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A man has been jailed after he repeatedly stamped on a stranger’s head as he was celebrating a Christmas night out in Bedlington. 

Jack Stevenson, 25, launched an unprovoked attack on David Wailes as he was in The Grapes Pub in the Northumberland town on 23 December last year. 

Stevenson, of Carlton House, Bedlington, was convicted on September 4 at Newcastle Crown Court for wounding, assault and breaching a suspended sentence and as a result, handed down a five year sentence. 

There was no altercation or argument that provoked Stevenson to attack the victim. He launched a single punch that sent Mr Wailes to the floor and then proceeded to stamp on his face. 

Stevenson then punched an 18 year old man before fleeing the scene. Less than two weeks later, officers caught up with him and swooped in to make an arrest. 

Detective Sergeant Jason Kell said: "The victim was left with a fractured eye socket but given the ferocity of the attack, his injuries could have been much more severe. Thuggish behaviour like this is simply not acceptable. We want people to feel safe to enjoy their night out, at whatever time of year, without worrying about people like Stevenson. 

"We're pleased with the sentence that's been handed down to the offender and hope that this serves as a warning to others about the consequences of launching a mindless attack like this."
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More children join the Mini Police

By Bot, in News,

Northumbria Police has taken on more of its youngest ever recruits as its successful Mini Police scheme is extended.
Earlier this year Northumbria Police’s Mini Police was launched with seven primary schools across the force area signing up to the scheme.
School children were selected from the participating schools to become Mini Police where they work with their local police and volunteer police cadets to learn about a host of topics to help keep them and their friends safe.
Mini Police, recognisable by their uniform, also carry out work in the community and since the scheme began have attended some of the region’s biggest events such as the Sunderland International Airshow - at the airshow they played a vital role and helped hand out wristbands to children their own age and younger, the wristbands included the contact details of the child’s parents or guardian so that if they did become separated they could quickly be reunited with them.
Now, due to the success of the scheme it has been extended with eight more schools now signing up and an extra 88 nine and ten year olds becoming Mini Police - meaning there are now 164 primary school children enrolled on the scheme.
Superintendent Sarah Pitt was instrumental in launching Northumbria Police’s Mini Police.
She said: “Since we launched the scheme in April we’ve had a lot of interest in our Mini Police with people getting in contact to see how their children or school could get involved. It’s been a great success so far and we’re really pleased we’ve been able to extend it and welcome more children into the police family.”
Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner, Dame Vera Baird QC, said: “This is a brilliant opportunity for children to engage  with their local communities and learn more about how our officers tackle crime and help people who need it. It’s great that we have more youngsters signing up – I hope their involvement inspires them and they have lots of fun as new Mini Police recruits. “
The schools now involved in the scheme are:-
In Northumberland: Newborough School, Hexham Grange Primary School, Blyth Meadowdale Academy, Bedlington  Chantry Middle, Morpeth
In North Tyneside: St Columba’s RC Primary School, Wallsend Riverside Primary School, North Shields
In Newcastle: Westgate Hill Primary School, Newcastle St Bedes Primary School, Newcastle Thomas Walling Academy, Newcastle
In Gateshead: Falla Park Primary School, Felling Eslington School, Gateshead
 In South Tyneside: Laygate Community Primary, South Shields St Mary’s Primary School, Jarrow
In Sunderland: Academy 360, Sunderland  Easington Lane Primary School, Houghton Southwick Community Primary, Southwick
 
View the full news release
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Northumberland is blooming beautiful

By Bot, in News,

Green fingered Northumbrians have done the county proud yet again as they collected a string of awards after impressing judges in this year’s Northumbria in Bloom awards.

Dozens of  towns, villages and businesses showed off their floral displays, summer planting and well tended parks and gardens in the competition which has seen communities and council staff pull  together to show off local neighbourhoods  at their best.

The county did exceptionally well in the Towns category  with Morpeth winning overall Gold  for the bright displays that have produced a blaze of colour right across the town. Alnwick won Gold, Bedlington won Silver and Berwick and Hexham were awarded Silver Gilt.

In the Large Towns category,  Blyth won Silver and Cramlington won Silver Gilt. In the Small Towns category  Ponteland and Seaton Sluice won gold with Seaton Delaval achieving bronze.

Seaton Delaval won the Most Improved entry for enthusiastically taking on a number of neglected areas for transformation and for the hard work and vision of the community.

The county’s villages also scooped a number of fantastic awards against tough competition. Ord near Berwick won the Large Villages category. Judges found the village to be pristine throughout with residents taking a great pride in keeping their neighbourhood spotless as well as caring for the many tubs and planters.

There were celebrations elsewhere as Holywell and New Hartley won Silver and Seghill won Bronze  in the Large Villages category.
East Hartford won Silver in the Small Villages category and Lesbury won Silver Gilt in the Villages category.

The popular  Ridley Park in Blyth was winner of the Best Park award for its beautifully landscaped public space.

Young growers in the county also got involved and Tweedmouth West First School in Berwick  scooped the Growing Together for Schools award.
Other Gold winners included  Alnmouth Railway Station ( best bus/metro/rail station)  The parish hall garden, Corbridge ( best Grounds of a hospital, university or public building)   Ord Country Park ( best commercial premises)  Berwick Bowling Club ( best sports ground) Woodbine Terrace, Corbridge ( best residential community).

A number of very worthy awards were made for outstanding voluntary contributions. Neville Rutherford of Corbridge for his inspiring leadership of Corbridge in Bloom; Kenneth Thompson from Morpeth for his commitment to the ‘In Bloom’ entry and George Anderson for his contribution to the betterment of Ord Village
 

Councillor Glen Sanderson, cabinet member for environment and local services at Northumberland County Council, said: “It is wonderful that the hard work and efforts of a few  have made the towns and villages  where we live such attractive places.  We really do appreciate their work and congratulate everyone involved. ”
 
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The public are being invited to have their say on the next stage of plans for the Portland Park site in Ashington.

Portland Park is Northumberland County Council’s major regeneration site in the heart of the town.  The site is being delivered by Arch on behalf of the County Council which has already seen works start to create a new road network system designed to improve existing traffic issues within the town centre as well as to help pedestrians move round the town more quickly and easily.

Arch and the County Council are organising two public consultation sessions being held to encourage as many people as possible to attend and have their say on what facilities they would like in the town centre.  

Those ideas and views are intended to be collected and developed to inform a new masterplan for the town, and will be shared again with the public in the near future.  

The two public consultation sessions will take place on Wednesday 20th and Thursday 21st September, from 1pm-7pm at Unit 1, Wansbeck Square, Ashington NE63 9XL.

The consultation material will be made available on-line after the public consultation events have finished, with the public also having the opportunity to provide comment electronically should they not be available to attend the sessions.

Peter Jackson, Leader of Northumberland County Council said: "The Council is determined to work with local people to create a new centre to the town which the community can be proud of. In addition I can confirm that the County Council will deliver the £2.9 million make over of Hirst Park and that the County Council has committed funds to further develop the £190 million Ashington to Newcastle passenger rail connection. The future for Ashington and the surrounding area is definitely exciting." 

Cllr Richard Wearmouth Chair of Arch said: “We’re looking at potential community uses, how we can enhance the environment in the town and how we can attract business use. We want to involve local residents in giving their views on what they would like in their town centre, and start a new exciting chapter in the development of the town. We are confident that working with the people of Ashington we can create a fantastic new development for Ashington that people will be proud of".  
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A man who went on a six month crime spree across Bedlington is now behind bars, following a long-running investigation from Northumbria officers.
Local man Andrew Jackman, age 27, of no fixed address, appeared before Newcastle Crown Court on 1 September to face 20 separate charges committed between March to August this year.
Jackman has been handed a 23 month sentence, having been found guilty of all charges, for:
 
Driving while disqualified Theft Failure to surrender to custody Making off without payment Driving offences Threatening behaviour During the peak of his offending, Jackman stole an Audi A3 from a residential address in Bedlington Station and went on to use the car to commit multiple offences. He was also found slumped behind the wheel of another car in Guidepost, having been found intoxicated by a member of the public and was arrested shortly afterwards for driving while under the influence and without insurance or a licence. 
He was found to have repeatedly stolen from local shops and as a result in July, was handed a 12 month ban from a number of Morpeth premises under the Shopwatch scheme.
Chief Inspector Helena Barron said: “This was a reckless crime spree from a man who is best described as a habitual offender. Quite often we see offenders spiral out of control in this way when trying to fund a form of addiction and there is very little thought of the impact this behaviour has on others.
“His numerous driving offences could have led to serious injuries and his actions put our local community in danger.
“Jackman was a familiar face in Bedlington and was well-known to use bullying tactics and to intimidate residents and business owners. He brought about a culture of misery as he moved around the town and as such I hope local people feel reassured now that he has now been removed from our community for a considerable period of time.
"Getting individuals like Jackman off our streets to allow our communities to thrive is our absolute priority. ”
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Next steps for parking studies

By Bot, in News,

Parking studies and survey work has been taking place in the county’s market towns over the summer in order to help develop options for future parking needs in Northumberland, and the first stage has now been completed.

Concerns about parking capacity are regularly raised with the County Council and the new administration has made finding a solution to these problems a high priority, with parking studies for the market towns of Berwick, Hexham, Morpeth and Alnwick being commissioned in order to get a clearer picture of capacity and usage of car parks in these areas.

The first stage of survey work looking at actual levels of usage over the summer period has now been completed.

Work is now being undertaken to seek the views and opinions of the local county councillors, town councils and other key stakeholders on the parking issues in their areas through a series of meetings during September, with the final report findings then being received by the Council in November.

Councillor Glen Sanderson, Cabinet member for Environment and Local Services, said: “We need to have a close look at parking issues as we constantly hear that visitors and residents alike can’t find a car parking place when they want to shop and that causes real problems and is bad news for traders.  

“Despite the introduction of free parking some years ago, communities are often telling us that a lack of parking capacity is having a negative effect on their local economy and the sustainability of their towns.

“We’re listening to these concerns and as a first step have commissioned a study to investigate the current car parking situation within each of the four main market towns where parking capacity has been identified as a key issue.

“This will establish current patterns of use and enable us to factor in the future demand for car parking spaces so that we can fully understand what improvements are required now and in the future and look at what’s needed in terms of any new car parking sites.

“The survey work over the summer has progressed well and we are now gathering the views and listening to the thoughts of key stakeholders to help inform the development of options on the current parking issues and parking needs in their local community.

“Ultimately we want all our communities to prosper and have the right balance of sustainable parking for residents, visitors and businesses and this is the first step in making that happen.”  
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A Ponteland home valued at more than a million pounds was the most expensive property sale in the North East in July.
Data released from the Land Registry reveals the biggest property sales during that period in both England and Wales.
The most expensive sale in July across those countries was a terraced house in the London borough of Kensington which fetched almost £10 million.
In the North East, the only home to break the million-pound barriers was a property on Darras Road in Ponteland.
Two homes in Jesmond rounded out the podium positions, each selling for more than £800,000.
From Gosforth and Jesmond in Newcastle, to Hexham and Morpeth in Northumberland, here’s a look at the most expensive properties to change hands in the region in July:


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