Latest news with #OtleyRun
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Deputy mayor says police funding needs to increase
West Yorkshire's deputy mayor for policing says the chancellor needs to give forces across the country more money if they are to halve violence against women and girls. Labour's Alison Lowe has been answering questions on Message the Mayor on BBC Radio Leeds. She has also been talking about crossbow laws, tackling anti-social behaviour, and "unacceptable" delays into domestic abuse-related deaths. Read our takeaways from the interview below or listen to the full interview here. "Over the next three years, that is the national deficit for policing - irrespective of the money the government are giving us. And that's because of the cuts that have happened, and the underfunding." Last week, the West Yorkshire's Chief Constable John Robbins signed a letter to The Times, saying years of cuts had left forces overstretched and working in "broken" buildings with "outdated" technology. "I just don't think six months is enough. We should be saying it is a minimum of 12 months, just to manage some of those expectations of the families." The deputy mayor was asked about today's BBC News story, which suggests just 1% of reviews into domestic abuse-related deaths are being completed within six months - the target set by the government. Lowe says the government is creating a new "oversight board", to help speed up the process of reviewing these reports. "I'm hoping they (the government) equate crossbows with guns. So you can't get a crossbow unless you go through a process, you're registered, you're licensed, all the rest of it." Lowe says she doesn't know why anyone would want a crossbow and personally thinks they should be banned altogether - but recognises a "tiny number" of people use them for sport. In April, two people were injured in a crossbow attack along the route of the popular Otley Run pub crawl in Leeds. "West Yorkshire Police have got 60 courses, all age appropriate, from [school] years one to 13. "They teach children about how to stay safe, about how anti-social behaviour can impact them and about how they can become perpetrators or victims." But the deputy mayor says investing in lessons in schools today is a "long-term culture choice", and it could be 10 years before people see big benefits. "It's a huge issue and it does lead to crime in communities, because where you've got a bit of green space that's been desecrated by fly tipping it means more people dump stuff, crime happens, kids start congregating and fires get lit." Concerns have been raised recently that the closure of rubbish tips, in places such as Birstall and Bradford, will lead to more waste being dumped at the side of the road. PM warned more funding needed to halve crime against women Met chief warns anti-crime pledges need funding 'Delayed review into my daughter's killing has left me broken' Pub crawl crossbow attack raises route safety fear Tip closure blamed for rubbish-dumping spike
BBC News
23-05-2025
- BBC News
Otley Run: Bar crawl venues could have to pay for policing
A bar on the route of one of the country's biggest pub crawls has pushed back against a suggestion that venues should pay a levy for extra Otley Run sees about 4,000 people take part in the three-mile crawl between Headingley and Leeds city centre every have complained about anti-social behaviour, including violence and public urination, and politicians have now called for a voluntary payment from participating pubs and bars to fund police officers."We're getting slammed at every angle [financially] and I don't think we should be the ones expected to foot the bill," Andy Waugh, co-founder of Sixes Social Cricket, said. The pub crawl is not officially classed as an organised event, with drinkers walking between the 19 stops that are under separate leader of Leeds City Council, Jonathan Pryor, called the format a "loophole" and said the authority would be "looking to put pressure on the venues" to improve safety at a public meeting earlier this women were injured in a crossbow attack on the route in April, with a meeting being held to discuss the concerns of people living nearby. Mr Waugh added: "I understand there's a lot of people that come to do the Otley Run on a Saturday and that the services must be stretched, as empathetic as I am with that, we are also stretched as a hospitality business."Month after month, there seems to be more cost layered into our business. Whether it's National Insurance contributions increasing, minimum wage increases. I just don't know how they can justify a levy on an already struggling industry."On Saturdays, Otley Road is busy with thousands of people taking part in the crawl, many of them donning fancy dress costumes. Alfie Heale, who was dressed as a tiger, said it was "absolutely quality, best day out in Leeds"."It brings a lot of people to Leeds."Charlie Mack, a student in the city, said: "It's always good fun. The pubs are making lots of money, it's only one day a week so you can't really complain."Iona Taylor, who was with her friends in a beer garden of a pub, was celebrating her birthday weekend by doing the run."It's hilarious, I would recommend it to everyone. The camaraderie is amazing. It gets hectic. We've got here early to avoid the crowds but it's usually pretty full." In 2014, the city of Nottingham introduced a night-time levy for licensed premises, which covered was revoked in 2022 to ease financial pressure on local Sobel, MP for Leeds Central and Headingley, said he supported the concept."What would be best is if the pubs themselves voluntarily started to pay into a fund, to show willing."We know how much money, more or less, they make on a Saturday, it would be a very small amount of profit to contribute towards the policing of the event." Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
BBC News
15-05-2025
- BBC News
Locals oppose bid by Otley Run shop for 24/7 alcohol licence
Residents have objected to an off-licence near a popular West Yorkshire pub crawl applying for a 24/7 alcohol licence. It is feared that if a Nisa Local shop in Headingley, close to the notorious Otley Run, is allowed to sell alcohol after midnight it would lead to rowdy student parties and "friction" between families and the area's younger residents. However, the shop said there is "no evidence" which links anti-social drinking to the premises, according to Leeds Council. Nisa was told it would receive a decision within five days, following a hearing at Leeds Civic Hall on 13 May. The Otley Run is a 19-stop pub crawl finishing in the city centre which draws thousands of revellers every weekend, including many last month a man injured two women with a crossbow along the Headingley drinking route, raising questions about the event's safety. The man, 38-year-old Owen Lawrence, was arrested and taken to hospital but later died from a self-inflicted injury. Eight letters of objection have been received by the council about the Nisa store's application to extend its licencing laws, alongside concerns raised by West Yorkshire Police, ward councillors and public health officials, said the Local Democracy Reporting Service. The shop has maintained the 24/7 licence would not add to anti-social behaviour on the pub crawl, and a list of proposed conditions, if granted, included a 'check 25' policy, CCTV and staff the council's licensing officer, Susan Duckworth, remains unconvinced: "I'm concerned that if this premises was allowed to sell alcohol after midnight, that would become an emerging problem." Mrs Duckworth also pointed out that more families had been moving to Headingley, with more student accommodation opening up in the city centre, exacerbating her concerns over any increased access to alcohol. Nisa's existing premises licence allows alcohol sales between 05:00 and 00:00. Residents previously told the BBC they hoped the Otley Run might become a "recognised" event to better protect those taking the burgeoning popularity of the event, MP for Leeds Central and Headingley Alex Sobel said: "We need to look at the laws we have and tightening them, bringing more control to the Otley Run."Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
Daily Mail
12-05-2025
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Crossbow attacker who shot two women during Otley Run pub crawl in Leeds after boasting on Facebook about 'massacre' plan killed himself with air gun
A far-right extremist who launched a terrifying crossbow rampage on a popular student pub run shot himself in the head with an air gun, an inquest heard today. Owen Lawrence, 38, died from a 'self-inflicted injury' after attempting to carry out a Christchurch-inspired 'massacre' along the route of the Otley Run pub crawl in Leeds last month. The jobless loner showed off a frightening arsenal of weapons alongside an online 'manifesto' before shooting two women in the street on April 26 as revellers - many in fancy dress - enjoyed a sunny Saturday afternoon. Today a coroner was told that Lawrence - known as Oz - shot himself in the head with an air gun after carrying out the attack, which is being investigated by counter-terror police. He was taken to Leeds General Infirmary by paramedics and died two days later, on April 28. Dr Richard Gould pronounced him dead at 3.43pm and he was formally identified by his mother. Pathologist Dr Christopher Johnson recorded his cause of death as a 'self inflicted' air gun injury to the head. Lawrence - who changed his name by deed poll from Owen Lawrence-Eames about 25 years ago - was registered disabled, Wakefield Coroner's Court heard. In images posted online, Lawrence appeared wearing a top with a Crusader cross on it - an influence on far-right killer Anders Breivik, who killed 77 people in a gun and bomb attack in Norway The deranged killer's hate-filled manifesto posted on Facebook an hour before the attack He lived in a flat in Headingley, just 200 metres off Otley Road. In images posted online, Lawrence appears wearing a top with a Crusader cross on it - an influence on far-right killer Anders Breivik, who killed 77 people in a gun and bomb attack in Norway. He also had a t-shirt with the words 'natural selection' which is a theory used to support far-right concepts of supposed white supremacy and male dominance. Lawrence was influenced by Brenton Tarrant who killed 51 people in a gun attack on two mosques in Christchurch New Zealand in 2019, which he streamed on Facebook Live. Tarrant also published a 'manifesto' in which he claimed there was a conspiracy to create a 'white genocide'. Lawrence listed 'reactionary, with some 'small l' libertarian sympathies' under his 'political views' in a Facebook post, before the attack. 'I have also explored far-right ideas, by reading through Brenton Tarrent's [sic] 74 page manifesto titled The Great Replacement,' he added. In a Facebook post, Lawrence declared his intention to launch the 'Otley Run Massacre' around an hour before starting his rampage. He said his targets were 'students, night club goers, pub crawler's [sic], Otley Run participants, society, humanity, human race.' He also mentioned 'neurotypicals' - which is a term of abuse used by extremists who are proud to be 'neurodivergent', especially if they have autism spectrum disorder which can make extremists socially isolated and particularly obsessive. He added as a target, 'police, if I need to.' His 'attack type' was listed as 'spree killing, mass murder, terrorism, revenge,' and 'misogynyic rage' [sic], along with 'homicide/suicide.' Lawrence stated the location for his attack was to be 'Otley Road, Leeds England, Headingley, [sic] LS6' and he gave his name as 'Owen 'Oz' Lawrence' adding: 'ethnicity/nationality: white British; religious views: agnostic.' The weapons he listed were a crossbow and a break barrel air gun, along with a Sig Sauer Rattler CO2 Gun and a Powerline Daiay 415 steel 'BB' ball bearing gun, and a 'blank firer' with modified ammunition. He was going to wear combat gloves and take with him an 'unbreakable baseball bat' called the Brooklyn Basher and two homemade 'shanks' [knives]. Area coroner Oliver Longstaff, formally opening the inquest today, said: 'His death has already received a good deal of public and media attention.' He urged people to exercise restraint regarding speculation until a full inquest takes place following further investigation into his death. Mr Longstaff said the inquest was not intended to 'fuel that interest in any way.' In the ten minute hearing, Mr Longstaff said that because of the 'unnatural and violent death' the inquest would be adjourned and concluded at a later date. Both victims, aged 19 and 31, have since been discharged from hospital following treatment for their injuries. Following Lawrence's death, Counter Terrorism Policing North East said a 'thorough and extensive investigation' into the attack was continuing. 'Our thoughts are with the victims, their families, and all those affected by this incident,' Detective Chief Superintendent James Dunkerley said.
Rhyl Journal
12-05-2025
- Rhyl Journal
Suspected Leeds attacker died from self-inflicted airgun injury, inquest told
Owen Lawrence was taken to hospital last month after two women were injured in Otley Road, in the Headingley area of the city, in a suspected crossbow attack, but he died two days later. An inquest into Mr Lawrence's death was opened and adjourned by coroner Oliver Longstaff on Monday morning in Wakefield. Mr Longstaff said a post-mortem examination confirmed he had died at Leeds General Infirmary as a result of a 'self-inflicted gunshot wound'. The coroner said the provisional cause of death was 'airgun injury to the head'. West Yorkshire Police were called to Otley Road on the afternoon of Saturday April 26 following reports of a man seen with weapons. Two women, aged 19 and 31, were injured. One underwent surgery after suffering life-threatening injuries but both have now been discharged from hospital, police said. The incident occurred on a sunny afternoon where people enjoy the Otley Run pub crawl on Saturdays. More than 15 pubs are on the route and it is attempted by groups of students and residents, as well as stag and hen dos, often in fancy dress.
