Police are hunting three men who “smashed their way into a house” causing the occupants to flee in fear during a burglary at a house in Gedling.
One of the men was carrying an axe and another was wearing a Scream-style mask during the aggravated burglary.
The occupants ran out of the front door while the men smashed through a window at the back and climbed inside. Nothing was taken in the break-in, off Arnold Lane, Gedling, at around 12.40pm on Thursday, June 8, 2017.
Officers have now released CCTV stills of the men pictured after they entered the victim’s back garden by climbing over a fence. They also fled over the fence.
A spokesman for Nottinghamshire Police said: “Although their faces are covered, officers are appealing to anyone who recognises their clothing, build or postures to call police.”
You can call police on 101, quoting incident number 327 of 8 June 2017. Alternatively call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
A Carlton pub is holding a ladies night to help raise funds to rejuvenate a city cancer hospital ward.
The Elwes Arms in Oakdale Road is holding the night to raise the cash to buy new furniture and improve facilities at the Frazer Ward at Nottingham City Hospital.
The ward looks after terminally-ill women suffering from cancer.
The funds will go towards improving facilities to support families visiting patients at the ward.
The charity night takes place at the pub on July 14 at 7pm.
Ladies attending can enjoy ‘butlers in the buff’, cocktails & canapes, music, entertainment and prize draws.
The Elwes Arms
Tickets for the event cost £10 and can be bought from the pub.
Elwes Arms landlady Beccy Webster said: “The ward doesn’t have the facilities to support the families with kitchen equipment or anything for them to do together like watch DVDs, play games or have books to read. We want to get things that can make the ward more bearable. They also need to raise money for chairs and bed for patients families to sleep on
She added: “Due to NHS restrictions, all these items have to be purchased from certain companies to comply with their health and safety standards and with this comes at a costly price.”
You can learn more about the event at the Elwes Arms Facebook page HERE
Flying Ant Day 2017 appears to be here – and people in Gedling borough are on the alert.
“Flying Ant Day” is the day of the year when the queen ant of each colony suddenly spouts wings and then takes off.
The problem is that due to the queen having to mate in mid-air, the males ALSO have to sprout wings to chase after her.
The event usually occurs at the end of July or the beginning of August, but as ants usually only sprout wings when there is little chance of rain, people believe the recent warm weather has caused it to happen THIS WEEK.
So what actually happens?
“Flying Ant Day” is the unofficial term for the day on which this phenomenon takes place.
The queen ants from each colony emerge from the nest simultaneously and then fly off to mate.
Each queen is often accompanied by a number of flying males from the same nest.
All the queen ants fly around, some for miles, other a for a few metres, and then attempt to mate with the flying males from the other colonies in mid-air.
After mating successfully, the ants then lose their wings and drop suddenly to the ground. Once on back on the ground, the queen ant will then attempt to start a new colony wherever she lands.
The phenomenon occurs in most colonies simultaneously when the local weather conditions are right and the queens have the best chance of mating with males from other colonies.
We learnt something new today – we hope you did too!
Spotted any swarm of ants across the borough? Send your pictures to news@gedlingborough.co.uk
People in Gedling borough are being warned after a rise in reports about scam pet sales on popular online auction sites.
The National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) and Action Fraud have recently noticed a rise in the reporting of pets, and in particular puppies and kittens, being advertised for sale via popular online auction websites.
The fraudsters will place an advert of the pet for sale, often claiming that the pet is currently held somewhere less accessible or overseas.
Upon agreement of a sale, the suspect will usually request an advance payment by money transfer or bank transfer. However, the pet does not materialise and the fraudster will subsequently ask for further advanced payments for courier charges, shipping fees and additional transportation costs.
Even if further payments are made, the pet will still not materialise as it is likely to not exist.
Tips to staying safe when purchasing pets:
Stay within auction guidelines.
Be cautious if the seller initially requests payment via one method, but later claims that due to ‘issues with their account’ they will need to take the payment via an alternative method such as a bank transfer.
Consider conducting research on other information provided by the seller, for example a mobile phone number or email address used by the seller could alert you to any negative information associated with the number/email address online.
Request details of the courier company being used and consider researching it.
Agree a suitable time to meet face-to-face to agree the purchase and to collect the pet. If the seller is reluctant to meet then it could be an indication that the pet does not exist.
A genuine seller should be keen to ensure that the pet is going to a caring and loving new home. If the seller does not express any interest in you and the pet’s new home, be wary.
If you think the purchase price is too good to be true then it probably is, especially if the pet is advertised as a pure-breed.
Do not be afraid to request copies of the pet’s inoculation history, breed paperwork and certification prior to agreeing a sale. If the seller is reluctant or unable to provide this information it could be an indication that either the pet does not exist or the pet has been illegally bred e.g. it originates from a ‘puppy farm’. A ‘puppy farm’ is a commercial dog breeding enterprise where the sole aim is to maximise profit for the least investment. Commercial dog breeders must be registered with their local authority and undergo regular inspections to ensure that the puppies are bred responsibly and are in turn fit and healthy. Illegally farmed puppies will often be kept in inadequate conditions and are more likely to suffer from ailments and illnesses associated with irresponsible breeding.
When thinking of buying a pet, consider buying them in person from rescue centres or from reputable breeders.
If you have been affected by this, or any other type of fraud, report it to Action Fraud by visiting www.actionfraud.police.uk or by calling 0300 123 2
A total of 35 shops were visited in the city and Netherfield area during the operation in June and July.
It is a criminal offence to sell a knife to a person under the age of 18 and the shops that failed the test purchase will now be investigated and face prosecution.
This is the third year that Nottinghamshire Police has run such an operation, making use of young people under the age of 18 to act as a customer and attempt to buy a knife.
The fail rate of 25 per cent is an improvement on the fail rate of 45 per cent in 2015 and 44 per cent in 2016.
Sergeant Heather Sutton, of Nottinghamshire Police’s Knife Crime Team, said: “We know knives can be easy to come by and this operation is a small aspect of our multi-faceted approach to combating knife crime.
“We are pleased to see the steps the shops within Nottingham have taken to prevent knives getting into the hands of children, and will work with those who failed the operation to prevent them from making illegal sales again. Our proactive and preventative activity around knife crime will continue.”
We urge anyone who has any information about knife crime to report it to Nottinghamshire Police on 101.
You can also report anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or via the online form www.crimestoppers-uk.org
We often hear about members of the armed forces suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) after witnessing, or being involved in, traumatic events, but all of us can suffer from PTSD.
When we find ourselves involved in significant traumas we are at risk of PTSD. It can be any kind of trauma such as a large scale or a small personal incident. Some of the more common causes are –
Being attacked or assaulted
Being bullied
An accident
A fire
A life threatening disaster
PTSD can also become even more complex when, for example, the trauma is repeated, children are involved, a form of abuse is involved or we get injured. It feels like we are trapped at the time of the event and repeated violence is involved.
PTSD can start sometimes within hours of the trauma, or days, weeks and even up to six months after we experienced the cause of the PTSD.
Once we experience something really traumatic, we lose our sense of our life being a safe and secure environment, we feel life isn’t fair any more (how that of could happened to me?) and finally we realise how fragile our life is as we realise we are not immortal. These are the normal reactions to a very distressing and stressful situation that will last for about a month and then dissipate. However, for one in three of us they continue.
We then tend to make the situation worse by avoiding the location, activity or people involved. This is a short-term solution that maintains the feelings we have which does not allow us to recover a normal way of feeling, thinking or behaving. We get stuck in the process and it feels like this will never end. We find ourselves in a situation where our normal stress reaction is ‘on’ all the time with no relief.
Anyone can suffer from PTSD – not just people in the Armed Forces
So, why some of us would get stuck?
Most traumas are frightening, and the memory remembers frightening events very clearly so as to serve as a warning if the same chain of events should ever happen again, we know what to expect.
No matter how distressing the memories are we are wired to hold this memory at the forefront of our minds. With PTSD the memories remain clear and fresh and reappear without the chain of events taking place as flashbacks, re-running the trauma in our minds including all the sounds, smells and emotions so we are prepared.
We get tired and fearful due to this re-running trauma, and so we start to find ways to numb out the feelings/memories or avoid anything that will remind us of them. Alcohol, drugs or food are amongst what we can use to do this.
Those flashbacks make our bodies prepare for another trauma, adrenaline is produced and the fight, flight or freeze reaction is activated. Anxiety, fear, anger, insomnia and many other emotions follow. Meanwhile the brain is trying to process the memory of the event and the adrenaline affects the part of the brain that normally does this by slowing it down or stopping it from storing it and making it less and less important.
When we cannot move on from the feeling that life is unsafe and fragile, our core beliefs are challenged and this changes our relationship with ourselves (self-esteem, self-respect etc) and therefore our relationships with others are affected.
All of these changes often go unnoticed as we feel initially we don’t want to talk about what happened – let’s face it the flashbacks are bad enough without going back over it with someone else! We don’t want to feel weak, or be pitied or thought of as unstable. We fear upsetting others especially if the incident was really horrific, so we prefer to talk about the symptoms, the headaches, anger, and depression. This leaves those who can help unsure of what is the cause of our issues.
How do we know if we have PTSD? It’s a complex condition and as we are all individual, it depends on the trauma, our past issues, the support we have and how quickly we realise something is wrong. Some key symptoms are –
Involuntary flashbacks whilst awake
Recurrent distressing dreams
Dissociative reactions when we act or feel like if the traumatic events are recurring
Intense or prolonged distress at exposure to internal or external reminders of an aspect of the traumatic event
Inability to remember an important aspect of the traumatic events
Long term negative beliefs about ourselves and an inability to feel good about ourselves
Long-term blame of ourselves or others for what is happening to us or how we feel
Persistent and intrusive negative emotions we cannot control like anger, shame or fear
Detachment from others that where we feel more and more distant from others over time
Reckless or self-destructive behaviour
Hypervigilance when we are constantly on guard looking for the threat that does not exist
Inability to concentrate
Insomnia or major sleep disturbances
Increase in the use of drink or drugs
Exhaustion
Emotional numbness
Suicidal tendencies
Physical symptoms, our body will often have symptoms if we do not express emotions – IBS, headaches, unidentified pains etc.
There are some things we can do to help ourselves if we have PTSD, but this is a serious issue and most people need professional help from a counsellor, therapist or an organisation that will support our recovery. Some easy things to are –
Learning to relax using whatever techniques work best for us – mindfulness, meditation, breathing techniques
We need to try to lead as normal a life as we can – going to work, seeing friends,
Exercise to help clear our heads
Checking out our thoughts – do we catastrophize, mind read, generalise etc. and looking for positive thoughts to replace the negative ones
Slowly expose ourselves to those things that have been scaring us to find out that we believe will happen (negative) isn’t true
But as I wrote before, most people need help to get free from PTSD. See your GP as soon as you start to see the symptoms to get a referral to someone who can help.
Work has begun to transform an eyesore former office block in Carlton Square into modern new apartments.
The DBH office block in Carlton Square– which has been empty for many years– will now be transformed into 1,2 and 3 bedroomed apartments .
WORK BEGINS: Builders have started transforming DBH House in Carlton SquareARTIST’S IMPRESSION: How DBH House will look from the outside when work is completed later in 2017
The building will house 45 apartments in total.
It is expected the new apartments will be ready for occupation during quarter four 2017.
Will you be glad to see this eyesore finally transformed? Let us know in the comments below
A UK anti-piracy groups is warning people in Gedling borough who user illegal Kodi add-ons to stream pirate content that they could face action from authorities in the near future
Kieron Sharp, who is chief executive of the Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT), said authorities could soon target ordinary Kodi users, and not just sellers and developers.
“We’ll be looking at, at some point, the end user. The reason for end users to come into this is that they are committing criminal offences,” FACT’s chief executive Kieron Sharp told the Independent.
While people who stream pirated content are generally hard to track, since they don’t broadcast their IP-address to the public, FACT says that customer data could be obtained directly from sellers of fully-loaded Kodi boxes.
Sharp added: “When we’re working with the police against a company that’s selling IPTV boxes or illicit streaming devices on a large scale, they have records of who they’ve sold them to.”
While Kodi itself is perfectly legal, many people use it in conjunction with third party add-ons that offer pirated content.
FACT has already taken action against sellers of Kodi devices pre-loaded with these add-ons and they’re keeping a keen eye on developers of illicit add-ons too.
Sharp said: “We have a number of cases coming before the courts in terms of those people who have been providing, selling and distributing illicit streaming devices.
“It’s something for the very near future, when we’ll consider whether we go any further than that, in terms of customers.”
In April, the EU Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that anyone who uses a media player to stream copyrighted content is breaking the law. Previously, it was only illegal to actually download the content.
The ECJ also ruled that the sale of media players deliberately pre-loaded with links to copyrighted content is illegal, a verdict that opened the doors for the prosecution of Kodi box sellers.
Hundreds of local people attended a number of events recently in Mapperley organised by a campaign group hoping to save a local bowling green from developers.
Save Haywood Road Green Space want to save the land from being developed into housing as they say it’s the only community green space in the area.
In a bid to prove its popularity to Gedling Borough Council – who want to sell of the land – a number of events were held which included a Great Get Together – in memory of murdered MP Jo Cox – and two outdoor cinema showings.
Hundreds of people turned out to watch The Princess Bride and Grease at the Sunset Cinema Club; over 500 people turned out for the Great Get Together.
Resident Sarah Sewell said there was a great community sprit on display at the Great Get Together event
She said:“ It had such a lovely feeling! I’ve lived here for nearly 16 years and thought I knew most people, at least by sight if not name, but I was blown away by how many new faces I saw!
“It had a really lovely village fete feel to it!”
The Haywood Road Community Centre was recently saved from developers after Gedling Borough Council agreed to spare the building and will allow it to be run by the community.
A spokesman for the campaign group said: “Recently Gedling Borough Council decided to sell the whole site including the bowling green to a housing developer. After a lengthy battle the local community have managed to save the building and we are currently in the process of ‘Community Asset Transfer’ from the council allowing it to be run by the community. The fight to save the Bowling Green goes on.
“A committee has been established and also other locals have joined a steering group. A weekend of events was organised which centred around The Great Get Together in memory of Yorkshire MP Jo Cox, a year after her tragic death. The attendance at the event has shown how important Haywood Road’s green space is to the community.
“When properly managed, these facilities have the local support to make them a success.
Save Haywood Road Green Space – Bowling Green is on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/saveHRCC/ and also at https://haywoodroad.wordpress.com/
Families can enjoy a fun day event at Linby’s Brooke Farm this Saturday (July 8).
A variety of activities are on offer, including a dog show, face painting, giant jenga and a bouncy castle.
Attendees wanting a bite to eat can make the most of a hog roast and the cakes available, and there is plenty on sale at craft stalls and in the farm shop.
Councillor Stuart Wallace, Chair of Nottinghamshire County Council’s Adult Social Care and Public Health Committee, said: “There is something for everyone at this family fun day whether you like to shop, watch a dog show or are looking for activities to keep your kids happy and busy.”
The event runs from 10am to 4pm and entry is free but some activities will have a charge.
The farm is run by Nottinghamshire County Council and employs staff with mixed abilities and offers training to people with disabilities.
The farm shop offers a range of home-grown produce for sale including, free range eggs, seasonal vegetables, salad and fruit, flowers and plants along with locally-sourced products such as bread, milk, preserves, pickles, cakes and biscuits.
Produce grown at Brooke farm is sold at the farm shop in Main Street, Linby, and is open Monday to Thursday 8am to 3.45pm, Friday 8am to 3.15pm and Saturday 8am to 3pm.
For further information on the shop call 0115 963 2638.
