The Sentinel
KING’S HONOUR FOR LOU
STOKE City legend and homeless champion Lou Macari has been awarded an MBE. The long-awaited recognition has been announced in the list of King’s Birthday Honours recipients. It is now 10 years since Lou first opened The Macari Centre in...
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STRUGGLING FAMILY CAN’T AFFORD TO BURY THEIR UNCLE JOHN – SO NEED YOUR HELP
A Cash-strapped family have been driven to desperation after the loss of their loved-one. John Ferguson, of Blurton, passed away at The Dougie Mac on May 9. The 61-year-old – who had severe epilepsy throughout his life – relied on his family for...
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MUM LEADS TRIBUTES TO ‘AMAZING’ SON JOEL
A MOTHER has been left devastated by the death of her teenage son – just 10 days before his 20th birthday. Fun-loving Joel Hinton was wellknown for his ‘one-liners’ around Newcastle College and at his Alton Towers job. But the 19-year-old had had an...
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TRUST IN TOP 5 FOR REDUCING WAITING TIMES
THOUSANDS fewer patients of the trust running the Royal Stoke are now waiting longer than the NHS says they should for treatment. The revelation comes as the University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust (UHNM) has been named among the top five...
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‘The care has been absolutely amazing... the doctors and nurses are just brilliant’
THE Royal Stoke has treated its first patient with a new gene-targeting therapy for a rare form of motor neurone disease. Michael Dean is the first patient at University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust identified with a specific genetic form of...
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Stevie’s new salon is a real wonder!
PARAMEDIC Stevie Dale has switched careers to open a beauty and aesthetics clinic with a friend. The 35-year-old has teamed up with Natalie Wilton to found A Little Serendipity Collective in Wolstanton High Street. Stevie had always been a ‘girly...
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‘IT MEANS THE WORLD TO ME’
THOUSANDS of people who backed a campaign to change the law in memory of a six-year-old girl killed by a drink and drug driver have had their voices heard in Parliament. More than 2,000 Staffordshire people took part in a consultation in support of...
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25 ARRESTS IN MAJOR POLICE MONKEY DUST CRACKDOWN
ALMOST £20,000 in cash has been seized and 25 people arrested in a police crackdown on monkey dust. Staffordshire Police has carried out 18 drug seizures since the end of November in a bid to tackle the drug that is blighting...
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TWO MEN QUIZZED OVER MURDER BID
POLICE have made two attempted murder arrests after a man was found with a ‘serious head injury’. An air ambulance along with two ambulances were among the emergency services sent to the scene in Hanley where a police cordon went up. Now officers...
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FREE FAMILY DAY PASS TO
Spring is in full swing at English Heritage sites – and you can discover them for FREE with this amazing offer. With spectacular woodland castles, colourful country houses and Victorian gardens in full bloom, history has never looked so good. To help...
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Can ewe believe it? Wool specialist claims hat-trick of royal awards
A SUSTAINABLE packaging company is thought to have become the first in the country to scoop what it calls ‘a royal hat trick.’ Stone-based Woolcool has been awarded a King’s Award for International Trade. It follows its receipt of the Queen’s Award...
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COPS QUIZ MAN OVER MURDER BID
A MAN is in hospital following a stabbing in North Staffordshire. Police have arrested a 25-year-old on suspicion of attempted murder over the alleged attack in Silverdale Road in Newcastle. 999 crews were called and paramedics treated the man for...
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TEENAGER ADMITS COLLEGE BOMB THREAT
A TEENAGER has admitted possessing explosive substances and threatening to bomb a college. Jagger Strang, aged 18, from Stafford, was due to go on trial for nine offences at Leicester Crown Court yesterday. But on the morning of the trial, he pleaded...
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WOMAN, 20, DIES AFTER A34 CRASH
A Stoke-on-trent woman has died in an A34 crash. The 20-year-old – from Chell – was a passenger in an Audi which smashed into a parked Range Rover. Cheshire Police closed Newcastle Road, in Scholar Green, for hours following the crash. It happened at...
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TEENAGER’S SIX-HOUR WAIT IN AGONY WITH A BROKEN LEG
A SERIOUSLY injured teenager was left in agony with a broken leg at a beauty spot for more than six hours – waiting for an ambulance. The alarm was raised at 4.23pm on Wednesday, April 22 after the 16-year-old skateboarder broke his leg in three...
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COPS CALLED IN AS PUPIL AT CITY PRIMARY TAKES KNIFE TO SCHOOL
POLICE have been called in after a child took a kitchen knife into their Stoke-on-trent primary school. Sandon Primary School, in Meir, issued a statement over the weekend to parents following the incident on Friday. Parents have shared the school’s...
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ROAD RAGE!
Road workers issued with body cams to record ‘aggressive and threatening behavour’ after: ■ One highways crew member was ‘clipped’ by a car and threatened by a driver after falling to the floor; ■ Contractor reveals 76 incidents so far this year of...
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‘I used to shop here when it was Sainsbury’s – it is now completely unrecognisable’
A NEW £43 million city centre health complex has welcomed its first patients – as part of a major milestone in improving access to vital tests and scans. The Stoke-on-trent Community Diagnostic Centre in Hanley opened on Monday and will provide a...
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TEACHER AVOIDS JAIL AFTER SEX WITH PUPIL, 16
TEACHER Clark Eastwood had sex with one of his pupils. The 52-year-old lost his job after the allegation came to light in 2023. He admitted abusing his position of trust and having sex with the schoolgirl decades earlier. Now Eastwood has been...
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MUM LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN FOR FUNDS IN MEMORY OF KAYLA,15
A MOTHER has been left heartbroken following the sudden death of her ‘truly extraordinary and beautiful’ teenage daughter. Kayla Smith, of Tunstall, died in the early hours of March 30 following emergency surgery at the Royal Stoke University...
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‘WHY ARE YOU IGNORING US?’
RESIDENTS fighting plans to build hundreds of homes on greenfield land have accused their council of ignoring them. Stoke-on-trent City Council is carrying out a consultation on the draft Packmoor masterplan, which includes proposals to build up to...
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FAMILY’S PLEA AS WILL, 39, LOSES BRAVE CANCER FIGHT
STOKE City fans are being urged to join a stadium-wide tribute in memory of one of their own. Will Brazier’s grieving family are calling on supporters to applaud during the 39th minute of Stoke City’s final home Championship fixture against Portsmouth...
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£4.7M PLAN TO MAKE SEVEN CITY TOWER BLOCKS SAFER
COUNCIL leaders have agreed to use £4.7 million of grant funding to improve fire safety at seven high-rise blocks of flats. Stoke-on-trent City Council will spend the money from Homes England on works at tower blocks which have been assessed as having...
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AIRLIFT AFTER CHILD HIT BY A CAR
A CHILD has been airlifted to hospital. The youngster was being flown to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, Liverpool, after being struck by a car in Commercial Road, in Hanley. The alarm was raised at 4.01pm yesterday. The air ambulance had landed in a...
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POTTERS TURN OUT IN FORCE TO PAY TRIBUTE TO BRAVE OLLIE, 8
MOURNERS gathered yesterday to say goodbye to a Stoke City superfan who captured everyone’s hearts. Brave Ollie Royles, 8, above right, lost his fight to cancer on March 14. Ollie, from Crackley, was first diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma in February...
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NEW URGENT CARE CENTRE BID TO END ‘CORRIDOR CARE’ AT A&E
PATIENTS across North Staffordshire will be seen in a new urgent treatment centre (UTC) at the Royal Stoke – in a bid to reduce corridor care and ease pressures on A&E. MP Gareth Snell revealed that the complex will receive one of the new UTCS as part...
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MP HITS OUT AT LACK OF HELP FOR CERAMICS SECTOR IN CITY
A LABOUR MP has warned that Stoke-on-trent ceramics factories will close due to a lack of support from the government on energy costs. Stoke-on-trent Central MP Gareth Snell hit out at the government’s new British Industrial Competitive Scheme (BICS),...
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‘INCREDIBLY DANGEROUS’
Councillor warns busy road in city could be closed off because drivers are: ■ Jumping three-way lights controlling roadworks; ■ Moving and tampering with the traffic lights; ■ All of which is forcing all the lights to remain on red.
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‘LOSING ALEX HAS BEEN THE HARDEST THING IMAGINABLE FOR ALL OF US’
THE grieving mother of 17-yearold Alex Woodward who was killed in a hit-and-run has spoken of her devastation. Alex was walking to a shop with friends when he was mowed down in Dawlish Drive, Bentilee, by 17-yearold Harley Hough who was driving a BMW...
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KILLER DRIVER TORCHED BMW AFTER HORROR HIT-AND-RUN
TEENAGER Harley Hough has been sentenced to six-and-a-half years’ detention in a young offenders’ institution after killing a 17-year-old in a hit-and-run. The Sentinel can today name 17-year-old Hough after successfully challenging reporting...
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MAN JAILED FOR RAPE OF 2 GIRLS WHEN HE WAS 11
A MAN who raped two children when he was just 11-years-old has been locked up. Fahad Ahmed is now aged 20 and abused and raped the primary school girls in 2017. His offending has had a profound effect on the girls. Now Ahmed has been sentenced to 18...
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POLICE PROBE AS MAN DIES AFTER A500 COLLISION
POLICE have launched an investigation after a pedestrian was involved in a fatal collision. Officers were called out to the A500 at Porthill on Saturday night after receiving reports about a man colliding with a black Skoda. The pedestrian was...
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100 JOBS WITH LEISURE CHAIN EYEING UP SITE NEXT TO M6
HEALTH and leisure club chain David Lloyd has set its sights on opening a new centre which could create up to 100 jobs once it was up and running. The proposed ‘Stafford Gate’ leisure club is earmarked for land just off the M6 at Junction 14, south of...
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BIG BOOST FOR PATIENTS WITH 150 NEW AMBULANCES
THE ambulance service serving Staffordshire has taken delivery of 150 new or replacement ambulances in the last 12 months. West Midlands Ambulance Service has received the Double Crewed Ambulance vehicles as part of a record national rollout. Most...
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£277M CUTS TO NHS ‘RISKS SOME NEEDS BEING UNMET’
A CONTROVERSIAL plan to cut £277 million from NHS services in Staffordshire ‘risks leaving some needs unmet’, an independent review has found. The NHS in Stoke-on-trent and Staffordshire made the swingeing cuts to services in 2025/26 in order to meet...
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WELCOME TO MILLIONAIRE STREET IN MEIR!
VAN driver Julian Malbon, 61, was left weak at the knees after scooping £333,333 in the Postcode Lottery. The grandad-of-two said: “It’s a mind-blowing amount of money… I don’t even know where to start. I can hardly stand up, my legs are like...
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MAN STABBED VICTIM IN THE NECK IN CITY CENTRE FIGHT
A MAN who stabbed his victim in the city centre has been jailed. Daniel O’hagen, aged 44, was captured on CCTV lunging forward and stabbing the man in the neck with a knife during a fight in Hanley. The victim had the wound closed at hospital. Now...
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‘THANKS TO YOU ALL FOR SAVING MY LIFE’
‘ETERNALLY grateful’ Neal Macgillivray has been reunited with the ambulance crew who helped save his life after he suffered a cardiac arrest at work. Colleagues in Newcastle gave Neal CPR, used a nearby defibrillator – and formed a human chain to...
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FAMILY LEAD TRIBUTES TO MUCH-LOVED BARRY, 80
THE family of a pedestrian who died after a city centre collision have paid tribute to the ‘much-loved’ dad. Barry Mumford was struck by a vehicle on Meigh Street in Hanley on Saturday. The 80-year-old, of Werrington, died in hospital on the same...
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HISTORIC POTTERY COMPANY GOES INTO ADMINISTRATION
A HISTORIC Stoke-on-trent pottery firm has gone into administration. Burleigh & Leigh, in Middleport, is part of the Derbyshire-based Denby group which made the ‘necessary step’ due to ‘soaring costs and low consumer confidence’. The Stoke-on-trent...
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Pub pair hoping family fun day will be a splash hit!
FAMILIES are being invited to have fun and help a city pub raise £3,000 for vital lifesaving kit. Stan Bennett and partner Samantha Jordan, landlords of The Talisman in Tunstall, want to use the cash to install a defibrillator. And they’re even...
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MAN DIES AFTER BEING HIT BY CAR IN CITY CENTRE
A PEDESTRIAN died in hospital after a collision with a car in the city centre. Emergency services were called out to Meigh Street in Hanley. A red Seat had been involved in a collision with an 80-year-old man, at the junction of Burton Place. Police...
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302 COUNCIL HOUSES FOR CITY IN NEXT FIVE YEARS
A TOTAL of 302 new council houses are due to be built in Stoke-on-trent over the next five years, a council leader says. Jane Ashworth, leader of Stokeon-trent City Council, revealed the figure in response to a formal question from a member of the...
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BIKER, 43, DIED AFTER HITTING POTHOLE ON HIS WAY HOME
BIKER Andrew Freakley died after hitting a pothole. The 43-year-old had been overtaking a van when he rode into the one-metre-square pothole which catapulted him into the path of an oncoming car. An inquest heard the mechanic and forklift truck...
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AMBULANCE WITH A PATIENT INSIDE ‘STOLEN’ OUTSIDE ROYAL STOKE
AN investigation has been launched into how an ambulance containing a patient and a paramedic was stolen from outside Stokeon-trent’s main hospital. It was driven away from the Royal Stoke University Hospital, inset, at just before 8.15pm on...
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‘YOU ARE NOT LISTENING!’
A CITY MP has accused the Government of ‘not listening’ to concerns that high energy costs run the risk of decimating the pottery industry. Gareth Snell said jobs and livelihoods risk being ‘written off’ because many UK industries including the...
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Hanley hotel goes on the market with £3.75m price tag
A CITY centre hotel is up for sale with an asking price of more than £3.75 million. The Best Western Stoke City Centre Hotel is a 135-bedroom venue in Trinity Street, Hanley. The hotel is still being used as accommodation for asylum seekers which led...
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TREBLES ALL ROUND!
THREE Stoke-on-trent communities will share up to £20 million of Government funding to bring about ‘real change’. Bradeley, Chell Heath and Fegg Hayes have been named as one of an additional 40 ‘overlooked’ communities across England to receive the...
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RECORD 5,136 ACTIONS AFTER SHARP RISE IN FLY-TIPPING
STOKE-ON-TRENT saw more than 16 fly-tipping incidents a day last year, new figures show. Official government data reveals that there were 5,893 incidents of illegal dumping reported to Stokeon-trent City Council in 2024/25. This was around 500 more...
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ALMOST 15,000 REFERRED TO ABUSE SERVICE IN JUST 2 YEARS
SHOCK figures have revealed that a domestic abuse victim service received almost 15,000 referrals in just two years. The New Era Domestic Abuse Victim Service delivers free and confidential support for all those affected by domestic abuse including...
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