daily Mail spoke to refused to identify themselves amid fears their stores could be targeted by drug-dealers or users as a consequence.
Ros Tors, the longstanding owner of the Blackout II vintage clothing on Endell Street, says items are stolen from her shop on a regular basis. On one occasion, she was even threatened with a knife.
‘I’ve owned this shop for 36 years and she hasn’t seen half of what I’ve seen,’ she says, pointing at her colleague, Hannah.
‘I have actually been held in here with a knife. He just pulled out a knife and said: “Give me what you’ve got.” In the middle of London!
‘A lot of it around here is drug related and it’s bad. Crack, heroin, it’s all over this area.’
Police and Community Support Officers could be seen patrolling the streets of the West End throughout Thursday, no doubt as a measure imposed following the alleged stabbing. Mrs Tors, however, described that precaution as ‘too little, too late’.
‘There’s hardly any police usually,’ she says. ‘They’re all out of their minds and we have no police. Today, after the horse has bolted, they’re all here but it’s too late.’
Hannah added: ‘There’s a little road over by Pret [a Manger] and I went over there this morning. There’s needles all over the floor. The incident yesterday was horrible, though, that is rare.’
At the top of Endell Street opposite Shaftesbury Theatre is St Mungo’s, a hostel for the homeless and one of a number situated in the vicinity of Covent Garden.
Initial reports suggested that Stella Gollovena, 47, who has been charged with four counts of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, may have left the residence before carrying out her alleged attack. St Mungo’s, however, refuted those claims on Thursday.
Around 350 yards away, on Parker Street, is the Hostel and Assessment Centre which welcomes ‘single homeless men with support needs who are rough sleeping’ and will ‘accept ex-offenders’.
When this publication visited the area last year, locals expressed their shock at the hostel being situated so close to St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School.
One, called Peter, said: ‘You don’t want any child seeing people injecting themselves at such a young age.
‘They have big dogs with them sometimes too and they can be really threatening. I don’t want them living next to my house.’
Lorries and vans making early morning fruit and vegetable deliveries to Covent Garden Market in July 1961
August 1925: Flower sellers at the lower stalls in Covent Garden market
A barrow load of daffodils at Covent Garden in 1922
Four people were hospitalised on Wednesday after a stabbing on the bustling Endell Street, home to restaurants, shops and barbers
Hannah, who works at vintage store Blackout II, said that thieves visit the shop on a regular basis
Myra, who works at estate agents Saeed Sales on Endell Street, says she no longer feels safe in London
Some speculated that organised crime groups are ‘grooming’ the vulnerable and homeless.
Petty thefts are, at times, thought to be carried out in exchange for drugs while other desperate homeless people have been seen swiping bottles, clothes and other items in what is presumed to be a bid to feed their addictions.
Myra, who has worked at Saeed Sales estate agents on Endell Street for 18 years, says that ‘something changed in the area after COVID’.
‘You can smell it [drugs] when you’re walking down the street, especially in the morning,’ she said. ‘The homeless shelter is just down the road so you see a lot of them.
‘I was surprised in the centre of London because there are so many of them now. I’ve been there 18 years and I think it’s got a lot worse. It somehow changed after COVID, it was quiet before.’
Another worker at Do Mario, meanwhile, added: ‘You see a lot of drugs. It’s beyond. You’ve got guys going round on their bikes, taking drugs out of their mouth and giving it to the homeless people.
‘They’re obviously grooming or abusing them. I don’t look down my nose at anyone. I don’t think the homeless people are in the issue. I’ve got more empathy for people leaving poverty to make a better life for themselves.’
Over the last 18 months, residents at the end of their tether have rallied together in a bid to curb the issue with Camden Council.
One, who did not want to be named but lives behind Parker Street, said those efforts have brought around a reduction in burglary rates, though petty crime and antisocial behaviour has persisted.
‘We hold meetings with the police and councillors every week. It covers Holborn, the Covent Garden area and all surrounding areas,’ he said.
‘It’s been going on for years and thousands has been spent trying to tackle the issue.’
In relation to Wednesday’s stabbing, the Met’s Chief Superintendent Jason Stewart, who leads policing in the area, said: ‘We understand the concern around this recent incident and can reassure the community that there remains an increased police presence in the area with the Camden Neighbourhood Policing Team stepping up patrols.
‘We can also reassure the community that tackling all violent and anti-social behaviour remains a top priority for the Met.
‘Our neighbourhood policing approach focuses relentlessly on solving issues like neighbourhood crime that matter to people in Camden. We have recently seen a reduction of almost a quarter in neighbourhood crime in Camden.’
A spokesman for St Mungo’s homelessness charity, which works in the Endell Street area, said: ‘Our thoughts are with everyone who has been affected by this distressing incident.
‘We are working closely with emergency services to ensure that all of the people we support, in addition to our colleagues, are safe and accounted for.’
