Police will be permitted to stop and search people without suspicion of a crime under new powers to combat knife violence.
The Home Secretary Priti Patel yesterday permanently lifted restrictions on police’s use of stop and search in areas where they anticipate there may be serious violence.
The move will make it easier for officers to enact section 60 powers, allowing them to mount “no suspicion” stop and searches in designated areas rather than requiring them to have “reasonable grounds” to suspect a person is carrying a weapon.
Removing the restrictions means that more officers can authorise section 60, the powers can be in place for longer and can be used when police anticipate that serious violence “may” occur rather than “will” occur.
The move coincides with the launch of Operation Sceptre – a week of intensive action from every police force in England and Wales to combat knife crime up and down the country.
Home Secretary Priti Patel said: “The devastating impact of knife crime on families who have lost their loved one is unbearable. No one should have to endure the pain and suffering of the victims of these appalling crimes and we have a responsibility to them to do everything in our power to prevent future tragedies.
“Since 2019, the police have removed over 50,000 knives and offensive weapons from our streets and in the 2 years to March 2021, over 150,000 arrests were made following stop and search, preventing thousands of possible fatal injuries.
“I stand wholeheartedly behind the police so that they can build on their work to drive down knife crime by making it easier for officers to use these powers to seize more weapons, arrest more suspects and save more lives.”
Since 2019, stop and search use has increased by around 85% and has contributed to over 50,000 deadly knives and offensive weapons being taken off our streets.
The government has further signalled its commitment to support police forces to use stop and search powers today by launching a consultation to make it easier for officers to search known knife carriers.
This follows the introduction of Serious Violence Reduction Orders under the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act passed last month which will give the police the power to stop and search adults who have previously been convicted for knife or other offensive weapon crimes.
These measures are intended to help further drive down knife crime after recent statistics have indicated there has been a 4% decrease in stabbings in the year to December 2021. From March 2019 until now, stabbings have fallen around 10%.
A Mapperley man who started writing a year ago while recovering fromtwo brain haemorrhages has completed his first novel due to be published this month.
Soon after being rushed to A&E, Sci-Fi fan Bruce Roberts experienced vivid images of the novel he was about to write.
Advised to lie flat for a month, the narrative took shape as he lay looking at the ceiling. Although he couldn’t physically write, he spoke his ideas into his phone or dictated them to his wife Sue.
Bruce, a self-employed e-learning content developer from Mapperley, hadn’t written any stories since he was at school decades earlier. His novel features characters he created for a sci-fi convention four years previously. He said the haemorrhages released his creativity.
“My brain did a rewire. It was like being hit by a sledgehammer. Everything was brighter and became better. I started to have vivid dreams about characters I’d created for EmCon and the novel stemmed from there.”
As soon as he could use a computer, he wrote prolifically, penning more than 1,000 words a day to complete his 103,000-word novel.
“I’d wake up at stupid o clock at night, creep out of the bedroom and start scribbling.”
Bruce’s book The Godot Orange, is a multi-media experience, containing QR codes that when scanned take the reader to a whole new interactive world including images and music.
It tells the story of the TimeTech Team – who Bruce describes as ‘A breakdown organisation like the AA or RAC for time travellers’. It’s a journey of discovery through time and space with locations including New York, Berlin, Brussels, and a secret airbase between Cleethorpes and Mablethorpe.
The blurb reads: “Saving the universe one day before yesterday wasn’t high on Eddie and Will’s to-do list as the wheels of their Vulcan bomber left the tarmac on that cold winter’s day. Impending doom can quickly change your priorities. Have you ever wondered, when disaster strikes, how great it would be to be able to turn back time, or at least call for help from a time technician?”
The novel, which Bruce says is a ‘humorous take on the 1970s’ has received glowing endorsements from a Dr Who Book Author, a Cambridge Biophysicist and a former Vulcan pilot.
Some of Bruce’s vivid dreams were about locations, including a pub in Lincolnshire which turned out uncannily similar to a real setting which Bruce had never visited. On a day out in Lincolnshire, Bruce and Sue also found places that fitted some of his other visions including a ruined monastery and an airfield.
Bruce’s wife Sue took him to hospital a year ago when symptoms he’d been experiencing for a week – which he attributed to an ear infection – grew suddenly worse.
“I started to feel drunk when I hadn’t touched a drop,” said Bruce. “Although my symptoms eased off at night, they’d return in the daytime and by Friday I was like someone staggering out of the pub.”
He then experienced a catastrophic bleed on the brain and within 15 minutes couldn’t walk, speak, or operate his phone.
Because lockdown restrictions were in place, Sue was not allowed to stay with him.
“I had 30 seconds to explain what had happened. They promised they’d see him next,” she said.
A CT scan revealed the brain haemorrhages. Fluid had been leaking out of his spine causing a bleed on the brain into his frontal lobe which led to memory problems.
Because of COVID, he was discharged quickly and told to rest. Despite a relapse in August with similar symptoms, a scan in October revealed the haemorrhages had healed.
Sue said: “Writing has really helped Bruce with his recovery. Going within a year from being incapacitated to finishing a novel is amazing.”
Whilst writing his novel, he has been trying to rebuild his business with the aid of his colleague who is based in Kyiv.
The Godot Orange is due to be published on 28th May by Lady Adey Publications. Copies will be available through bookshops including Blackwell, Barnes & Noble, Foyles, Waterstones and Amazon.
Bruce is launching his novel at the Em-Con Convention in the Motorpoint Arena on 28th & 29th May where he’ll be signing copies.
Plans for more than 130 homes on the Hucknall and Linby border could combine with other developments to create huge pressure on local services, some politicians fear.
Developers have put forward proposals for the 135 houses in Hayden Lane, Linby, right on the village’s border with Hucknall.
The plans, submitted by developer Barwood Homes, would see the properties built on greenfield land close to the future, 805-home Top Wighay Farm development, also in Linby.
However, concerns have been raised over the impact the 135 homes could cause on existing Hucknall services amidst large development planned nearby.
It comes at the same time Ashfield District Council progresses with its draft local housing plan, which could see 3,000 homes built on Hucknall’s greenbelt at Whyburn Farm.
Councillor John Wilmott (Ash Ind), who represents Hucknall North on Ashfield District Council, is concerned the 135 homes could impact existing services in the town.
He said: “The new residents will be using Hucknall’s overstretched services, yet still no developer contributions are to be received from these houses towards Hucknall’s need.
“Transport contributions, new health provision, road improvements and education provision are all needed urgently to improve Hucknall’s infrastructure.”
Barwood Homes’ plans have been submitted to Gedling Borough Council, because the development itself will sit just within the Gedling borough area.
However, separate plans have been submitted for an access road from Delia Avenue and Dorothy Avenue, in Hucknall, to serve the new 135-home development.
This application has been submitted to Ashfield District Council, and both plans are currently pending consideration by the authorities.
However, concerns have been raised by a leading Government minister about the impact of the three major developments.
Mark Spencer, Hucknall’s Conservative MP, is also leader of the House of Commons.
He said: “Coming off the back of Ashfield District Council’s emerging local plan, and the proposed Whyburn Farm Development, it is easy to see why this proposal has caused so much hurt.
“For so long as Gedling Borough and Ashfield District Councils continue to swamp Hucknall with houses, we will continue to face the same issues – struggles accessing GP appointments, over congested roads and school place shortages.
“It is the people of Hucknall that suffer. It is the people of Hucknall who have issues getting appointments or have trouble with school places.”
However, the developer believes its plans will be “proportionate” and won’t have any “adverse effects” on the community.
Statements published on behalf of Barwood Homes state: “The scheme proposes a high-quality development of 135 dwellings with associated landscaping, parking and access.
“Hucknall is a sustainable and desirable location to live, benefiting from a range of local amenities and transport links.
“The proposal is of a scale that is proportionate to the size of the settlement and will not have any adverse effects in terms of highway safety, amenity of neighbours, visual impact, heritage, ecology or any other environmental requirements.
“The proposals will create a high-quality development which respects and complements the existing character of the surrounding area and local town context.”
A spokesperson for Gedling Borough Council added: “Funding to mitigate the impacts of the development, known as a Section 106 Agreement, has not yet been allocated and a consultation will take place to decide how that will be used.
“The funding is used to support local infrastructure such as transport links, highways, schools and health care provisions that would benefit the local community, including residents in the neighbouring Hucknall.
“As with all planning applications, any comments and feedback will be taken into consideration when deciding if plans can be approved.”
The two applications will be reviewed by planners at their respective councils in the coming months.
Some leisure centres in Gedling borough will open on the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee despite not normally opening to the public on bank holidays.
Gedling Borough Council has approved its leisure centre opening hours for June 2 and June 3 – the extended bank holiday dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the Queen’s reign.
On standard bank holidays, including the recent May Day holiday, all but one of the borough’s primary leisure centres close their doors to customers.
Only Carlton Forum centre regularly stays open, with the authority saying this gives people who pay a monthly membership access to the facilities.
PICTURED: The Richard Herrod Centre
The Richard Herrod Centre, in Carlton, and Arnold’s Bonington Theatre, also traditionally remain open on bank holidays but do not offer leisure or gym facilities to the public.
But now council documents have confirmed more centres will be open for the Jubilee bank holiday so children and families can use the facilities next month.
This, the authority says, is because the bank holidays fall during the school half-term holidays.
Under the proposals, approved during a delegated decision last week, Arnold, Calverton and Carlton Forum centres will be open on June 2 and June 3 between 7am and 4pm.
Redhill Leisure Centre will be closed both days, while the Bonington Theatre and Richard Herrod Centre will be open as usual.
Documents confirm staff contracted to work at the leisure centres will be “expected to attend work”, and would need to use annual leave if they did not plan to work on the bank holidays.
Staff will have “appropriate rates of pay” added to their income.
The documents add: “The proposal takes into account previous usage levels on bank holidays, but also recognises that there may be increased pool use by children and parents as the bank holidays fall in school holidays.”
A married couple who sexually abused a teenage girl have been jailed.
Zara and Victor Marke, both well-known figures in the martial arts community, abused the girl on multiple occasions over a number of years.
Their activities were uncovered during a separate Nottinghamshire Police investigation into abuse against another girl who had approached officers in 2016 to explain how Victor Marke had sexually abused her in the past.
His wife, who previously worked as an actress and stuntwoman, was also implicated when the second victim came forward during the course of the initial investigation.
Both victims, who are now adults, became the focus of an extensive investigation by specialist child abuse detectives at Nottinghamshire Police who worked to build a compelling case against the Markes.
The pair denied all allegations against them but were convicted of a string of sexual offences on Wedensady (11 May) by a jury at Nottingham Crown Court.
Victor Marke, aged 59, of Mavis Avenue, Ravenshead, was found guilty of 14 counts of sexual activity with a child in relation to one victim, and four counts of indecent assault against the other.
Zara Marke, aged 37, of Taurus Close, Mansfield, was found guilty of 14 counts of sexual activity with a child.
Appearing at the same venue today (Monday) both were jailed.
Victor Marke was jailed for 14 years.
Zara Marke, formerly known as Zara Phythian, was jailed for eight years.
Detective Inspector Parminder Dhillon, senior investigating officer, said: “Today’s events mark the end of a very long and challenging legal process for the victims and their families.
“Although these sentences can’t undo the very considerable harm done to the young women at the centre of this case, I do hope that they offer at least some degree of comfort.
“The Markes worked together to exploit and abuse a girl for their own sexual gratification. In doing so they committed some of the most serious offences that can be committed against children and have rightfully been handed very considerable jail sentences.
“I hope this case serves as a timely reminder to all victims of sexual abuse. If you come forward and tell us what happened to you, we will investigate and we will get to the truth.”
Bathing waters at Colwick Country Park have been given the thumbs up in the latest ratings of bathing water quality.
The bathing water season started on May 15 and the Environment Agency will be carrying out regular testing of water quality at designated bathing sites until the end of September.
They revealed today that West Lake in Colwick Country Park has received an excellent rating for the third consecutive year.
High standards of water quality at swimming locations are important for people’s enjoyment of beaches and other beauty spots in England and Nottinghamshire’s
Throughout the bathing season the Environment Agency will issue warnings of any forecasted pollution risk on its Swimfo website. Signs are also put up at these swimming locations to inform bathers about any possible dips in quality as a result of factors like rainfall, wind and high tides.
PICTURED: The lake at Colwick Country Park
The long-term trend for bathing water quality in England remains upward and overall quality is high. In 2021 99% of bathing waters achieved the minimum standard of Sufficient. Of these, almost 95% achieved the highest standards of Excellent or Good – the highest since new standards were introduced in 2015.
But while progress has been made, there is still much more to be done to ensure cleaner and healthier waters for people to enjoy.
Environment Agency Chair Emma Howard Boyd said: “We monitor sites and provide pollution risk forecasting at over 170 sites throughout the bathing water season so people understand the local situation.
“Targeted regulation and investment over several decades have driven significant improvements to bathing waters, but there is work to do inland. Water companies, industry and farmers need to meet regulatory requirements or face legal action, and there are small steps we can all take to help. For example by never flushing away wet wipes or plastic products like nappies so they don’t end up in the water.”
The EA’s Swimfo: Find a Bathing Water website provides immediate access to information on over 400 designated bathing waters and notifies bathers when Pollution Risk Warnings have been issued. including coastal locations and inland lakes.
The energy price cap, which determines gas and electricity bills for UK households, could soon be reviewed every three months, the energy regualtor Ofgem has revealed.
They said the shake-up would ‘reflect the most up to date and accurate energy prices.’
The price cap was brought in two years ago to limit costs of gas and electricity but the pandemic – and increase in people working from home – caused a rethink of the proposal.
Ofgem said in a statement: “A more frequent price cap would reflect the most up to date and accurate energy prices and mean when prices fall from the current record highs, customers would see the benefit much sooner.
“This change would also help energy suppliers more accurately predict how much energy they need to purchase for their customers, reducing the risk of further supplier failures which ultimately push up costs for consumers.’
Ofgem say the change will help energy suppliers more accurately predict how much energy they need to purchase for their customers, reducing the risk of further supplier failures which ultimately push up costs for households.
Jonathan Brearley, CEO of the energy regulator, said: “Our top priority is to protect consumers by ensuring a fair and resilient energy market that works for everyone.
‘Our retail reforms will ensure that consumers are paying a fair price for their energy while ensuring resilience across the sector.’
He added: ‘The last year has shown that we need to make changes to the price cap so that suppliers are better able to manage risks in these unprecedented market conditions.’
A consultation will follow and, if successful, Ofgem’s proposed changes would be implemented from October.
Some fish and chip shops could soon be forced to close if a shortage of ingredients like cod, haddock and sunflower oil isn’t resolved, an industry chief has warned.
The National Federation of Fish Friers (NFFF) has claimed that many chip shops have had to close, raise prices or change their menus since the outbreak of war in the Ukraine.
The United Kingdom relies on seafood from Russia, the world leader in exports of cod, as well as potato fertiliser used to make chips.
The NFFF have said supplies of sunflower oil have also been disrupted – half of which comes from Ukraine.
There are shortages of ingredients used to make fish and chips
This has had a knock on effect on palm and rapeseed oil that has also risen in price as it is more in demand, according to the Times.
The NFFF has also warned that the government’s hope to put in place sanctions on Russian whitefish will put more of a stress on the ‘sad’ situation.
Russia is believed to make up 45% of global whitefish supply, mainly pollack, cod and haddock
In March, the government had said it would put a 35% tariff on all imports of Russian whitefish.
Andrew Crook, president of the NFFF, said: ‘We need action [from ministers] before long-term damage is done that can’t be repaired.
‘We aren’t after handouts. We are a proud industry. But a lot of businesses will go to the wall and we need a long-term strategy to see us through.’
Nottinghamshire Police is joining forces across the country by taking part in Operation Sceptre, a national week of action designed to challenge and reduce the threat of knife crime across the Gedling borough area.
In support of the week of action, members of the public will be able to play their part to help stop weapons falling into the wrong hands by putting unwanted knives in amnesty bins sited in police stations and shared locations in the city and county.
People can deposit their knives without fear of prosecution during the week. Weapons handed in will be destroyed.
Members of the public are advised to check the opening times of amnesty bin locations before they travel.
The force’s dedicated knife crime and Operation Reacher teams will also be deployed during the week of action as they continue their work to deter offenders and keep people safe.
Knife crime in Nottinghamshire fell by eight per cent in the year end to December 2021 and also by 10 per cent during the previous year, exceeding the national and regional reductions of nine per cent and six per cent respectively for 2020.
Official figures also show that knife crime dropped in Nottinghamshire before the Covid-19 pandemic, with a reduction of eight per cent in the year end to December 2019, bucking the national and regional trend (seven per cent rise nationally and 13 per cent rise regionally).
PICTURED: Knives can be handed in using a number of bins located across the borough (PIC: Nottinghamshire Police)
Superintendent Kathryn Craner, Nottinghamshire Police’s knife crime lead, said: “I’m pleased at how successful our partnership approach has proved to be, however I want to reassure people that we remain totally committed to driving down knife crime.
“We know how devastating just one knife crime incident can be for everyone involved, as well as the wider community.
“That’s why we treat it so seriously and continue to do everything in our power to keep people safe as well as taking robust action against those who choose to carry knives and use them to harm others.”
A major part in the collaborative effort to prevent knife crime is Nottinghamshire’s Violence Reduction Unit – a multi-agency partnership focused on breaking the cycle of violence.
Among its methods to reduce crime are working with and supporting young people and using early intervention, including education, mentorship and diversionary initiatives, before violence such as knife crime has a chance to take hold.
Natalie Baker-Swift, head of the Violence Reduction Unit, said: “Operation Sceptre presents us with another opportunity to build awareness in our communities of the perils of carrying weapons and focus the public’s attention on the work being undertaken all year round to make our streets and the public safe.
“Reducing violence is a team effort and we work very closely with Nottinghamshire Police to deliver a whole system approach, complementing enforcement techniques with preventative interventions that help young people overcome trauma and educate them on choice.
“The Violence Reduction Unit recently received confirmation of a three-year funding deal worth £3.5million which will make a huge difference to our work and the efforts of the force and our wider partners.
“Sustainability is vital if we are to continue to achieve measurable change in the lives of the young people we support and mentor and achieve safer communities in the long-term.”
As part of its ongoing efforts to stop knives from falling into the wrong hands, Nottinghamshire Police is also reminding people of legislation under The Offensive Weapons Act 2019 – meaning it is now illegal to have certain types of knives and other items even at home in private, as well as it being an offence to carry them in public.
Some of the weapons now covered by the laws include zombie knives, flick knives, butterfly knives, swords, throwing stars, knuckledusters and telescopic truncheons.
The force has also welcomed new laws, brought about by the same act, making it harder for people to buy dangerous weapons and become involved in knife crime.
Changes to legislation, brought about last month, mean it is now more difficult for people to buy weapons, both at the point of sale and delivery, in order to protect and safeguard people.
Retailers and couriers are now legally obliged to do more to ensure that knives, corrosives and other offensive weapons are not sold or delivered to those under the age of 18. The new restrictions also mean it is an offence to possess a corrosive substance in a public place.
Anyone with information on knife crime in their local community is urged to call Nottinghamshire Police on 101, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. In an emergency, always dial 999.
