Walking into Marcus Lipton Youth Club on a Wednesday afternoon, it was quiet apart from a few workmen attending to tasks. One was mopping the newly-installed, pristine off-white floor, which weeks before had been awash with blood. The other, sanding down the walls.
In February this building became a murder scene when Glendon Spence was stabbed in front of horrified young people and staff members.
The 23-year-old was laid to rest last Thursday leaving behind distraught loved ones struggling to understand how it happened. A number of people stood by Spence’s coffin, at the front of the church, to attest to how “quiet”, “friendly” and “fun-loving” he was; one of the good guys, no trouble maker.
Spence’s heartbroken father sang a gospel song before giving his son’s coffin a final kiss goodbye.
This was followed by a vocalist’s version of the hymn ‘Amazing Grace’ which received a standing ovation in the church. As the congregation applauded, another man quietly made his way towards the pulpit to offer tribute. He introduced himself as Ira Campbell - the manager of Marcus Lipton, the youth club where Spence died.
HuffPost UK had first spoken to Campbell the day after the tragedy in his building. He explained that, out of respect for Spence’s family and his memory, he would rather wait until the funeral to speak about what happened.
As we sat in Campbell’s office on that sunny Wednesday afternoon, the phone rang with people committed to getting the club back up and running. Though no longer a crime scene, Marcus Lipton Youth Club has not been officially open since the murder, as the community and staff members recover from what happened.
Reflecting on the afternoon of the attack, Campbell described it as “the quiet before the storm”. The centre had opened at 4pm and there were a lot of young people on the premises doing activities - football, a women’s group and a recruitment event run by a technology and performing arts college.
“It was a normal day with a great atmosphere,” he said.
“The stabbing happened so quickly. I was in the office and heard a big bang before a group of young people ran into the office and barricaded the door. They were panicking and scared for their safety.”
Campbell and staff fought through the terrified group to open the door, despite cries of “they’ve got a knife”. Nothing could prepare them for what they saw – Glendon Spence lying mortally wounded in a corner. All of this happened within seconds and the assailants had long fled the building.
As they waited for paramedics to arrive, staff battled in vain to save Spence’s life.
Key-worker Derrick Anderson was among them. The 51-year-old said he had been “reasoning” at length with Spence just the day before - the last subject they’d discussed was Brexit.
“I work with young people and everyone is different. Some of them have so much respect - you can sit down and talk to them; have a proper conversation. Glendon was one of them,” he told us.
“I’d never in a million years think that anything like this would happen in this building. We’ve had incidents happen before outside but not in here.”
“I told the police, the last time I spoke to them, that someone’s going to die.”
- Derrick Anderson
As chaos was unleashed in the wake of the stabbing, Campbell commends the local authority for swift reaction; within minutes Helen Hayes MP and Mahamed Hashi, Councillor for Stockwell ward, were at the top of the road. Children couldn’t leave the crime scene - so the pair bought chicken and chips to offer sustenance.
“We [the staff] were too stunned to eat,” Campbell explained.
Eight months before, in July 2018, an 18-year-old was stabbed near the centre and died in hospital the following day, after being dumped in the street by a moped rider.
Shortly after that, a meeting took place between the police and youth centre staff members in which Anderson issued a grim warning: allocate more bobbies on the beat or another young person will die.
“I told the police that something is going to happen because they’re not doing their job. Even before that, we’ve been on them. For me that’s why I am angry: this might not have happened if the police had stuck to what they were saying.
“I told the police, the last time I spoke to them, that someone’s going to die.”
Campbell echoes his colleague’s concern, saying a significant decline in local police presence and citing this as part of the problem.
He said: “Years ago, we used to have Safer Neighbourhood Team officers around here and they knew a lot of the young people; they knew us, they’d report and sometimes they might get the piss taken out of them - but there was a presence. They were trusted - some weren’t - but most were and people would give them intel.
“It doesn’t mean that they were doing everything right but there was a deterrent. It made young people look up and do a bit of thinking before they decided to do anything. Over the years that’s gone.
“There are two ward officers for the whole of the Loughborough Junction area now. That’s ridiculous.”
“Part of me doesn’t want the police presence if they’re going to harass and attack young people, which is usually how the special units, the ones they send to do their big operations in their bully vans, behave”
- Ira Campbell
That said, the youth club manager recognises that there is a problematic relationship between young people, particularly black, and law enforcement.
“Part of me doesn’t want the police presence if they’re going to harass and attack young people, which is usually how the special units, the ones they send to do their big operations in their bully vans, behave,” he said.
On the other hand, Campbell acknowledges that austerity and demand means that police resources are running low.
“The police force is stretched just like anybody else; it’s not just about austerity. They’ve got so much more things to now contend with such as cyber crime, terrorism, so areas like these get neglected.”
“It’s not just about the police,” he added, nodding to the other factors at play, like deprivation and systemic disadvantage.
The poverty rate in Lambeth is almost 30% is above the London average of 27%; the Coldharbour ward, where Marcus Lipton youth club is situated, is in the 10% most deprived in England.
Coldharbour has a high rate of working-age benefit claimants, a high rate of out-of-work claimants, and a high rate of claimants aged under 25.
It has the highest proportion of dependent children in out-of-work households in the borough and the highest proportion of households with no adults in employment and dependent children.
There is also a high proportion of lone parents not in employment, and of residents with no qualifications.
The borough is one of the most densely populated places in the country, with an average of 12,020 residents per square kilometre, more than twice the average population density of the capital.
“If housing ain’t great, no one cares about the environment that you live in and no one cares about the fact that you’ve got unemployment which is higher round here than any other part of Lambeth...what do you expect to happen?,” Campbell asked.
“Young black people feel marginalised - with no sense of belonging. Britishness and patriotism - these are coming to the fore in a negative way. I’m born here - but I never feel like I belong here.”
- Ira Campbell
“People are struggling [and...] yet, right next door, people are building penthouses. The middle class are coming in and gentrifying the area. And [if you’re working class] you get marginalised and you feel marginalised in your everyday life.”
This can have dire consequences, he warned.
“These things add up. And it’s hard not to say you understand why people are desperate.
“I don’t condone any kind of violence and especially the killing in here. That was a big, big liberty. We’ve worked in this field for years [...] and no one’s ever come into a youth club and blatantly stabbed someone.
“That was unprecedented for me, anyway, and it has left a bad taste in everybody’s mouth.”
“I’m not going to sit here and paint this place as a nice, lovely area to live in. Loughborough Junction has been one of the hardest nuts to crack in the whole of Lambeth for years – it’s not just now. And what else hasn’t changed is, no matter who’s in government, whether it’s Labour, Conservative, Lib Dems, they have never looked at this problem properly and especially over the last ten years. ”
Both youth workers view the attention that serious violent crime and youth services is receiving as a welcome change.
“Violence has become a norm and part of that is about how nationalism has taken its toll - politicians, presidents and everyone else talks a rhetoric a certain way and it makes life harder,” Campbell said. “Young black people feel marginalised - with no sense of belonging. Britishness and patriotism - these are coming to the fore in a negative way. I’m born here - but I never feel like I belong here.”
Since Spence’s death, there has much speculation about the club’s future, but the local community have made it very clear to Lambeth council that it must stay open.
“If they closed us down today, there’d be no other youth club in Brixton and what would happen then? There might be some adventure playgrounds for 7-12 year olds but after that, what have you got for young people in the area? Nothing. The council listened to what people say but, also, I think it would be political suicide if they just shut it down just like that,” he said.
“Everyone seems to think violence is just about young people. If you come from an area where there’s historically always violence in the area, whether you’re young or old, it’s really hard to come away from that.”
Marcus Lipton was full of people when the attack on Spence took place and the impact has been severe. Both the young people and key-workers who were there are receiving counselling.
“One child watched his friend die in Tulse Hill a month earlier – he’s 15 years-old and was having flashbacks of Glendon’s death. The teenager said he doesn’t believe he’s going to survive until the age of 16; many of our young people say that.
“Some didn’t witness the stabbing but are experiencing second hand trauma and are still worried. They will talk about their concerns of walking the streets for fear of being attacked.
″Staff have been more resilient more than they even understand that they are. We [staff members who were there] all have issues about it but we’re still here; we are still committed to working with young people.”
This is a common experience - lots of young people have people exposed to trauma and witnessed violence.
“Fear will make you walk with a knife when you don’t want to; make you do stuff that you’re not meant to be doing or walk with people you wouldn’t usually just to feel protected,” Campbell explained.
“That’s where some of them end up having an association with gangs - though they’re not in it themselves. If they claim to ‘rep’ [represent] a certain area, men will turn out for you.”
“I don’t believe moving forward is going to be an easy journey. Fear is a big thing and when you live in an area where crime and violence is high, convincing people is going to take more than just a couple of words.”
- Ira Campbell
Similarly, Anderson said that the young people he works with are still in shock about the murder particularly because “Glendon was not that kind of guy”.
“A lot of the young people are saying the good die young,” he added.
Campbell understands the concern that some parents might have about their children returning to Marcus Lipton when it re-opens next month.
“I have kids myself and would feel the same – especially under the climate that it is. However, Glendon’s stabbing has forced everybody to look at how delivery of youth services can be moved forward.
“There’s a responsibility for us, the council, the police the community and other third sector organisations that work within this field. How do we galvanise ourselves and make things better? How do we open up the doors to more parents and community members to come in and work with us? And use the facilitates in a different way rather than people thinking it is exclusively for young people?
“We want to build upon the trust of community and make them part of the make-up of Marcus Lipton rather than a scenario where they’re just sending their children here.”
Reflecting on the last ten weeks, Campbell said: “This incident has allowed doors to be opened, where we have more people wanting to get involved and have a say in how our services are being delivered.
“I don’t believe moving forward is going to be an easy journey. Fear is a big thing and when you live in an area where crime and violence is high, convincing people is going to take more than just a couple of words.
“It’s going to take hard work, dedication, tangible stuff that people can see. The community’s support for us to stay open has been a source of comfort but the question is how to do we galvanise the rest of us to do it together, in the true fashion that it should be done, as a community.
“That’s a big challenge. I don’t have the one answer, because I don’t believe there’s just one; some of it will be trial and error; some of it going to be commitment from us and how we work - as well as the community’s confidence in us as people.”