North Yorkshire Police to axe 550 jobs

HUNDREDS of police officers and civilian staff in York and North Yorkshire are to be axed as force bosses try to balance their books.
North Yorkshire Police said yesterday that Government cuts would cost them more than £19 million in the next four years.
About 200 police officers from all ranks, from constable to chief superintendent, will be cut and police staff will be reduced by about 350.
The cuts equate to about one in four civilian employees and one in eight officers.

York Central MP Hugh Bayley said the cuts meant there was a “real danger” that crime would rise.

He said: “Cuts of this scale are bound to affect front-line services.
“When the Conservatives were last in power, crime in North Yorkshire almost doubled and we didn’t get a single additional police officer during their whole 18 years in power.”
He said he was “extremely worried” by the Government cuts, adding: “If crime rises it will cost the public much more than any savings in the cost of policing.”
Joanna Carter, the treasurer of North Yorkshire Police Authority, said North Yorkshire Police’s grant funding would be cut by £4.3 million in 2011/12 and by £5.3 million in 2012/13.
Taking into account factors such as taxation changes, inflation, and contract costs, she said the force would need to make cost savings of between £9 million and £11 million next year, and more than £19 million by 2014/15.
Every department of the force will be examined with a view to possible restructures.
She said: “The force will undergo a significant restructure to maximise efficiency while protecting front-line service delivery.
“A range of measures will be used to achieve this such as working with partners and forces across the region to drive out savings.”

Nigel Adams, Conservative MP for Selby and Ainsty, called the settlement “challenging but manageable”, and said the force must do everything in its power to protect effective policing.

He said: “By cutting out costs and scrapping bureaucracy we are saving hundreds of millions of pounds and hundreds of thousands of man hours – so this settlement does not need to lead to any reduction in police officers visible and available on the streets.”
The 200 officers may retire or be forced to retire under a regulation adopted by North Yorkshire Police Authority on Monday.
The Regulation A19 means that officers who have been on the force for 30 years or more can be forced to retire. Their positions would then not be filled.
The force has invited civilian staff to volunteer for redundancy, but will impose compulsory redundancies if necessary.

1,500 jobs ‘to go’

POLICE budget cuts will mean 1,500 staff will be lost over the next four years, the chief constable of West Yorkshire has said.
Sir Norman Bettison said there were 13 reviews going on within the force to consider ways of saving cash.
But he insisted front-line services would not be cut and local policing and emergency responses were a priority.

Man seriously injured in Lendal Bridge accident

A MIDDLE-AGED man has been taken to hospital with serious head and chest injuries after being knocked over by a car on Lendal Bridge tonight.

At about 7pm, the man was hit by one car and then a second car while he was on the ground.
He was treated at the scene by paramedics, but then taken to York Hospital by ambulance.
Police described the man as “very poorly”.
Lendal Bridge is currently closed to traffic and pedestrians while police collision investigators are still on scene. Blake Street was closed then reopened at about 7.20pm.
St Leonard’s Place is expected to remain closed until after 10pm with traffic being diverted onto Gillygate and Bootham.
Police said no one has been arrested in connection with the accident.

Child porn suspect Richard Dyde commits suicide

A FORMER York schoolboy and university graduate has committed suicide after being accused of involvement in an international child pornography ring.

Richard Dyde, 47, died a day after being released on bail in Canada.
He had been facing charges of making, possessing, and making available child pornography.
He was one of 57 men worldwide arrested as part of Project Sanctuary, a year-long investigation into a global child pornography network.
Mr Dyde is thought to have grown up in Acomb, York, and was a pupil at Nunthorpe Grammar School in the 1970s.
Darrell Buttery, one of Mr Dyde’s former teachers and the president of York Civic Trust, said he had stayed in touch with Mr Dyde since he left school, and said he was shocked by the news.
“It’s desperately sad news,” he said.
“He was a hugely talented pupil who was outstanding in his year.”
“He was an immensely popular boy, and had a great sense of fun.
“He was such a lovely guy. There was absolutely never any indication of any of this.
“I last saw him when he came over last year, following the publication of his book about George Cayley (the Victorian aeronautical engineer known as the father of aviation).”
According to his entry on the Friends Reunited website, Mr Dyde went to Carr County Junior School before going on to Nunthorpe. He later studied for a degree in psychology at the University of York in the 1990s before emigrating to Canada, where he worked at Toronto’s York University, and is said to have held a PhD in cognitive neuroscience.
A colleague in Canada is reported to have said Mr Dyde could not live with the news of his charges being made public, which would probably have been too much for him to bear.
Toronto Police Service said 25 children had been rescued across the world as a result of Project Sanctuary – three in Europe, ten in the USA and 12 in Canada. Of the 57 men arrested, six are in Europe.
A spokesman said undercover officers had spent a year infiltrating a worldwide network of men who were allegedly trading child sexual abuse images and videos and, in some cases, creating such images by allegedly abusing children.
“This operation is an excellent example of what can be accomplished through co-operative police work between the US and Canada,” he said.
Mr Dyde served at one time in the RAF and came from a family of aviators, with his brother and father also serving in the air force.
Mr Dyde’s biography about Cayley, published under the nom de plume Richard Dee, is said to have established the aviator’s place in history as one of the first fathers of flight and challenged the popular belief that the Wright brothers invented the airplane.
Mr Dyde is reported to have been conducting research in Canada as part of a team designing experiments to explore the impact of zero gravity on astronauts in space.

Two men arrested in York over student fees riots

Two teenagers have been arrested in York in connection with the riots that broke out during last week’s student fees demonstration in London.
The two men, both aged 19, live in York, but police have not confirmed which university they attend.
However, a spokeswoman for York St John University confirmed the pair were not their students.
A spokesman for North Yorkshire Police said the men were arrested on suspicion of violent disorder and have been released on bail pending further inquiries.
During last Wednesday's demonstration, protesters stormed Millbank Tower, the Tory HQ in Westminster.
Windows were smashed, graffiti daubed on walls and missiles, including a fire extinguisher, were thrown from the seventh floor roof.
A four-hour stand-off ended when police brought in more than a hundred extra officers to clear the building and the road outside.
The Metropolitan Police have launched Operation Malone in a bid to trace those responsible for the violence and vandalism and 61 arrests have been made so far.

450 more jobs to go at City of York Council

THE axe is hanging over up to 650 council jobs in York – more than three times the number originally feared.




Between 400 and 450 posts are set to be lost at City of York Council over the next four years, on top of the 200 positions the authority is already shedding, meaning its workforce could shrink by almost ten per cent.



The council, which employs about 7,000 people, needs to save £50 million by 2015, but trade union chiefs say the news is the realisation of their “worst expectations” and believe compulsory redundancies are inevitable.



Staff at the council were informed of the news yesterday afternoon, and a senior source said the level of savings needed to achieve the council’s More For York target savings would not be possible without compulsory redundancies.



Chief executive Kersten England said: “Previously, we had calculated that to make £15 million of efficiency savings, it was likely there would be a reduction of 200 posts.”



“Now that it looks probable we will have to achieve savings over the next four years of £50 million, we believe the scale of reduction in posts will be in proportion to this larger saving.



“We await the detailed settlement for York in the first week of December and so no accurate figures can be produced at this stage. But it is likely that about 400 to 450 additional posts will need to be deleted to achieve the savings targets between 2011 and 2015.”



In an email to staff, she said compulsory redundancies would be avoided “wherever possible”.



The exact number of job losses will not emerge until next month when the council discovers the size of its Government funding settlement.



Heather McKenzie, the Unison union’s branch secretary at the council, said: “We knew the hit was going to be bad and we’re concerned this could even be an underestimate.



“We have been working with the efficiency programme as it stood, with 200 post reductions being identified, and a lot of this has been mitigated through not filling vacancies or people moving to other jobs.



“But we have reached the point where it will become increasingly difficult to mitigate against compulsory redundancies. With this level of cuts, it’s hard to see how we can avoid that.



“It’s a really grave situation, not only for our members, but also the public and the services they rely on. Morale is low, people are concerned about the future and it is a very stressful time.



“We must also be aware we could end up in an even worse position and guard against this.



“We have a commitment from the authority to work with us to mitigate against job losses to the greatest extent possible, and there is the will to do this. But the scale is so huge that it’s hard to imagine how there will not be a substantial amount of damage.”



The council expects to lose 28 per cent of its Government grant over the next four years, including 10.7 per cent in 2011/12 alone.

City centre post office re-opens

YORK street which lost its post office a year ago now has a new one in a nearby convenience store.




Walmgate Bar post office closed in November 2009 following the death of sub postmaster Brian Fletcher.



Nobody came forward to take on the premises as a post office, but a "post office local" opened today in the One Stop store, a few doors away from the previous premises.



The service is being offered during the same opening hours as the store, seven days a week, from 7am to 10pm.

York Mystery Plays to return to Museum Gardens after 24-year break

YORK’S civic anniversary celebrations in 2012 are to be marked by the return of its historic Mystery Plays to their spiritual home – the Museum Gardens.




Famous faces who have appeared in plays staged amid the atmospheric ruins of St Mary’s Abbey include Dame Judi Dench, who was the Virgin Mary in 1957, and Christopher Timothy, who played Christ in 1980.



But the plays have not been performed there since 1988, and a Keep York Mystery Plays Alive campaign by The Press in 2003 appeared to have failed.



However, it was announced today that they will return to the gardens in August 2012, with more than 1,000 people able to watch each of 28 performances from covered seating. A small number of “high-profile” actors are expected to take part.



The joint artistic directors for the 2012 production, Paul Burbridge, of the Riding Lights Theatre, and Damian Cruden, of York Theatre Royal, want the plays to be the centrepiece of a rolling programme of community festival events throughout the city.



They said in a joint statement: “Our vision is to create a bold, exhilarating piece of story-telling theatre on an operatic scale, to re-invigorate the tradition and the language and make these plays accessible to a modern audience.”



“We want to stage the Mystery Plays in a way that resonates with both past and present and appeals to those of religious faith or none.



“Above all, we want to bring an extraordinary and passionate performance out of our community, resourced with the highest aesthetic and production values. We want to remind everyone that the ownership of this remarkable tradition rests with the people of York.”



Council leader Andrew Waller said the plays would be a huge draw to the city, and help residents and visitors alike to celebrate its heritage. “The year 2012 will mark 800 years since the city gained its Charter and so is a special year,” he said.



“As someone who has been involved with three sets of Mystery Plays on wagons, I hope that many York residents will get involved in the plays in Museum Gardens and help us celebrate in style”.



Liz Wilson, chief executive of York Theatre Royal, said the plays would be an incredible spectacle.



She said: “The plays have a worldwide reputation as well as a huge York following. We hope to start working with the people of York from today on an event of which we will all be proud.”



Janet Barnes, chief executive of York Museums Trust, said the abbey ruins were the plays’ perfect setting and, with more than a thousand people being able to watch each performance under covered seating, there would be a fantastic atmosphere.



She said: “I am sure it will be one of the highlights of 2012.”



Ruth Ford, who played God in the plays in 1996 and 2006, said they were a wonderful opportunity for the people of York to get together and they embodied the spirit of Christianity.



Organisers said a community producer was being appointed to build links with community groups in and around York to ensure as many residents as possible were involved on stage and behind the scenes.



• To register your interest, visit www.yorkmysteryplays2010.co.uk

Former postal worker Wayne Pike used redundancy cash to set up brothel in Acomb

A BROTHEL owner whose York business netted £635,400 in two years has been ordered to pay back less than one per cent of his ill-gotten gains.




Wayne Roger Pike ran the brothel from his terraced home in Milner Street, Acomb, taking £30 or £40 from each prostitute’s earnings every time they had sex in the house.



But police financial investigators said Pike had significant debts and his only remaining asset was his mortgaged house, which if sold, would give him £1,587.



At York Crown Court, The Recorder, James Hill QC, ordered Pike, a 37-year-old father-of-three, to pay this sum within six months or face 36 days in prison. The confiscation order was made under the Proceeds of Crime Act, which is aimed at preventing criminals from benefiting from money and property obtained through crime.



The Recorder told Pike: “If it turns out in the future that you have hidden assets, you can expect a recall.”



Pike was sentenced for keeping a brothel earlier this year after pleading guilty to the offence.



He was given a six-month prison sentence suspended for two years and ordered to carry out 150 hours’ unpaid work.



The court heard he had been made redundant from Royal Mail after 17 years of service and used his redundancy money to buy a house and turn it into a brothel.



His defence barrister, Andrew Semple, said Pike had set up the brothel after being approached by local prostitutes and did not coerce anyone into working as a prostitute.



He said the money he made went on child maintenance and loan payments, not high living.



At this week’s confiscation hearing, Mr Semple said although he agreed £635,400 was the sum created by the brothel business, this was not all profit for Pike.

Fibbers music venue in Stonebow bought by Tokyo Industries

LIVE music venue Fibbers has been sold, for the second time this year.




The site in Stonebow, which has hosted big names including Nirvana and Oasis and holds student club nights, has been bought by Tokyo Industries, which is investing in a major refurbishment.



Fibbers was part of the Barfly network of venues, owned by music and media business the MAMA Group, which was bought by HMV in March.



Tokyo Industries, which also owns Tokyo-branded clubs in Huddersfield, Newcastle and Bradford, among others, has now bought Fibbers from HMV.



Tokyo Industries is investing in the 18-year-old club, increasing its capacity and installing a Funktion-One sound system.



It will be closed throughout August while it is refurbished and will relaunch in September.



The firm said it would increase the club-night agenda, while driving the live programme.



Oliver Webb, promotions assistant at Fibbers, said the sale was “fantastic” news for the club. He said: “Tokyo Industries have a lot of big plans ahead and there will be quite a lot of big things happening for the relaunch, including some big artists and big club nights.”



But he said Fibbers would retain its ethos of an intimate venue for good music.



He said: “The feedback we have got so far is half and half. Some people say it is great that people are going to put money into Fibbers and others are worried it’s going to turn into a club.



“It is going to look very different, but it will still have that same feel and will still have gigs. It will still be Fibbers but we’ll have bigger club nights and more club nights,” he said.



Nigel Holiday, operations manager at Tokyo Industries, comes from Pickering and went to university in York.



He said: “I’m well aware of Fibbers; it’s a local institution and has been well established over the past 18 years.



“We’re in this to preserve what clubbers and live music fans like me love about Fibbers.



“Our aim is to give the venue some much needed TLC.”



Aaron Mellor, managing director of Tokyo Industries, said Fibbers would be able to take advantage of the bookings for its other clubs of touring bands and DJs.

Search to find Roman amphitheatre in York

AN amphitheatre the size of a football pitch could be lying undiscovered beneath the streets of York.

The claim came after the discovery of about 80 skeletons of men thought to have been gladiators.

As reported yesterday in The Press, the skeletons were discovered during a dig at Driffield Terrace, in Holgate.

Kurt Hunter-Mann, a field officer at York Archaeological Trust, said if the men were gladiators then it is likely there was an amphitheatre nearby.

He said: “We would be talking about something approaching the size of a football stadium and they are usually oval-shaped. There are probably remains of it surviving, it’s just a question of one day somebody digging in the right place and putting two and two together.

“The amphitheatre in London was only discovered in the last ten to 15 years when someone dug a trench and hit the foundations.”

The discovery of the skeletons has led to various theories about why the men were found where they were.

The suggestion they were gladiators is only one theory supported by their physical size and the fact that one of them had a bite mark consistent with that of a large carnivore like a lion. The discovery of decapitated remains is also a clue. Mr Hunter-Mann said the coup-de-grace normally meted out in arenas was a sword through the throat, but decapitation could have been a regional – or even specifically York – variation.

However, none of the skeletons had injuries obviously caused in gladiatorial fights, for example, wounds caused by the three-pointed trident.

But there are other theories. The men could have belonged to a cult persecuted by the state or were possibly soldiers.

People in York and the wider country will soon be able to examine the evidence and offer their own opinions when a new website goes live.

York Archaeological Trust will launch a website next week – headlessromans.co.uk – presenting all the evidence and inviting members of the public to make up their own mind and vote for the theory they believe is the strongest. A documentary examining the finds entitled Gladiators: Back From The Dead, will be shown on Channel 4 next Monday at 9pm.

York dog owner fined for letting pet foul in public

A DOG owner who failed to clear up after his pet has been hit with a hefty fine as York council cracks down on fouling.

In the first three months of this year, eight fixed-penalty notices were issued to dog owners who failed to pick up, and one other owner appeared in court and had to pay the £50 standard fine and £315 in costs.

City of York Council’s street environment and dog warden services have joined forces to help fight dog fouling around the city. Liz Levett, the council’s head of environmental enforcement, said: “Most dog owners are responsible and pick up after their dogs.

“However, there is still a persistent minority who behave irresponsibly and think it is okay to let their dogs foul wherever they like, even though leaving dog mess is a criminal offence.

“We are taking action in known problem areas and will look to identify other areas in York.

“Two particular areas are next-door to schools, and dog fouling does present a real risk to children’s health. Dog dirt can carry worm eggs that cause illness and even blindness if ingested, so it is important that people understand why they should pick it up.”

One of the schools, Hob Moor Primary, has already helped tackle the problem by designing posters to put up around the perimeter of the school grounds, which is a popular dog-walking area.

More than 500 leaflets have also been delivered to local residents, vets and pet shops, raising awareness of the problem and asking for help to identify and combat those responsible.

This message is being backed up with additional patrols in the area, and anyone seen leaving their dogs mess will be issued with a fixed penalty for £50.

Failure to pay can result in a magistrates’ court appearance and a possible fine of up to £1,000.

Anyone with information about dog owners failing to pick up after their pets can report them to the dog warden service on 01904 551530.




Raising awareness of dog-fouling dangers
A GROUP of youngsters helped spread the message about the risks posed by dog mess as part of an environmental education programme.

They were at Clifton Backies Nature Reserve, in York, on Saturday as part of a dog-fouling awareness day run by the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and the Running Wild group, an education campaign for youngsters.

Dog mess can lead to health risks for children who like to play in the reserve, because the faeces can spread diseases which cause blindness in humans.

Charlotte Berry, project assistant, said the children helped set up a stall at the site to hand out free dog mess bags, leaflets and to give information about the health risks associated with dog litter. “The children were excellent and all received extremely positive feedback from members of the public,” she said.

“Dog poo is a huge problem in this area, and we hope this awareness day will have a real influence on those perpetrators who do not pick up after their animals.”

Martin Foyle ponders a three-pronged York City strike force

YORK City manager Martin Foyle is considering fielding Richard Brodie, Michael Rankine and Michael Gash together in attack next season.

The three players have never been named in the same starting line-up for the Minstermen and, in fact, only featured on the pitch together in seven of City’s 54 league and cup fixtures last season, totalling just 98 minutes in game time.

But, with Blue Square Premier play-off final winners Oxford United demonstrating the effectiveness of a three-pronged strikeforce in their 3-1 victory over the Minstermen at Wembley last month, Foyle could consider a tactical rethink during 2010/11.

Foyle did experiment with 4-3-3 briefly during the penultimate month of the last campaign, but elected to play on-loan winger Courtney Pitt in one of the roles rather than pitching three recognised centre forwards alongside one another.

The City manager, who has favoured 4-4-2 for long periods of his Bootham Crescent reign, said: “People can get carried away with formations and get all scientific.

“I like a back four, but the rest is quite flexible and it’s good to look at different things.

“You have to be versatile and adaptable and I would like to have a look at Michael Gash, Richard Brodie and Michael Rankine as a front three.”

Foyle paid £55,000 for Gash and a smaller fee for Rankine last summer, but added that he does not expect to be buying any players as he looks to continue his squad-strengthening plans for next season.

The City chief also expects Gash and Rankine to start the new season in peak physical condition after question marks over their fitness levels when they first arrived at the club.

Speaking about the remote prospect of cash signings this time around, Foyle said: “I thought it was important to get Michael Gash here, and paying £10,000 and offering Craig Farrell was the only way I could prise Michael Rankine away from Rushden.

“I am sure Gashy will be like a new signing next season.

“Both him and Ranks have weight targets for when they come back after the summer and I will be disappointed if they don’t meet them.”

Meanwhile, former Histon captain Matt Langston has joined Blue Square Bet Premier rivals Eastbourne Borough.

Released Mansfield defender Paul Heckingbottom has moved to Gateshead and Fleetwood Town have signed ex-Accrington Stanley right-back Peter Cavanaugh

Remains of Roman gladiators discovered at York burial site

MORE than 80 Roman warriors could bring York economic success after archaeologists working in the city revealed they may have found the world’s best-preserved gladiator cemetery.

Researchers discovered scores of skeletons, some of which feature marks that could reflect the violent manner in which the individuals died, during a continuing archaeological and forensic investigation at a site in Driffield Terrace, Holgate.

Dr Michael Wysocki, senior lecturer in forensic anthropology and archaeology at the University of Central Lancashire, said: “These are internationally important discoveries. We don’t have any other potential gladiator cemeteries with this level of preservation anywhere else in the world.”

York’s tourism chiefs hope the find will help to attract even more visitors to the city.

Gillian Cruddas, chief executive of Visit York, said: “This is yet another great York story to add to the city’s exciting and colourful heritage.

“For us, whose job is to market the city, it is fantastic news, as it brings York’s past to life and gives us something else to talk about to encourage new visitors to the city.

“We look forward to hearing more news, and if there is an opportunity for people to come and physically see something, then so much the better.”

Kurt Hunter-Mann, a field officer at York Archaeological Trust, who is leading the investigation, said bite marks on one of the skeletons helped steer the team to their preliminary theory. He said: “One of the most significant items of evidence is a large carnivore bite mark – probably inflicted by a lion, tiger or bear – an injury which must have been sustained in an arena context.”

Other indicators that these skeletons were Roman gladiators include some healed and unhealed weapon injuries, possible hammer blows to the head and a high incidence of substantial arm asymmetry – a feature mentioned in ancient Roman literature in connection with gladiators.

Mr Hunter-Mann said the skeletons, which date from the late first century AD to the fourth century AD, were mostly male, very robust and above average height.

He said all the individuals were buried with some respect and 14 of them were interred together with grave goods to accompany them to the next world. The most impressive grave was that of a tall man aged between 18 and 23, buried in a large oval grave sometime in the third century.

Interred with him were what appear to have been the remains of substantial joints of meat from at least four horses possibly consumed at the funeral – plus some cow and pig remains.

He had been decapitated by several sword blows to the neck.

In 2005, The Press exclusively revealed the mystery of bodies found at Driffield Terrace from the Roman era, some of which had been decapitated.