Latest news with #Bromley
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Daily Mail
My aunt was raped and murdered - I tracked down her killer and seduced him on Facebook after police failed to find him
A new documentary reveals how a tenacious British woman took justice into her own hands - turning into an online Miss Marple and seducing the man she suspected of raping and murdering a beloved aunt - after police failed to find him. The extraordinary story of how Lehanne Sergison, a retired chartered surveyor who lives in Bromley, wooed her cherished family member's killer via DMs on Facebook - telling him 'you've got sexy eyes' - is the subject of Amazon Prime Video documentary The Facebook Honeytrap: Catching A Killer, released on Sunday. Lehanne, 54, shares the astonishing story of how she turned online sleuth to track down the 26-year-old gardener who'd callously attacked and murdered Christine Robinson, 59, on the 125-acre Rra-Ditau game lodge she lived on in Thamazimbi, South Africa in July 2014. Andrea Imbayarwo, then the estate's gardener, who now called himself Andrew Ndlovu, had bundled Christine's body in a duvet after raping her and slashing her throat with a knife - which was still left in her neck when her body was discovered. A retired teacher from Liverpool, Christine, 59, had run the sprawling South African estate alone after the death of her husband Daniel from cancer in 2012. After the brutal killing, Imbayarwo fled with £3,500 in cash, wages Christine had allocated for her staff at the 30-guest estate. Receiving a phone call on July 30th 2014 with the tragic news of her aunt, who she would speak to every Sunday on the phone, Lehanne tells the documentary she assumed police would catch the killer. However, it quickly became clear that he might evade capture, with police saying they were powerless to act - after CCTV footage showed him heading towards his native Zimbabwe. Andrea Imbayarwo, Christine's gardener, who also called himself Andrew Ndlovu, was prime suspect in the killing - but in spite of Lehanne's pleas, the case was dropped - and it was six years before she herself managed to solve the crime Sleuth: Lehanne made a fake Facebook account she named 'Missy Falcao' (left) to contact Andrew Ndlovu online, who also hid behind a fake account (right) Eaten away by the idea that the case would remain unsolved, Lehanne became fixated with finding Imbayarwo, spending years trying to avenge the murder that had cut short her aunt's life. 'He could feel the sun on his face and the wind in his hair when she couldn't,' Lehanne told Weekend magazine in a recent interview. 'Hearing of Christine's murder was like an electric shock running through my body. We'd always been so close. It was a brutal, traumatic death for a lovely, kind, generous woman.' Despite being 6,000 miles away in London's leafy suburbs, the documentary reveals her dogged determination to catch Christine's killer led her to turn online detective. After delivering a petition to Downing Street in 2014 calling for action, Lehanne realised it was up to her to hunt him down - and she set to work hatching a plan. With her own health issues - she suffers with severe asthma, she decided travelling to her aunt's adopted country wasn't the right tack, and realised 'my only tool was the internet.' Lehanne decided it was futile leaving it to the hard-pressed authorities in South Africa, where around 11 women are killed every day. She told the Telegraph this week: 'I think life is cheap there [South Africa]. It's accepted. Even when they find the men responsible, cases fall apart because systems aren't robust enough.' In the new Amazon documentary, Lehanne reveals how she 'seduced' Christine's killer from her sofa at home in the UK, some 6,000 miles away from the tragedy in South Africa When she finally found her man on Facebook, she says: 'My stomach was in knots'. 'There he was having an active life. He was posting comments on some dating pages, which really concerned me. 'So I thought, "If he wants female companionship, let's see if he bites."' Without a thought for the potential danger, Lehanne, who's married and originally hails from Kent, set up a fake Facebook account, posing as flirtatious air hostess Missy Falcao. 'I sent him a message saying, "You've got sexy eyes." 'Then I panicked. I was going down a route, but I didn't know where. My emotions were a rollercoaster. 'When he replied, I could barely breathe. My stomach was doing somersaults. My husband was shocked that he'd replied, but we agreed the important thing was to keep him hooked in.' In the weeks that followed, a 'romantic' online relationship began to develop, which would ultimately bring her aunt's murderer to justice. 'I realised I had to make up a backstory for Missy Falcao,' says Lehanne. 'I decided she was a young, sassy air stewardess from Ghana. He was flattered; I knew flattery would keep him interested. 'As the messaging continued he wanted to meet on FaceTime, which would have blown my cover. But there was also the fear that as he wasn't getting what he wanted, he'd walk away. 'It hurt every time I contacted him. I wanted to say, "I know who you are and what you've done." But I did what I felt I had to do to get justice.' Having found out the phone number of the killer - who now claimed to be an electrician and living alone in Johannesburg - Lehanne tipped off South African detectives for them to arrange a sting operation. To her exasperation, the phone tracking failed because his phone was switched off. 'I was angry and disappointed. I contacted Andrew but there was no response,' recalls Lehanne. 'A couple of days later I got a message from him explaining that his phone had been stolen. 'It seemed very coincidental this had happened the night of the sting,' she says. 'There was an exchange of messages, then a chilling, "Are you for real, Missy?" It was the first time he'd actually questioned anything. I knew then that I'd lost hold of him.' Lehanne handed over Missy Falcao's Facebook account to the South African police but Imbayarwo either lost patience or became suspicious, and he ceased messaging Missy altogether. The trail went cold for nearly two years - until the sixth anniversary of Christine's death in 2020. 'It was about 4am and I couldn't sleep, so I checked his profile. He'd posted a picture of himself. There was a ferris wheel in the background and I realised he was still in Johannesburg,' she says. Incensed, Lehanne decided to post this message on Facebook: 'Six years ago today this man raped and murdered my aunt Christine Robinson. Andrew Ndlovu is still a free man, enjoying his life after taking hers.' More than 70,000 people shared the post, and it was picked up by Ian Cameron, an anti-crime activist in South Africa who posted it on his social media, sending it viral. Ian was approached by Imbayarwo's boss at the company where he worked installing garage doors, and within hours he was arrested. 'When it came to his arrest, I was on a video call with Ian telling me live what was happening,' says Lehanne. 'I was shaking so much I couldn't believe it. The next thing is I'm seeing him in handcuffs. I just wanted to shout from the rooftops.' Imbayarwo was finally convicted two years later and given two life sentences. 'If this long, traumatic journey's taught me anything, it's to never give up,' says Lehanne.
Yahoo
a day ago
- General
- Yahoo
Inside Bromley's most expensive street which was once part of a 19th century estate
A street in Bromley where houses sell for £6 million has been named as one of the most expensive. Holwood Park Avenue in Orpington was recently named as Bromley's most expensive street, according to data gathered from Property Solvers. Data taken from recorded house sales over the last five years revealed that the price of a house could cost would-be homeowners anything between £4.5 and £6 million. On Holwood Park Avenue, five properties sold for an average of £6,341,000; in Pine Glade, four properties sold for an average of £4,675,000; and one postcode in Forest Ridge saw three properties sell for an average of £4,566,666. The road is located within Keston Park, which was historically part of the Holwood Estate – a large Victorian country house built between 1823 and 1826, and is in the Greek Revival style. The Grade I listed house was built for John Ward and stands on the site of the remains of a former Iron Age fort known as a "Caesar's Camp", which is a Scheduled Ancient Monument. The house is privately owned, and in 2025 the property was put up for sale with a guide price of £22.5 million. Just an eight-minute walk from both Orpington and Hayes stations, the area offers convenient travel links to Central London whilst being within easy reach of Kent. For schools, the area is also within close distance to six Outstanding-rated schools and nurseries, including Darrick Wood Infant & Nursery School and Newstead Wood School. The area is also situated within a ten-minute drive of nearby parks and greenspaces like Keston Common – a 55-hectare public greenspace registered as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) – and High Elms Country Park, 250 acres of country park with an on-site golf course.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
The Bexley and Bromley Parks among UK's best with 2025 Green Flag Awards
Several parks across Bexley and Bromley have been officially recognised as some of the finest in the country, after winning prestigious Green Flag Awards for 2025. The annual awards, regarded as the international quality benchmark for parks and green spaces, celebrate well-managed, welcoming, and environmentally sustainable outdoor areas. Among this year's 2,250 UK winners are standout sites in both boroughs, reflecting the hard work of local authorities, volunteers, and community groups. In Bexley, Lesnes Abbey Wood, managed by Bexley Council, has been awarded the prestigious flag. Lesnes Abbey Wood (Image: Newsquest) Bromley also boasts several winners, all managed by idverde for Bromley Council. These include Biggin Hill Recreation Ground, Cator Park, Chislehurst and Walden Recreation Ground, Darrick and Newstead Wood, Hayes Common, High Elms Country Park, Kelsey Park, Keston Common, Queens Gardens, and South Hill Wood. Other sites in Bromley have received additional awards. West Wickham Common, managed by the City of London, has been given the Green Heritage Site Accreditation. This recognises sites that meet extra criteria and care for, share, and celebrate the heritage of their locations. The Green Flag Community Award, which recognises quality green spaces managed by voluntary and community groups, has been given to Hoblingwell Wood and Recreation Ground, managed by Friends of Hoblingwell, and Winsford Gardens, supervised by Penge Green Gym. In Bexley, the Sidcup Place Community Garden has also received the Green Flag Community Award. The Green Flag Award is managed by Keep Britain Tidy under licence from the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government. This year marks the 29th anniversary of the scheme, which aims to recognise and reward the best green spaces in the country. Four parks, which received their first Green Flag Award in 1997, have managed to maintain it every year since. Keep Britain Tidy's chief executive, Allison Ogden-Newton OBE, said: "We are thrilled to see that an incredible 2,250 sites have met the standards required for a Green Flag Award, reflecting the tireless work of the people tasked with caring for and improving these crucial national assets. "Our quality parks and green spaces make the UK a healthier place in which to live and work, and a stronger place in which to invest." She added that the Green Flag Award sets the standard for caring for these sites amidst growing recognition that our green spaces can be part of the solution to climate change. The charity believes that the standards expected for the Green Flag Award should be a minimum for every park. They aim for a significant increase in the number of sites achieving Green Flag Award status by 2030, so that people, wherever they live, can access and enjoy safe, high-quality green space. Erika Diaz Petersen, Historic England's principal national landscape adviser, added: "We congratulate this year's winners for their achievements in reaching Green Flag Award standards for looking after our vital green infrastructure. "Heritage is at the heart of our green infrastructure networks, from public parks to our canal network, providing crucial benefits for people and nature, and a critical resource for climate resilience." The Green Flag Award scheme sets the benchmark standard for the management of recreational outdoor spaces across the United Kingdom and around the world.
Telegraph
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
A unique chance for Lord Hermer to get on Trump's good side
Sir Keir Starmer is looking forward to welcoming Donald Trump to Scotland next weekend when he visits his golf courses. The only problem for No 10 is that Sir Keir Starmer does not know an iron from a driver. The Prime Minister 'is not a keen golfer', says a senior No 10 source. But I can reveal that one of his team is! Step forward Richard Hermer, the PM's under-fire Attorney General who is, I am told, comfortably the best golfer in the Cabinet. Perhaps Hermer should offer to play a round of golf with the US president? They can discuss the wisdom of Starmer's surrender of the Chagos Islands. Liz tees off Talking of golf, former prime minister Liz Truss has just joined Sundridge Park Golf Club in Bromley, I can confirm. The course has long political links – it was opened by Conservative PM AJ Balfour in 1903. Truss is a beginner golfer. My man on the fairway tells me: 'She's always trying to get out of a bunker.' Fore, Liz! Tory wild horses The Conservative Party is now asking for candidates to represent the party at the next general election. Former MPs and candidates will get bespoke letters inviting them to stand, and reapply for vetting. 'They won't like it,' says one Tory. If they apply, that is. One former Conservative MP who stood down at the election last July told me: 'I feel younger. I have lost weight. I don't have dark dreams. Wild horses would not drag me back.' Idle's obituary Monty Python star Eric Idle tells a podcast: 'I was in Soho a long time ago and someone came out of the Groucho Club and they said 'Eric Idle! I've just been writing your obituary for The Daily Telegraph.' I said 'Really? How nice. Well, I can tell you what my last words are going to be. He said 'What?' I said 'Say no more.'' Nudge nudge, wink wink, Eric! Van's home coming Veteran music journalist David Hepworth has been recalling Van Morrison's homecoming concert in his native Belfast, which was staged in Cyprus Avenue, the name of the star's famous 1968 song. 'They cleared it, put a stage there,' Hepworth told this week's Oldie Literary Lunch. 'Van Morrison takes to the stage, plays a whole set. And what's the one song he doesn't play?' You've guessed it. Gary and Marilyn Actor Sir Gary Oldman says he has to pinch himself when he considers who he has met. 'I found myself at dinner one night in New York next to Arthur Miller. I had enough vodka in me by then and I said 'I just have to ask you a question: did you ever walk down the street and suddenly stop and pinch yourself and go 'f---, I was married to Marilyn Monroe!'' He looked at me and he went 'Yeah!'' Well he would, wouldn't he? Kensington's farmer Jamie Borwick – Lord Borwick of Hawkshead – says he has the second biggest agricultural holding in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. 'I have got 10 hens,' he tells me, adding that he gives out the eggs to fellow peers in the House of Lords. So who has the biggest agricultural holding, I ask him. 'That will be the cannabis farms,' he tells me. Should they be subject to Labour's family farm tax? Poirot's eight jags Poirot actor Sir David Suchet, 79, tells September's issue of Jaguar World magazine that he has owned eight Jags over the past 40 years. 'British cars – and particularly Jaguars – have a place in my heart,' he says. 'I enjoy the recognition from other people who enjoy the same sort of cars as me. I will always wave at other examples – always flash my lights to say hello. Even on the motorway, people will give you a thumbs-up out of the window.' He currently drives an ice blue Jaguar XJS Celebration. 'There will come a time when I let my XJS go, but I will be very sad to do so.' Hunt's clanger Former Conservative Cabinet minister Jeremy Hunt has been reflecting on when he rang a handbell to mark the beginning of the 2012 Olympics in London. 'There was a group of Brownies on the deck of HMS Belfast, and I was asked to ring this bell,' he told me on GB News' Chopper's Political Podcast this week. But he was a little too vigorous. 'The end of the bell went flying into this group of small girls. If one of them had had to go to A&E on the day of the Olympic opening ceremony because the guy in charge of the Olympics wounded her or worse... It would have been...'. Well, quite, Jeremy.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Yahoo
The award-winning Bromley parks for you to explore this summer
With summer here and the longer days inviting us outside, Bromley offers some of the capital's most beautiful green spaces. These Green Flag Award-winning parks are nationally recognised for their quality, upkeep, and welcoming atmosphere. Whether you want a quiet stroll, a family picnic, or somewhere to enjoy nature, Bromley's parks have it all. Here's a guide to the borough's Green Flag parks to visit this summer. Queens Gardens Queens Gardens is a charming green space in the town centre, loved by locals and visitors. The park features beautifully maintained flower beds, shaded seating areas, and a large playground for children. Its peaceful atmosphere makes it an ideal spot for a lunch break or afternoon rest during a busy day of shopping. Queens Gardens' Green Flag status highlights its excellent management and community appeal. Biggin Hill Recreation Ground Biggin Hill Recreation Ground offers a vast open space perfect for sports, family outings, and summer games. It includes well-kept sports pitches, children's play areas, and picnic spots surrounded by mature trees. The park is a hub for local sports clubs and community events throughout the warmer months. Its Green Flag Award reflects the ongoing investment in facilities and grounds maintenance. Darrick and Newstead Woods For those seeking a more natural escape, Darrick and Newstead Woods provide tranquil woodland trails and rich wildlife habitats. These ancient woodlands are a haven for walkers, runners, and nature enthusiasts. The paths wind through dense trees and alongside streams, offering a refreshing retreat from the bustling London life. Darrick and Newstead Woods were recognised for the care taken to preserve this special environment and support biodiversity. Chislehurst and St Paul's Cray Commons This large green space combines open grassland, ponds, and wooded areas, ideal for long summer walks or birdwatching. The Commons have a long history and are cherished for their varied landscapes and peaceful corners. Visitors can enjoy informal sports, fishing, or simply relaxing in nature. Their Green Flag Award confirms their status as a treasured community asset. Chislehurst Recreation Ground Chislehurst Recreation Ground is a popular local park featuring sports facilities, playgrounds, and well-maintained gardens. It's often buzzing with activity, from children playing to organised sports matches. The space also includes peaceful lawns and benches for those who want to unwind. Chislehurst Recreation Ground was recognised for its high standards of maintenance and strong community use. Hayes Common Hayes Common is an expansive area of grassland and scattered woodland, popular with dog walkers and picnickers. The common is prized for its open skies and natural beauty, offering a sense of space rarely found so close to London's suburbs. It's an ideal spot to soak up the summer sun or take a leisurely walk. The Green Flag status recognises the ongoing efforts to protect this open space for future generations. Keston Common Keston Common is a peaceful nature reserve with heathland, woodland, and ponds. It's a hotspot for local wildlife, including rare birds and insects, making it perfect for nature lovers and families alike. Paths are easy to follow and offer a quiet, scenic setting for walking or cycling. South Hill Woods South Hill Woods is a wooded park with winding trails and diverse tree species. It's a great place for a shady walk or spotting local wildlife. The woods connect to nearby green spaces, offering options for longer hikes or quiet reflection. The Green Flag recognition celebrates the careful stewardship of this natural resource. Winsford Gardens Winsford Gardens is a small but well-loved local park featuring flowerbeds, lawns, and a playground. It's a community hub, often hosting events and family-friendly activities in the summer. The park's tidy appearance and friendly vibe make it a favourite for nearby residents. Its Green Flag Award highlights its value as a well-cared-for urban green space. If you're staying local this summer, these parks offer everything from sweeping countryside to restored urban greenery, all of which are recognised as the best-kept in the country.
