Latest news with #Oswaldtwistle
BBC News
4 days ago
- BBC News
Ex-headteacher jailed for sex attacks on three pupils in Lancashire
A former headteacher who sexually assaulted three girls at his school has been Bocker, 65, abused the teenagers between 2007 and 2016 at a school in the Oswaldtwistle of Gorse Lane, Formby, was jailed for three-and-a-half years at Burnley Crown Court after he was convicted of three counts of sexual assault. He was also given an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order and placed on the Sex Offenders' Register for life. Police Investigating Officer Amanda Gallery said: "First and foremost I would like to praise these girls for having the courage to come forward and report to us what happened to them. "I hope the guilty verdicts and sentence give them some sense that justice has been done." Listen to the best of BBC Radio Lancashire on Sounds and follow BBC Lancashire on Facebook, X and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Daily Mail
Headteacher, 65, who sexually abused girls over a nine-year period is jailed
A disgraced headteacher who sexually assaulted three teenage girls while at school has been jailed. Mark Bocker, 65, assaulted the school girls over a nine-year period between 2007 and 2016 at a school in the Oswaldtwistle area. Bocker, of Gores Lane, Formby was convicted of three counts of sexual assault contrary to the Sexual Offences Act 2003 following a trial last month. He was sentenced today at Burnley Crown Court to just 42 months behind bars. He was also given an indefinite sexual harm prevention order and will be on the sex offenders' register for life. Police Investigating Officer Amanda Gallery said: 'First and foremost I would like to praise these girls for having the courage to come forward and report to us what happened to them. 'I hope the guilty verdicts and sentence give them some sense that justice has been done. 'I would encourage anyone who has been a victim of sexual offending, no matter how long ago, to come and speak to us confident that we will investigate sensitively and professionally and will aim to put offenders before the courts.' Disgraced headteacher Mark Bocker, 65, who sexually assaulted three teenage girls while at school has been jailed Bocker also appeared before the courts in March 2022 after he admitted possession of indecent images. Police found the child abuse images on one of Smith's phones and said these included images of girls as young as eight being abused. As many as 13 images fell into Category A, the most serious, while 23 were in Category B and 46 were in Category C. Bocker was handed a six month jail term, suspended for 18 months, and was also ordered to complete rehabilitation courses.
Yahoo
02-08-2025
- Yahoo
'I reported on the Jay Slater case from start to finish'
On the afternoon of Thursday June 20 in 2024 I knocked on the door of a semi-detached house in Oswaldtwistle. This was the home of Jay Slater who had disappeared while on holiday in Tenerife. Jay's friends had reported him missing three days earlier. As I waited for someone to answer the door of his home 19-year-old Jay should have been flying back to the UK. I was the first reporter to visit Jay's house; a well-kept semi-detached modern property on the outskirts of town. His mum, Debbie Duncan, had flown out to Tenerife on the Tuesday after she was contacted by officers from Lancashire Constabulary about his disappearance. Jay's stepdad Andy Watson came to the door. The 63-year-old told me that Jay had been reluctant to go abroad for the first time without his family. "[His friends] had to talk him into going, he wasn't really that keen," Andy told me. The following day I spoke to Debbie's mum June; Jay's grandma, at her home near Clitheroe. June told me that her son Glen - Debbie's brother - had flown out to Tenerife to support his sister. June held a framed photo of Jay as she told me that although her family had been trying to shield her from the media coverage of her grandson's disappearance "it's been on the news on telly so much I can't escape it". "I wouldn't be able to go out there, and I'm not sure what help I'd be, I just keep hoping for good news," the then 77-year-old added. "I can't even begin to imagine how Debbie is. She rang me and said he'd gone missing. She didn't tell me at first, I think she was trying not to worry me, but then as time went on... " Over the following three weeks media interest in the case grew as volunteers and search teams scoured the mountainous region around Masca where Jay had last been seen. Missing posters were plastered throughout the island as locals watched the world's media descend on their quiet village. Then came the news that everyone had been dreading. On July 15 Jay's body had been found at the bottom of a ravine. The next day, I sat inside a packed West End Methodist Church in Oswaldtwistle as friends paid tribute to the apprentice bricklayer, and his family began the process of bringing Jay home. During the service Minister Matt Smith described how the news of Jay's death was "not the answer we hoped for". Dozens of teenagers, friends of Jay's, sat on the pews with their arms around each other as a photo of the 19-year-old looked down from screens inside the church. The minister said: "Today it might feel that the darkness has overcome us but today we also stand together and say that we will remember Jay. His light will never go out. We will remember him." Blue ribbons had been tied to every lamppost and railing along the main road in Oswaldtwistle while a flurry of balloons, including one spelling out the number 19 for Jay's tragically young age, were released into the sky above Blackburn Road. The colour became synonymous with Jay and, when his body was finally repatriated, mourners watched as his blue coffin was carried into the chapel at Accrington Cemetery. As Jay had died abroad it was only when his body was brought back to Lancashire that a coroner's investigation was launched. But the language barrier, and issues with locating several witnesses, meant months passed before Jay's family could begin to have some of the answers to their many questions surrounding his disappearance and death. In the meantime, conspiracy theories were widely shared in podcasts and YouTube videos, Jay's family was subjected to cruel accusations and criticism, and his memory was sullied by suggestions he had been involved in criminal activity. As we had seen in the case of Nicola Bulley, while the world waited to find out exactly what had happened, social media sleuths 'investigated' and came to their own conclusions, sometimes based on little more than speculation and suspicion. Jay's family sought to defend his memory and grieve in peace. And so, when an inquest into his death started in May, they hoped it would put an end to the hurtful speculation. But the evidence of five key witnesses was missing. The coroner had already been informed that two of Jay's friends; Lucy Law and Bradley Geoghegan, were on holiday at the time. Two others; Ayub Qassim and Steven 'Rocky' Roccas who had rented the Airbnb where Jay was last seen, couldn't be found. That was also the case with Jay's friend Brandon Hodgson. The coroner agreed with Jay's mum Debbie, when she asked for further attempts to be made to locate the missing witnesses, and the inquest was adjourned. Last week three of the outstanding five witnesses gave evidence. Lucy and Brad spoke about the days leading up to Jay's disappearance while Ayub Qassim, who gave evidence "of his own volition" from a foreign country, was key in explaining why Jay ended up in Masca. Extensive efforts had gone into tracing the remaining two; Brandon Hodgson and Steven 'Rocky' Roccas, but they didn't respond to the coroner's repeated requests to make contact. When the inquest was resumed last week, Lancashire's most senior and highly-experienced coroner Dr James Adeley concluded that Jay's death was an accident, and he also sought to debunk many of the myths which had surrounded the teenager's tragic demise. READ MORE: Jay Slater inquest coroner's final report and findings in full Jay hadn't stolen a watch and he hadn't been the victim of a crime. He had simply made the decision to try to walk home - something many have done similarly in a semi-drunken state. But the scorching heat and remote, mountainous terrain meant that decision led to him losing his footing and falling to his death. It is clear, from the conclusive evidence present during the inquest, that Jay's death was accidental. Yet while many answers were provided, nobody can ever explain how Jay managed to fall into the Juan Lopez ravine. At least now, Jay's family finally have some of the answers they have waited so long for, and they will no doubt be hoping that they can finally allow Jay to rest in peace and rebuild their lives after 12 months of unimaginable pain. Subscribe to our daily newsletter LANCS LIVE NEWS and get all the biggest stories from across Lancashire direct to your inbox
Yahoo
01-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Social Circle's Stuart hits league's first double ton
Championship leaders Ribblesdale Wanderers were indebted to the exploits of Sri Lankan professional Heshan Dhanushka as he starred with bat but mainly ball during a double winning weekend in the Anthony Axford North West Cricket League. Ribblesdale won at Oswaldtwistle Immanuel on Saturday and beat Baxenden at home on Sunday, sitting on 107 points with eight wins from 12 games. Advertisement That they are now 17 points clear of second-placed Whalley is largely thanks to Dhanushka. On Sunday, they bowled Baxenden out for 94, with Dhanushka's off-spin accounting for 8-43 from 15 overs - the summer's best bowling return by anyone in the top two divisions of the NWCL. He then top-scored with 50 in a successful reply, achieved for the loss of four wickets. On Saturday, he claimed 5-2 from 3.4 overs against Oswaldtwistle, including three wickets in four balls, to bowl the hosts out for 93. Again, in response, he top-scored with 39 and fashioned a recovery from 16-3 to seal a four-wicket triumph. Advertisement Premiership leaders Read recovered from last week's first defeat to win a nervy clash at bottom-side Lostock by two wickets. The summer's 10th round brought Read their ninth win, surviving a regular loss of wickets in a pursuit of 153. Opener and captain Will Wrathall top-scored with 30. Lostock had been limited to 152-9 in 45 overs. Chris Holt starred for Read with 6-31 from 13 overs. He then contributed 18 to the chase, sharing 46 for the first wicket with Wrathall. Read, who claimed 10 points, are sat on 102 from 10 games, 12 clear of second-placed Farnworth Social Circle (90). Social Circle's Bajan professional Jameel Stuart amassed a sensational unbeaten 202 from 126 balls with 18 sixes in 352-5 at home to shellshocked Padiham, leading a recovery from 41-4. Advertisement Stuart's assault from number four saw 152 runs scored in fours and sixes and represented the first first-team double century in the three-year history of the NWCL, with Padiham later 229 all out. Dave Mather returned five wickets and Stuart 4-20 from 5.4 overs to help FSC claim the full 12 points with a 123-run success. The Championship's bottom side, Walkden, were on the right side of the London Bus Syndrome - you wait ages for one and then two come along at once. Having lost their first eight matches of the season, they have won their last two. They jumped off the bottom courtesy of an impressive win at promotion-chasing Cherry Tree, by two wickets chasing 194. Advertisement Indian overseas amateur Haider Saqlain was their hero with 6-52 from 14 overs in Cherry Tree's 193-9 and a top-score of 44 from number three in reply. However, a 63-run partnership, from 115-6, between Mirza Suhail and Salman Younis proved key for Walkden. Cherry Tree dropped out of the top two promotion places in the second tier, replaced by Whalley, who claimed an eye-catching come-from-behind win at Earby having been bowled out for 90. Their seventh win in 10 was achieved by 35 runs in a contest which saw only one batter make it beyond 20. Whalley pro Levi Wolfenden starred with 7-36 from 12 overs as Earby were bowled out for 55, including Matthew Nutter's 24 not out. Advertisement Wolfenden had top-scored in Whalley's 90 with 15 though was one of five wickets for South African OA Jared Bone. Unfortunately for Bone and Earby, it meant little. Whalley may be 17 points adrift of Ribblesdale but have two games in hand. Back in the Premiership, Little Lever claimed a sixth league win of 2025, by eight wickets at home against Farnworth as they impressively reeled in a target of 216 and now sit third on 79 points. Adil Nisar claimed three wickets in Farnworth's 215-8 before opener Cameron Murray and Pakistani professional Mohammad Junaid were in aggressive mood in sharing an unbroken third-wicket partnership of 147 to seal a home win. The pair hit five sixes each, Murray 88 off 67 balls and Junaid 79 off 47. Advertisement Champions Blackrod (75 points) secured their sixth win, by 18 runs at Eagley, who were bowled out for 161 in reply to 179-5. Thushendra De Zoysa top-scored for Blackrod with 59 before Bajan OA Renaldo Holder took the new ball and struck five times. Kearsley also won for the sixth time, this one by 55 runs at home to Salesbury, who were bowled out for 100 in reply to the home side's 155 all out. Indian pro Ajay Rohera opened and top-scored with 47 before new-ball duo Irfan Kareem and Mustafa Bashir shared nine wickets to leave Salesbury well short. Kareem claimed five of those. In mid-table, Padiham are fifth, Kearsley sixth - both on 70 points - and Tonge seventh, just a point behind. Advertisement Tonge's fifth win was achieved by nine wickets at home to Atherton, successfully replying to the visitors' 127 all out thanks to an unbeaten 71 from South African OA Justin Gilliland. He shared a first-wicket 127 with Alex Rodzoch (49). Earlier, Tonge captain Connor Lord and Hasib Patel struck four times apiece with the ball. Barnoldswick are into the top four in the Championship thanks to their sixth win in nine, by four wickets chasing 149 at Brinscall. Wasique Ali stood out with five wickets in bowling Brinscall out for 148 before Australian pro Trent Riddell top-scored with 44 in a reply only briefly threatened at 5-1. Advertisement Baxenden have a won five, lost six record from their 11 games. They beat Astley Bridge at home by five wickets on Saturday in a strong reply to 207 all out. Matthew Austin took the new ball and returned four wickets for Baxenden, who were then indebted to Harris Masood's measured 60no from number four in reply. Pro Ben Gorton had also opened with 48.
Daily Mail
14-06-2025
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE On the trail of Jay Slater's 'missing mates': The five key witnesses who could hold the secrets to his death after inquest was halted... and where they are now
Jay Slater's distraught family have demanded that fellow British tourists who saw him during his final hours in Tenerife reveal what they know. The 19-year-old's body was found a month after he went missing down a ravine on a remote mountainside - and it was long hoped that an inquest would finally answer lingering questions about his death. But instead last month's long-awaited hearing into the apprentice bricklayer's death was dramatically halted after it emerged that key witnesses had not been found. The coroner told the court - including Jay's parents and other family members - that police had been unable to find the people who spent time with Jay in the hours before his death. Jay's despairing mother Debbie Duncan has said she needs answers from key witnesses. Now MailOnline has attempted to piece together where the missing witnesses might be. The missing key witnesses include Jay's friends from his hometown of Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire: best mate Lucy Law, 19, as well as Bradley Hargreaves and Brandon Hodgson, both 20. While the other two of the five missing witnesses met Jay for the first time in Tenerife - Ayub Qassim, 31, and Steven 'Rocky' Roccas, who drove him back to the remote AirBnb from which he died attempting to walk back. Dr James Adeley told the hearing: 'We can't find them, they have stopped responding to phone calls.' Among those he said police had tried and failed to find was Ms Law. However Ms Law's family insisted that she was simply on holiday - on the very island where Jay had died - and was unaware that they wanted her to give evidence. Speaking at the family home in Burnley, Lucy's stepfather Andy Davis said: 'We had no idea Jay's inquest was even being held. 'The police have only just been round today to say that she was due to give evidence. But it's the first time we knew of it. 'They asked if Lucy was home and I said she was abroad and they asked me if I was aware that she should have been in court, and I said I wasn't. 'The police said they had sent Lucy paperwork with the dates on it, but the first I knew about it was when the police turned up earlier today.' The sense of farce deepened this week when MailOnline revealed that celebrity investigator Mark Williams-Thomas had managed to reach both Lucy and Ayub Qassim by telephone to interview them for his podcast. Sources within the Slater family have said they too were aware where other supposedly missing witnesses were and how to contact them - and had been able to find out easily. The family source said: 'Lucy was in Tenerife. Another supposedly untraceable witness was on holiday in Greece. If we can find this out so quickly why can't the police?' The inquest at Preston Coroner's Court also heard a suggestion that witnesses may have been reluctant to appear because drugs may have been involved - as Jay was found to have traces of cocaine, ecstasy and ketamine in his body when found dead. Dr Adeley said: 'When drugs are involved in a death, the witnesses are less than forthcoming and do not wish to speak to the authorities.' A pathologist said Jay suffered severe skull and pelvis fractures consistent with falling from height. Police analysis of his iPhone found no evidence that he was 'frightened' or 'under any threat' when he travelled from the all-night rave he had attended with friends to a remote village. But mystery remains over why he set out on the fateful ten-mile walk back to the apartment where he was staying, with recreational drugs in his system and a tiny amount of charge on his phone. The five missing Britons all hold the key to finally determining what happened to Jay, his family believe. Frustrated by the Lancashire coroner's office failing to find them, Jay's mum Debbie said after the inquest: 'It's just been a really emotional day and we just want answers. 'The only people who can help are Ayub, Lucy and this Rocky guy who was there with Jay but none of them can be found.' Debbie added: 'We know Lucy is in Tenerife but that's about it. 'She goes there a lot, someone from her family has a flat there. 'It would help if she did get in touch. We just want answers. 'As for the other two we know nothing about them or where they are. 'If anyone can help please get in touch.' This is the quintet who failed to attend Jay's inquest – and how they could shed key light on the remaining unanswered questions when the hearing resumes at a date to be fixed: LUCY LAW Jay Slater had been on holiday in Tenerife with Lancashire friends Lucy Law, now 19, and Bradley Hargreaves. Ms Law - who later attended Mr Slater's funeral in August - received a call at 8.30am where Jay said he was lost, had 1 per cent charge on his phone and needed water. After the friends became separated on the last night of the NRG festival, Jay's inquest heard there were 'repeated efforts' by Ms Law – referred to on his phone as Lucy Mae – to contact him. She messaged him saying he was 'off your head' and to go back to their apartment. At 8.35am Ms Law sent him a message telling him to 'get back to wherever the f*** you just came from'. Ms Law spoke to reporters from the island as efforts to launch a search got underway. After the tragic discovery of his body she posted a heartbreaking Instagram tribute, writing: 'Always the happiest and most smiley person in the room, you was one of a kind Jay and you'll be missed more than you know. 'I'm sure you'll 'have your dancing shoes polished and ready' waiting for us all. 'We all love you buddy. Fly high.' The inquest was told that while a witness summons was issued for Ms Law, it was not served as she is currently in Tenerife. But afterwards Ms Law's family told MailOnline that she was simply on holiday and was unaware that they wanted her to give evidence. Speaking at the family home in Burnley, stepfather Andy Davis said: 'We had no idea Jay's inquest was even being held today. 'The police have only just been round today to say that she was due to give evidence. But it's the first time we knew of it. 'They asked if Lucy was home and I said she was abroad and they asked me if I was aware that she should have been in court, and I said I wasn't. 'The police said they had sent Lucy paperwork with the dates on it, but the first I knew about it was when the police turned up earlier today.' Jay's family were aware she was in Tenerife, with a source saying: 'If we can find this out so quickly why can't the police?' BRADLEY HARGREAVES Another of the teenager's friends from East Lancashire, Bradley Hargreaves was swapping messages with Jay as he attempted to walk from the remote village of Masca back to their apartment. At 6.09am on the morning of June 17, the inquest heard Jay sent his friend – also known as Bradley Geoghegan - his location as being in the village. That was followed by a seven second video an hour later showing a mountainous scene. Later that morning Josh Forshaw – the only friend who gave evidence yesterday - overheard a Facetime call between Jay and Mr Hargreaves after going to their apartment. 'He was slurring his words but he wasn't begging for help or anything,' he told the court. 'He didn't sound like he was in danger.' Mr Forshaw said Mr Hargreaves urged Jay to get a taxi back to where they were staying, but the teenager said he had no money. Jay didn't sound 'distressed or angry', he added. Speaking about the video call – believed to be one of the last times anyone spoke to Jay – Mr Hargreaves later told ITV's This Morning that his friend was walking along a gravel path. Speaking of the events that night, he said: 'What's happened is that we have split up, but he has been with people that he already knew. 'He's ended up back with them and I don't know how or what has gone on there but he's gone off and rang me halfway to their house saying I'm staying here and I'll be back the next day. 'He's rang me walking down the mountain and he just says he's walking home. 'At the time I didn't think anything of it I just thought he was going to get a bus home or a taxi home because that's what he says he is going to do.' Mr Hargreaves stayed on in Tenerife assisting the search for Jay along with his mother Rachel. After the tragic discovery of his body he posted an online tribute reading: 'Nothing be the same without you. Rest easy brother. Love you always.' The inquest heard that Mr Hargreaves – now aged 20 - had informed the coroner's office that he would be abroad this week on a holiday booked last October. BRANDON HODGSON Brandon 'Hodgey' Hodgson, 20, was pictured at a pool party at a resort on the Spanish holiday island during the second day of the NRG festival on June 15 last year - just two days before Jay vanished. Dressed in a distinctive orange T-shirt and with a bag across his chest, Mr Hodgson had his arm around the apprentice bricklayer's shoulders. The photograph also features Lucy Law, who also heard from Jay as he attempted to walk back to the resort where they were staying from the remote AirBnb. Like Jay's other friends, he was sending him messages expressing concern over his whereabouts after they became separated at the rave. At around 2.40am on June 17 a message was sent by 'Hodgey' reading: 'You need to get home.' Jay replied: 'You think I'm going home you must be disabled.' As the search intensified, Mr Hodgson's mother told Mail Online he was being subjected to a 'hate campaign'. At the family home in Brierfield, Lancashire last July, Natalie Hodgson said: 'He's liaising with the police, and that's all that matters.' The inquest was told that officers from Lancashire Police attended his address in the run-up to the hearing with a witness summons but there was no answer. It later emerged that like Jay's other friends Mr Hodgson is currently out of the country on holiday. AYUB QASSIM Ayub Qassim, 31, invited Jay back to his rented Airbnb in the mountainous Masca region after the teen had been partying at the final night of the NRG festival at Papagayo, in Playa de las Americas, around 20 miles away. The convicted drug dealer – nicknamed 'Johnny Vegas' - was one of the last people to see Jay alive after driving him back at around 5am with another friend, Steven Roccas, known as 'Rocky', on June 17 last year. The inquest heard that the Metropolitan Police attempted to serve a witness summons on Mr Qassim at his last known address. However officers were informed that he hadn't been living there for more than a year. Mr Qassim, from Barking, east London, was jailed nine years ago for being the mastermind behind a sophisticated operation to flood Wales with Class A drugs. He exchanged several WhatsApp messages with MailOnline in the weeks after Jay's death after we exclusively found him but since then has gone quiet. At the time he said 'The amount of hate I'm getting for something I haven't even done,' adding that he was a 'innocent man'. In later messages he claimed he had been receiving death threats and said:' I can hold my own but I can't fight a bullet'. Spanish detectives questioned both him and Mr Roccas at the time of Jay's disappearance but let them go after deeming them 'irrelevant' to what was then a missing person case. Speaking later on social media after Jay's body had been found Mr Qassim insisted he had no involvement in his death, saying: 'If I'm guilty then arrest me then, what are you on about? 'When you're telling the truth you don't slip up.' Asked about taking Jay back to the Airbnb, Mr Qassim said: 'No one took no-one bro. He invited himself.' Questioned by a follower 'Did you punch him' he replied: 'No, of course not. 'He had a tragic accident, you know what it's like.' During the journey to Masca, Jay sent Snapchat messages to friends saying he had stolen a high-end watch and planned to sell it for £10,000. Asked about the messages in his online chat last July, Mr Qassim said: 'No one took my watch, bro. 'Why the f*** would I invite someone who took my watch back to mine so they can sleep on the sofa, what are you on about?' In a podcast interview earlier this year Mr Qassim said he had given Jay a phone charger, a blanket, a towel and some cigarettes before he went upstairs to bed. But he said when a local awoke him shortly before 8am asking him to move his car which was blocking the road, Jay told him: 'Bro I'm going to get off.' STEVEN 'ROCKY' ROCCAS Previously known only as 'Rocky', Steven Roccas' identity was revealed for the first time at yesterday's inquest. He was renting the remote AirBnb with convicted drug dealer Mr Qassim and accompanied him on the drive back to the village with Jay who had become separated from his friends at the all-night NRG festival in Playa de las Americas. As with Mr Qassim, officers from the Metropolitan Police attempted to serve a witness summons on him in London but were told he was unknown at the address they had. Checks were made with a court at which Mr Roccas had recently appeared over an unrelated matter, and discovered he had given an address on the other side of the capital with the same street name. However officers were told that Mr Roccas had not lived there for some time. Finally the coroner's team linked business premises with Mr Roccas using an email address he had given Spanish police. But when police attended, it was shuttered and they were told it had been closed for about three years. Like Mr Qassim, he was allowed to leave the island after Spanish police ruled him out of the missing person inquiry. Mr Roccas has not spoken publicly about his involvement with Jay during his final hours, although he appeared in a social media video with Mr Qassim after his body was found. In a later podcast interview, Mr Qassim said he, Mr Roccas and Jay went for a kebab on the strip before driving back to the Airbnb where they arrived at around 6.30am-6.45am. He shared a video showing himself and Jay laughing at how Mr Roccas was slumped and asleep in the front passenger seat. 'I ended up waking him up saying 'We're back now',' he said.
