Latest news with #Kingsthorpe
BBC News
11-08-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Homes plan for historic shoe factory in Northampton site delayed
Plans for a new housing development on the derelict site of a Grade II listed factory have been would have seen 97 houses and apartments built at the old Bective Works shoe and boot factory in Kingsthorpe, Northamptonshire Council approved the plans in November 2023 but now developers have removed some of the conditions attached to that Parish Council said it was informed of the planning applications last week and a decision was due in September. The main building, which dates back to 1902, would be refurbished and others in the area demolished under the application submitted to West Northamptonshire Council has asked for the "discharge of conditions" including noise, asbestos control and "mitigations for bats".Planning documents said comments can be made on the application until 22 to Historic England the building was "one of the first single-storey boot and shoe factories".It also said it is one of the few built before World War One to survive. Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
ABC News
09-06-2025
- ABC News
Queensland man found with 100,000 child exploitation images, videos
An 81-year-old man has been sentenced to five years in jail after possessing child exploitation material, including clippings from magazines dating back to the 1970s. Adam Bayard pleaded guilty in Toowoomba District Court on Monday to four counts of possession of child exploitation material and one count of using a carriage service to access child abuse material. The retired Telstra technician was arrested in 2023 after his home at Kingsthorpe, west of Toowoomba, was raided by police as part of an international investigation involving the FBI. It resulted in 18 other men charged and 13 children removed from harm. Crown prosecutor Abby Kong told the court that while police were searching his house, Bayard admitted to liking watching young girls do activities such as dancing, ice-skating and gymnastics. "Which was consistent with a spreadsheet that was on his fridge with eisteddfod times and school art shows and the like," Ms Kong said. She said Bayard had built a "sophisticated" encrypted network of 23 devices containing nearly two terabytes of potential child exploitation material. The prosecution said there was so much material stored on the network that police downloaded 6.9 million files but could only examine a small portion of that. Of that portion, police found more than 100,000 images and videos of child exploitation material. Bayard was also found to possess child exploitation material in the form physical photo albums containing 854 print-outs, magazine clippings dating back to the 1970s, novels and department store flyers containing children. Ms Kong told the court that Bayard had also named laptops and computers in his home after "girls who appealed to him" such as Penny and Melody. She said when police searched his house, Bayard made broad admissions to possessing the material but asserted he had no reason to feel guilty and that sexual attraction to children was natural. "He really sought to shift the blame on to society and to the state of the law around the age of consent as opposed to his own conduct," she told the court. Judge Dennis Lynch took Bayard's lack of remorse into account during sentencing. "You frankly admitted your sexual interest in children," Judge Lynch said. "You denied that you felt guilty about that. "Accessing and possessing child exploitation materials has the effect of encouraging the abuse of children wherever that may occur in the world or the production of that material. "So, you have, over a very long period of time, by your conduct effectively encouraged the production, therefore the abuse of children." Judge Lynch said he could only punish Bayard for offences dating back to the start of the indictment in 2005 but acknowledged his offending had occurred for decades. "You commenced accessing [child exploitation material] before the birth of the internet," he said. Barrister David Jones KC, who appeared in Bayard's defence, said the court should consider the 81-year-old's lack of other criminal history, advanced age and social isolation during sentencing. Judge Lynch said there were some mitigating factors. "You are effectively living an isolated life as a hermit," he said. "That you have not committed any other offence during the course of your long life, suggests to me that there is in all likelihood a low risk of you, in fact, transferring your sexual interest in children onto an actual child." Bayard was sentenced to five years in jail, to be suspended after 12 months. Once released he will be a reportable offender, meaning he will have to disclose to police his whereabouts and the nature of the use of his devices.
Sky News
28-05-2025
- General
- Sky News
Althorp: Arson suspected after fire destroys farmhouse at Princess Diana's family home
A farmhouse at the former family home of Princess Diana has been burnt down in a suspected arson attack, her brother has said. Earl Spencer posted pictures on social media of the building on fire and its gutted remains the next morning, saying he was "stunned" to find out it had been "apparently burnt down by vandals". The building was unoccupied at the time, he said. He thanked firefighters for "doing their very best", and lamented it was "so very sad that anyone would think this a fun thing to do". Firefighters were called to the scene in Mill Lane, Kingsthorpe, at about 1.30am on Wednesday and found a derelict two-storey property fully on fire, Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service said. "Crews arrived to find a derelict two-storey property fully on fire. "At the height of the fire, four crews from across the service wearing breathing apparatus used hose-reel jets to contain the blaze and prevent it from spreading further," the service added. "One crew remained on the scene into this afternoon with a water bowser to continue dampening down any remaining hotspots, and then returned to their station shortly before 1pm."
BBC News
28-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Firefighters tackle blaze at Althorp Estate farmhouse
Firefighters have been tackling a blaze at a farmhouse which is part of the Althorp House estate in Spencer, who owns Althorp House, posted on X that he was "stunned" by the fire, which began at the Dallington Grange farmhouse on Mill Lane, in Kingsthorpe, Northampton at about 01:30 earl added that the building was "fortunately unoccupied at the time" of the blaze and claimed it was "apparently burnt down by vandals".Northamptonshire Police said the incident had "not been recorded as a crime at present, but this could change if there is evidence to indicate it was started deliberately." Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service said the two-storey building was "fully on fire" when crews said that at the height of the fire, four crews from across the service wearing breathing apparatus used hose-reel jets to contain the blaze and prevent it from spreading crew will remain on the scene with a water bowser to continue dampening down any remaining hotspots, it fire comes less than a year after a fire at an empty industrial unit in nearby Harlestone Firs, which is also part of the Althorp Estate. 'Completely destroyed' In a statement, David Fawkes, the chief executive of the Althorp Estate, said: "The house and farm buildings have been unoccupied for several years and the site is scheduled for redevelopment as part of the Dallington Grange development. "The farmhouse was built in the late 18th Century, and it has been completely destroyed by the fire, but the surrounding outbuildings are undamaged. "Our priority is to secure the site and make sure it is safe."He added: "We are very grateful to Northampton Fire and Rescue Service and the estate team for dealing with the fire so effectively. We don't know how the fire started." Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Telegraph
28-05-2025
- General
- Telegraph
Princess Diana's former home hit by ‘arson attack'
A farmhouse at Princess Diana's former home has been destroyed in an arson attack, the Earl Spencer has claimed. Firefighters were called in the early hours of Wednesday to Althorp House to find the building 'fully on fire'. Lord Spencer, the younger brother of Princess Diana, claimed that the fire had been started deliberately by vandals. In a post on X, he said: 'Stunned to learn that one of Althorp House's farmhouses – fortunately, unoccupied at the time – was apparently burnt down by vandals last night. 'So very sad that anyone would think this a fun thing to do.' Adey Greeno, the estate's long-standing head gamekeeper, added: 'The farmhouse that we lost to a deliberate act of vandalism last night has now had to be razed to the ground for safety reasons. 'So sad. The world we live in.' A spokesman from the fire service said: '[We were] called at around 1.30am this morning (May 28) to reports of a fire on Mill Lane in Kingsthorpe. 'Crews arrived to find an unoccupied two-story property fully on fire. 'At the height of the fire, four crews from across the service wearing breathing apparatus used hose-reel jets to contain the blaze and prevent it from spreading further. 'This morning, one crew remains on the scene with a water bowser to continue dampening down any remaining hotspots.'
