Latest news with #Farrant
NZ Herald
08-05-2025
- NZ Herald
Police investigate after West Auckland schoolboy offered ride by stranger
'There were no reports of threats or violence involved.' In a notice to parents yesterday morning, school staff wrote that a pupil had been 'approached by a stranger in a car this morning on their way to school asking if he wanted a ride'. 'He did all the right things and told her no thank you, continued walking and reported it to an adult … please talk to your children about what to do in situations such as these, and report any suspicious behaviour.' Police were investigating the incident as a 'report of suspicious activity', said Farrant, the Waitematā West area prevention manager. Farrant didn't immediately provide a description of the woman or her vehicle. 'We are now making enquiries to identify the woman. As part of these enquiries, we will seek to understand what exactly has occurred.' Reports like this were 'understandably unsettling', Farrant said. 'We ask the community to continue reporting suspicious activity to us … report this to police as soon as possible by calling 111.' Anyone with information on yesterday's incident should call police on 105 and cite the reference number 250507/8761. 'He's not my father' In the Manurewa incident, the boy was walking home by himself for the first time when he was approached about 100m north of Rowandale School on Rowandale Ave by a Polynesian man aged in his mid-50s to 60s and offered lollies. After turning the lollies down and walking away, the boy 'felt that this man had grabbed him from behind', the 8-year-old's uncle told 1News yesterday. 'With retaliation he had pushed the man's hand away and ran away.' Other parents called out, asking the man – who was wearing a camouflage jacket and driving a white sedan with offensive words and gestures on the side panels – if he was the boy's father. 'The man … said 'Yes', and then my nephew responded 'No, he's not my father'," the uncle told 1News. Police are continuing to investigate the incident, which occurred at 3.05pm on Monday, Detective Senior Sergeant Kevin Tiernan said. 'We are taking this matter seriously and our inquiries are ongoing, including working to identify the vehicle the man was driving.' Reassurance patrols were also taking place at the start and finish of the school day, said Tiernan, of Counties Manukau Central CIB. 'We continue to ask anyone with information to contact Police on 105 using the reference number 250505/2064,' Tiernan said.
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Yahoo
British Army musician sexually assaulted colleague, court martial hears
A female British Army musician sexually assaulted a female colleague while drunk, a court martial has heard. Adelle Foster, a clarinet player in the Coldstream Guards, is alleged to have inappropriately touched a colleague on three separate occasions before mocking her protestations. Musician Foster pleaded not guilty to three counts of sexual assault at Bulford Military Court. Cdre James Farrant, prosecuting, said the assault took place in the early hours of the morning after Musician Foster had drunk a bottle of wine. He said the two women usually 'didn't get on that well' and argued about 'each other's behaviour'. Cdre Farrant continued: 'Musician Foster moved closer to [the woman] and suggested that she, Musician Foster, give her a massage to help her sleep.' The court heard the woman declined the offer, but the clarinet player started stroking her hand anyway. Cdre Farrant said she continued to touch the woman's belly, breasts, and genitals, which the alleged victim told the court consisted of 'grabbing' and 'jabbing'. The alleged victim was fully dressed, wearing jeans and a jumper. Cdre Farrant added: 'All touching was over clothing. Eventually, Musician Foster said she was going to sleep.' But the assault continued as 'Musician Foster began touching [her] again, this time on her breasts and bottom.' 'She began trying to take [the woman's] clothes off. She eventually stopped following [the woman's] polite protest.' The alleged victim said 'no', but was mocked for this with Musician Foster 'repeating [her] protestations to her'. Musician Foster initially stopped the alleged victim from fleeing the room, though she eventually escaped to a lift, where she called friends to tell them what had happened. The court heard audio recordings the alleged victim had made of some of the interactions between the women that night. After the woman said she had a partner, Musician Foster could be heard saying, 'I'm still going to touch you'. The alleged victim then said: 'I don't find it comfortable, all this touching.' Cdre Farrant told the court that Musician Foster sent the woman a message around 2.40am, after the alleged attack, which said she was 'just trying to be friends'. The women met in person again that night, when the alleged victim reportedly told Musician Foster that she shouldn't have touched her. According to an audio recording, Musician Foster responded: 'Before, when I was joking and touching you, I was joking.' When shown this evidence in an interview, the musician said she did not remember having said she was joking. Musician Foster also denied touching her colleague inappropriately. The trial continues. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
The Guardian
20-02-2025
- Science
- The Guardian
What are sinkholes, how are they formed and why did one appear in a Surrey street?
Residents of Godstone in Surrey have been evacuated from their homes amid fears that two large sinkholes in their high street could trigger a gas explosion. Here we look at what causes sinkholes, whether they are becoming more common and what can be done to prevent them. Sinkholes are large pits that appear in the ground when the underlying rock either collapses or is washed away, dissolved in water or degraded through other processes. In Britain they are typically 5 to 10 metres deep but can reach down more than 50 metres. Some sinkholes form when soluble rock such as chalk, gypsum or limestone is dissolved by acidic rainfall or groundwater, causing the overlying ground to collapse. Others form when underground caves collapse. Yet more form when loose material under the surface is eroded by flowing water. Heavy rain, surface flooding and drought can all trigger sinkholes by destabilising underground cavities. Mining, burst water mains and construction work, which affects surface drainage and the loads that ground has to bear, can also be a factor. Absolutely. The Mendips, parts of Wales, the Peak District and the northern Pennines which sit on carboniferous limestone, a hard sedimentary rock made of calcium carbonate, are all hotspots. Areas of Dorset, Hampshire and the Chilterns, where clay and sand sit on chalk, are also vulnerable. The riskiest spot in Britain is around Ripon in North Yorkshire, which sits on gypsum, a soft mineral that dissolves much more easily than limestone. Yes. Godstone sits on weakly cemented sands that are prone to erosion and flushing by running water. Andrew Farrant, the British Geological Survey's regional geologist for south-east England, said it was normally not a problem unless there was a sudden change in the hydrogeology. That could happen if someone dug a large hole below the local water table, or if there was heavy rainfall, flooding or a sudden ingress of water from a burst pipe. Godstone sits on a network of tunnels and sand mines that date back to the 17th century. Maps published in 1872 reveal an entrance to an old sand mine very close to the site of the Godstone sinkhole, Farrant said. Two other old mines have entrances south of the sinkhole, on the east side of the road. There could be further sand mines in the area that are not recorded on maps, he added. It is impossible to be sure without more information. 'It's probable that the sinkhole is due to a burst water main flushing out weak unconsolidated sands from beneath the road over a period of time, creating a cavity which then collapsed when it got big enough,' Farrant said. But the sinkhole might have been caused by the collapse of an old, unrecorded sand mine, he added. A leaking pipe could have weakened the rock and led to the collapse of a mine, if one extended under the road, though it's possible that a mine roof collapsed and broke the water main. Dr Arya Assadi Langroudi of the University of East London favours the burst water main theory. 'The high pressure water from the damaged pipe likely 'boiled' the sandy soil beneath the surface, creating cavities that led to the ground collapsing,' he said. A second sinkhole formed on the high street shortly after the first. Hard to know. Many sinkholes are never recorded, not least because the vast majority form in remote parts of Wales, the Peak District and the Pennines. But there are sporadic surges in sinkhole formation, usually linked to prolonged spells of heavy rainfall. The wet winter of 2012 triggered a spate of chalk mine collapses in south-east England. 'I would be very wary of saying that the number of sinkholes appearing across the UK has increased over the last five years or so,' Farrant said. That may change with global heating and more extreme weather. Geologists expect heavier rainfall to exacerbate sinkhole formation, but also collapses of old mine shafts, sewers, drains and culverts. 'Many of our older Victorian culverts and drains simply weren't designed to cope with some of the demands placed on them due to changes in climate and increases in population and urban development,' Farrant said. In vulnerable built-up areas, ensuring sufficient drainage is crucial, said Assadi Langroudi. 'If the ground can be stabilised, investing in proper drainage infrastructure can prevent the dangerous combination of water and loose sand from leading to further collapses,' he said.
BBC News
19-02-2025
- Climate
- BBC News
What is a sinkhole and how does it form?
Residents in the Surrey village of Godstone have been evacuated after two sinkholes opened up this week along large parts of the high original hole first appeared late on Monday night, growing to at least 65ft (20m) long by Tuesday are not uncommon in the UK but can sometimes appear suddenly. What might be the causes and should we be more worried about them? What is a sinkhole? A sinkhole is a depression in the surface because the underlying rock has can be saucer-shaped or appear deeper more like shafts. If they occur in built-up areas they can appear more irregular as a road or another structure above can distort the Godstone, the collapsed ground is under a road which is partially concealing the size of the depression. How are they formed? Sinkholes can appear for many different reasons - it is often due to the geology but human factors can also be a cause. One of the most common reasons for a sinkhole is when rocks like limestone or chalk break down. This happens because carbon dioxide from the air dissolves in rainwater to form carbonic acid - this then percolates through the rock and reacts with it, causing it to this process can happen gradually, where the depression becomes larger over other instances, the limestone sits below another layer of rock, which means that as it gets dissolved there are no immediate signs at the overlying rock, sometimes clay or sandstone, will then suddenly collapse into the depression beneath - called a 'collapse sinkhole'.These are most common in South Wales where sandstone rocks lie above caves in the human activities can also accelerate the formation of sinkholes or cause the ground to collapse in a similar Farrant, British Geological Survey regional geologist for south-east England, suspects that is what has happened in Godstone and it is not a true said that one theory is that a burst water main has caused a sudden influx of water into the sandstone bed "flushing" the rock out the way. But he added that there had been a significant amount of historic mining in the area and it cannot be ruled out that there were some unmapped quarries that have been built on. Pete Burgess, of the Wealden Cave and Mines Society, said a quarry marked "sand pit" can be seen on 19th century maps of land directly under the added that sand from the pit was dug out and used for building and gardening purposes. How common are sinkholes in the UK? They are common in the UK because of the abundance of limestone and chalk rock and historic mining and chalk are formed from the deposit and compression of micro-organisms found in shallow warm seas. Millions of years ago the UK was located further south towards the equator and was much warmer with parts of the country submerged - creating the ideal conditions for these rock types to form. Vanessa Banks, expert in shallow geohazards and risks at the British Geological Survey, told the BBC's Radio 4 PM programme: "Sinkholes occur in spates but many are not recorded as they occur in remote areas."She added that meteorological conditions play a role as extreme downpours can flush water through the rocks or put pressure on infrastructure like water December, about 30 homes were evacuated in Merthyr Tydfil after the ground collapsed, and in 2014 sinkholes occurred at five to ten times the normal rate across the south-east England after intense storm conditions. Are they dangerous? 'Collapse sinkholes' which can appear suddenly and without any warnings at the surface, like cracks or subsidence, can be 2010, a sinkhole measuring 20m in diameter and 90m deep, appeared in Guatemala City which resulted in the death of one person. In this case heavy rains and poor drainage are thought to have weakened the underlying in January a truck driver had to be rescued in the Japanese city of Yashio after the ground collapsed due to a burst pipe. In the case of dissolution sinkholes geologists can indicate which areas are more at risk if the underlying rock is made up of chalk or limestone. For any new development in the UK the local planning authority does review the geology and any potential risks. But Dr Collins, reader in geology and geotechnical engineering at Brunel University, said that in this case where water infrastructure plays a role it is harder to predict potential ground collapses."The pipe rupture does highlight the challenge that comes with having buried infrastructure as they are often buried at depths in excess of a metre. The depth is to reduce the impact of deep freeze during a very cold winter. "Unfortunately, this makes them hard to monitor and repairs can be difficult, including the replacement of soil in the excavated hole once the repair is complete," he said.
