The Sentinel

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...

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...

‘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...

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...

£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...

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...

MIDWIFE HAILED AN ABSOLUTE HERO!

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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...

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...

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),...

‘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.

‘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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

£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...

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...

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...

‘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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

‘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...

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...

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...

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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UNDERCOVER COPS TARGET PREDATORS IN CLUBS & BARS

POLICE are carrying out proactive patrols to spot predatory behaviour around bars and clubs and poorly-lit spaces in a crackdown on violence against women and girls. Staffordshire Police are leading the month-long crackdown following £24,000 Home...

MEN MOWED DOWN AFTER 3 STABBINGS AND SHOOTING JAILED 28 YEARS

TWO men have been locked up for a total of 28 years after three victims were stabbed and gunshots fired at a house. The men were stabbed on Galsworthy Road and Wellfield Road, in Bentilee, and the gunshots were fired at a house on Dean Place in...

WORK BEGINS ON ‘UK FIRST’ FLATS AT FORMER CAR PARK

WORK has begun to turn a Newcastle car park into more than 100 homes, in what the developer says is a UK first. Capital¢ric is hollowing out the former Midway car park to create a triple-height atrium, where the raw concrete frame is ‘softened by...

MUM PLOTTED TO TORCH CAR AFTER FATAL HIT-AND-RUN

MUM-OF-FOUR Courtney Taylor allowed herself to be carried in a stolen car that killed a man in a hitand-run. The 28-year-old was in the stolen Mini Cooper driven by partner, Leon Salt, on April 11. Stoke-ontrent Crown Court heard Salt hit 57-year-old...

KNIFEMAN LEFT DAUGHTER AND MUM IN FEAR FOR THEIR LIVES

DRUGGED-UP Mohammed Amin terrified a mother and daughter by trying to get into their car while wielding a knife. The 38-year-old was under the influence of monkey dust when he produced two blades in a taxi on Waterloo Road, Cobridge, at 11am on...

BRADY’S BUNCH OF CUP HEROES

BEN Waine continued his love affair with the FA Cup after his goal helped Port Vale dump out Premier League Sunderland yesterday. The New Zealand forward had already scored the winners against Bristol clubs Rovers and City as the Valiants reached the...

‘GET US OUT OF HERE!’

A Stoke-on-trent couple have been left ‘stranded’ in Qatar following the outbreak of the Middle East conflict. Lynn Brookes and David Gator say they feel like they have been left ‘on their own’ by the British Government. The couple flew to Australia...

ASYLUM SEEKER JAILED 40 MONTHS FOR STALKING CITY SCHOOLGIRL

ASYLUM seeker Sabjan Burkazi has been jailed after stalking a schoolgirl. Stoke-on-trent Crown Court heard the 30-year-old became obsessed with his young victim and performed a sex act in front of her. Now Burkazi, who came to the UK from...

RAPIST HUNT AS WOMAN ATTACKED IN CITY CENTRE

DETECTIVES have launched a rape investigation after officers on patrol found a woman in the street. They have been trawling CCTV after finding the woman in Chell Street, on the outskirts of Hanley, on Sunday morning. The woman was taken to hospital...

TEN REASONS WHY CENTENARY PIE HAS THE WRIGHTS STUFF!

CUSTOMERS can tuck into two new tasty treats to celebrate a city-founded bakery brand’s 100th anniversary – and help cancer patients. Wrights has unveiled the Centenary Chicken, Leek & Bacon Pie – a collaboration with TV chef Thom Bateman – and the...

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SWIMMING POOLS AT ‘SIGNIFICANT RISK OF FAILURE’

COUNCIL leaders hope to secure Government funding to replace the city’s largest leisure centre. Stoke-on-trent City Council first announced plans to replace the ‘outdated’ Fenton Manor Sports Complex – potentially in the city centre – in 2024. The...

COUNCIL TAX UP 4.99% ‘TO SAFEGUARD KEY SERVICES’

STOKE-ON-TRENT residents are to be hit with a 4.99 per cent council tax increase from April. Elected members at Stoke-on-trent City Council approved the increase as part of the authority’s budget for 2026/27 at their latest meeting. The tax hike –...

OUTSTANDING!

THE team at Dougie Mac is ‘immensely proud’ after the hospice was rated ‘outstanding’ by inspectors. The Blurton-based hospice, below, achieved the highest possible rating following its latest inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). The...

‘CARING’ LOIS, 17, DIED OF RARE CONDITION AFTER FOOD POISONING

A TEENAGER died from a rare condition after being struck down with food poisoning which may have been caused by eating undercooked duck. Lois Francis, from Talke Pits, above, passed away from multiple organ failure at the Royal Stoke University...

CITY COUNCIL SECURES BIG BAILOUT FOR A THIRD YEAR

THE government has agreed to provide Stoke-on-trent City Council with a £10.5 million emergency bailout – the authority’s third in three years. Council leaders asked for the ‘exceptional financial support’ (EFS) to help balance their budget in...

KNIFE ARCH WILL BE DEPLOYED AT SCHOOLS AND PUBS IN THE CITY

METAL detectors and off-road bikes will be deployed in £14,000 plans to combat anti-social behaviour, council leaders have announced. Stoke-on-trent City Council is working with Staffordshire Police on the new projects, which they say will make a...

TEN GUILTY AS TWO ARE BADLY BURNED AFTER HOUSE IS PETROL BOMBED

A MAN has been convicted of attempted murder after a Stoke-ontrent house was petrol bombed in a revenge attack - forcing a mum and her daughter to jump from a window. A jury found Shakil Uddin guilty of the crime that left the two victims with...

CITY’S ‘GREEN LUNGS’ SAVED AS COUNCIL BUYS KEY SITE

GREENFIELD land once earmarked for housing will be ‘safeguarded’ after a council bought it from a developer, leaders say. The 148-acre site at Berryhill Fields is one of six pieces of land Stoke-ontrent City Council has acquired from St Modwen...

‘ABSOLUTELY HORRENDOUS’

FED-UP gran-of-five Mary Byrne says she has been living in a mould-ridden bungalow for nine years. The 65-year-old says mould is on the walls and underneath the carpets of her city council bungalow – with her bedroom particularly bad. She says her...

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BOY ‘CATAPULTED INTO AIR’ AS MAN DROVE CAR AT HIM DELIBERATELY

TEENAGER Brwa Abdulla used his car as a weapon to deliberately run down a schoolboy. The 19-year-old Kurd struck the Afghan youngster with his BMW as he walked across College Road, Shelton. He saw the boy and drove the car straight into him,...

121 JAILED 439 YEARS AS POLICE TARGET SERIOUS CRIME IN COUNTY

POLICE have revealed that 121 people have been jailed for a total of 439 years as part of a major operation to target ‘serious and organised crime’ in Staffordshire. In the 12 months up to the start of this year, police arrested more than 350 people...

‘THINGS HAVE GOT TO CHANGE’

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‘THE POLICE STORMED IN SAID THEY’D GOT THE WRONG ADDRESS, AND DASHED OFF’

A MUM was given a rude awakening when police officers barged into her home – after getting their addresses mixed up. Kellie Simm says the shock intrusion felt like ‘something out of a film’. The 42-year-old was resting in bed shortly after her husband...

CRISIS TALKS ON DELAYS FOR A&E PATIENTS STUCK ON AMBULANCES

AMBULANCES were stuck outside Stoke-on-trent’s main hospital for an average of 91 minutes in 2025 – more than three times the national average. Latest figures show the average ambulance handover time at the Royal Stoke University Hospital and...

DAD AND SON, 12, DIED 100 METRES APART IN HIKING TRAGEDY

A DAD and son died 100 metres apart from each other after both falling in a hiking tragedy. Thomas Parry, 49, and his 12-yearold son Richard lost their lives on a trip to Scotland. The pair, from Alsager, were scaling the 1,150-metre peak Bidean nam...

‘THANK YOU FOR SAVING MY LIFE’

HEROIC runner Gregg Nixon hauled a dog walker to safety after she fell into an icy canal. Tracy Hall feared she was going to die after she overbalanced and went into the Trent & Mersey Canal, in Stone, while trying to rescue her brother’s cocker...

MANAGER JAILED FOR TELLING CARE HOME WORKERS TO LIE

A CARE home manager who told two members of staff to lie after a disabled grandmother suffered injuries from which she never recovered in a fall has been jailed. Derby Crown Court heard 84-yearold Shirley Froggett broke her femur when she fell out of...

NEW BLOW AS JOBS SET TO GO AT WEDGWOOD

ICONIC pottery firm Wedgwood has announced job losses in a ‘body blow’ to Stoke-on-trent’s ceramics industry. The company is to make a redundancies at its Barlaston factory although the exact number is yet to be confirmed. A 30-day consultation is...

MO’S £5M FUND TO CREATE JOBS AND FIND NEXT JOSIAH

TOP city businessman Mo Chaudry is using £5m of his own money to help create and safeguard hundreds of jobs in North Staffordshire as part of a Dragons’ Den-style process. Momentum Capital has been launched to help entrepreneurs set up or grow their...

COPS SEIZE 3 DOGS AS TWO IN HOSPITAL AFTER ATTACK

TWO people were injured – one seriously– in a dog attack on a city estate. Police were called to Macdonald Crescent in Meir shortly before 6pm on Monday. They say three dogs were invoved in the incident which left two people in hospital. A police...

DAN’S THE MAN TO CLEAR 4.5 TONNES OF TOWN CENTRE RUBBISH

THE streets in one of the city’s six towns have been transformed after 4.5 tonnes of litter was removed in less than five months – by one man. The Sentinel revealed in August last year that Dan Dick has been appointed as an environmental ambassador in...

GIRL ORPHANED AS DAD DIES OF ‘HIDDEN HEART CONDITION’

A 12-YEAR-OLD girl has been orphaned after her dad’s sudden death. Mark Quarmby had raised daughter Poppy following the death of her mum when she was just three. But the 52-year-old, from Talke, has passed away. Medical tests have discovered a hidden...

12 PROJECTS TO BOOST CITY LIFE

A BUS rapid transit system, a green energy ‘eco-park’ and the delivery of thousands of new homes are among 12 projects which could transform life in Stoke-on-trent, council leaders say. Stoke-on-trent City Council launched its Future 100 prospectus...