This is a warning to commuters who use Sydenham Station late in the evening.
At around 21.40pm today (wednesday 10th October) my partner was waiting for me outside the station in his van. I was on the 21.24 train coming from London Bridge.
I was in the far end carriage and one of the last people to get off the train. He told me that seconds before I came out of the station he was harrased by three men.
After several people came out of the exit, he noticed the three men standing near the exit. Suddenly one of the men, walked towards his van and started hurling abuse at him. My partner was shocked as he had never seen these men before. The man then started kicking his van and punching the passanger side window very hardly. The other two men also started walking towards the van making agressive gestures and hurling abuse. My partner heard one of the men saying 'are you sure it's him' leading him to think it was a case of mistaken identity.
To protect his van and himself he started driving and trying to turn the van around. The guys appeared to walk off but one suddenly turned around and started coming towards my partner again. One of the other guys then pulled him back and they all walked off - looking back a few times.
When I came out of the station, my partner told me to quickly get in and we sped off home. I pursuaded my partner to call the police and report the incident. We were told officers would be sent to the area to look out for these men.
All three men were in there mid twenties/early thirties. All around 5'9 - 6 feet in height. One man was black (dark clothing), one was white (White t shirt, blue jeans) and one was of north african appearance poss morrocan, algerian/mixed race (also dark clothing)
The police said it may be mistaken identity or possibly a tactic used to rob him and maybe they changed their minds and fled?
Please forgive me for the long message - I just wanted to notify/warn other commuters/forum members.
Did anyone get off the same train/see these three men? Has anyone else experienced anything similar in Station Approach?
It was a very frightning experience and I hope the police really do look out for these thugs.
Please be alert if you do travel home late and keep cars locked if you wait outside the station and report all incidents to the police. We need to work together to tackle crime in our area.