Teesside stories you might have missed this week
WW2 air raid shelter found under playground
A hidden World War Two air raid shelter has been rediscovered under a school playground.Construction workers were carrying out refurbishment work at Oxbridge Lane Primary in Stockton-on-Tees when they found a strange concrete building.Site manager Jason Harrison described excavating and uncovering the distinctive arch shape before realising it was a shelter.Headteacher Lauren Amerigo said it was an "incredible discovery" that had fascinated the children, some of whom had been studying the era at the same time the shelter was revealing itself.
Residents 'taking a stand' over fair parking ban
Residents say they are "dumbfounded" that temporary parking restrictions have been imposed on their street yet again.For the past 15 years, Durham County Council has put the ban in place to stop people on their way to Cumbria's Appleby Fair parking outside homes on Bridgegate in Barnard Castle.The temporary prohibition order states it is to "minimise a danger to the public caused by indiscriminate parking", with residents being asked to leave their vehicles in a car park 10 minutes' walk away.Despite appealing to the council every year, residents say they are not being listened too, so are "taking a stand" and ignoring the restrictions.
Parish council bullying probe cost more than £60k
An investigation into claims of bullying, assault and unlawful use of public funds in a rural village cost a local authority more than £60,000.Durham County Council launched a probe after members of Romaldkirk Parish Council were accused of being "dismissive and disrespectful" to others.The dispute ignited over long-running land disagreements, with residents exchanging "toxic and threatening" WhatsApp messages. Four parish councillors were ordered to take conduct training after several complaints against them were upheld.One resident, summing up the dispute, said: "I say to all my friends and family, if you think Emmerdale is something, move to Romaldkirk."
Row over pigeon feeding ban in town centre
Signs have been put up around a town centre warning people not to feed pigeons, ahead of new restrictions.Darlington Borough Council is set to issue an updated version of its Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) following health and safety concerns from residents and businesses.People opposing the council's plans to ban bird feeding in the town centre have said the pigeons should be "embraced".Several people commenting on the issue called on the Labour-led council to create a designated bird feeding zone.
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Times
a minute ago
- Times
Drug dealers offer contactless payments in brazen Boomtown trades
Drug dealers offered 'contactless' payments for ketamine, cocaine and ecstasy to young music fans at a festival just days after a coroner expressed concerns about the overt trade of drugs at the event, a Times investigation has found. An undercover reporter witnessed the open sale and consumption of class A drugs at Boomtown Fair, a festival held near Winchester, Hampshire, often just metres away from security who failed to intervene in most instances. Benjamin Buckfield died aged 22 last year after taking MDMA, also known as ecstasy, while attending Boomtown. It is believed to be the fifth drug-related death at the festival since 2011. After the inquest into Buckfield's death, Nicholas Walker, the area coroner, issued a prevention of future deaths (PFD) report in which he wrote: 'I am concerned that an unchecked, open and free trade in unlawful drugs will create a risk of future deaths.'
The Guardian
a minute ago
- The Guardian
Yvette Cooper solves one headache for justice system but may have caused another
By getting her way and allowing police to consider disclosing the ethnicity and nationality of suspects charged in high-profile cases, Yvette Cooper has solved one enormous headache for the criminal justice system. But she may have caused another, which could have consequences for race relations. The home secretary has encouraged senior police officers to free themselves of longstanding protocols so they can combat the prolific use of social media by far-right bloggers and organisations that have escalated disinformation around high-profile incidents. Last summer's national riots were fomented from an early stage by misinformation about the Southport killer – he was claimed, in posts recycled tens of thousands of times, to be a Muslim, foreign-born and an asylum seeker. All three statements turned out to be wrong. Until today, there was nothing in the College of Policing's guidance that actually prevented police giving information about the nationality, asylum status or even ethnicity of someone who has been charged. The police are restricted as to what they can say about suspects. But the guidance on media relations – and what would be released to the public – said that if someone was arrested, police should only give the suspect's gender and age. Once a suspect was charged, the guidance said police could give out the suspect's name, date of birth and address. Before 2012, police forces made decisions on what information to give to the media on a purely case-by-case basis, decisions often made depending on the force's relationship with individual journalists and media outlets. But it was Lord Leveson's damning 2012 report into press ethics that prompted police forces to become more cautious because of concerns that releasing the ethnicity of suspects could be used to feed false narratives. Leveson examined testimony from the National Union of Journalists claiming that some national newsrooms openly encouraged racist reporting. One reporter was told by the news editor to 'write a story about Britain being flooded by asylum-seeking bummers', another was told to 'make stories as rightwing as you can' and another was told to go out and find Muslim women to photograph, with the instruction: 'Just fucking do it. Wrap yourself around a group of women in burkas for a photo,' the testimony said. He examined numerous reports including a Daily Star article under the headline 'Asylum seekers eat our donkeys,' which claimed that donkey meat was a speciality in Somalia and eastern Europe and blamed asylum seekers, without any evidence. Leveson concluded that 'when assessed as a whole, the evidence of discriminatory, sensational or unbalanced reporting in relation to ethnic minorities, immigrants and/or asylum seekers, is concerning.' Fast-forward 12 years to Southport, and Merseyside police were left making decisions on whether to release information on the ethnicity and nationality of the killer of three young girls in order to dispel public anger that had spilled on to the streets. Senior officers had to deal with major criminal incidents and took days to dispel social media untruths. Such disinformation was at least partly responsible for last summer's riots. At the time, Merseyside police said they were not giving out more information because of the contempt of court rules. It is hoped that the new guidance will mean police will no longer be left flat-footed when responding to viral social media posts by extremists. Decisions on releasing such information will remain with police forces, with wider legal and ethical considerations also taken into account, the National Police Chiefs' Council said, but verifying a suspect's immigration status is up to the Home Office. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion There is concern among some former police and race campaigners that Cooper's change will undo the restrictions imposed after Leveson and fuel racist sentiments. The former Met chief superintendent Dal Babu has warned of the 'unintended consequences' of the new guidance, which he said could lead to more online speculation in cases where these details are not released. 'The danger is there will be an expectation for police to release information on every single occasion,' he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. The Home Office insists that it will not be encouraging the release of ethnicity and immigration status in all cases, and there are notable occasions when it has not. But a former race adviser to No 10 told the Guardian: 'Yvette has unwittingly opened a Pandora's box. After every charge, everyone with a union jack on their X bio will demand from the police the ethnicity of the suspect. 'The Home Office is going to to get even more demands for the asylum status of every black or brown suspect. It is going to be chaos, and has handed Nigel Farage another stick to beat Labour with.' There could well be a knock-on effect on mainstream reporting and community relations, campaigners believe. Enny Choudhury, from the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, said: 'Releasing the ethnicity of everyone suspected of serious crimes will do nothing to help victims or secure justice – it will simply fuel mistrust, deepen divisions, and make Black and brown communities more vulnerable to prejudice and harm.'
Daily Mail
a minute ago
- Daily Mail
Awarded £12,000, man who had his finger broken by Police Scotland officer
The Chief Constable of Police Scotland has been ordered to pay £12,000 to a man who had a finger broken by one of her officers. Sheriff Robert Fife ordered Jo Farrell to pay the sum to Ross Lamont following an incident in December 2018 in Glasgow City Centre. He said the evidence of the officer involved had at times been 'arrogant and dismissive'. The All Scotland Personal Injury Court heard how Mr Lamont had been on a Christmas night out with colleagues before coming into contact with PCs Nathan Donnelly and Dominic Horn. The court heard that the officers believed Mr Lamont was involved in an argument with another group of persons outside the Blue Dog bar in the city's West Regent Street. Sheriff Fife heard how the two police officers tried to de-escalate the situation. They took Mr Lamont over to a group of railings and asked him for his personal details as they concluded he had committed a breach of the peace. Mr Lamont disagreed - he believed he had done nothing wrong and refused to provide the information they asked him for.. The court heard that Mr Lamont was then told he was being placed under arrest. He then started to resist with the cops who struggled to restrain him. They described his resistance as like a man who was displaying 'superhuman' strength. The court heard that Mr Lamont grabbed hold of the railings behind him with his right hand. This prompted PC Donnelly to grab and pull the Mr Lamont's right little finger - causing it to break. Lawyers for Mr Lamont believed their client had subjected to unlawful action. They launched a compensation claim at the court earlier this year against the Chief Constable of Police Scotland. The court heard evidence that the move used by PC Donnelly on Mr Lamont's finger was not a recognised tactic used by Police in how they restrain people. Sheriff Fife agreed and awarded Mr Lamont £12,000 compensation. In a written judgment published by the court, Sheriff Fife wrote about how he was unimpressed by some of PC Donnelly's evidence to the court. He wrote: 'I had some difficulty with the evidence of PC Donnelly. At times, I formed an unfavourable impression of his answers to questions. PC Donnelly was an inexperienced officer in December 2018 but purported to be more experienced. 'At times, he came across as being arrogant and dismissive. PC Donnelly demonstrated, by use of a court microphone, how he had grabbed the fingers of the right hand of the pursuer to remove the pursuer's hand from the railings. 'This all seemed to be theatrical and unnecessary. 'In my view PC Donnelly deliberately targeted the pursuer's right little finger, pulling the little finger all the way back and in so doing breaking the little finger. 'PC Donnelly made no attempt at all to grab any of the pursuer's other fingers on the right hand in order to remove the right hand from the railings.' Sheriff Fife added: 'PC Donnelly failed to use a recognised Operational Safety Training technique to remove the pursuer's right hand from the railings. 'The use of force by PC Donnelly by pulling back the pursuer's right little finger causing a fracture was not reasonable. 'PC Donnelly assaulted the pursuer. 'I will grant decree against the defender for payment to the pursuer in the sum of £12,000.'
