Latest news with #JohnCole
Western Telegraph
20 hours ago
- Automotive
- Western Telegraph
Goodwick overnight motorhome and campervan parking approved
A trial scheme for overnight motorhome parking facilities at the Goodwick Moor car park, The Parrog, was mooted last year after a February 2024 council Cabinet-backed trial scheme for 'Pembs Stop' campervan and motorhomes facilities at four car parks was later dropped. It had initially been agreed that car parks at North Beach, Tenby; Goodwick Moor, Goodwick; Townsmoor, Narberth; and Western Way, Pembroke Dock would form the trial areas operating year-round at £10 a night for a trial 18-month period, with the intention not to create 'campsites'. That planned trial received national coverage, with a discussion on a phone-in programme on BBC Radio Wales. Local tourism businesses had said the proposals will harm them, and concerns about the trial were also raised by the official tourism industry group for Pembrokeshire, Visit Pembrokeshire. Following that, a special council scrutiny committee meeting was held last April where the scheme was overwhelmingly rejected; a later September 2024 Cabinet agreeing to not proceed with the scheme but instead trial an overnight stopover facility for motorhomes at Goodwick Moor car park, linked to the ferry port. A formal planning application for a conditional change of use of the Goodwick Moor Car Park scheme for a two-year trial period was later submitted by the council. Fishguard and Goodwick Town Council has objected to the application, raising concerns of noise nuisance to residents and other users, a lack of provision of facilities for overnight motorhome/campervans, saying the proposal would have an adverse impact on existing businesses and residents, a loss of community amenity, a loss of evening car parking facility for existing community groups, and poor road surfacing. An officer report at the July 29 meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council's planning committee, which recommended approval, says the scheme would see no physical changes to the car park but would 'allow for certain vehicles to stay for one single overnight stay,' and would 'regulate the existing activities of overnight stays which already occur on the site'. Approval of the scheme was moved by Cllr John Cole, a motorhome owner himself, who said it was 'about time our car parks were opened for such use,' adding: 'It's nice to see we are looking into this, I hope it will extend to other car parks in the area.' Members were told that, if approved, it was not expected the scheme would begin any earlier than September, with next summer effectively being the first proper trial period, with spaces on a 'first-come-first served' basis. Committee chair Cllr Mark Carter raised concerns about the scheme before members, saying he was 'uncomfortable' with a lack of any information on a management plan being available to committee members and raising concerns about any enforcement needed. The recommendation of conditional approval for a temporary two-year period was passed by 11 votes, with three abstentions.
The Sun
01-07-2025
- The Sun
Grieving grandma of murdered schoolboy Logan Mwangi plunges 200ft off cliff in suspected suicide
THE grandmother of murdered schoolboy Logan Mwangi died after falling 200ft from a cliff in a suspected suicide, an inquest heard. Clare Williamson, 64, was distraught after the death of her five-year-old grandson at the hands of her daughter, Logan's own mother, Angharad Williamson. 8 8 8 8 Little Logan was found with "severe injuries" after being dumped in a river just yards from his home in South Wales in July 2021. Angharad was found guilty of his murder alongside her partner < John Cole, and his stepson, Craig Mulligan, and jailed for at least 28 years in June 2022. Clare is believed to have written an email to her daughter in jail explaining her intention to end her life, which was intercepted by prison authorities, reports the Mail. Police were alerted about the email, but they had received a call from Clare at 8:35am on June 16 with the same message. Officers rushed to the Southerdown beauty spot near her home in Bridgend, South Wales, but Clare had already fallen to her death. The cliff is a well-known suicide spot. Clare's body was spotted on the beach below and was recovered by the Porthcawl lifeboat. An inquest heard the provisional cause of death was multiple traumatic injuries. Angharad was convicted of Logan's murder alongside Logan's stepfather John Cole, 40, and Cole's stepson Craig Mulligan, 14. The boy had suffered 56 external cuts and bruises, and "catastrophic" internal injuries likened to those inflicted by a high-speed road accident, in the time before his death. Moment 'killer', 92, moans 'I'm sick' during arrest 60 years after 'murder' All three were found guilty of murdering and torturing the chirpy schoolboy before dumping his body in a river. He was still wearing his dinosaur pyjama bottoms and Spider-Man top. The court heard he suffered a "brutal and sustained assault" in the hours or days before he died - when he was just 3ft 5in and three stone in weight. Logan's tormented dad, speaking out after sentencing, said "every fibre in my body died" when he discovered the youngster had been brutally murdered. However, during her evidence, Clare tried to protect her daughter by insisting she never saw Logan being treated cruelly. When asked if she had ever witnessesed her daughter being "physical or violent" towards Logan, she replied: "Absolutely not. She was a fantastic mum, she loved him to pieces." Clare described Logan as "the apple of my eye", adding: "He was a very, very bright child, a joy to be around." But she had seen very little of her grandson in the last months of his life - attributed to Angharrad's relationship with John Cole. 8 8 He was described in court as controlling. Prosecutors said John Cole, who was a member of the far-right National Front, targeted Logan because he was mixed race. Prosecutor Caroline Rees QC said: "He was a child of mixed race and it is relevant to a dehumanising attitude towards Logan." In the case background, the court heard Cole was described as "very racist" by former friends and partners while growing up. One friend said he was racist towards "any people who are different". Angharad and Cole tried to cover up the horrific events in their two-bedroom flat in Sarn, Bridgend, by claiming Logan had gone to the river alone in the middle of the night. When asked if it was in keeping with Logan's character to wander off, Clare replied: "No." 8 8 The three defendants denied assaulting the boy, but were all found guilty of his murder and jailed. Angharad was given a 28-year minimum sentence, with John getting 29 years and Craig five. Angharad's appeal against conviction in January 2023 was turned down. Clare never spoke publicly following the convictions. The inquest heard Clare was identified by her son Lloyd Williamson. Assistant South Wales central coroner Rachel Knight gave her condolences to her family 'at this sad time'.
Daily Mail
01-07-2025
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Grandmother of murdered schoolboy Logan Mwangi falls 200ft off a cliff to her death in suspected suicide
The heartbroken grandmother of murdered schoolboy Logan Mwangi has fallen 200ft off a cliff to her death at a coastal beauty spot in a suspected suicide, MailOnline can reveal. Clare Williamson, who described her tragic five-year-old grandson as 'the apple of her eye', struggled to come to terms with the horrors inflicted upon him by her daughter Angharad Williamson in the boy's brutal killing. Mrs Williamson, 64, is believed to have written to Angharad in jail about her intention to end her life, which was intercepted by prison authorities. Police were alerted and located her car at a cliff location near her home in Bridgend, South Wales. Ms Williamson's body was spotted on the beach below and was recovered by the Porthcawl lifeboat. An inquest heard the provisional cause of death was multiple traumatic injuries. Angharad was told of her mother's death in prison where she is serving a minimum of 28 years for Logan's murder. Mrs Williamson gave evidence at the trial into Logan's death where her daughter Angharad, Logan's stepfather John Cole, 40, and Cole's stepson Craig Mulligan, 14, were all convicted of murder. All three were found guilty of murdering and torturing the playful and smiling schoolboy before dumping his body in a river. He was still wearing his dinosaur pyjama bottoms and Spider-Man top. The schoolboy, who was just 3ft 5in and weighed three stone, or 19kg, at the time of his death, was tortured, starved and forced to do push-ups until he collapsed. Logan had suffered 56 external cuts and bruises, and 'catastrophic' internal injuries likened to a high-speed road accident, caused by a 'brutal and sustained assault' in the hours, or days, prior to his death. Experts said his injuries were 'consistent with child abuse' and prosecutors said in the months and weeks leading up to his death, Logan had been 'dehumanised' by his family. But in her evidence grandmother Mrs Williamson, who identified the schoolboy's battered and bruised body, tried to protect her daughter saying she never saw Logan being treated cruelly. When asked if she had ever seen her daughter be 'physical or violent' towards Logan, she replied: 'Absolutely not. She was a fantastic mum, she loved him to pieces.' Ms Williamson described Logan as 'the apple of my eye', adding: 'He was a very, very bright child, a joy to be around.' But the grandmother had seen little of the schoolboy in the months leading up to the July 2021 murder because of a 'difficult relationship' with John Cole, described in court as controlling. Angharad and Cole tried to cover up the horrific events in their two-bedroom flat in Sarn, Bridgend, by claiming Logan had gone to the river alone in the middle of the night. His grandmother was asked if Logan was the type of boy to wander off in the night. She replied: 'No'. Despite the rift Mrs Williamson was the first person her daughter turned to after Logan's limp body was found in the River Ogmore, just a few hundred yards from the family home. Mrs Williamson attended most days of the 10-week Cardiff Crown Court trial and was present when the jury found her daughter, Cole and Mulligan guilty of murdering her grandson. The three defendants had denied violently assaulting the little boy saying they knew nothing about what happened. All three were jailed for life with Angharad given a 28-year minimum sentence, Cole getting 29 years and Mulligan five years. Angharad's appeal against conviction in January 2023 was turned down. Her mother Mrs Williamson never spoke publicly after the trial but she was known to be devastated over the brutal death of her grandson and seeing her daughter jailed for life. Her email to her daughter was seen by the prison authorities who alerted South Wales Police who had also received a call from Mrs Williamson at 8.35am on June 16 saying she intended to end her life. By the time police got to the Southerndown beauty spot, near Porthcawl she had already fallen to her death. The inquest heard Mrs Williamson, from Bridgend, was identified by her son Lloyd Williamson. Assistant South Wales central coroner Rachel Knight gave her condolences to her family 'at this sad time'. Logan was not mentioned during the brief hearing which was adjourned while inquiries continue. For confidential help and support, call the Samaritans for free from a UK phone on 116 123 or go to
The Guardian
25-05-2025
- General
- The Guardian
Annabel Cole obituary
My mother, Annabel Cole, who has died aged 101, led a remarkably varied life as well as a very long one. It spanned a childhood in France, a spell in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force during the second world war, protesting at Greenham Common, local politics, teaching and painting. She was descended from the Quaker Fry family, her maternal grandfather being the Bloomsbury art critic Roger Fry. Her mother, Pamela Fry, fell in love with a Romanian Jew, Avram Diamand, at art school in Paris, and Annabel was born in their studio there. The family moved to Britain in 1932, as the whisperings of impending fascism became louder. She attended a range of schools, including Maldon grammar school and Chelmsford high school in Essex, and the progressive boarding school Frensham Heights in Surrey, before evacuating with most of her family to Canada early in the second world war. Annabel spent several years working on farms in Canada before returning to England in 1943 to serve with the WAAF until after the end of the war. She had an eventful time in the WAAF that included helping to organise a successful rebellion against the substandard quarters her unit were ordered to move to. She married John Cole, a solicitor, in 1948 and had three children – me, Peter and Rachel – over the next six years. Fiercely intelligent, she became increasingly frustrated by her role as mother and housewife, and once the children were at school she was able to expand her horizons. Attending St Osyth's teacher training college in Clacton during the 1960s gave her the intellectual stimulation she had been missing; afterwards she taught in several primary schools in the Essex area, the last one of which involved helping visually impaired children. Annabel's retirement in the mid-1970s began another chapter in her life, and perhaps the most colourful. She had been an active opponent of nuclear weapons for many years and became secretary of Colchester CND. A frequent visitor to Greenham Common, she was arrested on one occasion (though spared a prison sentence) for cutting through the barbed wire perimeter fence. She remained politically involved well into her 90s and a distinctive (though tiny) figure on the streets of Lewes in East Sussex, where she lived for much of her retirement. She moved into a care home only at the age of 99, and even then very much on her own terms. John died in 1991. She is survived by her three children, seven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
After closure of two hospitals in Delco, officials rally to keep private equity out of health care
Located outside of Crozer-Chester Medical Center in Upland, Pa., which recently closed (Capital-Star photo by John Cole) Nearly two weeks after Crozer-Chester Medical Center officially closed its doors, Gov. Josh Shapiro and state lawmakers in Delaware County gathered outside the building to rally support for legislation they believe would help prevent other hospitals from closing across Pennsylvania in the future. 'We are here today because Crozer was a critically important health care system right here in Delaware County, a health care system that has been forced to close its doors and stop serving its patients because of the greed and mismanagement of a private equity firm,' Shapiro said Thursday. Crozer-Chester Medical Center and Taylor Hospital are both owned by Prospect Medical Holdings, a California for-profit healthcare company. Both closed their doors in the past month, leaving the fifth most populous county in Pennsylvania with just two hospitals, as the private equity firm filed for bankruptcy. 'I am done letting private equity wreak havoc on our health care system, wreak havoc on our communities, treating our hospitals like a piggy bank that they can drain and then smash on the floor. Those days are over,' Shapiro said. 'The time for action is right now. It is long past time to stand up for our local hospitals and nursing facilities and put in place real safeguards against private equity and for our community.' Peggy Malone, who's president of the Crozer-Chester Nurses Association, described what Prospect did as 'immoral, devastating' but 'legal,' due to current state laws. She noted previously closed Springfield Hospital and Delaware County Memorial Hospital over the past few years as additional examples from Prospect. 'I knew the health system before Prospect Medical came into our lives and created our nightmares. I can tell you, because I was here,' said Malone. 'We let the wolf in the door here in Delaware County, and we can never, ever do that again. The wolf, an out of state private equity-funded company came in and ruthlessly, without hesitation, without shade, ate us all up.' Dr. Max Cooper, who was an ER doctor at Crozer until its recent closing, said that one day after the hospital closed, a male victim was shot in the chest by a gun one block away. Since the hospital was closed, the man died during the 30-minute trip to Lankenau Medical Center in neighboring Montgomery County. Shapiro and lawmakers in Delaware County's delegation on hand for Thursday's press conference say they believe House Bill 1460 and Senate Bill 322, dubbed the Health System Protection Act, would help prevent closures like Crozer from happening in the future. The proposal would stop lease back arrangements, where private equity firms force hospitals to sell off the land the facilities are built on, to then rent back those spaces at what Shapiro called, 'ridiculously high prices.' The legislation would also empower the state Attorney General's Office to review and, if necessary, block or place conditions on sales involving healthcare institutions to for-profit entities, like Prospect. Attorney General Dave Sunday's office told the Capital-Star that they are currently reviewing drafts of this legislation and 'look forward to a robust negotiation process.' 'Attorney General Sunday is a staunch advocate for Pennsylvanians in every part of the Commonwealth to have access to affordable health care,' his office said in a statement. 'This is a stance he will not relent from, and this office will be engaged in any and all matters in which we have authority to promote healthy communities.' Sen. Tim Kearney (D-Delaware), who sponsored the measure, said this is the third legislative session that they have tried to address the issue. It passed the House in a previous session, but it did not make it through both legislative chambers. In recent months, he says he believes the tone of the conversation has recently changed. 'Both parties are now taking it more seriously than ever before,' Kearney said. The proposal in the House is slated to receive a vote in the first week in June. Rep. Lisa Borowski (D-Delaware), who sponsors House legislation calling for reforms, highlighted her personal connection to the recently-shuttered hospital. In addition to working in healthcare for 30 years and being the daughter of a physician and a nurse, she noted that she gave birth to her first son at Crozer Health. As a result of the closure, Borowski pointed out that 2,651 people are now out of a job and hospitals, like Riddle Hospital, six miles away, are being overwhelmed with the excess of people who were previously being treated at the two former facilities owned by Prospect. The state Department of Labor and Industry has been working to connect the workers who lost their jobs in the hospital with employment resources, holding a job fair at Subaru Park earlier this week. The state is also putting forward $1 million to ensure that EMS services remain available in the county following the closures of those hospitals. The Capital-Star is seeking comment from Prospect. While similar legislation to help prevent hospital closures was introduced in previous sessions, there is a difference this time around. Unlike last year, the current bill does not include oversight of nonprofits hospitals by the attorney general's office. Kearney said he would prefer that both hospitals owned by private equity firms and non-profits were included. But, he recognized that the proposal didn't get across the finish line in the previous session with that language and is hoping to get the bill to a point where enough lawmakers vote in support of the reforms. 'There are, as you can imagine, a lot of fairly powerful interests that are at work here, including the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP), who opposed the bill last year,' Kearney said. However, Kearney said they've been working 'very hard to get to a point where we can get them to neutral,' on this proposal. Shapiro also echoed a similar tone, noting that the General Assembly is divided between Democrats and Republicans. He would prefer to have a more broad version of the measure, but recognizes compromise may be needed. 'I want to have a strong bill, a bill that protects communities from the kind of profit seeking motives that we saw here in Delaware County, but I'm never going to let perfect be the enemy of possible,' Shapiro said. Shapiro and other lawmakers talked at-length about wanting to hold Prospect 'accountable' for closing multiple hospitals. 'We know who did this. Prospect did this, plain and simple, and they didn't have to do this,' Shapiro said. 'They stripped so much money out of this health system that they can no longer even make payroll to great nurses and doctors and medical staff and others who poured their heart and soul into this hospital.' 'But the thing is that money didn't just vanish into thin air, that money that they sucked out of this institution is lining the pockets of those executives at Prospect,' he added. 'Their ill-gotten gains deserve greater scrutiny.' Over the last seven months, Shapiro said that the state put up than $15 million to try and keep the hospital open. The Attorney General's Office is fighting Prospect in bankruptcy court. State Rep. Leanne Krueger (D-Delaware) asked them 'to do everything they can, to claw back the money that we have invested into this system and to hopefully open a criminal investigation, so these guys are truly held accountable.' When asked if he believes criminal charges should be filed against Prospect, Shapiro said that it's a question for the attorney general's office. A spokesman for Sunday did not respond to a question about a criminal investigation. Following the closing of Crozer, there are 13 hospitals in Pennsylvania that are still owned by private equity firms, according to the Private Equity Stakeholder Project (PESP). 'I'm concerned about the quality of care in those communities. I'm concerned about our rural hospitals, especially, that are teetering on the edge, those owned by private equity, and even some that aren't particularly with the Medicaid cuts that are being contemplated in Washington,' Shapiro told reporters. 'So, I'm very very worried about that.' Shapiro said that legislation couldn't go back and undo a transaction that legally took place, so the private equity firms would still own those hospitals, if those proposals were enacted into law. However, he said it remains to be seen whether or not the attorney general gets additional authority as part of this legislation to manage healthcare institutions that are currently owned by private equity. Shortly following the end of the press conference, a car attempted to pull into the hospital parking lot with what appeared to be a medical emergency involving a baby, who was seen by medical professionals on-site. Peggy Malone, president of the Crozer-Chester Nurses Association, told reporters following that incident it was an example of why the hospital needs to remain open. 'Not one child should ever die because those bastards closed our hospital,' Malone said, visibly upset. 'They never cared about the people in this community. But, we do, and this is why we've been fighting so hard and somebody has to open our ER now.' Malone said since their hospital isn't open, the baby would have to be treated at the closest hospital, about 30 minutes away. 'If that child had died today, the devastation that would have caused that entire family, it's unbearable, and this can't happen,' Malone said. 'It has to stop now, get our ER open, now.' 'There's no reason that that ER is closed. Get Prospect out of here. Hold them accountable, and open our ER now,' she said, which was followed by applause for others also standing by. Malone said there are units and floors that could be opened to treat these emergencies and said Prospect is in the way of that happening. 'Get us in there. We will take care of this, but there are units in there that can be restored,' Malone said. 'You could keep us up and going. It might be smaller. It might not look like this, but get us open,' she added. 'No baby should die.'
