Heartache, heroism and even a miracle
Dec 29 2008 by Dan Warburton, The Journal
In Part Three of the Journal Review of 2008, Dan Warburton remembers who and what made the headlines from July to September.
JULY
A
HEALTH campaigners claimed patients were being put at risk of starving in hospital because nurses did not have time to feed them. Nearly 1,500 cases of neglect were reported in the North East in the previous year – nearly four times the number in 2005 and the fastest rising rate in the country.
THE Tuxedo Princess made its final voyage down the River Tyne having been parked under the Tyne Bridge for more than 25 years. The popular nightspot set sail for a new destination and dropped anchor in Greece after being sold to foreign investors.
A DISGRACED ex-Northumbria Police officer told how his 21-year career was ruined by shoplifting – for just £6.87 of groceries. Adrian Ingram spoke of his distress at the petty offence that cost him 21 years of service with the force after the 40-year-old admitted shoplifting from a Spar store.
KYLIE Minogue came to Tyneside as the pint-sized pop princess performed the first night of her KylieX2008 tour in Newcastle. The Australian icon took to the stage inside the Metro Radio Arena for a four-day stay.
BOOK dealer Raymond Scott was
questioned by police over the theft of a £15m edition of Shakepeare’s works stolen from a North library 10 years ago. The 51-year-old was arrested at his home on Washington, Tyne and Wear, after a tip-off by the British Embassy in the USA.
FOOTBALL legend Sir Bobby Robson had a North East street named after him. Sir Bobby Robson Way was officially opened by the man himself in a ceremony at Newcastle’s Great Park.
A GRIEVING widow returned to the North East after her husband was killed while they were on holiday in Portugal. Marie Morley claimed the Portuguese police were staging a cover-up after her husband David suffered a severe head injury when he was mugged after enjoying an evening out in the upmarket resort of Vilamoura in the Algarve. Police claimed he fell and hit his head.
LONDON bombing survivor Lisa French staged a solo parachute jump to raise cash for land mine victims in Cambodia. The 33-year-old from Newcastle said the help she received in the aftermath of the July 7 attacks inspired her decision.
IN an exclusive interview with
WE LAUNCHED a bold £13.2m bid alongside the National Trust to save one of the North East’s heritage masterpieces. The trust was given just six months to raise funds to acquire Seaton Delaval Hall, in south east Northumberland, after Lord Hastings decided to sell-up.
AUGUST
I
THE JOURNAL revealed that serious sex offenders were being offered a chemical “cure” by Newcastle University professor Don Grubin. The programme offered a course of drugs to convicted paedophiles to help cut their sex drive.
POLICE officer Wayne Robinson, 33, of Rosedale Road, Crawcrook, Gateshead, who used to run domestic violence courses, pleaded guilty to beating his girlfriend. He repeatedly punched his partner in the face before turning his aggression on her friend.
A HERO grandfather told how he feared he would be killed as he fought off armed raiders who burst into his home. Jim Simpson, 61, confronted armed raiders when they attacked him and his partner, Carol Suckle, as they watched TV.
A JOURNAL investigation revealed chilling threats that were posted on internet chat sites against a Chinese man who was found murdered in his flat.
A three-day probe by
And it also uncovered widespread anger among Chinese people living in Britain caught up in the apparent cons.
The hundreds of comments about the murdered man on Chinese chat sites include threats to track him down in Newcastle and warnings for him to “watch out”. Mr Yang, and his girlfriend Xi Zhou, known as Ci Ci, were bludgeoned to death in their ground-floor flat in Croydon Road, Fenham on August 9.
HEALTH bosses were found to have slashed £12m cancer spending. A cancer map produced by health experts revealed sufferers in parts of the North East were more likely to die than anywhere else in the country.
THE North East’s top policeman Mike Craik called for life to mean life as the police force completed a two-week knife amnesty.
Northumbria’s Chief Constable said criminals given a life sentence for killing should spend the rest of their lives behind bars.
HOLIDAY and business plans for hundreds of travellers at Newcastle Airport were thrown into chaos after an RAF Tornado crash-landed, closing the runway.
The jet, which had taken off from RAF Marham in Norfolk, suffered a bird strike mid-flight and had to make an emergency landing.
CONVICTED rapist Andrew Beal was found guilty of posing as a taxi driver and cruising the streets looking for vulnerable women. Beal was caught by a real taxi driver and a policeman as he attempted to kidnap a 19-year-old student in Newcastle.
SEPTEMBER
F
THE month’s news coverage was dominated by the devastating floods which hit the North East on September 6. The worst hit was Morpeth in Northumberland, where the River Wansbeck burst its banks and flooded about 1,000 homes and businesses. Large parts of Northumberland, County Durham and Tyneside were also under several inches of water.
WE revealed how the thriving North East tourism industry was worth almost £4bn according to a study carried out by development agency One North East.
The report showed the value of the industry to the region’s economy as a whole has increased by 30% in the last five years.
TEACHER Adam Walker, 39, was accused of posting extreme right wing comments in an internet chat room during lessons. The County Durham teacher and British National Party member posted comments against asylum seekers, immigrants, Muslims and the “promotion” of homosexuality.
A YOUNG girl miraculously survived after being swept 250ft through a narrow underground drain into a raging river following a weekend a torrential rain that drenched the region.
Four-year-old Leona Baxter suffered a head gash after the incident in Chester-le-Street’s Riverside Park.
It marked the end of a horrendous weekend for the region in which more than 100mm of rain fell in only 48 hours, with parts of Northumberland and Durham suffering the worst downpour in more than 60 years, causing millions of pounds worth of damage.
THE PARENTS of two Chinese students who were murdered in Newcastle wept as they told how their only children’s deaths had “broken their hearts”.
Speaking publicly for the first time since their children were found dead in their Tyneside flat, they pleaded for witnesses to come forward.
The families of Xi Zhou, known as Ci Ci, and her boyfriend Zhen Xing Yang, known as Kevin, arrived in the North East to attend their cremation at a ceremony in Sunderland.
MORE than 2,000 people from the North East were left stranded abroad after holiday company XL Leisure went into administration.
Flights out of Newcastle Airport were cancelled after the company’s collapse, which was blamed on rising fuel costs and the slowing economy.
EIGHTY North East post offices were given the axe despite campaigns and public outcry during a period of consultation.
It followed a six-week consultation, by Post Office Limited on the future of 81 offices in Northumberland, Tyne and Wear and County Durham finished in July.
NEWCASTLE United owner Mike Ashley dramatically put the club up for sale after a month of high emotions and angry protests by fans.
In a lengthy and emotional statement the sports billionaire said: “You want me out... You don’t need to demonstrate against me because I have got the message.”
Mr Ashley suffered a furious backlash from Newcastle supporters following the acrimonious departure of manager Kevin Keegan.
The Sports Direct owner officially put the club up for sale just 16 months after buying it for £134m.
Following the announcement a string of possible buyers were unveiled as an independent supporters’ group was formed to pile pressure on the under-fire owner.
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