Horsham woman ‘heart-broken’ after rioters torch former home

Liz de Cruz, aged 59, of Redford Avenue, was married to Trevor Reeves, and spent ‘a couple of years’ living above the Reeves furniture shop in Croydon, a family-run business set up in 1867, which was reduced to rubble in Monday night’s riots.

She said yesterday: “My daughter phoned me on Monday night absolutely devastated, about 8.30pm. I could hardly hear what she was saying. I immediately turned on the TV and saw the shop on fire.

“I was heartbroken, and extremely concerned for Trevor because I didn’t even know where he was.

“My daughter managed to tell me he was down by the parish church watching the shop burn.

“I went up yesterday [Tuesday] and spent the day with them, which was total madness.

“I went up with the intention of helping them talk to customers and tell them what had happened from their admin office down the road - which did not catch fire - but we were just totally in the middle of a media storm and it was absolute madness. We just had queues of people waiting to interview us.

“Everyone was there, national newspapers, Sky, and London mayor Boris Johnson came down and shook my hand and apologised.

“It was so exhausting, and Trevor was so busy that all I managed was a huge hug.

“This morning [Wednesday] watching the footage of Trevor being interviewed by the BBC crew and seeing the rubble of his shop being cleared was just another heart-break.

“He is managing to show incredible resilience and he stood there and watched his life burn to the ground.

“It’s not just a shop, and it’s not even just a family house, it is a part of Croydon’s heart. It’s a big part of old Croydon.

“We’re still good friends, we consider Trevor and his wife best friends of ours, we’re determined that the family will survive this, we all very much want the business to keep going.”

The Metropolitan Police have arrested 768 people and charged 105 in connection with the violence in London, including a 21-year-old man who was arrested on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life following the fire which took hold of the Reeves Furniture store in Croydon on Monday night.

Meanwhile, Sussex Police officers were among the reinforcements called to scenes of destruction and violence in the London riots this week.

Around 50 officers specially trained in public order policing, including three from Horsham, were drafted in to assist the Metropolitan Police on the third night of unrest on Monday.

The South East Air Support Unit’s two helicopters - based in Sussex and Hampshire - also assisted the Metropolitan Police.

Sussex forces were amongst the extra 1,700 officers deployed in London on Monday night as shops were looted and buildings set alight across Croydon, Lewisham, Clapham Junction, Peckham, Woolwich, East Ham, Hackney, Ealing and Camden.

A police presence of 16,000 officers in the capital on Tuesday night was reported to have calmed the situation there, while trouble erupted in other towns and cities across the country.