COUNCILLOR WATCH

Labour Candidate Carl Morris Impressed With BNP Slogan

2010-01-31T07:14:00.000-08:00

Thurrock Labour Party Candidate, Carl Morris, was so impressed with the slogan being used by his biggest rival, he ordered his party to steal it for his own leaflet.

A source close to Mr Morris 59, who is also a Councillor for the Grays Riverside Ward, said that at first Morris was ecstatic believing that the BNP had made a major spelling error in their campaign leaflet.

The Straw man, a name used by people who know him quite well, quickly regained his composure when it was pointed out that his young opponent was actually a woman, hence the term Maid.

Mr Morris was later heared whinging that it was at times like this that he wished he had been born a woman.

A BNP spokesperson said actually Mr Morris would of benefitted by being born half man half woman. Then for once he could do the people of Thurrock a real good favour and go fuck himself.

Thurrock Labour Candidate Carl Morris Is A Thief, Says Local Tories

2010-01-23T06:32:00.000-08:00

PROMINENT LOCAL CONSERVATIVES have said that Thurrock Labour Party is embroiled in a funding sleaze row following investigations into donations made by businesses to the local party shortly before its councillors tried to influence the future of lucrative contracts with Thurrock Council.

Recently, the Tory Council announced that it was considering replacing the 18 Contractors that it uses for its building maintenance service with a single contractor. Labour immediately greeted this with hostility and argued against the move. Thurrock Labour Party Chairman and local Councillor – Carl Morris – then went on to chair a scrutiny committee this summer that recommended the Council should not move to a single contractor but continue to employ a number of smaller companies.

It has now emerged that two companies, which the Council uses and who would be adversely affected by the decision to appoint a single contractor, are past donors to the Labour Party, something that was not declared at the time! Both companies were awarded contracts when Labour ran the Council.

According to independent data published on the Electoral Commission website, Just before the local elections in 2007, a company called Econogas Ltd - based in Laindon, Essex – made a donation of nearly £1,500 to Thurrock Labour Party, just a few months before Cllr. Morris and Labour colleagues sat on the cross party scrutiny committee and argued in favour of multiple contractors which would have included this Econogas.

In May 2001, Castle Point Heating Co. Ltd made a donation of £2,500 to Basildon and East Thurrock Labour Party and is also on of the 18 Contractors used by Thurrock Council.

Leading the charge for the Conservatives, Cllr. Ben Maney said, “There is something very murky about this. Labour said that the reason they opposed a move to a single contractor was because they were standing up for local businesses but in fact only about five out of the eighteen companies that would be affected are from Thurrock so that argument does not hold much water. Is it that what we have here is an attempt by Labour to protect companies – both based outside Thurrock – because they have made financial donations to the party? “

Thurrock Conservative Association Chairman, Fred Topham Added, “this is a very serious exposure, there is little chance that Cllr. Morris, as chair of Thurrock Labour Party, would not have known about the donation from Econogas or that they were Council contractors and had been for many years. There needs to be a full and transparent inquiry into this and Labour need to come clean. It is very hard to see how the public can have confidence in them after this”.

Thurrock Conservatives

BNP Save the Tories

2009-03-26T08:44:00.000-07:00

TORY LEADER DEFECTS TO LABOUR

"WORK TOGETHER” PLEA BY NEW LEADER HAGUE

- BNP SAVE THE DAY FOR TORIES

- LABOUR COUP ATTEMPT FALLS FLAT ON ITS FACE

- DID PRESSURE FROM DAVID CAMERON PROVE TOO MUCH?

IN A SHOCK STATEMENT made last night (Wednesday 25th March) Tory Councillor Terry Hipsey has announced that he has quit his post as Leader of Thurrock Council - and that he has crossed the floor to become a Labour Councillor.

The announcement, issued during a chaotic and at times farcical full Council Meeting, flew in the face of Councillor Hipsey's vigorous defence of his position as Tory Leader of Thurrock Council at a press conference held last Tuesday.

At that press conference, Councillor Hipsey was responding both to criticism of his leadership of the Council as well as calls for his resignation following a 'damning' report by The Audit Commission on the performance of Thurrock Council over a range of services

Commenting on his announcement, Mr Hipsey said that his political 'volte face' was in response to Conservative central office policy on measures to lead the UK out of the current financial and economic recession.

He said: I can confirm that I have resigned as Leader of Thurrock Council, and have also left the Conservative Party in order to become a Labour Councillor. This last week has shown some of the worst examples of David Cameron's attempt to respond to the recession.

When speaking to constituents,I cannot justify David Cameron's decision to make his number one priority in a recession a tax cut, which would give hundreds of thousands of pounds to millionaires, but do nothing for the vast majority of Thurrock families.

By over-ruling people in his own Shadow Cabinet,like Ken Clarke,who clearly opposed his plans to give a tax cut to millionaires, Cameron has moved the Tories from the centre ground of politics and continues to offer no help to families in Thurrock.

In contrast, I have been deeply impressed by the way that Gordon Brown has recognised the urgent need to give real help to families now. By joining the Labour Party, I hope to be able to support the Prime Minister's practical steps to help people in Thurrock out of this recession.

I look forward to working closely with our local Labour MPs, Andrew Mackinlay and Angela Smith. They,like me,care deeply about giving Thurrock families the help that they need during this global recession.

I've spent the last two-and-a-half years trying to keep this dysfunctional Tory group of Councillors together. Recently, after having some time to reflect, it has become clear to me that this group - and the Conservative Party more widely - are incapable of making the changes necessary to take Thurrock forward.

I've been increasingly impressed with the group of Labour councillors locally and the Labour government's response to the recession nationally.

EDITORIAL COMMENT

Be careful what you wish for.
If we continue our Shakespearean theme then former Tory leader and now Labour Councillor, Terry Hipsey may just have walked straight into Iago’s clutches.

It appears that Cllr Hipsey was the Thurrock man after all and for the sake of his health and perhaps sanity decided that enough was enough.

This decision has cost him a lot of money. We were wrong in suggesting it was the 'economy stupid'.

He is a man who entered politics in his forties and,it appears, will leave it in his forties as well. But it is clear that he will have the undying respect of his new wife.

Some may say that the Labour Group had a big coup d’etat planned here. With Terry Hipsey defecting, the push was on to try and force a motion through to put Labour Leader John Kent in power. It failed.

Reaction of new leader of Thurrock Council, Garry Hague to defection of Leader to Labour.

Chair of Labour Group Carl Morris reacts to defection of Thurrock Leader to his own ranks

The packed gallery were treated to an unedifying spectacle of bungling ineptitude. Mayor John Everett was hopelessly out of his depth.

Eventually, with great assistance from the Monitoring Officer, Gwen Bankole Jones, the path of constitutional correctitude was made clear. Deputy Leader Garry Hague was elected leader.

This is a great moment for Cllr Hague. He has his finger on the pulse of the regeneration agenda in the borough and is at the fulcrum of the Conservative agenda. With his deft PR skills he may well pull the party together.

What the new Interim Chief Executive Bob Coomber made of all this, one can only speculate but many are now confident that they will bring solidarity, consensus and the beginnings of the long march towards being a 4 Star Council.

Electing the right Deputy will be tricky.

Sue MacPherson resigned as Deputy Leader a few months ago amid much rancour. It appears that she does not enjoy the support of a number in her party.

It was clear that Chair of Labour Carl Morris was disappointed at the result. He had clearly banked on a sweep into power and once again is frustrated by the Tories ability to pull themselves off the ropes even under extraordinary conditions.

One of the key criticisms of Mr Hipsey’s reign was that he seemed to be making policy up to the surprise of the rest of his members.It now looks as if Labour are doing the same.

Labour were thwarted by the two East Tilbury Councillors, John Purkiss and Barry Palmer abstaining and BNP Councillor Emma Colgate siding with the Tories.
It leaves 23 Tories, 23 Labour, 2 Independent and 1 BNP.

Your Thurrock

Thurrock Council Tory Leader Hipsey Resigns and joins Labour party

2009-03-25T12:24:00.000-07:00

Thurrock council leader and local traitor extraodinaire, Terry Hipsey, has resigned from the Conservative party and crossed the floor to join the Labour party.

It is believed that Hipsey has done this to get revenge on his party after coming under pressure from David Cameron to resign to avoid further embarresment to the Tories.

More news to follow when we get it.

Thurrock Tories In Slanging Match With Residents At Council Meeting

2009-03-13T04:15:00.000-07:00

ONE OF THE FIRST moves by Thurrock Council to address the criticisms made by the Audit Commission has been to employ another 'Communications Consultant'.

Head of Media and Marketing, Andy Lever said: “As part of the Improvement Board's work, communications was identified as an area of focus. The council's partners are funding a consultant to examine the communications needs of the council and to support the communications team.”

This is clearly aimed at members and officers alike.

Members of the public were astonished by Corringham Councillor Anne Cheale’s outburst against one of the Corringham Traders at the meeting last week (see video).

But it's often not outbursts but apathy, inertia and perceived contempt for the constituents that has frustrated and annoyed the public and been identified by the Audit Commission as simply not good enough.

There appears to be a cultural divide. Tory Councillors such as Gary Hague, Tunde Ojetola and Sue MacPherson seem to grasp the need to communicate. They are regularly seen in their wards, are available for interview and have a high degree of inter-personal skills that are required in their position.

We understand that Chair of Corringham Traders Association Sharon Jarrold wrote to all the local Councillors regarding the meeting held on March 2nd. She says she did not receive any reply from Councillor Ian Harrison and Councillor Pauline Tolson.

YourThurrock has e-mailed them as well but have also received no reply.

Many of the Tories have no surgeries. Little Thurrock Councillor Rob Gledhill has defended the decision. He said: “We feel that instead of sitting in a hall for two hours and seeing no-one, we prefer a walking-surgery, where we discuss things on the doorstep with our constituents.”

But are there implications for diversity in this decision by the Conservatives?

Primary School teacher, Eny Yesac said: “There are 41 different languages spoken in my school. People from all over the world are flooding into Thurrock. It seems remote and holds people in contempt to require people to ring you."

To be fair, Cllrs Maney and Ridgwell hold surgeries. The Aveley trio do as well. Cllr John Cowell is a ubiquitous figure in the ward, whether it is in the High Street, Community Forums or Youth Club.

Ockendon Councillor Amanda Arnold has been ill with Glandular Fever for three months. It took them two months before a statement was made. Her mobile phone remains shut off, her e-mails unanswered.

In modern business the message would have been:

'Cllr Arnold is unwell at the moment but is keen that any enquiry is dealt with. You can contact member services on 01375 652652 or my colleague Barry Johnson...”

It will be interesting to note whether Cllr Arnold hands back any of her £16,000 allowance?

Portfolio Holder for Public Protection, Cllr Ben Maney has not responded to any of YourThurrock's e-mails for over a year with a request for an interview.

One of the key criticisms by the Audit Commission has been the “fundamental” breakdown between relationships between officer and members.

Earlier this year, Chair of Planning Stuart St-Clair Haslam made an unbridled attack on the work and lack of vision of planning officers in a public meeting. Is that part of the problem?

YourThurrock asked Cllr St-Clair Haslam for an interview regarding this - but he has refused. Ironically, he has not made any response to the possibility that the major building initiative on his ward (Martello Homes on Dock Road) has been suspended.

Would we be writing this story a year ago? Perhaps not. With a recession, issues such as this come sharply into focus.
The councillors are perhaps fortunate that one of the first casualties of this recession has been journalism. The Thurrock Recorder has disappeared; the editor of The Thurrock Gazette, Neil Speight has left. And all that remains at the Orsett Road office of the Thurrock Gazette are two desk-bound journalists.

It was quite pointed that The Mayor of Thurrock, John Everett attempted to lampoon the Thurrock Gazette at the last Council Meeting when he held it up and identified a mistake in the paper where they incorrectly stated that the Head of the Burma Star was a 'Winston Churchill look-a-like'.

“Bring back Neil Speight” he declared. He then went on to show an embarrassing lack of knowledge on procedure and constitution that perhaps crystallised why the Council is one of the worst performing councils in the country. The term “glass houses” comes to mind.

Yet Labour are by no means immune from communication needs and we shall be addressing them at a future date.

For example, we were not impressed by the Labour Councillor who when asked by YourThurock for an interview regarding unemployment, replied: ”Can’t make it. Off to Bluewater!”.

The real concern is whether the Council gets it. YourThurrock asked them why it was that the Citizens Advice Bureau - who have the Service Level Agreement to deal with Housing Issues - were not invited to the Putting Tenants First Conference on March 27th.

The response was:

“Decisions on who to invite to the conference were taken by the Conference Working Group which includes six tenant representatives. However if the CAB wish to take part, they should contact the Housing Participation Manager on 01375 413985”

You would have thought there would have been some attempt to conciliate but the fact that they still have a 'You ring me' attitude indicates that there are deep-rooted bureacratic and cultural issues that will take a long time to eradicate.

(As we have noted previously, this is the same Conference scheduled during the day when most tenants are at work.)

Last year, YourThurrock offered to make (for free) a series of showcase films on the nominees for the Thurrock Civic Award.

A council Press Spokesman said: “We don’t think that is a good idea”.

These systemic problems may stem from the top. Thurrock MP Andrew Mackinlay has branded them as “Out of Touch” and East Thurrock MP Angela Smith has labelled them as “Clueless”.

Lorna Payne identified herself on Thursday as “Acting Interim Chief Executive” when interviewed on the hallowed fourth floor of the Council offices. The big question is “What happened to the Interim Chief Executive?”

Lorna Payne has always been amenable to interview. We understand that officers are not allowed to speak to the press but she is trying to break down a few barriers here. She cannot do this on her own.

Needless to say, YourThurrock asked Thurrock Council for a comment but have yet to receive an answer. And needless to say, when we asked about the new 'Communications Consultant' - employed at what expense to council tax-payers? - he / she remained unidentified!

Cllr Leader Terry Hipsey is unavailable for interview until March 31st.

Your Thurrock

Thurrock Council's Nightmare Leader Plunges Local Tory Party Into Crisis

2009-03-13T03:48:00.000-07:00

David Cameron's office set to order Council Boss to go.

“Ruining Electoral Chances”
“The Buck Must Not Stop Down The Hall”
Labour Call on Beleaguered Leader and Administration To Resign

IN A DRAMATIC MOVE, Conservative Central Office is set to order Thurrock Tories to remove Thurrock Council Leader, Terry Hipsey from office.

Until recently, Westminster Tories were confident that both constituencies, Andrew Mackinlay’s Thurrock and Angela Smith’s South Basildon and East Thurrock were target seats to be toppled at the next General Election.

But the recent catalogue of controversies - from the “stepping down” of Chief Executive Angie Ridgwell and highly rated Director of Education Robert McCulloch-Graham to the U-turns on Freedom of the Borough for the Burma Star Association and the closure of Chadwell St Mary Primary School - have put the Tories' General Election hopes at risk.

However it is believed that the 'tipping point' is the disastrous handling of the plans to impose car parking charges in Corringham.

One Tory insider revealed:

“For four years, (prospective Tory candidate) Stephen Metcalfe has been confident that he can overturn Angela Smith’s slim majority (3,142).

He attended the meeting at Corringham Village Hall and was privately fuming at the Tory Councillors' performance.”

Subsequently, Mr Metcalfe issued a statement publicly criticising Thurrock Council’s own proposals.

He said: “I have spoken with a number of traders and fully support their opposition to any introduction of charges.
“I understand that the Council has a difficult job to do, and that they have to set a balanced budget, but filling the hole left by lack of proper Government funding and the deepening recession by introducing parking charges in Corringham is not the answer.”

The decree from Central Office is set to come before the next full council meeting where the Labour opposition have tabled a motion of no-confidence in the Council Leader and Stanford-le-Hope Councillor, Terry Hipsey.

Chair of Thurrock Labour has demanded the resignation of Cllr Hipsey and the rest of his administration.

At last night’s Tory Cabinet meeting, the Tories discussed the Audit Commission report where Acting Leader, Garry Hague pledged to move forward.

Your Thurrock

Thurrock Council's Top Clown Faces Resignation Call

2009-03-12T08:55:00.000-07:00

Call for leader’s resignation after authority is rated as one of the worst in the UK

THURROCK Council has been rated as one of the worst authorities in the country.

It is one of just six, judged as ‘not improving adequately’ by the Audit Commission.

A record number of local councils received four stars in the latest Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA).

Thurrock Council, which has been led by the Conservatives since 2004, failed to improve on its previous rating, received just two stars out of four.

Thurrock Labour Party leader, councillor John Kent, described the report as the most damning he had ever seen although a BNP spokesman said, Mr Kent obviously has a short memory otherwise he would of added to his statement "since the last one when my party was in charge".

He said: “This report confirms what most people know about Thurrock Council. It’s poorly run and not delivering for local people.”

Council leader Terry Hipsey was unavailable to comment as he is away on honeymoon.

In a statement, the council insisted it was committed to providing good services for residents and playing a key role in improving their quality of life.

Deputy council leader, councillor Garry Hague, said significant challenges were ahead and that the Audit Commission had helped identify them.

He said: “We are determined to make rapid progress.”

The CPA findings, which were published last Thursday, look at how efficiently councils are run, quality of local services, and whether they are value for money for taxpayers.

Picture of the week

2009-03-11T11:50:00.000-07:00

Many thanks to mr P from South Ockendon who kindly sent us this picture.

Maney talks Liberal bullshit as unemployed Africans help add the ghetto effect to Thurrock's history

2009-03-02T13:10:00.000-08:00

Graffiti artists look to the past for inspiration

A GRAFFITI Project has enabled young artists to transform part of Grays High Street into a historical community mural.

Budding artists from Thurrock took part in the Grays Beyond Graffiti Project which is designed to educate participants on both the negative aspects of graffiti and the positive aspects of art and design.

The project’s fifteen dedicated young people worked together on the community mural project, which involved them using their artistic skills by researching, designing and creating a wall painting at the pedestrian walkway.

Cabinet member for Public Protection, Coun Ben Maney said: “This project is a good way to encourage young people to use their artistic and design skills in a positive community project as well as to learn more about their local history.

“Graffiti is not a victimless crime. It is a form of criminal damage. There is a financial cost to remove the graffiti to the householder, business or local taxpayer.”

“Through the Grays Beyond Graffiti Project, participants spend time cleaning illegal graffiti and are educated about the negative impact on their community that graffiti vandalism causes, the legal consequences and the financial costs.”

The Safer Thurrock Partnership funded project is a joint programme which sees Thurrock Council’s Be Smart Environmental Education Programme, Thurrock Youth Offending Service, Connexions, Brave Arts and Essex Police working together with these young artists.

Images that can be seen in the Crown Road walkway include depictions from the dinosaur and stone ages through to the modern era and the future. Local landmarks including The State Cinema are also included.

Thurrock Gazette

Thurrock Is The Capital For UK Sex Offenders

2009-02-01T13:25:00.000-08:00

British National Party Councillor, Emma Colgate, has raised an issue that will concern many Thurrock residents and in particular, women and parents of young children.

Councillor Colgate, speaking in the council chamber said:

“A report issued by the Essex Mappa (Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements) found that Thurrock (with Basildon) has more convicted sex offenders than anywhere else in the county, and nearly half of all registered sex offenders live in South Essex, many of whom re-offend.

What measures will the Council take to protect vulnerable members of our community from this threat and will the Council embark on a program to raise public awareness
of this dangerous situation?”

Leader of the Tory run Council Terry Hipsey said:

The figures by the MAPPA report are the aggregated figures for the police area of Basildon and Thurrock. When disaggregated, the figures for Thurrock alone is 67 Registered Sex Offenders living in the Thurrock area. This is actually lower than the figures for all other police areas in Essex with the exception of Colchester.

The rate for sexual offending is similar to all crimes, of around 7%.

MAPPA Meetings are held on a monthly basis and Children’s Social
Care are represented at all meetings, including any emergency or higher-level meetings. Information is shared at these meetings in order to build up a cohesive understanding of the pattern of offenders and that information is then utilised in protecting vulnerable people through further assessments being undertaken. Care plans and agreements are being made with families and disclosure of information being
agreed where risk is identified. Plans are agreed by MAPPA meetings that will include agreement about where RSOs should live, what agencies will support and monitor them, where they can receive treatment and how best to protect others.
Where RSOs have been convicted of an offence against a child, and is thought to be in contact with any child, then referral is made to the Social Care Team as an Bassessment undertaken.

Supplementary question from Councillor Colgate

I’d just like to ask - what concerns me is that we may have some of these offenders living in Council properties that we’re short on, which could benefit other people and I wondered what sort of powers you have to refuse properties to people convicted of sexual assaults, especially on children and if you do have any power to refuse them to actually be in the Borough, let alone in a Council property?

Councillor Hipsey

What I would like to do is I’d like to respond to you in writing, to (inaudible) because obviously there’ll be severe legal implications in this and I wouldn’t like to give you an answer at this moment in time.

Multi-Cultural My Arse: This Club Will Be A Magnet For London's Black Criminals,Thugs And Murderers

2009-02-01T13:15:00.000-08:00

Multi-cultural nightspot to open in Grays

NIGHTLIFE in Grays town centre is set to get a multi-cultural boost after a disused basement nightclub was sold.

A new lease for nightclub, which is situated in the Queensgate Centre, has been sold by the Ipswich office of national business agents Christie and Co.

The business was secured by experienced London operator, Owen Mcleod, who hopes to capitalise on the location, links to London and lack of competition in the area.

The club has been known as Rumours, Aqua, Club Rise and most recently the Q Bar and Lounge.

Mr Mcleod, 39, plans to make it an over 22’s themed nightclub.

He said: “I want to make it a club accessible to all the different cultures living in the surrounding area.

“I plan to introduce African, Asian, Eastern European and Caribbean themed nights and much more for all the community.”

The club is set to be reopened on Saturday February 28. No other detials have been confirmed.

Thurrock Patriots

Racist Leisure Group In Bid For Taxpayers Handout

2009-01-24T13:37:00.000-08:00

Impulse Leisure ask top councillors for £250,000 one-off grant

TOP Thurrock Councillors have demanded Impulse Leisure supply them with a business case before handing over £250,000 in a one-off grant.

A report to the council’s Cabinet meeting asked members to “agree a request from Impulse Leisure for a one off payment of £250,000 in 2009/10 from the council reserves”.

Impulse Leisure is the charitable trust, which manages the council’s three leisure centres at Corringham, Blackshots and Belhus Park.

The money would be used “to assist with the significant increase in utility costs and the budget pressures on Impulse Leisure’s low level of reserves”.

Cabinet did agree a new funding and management agreement between the council and Impulse at £600,000 a year, for the next five years starting in the next financial year (2009/2010).

However, members were worried about the lack of reserves held by the trust, its future security as a viable organisation and what measures were being taken to cut costs.

Councillor Ben Maney said he was “concerned how close Impulse is to bankruptcy”, adding: “If we give this money, will it survive?”

And Coun Steve Veryard added: “It’s worrying that they seem to be investing beyond their means, will £250,000 be enough?”

Council Leader, Coun Terry Hipsey, said members wanted to see a full business case from Impulse Leisure so they could be assured that the trust was viable and that the £250,000 one-off grant would secure its long-term future.

The issue will be considered again at the meeting of the Cabinet in February.

Thurrock Gazette

ASDA Invite Outgoing Ward Councillor To Open Store Facility

2009-01-11T03:31:00.000-08:00

A NEW in-store pharmacy was opened at Asda Tilbury this week.

Ward councillor Bukky Okunade opened the pharmacy on Saturday before undergoing a blood pressure and diabetes check by resident pharmacist Chidi Egeolu.

The opening follows a three-year campaign by ASDA to make pharmacies more accessible to the community, and reflects its commitment to saving the residents of Tilbury time and money.

The pharmacy will be open for 100 hours a week, and will stay open until 11pm Monday to Friday, outside of traditional opening hours.

ASDA Tilbury General Manager for Home and Leisure, Gwen Hosking, said: “ASDA has worked closely with the local Primary Care Trust to create this new department and by offering extended opening hours, we are providing an invaluable service that makes healthcare advice readily available to all, without the need for an appointment.”

Councillor Bukky Okunade added: “This Asda pharmacy is a credible addition to the existing facilities in the area. It's going to make for easier access to health care here in Tilbury.”

The new ASDA Tilbury pharmacy in Thurrock Park Way will be open from 8am – 11pm Monday; 7am until 11pm, Tuesday – Friday; 7am until 10pm Saturday; and from 10am until 4pm on Sunday.

Thurrock Gazette

Thurrock End Of Year Poll Round Up

2008-12-31T10:49:00.000-08:00

Who will you vote for in 2010 Council Elections

British National Party (44%)
Conservative (43%)
Labour (7%)

Which Councillors do you believe are genuine and not motivated by Greed

Emma Colgate (BNP) (41%)
Danny Nicklen (CON) (8%)
Yash Gupta (LAB) (6%)

Which wards in Thurrock are being let down by the Council

Grays Thurrock (45%)
Grays Riverside (27%)
Tilbury Riverside (18%)

Which Political Party is The Thurrock Gazette Biased in Favour Of?

Labour Party (88%)
Conservative Party (6%)
British National Party (2%)

Are Thurrock Councillors Overpaid

No (77%)
Yes (22%)

Should the Tories Close Chadwell Primary School?

Yes (67%)
No (32%)

Are you happy that Thurrock Tories are trying to turn the area into the London Boroughs of Hackney & Brixton?

No (64%)
Yes (35%)

Do you agree with the BNP who think that Yash Gupta and his TRUST organisation are Racists?

Yes (87%)
No (12%)

Which of the following history weeks do you think Thurrock People should celebrate at the taxpayers expense

None of them (76%)
White History (17%)
All of them (5%)

If you had Black or Asian neighbours living either side of you, would you consider moving?

No (72%)
Yes (27%)

Which Political Party are responsible for secretly distributing the anti BNP smear leaflets under the name of Searchlight & Hope Not Hate

Labour (91%)
Conservatives (8%)

Is Thurrock mayor John Everett worth £20,000 of the taxpayers money?

Yes (72%)
No (27%)

Thurrock Labour Party Linked To No Carols In Corringham Outrage

2008-12-21T08:19:00.000-08:00

Tony Salvatore Benson is a former Homesteads Labour Councillor.
He is now known as Simple Tony Benson, Chairman of the Corringham town festival committee.

This is the left wing idiot who banned Christmas carols from a Corringham school.

Below is a picture of mr Benson and contact address for those who would like to communicate with him.

51 Howell Road,
Corringham,
Stanford Le Hope,
Essex,
SS17 8JH

Tel 01375679869

Pizza Hut in Immigrant Worker's Shit Delivery To Customers Outrage

2008-12-20T01:45:00.000-08:00

Pizza poop shock

A THURROCK resident who ordered food from Pizza Hut got a shock when boxes of excrement were delivered instead.

The nasty delivery, from the Pizza Hut takeway restaurant on Lodge Lane in Grays, has led to the sacking of a delivery driver.

The food was ordered by a resident from Grays, who phoned Trading Standards after opening two Pizza Hut boxes and finding faeces inside.

Pizza Hut launched an internal investigation into incident and say that the food, which was left unattended by the driver whose car had broken down, was tampered with by a member of the public.

A spokesperson for Pizza Hut said: “We were shocked to hear about this incident.

“After an internal investigation, it has emerged that a delivery was left unattended after it had left the restaurant and was subsequently tampered with by a member of the public.

“We do not tolerate any breaches of our strict policy on food delivery and have dismissed the delivery driver.

“We have apologised to those involved and are working with local authorities to assist them in identifying those responsible.”

Thurrock Council Spokesperson Andy Lever said: “A detailed investigation has been undertaken following two Pizza Hut boxes containing faeces being delivered to a customer in Grays on 23 November 2008.

“A visit was made to Pizza Hut, Grays, on the following day by an Environmental Health Officer to investigate the complaint and interview staff.

“It is thought that the cause of the incident was due to the delivery driver acting irresponsibly by permitting the delivery to be outside of his control following his car breaking down.

“It appears that four individuals not connected with the company ate the food contained in the boxes and replaced it with faeces.

“It is not known whether this is animal or human.

“It is clear that Pizza Hut did have proper food systems in place at the time of the incident and the driver involved had received suitable training.

“The driver was subsequently dismissed.

“Thurrock Council will not be taking any further action regarding this complaint.”

Thurrock Patriots

No Carols in Corringham

2008-12-16T15:54:00.000-08:00

CHRISTMAS carols were kicked out of festive celebrations in Corringham last week, disappointing a school choir who had been rehearsing for weeks.

The 60 pupils from Arthur Bugler Junior School in Stanford-le-Hope had finished their rehearsals for the Corringham Winter Festival when organisers informed the head teacher that the carols they had chosen did not “dovetail” with the festival’s theme.

There was no time for the pupils to rehearse new songs so the school was forced to pull out.

Head teacher, Mrs Sue Morris, said: "It would appear there was a communications mix-up between the school and the organisers of the event.

"Initially the school was invited to attend and sing, but after a great deal of rehearsal with the school’s 60-strong choir, we were informed the songs we were rehearsing would not have dovetailed into the event’s theme.

"There was no time to reorganise the choir’s planned programme and we thought it best that we did not take part. The organisers of the event were informed of this.”

A parent of one of the children in choir, who asked not to be named, said: “The school was advised by the organisers that the carols they had chosen were not suitable as they were deemed to have a religious theme.

“The kids were really disappointed.

“Whatever the Christmas Carols were that they were going to sing- I can’t see how they would be offensive to anyone.”

Organisers of the Corringham Winter Festival have put the incident down to a communication problem.

Mr Tony Benson said: “It was a simple communications error, it did not come to my attention until it was too late they even appeared on the program and street notice.

“It was a smashing evening and their presence would have gilded the lilly.

“I have promised the head mistress that we will give them a lot more notice in the future, I can assure you their parents disappointment was matched by mine.”

When the Gazette asked Mr Benson if the school was told their Christmas carols were unsuitable for the event he added: “It is a fact of life that a lot of people have forgotten the meaning of Christmas.

"We the committee try to put something back into the community with The Winter Festival and The Tree of Lights which we arrange and put on for St Lukes.”

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Prayer Book Society, Prudence Dailey, has hit out at the organisers of “winter festivals” up and down the country, saying their political correctness threatens Christmas.

She said: "These 'politically correct Winter festivals' seek to make Christmas part of a 'multi-faith' mix and hark back to pagan winter solstice observance.

“'Winter festivals' see Christmas as merely a local seasonal event and miss its central religious significance at the heart of national identity.

“Perhaps organisers would benefit from reading the Book of Common Prayer and discovering what winter festivities are in fact about.”

Thurrock Gazette

Don't Mention They're Black, its Prejudice.

2008-12-15T10:03:00.000-08:00

Their headline.

Temple Fortune street under seige after violent carjacking

Our headline we got from I am an Englishman
50-Year-Old Loretta Patterson Beaten by Blacks

Dear Sir/Madam,

We have noticed one of our stories on your website.

This was a front page story of ours. You have taken the story, and our picture, and reproduced this on your site under a new, prejudicial headline.

A link to the story is pasted below.

This is blatant plagiarism and something we take extremely seriously.

Can you remove the below item immediately and inform me when this action has been taken.

Regards,

Charlie Stong.

Editor,

Times-Series

Charlie Stong can be contacted here cstong@london.newsquest.co.uk

Nigerian Con Man due to be sentenced for defrauding the church

2008-12-14T14:31:00.000-08:00

A north London pensioner is due to be sentenced after using "prayer sessions" to help defraud fellow churchgoers out of tens of thousands of pounds.
Serial fraudster Richard Abeson, currently wanted by Belgian police for a similar con, claimed he was a wealthy Nigerian oil trader with a fortune tied up in his home country.

London's Southwark Crown Court heard he told his victims their money would not only help him move the funds to Britain but would win them "substantial" pay-offs.

Abeson, 70, of Cosway Street, Edmonton, admitted two counts of conspiracy to defraud "with others unknown" between August 31, 2004, and April 30, 2006.

2,000 Sex Offenders Escape With A Caution

2008-12-07T16:31:00.000-08:00

2,000 sex offenders - including rapists and paedophiles - escape with a caution

Two thousand sex offenders - including rapists and paedophiles - escaped with a caution last year.

The shock figure is a two per cent increase on 2006.

It means that, of all sex offenders punished for their crime, 28 per cent escaped with a slap on the wrist.

Those cautioned included 30 people guilty of rape - up from 20 a year earlier - four attempted rapes and nearly 300 people who admitted having sex with under 16s.

Cautions were also handed out to six people who admitted breaking child prostitution or child pornography laws.

The report revealed that - overall - the number of convicts escaping with a caution was up four per cent, to 362,900.

There has been a 28 per cent leap since Labour came to power in 1997, when only 282,100 people were given a slap on the wrist.

Other criminals to escape with the sanction - supposedly reserved for minor crimes - last year included almost 7,000 burglars, 614 robbers, and 72,789 people convicted of theft or handling stolen goods.

There are huge regional variations in the use of 'soft justice' cautions. In Dyfed-Powys, a staggering 57 per cent of indictable offences end in a caution - compared to only 22 per cent in North Wales.

Earlier this year, the Mail revealed how police had been instructed to give some serial criminals a string of cautions rather than drag them to court.

Under the Home Office guidance, anyone caught committing the same 'trivial' offence again can be let off with the equivalent of a slap on the wrist - providing two years have passed.

It means a thief could receive up to five cautions in ten years without ever having to face a court appearance.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: 'Although there is a high percentage increase of rape cautions, the number of cases actually remains very small (32 in 2007 and 20 in 2006).

'Only in exceptional circumstances will the police and CPS decide that it is in the best interests of the victim not to prosecute.'

Asian Muggers Leave 70-Year-Old Lady "with Horrible Facial Injuries"

2008-12-07T16:29:00.000-08:00

An elderly woman has been robbed, pushed to the floor and left with horrible facial injuries by two young thugs who targeted her while walking home in the dark from a church service.

The 70-year-old was coming home from a conformation ceremony when she was attacked on Church Road in Old Malden.

Injuries from the incident on October 12 have left her with a cut above her eye, which had to be glued closed and still doesn’t open properly, bruised knees and hands. The vicious thugs pocketed around £35.

The woman, who asked not to be named, said: “They made a grab for my bag and grabbed my skirt waist band at the same time which split the skirt.

“They grabbed the bag and pushed me down to the ground. They must have hit me hard for me to have gone down with such force.

“I didn’t know how long I lay there but I got myself on my feet and as luck would have it a couple were coming in their car.

“They stopped and said ‘are you all right?’ I said ‘No I have just been mugged’.”

The man drove off to hunt down the two men while the woman took her back to their home nearby where they called the ambulance and police.

The robbers stole her handbag which had her glasses, address book of family members and her house keys.

The woman, who has lived safely in Old Malden for 35 years, was rushed to Kingston Hospital. She said: “I had severe cuts over the left eye so by the time I got to hospital the left side of my face was a mess.

“My hands have got bruising and my knees apart from being extremely shocked. The eye I think is quite serious because it closes every so often. My instant reaction was why should they do this?

“They were just opportunists and I was there and that was it. I would just like to get my hands on them and do the same to them.”

She described them as between 15 and 20 years old wearing grey and said they may have been Asian. She said: “They didn’t have hoods I must admit.”

She also praised the actions of police, including community support officer Linda Taylor, who dealt with her case and changed the locks on her home.

But she remained defiant and vowed to carry on with her charity work which includes Kingston Hospital’s Born Too Soon unit for premature babies.

“They are not going to get me down that is sure and certain,” she said. “I haven’t got time to be knocked about by these thugs.”

Her friend, Old Malden Councillor Mick Amson said: “I think it is disgusting. I have seen the photos and I was shocked. I didn’t think things like this could happen around here.

“They ought to be ashamed of themselves treating an elderly lady like that.”

Anyone with information about the robbery on Sunday, October 12, can call Kingston police on 0300 1231212 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

Black Muggers Attack Heavily Pregnant Woman

2008-12-07T16:27:00.000-08:00

A heavily pregnant woman went into labour and gave birth after she was attacked by muggers in a London street.

Two men on bicycles rode up to the woman and forced her to the ground as she walked through Camden.

They stole her jewellery and fled but their 30-year-old victim, although unhurt, went into labour.

She was taken to hospital and gave birth. Mother and child are said by police to be doing well following the attack on Thursday.

The suspects are described as black men aged between 17 and 20 who fled in the direction of Swiss Cottage, leaving one of the bicycles behind.

Black gang sex assault on woman

2008-12-07T16:12:00.000-08:00

A woman was sexually assaulted by up to seven men in an attack in Fishponds.

The victim was walking along Fishponds Road at 11.30pm on November 14 when she was approached by a man.

He asked for help, and as she went to assist was subjected to a serious sexual assault by between five to seven men on wasteland at the back of the May Tree Park School in Easton, near Carroway Gardens.

The man who approached her was black, slim and in his late teens. He was wearing a white Adidas hooded top with a black jacket over the top.

Police now want to speak to two men who were seen inside the Texican Chicken take away in Stapleton Road, around an hour after the attack.

Police believe they could hold vital information that would help with inquires.

HIV illegal immigrant 'may have infected more than 400 women'

2008-12-07T16:09:00.000-08:00

An illegal immigrant may have infected hundreds of women with HIV in a string of one-night-stands, it has emerged.

The infected Jamaican reveller prowled nightclubs to pick up women and then spent almost a year unchecked in hospital where he looked for sex with vulnerable patients.

Health officials have written to more than 400 women to warn them they might have the deadly virus after having unprotected sex with him.

The immigrant, who arrived in the UK on a visitor's visa in 2002, has admitted he cannot remember how many woman he has slept with.

He told doctors he had sex, which was often unprotected, with women he met in two nightclubs in Leicester - the now-defunct Dark Club and the Burlington Club.

Last December, he was admitted to the Brandon mental health unit at Leicester General Hospital where he slept with fellow patients - possibly even in the unit.

Doctors were told in May that his visa had expired and he was living in the UK illegally but the HIV danger only became known in the last few weeks.

A married patient confessed to sleeping with him, according to the Sun, and he then told medics about his other sexual liaisons.

A source told the paper: 'It's literally panic stations.'

Dr Philip Monk, a consultant for the Health Protection Agency (HPA) East Midlands, said: 'He doesn't know (the number of women he had unprotected sex with). He was going clubbing very regularly. He didn't have a sexual encounter every time he went out, but it didn't happen infrequently.
'There is a possibility it could be more than 100. We believe it was more than a handful.'

He added: 'We are concerned that there is a risk that the HIV positive individual may have passed on the infection as a result of the sexual activity he has engaged in.
'Understandably, women who have had sexual experiences with someone they met at either of these venues are likely to be extremely concerned, but it's important that they either visit their local genito-urinary medicine clinic or family planning clinic.
'There is also treatment that can enable them to live near-normal healthy and full lives.'

The HPA confirmed the man, who moved to Leicester in 2002, was not a bouncer at either of the clubs.

A spokesman for Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust, which runs the Brandon unit, said all the women he slept with from there had been contacted.

He said: 'Although a person may have mental health problems, it doesn't mean they cannot take clear decisions on other aspects of their lives.

'There is no suggestion any activity was other than consensual but we are mindful of the potential vulnerability of these women and have taken every step to follow up the letters through teams providing medical help and emotional support.'

The man is now being cared for by the NHS outside of Leicestershire.
If caught early enough, medical treatment can prevent the HIV virus from developing in to full-blown AIDS, offering patients the chance of a largely-normal life.

HIV infects the white blood cells, which normally protect people from disease. AIDS develops when the immune system becomes too weak to continue fighting the infection.

Patients with HIV typically begin to show symptoms of the infection within five to ten years in around half of all cases.

Initial symptoms are often general conditions such as tiredness, or general ill health, but in advanced cases, patients may display 'AIDS defining' symptoms such as skin tumours or even AIDS-related dementia.

Two years ago, more than a thousand patients were placed on alert after a hospital worker was diagnosed with HIV and hepatitis B.
In the first incident of its kind, the unnamed employee was diagnosed with both blood-borne viruses while working in the NHS.

1,185 patients who had been treated by the worker at five hospitals across the West Midlands and Hampshire faced blood tests to see if they had contracted either disease.

Asian Celebrity fashion designer 'raped and molested' young girls after promising them fame and fortune

2008-12-07T16:06:00.000-08:00

A celebrity fashion designer has been convicted of raping and molesting young girls after luring them to Los Angeles with the promise of hiring them as models.

Indian-born Anand Jon, who dressed Hollywood socialite Paris Hilton and singer Janet Jackson before his arrest, was found guilty on 20 charges.

They included lewd acts on a child and involved sexual assaults between 2001 and 2007 on nine aspiring models aged between 14 and 21.

The disgraced 34-year-old Beverly Hills designer found fame in the US after he worked on the reality show ‘America’s Next Top Model’ starring Tyra Banks.

He faces life behind bars when he is sentenced on January 13.

The jury at Los Angeles Superior Court announced their verdict last night after nearly two weeks of deliberations. They aquitted him on four additional charges.

The two-month trial offered a sordid look behind the scenes of the American fashion industry.

Jon used his rising celebrity stature to persuade young girls dreaming of fame and fortune in Hollywood to visit his flat in Beverly Hills where he acted out his sadistic fantasies.

In addition to the victims in California, prosecutors called another seven women to testify about alleged assaults in New York and Texas, where he also faces prosecution.

Jon, whose full name is Anand Jon Alexander, denied the charges and accused his victims of making up the attacks.

Defence lawyers tried to portray the young girls as liars plotting together to get revenge on the up-and-coming designer by wrecking his career.

He was arrested in March last year after a woman told Beverly Hills police he had raped her the previous day.

Two Immigrants charged with raping Chelmsford woman

2008-12-07T16:02:00.000-08:00

Two men have been remanded in custody charged with the rape of a 29-year-old woman in Essex.

Jamoliddin Tulaganov, 23, and Nuriddin Shakhabutdinov, 22, both of Byron Road, Chelmsford, are due before Chelmsford magistrates on Monday.

The men have been charged in connection with an attack on a woman in Central Park in the town on 15 January.

A 23-year-old man arrested on 17 January has been released from his bail with no further action expected.

Mr Shakhabutdinov and Mr Tulaganov have also been charged with an unrelated incident on 13 November, in which a 39-year-old woman was assaulted in Baddow Road, Chelmsford.

In all, Mr Tulaganov is charged with two counts of rape and another of sexual assault, while Mr Shakhabutdinov faces one charge of rape, one of assault and another of sexual assault.

Girl raped by bogus Asian taxi driver

2008-12-07T16:01:00.000-08:00

A teenager was raped by a man posing as a taxi driver in Greater Manchester.

The girl had been out drinking in Ashton-under-Lyne on Saturday when she got into a car she thought was a taxi.

The driver pulled into an alley next to Kendal Terrace in Dukinfield and asked for an £8 fare, before climbing into the back of the car and raping her.

She managed to struggle free and ran off. Police are looking for an Asian man aged about 40 to 50 in connection with the attack.

Chubby cheeks

He is said to be of medium build with a round belly.

He had frizzy grey hair with flecks of black and white and a bushy beard that came down to his chest and was the same colour as his hair.

Police said he had chubby cheeks, a big nose and dark blotches on his skin.

He was wearing white or cream trousers and a long shirt.

The car is described as being possibly a Vauxhall Astra with black leather seats and with a Christmas tree air freshener.

Anyone with information is urged to contact police.

Asian Sex attacker strikes in city park

2008-12-07T16:00:00.000-08:00

A woman has been sexually assaulted in a park in Leicester.

It happened at around 1245 GMT on Saturday as the 19-year-old was walking through Victoria Park on the footpath towards the university.

As she passed the tennis courts and the war memorial, a man approached her and attacked her.

Afterwards the victim kept walking along the same footpath but the man followed her, only leaving when she reached the campus site.

He is described as Asian, with a pale complexion, in his late 20s, about 5ft 6in tall and medium build.

He has short black hair and is of "scruffy" appearance with a scar above his lip on the right side.

Appealing for witnesses, Pc Rachel Hewitt said: "This was naturally an upsetting experience for this woman and we're hoping the general public may be able to help us find the person responsible."

A-grade student Jerome Castrillo joined Triad gang and killed top drug dealer

2008-12-07T15:48:00.000-08:00

A grammar schoolboy faces life in jail after he was lured into a Chinese Triad gang and killed a notorious drug dealer.

Straight A grade student Jerome Castrillo, 18, took an afternoon off from his A-level studies to beat Michael McGrath to death over an £800 debt.

The teenager, whose mother is a primary schoolteacher and stepfather a postman, carried out the attack while he was a pupil at the prestigious Latymer grammar school in Edmonton, North London.

He was recruited to join the infamous 'Wo Shing Wo' Chinese crime syndicate by older boys at the school on behalf of leader Yuxiang Liu, 25, with the promise of girls and beer.

Despite his comfortable family background and plans to take A Levels in history, maths and media studies, Castrillo dreamed of becoming a gangster.
His parents and teachers had no idea that the teenager - who had achieved nine A or A* grade GCSEs - had entered a life of crime.

Within four months, Castrillo, then 17, skipped school to help in the killing and even boasted afterwards that there had been a lot of blood but claimed he had done it as a favour and had not received a penny.

When he police arrested him at the family home where he lived with his two younger brothers, Castrillo refused to comment while in the earshot of his parents but later admitted he had been at the scene.

McGrath, once a millionaire gangster and friend of the Great Train Robber Charlie Wilson, had fallen on hard times after being jailed for drug importation and becoming hooked on heroin in jail.

The 57-year-old let Triad gang hide heroin and crack in his home but he enraged the underworld when he started helping himself to narcotics.

He was punched, kicked and beaten by gang members before a vase was repeatedly smashed over his head at his home in Carshalton, Surrey last November.

The killers went out for a celebratory Chinese meal but they were caught after they left distinctive Chinese-brand cigarette butts at the scene of the crime.

In a 'cut throat' defence they all blamed each other for the murder in court.

Castrillo claimed he had 'pretended' to punch and kick the victim, to impress senior gang members.
Chinese restaurant boss Liu, drug dealer Ryan Parker-Saunders, 23 and Malaysian Wei Leong, 21, were convicted of murder today after a month-long trial at the Old Bailey. Castrillo was cleared of murder but convicted of manslaughter.

He showed no emotion when the jury announced their verdict as his mother Cezette Loughran, 39, and his stepfather Matthew Loughran sat in the public gallery.

Crispin Aylett, QC, prosecuting, said: 'How on earth, you may wonder, did he get caught up in all of this? For some time there had been talk at school about a Triad gang called Wo Shing Wo and which is known as SW.
'Boys in the upper sixth had said that if you joined you would be invited to parties where there would be girls and free drinks.'
While in the lower sixth Jerome was approached by the boys in the year above. When the youngster was arrested, police found online records of conversations on his computer in which he bragged about his involvement with the Triads.

In one text-style conversation he told a friend [sic]: 'Do you wanna join SW? Yu basicali (corr) jus go up central 2 sum restaurant...it ain't some lil street gang, itz organised sh*t. 'Wo Shing Wo f**k up everyone they get into beef with.'

After the killing, Castrillo went online and said [sic]: 'And Im fine ill sleep on it n itz most lykly feel beta in da morning...itz just da psychological effectz it had on em.

'u dnt get paid 4 these kinda jobs itz jus a favour...der woz alota blood man ah tel u bout it 2moro.'
Detective Inspector Bob Campany, of the Metropolitan Police, said after the case: 'Triad gangs recruit at schools and colleges. They do not discriminate. Castrillo was a bright lad, he had 9 GCSEs, 3 AS levels and he was goal to get his A levels.

'His parents are decent people but he wanted to be a drug dealer and fraudster.'

Castrillo; Liu, of Islington, North London, Leong, of Wood Green, North London; Parker-Saunders, of West Norwood, South East London will be sentenced on December 22.

Maninder Pal Singh Kohli found guilty of Hannah murder

2008-12-07T15:43:00.000-08:00

A man has been jailed for life for the "appalling" murder, rape and kidnap of 17-year-old Hannah Foster.

Maninder Pal Singh Kohli, 41, who denied all the charges, was convicted more than five years after Hannah was found strangled.

She had been walking a short distance home after a night out in Southampton when she went missing on 14 March 2003. Her body was found two days later.

Her father, Trevor Foster, called Kohli a "cold, calculating and ruthless man".

"Today we are feeling an overwhelming sense of relief at the verdict in this trial," he added.

"We have long realised that Kohli is a cold, calculating and totally ruthless man and has destroyed so many people's life without a second thought."

On the run

Kohli snatched the teenager from a street yards from her home in Southampton after she had spent an evening with friends.

The A-level student called 999 in the hope an operator would hear what was happening, but the call was terminated when she did not speak.

Kohli dumped her body next to a road in Allington Lane, West End, and went back home to his wife and two sons.

Four days later, he fled to India, where he led a life on the run for 16 months before being arrested.

While in custody in India he gave a televised confession which he later retracted.

After more than four years of campaigning by Hannah's parents Hilary and Trevor Foster, Kohli was finally extradited back to Britain last year to stand trial.

In a victim impact statement read to the court by Hannah's aunt Jill Lewis, Hannah's mother Hilary said she would feel guilt for the rest of her life that she was not there to protect her daughter when she was murdered.

"Kohli ripped out my heart and stamped on it," she said.
"When Trevor and I saw Hannah in the mortuary, I couldn't believe what I was seeing, there must be some mistake.

"The cold, battered and bruised body certainly looked like her, but where was the sparkle in her eyes?"

Speaking earlier to the BBC, Mr Foster said: "I remember talking to her and saying, 'We'll find who did this to you'. And that's what we've been focused on doing since."

Mr and Mrs Foster said it was only now after Kohli was convicted that they could properly start to grieve for their daughter.

"The focus has been on her killer, not on Hannah," Mrs Foster said.

Her husband added: "I don't think there is such a thing as closure.

"It doesn't go away, the grief and the pain, they're going to be there until the day we die."

'Wanton disposal'

Sentencing Kohli to serve a minimum of 24 years at Winchester Crown Court, judge Mr Justice Keith said his crime was aggravated by "Hannah's vulnerability as a young slip of a girl, the terrible and appalling ordeal which Hannah must have gone through before you killed her.

"The wanton way you disposed of her body and the unimaginable grief to which you have subjected her family."

The verdicts came at the end of a long campaign by Hannah's parents, who had travelled to India four times to keep up the pressure on Indian authorities and get Kohli back to face justice.

Their first trip in July 2004 managed to locate Kohli after a national appeal for help across India, but the sandwich delivery driver fought his extradition for a further three years.

Kohli spent 16 months on the run, even marrying another woman before he was arrested.

Det Supt Alan Betts said: "Kohli did everything he could to avoid justice, and it was only through the determination of Hannah's parents, Hampshire Police, and colleagues in India that he was located and arrested.

"Our thoughts today are with Hannah's family. They, and we, may get some satisfaction that Kohli has been convicted, but it will not bring Hannah back."

Alastair Nesbitt, chief crown prosecutor for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, said: "It was important to bring Hannah's killer to justice.

"We did consider whether we would deploy an alleged confession but came to the conclusion we could not overcome the hurdles to make it admissible to a court in England."

Murdering rapist Kristoff Emmanual Alauya 'will get life'

2008-12-07T15:38:00.000-08:00

A Nigerian man has been told by a judge he will get a life sentence after he admitted raping and murdering a Belfast woman in her home two years ago.

On Wednesday Kristoff Emmanual Alauya, 25, admitted murdering 38-year-old Grace Moore just hours after meeting her in a nightclub in November 2006.

He denied raping her but on Thursday changed his plea to admit his guilt.

The victim was strangled, stabbed and raped. Her daughter found the body when she returned home later that night.

After Alauya pleaded guilty and the jury recorded verdicts of guilty by confession, the judge, Mr Justice Weir, told Alauya the only sentence open to him to pass was one of life imprisonment.

During the trial the jury had heard how Alauya, who had an address at Churchfield in County Carlow in the Republic of Ireland, had come to Belfast just a few days before meeting Ms Moore in Skye nightclub.

They went back to her flat in Erris Grove, west Belfast, where she was attacked.

Alauya then ransacked the flat, stole a number of items, and took a taxi back to a flat in University Avenue in the south of the city.

After thanking the jury for their service, Mr Justice Weir remanded Alauya back into custody and adjourned passing sentence until January 2009.

Horror of Germaine Lindsay, the fourth bomber's family

2008-12-07T15:18:00.000-08:00

Germaine Lindsay has been named by police as one of the bombers.

The family of the fourth bomber Germaine Lindsay have described their horror at the London bomb attacks.

The statement on behalf of his wife Samantha Lewthwaite and his relatives also offered their condolences to the families of the victims.

They describe Germaine, 19, as having a "kind, caring and calming presence about him".

The family, who lived in Aylesbury, Bucks, say had no inkling of his plans to take part in the attacks.

The statement was issued by relatives Andrew, 49, Sabrina, 28, Allan, 25, and Carly, 21.

'Loving husband'

The statement read: "Germaine was a good and loving husband and a brilliant father, who showed absolutely no sign of doing this atrocious crime.

"We as a family had no idea of his plans and are as horrified as the rest of the world.

"We are still in shock about the news we have been given, and are trying to understand why anyone, never mind Germaine, would do such a thing.

"We plead to anyone who has information to help police with their investigations to stamp out these terrorists.

"We would like to thank all those people who have shown us that they are true friends for all their support."

Roof raider Duane Daniels used 'appalling violence'

2008-12-07T15:10:00.000-08:00

A convicted murderer has been given six life terms after admitting his part in a series of violent Post Office and building society raids.

Duane Daniels, 27, led a gang which tied up and tortured people who lived above the banks - they then tunnelled through their floors into premises below.

Daniels, of Lewisham, south-east London, had already committed nearly 1,000 crimes, including burglary, mugging and theft, to fund an expensive crack habit.

One of his victims said he should never be released.

'Gratuitous violence'

Two accomplices, Richard Caines, 26, and Victor Iniodu, 27, both of no fixed address were each given five-year jail terms.

Caines was jailed for attempted robbery and robbery and Iniodu for conspiracy to rob and aggravated burglary.

Daniels is currently serving a life sentence - imposed at the Old Bailey last year - for stabbing nightclub doorman George Napier to death.

The murder occurred shortly after Daniels was released from a 10-year term for beating an elderly woman during a burglary in 1993.

On Tuesday, Judge Kenneth Zucker said Daniels would remain a serious danger to the public.

"Your record is one of appalling, gratuitous and indiscriminate violence."

In one raid on a south London Post office, Daniels thrust a hairbrush into the mouth of Lorna Macleod, now 42, who was living upstairs and slit her buttocks after she was tied up.

Ms Macleod said: "He is obviously violent and volatile, very dangerous and immoral."

Manager kicked

Daniels and his two accomplices also raided the Halifax building society in Whitton, Middlesex in February, 2001.

They tied up three residents in the flat and waited for the bank staff to arrive the next morning.

They used "gratuitous violence", stabbing one of the male occupants in the shoulder.

When the building society manager arrived the next morning, she was dragged by her hair and kicked.

But she managed to trigger the panic alarm and the raiders fled as they heard police sirens.

In all three raids - two on Post Offices in south London and one on the Halifax - the upstairs residents were also robbed.

Daniels admitted his part in all three raids.

Fourth murder charge for Blackpool suspect Stephen Akinmurele

2008-12-07T14:57:00.000-08:00

A man accused of murdering three pensioners in Blackpool has been charged with a a fourth murder.

Stephen Akinmurele, 21, was charged on Monday evening with murder of Dorothy Harris at Glashen Terrace in Ballasalla on the Isle of Man in February 1996.

Mr Akinmurele, who lived on the island between 1988 and 1995, is also accused of murdering an elderly couple, Eric and Joan Boardman, and 75-year-old Jemmimah Cargill in Blackpool.

Strangled

The bodies of Mr and Mrs Boardman, married for 27 years, were discovered by one of their daughters.

Lancashire Police have now re-opened files on fatal arson attacks in north-west England over the last two years.

Mr Akinmurele, a former barman, was arrested on 1 November for the murder of Mr and Mrs Boardman at their home in Blackpool on 31 October. They had been strangled.

On 6 November he was charged with the murder of Ms Cargill, his former landlady, who died in a fire at her home in October.

Unsolved case re-opened

Mr Akinmurele was charged in connection with the fourth death following the setting up of a joint incident room between detectives in Lancashire and on the Isle of Man.

Officers are also looking into the unsolved murder of Majorie Ashton, who was found strangled at her home in Ballsalla in May 1995.

Police are contacting relatives of a number of individuals whose deaths are being reassessed as potentially suspicious in light of new evidence.

They are also appealing for any information about Mr Akinmurele, who lived in the Castletown and Douglas areas before moving to Blackpool.

Update

A suspected serial killer tormented by his obsession with murder hanged himself in prison, an inquest has heard.
A jury at an inquest in Manchester recorded a verdict of suicide on Stephen Akinmurele, 21, who died in August last year.

He was discovered hanging by a ligature from a window in his cell in Manchester prison, formerly known as Strangeways, weeks before he was due to stand trial for murdering three Blackpool pensioners.

The inquest in Manchester heard Nigerian-born Akinmurele left a note to his mother saying: "I couldn't take any more of feeling like how I do now, always wanting to kill."

Akinmurele, a former barman, had been charged with killing his former landlady, 75-year-old Jemima Cargill, who died in a house fire in Blackpool in October 1998.

Manx murders

He was also accused of the murders of a nearby couple, Joan Boardman, 74, and her husband Eric, 76. They were discovered battered to death in the town a month later.

Akinmurele was further charged with the murder of 68-year-old Dorothy Harris, who died in a house fire in Ballasalla on the Isle of Man in February 1996, and 72-year-old Marjorie Ashton, who died in a house fire in the same town in 1995.

Those charges had been dropped due to a technicality.

The inquest was told of two previous suicide attempts and a warning given to prison authorities by his girlfriend, Amanda Fitch, that he was a danger to himself.

"He told me he wished the police had never found him and he didn't want to go to trial," said Miss Fitch in a statement.

A consultant forensic psychiatrist who interviewed Akinmurele and decided he was fit to stand trial said he was "haunted by the images of his victims".

'It's always on my mind'

Prison hospital doctor Andrzej Rozyki said Akinmurele told him he would lie in bed at night thinking about murder.

In the note found in his pocket after his death Akinmurele said: "I know it's not right always thinking like this but it's always on my mind."

"I can't help the way I feel, what I did was wrong - I know that and I feel for them - but it doesn't mean I won't do it again.

"I'll keep on having this feeling I'm going mad because I can't take any more of this and that's why I'm saying goodbye."

After his arrest Akinmurele was placed in a segregated unit and, in August 1999, tried to kill himself by overdosing on medication.

He was put in the prison's health care ward on self harm watch but staff then found he had a sharpened toothbrush and fantasised about taking a female member of staff hostage.

Akinmurele was moved back to the segregated wing, still on self harm watch, where he killed himself two days later.

Killer arsonist Richard Fielding detained indefinitely

2008-12-07T14:46:00.000-08:00

An unemployed disc jockey who set fire to a house in London, killing seven people, has been ordered to be detained indefinitely.

Richard Fielding, 21, was sent to Rampton Hospital in Nottinghamshire under the Mental Health Act after pleading guilty at the Old Bailey to the manslaughter of seven people.

The Recorder of London, Judge Michael Hyam, told Fielding: "If the crime had been committed by anyone with a normal mind, it would have been a crime of desolating wickedness."

Outside court, Kelly Himpfen, 21, the mother of three children who died in the fire, said: "It just goes to show you can get away with murder."

Fielding, from Walthamstow, east London, carried out the attack because of a grudge he bore his former school friend Lee Day, 22, who he claimed had ruined his chances of becoming famous.

He was charged with murder but his plea of guilty to manslaughter due to diminished responsibility was accepted on Monday.

House set alight

Fielding admitted killings Mr Day, his 17-year-old girlfriend Yvonne Colverhouse, his twin daughters Maddison and Rhiannon, aged three, and son Reece, two, Mr Day's mother Sandra, 50, and his grandmother Kathleen, 76.

They died in the early hours of 6 March last year when the three-storey family home in Bellamy Road, Chingford, north-east London, was set alight after petrol was poured through the letter box.

Lee and Sandra's bodies were found in the second floor bedroom where they had gone in a vain attempt to rescue the children.

The only member of the family to escape the fire, grandfather Brian Day, 52, who was rescued by ladder by neighbours from a first floor window before the windows were blown out by an explosion, sat at the back of the court.

Mother lost three children

He was joined by Kelly Himpfen, the 21-year-old mother of the dead children.

She had separated from Lee Day and the children were staying with him for the weekend.

On the night of the fire Fielding filled up a plastic canister in a petrol station and cycled round the corner to the Day house.

Asked by the garage attendant if his car had broken down, he replied: "No, I am going to do a house", but he was not taken seriously.

The petrol can containing Fielding's fingerprint was found in the area the next day and he was arrested.

Orlando Pownall, prosecuting, said: "He seemed elated and buzzing. He was behaving like a small child."

Mr Pownall said: "He said it was revenge. He felt bad. He said 'If it had just been the kids, it would have been easier to say sorry'."

Probation reports spoke of Fielding having paranoid psychosis and narcissistic personality disorder, going back many years.

One doctor said his prognosis was "appalling" and he had little chance of his illness improving.

Fielding denied the attempted murder of Brian Day and the Recorder of London, Michael Hyam, ordered the charge to remain on file.

Mr Pownall said Fielding suffered a severe hand injury during a burglary he carried out with Mr Day and bore a grudge against him.

He believed the injury made him unattractive to women and felt Day had wrecked his dreams of being a top DJ.

It was a resentment which festered and eventually led to seven people, including three children, losing their lives.

BBC News

Stockwell Strangler Kenneth Erskine in appeal bid

2008-12-07T14:42:00.000-08:00

A killer dubbed the Stockwell Strangler has launched a bid to appeal against his murder convictions.

Kenneth Erskine was jailed in 1988 after being found guilty of strangling seven pensioners in south London, but a minimum tariff was not set.

High Court judge Mr Justice Cooke set the minimum term at 40 years during a hearing on Friday.

He also revealed Erskine had lodged an application "for leave to pursue a late appeal against conviction".

Secure hospital

Mr Cooke said the application was being made "on the basis of all the medical evidence which... shows substantial impairment of responsibility of the applicant for his actions by reason of an abnormality of mind".

The Court of Appeal will consider whether his conviction should be upheld or whether it should have been a conviction for manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Mr Cooke said in the meantime there was "no reason not to proceed with setting the minimum term".

The trial judge in 1988 recommended a 40-year minimum term but no exact tariff was set.

Erskine, who was 24 when he was jailed, is currently being treated at a secure hospital.

BBC News

Cannibal gets life for killings

2008-12-07T14:33:00.000-08:00

A convicted killer with "a desire to cannibalise his victims" has been jailed for the "rest of his natural life" after admitting killing two men.

Peter Bryan, 34, was arrested as he was eating part of one man, Brian Cherry, 43, at Mr Cherry's London flat.

He went on to kill Richard Loudwell, 59, at Broadmoor special hospital in April last year, while on remand.

Bryan pleaded guilty on Tuesday at the Old Bailey to two manslaughters on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Judge Giles Forrester said: "You killed on these last two occasions because it gave you a thrill and a feeling of power when you ate flesh.

Hammer killing

"The violence on each occasion was extreme and unpredictable, accompanied by bizarre and sexual overtones."

Judge Forrester said the protection of the public was the most important factor and that life would mean life.

In a statement released after the sentencing Mr Cherry's family called for the death penalty to be reinstated for such crimes.

The prosecution accepted not guilty pleas to murder charges because of the weight of psychiatric evidence.

Bryan was sent to a secure hospital after admitting beating 20-year-old shop assistant Nisha Sheth to death with a hammer as she worked in her family's clothes shop in Chelsea, south-west London, in 1993.

But he was freed in 2001 after applying to a health review tribunal.

He was allowed to live as a care in the community out-patient but went back to Topaz ward a week before he killed again.

It was in February 2004 that he walked out of the mental health unit in Newham, east London, and killed his friend Brian Cherry.

Police were called after neighbours heard screams and weapons, including a hammer, were found strewn around the flat.

'Uniquely dangerous'

Bryan was remanded to Broadmoor special hospital after appearing in court over Mr Cherry's death.

Last April he attacked fellow patient Richard Loudwell, 59, who had admitted the manslaughter of 89-year-old Joan Smyth at her home in Rainham, Kent, in December 2002.

Aftab Jafferjee, prosecuting, said: "The case reveals a chilling insight into the mind of a man who has literally developed an appetite for killing.

"The circumstances of this defendant's offending, the inability of experts to detect when he is at his most dangerous, and his settled desire to cannibalise his victims all combine to make him uniquely dangerous."

A spokesman for the East London and City Mental Health Trust said it had launched an independent inquiry into its treatment of Bryan.

bbc news

Doormen flee newly re-opened Tilbury pub in cops' drugs crackdown

2008-12-07T14:20:00.000-08:00

POLICE swarmed pubs in Thurrock and arrested four people on suspicion of possessing illegal substances during a drugs crackdown.

The officers were backed up by riot-trained police and cops drafted in from as far away as Colchester as they carried out the Friday night-long swoop.

They were also backed by two drugs dogs and a licensing officer from Thurrock Council.

And officers from Kent police were on hand with an Ion Track machine which enables them to swab people’s hands and wallets as well as toilets and surfaces, telling them within seconds if there has been any contact with drugs.

The first pub to be hit was The Old Court House in King Street, Stanford-le-Hope. The drugs dogs picked out two men who were arrested on suspicion of possessing illegal drugs.

Both were taken to Basildon police station and strip-searched where one was found to have several wraps of cocaine.

During the evening officers also hit the Inn on Green and the Railway Tavern in Stanford-le-Hope, the Pompadour and Catcracker pubs in Corringham and the George and Dragon, Linford.

They searched all of the pubs, including toilets and beer gardens, and the Ion Track machine found traces of illegal substances in all of them.

The newly re-opened Anchor in Civic Square, Tilbury, was the last pub of the night to be raided.

As officers approached all of the pub’s door staff ran off and once inside the dogs picked out another punter who was arrested on suspicion of possessing drugs.

Inspector Rachel Wood of Tilbury police hailed the operation, which aimed to disrupt drug supply and use in and around Tilbury, Corringham and Stanford, a success.

She said: “We found traces of drugs in all the pubs and made four arrests.

“We hope this operation reassures the public that we will take strong action to prevent the use and sale of drugs in this area.

“We will not tolerate the use or sale of drugs anywhere, particularly in pubs and clubs where we want people to enjoy themselves safely.”

*Two men, aged 25 and 29 and both from Stanford-le-Hope, arrested in The Old Court House on suspicion of possessing drugs were cautioned. A 39-year-old Tilbury man arrested on suspicion of possessing drugs was released on bail until January.

Forum boost for allotment holders

2008-12-07T14:18:00.000-08:00

CHRISTMAS came a little bit early this year for the Whitehall Lane Allotments Association in Grays who requested funds from the Orchards Community Forum to make improvements to their allotments. The money will provide benefits, including an additional water stand pipe, landscaping, surfacing of footpaths and to finish surfacing work on a car park extension. The funding was agreed at a public residents meeting and a cheque for £3,257 was presented to Dennis Allen, treasurer of the Association.

After a tour of the site, Orchards Forum chairman Mike Stone said: “This funding will make a real difference enhancing the site for plot holders, their families and the local community.”

Stolen whiskey could be on sale in borough

2008-12-07T14:17:00.000-08:00

POLICE believe whiskey and toys stolen during a Thurrock robbery made at gunpoint are being sold across the borough.

Detectives have now issued pictures of the imported American Wild Turkey bourbon and toy snails, identical to those taken during the hold-up.

Officers have already recovered 100 cases of the drink and a box of the Beanstalk Activity toys, which were being delivered to Argos.

But police are still hunting another 1,400 cases of the stolen whiskey and a whole container of toys, together worth tens of thousands of pounds.

Investigating officer Det Con Kelly Allen said: “This haul is unusual and very distinctive. “We are convinced they are still in the area and might be offered cheaply at boot sales or markets.

“The bourbon is an unusual American brand not found in many shops over here. We also want to hear from anyone with information about the robbery.”

The lorry driver had stopped at the Moto Services on the M25, at Thurrock, in the early hours of Wednesday, November 5, when he was threatened at gunpoint by the two raiders.

They made him drive to a lay-by, on the B184 between Ongar and Fyfield, where they tied him up and stole his load before fleeing, leaving him stranded.

Anyone with information about the robbery, or the stolen items, is asked to contact Det Con Allen on 0300 3334444 or call Crimestoppers on 0800 5551111.

A 49-year-old man from Wickford was arrested on suspicion of handling stolen goods in connection with the robbery. He has been released on bail until March 3.
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Man cut from town crash

2008-12-07T14:16:00.000-08:00

THE air ambulance was called and firefighters had to cut a man free from the wreckage of his car after a crash in Stanford-le-Hope this morning.

The incident happend at 10.40am in Billet Lane when firefigjhters from Orsett, Grays and Corringham were called to the scene.

They used cutting equipment to release a man trapped by his injuries following a two vehicle collision. A woman had already been released before crews arrived and placed in the care of paramedics.

The Air Ambulance was called to take the injured to hospital.

THREAT to national security and a dramatic walk-out by a councillor were the talking points as the long-running saga of a Thurrock airfield drew towar

2008-12-07T14:14:00.000-08:00

PLANNING councillors have rejected their officers’ advice and ploughed through green belt regulations in a bid to tidy up a borough eyesore.

Members of Thurrock Council’s planning committee have given permission for St Clere’s Golf Club at Stanford-le-Hope to replace a historic but derelict barn with a new function hall.

The club had already won permission to demolish the listed barn but under green belt rules, needed councillors to buck the system to replace it.

And they got the thumbs up from councillors who said the site was in desperate need of tidying up.

Councillor Anne Cheale said: “I welcome this application. I drive by this site every day and I see a tip. It’s dreadful and appalling, derelict and awful.

“This is an application that would improve the whole area, we’ve given permission for other applicants at Langdon Hills and Orsett Hall and we should support this.”

Councillor Steve Veryard put his weight behind the plan saying: “There are special circumstances here. We talk about new buildings being detrimental to the area but this tip is detrimental to the area.”

Councillor Gerard Rice added: “This site is a ghastly mess and I’m for something being put there to improve upon it," though he raised concerns about soundproofing in order to protect nearby residents.

Councillor Peter Harris supported the idea of a new build but added: “I would rather this be a clubhouse with changing rooms rather than a function hall.”

Officers had recommended refusal but the councillors voted in favour of the new build with conditions that neighbours were protected from noise and the whole site around the gold club was tidied up.

THURROCK Council has launched a probe to found out why an action plan to improve a borough care home failed.

2008-12-07T14:09:00.000-08:00

THREAT to national security and a dramatic walk-out by a councillor were the talking points as the long-running saga of a Thurrock airfield drew towards a conclusion.

The latest meeting of Thurrock Council’s planning committee has given approval to a package of measures surrounding controversial businessman Terry Holding’s airfield at Parkers Farm Road, Orsett.

On a night of drama local councillor Mike Revell walked out on the meeting claiming local people were being gagged – but by doing so missed the opportunity to speak on their behalf during the debate that followed.

He came in for heavy criticism from councillors, including members of his own Conservative group for his actions prior to a series of debates that included discussion on threats to national security by terrorists using the airfield.

Mr Holding’s counsel, barrister Kevin Leigh, told the meeting that the airfield was a prime site for terrorists to infiltrate the country because of its proximity to Europe and it was essential that the council gave permission for a mobile home on the site to become a permanent fixture to allow 24/7 security on the site.

In return for the permission, and other concessions by the council - including granting approval for a 720 hard surface runway and an extension to Mr Holding’s own home – Mr Leigh said the airfield would be operated under restrictions laid down by councillors.

The airfield has been a longstanding controversial issue for the council since 1999, with Mr Holding taking several planning decisions and enforcement notices to appeal but after Thursday’s meeting, peace appears to have broken out.

At the opening of discussion on Mr Holding’s applications, councillor Revell informed committee chairman Stuart St Clair Haslam that he did not believe that the Orsett Community Forum has been properly consulted and asked for discussion on the applications to be deferred.

He was told that there had been adequate notice of the applications and ample opportunity for comments to be received and when he tried to speak, he was ruled out of order by the meeting chairman and told, as a ward councillor, he could only speak during actual debate on each of the four applications.

At that point councillor Revell walked out.

When the debate began Mr Leigh said: “The time has finally come that the council can fully get hold of the airfield with restrictions it has wanted since 1999.

“My client is prepared to give the council what it wants in return for co-operation on some matters.”

He went on to explain that the mobile building on the site was required to be upgraded to be the residence of people responsible for security on the site. “People in that mobile home have to make sure that the airfield is not abused by somebody,” he said.

“This is an unmanned airfield relatively close to Europe. It would be easy for terrorists to fly in and drop off, and from here it is easy to fly in and out of controlled airspace.”

Councillor St Clair Haslam then opened debate by saying: “It is a matter for councillor Revell that he left the chamber without making representations on behalf of his residents,” and other councillors were then critical of the Orsett ward councillor’s actions.

Councillor Barry Palmer picked up on a potential terrorist threat, saying: “There is a national security issue here and exceptional circumstances because of that.” Later in the debate he added: It’s about time we got our heads round this, the applicants have compromised, we should compromise and stop making heavy weather of this. We should be proud to have this activity in Thurrock, we are trying to push the borough forwards, not backwards.”

Councillor Gerard Rice said: "Where is the problem? The applicant is being more than generous."

Councillor Barry Lawrence, who described dealing with Kings Farm as “wading through a lot of chocolate” added: “This is an issue we have been going on about for more years than I care to remember. This is an airfield, not Thurrock International.

"I am quite disappointed that we have not had the views of the residents of Orsett and Bulphan because the local councillor chose not to tell us but now is the time for us to control this airstrip for the residents.

"This is now the perfect place for us to stop.”

Councillor Lawrence was the only councillor to vote against one of the four applications, a proposal for an extension to Mr Holding’s home.

That, and plans for the hardsurfaced runway, the stationing of the mobile home and changes to the use of land near an aircraft hanger for domestic use, were all approved.

In return a number of conditions have been imposed on the airfield.

These include:
There shall be no micro-light or helicopter movements except in an emergency; there will be no training flights; there will be no more than four flights in or out of the airfield between 11pm and 7am except in an emergency; there will be no more than 50 flights in or out of the airfield in any day; no more than 11 aircraft will be allowed in covered storage and no more than 14 outside; there will be no more than one air show a year and that will be limited between 9am and 7pm.

Council launch probe into why care home plan failed

2008-12-07T14:07:00.000-08:00

THURROCK Council has launched a probe to found out why an action plan to improve a borough care home failed.

After a surprise visit to Collins House in Springhouse Road, Corringham, the only care home in the borough now run directly by the council, a government inspector gave the 45 bed home a “poor” and zero star rating.

The news shocked councillor Amanda Arnold, Thurrock’s Cabinet member for Adult Social Care, who said an action plan put in place to improve the home, where residents are charged £584.92 for their care, had clearly not been implemented.

She said: “The previous action plan, instated after the last inspection, would have led to Collins House becoming a two-star home.

“An internal investigation is currently underway to determine why this did not happen. There can be no excuses and we are taking immediate action to address the requirements of the inspector.

“We are actively monitoring the situation as it progresses and expect when the follow-up inspection takes place in the new year, the Commission for Social Care will find that Collins House has improved immeasurably.”

The home’s management team has now been “revised” says a council statement and a new acting manager appointed in place of Mrs Judith Anne McKiernan who was in charge at the time of the inspection.

The inspector’s report comes in the wake of a Thurrock Gazette special investigation into all care homes across the borough in January.

At the time campaigner John Williams, director of Thurrock Disability Network called for a full-scale inquiry into the situation, saying: “The conditions some of our most vulnerable live in are appalling. Where is their dignity? In fact where are their human rights?"

The council’s Corporate Director of Community Well-being, Lorna Payne, says improvements at Collins House, which currently has 32 residents, are now well under way.

She recently visited the home and said: “I was very impressed by what I found. The action plan is well underway. Residents were happy and so were the relatives I spoke with.

“There’s a very positive feel about Collins House; a good atmosphere with friendly and clean surroundings. Obviously there’s still work to do but I am confident the staff are committed to improvement, ably led by Kay Kimmings the acting manager, and the actions we have taken are already having a positive effect.”

The surprise inspection in September, came less than a year after the home’s previous inspection when its managers were given a list of things to improve. At the time it was said the staff “lacked direction and appropriate supervision” and the person in charge needed to review manageemnt systems.

The home wasn’t officially graded on that visit.

However, the latest report, by lead inspector Michelle Love damns the home as “poor” and makes 14 “requirements” and eight “recommendations” for action.

Among her criticisms were shortfalls in the keeping of records of patient care and “inappropriate” comments about residents in records. There was a lack of appropriate training for staff, expected staffing levels were not always maintained.

Some criticism of Mrs McKiernan’s management was detailed in the report, though it was noted that the majority of staff were complimentary about her.

Residents and their families were also approached by the inspector and the home generally received praise, including the comments “the staff are always cheerful and nothing is too much trouble” and “I have nothing but praise for the care my relative receives in Colins House.”

A council statement said that all the issues identified in the latest report are already being addressed as a matter of urgency, and both residents and their relatives have been informed of the situation.

Head injury most likely cause of bleeding says baby J death trial doctor

2008-12-07T14:06:00.000-08:00

BLEEDING that led to a baby’s death was unlikely to have been caused by a rare blood disorder, an expert medical witness claimed.

Speaking at the trial of Joanne Mallinder, who is accused of killing her son, Dr Brian Harding, a consultant neuro-pathologist at Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, said the bleeding in baby Jack's skull was most likely caused by head injuries.

He also told a jury that disorders which could have caused the bleed were extremely rare.

Mallinder, 37, is accused of causing the injuries to Jack at their former home in Falcon Avenue, Grays.

The baby, aged three months at the time, suffered brain damage, as well as fractures to his arm, shoulder, thigh bone, knee and right ankle.

He never recovered and died 13 months.

Dr Harding told Basildon Crown Court today: “There are extremely rare cases of blood clotting disorders or metabolic disorders which can produce hemorrhages in the brain.

“But the vast majority of subjural hemorrhages are caused by head injuries of some type.”

Mallinder, now of Leicester Road, Tilbury, denies murder.

The trial continues.

Court told of bedroom violence in domestic cop assault case

2008-12-07T14:04:00.000-08:00

A POLICEWOMAN, alleged to have been beaten up by her domestic violence cop boyfriend, denied threatening to kill herself.

Insp Amanda Lowe, 33, also denied attacking her former partner Det Sgt Adrian Ramdat and trying to make him jealous by showing him texts from a married senior ranking officer who she also had a relationship with.

Richard Atchley, defending, said City of London Police inspector Ms Lowe had been with a string of policeman lovers, seeing three different officers she worked with in the space of six months.

Jurors were told she tried to make Ramdat jealous by showing him texts from the senior officer, who was also the defendant's boss, in a bid to drive him into a jealous rage.

Mr Atchley told Basildon Crown Court following a bust up between the pair at Ms Lowe's Chafford Hundred home on August 30 last year, Ramdat stormed out of the house.

But he told the court the married father-of-three returned to the house to get his things from a bedroom when he found Ms Lowe who threatened to kill herself.

Cross examining Ms Lowe, Mr Atchley said: “You're then in the bedroom barricading the door and he's trying to get in for two reasons, one because you said you were going to kill yourself.

“And it's not the first time you had said you were going to kill yourself.

“Then he comes in and you attack him and you go for it, and he does pick you up and throws you onto the bed.

“You bounced off the bed some way and that's when you broke your ankle.”

Ms Lowe admitted having relationships with three policeman.

But the inspector denied trying to make him jealous, claiming that Ramdat, formerly of Hawkins Drive, Chafford Hundred insisted she told him him about the text messages.

She also denied attacking 40-year-old Ramdat or threatening to kill herself.

Ramdat, who is currently suspended from the City of London Police where he was a domestic violence cop, denies one count of assault by beating and one count of assault.

The trial continues.

Chadwell phone mast plan fails to win councillors over

2008-12-07T14:01:00.000-08:00

THURROCK councillors have called on mobile phone operator 02 to think again over plans for a new radio station in Chadwell St Mary.

At a meeting of the council’s planning committee councillors decided not to give their approval to the 45 foot high structure on land at the junction of Riverview, Woodview and Chadwell by-pass, instead asking 02 to find a new site.

That was despite the fact that the application had previously been rejected and 02 urged to come up with changes – which were included in the second application.

That prompted planning chairman councillor Stuart St Clair Haslam to warn the council risked incurring costs through a possible appeal, only to be told by former committee chairman Steve Veryard: “I’m not going to sit here and be bullied by these people.”

Councillor Barrie Lawrence also called on the committee to stick by its decision, saying: “Come the end of the day we sometimes have to take a chance in life. We may lose, we may win but we should not let the threat of appeal cloud our views.

“This is a real blot on the landscape and our residents expect us to take that chance.”

In its application O2 said that it had looked at a number of sites in the area, including Chadwell Place, Sandy Lane, Bowerman Road, Rigby Gardens and the Daniels pub in Longhouse Lane.

None were considered suitable and an alternative, locating the mast at nearby Thurrock & Basildon College had been declined by the college because of its own development plans.

However, ward councillor Tony Fish spoke to the meeting and said: “There has been no consultation with ward councillors by the applicant. There is a need for this kind of installation in Chadwell but this is not the right place to put it.”

Councillor Joy Redsell raised fears over health issues and the siting of mobile masts. “Nobody knows the risk of these masts, this is the wrong place, it’s too near schools,” she said.

Councillor Peter Harris pointed out that the phone company was in a difficult position because “everybody has a mobile phone or wants one and these mast have to go somewhere.”

But it was the decision of the committee that River View is not that place and they have urged the operators to find a new location.

Vikings invasion curtailed by Year Four pupils

2008-12-07T13:59:00.000-08:00

YEAR Four pupils at Arthur Bugler School in Stanford-le-Hope had to fend off an invasion of Vikings this term.

They have been learning about Vikings which included a visit from a “virtual Viking”.

They saw chain mail and Viking coins being made, played Viking spear wrestling, as well as finding out about the everyday life and artefacts used by Vikings.

The highlight of the day was a battle in which everyone joined in, using the shields they had made in school.

Cops mount festive crackdown at Lakeside

2008-12-07T13:58:00.000-08:00

POLICE have launched their biggest ever Christmas crackdown at Lakeside shopping centre.

The blitz on thieves, codenamed Operation Christmas Presence, will see extra officers drafted in from around the county to patrol the mall, its carparks and nearby retail parks.

Their numbers will be further bolstered by Essex Police’s mounted unit.

The automated number plate recognition intercept team, who can tell within seconds whether a vehicle is untaxed or uninsured, or has been used in a crime, will also be joining them.

Police hope the crackdown, launched yesterday, will drive crooks away from the centre and stop car break-ins and pickpockets targeting shoppers.

Supt Ivor Harvey warned crooks not to bother visiting the centre.

He said: “The message we want to get across is simple: shop at Lakeside and we will look out for your personal safety.

“Commit a crime at Lakeside, and we will find you and deal with you in the appropriate way.

“Lakeside has always been a safe place to shop, and we are here to make sure it stays that way. We have gained a vast amount of specialist resources for this operation from various parts of the force.

“But it will still be business as usual in the towns, which will still have the same number of officers ensuring their neighbourhoods are just as safe.”

During the campaign, shoppers will also be given advice about how to avoid becoming a victim of crime.

January deadline looms for energy performance certificates on commercial properties

2008-12-07T13:56:00.000-08:00

OWNERS of commercial properties in Thurrock need to obtain a Commercial Energy Performance Certificate (CEPC) by January.

Research undertaken by Countrywide Energy Assessors indicates that many owners of commercial properties are not aware that they will soon need to obtain the certificate for any property that they intend to offer for sale or to let.

CEPC’s have been required on actual sales or lettings of commercial properties since April for some larger properties, but from the beginning of January 2009 a certificate will be needed at the point any property is placed on the market.

The requirement is part of the government’s policy to reduce energy consumption and help the battle against climate change.

Local Countrywide Qualified Commercial Energy Assessors Stephen Norton FRICS Dip NDEA or David Cook FRICS DipNDEA can be contacted on 0208 5033701 or by email stephen.norton@cwsurveyors.co.uk or david.cook@cwsurveyors.co.uk.

Art students join Royal Opera House designers in making sets for new production

2008-12-07T13:54:00.000-08:00

ARTISTIC students from the Grays School Media Arts College have been busy working on sets with designers from the Royal Opera House.

BTEC Art and Design students are designing a real working set for “The Voices of the Future” project due to be premiered in March 2009.

The students have been given the brand new opera, written for primary school children from Kent, and have been tasked with the exciting prospect of designing for the project.

Head of Art at the Hathaway Road-based school, Serena McKenzie, said: “We have given our students real vocational experience, something that can excite and challenge the students, but something that they can use the experience of in later life.

“To have the Royal Opera House as one of your clients on your CV at any age is a designers dream.”

The students are due to hand over the designs at a special exchange on Monday December 8 at the Covent Garden venue, when they will meet the young performers and watch a rehearsal of the project, before watching a special schools performance of Hansel and Gretel

Expert witness claims baby Jack's injuries could not have resulted from natural causes

2008-12-07T13:52:00.000-08:00

THE CHRONIC brain injuries which killed a three-month-old baby could not have resulted from natural causes, an expert medical witness claimed.

Joanne Mallinder, 37, is accused of murdering her son Jack, by hitting his head on a solid surface at their home in Falcon Avenue, Grays.

He suffered severe internal bleeding causing the brain damage, along with fractures to his arm, shoulder, thigh bone, knee and right ankle. These were allegedly caused by Mallinder.

The jury at Basildon Crown Court heard evidence from Professor Peter Clayton, who has been a child consultant at Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital since 1987.

The doctor checked over Baby Jack on February 16, 2006, after he was rushed to intensive care at the London hospital.

Stephen Harvey QC, prosecuting, asked him whether there was any evidence the internal bleeding and fractured bones could have been caused by natural genetic disorders.

Professor Clayton said: “There was no evidence of a disorder that could have led to bleeding into the brain or render the bones brittle.”

Jack never recovered full consciousness after allegedly suffering brain damage at the hands of his mother, three days before he was checked out by Professor Clayton.

He died 13 months later.

Mallinder, now of Leicester Road, Tilbury, denies murder.

The trial continues.

Union pledges to fight job cuts in Grays

2008-12-07T13:47:00.000-08:00

UNIONS representing workers at the tax office in Crown Road, Grays, have condemned a decision to close it and pledged to work to overturn the decision.

Public and Commercial Services Union South East Essex branch secretary, Fiona Staff claimed: “Services are already suffering in the Revenue and Customs service with a drive to axe 25,000 jobs and close over 200 offices, leading to backlogs of post and reports that the department can only chase up those who owe £20,000 or more in tax due to a lack of resources.

“17,000 jobs have already been cut since March 2004 and we fear that skilled and experienced staff will effectively be forced out of a job.

"We are deeply concerned that the ability to collect revenues and provide tax advice to the public and local businesses would be further undermined by the closure.”

Deputy branch Secretary, Andy Lord, added: “Customs and Revenue are trying to claim that no one will be losing their jobs but for most of the staff here the work is being moved elsewhere and there is no other Offices that they can easily travel to with alternative work available.

“That looks like losing their jobs to us and we are going to fight to retain these jobs in Grays.”

Mature students take a trip down the information super highway

2008-12-07T13:45:00.000-08:00

A THURROCK school has been offering ICT sessions to mature students in a bid to promote lifelong learning.

The Grays School Media Arts College has played host to students from the Thurrock group, University of the “Third Age” (U3A).

The students, who are all over 60, attended the after school hours sessions and learnt a range of skills depending on previous experience.

U3A organiser, Maggie Whitbread, said: “Our students were very grateful, some of them just needed the confidence to know they wouldn’t break the PC by using it, whereas others wanted more advanced skills like website design and video/picture editing.”

The course was divided into three levels of experience, beginners, intermediate and advanced, with over 70 students attending the nine week course.

Further sessions are planned for next year.

The workshops were provided as part of an ongoing community programme supported by the schools specialist college status.

Jealous police officer attacked lover court hears

2008-12-07T13:44:00.000-08:00

A married police sergeant attacked the inspector he was having an affair with because he was jealous about a previous relationship she had with a "high-ranking" officer, a court heard today.

Prosecutors told a jury at Basildon Crown Court Detective Sergeant Adrian Ramdat, 40, formerly of Chafford Hundred became "obsessed" about Inspector Amanda Lowe's previous relationship.

Jurors heard that three officers were members of the City of London Police.

The name of the high-ranking officer was not revealed.

Ramdat, whose address cannot be published for legal reasons, denies twice assaulting Ms Lowe at her Chafford Hundred home during the summer of 2007.

The trial continues

Thurrock man, Dean Smith, santa fun run for stillborn daughter

2008-12-07T13:43:00.000-08:00

A THURROCK man will take part in a charity fun run in memory of his stillborn daughter who died 21 years ago.

Dean Smith, 38, of Kings Street, Stanford-le-Hope, is getting into the festive spirit in memory of daughter, Laura, who would be celebrating her 21st birthday in February.

On Sunday December 7 2008, Dean will be dressing up as Santa to take part in the 5k Santa Run in Greenwich Park, London, to raise awareness of stillbirth and raise funds towards research to help prevent stillbirths in the future.

Dean said: “My wife, Maria works for Sands, the stillbirth and neonatal death charity and when she told me that 50 people would be running in Santa suits to raise funds for their Why17? Campaign, it was definitely a case of count me in.

“Incredibly 17 babies are stillborn or die shortly after birth every single day in the UK, and although we lost Laura over 20 years ago, the pain doesn’t go away.

“In those days you were pretty much left on your own to deal with your loss, but thankfully, with organisations such as Sands, things are very different now.”

To find out more, please visit Dean’s Just Giving Pages at www.justgiving.com/deanosmith4laura or www.why17.org.

Classical diva will sing carols at Lakeside

2008-12-07T13:41:00.000-08:00

CLASSICAL singer Eleanor Purcell who is known as the White Van Diva will be at Lakeside Shopping Centre in West Thurrock on Friday December 12.

Eleanor, who is from Hertfordshire will be singing a mixture of well known traditional and popular Christmas songs and carols as well as original material from 6pm onwards.

She said: “I love performing live and am keen to raise my profile in an attempt to bring classical music and opera to a wider audience.”

There will be a collection for Cancer Research.

New campaign to help scouts learn about dangers of railway crime

2008-12-07T13:40:00.000-08:00

SCOUTS in Grays are to learn about the dangers of railway crime in a new campaign launched by The Scout Association and Serco today.

The new Cub Scout Personal Safety badge is being launched across Britain to educate young people, their families, and the wider community about the importance of safety at train stations, and the dangers of trespassing on the railway.

The announcement comes as new data from the British Transport Police (BTP) reveals Grays as number three in a list of the 10 areas worst affected by rail crime in Britain over the past year.

A total of 59 rail offences were reported by the BTP between September 1, 2007 and August 31, 2008.

These offences include stone throwing, railway trespass and obstructing the railway without intent.

The majority of the rail crime incidents reported have been caused by young people either carrying out criminal acts – or who are unaware of the dangers.

A Personal Safety badge resources pack has been developed to help Cub Scout leaders in Grays demonstrate how to be safe and responsible on and around railways.

The pack is endorsed by British Transport Police and includes a number of activities and information around: Understanding rail warning signs, electricity dangers on railway, reporting railway crime, personal safety while travelling by rail and planning a rail journey.

Green light for £53m new hospital in Grays

2008-12-07T13:39:00.000-08:00

A NEW community hospital in Thurrock costing £53 million has been given the go-ahead.

East of England NHS - the strategic health authority responsible for deciding future healthcare needs in the region - has approvedplans submitted by NHS South West Essex.

East of England NHS agreed that current community hospital and healthcare facilities in Thurrock restricted patient choice and were not capable of meeting future population pressures.

The hospital will be located on land on the northern fringe of Grays town centre. Thurrock Thames Gateway Development Corporation has assumed responsibility for site assembly. Some of the land has already been purchased and the Corporation is in negotiation with other land owners to secure the whole site.

Barbara Stuttle, deputy chief executive of South West Essex Primary Care Trust said: “This is a fantastic opportunity to be able to develop 21st Century healthcare facilities which will enable us to provide high quality services to the population of Thurrock.

"This will become the flagship for modern healthcare in a modern facility provided by excellent staff.”

Tom Gardiner, director of delivery at the Development Corporation said: “A new health facility in Grays will make a massive contribution towards the development corporation’s goal of providing modern community infrastructure for the people of Thurrock. "The site will provide a superb location and with appropriate development will make a significant visual statement at the northern gateway to the town.”

Plans for the hospital were originally put forward in 2006 and were updated by the Primary care Trust in July 2008. It is expected include diagnostic services such X-ray, ultrasound and phlebotomy. There will also a community walk-in and minor injury unit, sexual health service, outpatient services, endoscopy, women and children’s services, intermediate and rehabilitation care as well as dental and pharmacy services.

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Top domestic violence cop accused of attacking lover

2008-12-07T13:37:00.000-08:00

A DOMESTIC violence cop violently assaulted and threatened to kill his lover because he couldn't get over her previous affair with a high ranking officer, a court heart yesterday.

Det Sgt Adrian Ramdat, 40, first met Insp Amanda Lowe, who were both serving officers with the City of London police, during a detective training course in April last year.

Ramdat left his wife and two children and moved into Ms Lowe's home in Carew Close, Chafford Hundred, just two weeks later.

John Caudle, prosecution counsel, told the jury at Basildon Crown Court how their relationship became increasingly turbulent and eventually erupted in violence after Ms Lowe told Ramdat about her former affair with a detective chief superintendent.

Mr Caudle said: "She did not think it would be a problem because that relationship had ended before she started seeing Ramdat.

"Unfortunately it transpired that Ramdat was a possessive person who became obsessive with Amanda's previous relationship and he had a big issue with the fact he was a detective sergeant whereas her previous boyfriend had been a very high ranking officer."

In the months leading up to the first alleged attack on July 7 last year, Ramdat would frequently fly into a rage and storm out of their home following arguments over her ex-lover and at one point he made her delete his number from her phone and throw away belongings he had left behind.

Ramdat, who headed up the City of London Police's domestic violence unit before he was suspended following the allegations, also verbally abused her calling her a "slag", and claimed her ex-lover was making his life difficult a work.

But she would always forgive him after calmed down, returned and apologised for his behaviour.

Mr Caudle said: "Ramdat would call Amanda telling her she was a slag and she was disgusting and he kept pointing out to Amanda that he was the second married man she had been with."

He was also jealous that she would meet her colleague Det Insp Roy West for breakfast on occasions and accused her of being chatted up by all the men she worked with and said all they wanted to do was sleep with her.

At one point Ramdat cornered Ms Lowe and grabbed her by the throat before screaming in her face during another argument over her ex-partner.

Mr Caudle said: "She was so scared. She had never seen this level of violence in Ramdat before and she thought Ramdat was going to hit her. "

On the day of the first alleged attack Mr Caudle said another row broke out over her previous relationship and Ramdat became so angry he pushed her down on the bed before picking her up and throwing her back on to the bed and holding his hand over her mouth.

Mr Caudle said: "He pushed her on to a bed with his hand over her mouth so she was unable to breath.

"He would then relax his grip over her mouth so she could breath and then reapplied pressure so she could not breath.

"Then Ramdat realised she may have actually stopped breathing so he went and got her asthma inhaler and gave it to her."

For three hours Ramdat, during which he threatened to ruin her work life and hurt her mother and brother, he ignored her pleas to leave the flat.

Mr Caudle said: "He said he was used to being nasty to people and he knew what to do.

"He also told Amanda she should not underestimate him."

Despite her ordeal and the fact she was left with marks to her arm, Amanda took him back.

Ramdat is alleged to have "completely lost it" again on August 30 last year when he grabbed Ms Lowe by the throat and squeezed it as he pushed her up against the wall.

Mr Caudle said: "She thought she was going to die. She said she was more frightened than she had ever been in her life."

He eventually go but when she tried to escape he grabbed her by the throat again and pushed her back on to the bed.

At one stage during the alleged attack she fell to the ground and broke her ankle.

Ms Lowe, who secretly called her friend who alerted police, was then repeatedly threatened by Ramdat, who told her: "If you tell anyone I will come back and kill you. I will kill you."

The alleged victim was so terrified of Ramdat she didn't give his name to police straight away.

Ramdat was arrested the following day and when he was questioned about the first alleged attack he claimed she had assaulted him during a booze fuelled argument.

In relation to the second allegation he said he was so concerned about Ms Lowe's mental state after she barricaded herself in her bedroom, he forced his way into the room. And while he was in the room she fell and broke her ankle while assaulting him.

Ramdat denies one count of assault by beating and one count of assault.

The trial continues.

Part time borough soldiers honoured for service

2008-12-07T13:35:00.000-08:00

TWO part time soldiers from Thurrock have been honoured for their military service.

Local Reserve Forces Volunteers and Grays residents Captain Paul Herlihy and Corporal Phil Pobgee of 124 Petroleum Squadron Royal Logistics Corp have been presented with service medals.

Paul, 41, has been awarded the Operational Services Medal in recognition of an eight month tour of duty in Afghanistan’s Helmand province. He served with the 2nd Battalion, The Yorkshire Regiment (Green Howards).

“I am proud to have received the medal as this has been a culmination of all my training with the Territorial Army (TA) since joining in 1985 and has provided me with the opportunity to put into practice my skills,” said Paul who runs a building construction company in civilian life.

“I feel that the operational experience in Afghanistan and working alongside regular counterparts has given me a wider experience and outlook on my role of captain going forward.” Phil, 43, who has been a member of the TA for 12 years is a combat medical technician has been awarded the Volunteer Reserves Service Medal.

“I am proud to have as served as a Territorial Army soldier for the past 12 years. I have taken part in a wide variety of training, exercises and fund raising activities in both the UK and abroad. "I especially enjoy the community support activities which my Squadron get involved in, it makes me feel that I am giving something back to the community. “I am very pleased to receive this medal in recognition of my service,” said Phil who is a builder.

Speaking at the medal parade Air Commodore Batt said: “Presenting medals to members of 124 Petroleum Squadron has been a very special occasion. The citations highlight what a great credit the Squadron is not only to 151 Regiment but to One Army as a whole.”

151 London Transport Regiment, to which the Squadron belongs, is London’s only transport regiment and can trace its history back to the foundation of The Royal Wagon Train, raised in 1799 for active service in Flanders, and recruited from cavalrymen or suitable civilians.

Soldiers from the Regiment have served in the Crimea, Boer war, at the Somme and Passchendale in WWI, El Alamein in WWII, the Gulf war, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Borough child services rapped over report into abuse

2008-12-07T13:33:00.000-08:00

AS the trial of a Thurrock mum for the alleged murder of her baby son entered its second week, the borough’s Local Safeguarding Children Board found itself branded as “inadequate” over its handling of another child abuse case.

With Thurrock Council already preparing itself for a possible backlash over the death of ‘baby Jack’ - and in the shadow of national controversy over ‘baby P’ who died in Haringey - the Thurrock children’s protection group found itself named in an Ofsted report as one of 38 authorities adversely judged by the watchdog childcare organisation.

The council has refused to comment on the death of baby Jack, though it has been confirmed that the child was handed back to its parents after being taken into care for possible adoption at birth.

Aged just three months, the child suffered injuries described as “horrific” in court and he had six broken bones and serious head injuries. He died 13 months later.

The Gazette understands the council plans to make a detailed statement about baby Jack at the conclusion of the trial.

However, it now finds itself linked with criticism over child protection procedures following children’s deaths.

The case report that was bungled in Thurrock remains a secret, but it could be the case of ‘baby G’ who died by being smothered, or ‘baby F’ described as a “concealed pregnancy”. Details of both were discussed at a Local Safe-guarding Children Board meeting on April 17 this year.

And at council’s Children’s Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee on July 1 this year a “12 month update of the work of the Thurrock Local Safeguard-ing Children Board” report was produced by its manager David Watts.

He wrote: “Since April 2007 Ofsted have been analysing the quality of Serious Case Review Reports.

“Thurrock has had one report analysed by Ofsted in that time, and is currently in the process of completing another Serious Case Review for submission to external bodies.

“Ofsted judged the first Review inadequate.

On Ofsted’s findings, he added: ”A major contributory factor was that the report was not analytical enough in content, and did not accurately reflect the level of debate at the Serious Case Review Panel.”

Ofsted published the results of its report “Learning lessons, taking action” this week, warning that dozens of local authorities around the country are taking inadequate action to avoid repetition of serious abuse cases.

Independent chair of the Thurrock Local Safeguarding Children Board, Amy Weir, said of Ofsted’s report: “Thurrock’s independently chaired Local Safeguarding Child Board (LSCB) submitted a Serious Case Review report in August 2007.

“Even though this report was completed prior to the introduction by Ofsted of criteria to assess the quality of reviews, the inspectors stated that it did not fully meet all of those criteria.

“The LSCB was not required to resubmit the report, however partners felt that it should be redone.

“A meeting was requested with the inspectors and the report was rewritten addressing the new criteria. Inspectors’ comments were favourable on the resubmitted report.”

Local Safeguarding Children Boards which include local authorities, health bodies, the police and others, are required to carry out serious case reviews when a child dies and abuse or neglect is known or suspected.

They must also carry out a serious case review when a child sustains a potentially life-threatening injury or serious and permanent impairment to health and development through abuse or neglect, or when a child has been subject to particularly serious sexual abuse.

Serious review cases must also be considered when a child’s parent has been murdered, or a child has been killed by a parent with a mental illness.

Also when the case gives rise to concerns about inter-agency working to protect children from harm.

A number of large public and voluntary organisations have signed up to be part of Thurrock LSCB.

These include:
Thurrock Council
Essex Police
South West Essex Primary Care Trust
South Essex Partnership Trust
Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals Trust
East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust
NSPCC
Thurrock Community Voluntary Services
Child And Family Court Advisory and Support Service
Connexions in Essex
National Probation Service - Essex
Thurrock Youth Offending Team
Thurrock Primary Heads Association
Thurrock Association of Secondary Schools and Colleges

Shell Haven safety incentive scheme benefits cancer charity

2008-12-07T13:31:00.000-08:00

STAFF at the Shell Haven oil refinery in Coryton, donated £1,500 to Southend Hospital’s Cancer Services charity as part of a Health and Safety incentive scheme.

The presentation was made by Mick Luckin, site manager at Shell Haven to Barbara Warner, senior fundraising manager from Southend Hospital Charity, Cancer Services, at a special event at the Manorway site today.

The donation was in recognition of continuing excellent safety performance by company and contractor staff at Shell Haven.

The company's safety incentive scheme allows staff to propose charities.

Southend Hospital’s, Cancer Services charity was nominated by Shell Haven administrator Jayne Purvor.

Senior fundraising manager at the hospital, Barbara Warner, said: “My thanks to all the staff at Shell Haven for their very generous donation of £1,500 with special thanks to Jayne for nominating Cancer Services at Southend University Hospital as the beneficiaries of the excellent safety award.

“Charitable donations help us to provide additional equipment and patient comforts that cannot be provided by the NHS and we are very grateful to all concerned.”

'No' is the message over more borough traveller sites

2008-12-07T13:27:00.000-08:00

MEMBERS of Thurrock Council have repeated a message to the East of England Regional Assembly that they don’t want any more travellers in the borough.

At a full council meeting a motion by councillor Anne Cheale proposed that the council would not accept the establishment of any further traveller sites in Thurrock.

She said: “I believe this is an issue that residents expect us to take a stand on.

“This is not a motion that is anti-traveller. we should take our fair share - and do!”

There was all party support for the motion with BNP councillor Emma Colgate saying: “Travellers sites are not very cohesive for our communities.”

'12 Days' show picks up another top award

2008-12-07T13:24:00.000-08:00

It was all glitz and glamour at the V & A Museum in London where Thurrock Council and the Port of Tilbury won a National Award at the 30th Arts & Business Awards 2008, in the JTI A&B Community Award category.

Thurrock Council featured as an arts organisation alongside world-class arts organisations such as Tate Britain; National Theatre; Royal Opera House; Royal Academy; Britten Sinfonia; City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra; Sage; and the British Museum.

Councillor Joy Redsell, Cabinet member for Community, Culture & Leisure, who graced the event said: “This is indeed a huge achievement for Thurrock and Port of Tilbury, certainly leading the way for regeneration and I am proud of all those who have been involved.’ Over the last four years the council has worked in partnership with the Port of Tilbury to produce the “Twelve Days of Christmas” and other outstanding performances at the Grade II listed Cruise Terminal.

This has raised the profile of this unique historic building and given the local community an opportunity to take part in professional shows just like in the West End.

Mark Allinson and Mary-Ann Connolly of Thurrock Council and Lynda Viccars of the Port of Tilbury have been at the forefront of the project working hard to overcome practical, logistical and financial challenges in order to make the show so successful, providing an opportunity to make hundreds of children stars for a night.

The enthusiastic team from Thurrock Council and Port of Tilbury, together with the support of the Leaders, has raised aspirations in the community and helped to raise the profile of Thurrock generally.

It is the second time the show has won an aard. last year it picked up. Last year it won the Arts and Business East Community Award. This year’s “Twelve Days of Christmas at the Movies” will run from Friday, December 6 to Sunday December 14 and tickets are available from the Box Office Tel: 0845 300 5264. See www.the12daysofchristmas.co.uk for further details.

Bishop announces his retirement

2008-12-07T13:22:00.000-08:00

THE Bishop of Chelmsford, the Rt Revd John Gladwin has today announced that he will retire on August 31, 2009 after almost six years of leading the Church of England in Essex and East London.

Bishop John, the ninth Bishop of Chelmsford, (and the sixth to have been called John) has been the head of the Church of England Diocese which covers Essex and the five London boroughs of Barking and Dagenham, Havering, Newham, Redbridge, and Waltham Forest since 2003, when he moved to Chelmsford, having been Bishop of Guildford for nine years.

He recently retired from being Chair of Christian Aid. He and his wife, Lydia, will live in retirement in Hertfordshire.

Bishop John said: “I have become accustomed in various gatherings to speaking with great affection about the Church of England in Essex and East London in such glowing terms, and more recently to speak with no small pride of the 'Olympic Diocese of Chelmsford'. "I have really grown to love this great County of Essex, its wonderful people and tremendous diversity. The Five London boroughs add a tremendous richness to the mix to make Chelmsford a uniquely blessed diocese of the Church of England, which has left an indelible mark in my very being.

“There will be many opportunities for farewells, but there remains much to be done in the next nine months: we must face together the many different challenges in the world as the Church seeks to proclaim the Word of God into the many troubles which we in the world are facing at this time.”

Ding in Dong scam case escapes jail

2008-12-07T13:21:00.000-08:00

A WOMAN student called Ding, who became involved in a scam in which money was transferred to a man called Dong as part of a £250,00 fraud on Thurrock Council, has been sentenced to 180 hours unpaid work.

The former business and economics undergraduate at Swansea University 24-year-old Ding Ding, who now lives in Peckham, South London, was found guilty of receiving £15,000 as her part of the scam.

At her trial earlier this year Ding had denied the money laundering offences of possessing criminal property and transferring criminal property totalling £34,000. She was convicted of one offence involving £15,000.

The charges arose out of fraud committed on Thurrock Borough Council. The alarm was raised in May 2006 when the council’s chief financial officer called police in following an investigation into the loss of significant amounts of money.

The court had been told that a new computer system had been introduced on 1 April, 2006 and that between then and 26 May 1,000 invoices were paid and 21 were fraudulent.

Ding was arrested after a transfer of money from one of her bank accounts to others, among them a man called Dong.

She returned to Chelmsford Crown Court for sentencing.

Sparing her jail, Judge Christopher Ball told her: “You are a student able to study over here thanks to the generosity of your parents. It’s not much of a way to reward your parents for the sacrifice they have made."

Doctor tells baby J murder trial of brain damage

2008-12-07T13:19:00.000-08:00

A DOCTOR told how he discovered signs of "irreversible" brain damage when he examined the scan of a young baby, whose mother is accused of his murder.

Mallinder, 37, of Leicester Road, Tilbury, who denies murder, is alleged to have inflicted the fractures and severe brain damage which led to his death 13 months later.

Dr Wei Chong said he saw fresh bleeding and swelling to the brain when he examined the CT scan of three month old Jack, which had been taken after the critically ill child was rushed to Basildon Hospital on February 13 2006.

Dr Chong, a consultant paediatric neuro radiologist, estimated that the blood was more than two to three hours old and less than three to four days old and there was evidence of permanent brain damage.

Dr Chong told the jury at Basildon Crown Court today: "There were signs already appearing. It looked as if there was enough abnormality on the brain for there to be concern that there was going to be irreversible brain injury.

He also said the injury was "suspicious of trauma to the head" and the mechanism for causing it was "shaken baby or shaken impact injury."

Dr Chong added: "The key feature is rapid alternating forces of acceleration and deceleration acting on the brain."

On cross examination by Sally O'Neill QC, defence counsel for Joanne Mallinder, Dr Chong accepted it was possible the bleeding on the brain and the brain damage could have occurred "independently" and the swelling to the brain was much more recent than the bleeding.

Mallinder, 37, of Leicester Road, Tilbury, who denies murder, is alleged to have inflicted the fractures and severe brain damage which led to his death 13 months later.

The trial continues.

£1million pound reuse facility to open next summer

2008-12-07T13:17:00.000-08:00

THURROCK Council has begun the tendering process for a reuse and recycling project in West Thurrock, after securing land and planning permission.

The Thurrock Thames Gateway Development Corporation has put nearly £1million into the project that will involve the creation of a new civic amenity site with a custom-built reuse facility, which will be complete and ready for use from the Summer 2009.

Thurrock Council is currently looking for tenders from not-for-profit or voluntary organisations to utilise the reusable material from both the civic amenity site and the bulky waste collection service.

The facility will be a collection facility and workshop rather than a retail outlet, and as such, it will be the responsibility of the successful organisation to provide any retail operation at another site.

Thurrock Council’s Cabinet member for Environmental Services, Coun Steve Veryard, said: “We, as a council, have worked hard to secure funding for this new civic amenity site for residents living in the west of the borough and I am delighted that the project is now underway.“ Voluntary and not-for-profit organisations wishing to register interest in this project should contact Anna Burns on 01375 413619 or visit the Thurrock Council Procurement website (www.thurrock.gov.uk/business/content.php?page=contract_opportunities) for more information, and a pre qualification questionnaire (PQQs).

PQQs must be returned to the council by 4pm on Friday January 9, 2009.

Mast campaign gathers momentum

2008-12-07T13:15:00.000-08:00

A CAMPAIGN against a proposal to install a mobile phone mast at the Daneholes roundabout is gaining momentum.

On Saturday Little Thurrock ward councillors, Rob Gledhill and Stuart St Clair Haslam received more letters rejecting the proposal including one from Liz Jackson, headteacher at Little Thurrock Primary School.

Coun Gledhill said: “This brings the total letters rejecting the current proposal to over a hundred and this is just from parents of pupils at the school.

“I am sure if the proposal becomes a planning application the level of objections will be much higher.”

Coun Stuart St Clair Haslam added: “There are already far too many masts in the area and this will be a mast too far.

“I am so strongly opposed to this if it becomes a planning application I will be stepping down as chair of planning for that item and speaking against it.”

The proposal will bring the number of phone masts at the Daneholes Roundabout to five with a further seven in less than 600 metres.

A similar planning application for a mast on the opposite side of the road was refused last year by Thurrock’s Planning Committee but subsequently overturned by the Government’s Planning Inspectorate.

Coun Gledhill said “I hope the proposal does not lead to a request for planning permission and that Vodaphone listen to the community.

“However they started consultation as the school broke up for half term denying parents of half the consultation period.

“It makes you wonder if they are just paying lip service to their own consultation guidelines.”

Overnight parking restrictions victory for Little Thurrock residents

2008-12-07T13:12:00.000-08:00

COUNCILLORS and residents of Little Thurrock were delighted to see a new overnight no parking zone come into force in Towers Road on November 28.

After years of being woken up late at night or in early hours of the morning by Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) using the industrial area as a lorry park, a new no parking zone has been established.

Little Thurrock ward councillor, Rob Gledhill, said: “Residents of all the homes that back onto the estate, or the roads leading to it, have had to put up with lorries thundering past at all times as drivers were using Towers Road as a free lorry park.

“They would turn up or leave at all times of the day and night with little to no regard for the residents living in the area waking them in the process.

“Some were even quite happy to use the fences and walls as toilets or peer into resident’s homes and gardens.”

The ban covers all of the industrial estate from Rectory Road to Cement Block Cottages preventing any vehicle over 7.5 tonnes parking overnight from 7pm to 7 am.

Coun Stuart St Clair Haslam said: “With alternative overnight HGV parking available in a couple of sites in West Thurrock there is no reason to park up here.

“I would urge HGV drivers to use these facilities to avoid having to pay a £70 fine.”

Thurrock Council’s Portfolio Holder for Public Protection, Coun Ben Maney, added: “Thurrock Council will be providing extended traffic enforcement cover not only for Towers Road but other no parking sites in the area.

“They will be working with the police and issue penalty charge notices where drivers are in contravention of the parking restrictions.”

Impulse Leisure launch another "Bring a Toy Appeal" for borough children

2008-12-07T13:11:00.000-08:00

THIS month Impulse Leisure will once again be running its ‘Bring A Toy’ Appeal in support of local children.

Any customer signing up for a Platinum membership at either Belhus Park, Blackshots or Corringham, are being asked to donate Christmas gifts in return for £10 off the joining fee for each gift donated.

All toys must be new and in original packaging, and the offer will run until December 14.

All presents will then be donated to local children in time for Christmas, with the assistance of Essex County Council’s Social Services.

Marketing Manager, Ben Leeson said: “Last year’s campaign saw an overwhelming response, resulting in the collection of over 200 toys.

“Let’s hope we can do even better this year.”

Headliner Jordan is toast of the Thameside

2008-12-07T13:08:00.000-08:00

TILBURY singer songwriter, Jordan Gray, headlined his own show at the Thameside Theatre, Grays on Saturday November 29.

Jordan, 19, performed under his stage name of Tall Dark Friend.

The show entitled, Concerto Diabolus, was financed by his mum Terri Gray and friend Beverley Boase who promote his music through B & T Promotions.

The show was a theatrical spectacular bringing in dancers from Palmer’s College in Grays and percussionists, saxophonists and various acts from the borough.

Jordan’s mum Terri, 47, said: “Musicians and guests from across Britain gathered to see what is heralded as a turning point on the modern scene.

“The show was brimming with passion and humour and included an eclectic mix of original and classic material in a powerful collaborative effort to push the art past its borders.”

Guest musicians included acoustic guitarist Ben Sullivan and saxophonist James Ansell.

Anne-marie Nicholson and Emma Slade choreographed the show.

In the past year Tall Dark Friend has continued to sell his independent albums 'Beautiful' and 'Anti-Hero' which he writes, records and produces in his room and distributes at various gigs around the country.

His new album entitled, The Dark Horse and the Underdog was launched at the show.

Jordan’s mum Terri, has been thrown into becoming his manager and publicist and is now getting other local youngsters asking for help in promoting and getting gigs, which she does free of charge.

Terri, of Dunlop Road, Tilbury, said: “It's become my favourite hobby. I print, burn and hand out all the promotional stuff, I love every minute.”

Ball pool roadshow on its way to Lakeside

2008-12-07T13:06:00.000-08:00

CHILDREN under five are invited to have a ball on Saturday December 13 when a brightly-coloured ball pool is installed in the heart of Lakeside Shopping Centre.

The Children’s Workforce Development Council (CWDC) are installing the ball pool so passers-by can bring along their young children to play and enter a prize draw to win it for their child’s nursery, pre school or childminder.

They can also find out more about Early Years Professional Status – a graduate programme for people working in childcare – and how Early Years Professionals are beginning to make a real difference in children’s development.

There will be a chance to speak to Local Authority representatives and local Training Providers from the area to find out about the Early Years Professional programme.

The ball pool will be in place all day, with the winning entry drawn at 4pm.

To find out more about working in early years, log on to www.cwdcouncil.org.uk/futures or call 0800 996 600.

Four vehicle crash near Lakeside caused heavy traffic

2008-12-07T13:05:00.000-08:00

A FOUR vehicle crash on the A13 junction with the A1012 near Lakeside Shopping Centre caused heavy traffic last night.

Police and the ambulance service were called after four cars, one a silver Seat Ibiza, and one a green Toyota Picnic, were involved in a collision around 9.11pm.

No one was injured and the road was cleared by 10.30pm.

Dolly Turner charity puddings are up for sale again

2008-12-07T13:02:00.000-08:00

CHADWELL St Mary fundraiser Dolly Turner has been busy making her famous Christmas puddings for charity again.

She now has around 185 Christmas puddings up for sale at £11.00 each, with proceeds going to the Little Havens Children’s Hospice.

Dolly has been making the puddings for many years, and raised £1100 for the hospice last year.

Her recipe is top secret, but she did say: “Once people have tried my Christmas puddings they’ll never buy another one from a shop.”

She added: “I’d like to thank Asda in Tilbury for their donation this year.”

If you would like one of Dolly’s legendary puddings for your table this Christmas you can contact her on 01375 858165.

"Tashvember" raises cash for children with leukaemia

2008-12-07T12:59:00.000-08:00

A GROUP of fundraisers who grew their moustaches in the name of the Jamie Saunders Leukaemia Awareness Group raised almost £2,000 Led by Jamie’s brother, Wez, 28, the group grew their tashes throughout November and raised 1,989.12 for Children with Leukaemia.

Wez was joined by Paul Scott, 26, of Southend Road, Corringham and Phil Anderson, 23, of Gordon Road, Corringham.

Wez also managed to persuade Children With Leukaemia charity worker Jack Bacon and family friend and lead singer of the band, Billy Vincent, Chris Barrett, 27, to join in the tash-growing fun.

The tash growing, which started on November 1 and finished at the end of the month, led to the group dubbing November “Tashvember”.

Father of three Jamie, 24, of Steeple Hall, Pitsea but originally from East Tilbury died in June after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of Leukaemia.

Before he lost consciousness he asked his family to raise leukaemia awareness.

Wez, of Laburnum Drive, Corringham, said: “Well that's it for Tashvember - thanks to everyone who sponsored us, and of course thanks to Jack, Phil, Scotty, Joe and Chris for getting involved.

“£1,989.12 was raised by the team, which is a great effort.

“We’re doing a lot of things for Jamie’s campaign and are always open to new ideas.”

Sea scout raises hundred with Ben Nevis adventure

2008-12-07T12:58:00.000-08:00

A YOUNG Sea Scout raised more than £900 by climbing Britain’s biggest mountain.

Dean Moore, 12, of Gainsborough Avenue, Tilbury trained for months to make the 4,409 ft climb up Ben Nevis in Scotland in August.

He made the hike in order to raise money for the Tilbury Sea Scouts.

It took Dean and his family five hours to climb the mountain and another four hours to descend.

Dean said: “I’d like to thank my family, friends and neighbours for their sponsorship with special thanks to Stema Shipping and R & M Duffy for their very generous donations.”

20 grand a year mayor won't have to pay his parking ticket...

2008-12-07T12:56:00.000-08:00

A SMILING traffic warden walks away after posting a parking ticket on the borough Mayor’s car.

But the last laugh appears to be on the ordinary motorist as the ticket was later wiped out by council parking chiefs who say the rules don’t apply to the mayor’s car when it is on civic business.

The incident was captured on Saturday when the mayor’s car was parked on the pavement and across double yellow lines outside the Thameside Theatre in Grays.

Gazette reader Brian Chamberlain captured the incident on camera and sent in the pictures.

However, when the council were contacted by the Gazette today a spokesperson said: “The mayor’s car is exempt when it is on civic duties, parking tickets don’t apply. The traffic officer was doing his job but the ticket does not stand.”

Mr Chamberlain, a delivery driver who says it is incredibly difficult to park anywhere in Grays to do his job, said: “I have real problems with parking in Grays where it is incredibly difficult to park.

“At least he was consistent in giving the Mayor a ticket but it seems it’s a case of one rule for one and another for the council. I have to abide by the rules. Why should he be allowed to park where he wants, flouting the rules and causing an obstruction to pedestrians and then not have to pay.

"If I parked there, even for perfectly valid reasons to deliver goods, I would have to pay. It’s do as I say, not as I do.”

Bukky Okunade To Face The Boot?

2008-12-03T05:49:00.000-08:00

Speculation has again arisen over the future of Tilbury Councillor Bukky Okunade.

A recent comment posted on a Gazette web story, thought to be a leak from a Labour Party insider, has again brought into the spotlight the future of Ms Okunade.

Information passed on to Council Watch suggested that Carl Morris was furious that his Councillor for Tilbury Riverside failed to attend this months recent Remembrance day activities giving The British National Party's Councillor for the same ward, Emma Colgate, who did attend, an opportunity to make political gains out of Ms Okunades failure to represent her ward constituents by her absence.

Michael Stevens, Stifford Clays says...
7:09pm Tue 2 Dec 08
Whispers in halls suggest African Councillor Bukky Ockunade is to be deselected because Labour feel that Africans don't win them votes anymore in Tilbury.

So you can guess why she is back among African issues and snubs Tilbury.

It is believed, unbelievably, that former Independent candidate June Brown has been approached to replace ms Ockunade in the 2010 council elections, even after the way labour treated her. .

After all those years service June, don't let the Labour Party make a mug out of you again.

Thurrock Gazette

Thurrock's African councillors who Snubbed Remembrance day attend World Aids Day Event

2008-12-02T01:19:00.000-08:00

THURROCK councillors Tunde Ojetola and Bukky Okunade attended a commemoration event for World Aids Day at the Gates of Praise Christian Centre yesterday.

The event, at the church on Belmont Road in Grays, was organised by sexual health charity the Terrence Higgins Trust.

It featured guest speakers and a drama performance by church members, highlighting the important role faith communities play in HIV prevention.

Tilbury hairdressers climb a mountain for charity

2008-12-02T01:17:00.000-08:00

STAFF from the Classic Hair Company in Tilbury have raised £1000 for charity by climbing to the top of mount Snowdon in North Wales.

The money was divided between the Thurrock Deaf Youth Group and Macmillan Cancer Support.

Salon owner Geoffrey Wiseman said: “The girls from the salon said ‘Never again’ but were proud and jubilant although very exhausted once they had completed the climb, but they found it all worthwhile when they came to meet the fabulous children from the Deaf Youth Group.”

Bonnygate Primary School celebrate Ofsted report

2008-12-02T01:13:00.000-08:00

BONNYGATE Primary School in South Ockendon has made “significant improvements” according to schools inspectorate Ofsted.

Their report states ”good leadership by the head teacher and strong teamwork by staff” has led to the improvements at the school, in Arisdale Avenue.

Head teacher Jim Johnson said: “The clear vision which we have developed, coupled with the commitment of all staff, has led the school to the new heights.

“We are not taking anything for granted and know we need to keep up the hard work to maintain this improvement.”

The report says that in the last two years the school has seen a steady improvement in standards, however, Ofsted believes some the pupils could make even better progress in English, maths and science if the teachers could challenge them more with lessons at done at brisker paces.

Ofsted said the school is a “satisfactory and improving one” where the children enjoy coming to school and behave well during lessons.

Baby J's injuries could have been caused by shaking says doc

2008-12-02T01:11:00.000-08:00

FRACTURES to a baby's arms and legs could have been caused by "violent shaking" a court heard today.

Dr Karl Johnson said when he examined the x-rays of three-month-old Jack he discovered at least five and possibly six fractures to arms and legs.

Dr Johnson, a paediatric radiologist at Birmingham Children's Hospital, said the fracture to the child's upper arm must have occurred within two days of the child being rushed to Basildon Hospital on February 13 2006 and could have been caused by a "blow to the arm, a "bending or snapping action" or "the arm could have impacted against a hard surface."

Dr Johnson said three further fractures to his arm and legs must have happened around a week earlier and could have been caused by a "pulling or twisting force applied to the bone.

Giving evidence at the trial of Jack's mother Joanne Mallinder, 37, who is alleged to have inflicted the fractures and severe brain damage which led to his death 13 months later, Dr Johnson said: "Alternatively if a child was violently shaken so the child was flaying around that could have caused the fractures."

He also told the jury at Basildon Crown Court that a fifth fracture to the leg, which must have occurred one to two weeks earlier, could have been caused by a "blow or impact or some sort of leverage or bending type of action."

On cross examination by Sally O'Neill QC, defence counsel for Mallinder, Dr Johnson accepted some children were prone to fractures and although there was no evidence from the x-rays that Jack had brittle bone disease, there were "rare" cases when it didn't show up.

Dr Johnson said he didn't believe the fractures to Jack's legs were caused when paramedics screwed a needle into his leg so they could administer Adrenalin as he travelled to hospital in the ambulance but accepted it was possible if the paramedics had "inappropriately" restrained him.

Dr Cheryl Hemmingway, a consultant paediatric neurologist at Great Ormond Street Hospital said when she examined Jack's brain scans on February 14 2006 she discovered he had suffered recent bleeding and swelling to his brain and there was also bleeding behind his eyes.

Dr Hemmingway said Mallinder and Jack's father Gareth Cox told her they were not aware of Jack having fallen and said: "I felt they (the injuries) were most likely to be the result of trauma.

"We do know from similar situations that normally trauma occurs shortly before they become significantly unwell.

"We know in the case of Jack he was found not to be breathing by his mother. One would assume that the incident had happened shortly prior to his being found not breathing."

She also said a "significant" amount of shaking or impact injury could have caused the brain damage, which was usually seen in children who had been involved in a serious car accident or who had fallen from a first floor window.

On cross examination by Ms O'Neill QC Dr Hemmingway admitted children could be born with bleeding on the brain and there were other causes of such injuries.

She also accepted that if a child had stopped breathing and there was a significant delay in the child receiving oxygen, this would result in swelling and damage to the brain.

Mallinder, of Leicester Road, Tilbury, denies murder.

Thurrock Royal Naval Association closes

2008-12-02T01:09:00.000-08:00

THURROCK Royal Naval Association met for the last time on Sunday, as falling numbers and ill health of members forced them close.

More than 100 people, including RNA members from other branches in Essex, packed into St Cedd's Church in Stifford Clays to watch the Thurrock branch lay the standard in a two-hour service.

Thurrock RNA President Leonard Prewer, 83, from Stifford Clays, said: “We had a very good turn out, laying the standard was a very sad moment.”

Mr Prewer says the association, which formed in 1984, has been forced to close because there are not enough members for a committee anymore.

He said: “I am the President, Treasurer and the Social Secretary!

“We used to have 300 members 20 years ago, now we’re down to 45, and the majority of these are not active and can’t get down to the meetings, so we were averaging about 17 people to each branch meeting.

“Unfortunately if you can’t get a committee you can’t carry on.”

Thurrock RNA member and ex-Able Seaman James Christmas, 88, from Stifford Clays, has decided to share with Gazette readers the true story of when he met a Frenchman called Henri off the Dunkirk beaches in 1940, and the gift he gave him which he believes saved his life.

An extract of the story follows here:

The Talisman, by James Christmas

The noise of the battle was deafening and frightening.

The German Stuka dive-bombers had spats fitted to their wheels, which contained air activated sirens that produced a terrifying scream, which mixed with the shell fragments and flaming ‘onions’ that were falling around us.

Our skipper decided this was not a healthy area to be in and we steered away from the larger ships which were the main target for the Stukas.

I must pay tribute to our skipper, whose handling of the boat was nothing short of miraculous.

Whilst Alfie my oppo and I were engaged in pulling the soldiers aboard out of the water, the skippers eyes were on the lookout for any trouble that might be pending.

It was there that I saw Henri for the first time. The French soldiers were standing in a queue, with water up to their armpits.

Pulling them aboard was no mean feat.

Turning to the next soldier in line, I saw he was wounded in some way, as he was being supported by his comrade who gently pushed him up from the water.

We sat the wounded soldier in place, then turning to help his comrade aboard, I saw him wading back towards the beach.

I shouted to him, waving for him to come aboard the boat, but half turning he rejected my offer with a wave of the hand, I saw him heading along the beach to the town.

The town was a place to avoid, being on fire in several places.

At least 50 per cent of it’s buildings were in ruins and it was being bombarded by enemy aircraft and continuous shelling by frontline enemy gunners.

We were carrying on with our task when suddenly from the town came a wail of an air raid siren.

It seemed strange that people still existed there- and that was where our brave French soldier had gone seeking more wounded comrades.

Strictly come Lakeside for Len Goodman

2008-12-02T01:07:00.000-08:00

"STRICTLY Come Dancing" chairman of judges Len Goodman will be at Lakeside Shopping Centre on Thursday to sign copies of his new book "Better Late Than Never".

In his book, Len tells the story of his new found fame on the BBC One show, as well as his experiences on the US show "Dancing with the Stars".

The book charts his early life, from being a fruit and veg seller, to falling in love with ballroom dancing and going on to win the British Championships.

Sophie Scott, Lakeside’s Marketing Manager, says: "We’re really excited to have Len coming down to Lakeside. We’re expecting lots of shoppers, all eager to meet him, so we’d encourage people to get here early to avoid disappointment."

Copies for signing must be purchased from WH Smith and proof of purchase will be required on the day of the event.

Len will be WH Smith on Level One at Lakeside Shopping Centre between 4 and 5pm.

5,000 sick days for county's PCSOs

2008-11-30T04:38:00.000-08:00

ESSEX community police officers had nearly 5,000 days off sick in the past year.

Police community support officers (PCSOs) had an average of 6.1 days off sick between October 2007 and October 2008.

The officers, who do not have full police powers and cannot arrest suspects, were most commonly off sick with cold or flu, with 527 days lost to the illness.

The second most common cause of the officers’ sickness was conditions affecting the leg with officers taking 568 days off with the condition on 50 separate occasions. The third top cause of PCSO sickness was sickness or diarrhoea, with 484 days lost to the illness, followed by stress which resulted in officers taking 453 days off.

The figures were revealed in a report to the Essex Police Authority, which requested information on the levels of PCSO sick leave.

But Kevin Kirby, deputy head of Essex Police’s human resources department, said the sickness levels were below the average of other public sector agencies.

He said: “The role of PCSOs is primarily about reassuring public confidence through high-visibility engagement with members of the public. This involves a high proportion of their working day being spent working in all weathers.

“Independent studies on the cause of sickness revealed where an employee’s working environment involves a high proportion of outdoor work and shifts, incidents of sickness tend to be higher compared to the average office worker.”

“In Essex the average number of PCSO working days lost is 10.9. At the DVLA the average number is 18.7 days, Child Support Agency 13.9 days, the Prison Service is 12 days and Job Centre is 11.1 days.”

Thurrock Gazette

Millions to be spent on plans for Junction 30 improvement

2008-11-30T04:36:00.000-08:00

MULTIMILLION-POUND bids to ease traffic congestion across south Essex, including Thurrock's notorious M25 junction 30, have been boosted by extra cash.

At a regional traffic forum plans to improve the “bottleneck” junction 30 and the Basildon and Wickford junctions of the A127, were revealed.

A study into the best ways to do this has been carried out, and the Department for Transport now hopes to widen the M25 to four lanes, between junctions 27 and 30.

It has committed £7million to further investigate options to increase capacity at the junction, the second day of the forum heard.

Transport Minister Paul Clark said: “I am pleased to announce work to relieve congestion and provide extra capacity at junction 30 has taken a significant step forward.

“The Highways Agency has completed an initial study exploring the options for addressing this bottleneck.

“Now we have committed up to £7million to movw the project into the next phase, which will involve wider consultation on our options in the spring.”

Junction 30 experiences severe congestion and is currently at full capacity.

It directly serves the Port of Tilbury and Lakeside shopping centre, and is regarded as an essential link to the development of the planned London Gateway Port at Shellhaven.

The forum also heard work on relieving congestion on the A127 through Basildon, by improving junctions with the A129 at Basildon and A132 at Wickford, has had funding agreed and should take shape next year.

Thames Gateway Minister Margaret Beckett said: “In transport we will see some major projects coming to fruition over the coming months."

Man arrested after raid on Aveley storage yard

2008-11-30T04:34:00.000-08:00

A MAN has been arrested after police recovered a massive haul of suspected stolen goods.

Police raided the yard in Romford Road, Aveley, which is used to store shipping containers.

Officers arrested a 46 year old man from Rainham, East London on Thursday on suspicion of handling stolen goods.

He has been released on police bail until January.

Gems conman, Patrick Dlodlo, gets four year jail sentence

2008-11-30T04:32:00.000-08:00

A MAN whose last known address was in Tilbury faces being jailed for four years after conning people into spending tens of thousands of pounds on fake gemstones made of concrete and glass has been jailed for four years.

Patrick Dlodlo, 58, denied charges of conspiracy to commit fraud between January and May last year.

Dlodlo had been convicted of the same scam 18 months earlier.

He was sentenced in his absence after a one-day trial at Northampton Crown Court.

The court heard Dlodlo was a "confidence trickster" who organised the deception only 18 months after being jailed for exactly the same crime in Leicester in January 2006.

New bus service for Lakeside

2008-11-30T04:30:00.000-08:00

BUS operators First has introduced a new bus service between Brentwood and Lakeside Shopping Centre in West Thurrock.

The new route 265 runs via Bulphan, Orsett and Stifford Clays Road, providing a direct link to Lakeside from these areas.

With two conveniently-timed departures on Mondays to Fridays, there is a choice of a two-hour or a four-hour stay at Lakeside.

Extra journeys run during the school holidays, offering four trips in each direction.

The 265 can also be used to make more local journeys.

A range of attractively priced fares are available including day return tickets at £4.20 from Bulphan and £2.50 from Orsett.

Essex marine, Georgie Sparks, killed in Afghanistan

2008-11-30T04:28:00.000-08:00

ONE of the two Royal Marines killed on patrol in Afghanistan was from Essex, the Ministry of Defence said.

Marine Georgie Sparks, 19, of Epping, and Marine Tony Evans, 20, of Sunderland, were both of 42 Commando Royal Marines.

They were taking part in a foot patrol north-west of the town of Lashkar Gah in the southern area of the Helmand province when they came under sustained enemy fire.

They were attacked with rocket-propelled grenades while on the roof of a building, and died from their injuries while being flown back to Camp Bastion by helicopter.

The deaths bring the total number of British service personnel killed in Afghanistan since the start of operations in 2001 to 128.

Marine Evans joined 42 Commando after completing his training in July 2007.

The 20-year-old's parents, Tony Evans and Julia Churchill, paid tribute to him, saying: "Tony was the type of person who would do anything to help his friends and family and was well respected by all.

"The Royal Marines was his life since the age of 13 when he became a Royal Marines cadet. We, his family, are very proud of what he achieved and will miss him dearly."

Thurrock education supremo to meet with staff and parents over proposals to close borough school

2008-11-30T04:26:00.000-08:00

THURROCK Council’s director of education, Robert McCulloch-Graham, will make his final visit to Chadwell St Mary Primary School as part of a consultation process on proposals to close the school.

He will speak to staff, parents and local residents at 6pm on Thursday December 11.

All staff, parents and local residents are welcome to attend the meeting at Chadwell St Mary Primary School in River View, Chadwell St Mary, to ask questions they may have as part of the consultation process.

Deaf student scoops sports and culture award

2008-11-30T04:25:00.000-08:00

A DEAF student - who has the England Deaf football team - has picked up a Sports and Culture Award.

Stuart, 22, from Vange, is profoundly Deaf, and was nominated for award by his communicators at Thurrock & Basildon College.

He attended Thurrock’s Civic Awards Ceremony at the Civic Hall in Grays on Friday December 14.

Stuart studied at Thurrock & Basildon College for the BTEC National Certificate Sport (Development, Coaching & Fitness) which he successfully completed.

During his time with the College he played for the Football Academy and was a regular player for the College team.

With the support of the College’s communicators and teachers of the deaf, Stuart’s determination to play for his country paid off.

In May 2008 he was selected to play for the England Deaf Football Team and took part in the World Deaf Championship in Greece in July 2008.

Stuart’s sports coach, Neil Coates, said: “Stuart was a student committed to his success and development as a sports performer and academic.

“He achieved on a demanding Level Three course while balancing a competitive football training schedule, fixture list and progression with the England National team.”

Staff at Thurrock & Basildon College would like to send their congratulations to Stuart on receiving this well deserved award for Sports & Culture.

Doctor tells murder trial of baby J's fractures

2008-11-30T04:24:00.000-08:00

A DOCTOR told how he discovered by chance that a critically ill baby boy had suffered a fracture to his arm.

Dr Manigandan Chandrasekaran said three-month-old Jack was not breathing and had no pulse when he arrived at Basildon Hospital but after several minutes of working on him doctors managed to find a heart beat.

On cross examination by Sally O'Neill QC, defence counsel for Joanne Mallinder, Dr Chandrasekaran said he was surprised to find a fracture to his upper arm when he was given a chest x-ray and he had not noticed any swelling or bruising around the arm while Jack was being treated.

Dr Rjesh Sharma, who is a specialist registrar of children's health at the hospital, said as he examined Jack he spoke to his parents about the events leading up to his emergency admission on February 13 2006.

Dr Sharma said Mallinder, who is alleged to have caused the severe brain damage and six fractures to Jack's arms and legs which eventually led to his death on March 20 last year, told him Jack was fine until around 3pm when he became "grumpy".

He told the jury at Basildon Crown Court on Friday: "She fed him and put him to sleep. Following that at about 8.30pm she heard him crying and he stopped breathing.

"At that point she started to give him mouth to mouth breathing."

He also said after learning of the fracture to his arm he asked Mallinder if there was any history of "trauma" and she said no.

Dr Raouf Bessif, a radiologist at the hospital also gave evidence and told how he noticed "subtle" bruising to the child's brain when he studied his CT scan.

Dr Bessif also accepted on cross examination by Mrs O'Neill QC that he did not see any swelling to the brain but he could not exclude it.

Mallinder, 37, of Leicester Road, Tilbury, denies murder.

The trial continues.

Fireraiser set for long spell behind bars

2008-11-30T04:20:00.000-08:00

A MAN faces a long spell behind bars after being convicted of burning down his neighbour's shed.

Shortly before the arson attack, Geoffrey Vaughan, 62, was captured on CCTV leaving his flat in West Road, South Ockendon and carrying newspapers and liquid as he headed towards 82-year-old Margaret Barker's shed in the communal garden area.

He was also spotted by other residents outside his flat around the time of the incident.

At Basildon Crown Court Vaughan was found guilty of arson, being reckless as to whether life was endangered.

During the trial the jury heard how the defendant was suspected of burning down Mrs Barker's previous shed the year before but after extensive enquires by police he was released without charge.

Vaughan, who has a previous conviction for assaulting a neighbour and a caution for verbally abusing another resident at the sheltered housing complex, gave evidence and denied the allegation.

Judge Rupert Overbury adjourned sentencing so a psychiatric and probation report can be prepared on Vaughan.

He was remanded in custody and will reappear at the court for sentencing in February.

Light up a life in Corringham

2008-11-30T04:17:00.000-08:00

PEOPLE wanting to remember or celebrate a loved one’s life this Christmas are being invited to a special festive service in Corringham.

The service, whcih is hosted by Little Havens Children’s Hospice, will take place on Wednesday December 17 at St John’s Church in St John’s Way.

Light up a Life is an annual remembrance campaign in which people can dedicate a symbolic light on a tree to represent the life of a family member or friend.

Any donations made go towards caring for life-limited children and their families from across Essex.

The service, which starts at 7pm, is fronted by the charity’s Chaplaincy team and will feature Christmas Carols, hymns, prayers and time to reflect.

Music will be provided by the Spectrum Brass Band.

Members of the hospice’s Bereavement and Family Support Team will also be on hand to talk to anyone finding this time of year difficult.

Campaigns Manager Eleanor Burgess said: “The services that Little Havens host provide an outlet for people grieving or going through a tough time.

“They may feel isolated so coming together in a big group lets them know that they are not alone at this time of year.”

All are welcome.

To find out more information call 01702 220350 or visit www.littlehavens.org.uk/lual.

Palmer's College student sees her short story published

2008-11-30T04:15:00.000-08:00

A PALMER’S College student who dreams of becoming a writer has seen her short story published after winning one of the prizes in The Guardian’s Teenage Writer’s competition.

Holly Burton, 16, from Basildon, entered the national competition last year along with thousands of other young writers in the UK.

She found out that she had won one of 10 prizes during the summer, and the book “The Perfect World?” which features her short story was published last month.

The International Baccalaureate Diploma student will attend the book launch party in the New Year where she will meet TV new presenter Jon Snow, representatives from the Guardian and the publishers.

The theme of the competition was ‘A Perfect World’.

Holly’s short story was about someone growing up in a society where children were no longer conceived naturally.

She said: “I just thought of the idea and began to start writing and couldn’t stop.

“This is the first time I’ve entered a writing competition and to win feels amazing.”

Mark Vinall, Principal of Palmer’s College said: “I am thrilled with Holly’s achievement.

“She is fully committed to her studies and I have every confidence of her fulfilling her dreams of becoming a writer.”

Permit parking scheme opposed by residents

2008-11-30T04:05:00.000-08:00

PROPOSALS for a new scheme to ease parking problems near South Ockendon Railway Station have been met with contemp by nearby homeowners.

Last week Thurrock Council sent out letters outlining the proposals to residents in the affected area, known as the Flowers Estate.

This includes Celandine Close, Larkspur Close, Lime Close, Mayflower Close, Nicholas Close, Rosemary Close, Tamarisk Road, Viola CLose and parts of South Road.

The letter said: “As a result of numerous requests from local residents in streets situated close to South Ockendon Railway Station, the council is proposing to introduce a Residents’ Permit Parking Scheme.

“This is in order to alleviate the parking problems that residents are currently experiencing as a result of commuter parking.”

In the proposal residents will have to buy a Residents’ Permit costing £18 per year with visitor permit cards costing a further £6, which could allow 20 visits with a maximum stay of five hours per visit.

The fee for a Business Permit rockets to £360 per year.

But South Ockendon Residents Association ( SORA) is not convinced the scheme is what the majority of residents want and has backed calls to scrap the plan.

Speaking on behalf of SORA and residents on the Flowers Estate, Chris Savill, said: “Why should we pay for the privilage of parking in our own road when we pay road tax, council tax and no one else has to pay.

“Where is the equality in that.

“Not one penny should be charged to the residents, their families and their visitors.

“History Tells us that most of this comes about because of selfish commuters who are too lazy to get a bus into South Ockendon Station, therefore losing the bus routes altogether, so everyone has to drive in and park.”

The proposed scheme will provide parking bays marked in the road which will be enforceable by the council’s parking attendants.

Parking bays will be eligible for use by residents with a Residents’ Permit and essential business users with a business permit.

Visitors permits will also be available for residents.

The bays will be operational between 10am and 4pm Mondays to Fridays and will deter parking by non-residents such as commuters and visitors to the area.

Yellow line restrictions will operate between 9am and 5pm Mondays to Friday.

The consultation period ends on Friday December 5.

Fire at disused school gym

2008-11-30T04:03:00.000-08:00

A JOINT police and fire investigation is underway to establish the cause of a fire that broke out in a gym at a disused school on Thursday evening.

Two crews from Orsett were called to St Chad’s School in St Chad’s Road, Tilbury at around 7.50pm.

The school has been empty since June when it merged with Torells to become The Gateway Academy at a new site in Marshfoot Road, Tilbury.

Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus used one hose reel to tackle the fire.

Crews reported the building was heavily smoke logged but quickly extinguished the flames and the fire was out by 8.30pm.