Western Daily Press
Famed flute set to fetch more than a few notes
THE flute that accompanied The Beatles on their 1967 track The Fool On The Hill and played the Nutcracker Suite for the classic 1970s Cadbury’s “fruit and nutcase” television commercials is to be sold at auction. Owned by leading British flautist Jack...
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Climate extremes pose threat to our way of life
THE Government must set maximum temperature rules for workplaces and roll out air conditioning in hospitals and care homes to protect Britons against worsening climate change, advisers have urged. Ministers should even consider changing the school...
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Woman died from blast injuries, inquest hears
AWOMAN who was killed in an explosion at her home died from “penetrating fragmentation blast injuries”, an inquest heard. Jo Shaw, 35, was killed in the blast in Sterncourt Road in Bristol on May 3, in which her former partner, Ryan Kelly, 41,...
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Solving the mural mystery at home of Agatha Christie
THE BBC’s popular series Hidden Treasures of the National Trust returns for another look behind the velvet rope at some of the country’s most beautiful and historic houses. The first episode, being broadcast tonight, opens the doors to Devon’s...
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Ambulance services firm facing winding up petition
ACOMPANY that provides “vital” ambulance services across Bristol, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset is facing serious legal action, the Western Daily Press can reveal. HMRC has lodged a winding up petition – a process creditors can take when a...
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Members of £2m drugs gang jailed for 36 years
MEMBERS of a Gloucestershire drugs gang that flooded the county with cocaine “worth £2 million” have been jailed. Phone videos and social media posts helped police to unmask the five men, whose ringleader advertised blocks of cocaine on social media...
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Dame Mary honoured to receive Bafta award
DAME Mary Berry has said she is “immensely honoured” to be receiving the Bafta fellowship at the annual television awards. The TV cook and former Great British Bake Off judge, 91, was yesterday due to receive the Academy’s highest honour for her...
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Eight years’ jail for rape for Superdry co-founder
ACO-FOUNDER of clothing firm Superdry has been jailed for eight years after being convicted of raping a woman after a night out drinking. James Holder, 54, of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, had gone back to the woman’s home, went to the toilet and then...
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Behind-the-scenes tour of Hinkley’s first reactor
FRESH footage captures progress inside Hinkley Point C’s first nuclear reactor – including the world’s largest steam turbine. The site in Somerset is the first new nuclear plant built in the UK in a generation and will be meeting around 10 per cent of...
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Activists guilty of criminal damage over factory raid
FOUR Palestine Action activists have been found guilty of raiding an Israel-based defence firm’s UK site and destroying equipment with sledgehammers and crowbars in a bid to shut the factory down. Charlotte Head, Samuel Corner, Leona Kamio and Fatema...
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Three injured in blast at house can leave hospital
THREE people, including a child, who suffered minor injuries in a “suspicious” explosion at a house in Bristol are no longer being treated in hospital, police said. A major incident was declared by Avon and Somerset Police after two people died...
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Man and woman dead, three hurt in explosion
AVON and Somerset Police have declared a major incident after an explosion at an address in Sterncourt Road, Bristol, at 6.30am yesterday. A man and a woman died and three people, including a child, were taken to hospital following the “suspicious”...
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Co-founder of Superdry denies rape accusation
THE co-founder of clothing firm Superdry raped a woman after a night out drinking, a court has heard. James Holder, 54, went back to the woman’s home, went to the toilet and then promptly fell asleep on her bed. The fashion boss then woke up,...
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Don’t lose momentum on end-of-life care, say charities
MOMENTUM on the need for better end-of-life care sparked amid the debate on assisted dying must not be “wasted”, charities have warned the Health Secretary. Wes Streeting, right, is being urged by the specialist palliative care and hospice...
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Two more convicted for part in cocaine boat plot
TWO further men from Preston have been found guilty in connection with a cocaine haul valued at £26.5 million that was collected off the Somerset coastline. Colin Benson, 60, and Joshua Rose, 38, both residing in Longton, Lancashire, were apprehended...
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Call to celebrate what we have in common on St George’s Day
SINGER and activist Billy Bragg has called on people to celebrate shared values and identity this St George’s Day and to “resist hateful division”. He is supporting a campaign promoting unity ahead of the England patron saint’s day today. Last summer...
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Murder bid arrest after man shot in West town
RESIDENTS have described hearing gunfire and keeping “terrified” children inside their homes after a man was shot on their street on Monday evening. The shock attack happened at around 7.10pm on Butler’s Field in the Cotswolds town of Lechlade, near...
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Motorist guilty of causing death of Take That fan
A DRIVER who killed a woman on her way to a Take That concert and then claimed she’d had an epileptic seizure behind the wheel has been found guilty of causing her death by careless driving, writes Tristan Cork. After a week-long trial, a jury found...
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Teens who deliberately drove into cyclist jailed
FOUR teenagers who deliberately ran over a young cyclist in a stolen Mini leaving him with a bleed on the brain have been jailed for more than 20 years. A judge said the four teenagers were ‘hunting as a pack’ and had run over two other people earlier...
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Activist told Elbit guard ‘this place won’t be here’
APALESTINE Action activist told a security guard “this place is not going to exist tomorrow” during a raid at the UK site of an Israel-based defence firm, a jury has heard. Charlotte Head, 29, Samuel Corner, 23, Leona Kamio, 30, Fatema Rajwani, 21,...
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‘Flawed web ban risks a false sense of security’
AFAILING social media ban would create “a false sense of safety that quickly unravels”, an online safety campaigner has warned before a debate in Parliament about children’s digital rights. Andy Burrows, chief executive of the Molly Rose Foundation,...
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Murder probe: Body of man found in garden
AHIGH-PROFILE murder investigation will continue into the weekend following the discovery of a man’s body in South Gloucestershire. The victim, who was in his 20s, was found with fatal injuries at the back of a garden near a path behind houses on...
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Daughter to follow in dad’s tracks at helm of mini railway
CLEVEDON’S beloved miniature railway is set to be restored – with the daughter of the man who ran the iconic Rio Grande train planning to bring it back to the town. The miniature railway which loops around the Salthouse Fields next to Clevedon’s...
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Firm brands campaign of protests ‘deplorable’
BOSSES at a defence company on the edge of Bristol that has been the subject of years of protests and direct action over their links to Israel have hit back, and said the campaign against them is “deplorable”. Elbit Systems told our sister website...
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Give UK farmers a ‘level playing field’, MPs urge
RURAL Labour MPs have called for a “level playing field” and Australian-style origin labelling to help make British farms more profitable. With British farmers facing a “perfect storm” of higher costs, more regulation and tougher competition from...
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West politicians herald potential of ‘new town’
MINISTERS have selected seven locations for new towns to be built across the UK – with the West at the forefront. Each proposed location is expected to deliver at least 10,000 homes, with several, including South Gloucestershire, being in line to...
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Gnomes back in business after flower show lifts ban
GNOMES will be making an appearance at the worldfamous Chelsea Flower Show as organisers lift their “gnome ban” for the second time in history. The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) said it was inviting celebrities to decorate gnomes to feature in...
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£19m will see pier ‘become a symbol of Weston’s comeback’
HERITAGE vessels could once again call at Birnbeck Pier thanks to £19m of government funding announced today for the iconic Weston-super-Mare attraction. The investment will fund the restoration of the buildings on Birnbeck Island and support the...
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Farm inheritance battle reaches the High Court
THE Government denied farmers a voice “when a voice was promised”, the High Court has been told in a challenge over inheritance tax changes. Farmer Thomas Martin, his father George Martin and the campaign group Farmers and Businesses for Fair Tax...
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Flood defence projects to share £1.4bn funding
MORE than 600 projects aimed at better protecting communities from flooding will receive a share of £1.4 billion, the Environment Department (Defra) said. The money, which had already been earmarked for flood defences, will be allocated to more than...
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Protest outside city shop after teenager attacked
ANGRY protesters gathered outside a Cabot Circus store in Bristol on Saturday following a vicious street attack on a child. Around 20 people assembled at lunchtime outside the Zara store. They could be heard shouting “shame on you” or “shame on Zara”...
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‘Monster’ is jailed for 27 years for child sex abuse
ASEX offender described as a “monster” has been jailed for 27 years after pleading guilty to rape and several other non-recent sexual offences against children. Philip Garrett, 70, inset, of Berrow, near Burnham-on-Sea, was sentenced at Taunton Crown...
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Couple attacked month before Calocane killings
VALDO Calocane attacked two members of staff when he was working at a warehouse a month before he committed the triple killings in Nottingham, an inquiry has heard. The killer fatally stabbed University of Nottingham undergraduates Barnaby Webber,...
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Fjords’ freezing waters no barrier to the Marines
SPECIALIST Royal Marines carried out reconnaissance missions in the freezing fjords of Northern Norway ahead of a major Nato Arctic operation. The Shore Reconnaissance Troop (SRT) from the expert Commando Force Boat Operators branch are trained to...
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Bombers’ arrival at West airbase sparks protest
DEMONSTRATORS gathered outside a Gloucestershire RAF base to protest against America’s bombing campaign against Iran on Saturday. RAF Fairford is being used by US forces as a base to strike Iran. Multiple US bombers have been spotted at the base in...
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Flying Scotsman on track to mark 50 years of West railway
THE world’s most famous locomotive is returning to the West this autumn to mark the 50th anniversary of a cherished heritage rail line. The Flying Scotsman will thrill crowds and those lucky enough to ride aboard carriages hauled by the celebrated...
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Strictly dancing for MPs ‘while world teeters on brink of WW3’
STRICTLY Come Dancing stars including Angela Rippon and Alex Kingston cha-cha-chad across Parliament’s Portcullis House with MPs yesterday. Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle danced with Rippon after welcoming the celebrities from the BBC programme to...
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‘Silence in family’s lives’ after father dies in crash
THE family of a man who died in a crash near Wells have paid tribute to “a devoted son, a caring brother, a loving daddy, and a loyal friend”. Michael Knowlson has been named as the man who died at the scene of the collision on the A371 in Dinder, at...
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Police ‘halted’ Calocane case over doctor’s email
TRIPLE killer Valdo Calocane should have been referred to prosecutors to decide whether he should be charged with a crime years before he fatally stabbed three people, a police officer has told the Nottingham attacks public inquiry. The former...
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Worker’s shock at immigration enforcement raid
A DELIVERY driver has told of her shock and anger after Immigration Enforcement raided the depot she works at. The driver, who is Bristol bornand-bred, said the immigration officials targeted “black people first” when they raided the Brislington depot...
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Keep an eye out for letter with Marie’s own stamp of approval
THE work of a Somerset artist is featured on a new range of rose flower stamps issued by Royal Mail. Acclaimed botanical artist Marie Burke, based in Glastonbury, was commissioned to paint 10 watercolours that now beautifully adorn 10 collectible...
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‘I’ve counted 150 potholes on street outside my home’
AMAN is living on one of the most potholed roads in Britain, with over 150 potholes on the street outside his house. Pat Swift, 78, a former civil engineer, said he has counted the cavities on a 200-yard (182cm) stretch across the bottom of his drive...
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Man ‘caused death of wife by controlling her’
AMAN controlled his wife through “physical and sexual violence”, leading to her taking her own life because she could not escape him, a court has heard. Christopher Trybus, of Swindon, Wiltshire, is accused of the manslaughter of Tarryn Baird, who...
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Inquiry questions delay to detention of Calocane
ASCHIZOPHRENIC man who killed three people caused a woman to jump out of her window after he was released by mental health professionals who considered the “over-representation” of young Black men in detention, an inquiry has heard. Valdo Calocane,...
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Name revealed for city’s ‘world-class’ new arena
THE name of Bristol’s longawaited arena has been announced. The 20,000-seater venue will be called Aviva Arena following a major deal with the UK insurance giant. The details of the transaction have not been disclosed but it is understood it is a...
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Valentine’s Day trial for robot dog takeaway deliveries
ROBOT delivery drivers are no longer the realms of science-fiction as a futuristic Valentine’s Day trial between Just Eat and eight Bristol restaurants took place at the weekend. People looking to order from a select group of local establishments saw...
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