Street rape of girl, 13
Dec 12 2006 By The Journal
A 13-year-old girl was snatched off the street and raped, police said yesterday.
The youngster was walking along a street in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, on Sunday afternoon when she was attacked.
The suspect is described as an Asian man in his early 20s, with a shaven head and a beard.
Santa banned
A VICAR yesterday defended his decision to ban Father Christmas from his church services.
The Rev Tim Storey asked Henry Cuff to remove his Santa costume at a civic carol service in St Peter and St Paul's Church in Blandford, Dorset, on December 2.
Mr Cuff refused and left, followed by members of the Blandford Lions Club in Dorset.
In a website statement, Mr Storey, the Rector of Blandford Forum and Langton Long, said he was reclaiming Christmas.
His decision has sparked controversy in the village but has been defended by other church ministers.
Death charge
A FARMWORKER caused a crash that killed 15-year-old Rebecca Darey because the lights on his trailer were obscured by slurry, a court was told yesterday.
Darren Felstead, 30, from Blandford Forum in Dorset, denies one charge of causing death by dangerous driving on November 28 last year.
The court was told that Jason Read drove over the brow of a hill in his Peugeot 306 and crashed into the back of the trailer at around 60mph near Ralph Down Farm on the A357 near Sturminster Newton, in Dorset.
He swerved but could not avoid the trailer and the impact killed Rebecca .
The case continues today.
Best Christmas
The family of a mother of two who has spent more than two years in a coma said they were looking forward to "the best Christmas ever" as she made an emotional trip home yesterday.
Andrea Brushneen has been in a hospital bed since she was horrifically injured in a car crash in October 2004. Her family had feared they would never hear her voice again, after she lapsed into a coma soon after the accident which left her brain damaged.
But the 31-year-old suddenly began laughing out loud when her daughter Shaunagh, 11, and son, Mark, seven, read out jokes to her at her bedside a couple of months ago.
Yesterday, the former postal worker, who is technically still in a coma, was cheered by around 25 friends and relatives who had gathered outside her new home in Gloucester.
