Publication
Spud things come to those who wait!
A MUM and daughter had an early start and waited three hours for the opening of a viral jacket potato business. Cheryl Napier, 36, and her 10-year-old daughter Millie were the first in line for the official opening of Spud Bros Express in North...
Read Full Story (Page 3)
‘DISNEYLAND IN A DESERT’
‘vanity arena plan Deputy leader says she asked AI to analyse arena figures – and it said it would be better to leave a hole in the ground But North East’s Labour mayor hits back and blasts ‘absurd’ views end
Read Full Story (Page 1)
COULD EDIE HAVE SURVIVED TRAGEDY AT THE COAST?
THE family of a “deeply loved” Tyneside teenager who died after being swept out to sea fear her chances of survival were affected by “missed opportunities” with the emergency response, an inquest has heard. Edie Smart, 13, died on July 28 last year,...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
SON JUST CAN’T STOP HURTING HIS FAMILY
A DANGEROUS son who put turps in his mum’s wine and assaulted his gran and stepdad has been jailed for throwing boiling salted water over his dad. Daniel Gaunt, who has a history of attacking family members, left his father with burns to his neck and...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘HE’D HAVE LOVED IT’
A NATURE trail created in memory of the Newcastle schoolboy killed in a tragic explosion has officially opened, on what would have been his ninth birthday. Family and friends gathered on Friday afternoon to remember beloved Archie York at the Parish...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
£80,000 WORTH OF CARS AND BIKES TAKEN IN RAM RAID
A NEW business had four of their vehicles stolen when they were ramraided overnight. Seven Competitions had two high performance cars and two motorbikes, worth around £80,000, taken from their unit in Hebburn, South Tyneside, during the early hours of...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Heatwave sparks return of Metro’s leaking problem
SOARING bank holiday temperatures sparked a repeat of problems on the Tyne and Wear Metro’s new fleet. Transport bosses are investigating again after the latest incidents of water leaking from the Metro trains’ air conditioning and ventilation system...
Read Full Story (Page 3)
‘WE AREN’T ALL SCUM’
AFTER seeing the worst side of the community she works in, Kamsha Sivakaran has now seen the best. The Chronicle reported last week how brave Kamsha Sivakaran locked two would-be thieves in her newsagents when they came in to steal from her. The...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘WE HAVE TO LIVE IN THE MOMENT’
A NORTH East dad has said that his family has to “live in the moment” after their little boy was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer. Little Finley Robson, 2, was diagnosed with an Atypical Teratoid Rhabdoid Tumor (ATRT) last June. He had...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘HE WAS LIKE A TICKING TIME BOMB’
FOR years, the grieving sister of a woman viciously raped and murdered by Michael Wade warned against his release on parole – but he was allowed to walk the streets again anyway. Now, as Wade is sent back to jail after attacking his own daughter, Joan...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
WHY WAS HAMMER ATTACK THUG NOT IN JAIL?
EVIL hammer attacker Ross Clancy was freed from prison to strike again. The serial criminal was this week jailed for life after admitting launching a savage assault on a couple he did not know in their Newcastle home. Niamh Cunningham, 65, was left...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
RELEASED KILLER BACK BEHIND BARS
A MURDERER who was released from prison after serving 25 years for raping and killing a vulnerable woman is back in jail after attacking his own daughter. Michael Wade, who now also goes by the name George Wilden, was jailed for life for raping mum...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
THE DWP RUINED MY RETIREMENT
A MAN who was left living in his car has slammed the Government for ruining his retirement following a series of errors which included sending him letters saying he had died. Graham Longstaff had planned to spend his retirement in Portugal with his...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘SAVAGE AND BRUTAL’ HAMMER ATTACKER JAILED
A SAVAGE hammer attacker who left a woman with catastrophic lifechanging injuries by trying to murder her for money in her own home has been jailed for life. Ross Clancy repeatedly smashed 65-year-old stranger Niamh Michelle Cunningham in the head and...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
SAYERS SLASHED IN THE NECK IN JAIL
A MURDERER will spend a further four years behind bars after slashing the neck of a fellow inmate. John Henry Sayers required hospital treatment after being attacked by Donald Gaote-Oueyeya at HMP Frankland in April last year. Gaote-Oueyeya, 26, was...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
NOT FARE
PRICE increases to parking at Newcastle Airport have been described as an “unjustifiable charge” by taxi companies. The airport increased its parking prices on May 6, including the Express pick-up and drop-off charge, which has gone up from £5 to...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
FIRE EXPOSES DRUGS FARM ON CITY’S BUSIEST STREET
A CANNABIS farm has been discovered in Newcastle city centre following a blaze. Police and firefighters rushed to a fire at a property on Northumberland Street shortly before 9.10pm on Monday evening. The flames were on the first floor of a...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
NURSERY CLOSED OVER ASBESTOS FEARS
A SAMPLE of play sand used at a North Tyneside school is understood to have tested positive for asbestos contamination earlier this week. The sand was then removed as per national guidelines, and The Chronicle understands the school’s nursery was...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
PAEDOPHILE FAKED ILLNESS IN BID TO ESCAPE JUSTICE
A Northumberland paedophile fabricated a disability by feigning an inability to walk or speak in order to evade prosecution for his crimes. Leicester Crown Court was told how John Siddell, 41, attended Elvis Presley evenings at a social club and was...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
CHURCHES AGREE ‘SEX ABUSE’ PAYOUT
TWO churches in North Shields have agreed a £40,000 settlement with a man after allegations of sexual abuse were made towards a former priest. The Church of England organisations have settled the legal claim, which related to abuse the man said he...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘NO TIME TO LOSE’, STARMER MUST GO
DOZENS of Labour MPs have now called on Sir Keir Starmer to quit after a local election pummelling. The party lost control of councils including Newcastle, Sunderland, South Tyneside, and Gateshead, sparking fury among many MPs over the direction of...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
PC TELLS OF MACHETE ATTACK HORROR
A POLICE officer said he “could have died” in a machete attack while carrying out a duty he had “probably done thousands of times before”. PC Will Hunter was attacked at a petrol station in Gateshead as he tried to make a routine vehicle stop. The...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
LEADERS GONE AS LABOUR CRUSHED
LABOUR’S council leader in Newcastle has lost her seat as the party haemorrhages votes on Tyneside. Karen Kilgour failed to win election in the Blakelaw and Cowgate ward, where Reform UK secured victory and took all three available seats. She has...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘PITCH BLACK AND VERY DANGEROUS’
AN application has been lodged to demolish a former Gateshead High Street bar almost a year after the site was bought by the council. Permission is now being sought to demolish the former Curley’s bar – named after the boxer who was its original...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
MASKED ROBBER IN POLE ATTACK
A MASKED intruder attacked a man with a pole and stole cash and a Hugo Boss watch during a terrifying home invasion. Ryan Armstrong and another masked accomplice raided a home in Gateshead and left a man with a “gaping” head injury. Armstrong and his...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
MAN KILLED HIMSELF AFTER BENEFITS CUT TO £37 FOR MONTH
A NORTHUMBERLAND man died less than a week after telling DWP call-handlers he was going to kill himself following a reduction in his Universal Credit. Andrew Halliday, 41, had struggled with his mental health for many years, an inquest in...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
FOOTBALL COACHES GAVE ME EXTRA TIME
A NORTH Shields dad thanks a pair of heroic fellow football coaches for saving his life - and giving him the chance to see his children grow up. Simon Brown, 62, had a cardiac arrest in December 2017. He was coaching his son Ethan’s North Shields...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
SCARRED FOR LIFE AFTER ATTACK
A NIGHT out in Newcastle ended with an innocent man being scarred for life when a stranger smashed a bottle into his face. The victim was out in the city centre on the night of January 30 this year and left Filthy’s bar, in the Bigg Market, at around...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘IT IS NEVER ENDING’
ONE of the murderers jailed for the sadistic killing of disabled Lee Jobling is on the run. Mark Lang was one of two men convicted of murdering Lee, who was subjected to a brutal attack at his Gateshead home in 2006. Lang was locked up for life with...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘DANGER HOUSE’
THIS is the property which has been branded a “danger house” by residents in a Northumberland town. The back of the building in Blyth is piled so high with waste that it looks like it could collapse. The other side of the huge property has a number...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
STALKER URGED ATTACK ON POLICE OFFICER EX
A DANGEROUS and obsessed stalker discussed having his police officer expartner attacked with a gun, acid, hammer and knife in chilling messages. Former maths teacher David Wilkinson had already been given a suspended prison sentence for subjecting the...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
WOMAN RAIDED NURSERY BINS FOR DIRTY NAPPIES
A ‘ GROTESQUE obsession’ with soiled nappies has landed a defendant behind bars after they were caught rooting around bins in breach of a court order. Abbie Taylor, who was born male but identifies as female and was referred to in court using female...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
FORMER PUB BOSS JAILED FOR SEX ATTACK
A FORMER pub boss has been jailed for sexually assaulting a woman who ended up curled on the floor crying hysterically. David Prout, who ran a pub in Byker, Newcastle, at the time and also had a taxi licence, made unwanted advances to the victim and...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
BACK FROM THE BRINK
BACK from the brink of death, miracle crash survivor Davide-Daniel Tiblea has today thanked all those that saved his life. The schoolboy’s parents were told he was likely to die or be left permanently disabled after he suffered catastrophic head...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Thief branded ‘a disgrace’ after using cash belonging to her grandad’s partner to treat herself THIEF STOLE FROM DEMENTIA SUFFERER
A SHAMEFUL thief who fleeced an 89-year-old Alzheimer’s sufferer out of thousands of pounds has been branded a disgrace. Amy Walker exploited the pensioner’s vulnerability for her own personal gain, plundering her account to pay for a holiday and...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘MONSTER’
A RAPIST who deliberately infected seven men with HIV with has been jailed for life. Adam Hall shattered the lives of his victims by deliberately passing on the virus and raping some of them. Hall was found guilty of seven counts of inflicting GBH...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
DINER HIT IN ‘RAM-RAID’
A TAKEAWAY left severely damaged after a car smashed into it has been targeted by ram-raiders before, locals have said. The front of New Eastend Diner, on Moulton Place in Blakelaw, Newcastle, was boarded-up after an incident early yesterday...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
HORROR 36-HOUR ATTACK ON MAN – BY HIS ‘FRIEND’
A TORTURE victim who was held captive for more than 36 hours thought he was going to die as he was repeatedly waterboarded, tied up, doused in paint stripper, attacked with a cheese grater and had a cigarette stubbed out on him during a horrific...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
EIGHT HELD IN DUST-UP AT DAWN
EIGHT men have been arrested following reports of a disturbance in Newcastle city centre. Shortly after 6am yesterday Northumbria Police were called to Barrack Road, where it was reported that a group of men had been involved in an altercation. It...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
DEMOLITION OF FLYOVER TO START TODAY
DEMOLITION of the Gateshead Flyover will finally start today. Contractors are going to begin tearing down the crumbling concrete highway, which has been closed since December 2024 because of safety fears. Frustration has built over the ongoing...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
JUST TAKE THE TEST – I WISH I HAD
A MOTHER-of-three has urged women to go for their smear test after being diagnosed with terminal cervical cancer. Danielle Green, from Cramlington, Northumberland, said she would put off going for cervical screening due to embarrassment. In February...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
POLICE SLAM BRAKES ON ‘RIDE-OUTS’
NORTHUMBRIA Police have made four arrests, seized six bicycles and visited almost 50 homes as part of a crackdown following reported disorder at three “ride-out” events involving hundreds of cyclists in Newcastle during March. Officers said the...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘WE DON’T BLAME HIM’
THE grieving family of an elderly woman who tragically died following a collision involving a police officer did not want him to go to jail, a court heard. Motorcycle pillion passenger Muriel Pinkney sadly died days after being involved in a crash...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
GUNS AND VIOLENCE OBSESSIVE JAILED
AN OBSESSIVE fan of guns and fantasy violence films used a 3D printer to manufacture viable parts for a lethal weapon. Paul Dunlavy made upper and lower receivers for a semi-automatic firearm at his home in Newcastle. A court heard he enjoyed making...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
DANGEROUS DAVE BRINGS EASTER CHAOS
STORM Dave caused chaos and destruction across the North East over the Easter weekend. Trees have fallen, thousands of properties have been affected by power cuts and several events were cancelled. Yellow weather warnings were put in place over the...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘FOUR YEARS FOR TRYING TO SET PEOPLE ON FIRE?’
A MAN whose flat was damaged in a spate of arson attacks says the fouryear sentence handed to the arsonist is a “grave miscarriage of justice.” Three flats in Dean House, on Tumulus Avenue in Walker, and seven cars nearby were targeted on July 6 last...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
LOAN DANGER
A POPULAR Newcastle sports venue is to continue trading after its operators went into administration, but millions of pounds of public money loaned for its restoration is “very unlikely” to be recovered, council chiefs fear. It will be business as...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘HE WAS AN ACTIVE, HEALTHY CHILD BEFORE THIS
A MUM has called for there to be more awareness of the dangers of helium balloons for youngsters after an incident saw her son come close to death – and left with brain damage. Two years ago in May, Leland Child was five days past his ninth birthday...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
OUR HOME WAS WRECKED BY POWER BANK FIRE
A FAMILY from South Shields are “lucky to be alive” after a blaze broke out in a bedroom when a charging power bank exploded. Angela Hamilton and her son Joe had to flee their home on Saturday night after a fire broke out and caused devastation to the...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
RAPIST STRUCK AFTER HE WAS ASKED TO HELP OUT
A RAPIST who attacked a woman who asked for his help as he walked past her house has been branded a “dirty horrible beast” and jailed. William Flamson was asked by the victim if he would move some bags of rubbish but after doing so he forced himself...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
A CHANCE TO SAVE YOUNG LIVES
DON’T miss this opportunity to save our kids from social media. That’s the desperate plea of a mum whose 12-year-old daughter took her own life after being bullied. Charley Ann Patterson hanged herself at her home in Cramlington, Northumberland, in...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
END OF THE LINE
SHE thought it was the breakthrough she had prayed for since her beloved son vanished over 23 years ago. When police re-opened the investigation into Robert Scott Clive’s disappearance his mum clung onto the hope that she would finally get the answers...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘I HOPE MY SON’S DEATH HAUNTS YOU’
A KILLER driver who fled the scene of a crash and left his friend dead has been jailed. Ross Neville, 35, was doing 106mph in a Ford Ranger Raptor pickup seconds before crashing into a barrier on the A69 near Throckley on November 28, 2024. His...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘MIRACLE’ CRASH BOY BACK FROM THE BRINK
LEFT close to death after a horrific electric scooter crash, Davide-Daniel Tiblea was not expected to pull through. The 12-year-old suffered catastrophic injuries in the collision with a car, which happened near his Newcastle home. But the brave...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Pilgrim Poles to light the way in the city centre
THE installation of huge lighting pillars along Newcastle’s main shopping street has begun. As the long-running refurbishment of Northumberland Street finally nears its end, work has now started on the erection of huge Pilgrim Poles designed to pay...
Read Full Story (Page 2)
TWO SIPS AND I WAS IN SO MUCH PAIN
A YOUNG woman was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer after suffering from pain when drinking alcohol. Lucy Fraser, 24, from North Shields, North Tyneside, was told she had stage four Hodgkin’s lymphoma after experiencing pain in her back after just...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
BREAK POINT?
NEWCASTLE United fans were left in despair after yesterday’s derby day defeat to Sunderland at St James’ Park. The Black Cats won the lunchtime game 2-1, completing the double over their rivals amid a tense and rowdy atmosphere. Despite reports of...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
GOING, GOING...
DEMOLITION of the Gateshead Flyover will finally start in April – but it is expected to take six months to complete. The long wait to see the crumbling concrete viaduct torn down will soon be over, with its removal set to begin within a matter of...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
ANTI-SOCIAL AGGRAVATION
ANTI-SOCIAL behaviour on a North Tyneside estate is so bad that some people don’t feel safe going out at night, as buses have been bombarded with stones and other items. The 307 bus service was withdrawn from the Meadow Well Estate after 6pm on...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Bid to bring historic flag ‘home where it belongs’
THE director of North East Museums says that a Union Flag flown at the Battle of Trafalgar would become a “star exhibit” at the Discovery Museum. Should the organisation’s acquisition of the flag be successful, it would be on display to “hundreds of...
Read Full Story (Page 3)
HOWE ABOUT THAT!
EDDIE Howe paid tribute to the “special” Geordie public as the Newcastle United boss accepted the city’s highest civic honour. 12 months on from the club’s historic Carabao Cup final triumph, the NUFC manager has now been presented with the Freedom of...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
FORGOTTEN WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO BE WELL
A TEACHER says she is “facing a death sentence” after battling a form of cancer known as the silent killer. Emma Durkin was diagnosed with stage three ovarian cancer after initially believing she was suffering from symptoms of the menopause. Over the...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘I DON’T THINK I’LL EVER GET OVER IT’
A VULNERABLE elderly woman and her dementia-suffering husband were left terrified after marauding armed raiders smashed their way into their home and threatened to behead her and their dog. The couple were in bed in their Newcastle home when Craig...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
SHATTERED
FOUR suspects have been questioned after police disrupted 10 potentially lethal cannabis ‘shatter’ labs in the North East. Archie York, seven, died when a dangerous drugs factory set up in the flat below his Newcastle home sparked a huge...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Bikers’ Easter Egg Run is saved by sponsorship
A CHARITY event which has been operating every Easter for more than 20 years was almost cancelled after the organisers were slapped with a bill of more than £1,000. Hundreds of motorcyclists get together in Northumberland each year for the Northumbria...
Read Full Story (Page 2)
‘WE WERE TOLD SHE WAS MINUTES FROM DEATH’
A SWALWELL mum has spoken of her horror after her little girl was sent ent home from A&E and told she had d a “stomach bug” – when she had a rare are infection. Little Haisleigh Finlay, now two wo years old, was, by the time she was rushed back to...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
OUR LITTLE BRAVE HEART
A THREE year-old boy is now thriving after battling back from three open heart operations. Sam and Gordon Thompson from South Shields found out at their 20-week scan that their son Bobby had a hole in the heart. Following his birth, medics discovered...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
MAYOR’S CASH BOOSTER
£104m funding pledged in bid to salvage major infrastructure projects, including a world-class arena on Gateshead Quayside and new film and TV studios development on the banks of the River Wear
Read Full Story (Page 1)