"Under siege" farmer's wall of hay burnt down by New Addington yobs
EXCLUSIVE
by Gareth Davies
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IN ASHES: The smouldering remains of the hay fortification Photo no CCRPM310309C by Paul Martyniuk
gareth.davies@essnmedia.co.uk
A huge wall of hay built to protect an "under siege" farmer from New Addington yobs has been burnt down – the day after it was built.
On Monday, Peter Johnson erected the fortification, which was 500 metres long and two metres tall, to protect Layhams Farm, just over the Croydon boundary in Bromley, from hordes of bikers.
But by Tuesday, his plan lay in ashes as bales of hay were set on fire overnight and left in a smouldering pile, strewn across the field.
It took Bromley firefighters the best part of a day to stop the bales smoking.
The fire also sent ash and smoke into homes bordering the barricade in Warbank Crescent and Aragon Close.
Mr Johnson, 68, claims the arson attack was the revenge of New Addington's motorcycle gangs who he keeps turning off his land.
He told the Advertiser "I am under siege."
The farmer, who owns 400 acres of land bordering the estate, says the incident is the latest in a series of attacks going back five years that have made his life a misery.
In the past few months, he has been sworn at and threatened with a knife when he confronted teenagers on dirt bikes who were using his land without permission.
He said: "What they have threatened me with, you could not print."
When he approached one biker, the yob turned on him and spat: "We know where you live and we will burn your house down."
Mr Johnson says cars have been set on fire in his driveway and yobs have hurled screaming abuse at him in the middle of the night.
He had hoped his wall, which was made out of hay he stacked together from his land in preparation for farming, would hold the bikers at bay.
"I thought that hopefully the rain would make it too damp to set fire to, but obviously I was wrong," he said.
Seeing his plan go up in smoke, Mr Johnson, who has farmed in the area for 30 years, said he feels like giving up entirely.
"I feel like throwing in the towel," he said.
"But I am not going to be forced out by a lot of yobs."
The incident comes two weeks after New Addington Police Safer Neighbourhoods Team held a meeting with residents to work out how to tackle the problem of antisocial use of motorbikes and mini-motos.
Sgt Tim Bull, head of the team, said he would be contacting Mr Johnson over the coming week to reassure the fed-up farmer.
In January, Mr Johnson risked the ire of motor vehicle enthusiasts by giving the banger racers using the track on Layhams Farm one year's notice that he intended to use the land to start farming sheep.
31 Comments
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by minniemouse, New Addington
Tuesday, April 14 2009, 3:59PM
“its like someone has moved in near me. who has been breaking into peoples homes(thankfully now in prison..but if someone tried to break into my home..i wont call the police, i will use whats called reasonable force(what limit does this have i dont know) so they will need A/E if they come into my home.”
by Deana, New Addington
Tuesday, April 14 2009, 1:20PM
“This would be the same Sgt Janet Bridger who famously told a complainant who reported bad behaviour/crime in New Addington..."well if you choose to live here what do you expect!". What I expect Madam, is for you to show a little bit more enthuisiasm for how you do the job you are well paid for, and for common good manners. Interestingly, it is well known across the Met that Croydon SNTs are the laziest in the Met and are not thought very highly of by other Boroughs.”
by minniemouse, New Addington
Monday, April 13 2009, 11:44AM
“most people use facebook for campaigns and petitions etc:
misterkipling.
you will not find any police officers, that will sit in there cars watching to see if hay gets burnt or not. not realistic at all...
maybe you can send you suggestion of that idea to the met....they will tell you that they don't have the resources, and it would be classed as non-emergency..”
by anon, addo
Sunday, April 12 2009, 9:39PM
“since sargent bridger went you can never get hold off the s,n,t, they never answer their phones and when the motor bikes are driving in and out off a childrens play area and flelds with kids playing and dog walkers one time 10 bikes you ring the police who say they will come out but hardly do then you get a text mess giving a num for non emergancy policing i think its quite serious soon someone will get hurt wheres the police bikes what were got just sitting there waiting for someone to train to ride them. instead of having police on lodge lane checking cars why not use that money to train the police to ride the bikes and catch the yobs. if this happened on dulwich common it would be sorted within a week.
HOW MUCH LONGER DO WE HAVE TO PUT UP WITH THIS”
by Misterkipling, Croydon
Saturday, April 11 2009, 2:32PM
“minniemoosey, Sorry, did you say a Facebook Campaign to combat this? Seriously?
I guess if you want to get something changed then ask the 500 friends you have but have never met.
Wouldn't it be better to put another load of Hay there and the police can sit waiting for it to be torched again within hours and arrest them.”
by farmer giles, addo farm
Friday, April 10 2009, 7:17PM
“Hay wot b goin on ere then?”
by minniemoosey, Newaddington
Friday, April 10 2009, 1:06PM
“I agree Paula, this is why addington gets it bad reputation, as what to do about it..is going to be tricky. those responsible will not have a conscience, otherwise they wouldn't of done it in the first place...
facebook is a good place to start a campaign, but will it stop them yobs..that is a police matter there.”
by Paula, New Addington
Thursday, April 09 2009, 4:47PM
“I agree we should support the farmer; a few of us were strolling along the pathway of his land the other evening and noticed the damage from the fires etc the day before. This is putting a lot of strain on him. Come on who ever is responsible for this have a conscience for heaven's sake he is an elderly gentleman now having to constantly drive around the grounds in the evenings to protect his own land! His is a polite man only wanting to do good for the community with him allowing people to take advantage of walking on his land to view the beautiful country side we have here in New Addington when you feel the need to get some fresh air etc. This threatening behaviour is disgusting; would we treat our own parents like this? The man is a friendly approachable chap who obviously considered the community when he made his plans to do what he is doing. He does not want anger or upset to the community, he said if only the message could be passed on, and after speaking to him in person I hope it does. Personally I don't understand why anyone could do this to anyone it is obviously making this person's life hell. I can only say that who ever is contributing to this behaviour is only bringing all us residents down to a very low level which is why New Addington can't shift it's Bad Reputation. I for one say New Addington is a great place but people we need to prove it!”
by thisisengland, net
Wednesday, April 08 2009, 2:31PM
“Carrie Marie, I did not realise that "ADDO" has its own laws separate from the rest of the country, my mistake.
Indeed he shouldn't have had to build a wall of hay. The police have not stopped them, the new addington community has not stopped them, the poor bloke just wanted to keep them out of his property.
New addington needs to pull its finger out and support the farmer. Otherwise, what right do they have to say that New Addington does not deserve its reputation when they all sit around and let a farmer be terrorized by part of their own community?”
by The3rd, Croydon
Wednesday, April 08 2009, 11:18AM
“thisisengland - You are correct, he should be able to build a wall without yobs burning it down. But the point is, he SHOULDNT HAVE to build a wall. He built the wall for protection from the feral youth residents of Addo. A wall of hay isnt going to protect this farmer from the addo knuckle draggers as this article confirms.”