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GRATEFUL: Charlene Munro

THIS CHRISTMAS the only thing on Charlene Munro’s mind is spending time with her family.

A few months ago, Munro and her three-year-old son Cam’ron lost everything when a blaze ripped through their home in Croydon, south London, during the August riots.

Re-housed a short distance away, and sitting beside a Christmas tree in the living room of her new flat, she told The Voice her perception of the festive season has changed since the riots.

Stress

“I used to think of [Christmas] as ‘just another day to spend money’ but now it means so much more. This Christmas will be a nice end to a period of intense trauma and stress,” the 30-year-old said.

The ordeal began just after 7pm on August 8, when Munro’s son came downstairs complaining that he couldn’t sleep because of a noise outside.

She went to investigate and watched more than 100 people, some of whom were carrying bricks, planks of wood and various other weapons, smashing up a parade of nearby shops.

“I saw two young girls running out of the hair shop, carrying their babies in one arm, and hair in the other. A guy ran out behind them wearing a wig, and started dancing around in the middle of the road. It was sickening,” she said.

Watching in horror, she saw looters petrol bomb Rock Bottom, the music shop facing her flat.

“The guys who work in the butchers below ran across with fire extinguishers. When I saw that the smoke was getting thicker, I knew we had to leave.”

Munro fled the flat she had lived in for three years with her son Cam’ron and dog Kia.

They battled their way through the throng of rioters, witnessing incidents of street robbery.

Lawless

“They were just going up to people and shouting ‘gimme your phone’. It was lawless. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” she recalled.

As plumes of black smoke coated the night sky, they sought refuge in a doorway, away from the rioters rampaging through the streets.

“We were there for hours. I had no money on me, nowhere to go, and the phone networks were jammed so I couldn’t get through to anyone. I started crying because I didn’t know what to do.”

Luckily, the owner of a local restaurant rushed to her side and gave her his car to leave the area.

Damage

When Munro returned the next day, she saw the extent of the fire damage. Arsonists had torched the jewellery shop below her home. It spiralled upwards, gutting her flat, burning away a lifetime of cherished possessions.

She managed to save only a few, including a precious picture of Cam’ron.
“My son lost everything that night. What did we do to them? Why smash buildings and steal property that doesn’t belong to you? I know it’s a difficult time but there is no excuse for it at all.”

Croydon Council moved quickly and re-housed the family within a week.
A few days later, inspired by her story in the media, Sue Duncan of Flood Aid UK contacted Munro to offer her support.

The 74-year-old charity worker often drives across the country helping victims of disasters, and on the day Munro received the keys, Duncan drove from Suffolk and delivered new beds, a cooker, washing machine, fridge, blankets and toys for Cam’ron.

“Mrs Duncan is amazing and she has been a blessing to us. We’re still in contact. We’ve got a bond and she’ll always be a part of my life,” Munro said.

She and her son have now been re-housed a short distance away from their former flat – and the determined mum is refusing to let what happened ruin her Christmas.

“We could have died that night so it’s a blessing we are here and celebrating Christmas as a family,” she said. “I’m so grateful to be celebrating Christmas with my family around me. I’ll never truly know how the riots affected Cam’ron, but all I want for Christmas is for my son to be happy.”

A recently released Guardian/London School of Economics report, called Reading the Riots, said a complex mix of factors such as poverty, poor parenting, racial tension and police distrust caused the riots.