A Beckenham shopkeeping couple who were targeted by anonymous racist leaflets pushed through doors across their neighbourhood have been overwhelmed by support from customers, who have filled their store with flowers and messages of goodwill.
Pritesh and Himaliben Patel, who manage the Londis store on Upper Elmers End Road, found themselves at the centre of the leafleting campaign last weekend, when the anonymous sheets carrying a series of unfounded allegations about them were delivered to houses in the surrounding streets.
Rather than turning the community against the family, the leaflets had the opposite effect. Customers have been visiting the shop in large numbers to show their support, and residents have voiced anger about the campaign in local Facebook groups.
Mr Patel described the man who distributed the leaflets as “very cowardly” and said he was confident the police were doing their job. “I’m feeling pretty secure now, and I think even if this kind of thing happens in the future, I know the community stood by me and so I’m not really worried about it anymore,” he said.
But he admitted the episode had left its mark. “You always have some sort of fear in the back of your head thinking, hang on, what’s gonna happen round the corner if someone’s holding the wrong end of the stick and they come with bad intentions,” he said.
Beckenham and Penge MP Liam Conlon met the Patels on Sunday evening to hear their concerns and has reported the leaflets to the Metropolitan Police, asking officers to investigate the incident as a hate crime.
“They are a kind, hardworking family who have run this shop for nearly 20 years, serving the local community they are rightly proud to be part of,” Mr Conlon said. “That’s why it was so sad that yesterday, someone distributed hundreds of horrific, racist leaflets about them to houses in the local area. Lots of people have been in touch with me about it and I know it’s caused a lot of upset and anger on Facebook groups amongst residents who know just how fantastic this family are.”
He added: “I have reported it to the police and I’m asking them to treat it as a hate crime. Thank you to residents who captured Ring Doorbell footage of the man who delivered them, which is also now with police. I’m following up with police tomorrow and expect them to investigate this with the seriousness it deserves.”
The doorbell footage, handed to officers by residents, is expected to form a key part of the effort to identify the man responsible.
What makes an offence a hate crime?
In England and Wales, police record an incident as a hate crime when the victim, or any other person, believes it was motivated by hostility towards someone’s race, religion, disability, sexual orientation or transgender identity. Where an offence such as criminal damage, harassment or a public order offence is racially or religiously aggravated, the courts can impose tougher sentences under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and sentencing guidelines.
Anyone can report a hate incident to the Met by calling 101, visiting a police station, or filing a report online, and reports can also be made anonymously through Crimestoppers. In an emergency, people should always call 999. It is not the first time London neighbourhoods have had to confront this kind of offending: earlier this year a man was charged over offensive graffiti targeting Muslim venues across east London.
The corner shop at the heart of the community
For the streets around Upper Elmers End Road, the Patels’ Londis is far more than a shop. Independent convenience stores like theirs often double as informal community hubs — places where staff know regulars by name, keep an eye on elderly neighbours and anchor a parade of shops through the hardest trading conditions. Having run the store for nearly two decades, the family are part of the fabric of the area, which goes some way to explaining the strength of the response when the leaflets appeared.
It is a pattern Beckenham has seen before in a different form: when the town’s historic Odeon cinema came under threat, campaigners launched a fundraiser to save it, drawing support from thousands of local people. This time, that same community instinct has been directed at protecting two of its own.
For the Patels, the message from their neighbours has been clear. The shop remains open, the flowers keep arriving, and the family say the support they have received has left them feeling more secure, not less.
