Cocaine haul doubles in year A record 16.5 tonnes of cocaine and Ecstasy were seized by the police and Customs in England and Wales in 2003. This was five times more crack cocaine and nearly double the total of cocaine confiscated in 2002.
Home Office crime figures reveal that 6.7 million Ecstasy- type drugs were found, and 755,000 people took cocaine in 2003-04 — more than double the total of cocaine users in 1998.
Funeral mix-up
Rumours that Frank Hughes, 80, a former bus driver, was dead were found to be greatly exaggerated after he was seen in Darlington, in North Yorkshire, after his “funeral”. Old colleagues arrived to pay their respects after reading a notice in the local paper. But the funeral was for another Frank Hughes, of Hilda Street.
Life-saving drugs
Statins, drugs that save the lives of people at risk of heart attacks, also benefit those who suffer an attack. Researchers from the University of California found that statin treatment within 24 hours of a heart attack reduced deaths by more than 50 per cent.
Crash landing
A pilot and 15 passengers had a narrow escape when a hot air balloon touched electricity cables and blacked out the village of Clyst St Lawrence near Exeter. The balloon felled a pole carrying a 415-volt cable as it came down on farmland. Nearly 1,500 homes were left without power until it was repaired.
Back on the beat
More than 2,300 police officers in London could be moved back to the beat from other duties. The reforms, ordered by Sir Ian Blair, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, would free many for frontline duties by using civilian staff to do their jobs. Scotland Yard said that 4,636 of its 31,000 officers work in non-frontline posts.
Gender pay divide
Women earn an average of just over three quarters the salary of their male colleagues, research shows. Men receive average salaries of £30,948, while women earn £23,977 on average, according to PayFinder.com, the salary comparison website. There is also evidence that the gender pay divide is getting worse.
Countess mourns
Mary Rhys-Jones, the mother of the Countess of Wessex, has died peacefully after a short illness, at the age of 71. Buckingham Palace said the Countess was “deeply saddened”, and that the funeral would be private. Mrs Rhys-Jones, a charity worker, was reported in May to have had cancer surgery.
Three deaths may be linked
Police are investigating a possible connection between three bodies found in two separate houses yesterday.
Thames Valley Police said that they are treating as murder the death of a 41-year-old man, whose body was found by a member of the public soon after 11am in a house in Bicester, Oxfordshire.
Three hours later, the bodies of a man and a woman, both aged 23, were found upstairs in a house in the village of Ambrosden, a ten-minute walk away.
Police said that they were treating all three deaths as suspicious and were investigating a possible link between them. A post-mortem examination was being carried out on the body of the 41-year-old.
A neighbour said that the dead man had rented the terraced house with his wife for several years.
School champions
A charity has asked parents, teachers and children to encourage cycling and walking to school. Sustrans has asked for volunteers to register online to become a “school champion” to encourage healthy ways of getting to and from school. The charity said the scheme would also have environmental benefits.
Bone-marrow boy
The third of four Hampshire sons with the same genetic disease is to have a bone marrow transplant. Joshua Hartley, 13, and Nathan, 11, Daniel, 9, and Luke, 5, have X-Linked Lymphoproliferative Syndrome. Nathan, like Joshua and Daniel before him, is to have surgery at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children.
Txt a road crime
Lorry drivers are being alerted to crime on the roads by text messages from police in the first campaign of its kind in the country. West Midlands Police hope the Promptext system will reduce crimes committed against hauliers, such as the theft of loads, and provide the force with extra vigilance on the roads.
Lone dying wish
A pensioner’s last wish was that no member of his family should attend his funeral. Frederick Britton, 68, from Chippenham, was cremated at Semington, Wiltshire. An announcement in a local paper afterwards said that he had wanted the arrangements kept from his family. His sister, however, ignored the ban.
Murder hunt after shooting
Police began a murder hunt after a 42-year-old man was shot dead as he left a party. William Gardiner, who was known as “Womble”, was leaving a house in Wishaw, North Lanarkshire. His body was found in a garden in Muirhouse Avenue in the early hours of Sunday morning. Police are appealing for witnesses to come forward and are keen to trace a car that was seen speeding away from the scene.
Beach zone ends
A city’s pilot scheme to crack down on boy racers will not be continued. The six-month dispersal zone at Aberdeen’s Beach Boulevard meant that police could ban people from the area for up to 24 hours. There has been a reduction in anti-social behaviour but the police are now seeking another solution, such as closing the area to traffic at night.
Shown the door
Twelve large oak doors at the Scottish Parliament are having to be replaced at a cost of up to £1,000 each. The replacements come less than a year after the formal opening of the £431 million Holyrood complex. Officials said that some of the doors had started to warp but could not say if high temperatures in the building were a factor.
Panellists sought
Ministers have launched a drive to find hundreds of volunteers to sit on children’s panels. A three-week advertising blitz will seek to recruit around 600 people to join more than 2,000 existing volunteers. No special qualifications are needed.
Toddler drowns in garden pond
A 15-month-old girl died after falling into a garden pond. Cleveland police were called to a house in Brotton, near Saltburn, in North Yorkshire, on Sunday night after reports that a toddler had fallen into the water. The girl was taken to hospital in Middlesbrough but later died. A police spokesman said: “Police are investigating the circumstances and the coroner has been informed.”
Coin of their realm
Roughly £475 million in unused currency will be brought back by Britons from their foreign holidays this year. On average each holidaymaker will return with £33 of local currency, while one in ten will come back with more than £100, the Royal Bank of Scotland said.
Name that car
More than 20 per cent of car owners have a pet name for their motor. While 16 per cent of men give cars names, as many as 26 per cent of women do, according to a survey by esure.com. Car owners are twice as likely to give their cars a derogatory name than an affectionate one.
Mugging fear
People are more worried about being mugged than having a stroke, according to a Stroke Association survey. It says people overestimate the risk of being mugged, which they can do nothing about, while underestimating the risk of stroke, which they can do something about.
Lack of interest
Most people would rather read the back of a cereal packet than a letter from a bank, insurer or other financial service provider, according to a survey of 1,000 people for Docucorp, which sells customer-correspondence “solutions” to businesses.
Pay gap bigger north of the border
Women in Scotland earn nearly a third less than their male colleagues, according to new figures. The study of 160,000 workers across Britain by the internet company PayFinder.com found that sex discrimination was still rife north of the border, where the gender gap is worse than the national average. The company found that men took home 29 per cent more than their female colleagues, compared with 27 per cent in the rest of Britain. It means that the average annual salary for men in Scottish companies is around £27,931 a year, while for women it is only £21,652.
Smoked out
Yesterday marked the first day that passengers were no longer able to smoke in trains on one of the mainline network’s leading routes. GNER has banned smoking on East Coast Main Line services between London and Scotland. The company said that the ban was in direct response to passenger wishes and followed detailed research which showed that more than 90 per cent of its passengers did not smoke and that most wanted a ban.
Home ownership second to safety
Being safe and settled at home is more important to almost half of Scots than getting on the property ladder, a new survey has shown.
The housing charity Shelter said that its study exploded the myth that the nation was obsessed with home ownership. When asked what they wanted in a home, 32 per cent of Scots said that feeling safe in their neighbourhood was their top priority, with 15 per cent believing that having somewhere to settle for the long-term was most important.
Fishermen rescued
Twelve fishermen were rescued in two incidents in Scotland. Seven were saved after their 28-metre boat began listing 35 miles off Peterhead. Hours earlier five were saved by another fishing vessel as their boat sank 80 miles northeast of Lerwick.
Name confirmed
The name of a teenager who died after falling from a multi-storey car park has been confirmed by police. Sean Henderson, 19, of Crown Street, Aberdeen, fell from an upper level of the College Street car park in the city.
