Memorial destroyed for Sydenham man killed whilst crossing the road

BY TOBY PORTER
toby@slpmedia.co.uk

A distraught family will stage a tribute to a man killed as he crossed the road, after the memorial installed at the spot a year after he died was destroyed.

Paul Fairey, 44, from Sydenham, was returning home from a friend’s house when he was hit by a car in Mayow Road, Sydenham last September.

Paul’s family installed the memorial plaque, wreaths and flowers on the anniversary – Sunday, September 23, at the spot where he died. But within days, the flowers had been ripped from the railings and the plaque pulled off.

The community living in the area have reacted with fury to the theft and the family are to stage a memorial for him on October 21, two days after what would have been his 46th birthday.

His mother, Iris Taylor said: “We were so upset and distressed about what has happened.

It is wrong. It has sent us back into our grief again. It is so wrong and very mean-spirited.

“We feel so grateful because people have put replacement flowers there. “There has been a big response on Facebook, too. But we were all still very raw about it.

“We spoke to workmen who were doing repairs nearby and they said the flowers were still there on Monday.

My son David went down on the Tuesday, so two days later, they were gone.” Paul, of Tyrols Road, Forest Hill, went to Perry Vale Primary School and Dacre Boys School in Mayow Road – yards from where he died walking across the same road.

His sister Kim said of the former taxi driver and decorator: “He was a happy-go-lucky fella who would do anything for anyone – a very kind-hearted person.

“He was well liked by many people in the community – people who did not even know him have been putting replacement flowers there.

“They were as outraged as we were. We feel the community has been very supportive.”

Mrs Taylor checked with Lewisham council several months before to make sure the memorial would not cause an obstruction – and also that it had not been taken down by its staff.

Town hall officials confirmed it had given permission for the items to be placed there. The driver of the car which killed Paul – Richard Adofo, 22, of Jubilee Court, Thames Street, Greenwich – was found not to have any insurance – though he tried to present documents which showed he was, and was therefore charged with fraud.

“He was found guilty at Woolwich Crown Court on September 18 and. He was fined £750 and costs of £650 and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £85.

He was also ordered to do 150 hours’ community service.

Adofo was jailed in October 2017 at Plymouth Crown Court for taking 72 wraps of cocaine, worth up to £1,000, to Plymouth with Simon Bugenbe, of Brixton Road, Lambeth.

They claimed to have been roped into bringing a parcel to Plymouth by a dealer – with the prospect of going to a party but their story was rejected by the judge.