Families living on the London estate where an award-winning film director was ‘murdered for her Rolex’ claim they are too scared to go out after it became a hub for drug dealers.
Jennifer Abbott, 69, was stabbed to death in her council flat in Camden on Friday just days after she was last seen by neighbours walking her pet corgi Prince.
She was discovered wrapped in a blanket with tape over her mouth by her niece and neighbours, who broke into her home amid growing concerns for her welfare, pals said.
On Thursday afternoon, the Metropolitan Police arrested a woman, 66, over Ms Abbott’s murder. It is thought that her diamond-encrusted Rolex may be missing from her address.
The director, who counted Paris Hilton, Kate Hudson and Dan Ackroyd among her A-lister friends, moved to the capital after ‘losing everything’ from her life as a ‘movie star’.
And residents of the Mornington Place estate where she lived have now told MailOnline that the neighbourhood is dominated by crime, leaving people ‘frightened’.
Jean Moorcroft Wilson, 83, moved there with her publisher husband in 1979 when there was a friendly community in the area.
She explained that cutting it off from the main road had encouraged drug dealing.
Jennifer Abbott, 69, was found stabbed to death by officers who were called to her Camden home in London at 6pm on Friday
Police have suggested that a Rolex may be missing from Ms Abbott’s address
Ms Wilson said: ‘When I was asked what I thought about turning Mornington Place into a quiet residential area and cutting off access turning into Albert Street I said it will encourage druggies because there will be no traffic and that’s exactly what it did.’
The resident now sleeps downstairs due to an elbow injury but is kept up in the night thanks to people loitering by her property.
‘At about 2 or 3 in the morning I am woken with great crowds of people chatting outside,’ she added. ‘I know perfectly well what’s going on and when they come in the middle of the day there are people squatting on doorsteps.
‘It’s possible that it could seem threatening. When my husband died four years ago I became a lot more apprehensive coming home.
‘It makes me intensely nervous coming home. I used to prefer to drive because I could park outside the house and go in with my keys at the ready.
‘Years ago a group of young men twirled me around on my way home but if that had been now I would have been terrified.
‘It used to be very much a community here I do feel the druggies are a threat to that because it means some people are frightened.
‘Its a distinct change. They are slumped here in the day and come out at night. You have to be much more aware of drug takers in this area. It’s so near to King’s Cross and an established centre for drug taking.’
Residents of the Mornington Place estate where she lived, including Jean Moorcroft Wilson, pictured, told MailOnline that the neighbourhood is dominated by drug dealers
Sheila Bowyer, pictured, said that things have changed on the estate, with the neighbourhood now a ‘hub for drug dealers’
Ms Wilson said there had been a man who overdosed in one of the flats a few years ago, adding that the woman living there at the time had been a drug taker.
‘She of course was terrified it would be attributed to her,’ the resident said. ‘I can only assume she went and got her friends to wrap him up and dump him in a car park.’
Sheila Bowyer, meanwhile, recalled that her son had found a body in the car park around eight years ago while on his way to work.
‘He thought it was a statue that was left there,’ she said, explaining that her son then headed home to get his father.
‘Jim went out with him and said, “that’s not a statue that’s a body”, and called the police.’
Ms Bowyer moved into her home on the estate with her husband James on her birthday in 1981.
She said it was a ‘lovely present she will never forget’ and that her ‘neighbours were lovely’ and it was a pleasant place.
Things have changed, however, with the neighbourhood now a ‘hub for drug dealers’.
Police pictured outside Ms Abbott’s home on Thursday. She was discovered wrapped in a blanket with tape over her mouth by her niece and neighbours
Flowers seen piled up inside the police cordon after the film director’s murder
Ms Bowyer said: ‘We used to get druggies coming right outside years ago but it’s even worse now.
‘They sit in the ground and share their stuff around. I have a garden where they used to do it before.
‘We are getting druggies back again. I think we need the police to patrol again like they used to.
‘I think it’s because it’s an area where no one can see them. They are sort of hiding around here. I worry sick when I go out. I feel unsafe, I just don’t go out. I’m also petrified especially now.
‘When I’m in the kitchen I can see them waiting for drugs. I worry terribly for my grandchildren and son.’
A 75-year-old woman, who has lived in the area for 41 years, said crime was now the worst it ‘had ever been’.
‘[The druggies] come up and down,’ she added. ‘They sleep in doorways, they sleep near where she was found. They are all gone now because of the police.
‘It’s scary living here, especially on the ground level, you can’t have windows open.
The area by Mornington Crescent pictured in 2013. Locals said the neighbourhood had changed for the worse in recent years
Police officers pictured on the estate on Thursday. The film director was stabbed to death in her council flat in Camden on Friday
The Metropolitan Police are continuing with their inquiries (pictured: bags of rubbish inside the police cordon on Thursday)
‘I dont go out. I worry especially when it gets dark. This is the worst it’s ever been.
‘It’s sad because it was such a nice lovely area. It’s such a shame and sad to see it go down.
‘But they will just go to another area if they are moved. It’s not a problem you can solve.
‘We never see security patrols.’
She described Ms Abbott’s death in the estate last week as a ‘waste of life’.
‘All she did was walk her dog,’ the local added. ‘He was her life all she did was talk about him.
‘Why should this have happened to her, for a watch? What a waste of life.’
Camden has the second highest crime rate of any London borough, according to Met Police figures, with 145,313 offences in the last year, an increase of 4.7 per cent on the 12 months before.
Tributes were left by the property in Camden remembering Ms Abbott, who moved to the capital after ‘losing everything’ from her life as a ‘movie star’
The flat’s windows were seen blocked out with plastic sheeting on Thursday
Families living on the London estate where the award-winning film director was killed claim they are too scared to go out after it became a hub for drug dealers
The area of Camden where Ms Abbott lived appears to be a crime hotspot with the estate’s LSOA (Lower Layer Super Output Area) the location of 32 thefts, two burglaries, three robberies and 22 cases of violence against the person in the most recent month’s statistics alone.
The April 2025 figures show the neighbourhood had 87 crimes in total, the 10th highest of 133 LSOAs in the borough and the 79th of 4,500 in the capital.
Abul Khalam, 65, moved to the street in 2009. His house was broken into in 2019, where crooks stole money.
‘Drug people come here, I have seen them taking drugs,’ he said. ‘A lot of people come here to do that, groups of four or five. But they haven’t been around here for days because of the police.’
Speaking of when his home was robbed in 2019, he said: ‘It was around 5pm, I went to exercise and came back at 8pm and everything was a mess.
‘They used a screwdriver to open the door and I forgot to double lock it. My neighbour has also had her house broken into. I do feel scared.’
A 20-year-old local said he felt ‘fairly fine’ but that he felt less threatened as a man.
‘There are a couple of shady characters here and there but I never feel threatened,’ he added. ‘I just go to the other side of the street.
Ms Abbott pictured with Paris Hilton wearing the Rolex that may have been taken from her home
The film director pictured with Hollywood star Kate Hudson on her social media page
‘I think it’s a reflection of the wider homelessness issue in Camden.
‘They can’t do their business on the high street they have do it in a quieter area. They just walk around, you see them about once a month.
Announcing the arrest of a woman over the murder on Thursday, Detective Inspector Barry Hart, of Homicide Command, Specialist Crime North, said: ‘Our deepest sympathies are with the victim’s loved ones who are being supported by specialist officers at this time.
‘We thank the local community for their patience as we continue to investigate this shocking crime.
‘This arrest marks a significant step forward. There are several lines of enquiry ongoing, and we are working hard to establish the exact circumstances of this incident.
‘Locals can expect to see an increased police presence in the area while we conduct our enquires.’
Yesterday locals said that Ms Abbott, known professionally as Sarah Steinberg, had lived at the address for more than 10 years, having moved over from the US.
Her next door neighbour Laura, 34, said: ‘She was a movie star. She was in a couple of movies. She used to live in Beverly Hills.
‘I live right next door to her. She was a friend of mine. I used to walk her dog when she was sick,’ the hairdresser added.
Dan Ackroyd seen with Ms Abbott in another picture on her social media pages
Two police cars pictured outside Ms Abbott’s flat in Camden on Wednesday
‘I wasn’t here – I was at my boyfriend’s when it happened. I am literally gobsmacked. Who would do that to someone?
‘If I was there I maybe could have done something.’
Forensics officers were seen carrying several bags of miscellaneous items from the victim’s flat on Wednesday evening.
Police officers were also spotted clearing an area next to the block of flats of branches and leaves.
Neighbour Billie Currie, 63, said he had heard a dog barking for most of the night days before Ms Abbott’s body was found.
Mr Currie told MailOnline: ‘She was always walking the dog and was really nice. She was quite reserved but very friendly.’
Another neighbour, who did not wish to be named, said she heard screaming from Ms Abbott’s niece while she was trying to gain entry to her flat.
Her son then grabbed a metal pole to bash down the door before making the grim discovery.
Police at the scene in Camden, north London where the 69-year-old was found stabbed in her home
Forensics officers were seen carrying several bags of miscellaneous items from the victim’s flat on Wednesday evening.
Ms Abbott’s corgi Prince was found locked in the bathroom after miraculously surviving on its own for up to three days.
The neighbour added: ‘I heard the girls banging on the door and heard her shouting “help, help”.
‘She was a vibrant, spritely, and intelligent person. We would talk about a lot of things – politics, current affairs, her likes and dislikes, we knew what each other liked.’
She told of Ms Abbott’s colourful career, during which she has worked as a doctor, and was even involved in the film industry where she directed the movie War of the Gods.
‘She got interviewed in LA about this movie,’ she said. ‘She was known as Jenny or Janet and was quite mysterious.’
But heartbreakingly, the neighbour revealed Ms Abbott is thought have recently been diagnosed with stomach cancer.
Another neighbour said the area had recently had issues with homeless people breaking down their doors.
He said: ‘I think she had an operation and it went wrong or something and they had taken out a part of her intestines.
A forensics officer seen carrying a large bag of evidence from Ms Abbott’s flat
Police at the scene of where the body was discovered in Camden
‘There used to be a lot of homeless, breaking in doors, sleeping inside, going to the toilet.
‘Before it was all the time. Community police would come all the time. But not much anymore.’
‘It was a dark day when that happened. It’s not about me, I feel for her and her son and her niece who had to see her like that. I can’t believe I’m not going to see her again.
‘We will miss her running around. I mean she was indoors a lot but she made herself known. She’d talk to everyone.
‘Her niece said she had a lot of jewellery so the police need to check if anything else is missing.
‘To put the dog in the bathroom and then shut her up by putting the tape across her mouth and then they ransacked her house.
Floral tributes have been left at the scene where Ms Abbott was killed last week
One note reads: ‘For Dr Sarah, with love Vanessa, Kris and the twins’
‘I’m not surprised she had a Rolex. She was a woman of taste who liked to have a lot of nice things.’
The Met are urging any witnesses to come forward with information that could help identify the attacker and the events leading up to her death.
Chief Superintendent Jason Stewart, who leads policing in Camden, said: ‘We are working closely with our colleagues in the homicide team to establish exactly what happened and it’s incredibly important that we hear from anyone who may have knowledge about how this awful death occurred.
‘Were you out in Camden on Friday? Perhaps you had been coming home from work, or at an event nearby? Did you see or hear anything around Mornington Place that struck you as being unusual?
‘Someone must have seen or heard something and no piece of information is too small. It could be the crucial clue that leads us to identify Jennifer’s murderer.
‘Extra patrols continue in the area while my officers remain at the crime scene. I would urge anyone who has any information, or who may be worried, to speak to them.’
