Following the fatal stabbing of 22-year-old Patrick Crowe in Parramatta early Sunday morning, people say they fear the city centre after dark.
Mr Crowe, an apprentice chef, was stabbed in the side and died in Westmead Hospital after he and two friends were attacked by another group at about 2am in Argyle Street.
In Parramatta this morning, pedestrians expressed their shock and fear at the news of Mr Crowe’s murder.
Sarah O’Donoghue, 30, said she feared being alone in Parramatta at night.
‘‘Just because of the kind of people that hang around here, especially in Church Street where all the junkies are,’’ she said.
‘‘I work here and even the guys in cars that drive around here, they slow down and check you out . . . it’s threatening.’’
Ruby Vegesana, 22, of Merrylands, agreed that Church Street Mall and the area around the railway station were no-go zones after dark.
‘‘I would never cross on to the Church Street side at night,’’ she said.
‘‘There’s the association of people hanging around in the park doing drugs, I don’t think it’s safe.
‘‘I don’t know if anything can be done about it.
‘‘Maybe more police patrols but the police station is just around the corner and it doesn’t seem to make a difference.’’
Jasmine, 30, who gave her surname only as B, said people in Parramatta were ‘‘uncivilised’’ at night and that she tried to avoid the city centre.
‘‘I think the type of people that hang around all the time, they don’t look civilised,’’ she said.
‘‘They don’t behave civilised, they’re very noisy and try to get attention — I don’t feel safe.’’
But for some, Parramatta was still a place to revel with friends through the night.
Adam McCaughey, 19, said he regularly went out to pubs in Parramatta and only ‘‘sometimes’’ saw fights.
‘‘I’m a little bit worried (about violence) but not too much,’’ he said.
‘‘It’s probably different if you’re alone.’’