By Cara Waters
Lygon Street business owners are battling increased crime ranging from thefts to stabbings in the hospitality precinct and are growing increasingly frustrated by what they say is inaction from authorities.
Luca Sbardella, one of the owners of King and Godfree delicatessen, said his Carlton business had been subjected to six separate break-ins over the past 12 months, two of which he described as “professional jobs” where security systems were cut.
Luca Sbardella (front), the co-owner of King and Godfree, with staff members on Lygon Street.Credit: Scott McNaughton
“We have had several threats made to our staff and customers by drug-affected people wielding knives, and shockingly, a [stabbing] of a 17-year-old boy in our store by an armed gang,” he said. “It is actually scary, some of these are really violent crimes.”
Sbardella is part of the Valmorbida family, which has owned King and Godfree for decades, and he said crime had escalated after the pandemic and long-serving staff members no longer felt safe.
“We have had everything stolen from office safes, to iPads, to outdoor furniture, supplies, historical King and Godfree artefacts, even our garden beds are no longer safe as people are coming by and stealing our potted plants,” he said.
“It’s exhausting, and I’m spending most of my days now talking to the police, my insurance brokers and suppliers, to have things replaced or repaired.”
In May last year a teenage boy was hospitalised after he was stabbed in the neck outside the Valmorbida family’s gelato store Pidapipo, also part of the King and Godfree building. In November, two men suffered serious injuries when attacked in Little Cardigan Street, off Lygon Street. The men were later put in induced comas in hospital.
Data from the Crime Statistics Agency show crime in the Lygon Street precinct has increased over the past five years, following a temporary dip during the pandemic.
Crimes against people, including sexual offences and stalking, increased from 124 in 2017-18 to 140 in 2021-22, and the number of assaults increased from 64 to 92 over the same period.
Property offences including theft and arson increased from 676 to 823, and public-order offences – which includes possessing weapons and explosives – were up from 49 in 2017 to 80 last year.
The number of drug offences was the only category to drop, from 47 in 2017 to 43 last year.
Marco Donnini, owner of Lygon Street restaurant Donnini’s, said the increase in crime had affected the popular street.
“It is more of a fear of something being violent,” he said. “There is an anxiety in the street that something might happen at any stage, that anxiety is a bit palpable.”
Donnini believed problems in the street had increased after the Carlton police station closed in 2010, leaving the nearest station in North Melbourne.
Luca Sbardella and other traders have called for more CCTV cameras in Lygon Street.Credit: Scott McNaughton
“There is a perception of organised crime in the street, I daresay people would feel safer if crime was organised,” he said. “I’ve never seen it as bad.”
Sbardella and other traders have called for more police and CCTV cameras in the area to try to combat crime.
Phillip Mansour, executive officer of the local traders association, Carlton Inc, said he regularly heard from traders who were concerned about crime in the area.
“We have been requesting CCTV for a couple of years and the City of Melbourne’s last budget did not include the capacity to fulfil that need,” he said.
“We have been working with Victoria Police, who have been quite responsive, but they are limited with staff as to how many people they can get on the beat.”
But Lyn Cracknell of the Carlton Residents Association said residents only wanted a police and council response where safety and security was at risk for residents, businesses and visitors.
“The association would prefer to have the causes rather than the symptoms be addressed by our council on our behalf,” she said.
Senior Sergeant Carl Whibley said police regularly ran dedicated operations across Carlton, and there was a presence in the Lygon Street area every Friday and Saturday evening.
“Police have also conducted recent operations in the area focused on other key areas of concern for the local community and business owners, such as graffiti and criminal damage,” he said.
“Carlton is overwhelmingly a safe area – we do not have a lot of issues here, but we know the broader impacts just one incident can have on how safe the community feels. As a result, it’s important that people feel safe when they want to visit and enjoy the nightlife here.”
Lord Mayor Sally Capp said the council’s Safe City Camera program was the “guardian angel” of the city’s streets, as there were 220 CCTV cameras across Melbourne, although none were in Carlton.
“We’re doing everything we can to keep our city safe for residents, workers and visitors – whether it’s shining a brighter light on city streets, or installing new bollards or upgrading our CCTV network,” she said.
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