Stories for 2 November 2007

The Northern Echo News

Father tells of river rescue

A FATHER-OF-THREE has spoken of the moment   more...

Final preparations are made for town spectacular

PLANS are under way for one of the   more...

Bonfires and fireworks: What’s on where

COUNTY DURHAM   more...

Fatigue claims life of diver on holiday

AN experienced scuba diver died   more...

Laurel’s former school will be saved from demolition

THE former school of actor Stan   more...

Man killed in motorbike crash

A MAN has been killed in a motorbike crash near Chester-le-Street, County Durham.   more...

Shotgun biker jailed

  more...

Bluetongue restrictions have grounded Christmas reindeer

SANTA'S reindeer face being grounded this Christmas - by bluetongue disease.Rudolph, Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen and friends were all lined up to pull Santa to grottoes across the region next month.But Government restrictions on the movement of animals, imposed after an outbreak of bluetongue disease in South-East England, have left them stranded - hundreds of miles away in Kent.Sandra Fagg, manager of The Reindeer Centre, near Ashford, said: "We just don't know what's going to happen. It's disastrous. "The reindeer work all year for Christmas. They know it's coming. They'll be expecting to get their harnesses on and meet everyone."It's so sad. I don't know what to tell the children."We're really struggling. Sometimes it's so bad we don't want to get up in the morning."They might lift the restrictions in time, but we don't know what's going to happen from one day to the next. Our hands are tied."Mrs Fagg keeps 110 reindeer - the largest herd in England. The animals travel to events across the country.Two reindeer, father and son Triumph and Mic-Mac, were due to pull Santa to the Durham Storybook Christmas Festival.Festival organiser Jacqueline Wallace said: "We're still waiting to hear whether the reindeer will be able to join us for the weekend's festivities."There will be plenty of other things going on, but it will be such a shame for Triumph and Mic-Mac. We're keeping everything crossed."Mrs Wallace tried to bring in reindeer from Scotland, but they are too busy.She is sure Santa will make it to the event, but admits he may have to leave his four-legged friends behind.Stone Wallace, six, from Chester-le-Street, said: "It would not be right if Father Christmas had to come in a taxi or on a bus. My Christmas wish is the reindeer can bring him instead."Bluetongue disease has been found on 60 farms across South-East England. Control zones have been set up to prevent infected animals being moved across the country. The Durham Storybook Christmas Festival will feature Christmas characters such as Ebeneezer Scrooge and the Snow Queen, Santa's grotto, a lantern parade and other attractions, and will be held in venues across the city on Saturday and Sunday, December 1 and 2, between 10am and 5pm.  more...

Ambulance driver is charged with wasting police time

AN ambulance driver was charged with wasting police time after he called 999 to say he had been run down by a JCB, a court heard.Darlington magistrates heard yesterday that an air ambulance, two police cars, two fire engines, and a road ambulance were sent to Norton Fine Farm, at High Etherley, Bishop Auckland, expecting to find a man trapped under a JCB.The court was told that they found Ryan Gilbey, 30, apparently unharmed, walking towards them holding his video camcorder. Hari Jandoo, prosecuting, said Mr Gilbey intentionally walked into the JCB to get neighbour Glenn Cook into trouble.Mr Jandoo said: "This was a deliberate ploy to set up Mr Cook. The best evidence is the camcorder footage as it shows no assault took place. "He has certainly wasted police time when resources could have been deployed elsewhere."The clash between the two families erupted on March 11 when Mr Cook dug up chippings Mr Gilbey and his two brothers had just laid on the access road between them with a tractor.Mr Jandoo said Mr Gilbey, who denies wasting police time, walked into the bucket of the farm vehicle while dialling 999.Mr Gilbey said he had been run over by a JCB and asked for the police to attend, but did not ask for an ambulance, that had been sent, to be cancelled, the court heard.Acting Sergeant Nicola Voke-Williams, who was the first officer on the scene, said the police control centre received a call to say someone had been run over and was trapped under a JCB.She said: "I was expecting to see somebody in quite a bad state. I was expecting some screaming or somebody to be around an injured person."But Mr Gilbey was standing fit and well. He clearly had no injuries and was not in distress at that point. He seemed very calm."Sgt Voke-Williams said that when she realised there was no emergency, she cancelled the air ambulance, which was six minutes away from the scene.Mr Gilbey, of Railway Cottages, Etherley Bank, High Etherley, recorded footage of the tractor digging up the freshly-laid chippings, colliding with the tractor and the emergency vehicles arriving on his camcorder.PC Paul Rogers said that although Mr Cook was arrested for assaulting Mr Gilbey, charges were dropped by police after they studied the video footage. He said: "We thought the incident had been staged by Mr Gilbey."The case continues.  more...

Cash boost fails to lift standards in reading

THE Government has spent half a billion pounds to improve literacy in the country's primary schools with virtually no impact on children's reading ability, according to a study published today.Instead, the drive to raise standards has left children feeling increasingly stressed about school tests while they are losing their love of books, an influential North-East academic warns.Professor Peter Tymms, of Durham University, says that despite Government investment, which had seen £500m spent on the National Literacy Strategy between 1998 and 2005, reading standards were largely unchanged since the Fifties.His report is one of three making up the Primary Review study, the biggest inquiry into primary education in decades.But last night, the Government strenuously defended its record on primary education. Schools Minister Andrew Adonis said: "Primary standards are at their highest ever levels. This is not an opinion, it is fact."The report by Prof Tymms, one of the country's leading experts on school testing, concludes that The National Literacy Strategy, which includes daily literacy hour English lessons in schools, has made a barely noticeable impression on reading standards.Results from this year show that 84 per cent of 11-year-olds achieved the expected reading levels, up by 17 per cent since 1997.However, Prof Tymms' study says the apparently dramatic rise vastly overstates the true scale of improvements, exaggerates the changes in pupils' attainment levels and is seriously misleading.Speaking to The Northern Echo last night, Prof Tymms, head of Durham University's Curriculum, Evaluation and Management Centre, said: "There has been an enormous amount of money spent on reading, but it has had very little effect on children. It's surprising and very worrying."It's a hard nut to crack. I think the Government should be moving towards projects focused on the small number of children who find reading difficult."He added: "The Government has been trying very hard and putting a lot of money and a lot of people on reading, but it hasn't been working and we need to learn the lessons from that. "We must be more efficient and careful in the way we spend our money. Throwing money at things doesn't work."The overall Primary Review highlights a number of concerns including:* Increasing test-induced stress among pupils and growing pressure on their teachers* A narrowing of the curriculum as teachers concentrate on preparing children for tests* Improvements of reading standards being pursued at the expense of pupils' enjoyment of books.The review calls for changes, including judging schools on children's development rather than test results and allowing teachers' judgement to play a bigger role in assessing pupils' skills.But Lord Adonis said: "We know that in the post-war period improvements in reading were static. "It was precisely this analysis that led us in 1997 to seek a step-change in literacy through the introduction of the national strategies and daily literacy hour, an emphasis on phonics, and training for every teacher in literacy. Continued on Page 2  more...

Man is found guilty of child abuse after 30 years

A MAN found guilty of sexually abusing a child for two years more than 30 years ago has been spared jail.Alan Pollard, who was living in Mendip Close, Peterlee, at the time, visited the boy regularly at his family home in another area of County Durham.Pollard denied all charges against him, but was found guilty by a jury at Durham Crown Court.Graeme Gaston, prosecuting, said Pollard took advantage of the sleeping arrangements in the boy's house.Mr Gaston said: "The boy was probably too frightened to resist and Pollard persuaded him to carry out a number of sex acts."The jury was told the precise dates of the offending were not known, but it was the Crown's case that Pollard abused the boy every few weeks for about two years."This course of conduct carried on until the boy decided he wanted it to stop," said Mr Gaston."He did this by refusing to get into bed with Pollard any more."Matters came to a head on Christmas Day, last year, when the victim saw Pollard in a workingmen's club. This brought it all back to him."Pollard was interviewd by detectives and said he never slept in the same room as the boy.Under cross-examination from Mr Gaston, he conceded he may have slept in the same bed "three times at most", but he insisted nothing improper had taken place.Pollard, 57, of Bevan Crescent, Wheatley Hill, County Durham, denied four charges of indecency with a child and four charges of indecent assault of a child inder 14 years between September 1975 and September 1977.The jury found him guilty of all charges.Pollard appeared at Newcastle Crown Court yesterday to learn his fate.Judge Guy Whitburn sentenced him to 12 months imprisonment, suspended for two years, and ordered him to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work.He was ordered to pay £1,000 costs and sign the sex offenders' register for ten years.The court heard that Pollard still denies the charges, despite the jury's verdict.The judge told him: "This definitely had an effect on his emotional development for the past 30 years, as anyone who witnessed your trial and his evidence can speak of."Penny Moreland, mitigating, said Pollard has no contact with any children and does not pose a danger to the public.  more...

Boiler room raids

  more...

Easton jailed for seven years

A VAN driver who killed four members of the same family in a crash on the A1 was today jailed for seven years.   more...

Christmas is coming...

THE OFFICE of Fair Trading has launched a campaign in the North-East highlighting different ways people can save for Christmas.   more...