Latest news with #Morritt
Metro
20-06-2025
- Metro
Drug dealer jailed after police found £3,800,000 of cocaine during traffic stop
A drug dealer who was found with almost £4,000,000 of cocaine in his car after being pulled over by police has been jailed for 13 years. Officers discovered the haul of Class-A drugs wrapped with 'King Pro' packaging during a traffic stop in Solihull, West Midlands. Driver Conrad Byrd, 50, was arrested at the scene after being pulled over on Kenilworth Road on March 14. Following searches of his vehicle, officers found over 25 kilos of cocaine, with a street value of approximately £3,800,000. Further searches were carried out at his home address in Sidcup, Bexley, South East London, where further kilos of drugs were found along with cash. Detectives found Byrd had conducted many trips between the West Midlands and London to transfer drugs for a gang. He pleaded guilty to conspiring to supply Class A drugs over a three month period and was jailed at Birmingham Crown Court for 13.5 years. In April, two members of a gang were ordered to pay back more than £300,000 each after smuggling Class A drugs inside a shipment of raspberry sorbet. William Morritt, 69, and John Madden, 51, moved 39kg of cocaine and 18kg of heroin from Belgium to England in 2017. Police discovered the haul amongst 26 pallets of frozen raspberry yoghurt sorbet at a frozen food warehouse in Bilsthorpe, Nottinghamshire. It was later revealed the pair made over £4.7 million from the operation. The seizure was the biggest of its kind in Nottinghamshire for many years, said police. After an investigation, a number of suspects were charged in connection with the smuggling operation. Five people went on to be convicted of offences, including Madden and Morritt. More Trending In 2023, Madden, of Kirkby, Knowsley, Merseyside, was jailed for 21 years after admitting conspiring to fraudulently evade a prohibition on the importation of a Class A drug. Morritt, from Ashbourne, Derbyshire, the gang's haulier, was jailed for 18 years after being found guilty of the same charge. Earlier this month, on April 2, Morritt received a confiscation order demanding repayment of £367,301.91 at Leicester Crown Court. The Proceeds of Crime hearing was told he had benefitted by £2,384,655.93 from his illegal actions. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Toddler dies in hot car after 'dad left him to get haircut and drink at bar for three hours' MORE: Mum attacked police believing they were impostors who'd come to kill her MORE: Teen who murdered 12-year-old schoolgirl Ava White named for first time
BBC News
26-03-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Scarborough emergency care centre to open after five-month delay
A new £47m urgent and emergency care centre could finally open in May after a faulty boiler delayed it by several months, according to health centre at Scarborough Hospital was due to be fully operational in November, but its opening was pushed back until the spring after one of the site's four boilers malfunctioned and had to be new facility will have a new CT scanner and two new X-ray machines and a secure room for highly infectious diseases. Simon Morritt, chief executive of York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said the opening would be a "hugely important milestone for Scarborough". Mr Morritt said: "Our priority has always been to ensure we do not move in until we are confident the building is safe and functional for staff and patients."I am delighted to say we have received assurance from our contractors that this is now the case."The urgent and emergency care centre was set to almost double the existing space at Scarborough Hospital and was the largest capital investment by the trust, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service. Mr Morritt said the handover of the building was scheduled for the end of this month, "allowing for a planned and phased approach to final testing, intensive cleaning, and occupation"."We are now working towards starting the clinical moves in the last week of April, with a view to being fully operational at the start of May." Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
BBC News
31-01-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Twelve-hour trolley waits at Scarborough Hospital "very high"
The number of people waiting on trolleys for more than 12 hours at a North Yorkshire hospital has been described as "absolutely appalling" by the boss of one NHS trust.A report has revealed 1,057 patients waited on trolleys for more than 12 hours at Scarborough Hospital in December, during an '"incredibly tough" winter Morritt, the chief executive of the York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, praised hospital staff for "working tremendously hard to provide safe care".It comes after the planned opening of Scarborough Hospital's new £47m urgent and emergency care centre (UECC) in November was delayed until spring this year, due to a malfunctioning boiler. Alternative pathways Speaking at an NHS Trust board meeting this week, Mr Morritt said it was "impossible to ignore the increased activity coming through the doors of our emergency departments"."The usual increase in flu cases and other seasonal viruses arrived earlier than last year, adding to the pressures," he report, presented to the board on Wednesday, acknowledged the number of 12 hour-plus trolley waits last month was "very high".Simon Barkley, chair of the York and Scarborough NHS Trust, described the number of people waiting on trolleys for more than 12 hours as "absolutely appalling".He noted, however, that the figures showed a 10% improvement compared to a year ago. Figures released by NHS England confirmed 2024 was the busiest year ever for emergency departments and ambulance services in England, while December saw the highest number of ambulance incidents recorded in a single Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and Norovirus have impacted hospital admissions across the region - and, more widely, across the number of patients in hospital with Norovirus was up by 50% compared with the same period last year, and the number of children in hospital with RSV was up by 47%.To help "manage and maintain flow" at the hospital, Mr Morritt said the Trust had been "focusing on discharge... ensuring discharge planning starts as early as possible following an admission".He added: "We are also supporting teams to optimise alternative pathways, such as the virtual wards, the Urgent Treatment Centre, and the assessment areas - to make sure that we only admit patients if we absolutely must.""In addition, we are continuing to encourage staff to have their flu and Covid vaccinations," he concluded. Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North or tell us a story you think we should be covering here.
