A NEW £2 million junior school in Pitsford, including a gym, library and 10 classrooms, has opened to pupils.

Pitsford Junior School, which also includes art and music rooms as well as an outdoor early years play area, has taken a year to build.

The new school will cater for up to 180 pupils, aged from three to 11, and replaces temporary buildings that were previously used by the junior school children.

The junior school division was set up in temporary accommodation in 1991, two years after Pitsford School was founded following parent demand.

The school currently has 322 pupils.

Headteacher Noel Toone said: “This will not increase the capacity of the school as a whole, as the maximum number is 440 and is set by the Government.

“What it will mean is the junior school pupils will be able to have their own lovely building, creating less demand on sharing rooms at the senior school, such as the main hall.”

The new junior school, which has been built in the old orchard to blend in with the surrounding area, will continue with one form entry into reception, adding a second class at year four or five depending on demand.

Mr Toone has asked the junior school pupils to write down how they feel about their new building.

A spokesman for the school said: “The excitement of moving in and learning in the new state-of-the-art classrooms was visible for all to see.

“There were smiles and shrieks of delight as pupils entered the building and viewed their new school for the first time.

“‘Wow!’ appeared to be a favourite initial reaction to the new school.”

An open day will be held on Saturday, March 24, from 10am to noon when parents will be able to look around the new building and meet teachers and pupils.

Personal tours can also be arranged throughout term time by contacting Karen Cannon, on Northampton 880306 or kcan non@pitsfordschool.com

FORCE India’s Nico Hulkenberg was second fastest on the first day of the second Formula 1 pre-season test in Barcelona yesterday, hot on the heels of reigning champion Sebastian Vettel.

After the first of four days’ running at the Circuit de Catalunya, it was the double world champion’s Red Bull which emerged on top, 0.175 seconds ahead of the Silverstone-based squad’s best effort.

McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton was third, followed by Toro Rosso’s Daniel Ricciardo, Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and Mercedes’ Michael Schumacher.

The new Mercedes made a promising start on its first public run out, setting quick times immediately Schumacher had finished his early ‘installation’ laps.

The test was halted briefly midway through the morning session when Heikki Kovalainen’s Caterham stopped out on track, and again in the afternoon following a similar situation with Ricciardo.

Lotus were forced to abandon the day’s testing after discovering a problem with the chassis of Romain Grosjean’s car.

CORBY is an unlikely stopping off sandwich point to link San Jose and Texas but truth as they say, is much stranger than fiction.

And so it came to pass at the town’s tennis centre on Saturday when world number 394 rated player Daniel Cox proved it could also be a successful route planner, by winning the £750 first prize cheque in the men’s singles final in the Aegon British Tour.

The 21-year-old who lost in straight sets in the first round of Wimbledon last year to Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky, admitted he needed a confidence boost at a more comfortable level after mixing it at a more rarified atmosphere.

And his 7-6, 1-0 (ret) victory over Andrew Fitzpatrick gave him exactly that, although the disappointing premature finish had not been in the script, the 22 year-old Warwickshire player citing a back problem for his early exit after dropping serve in the opening game of the second set.

At least the set that was played was a captivating one, Cox striding out to a 3-0 lead before Fitzpatrick claws that back to 3-3. It then went with serve until Fitzpatrick broke to lead 6-5. Yet, in what turned out to be the pivotal moment of the match, he was unable to cash in on his advantage.

That two such high profile players should contest a Corby final is a testament to the pulling capacity of the Northants venue.

Cox, originally from Lincolnshire where he is domiciled once more over a spell in Lancashire, said: “I came here on Thursday after playing in ATP tournaments in America and I am flying out to Texas tomorrow (Sunday) to take part in two $15,000 events.”

He added: “My world rating has been as high as 250 but has dropped as I have been competing at a higher grade. These are good tournaments to take part in and this has helped give me a bit of confidence.”

Not that Cox’s vanquished opponent Fitzpatrick is any mug either, having won the 2011 Masters Final of this series in Nottingham at the beginning of December when he defeated recent British Davis Cup hero Dan Evans in the final. In this year’s Tour circuit, Fitzpatrick had beaten Josh Goodall in the final at Billesley and lost in the semis at Sheffield’s Graves Centre.

In the Corby semi-finals, Cox was a 6-1, 6-1 winner against Ruislip qualifier Joshua Page, last year’s 16U national title winner, while Fitzpatrick dismissed fifth seed Oliver Hudson 6-4, 6-1.

The ladies’ final at Corby had a similarly competitive opening set before then subjecting observers to an anti-climactic follow-up.

Last year’s finalists Yasmin Clarke (Derbyshire) and Emilia Banos-Gregorians (Surrey) were beaten in the 2012 semi-finals, top seed Clarke being ousted 6-4, 6-0 by Katy Dunne from Hertfordshire, who celebrated her 17th birthday on Thursday, and Jessica Ren who accounted for Banos-Gregorians 7-6, 3-6, 6-3.

The turning point of the final arrived when Dunne’s fit of pique saw her breaking a racket and not being able to rapidly adjust to the replacement, a disastrous sequence of events which barely saw her win a point for four games.

By this stage she was a set and 3-0 down and the writing was on the wall.

Although only 17, Ren seems to have been around for years, a confusion possibly aided by her elder sister Jennifer, 18 months her senior, who is in America on a scholarship.

The respective runs of county youngsters Jordan Parker and Shakeel Manji came to an end in pre-qualifying last week. Parker was beaten 3-6, 1-6 by Dorset’s Tim Prosser while Manji went down 6-3, 1-6, 2-6 against Samuel Sutton of Yorkshire.

IT’S time to tell us about your stars in the classroom as we celebrate excellence in the county’s schools in our Chronicle & Echo Term-time Education Awards 2012.

We are launching our campaign because we want to publicly recognise the amazing work and achievements of pupils, teaching and support staff as well as volunteers that often goes unnoticed.

The awards, whose main sponsor is ACS Office Solutions, in Brackmills, Northampton, needs parents, teachers, pupils, governors and non-teaching staff to nominate individuals or groups who have made a difference to their school or community.

This year there are eight categories ranging from Pupil of the Year, School of the Year, Arts Achievement Award and Inspirational Teaching Award.

Due to the huge success of last year’s event, we have included a new council’s choice award designed to honour good leadership in schools by recognising headteacher, deputy headteacher, governors, school business manager and anybody else at a senior management level.

Nominations for this category which is sponsored by The Training Space education consultancy will be made by Northamptonshire County Council.

The awards also includes an Unsung Hero category which pays tribute to support staff and volunteers who are not always on the frontline but have a fundamental role in the running of a school.

This could be anyone in a non-teaching role such as cleaner, bursar, lunch-time supervisor, librarian, volunteer reader and caretaker who goes the extra mile day-in, day-out.

The Chronicle & Echo’s editor David Summers said: “

Chronicle & Echo editor David Summers said: “This is your chance to showcase everything that is good about your school. And it’s an opportunity for parents and pupils to say thank you to those who have gone above and beyond in their role at school.”

To nominate, fill the entry form and explain your reasons on a sheet of A4 paper for choosing a particular individual or team. You can enter more than one category.

Entries can include photographs, copies of certificates or documents.

The nominations need to be with us by May 4, 2012.

You can find out more on our Education Awards 2012 ‘microsite’ where you can also nominate people online.

Click {http://www2.northamptontoday.co.uk/northamptoneducationawards2012|Education Awards 2012|alt text} to launch the site.

There is an earlier deadline of April 30 for Unsung Hero nominations which will be decided by a public vote.

The nominations will be judged by a panel of education experts.

Winners of the categories will be announced at an awards ceremony held in the Guildhall, Northampton, on June 26.

So is there someone you know who deserves to stand in the public spotlight because they have gone beyond the call of duty?

Is it a pupil who has shown to be an active citizen and played a full part in school life? Perhaps there is a young person who has provided consistent support for their fellow peers.

Or maybe there is a team who has excelled in a particular sport or has overcome physical or personal barriers.

If so, let us know and enter them into our education awards so we can sing their praises.

Turn to the back of the supplement for the Chronicle & Echo Education Awards 2012 entry form.

What we’re looking for in the nominees

Pupil of the Year (primary school);

Pupil of the Year (secondary school, 11-18)

Recognition of a pupil for their performance and achievement, academic or non-academic. They may have achieved high results in a range of subjects, participated in activities such as fund-raising, achieved success under difficult circumstances or perhaps they’ve made positive changes within the school community.

n A good influence on other pupils or students

n An active citizen who plays a full part in school life

n Consistent support for other pupils, enabling them to achieve

n Show enterprising qualities such as running a project that impacts on the school and learning

n Has overcome personal barriers to learning.

Inspirational Teaching Award

This recognises teachers and supply teachers who have made an outstanding contribution and provided an inspiration to children. It recognises the commitment and dedication of a teacher in the drive to engage pupils regardless of a child’s social-economical background or additional needs (such as emotional difficulties.)

n Has a practice that inspires and encourages pupils to achieve

n Adopts creative and innovative approaches, recognises the diversity of pupils’ needs (Judges would need a summary of the creative approach adopted/techniques used by a teacher)

n A motivator who encourages and supports pupils to reach their full potential

n Judges would need evidence of the teacher’s impact. This could range from pupil feedback to increased pupil uptake of a club, or a measurable improvement in student performance.

School of the Year

Recognition of a school for its positive contribution to the community, raising pupil achievement or collaborative work with other schools to raise standards and inspire learning (this does not necessarily focus on pupils achieving high grades).

n Recognised for stretching, challenging, inspiring pupils, helping them reach their true potential

n Provides a rich and varied curriculum as well as innovative extra-curricular activities for children and young people

n Encourages young people to be citizens of the local, national and global community

n Listens and responds to pupil voice

n Works in partnership with others local schools, schools in other areas, other countries and other organisations) to provide and enhance learning -opportunities and experiences

n Impacts on the community through school projects, welcoming the community into the school enriching the curriculum or sharing facilities.

Unsung Hero (winner to be determined by public vote)

Paying tribute to those who make a significant contribution to the school community behind the scenes and have an impact on daily life. This could range from volunteer readers to caretakers and school secretaries. The category is open non-teaching professionals.

n Goes the extra mile by giving support beyond their remit

n Has made a difference to the lives children and young people through their role

n A sustained commitment to the school over time.

NEW CATEGORY

Leadership Award (nominations by Northamptonshire County Council)

Recognition of a school leader; this may be from any mainstream or special school or pupil referral unit: headteacher, deputy headteacher, assistant headteacher, subject or phase leader, chair of governors or school business manager (bursar). Other categories of school leader may be considered if they meet the criteria below:

n Recognised for significant contribution to raising standards of achievement across or within the school

n Adopts innovative approaches to leadership which energise and mobilise change and action

n Motivates and inspires others to achieve the best possible conditions for pupils’ learning.

Sports Achievement Award

Rewarding an individual pupil or team for excelling in a particular sport at school or through their commitment outside of normal classroom hours. Judges will look at their involvement and participation in teams and dedication to after-school clubs.

n Achieved recognition, selection and high performance at local, regional and national levels or

n Demonstrates leadership qualities by co-ordinating sporting activities for others (such as coaching for younger pupils)

n Shows commitment and dedication

n Overcomes barriers (whether physical or personal) to participate.

Arts Achievement Award

Rewarding an individual pupil or group for excelling in a particular art form at school or through their commitment outside of normal classroom hours. Judges will look at their involvement and participation in teams and/or dedication to after-school clubs

n Achieved recognition for their high quality work/performance levels

n Shows commitment and dedication to their own work, and through supporting others with theirs.

FREEZING temperatures and snow may have been sweeping across the county but pupils in Northampton are literally reaping the fruits from their tropical experiment.

Dozens of bananas have been spotted among the undergrowth in a climate controlled greenhouse known as the mini-Eden Project set up 18 months ago at Thomas Becket Catholic School.

Since the glass house was installed, staff and students at the secondary school in Becket Way, Spinney Hill, have been tending to a wide range of exotic and Mediterranean plants including the Rajapuri variety of the Indian banana plant.

Horticulture teacher Jane Solazzo said: “We have an afterschool club which regularly meets to maintain the plants in the green house and were amazed when one of the year nine students Liam Claris saw the bananas as he was cutting back the leaves.

“The Rajapuri was one of the original plants installed in the green house but we never expected it to cultivate any fruit.

“We must have obviously got the temperatures and humidity levels right for them to grow.”

The Rajapur is native to northern India and is among 50 different plants cared for in the greenhouse.

The tropical area in the school conservatory is kept at 14C during the day and above 10C at night with humidity levels of 80 to 85 per cent, while the Mediterranean division is lower with temperatures set at 11C during the day and at 9C at night, humidity levels set at 40 per cent.

Mrs Solazzo said: “It’s actually nice to see for themselves how bananas grow in real life . . . as they grow upside down on a tree.

“Over time they have been getting bigger.

“Who knows what else we’ll find in our green house.”

There was relief all round at Sixfields last week as the Cobblers recorded only their second home win of the season.

For the match officials it was certainly a case of ‘could do better’.

Not helped by an assistant on the west stand side who had an absolute nightmare with throw-ins, referee Andy D’Urso never got to grips with the time-wasting tactics employed by the visitors.

Almost from the very first minute, Wimbledon goalkeeper, Seb Brown appeared to walk at almost funereal pace to recover the ball from behind his goal and then very slowly walk 20 yards to place the ball in the farthest corner of the goal area before taking a goal-kick.

It was almost half an hour before any warning was given.

Referees have the power to caution players for deliberate time-wasting activities such as this, and they can add on any obvious time wasted (and time taken up for the caution).

During an international match in 1972 between Norway and the Netherlands in Rotterdam, the Norwegian goalkeeper, Per Haftorsen, received a yellow card for time-wasting after just five minutes.

The referee is the sole judge of time, and an assiduous referee can add on a lot of time. For last Tuesday’s clash a mere two minutes were added in the first half, yet a massive five minutes were added on at the end.

Before the interval we had one substitution, no cautions and no goals.

After the break we had five substitutions and two cautions, plus the all-important goal from Luke Guttridge.

Somebody suggested that he was adding time on at the end for any time wasting that took place in the first half.

I don’t think that is strictly allowed, but referees can usually find an excuse to add on any amount of time.

There are so many time-wasting techniques to look out for, and sometimes it is not clear what is legitimate and what is not.

Here are a few suspicious circumstances: A player seems set to take a throw-in but hands over responsibility to another player.

A player unnecessarily kicks the sole match-ball into another game two pitches away.

A player delays taking a free-kick or corner-kick - by walking slowly to collect the ball, deliberately placing it in the wrong place, or stopping to tie a bootlace, etc.

A player pretends he can’t hear what the referee is saying.

A player kicks the ball towards the referee rather than leaving it at the touchline.

Certain actions are not officially time-wasting tactics, but they are against the spirit of the game and could be considered gamesmanship.

These include shielding the ball near the corner-flag (which usually leads to a confrontation and a free-kick), passing the ball around (almost as a mickey-taking exercise), and the goalkeeper dribbling the ball around the penalty area until an opposition striker runs towards him in a futile attempt to challenge.

When Charlie George (Arsenal) celebrated his winning goal in the 1971 FA Cup final - lying down on his back and raising his arms - it was partly to waste time.

Excessive celebrations are big time-wasters.

Time-wasting also occurs in other forms of football, for example in rugby union it often takes place by one team deliberately collapsing a scrum.

The penalty is a free-kick, as it is considered a technical offence.

In football the penalty is more against the offending player. Consideration was given some time ago to treating time-wasting at a throw-in the same way as that for a foul throw, but this was never incorporated into the rules of the game.

Towards the end of a match in the early 1960s, Bertie Auld (Birmingham City) sauntered over to the wing to take a last-minute corner-kick with his team ahead by one goal.

Auld placed the ball, stepped back several places, studied the penalty area, and then loped up and casually kicked the ball out of play for a throw-in a yard from the corner-flag.

By the time everyone realised what had happened, valuable seconds had gone by. I leave it to you to decide if this was time-wasting or not.

Back to the Wimbledon match and the boot was certainly on the other foot after that all-important 81st minute goal and it was the Cobblers who were trying to run the clock down as fast as possible. The goal celebration took a while but under the circumstances was probably understandable.

And finally, in a post match interview manager Aidy Boothroyd said that when goalkeeper Chris Weale went down injured in stoppage time the boss felt that it was just an attempt to waste time.

Sadly for the on-loan keeper that wasn’t the case.

The old railway bridge loomed ever closer as the ship’s captain advised me: “Please mind your head sir.” I sensed it was only a precaution, but the underside of the bridge was a mere six inches above the top of my head as I stood on the top deck while we passed underneath.

It was another lesson in how river cruising differs markedly from the maritime variety. Forget those long days at sea with nothing on the horizon – on the river you are assailed by new sights at every turn. These include bridges of every design and age – we must have passed beneath a couple of hundred on our journey from Luxembourg through Germany to Nuremberg on the rivers Moselle, Rhine and Main.

And then there are the locks – a total of 53 to be negotiated at regular intervals, each posing a test for our Hungarian skipper as he nursed the 360ft long Amalegro into and out of the chambers with just a few inches to spare on each side, watched every time by fascinated passengers.

But the most stunning views were of the steep-sided river banks of the Moselle and Rhine where countless vineyards snake upwards at seemingly impossible angles, and Gothic castles peer down from their defensive positions at the top of the valleys.

This was the essence of our voyage, and it is easy to understand why European river cruising is such a fast-growing sector of the holiday market, attracting passengers from all over the globe to the wide open river road that stretches all the way from Amsterdam to the Black Sea, connecting 15 countries over its distance of 2,220 miles. Add in the numerous stops at historic villages, towns and cities along the way and you have an experience that will increasingly give sea cruising a run for its money.

But if you seek a vessel packed with facilities and amusements, then perhaps it’s not for you. The four-year-old Amalegro, one of 11 ships operated by AMA Waterways, carries just 150 passengers and the emphasis is very much on eating, sleeping, relaxing and frequent disembarkations.

A real sense of camaraderie builds up as guests meet at regular intervals in the main lounge and bar, or in the very comfortable restaurant where you can select your own table with as many or as few fellow diners as you please, and enjoy complimentary (and excellent) local wines.

At the end of the eight-day cruise we were on first-name terms with at least 30 fellow passengers and on nodding acquaintance with perhaps 50 more.

There’s no need for climbing walls and the like when there’s good conversation to be had. And there’s no possibility of even attempting a climbing wall after you’ve enjoyed the generous amounts of very good food on offer, with the three main meals supplemented by mid-morning snacks, afternoon tea and late-night titbits.

Joining the Amalegro in the small Luxembourg town of Remich on the Moselle, we were immediately made welcome by our Bulgarian cabin stewardess Teddy (short for Teodora), a hugely likeable mother hen who installed us in our ample “stateroom” and even arranged for my jackets, creased from the suitcase, to be pressed free of charge.

She’s married to Arthur, the charming hotel manager with a permanent grin and that knack of making everyone feel special. That night we were invited to dine on the captain’s table – I’m not sure why but I’m glad we were because it was the start of several good friendships.

Our first port of call the following day was Trier, the oldest city in Germany with an impressive array of Roman remains including an amphitheatre, baths and the famous Porta Nigra, the best preserved Roman city gate in the world. It was the first outing for what the cruise staff called our “devices” – mobile phone-sized units with headphones which pick up the tour guide’s words of wisdom within a range of about 30 metres – so you don’t need to stay close by her side.

Back on board we positioned ourselves in comfy chairs on the top deck for an afternoon cruise along the idyllic Moselle valley, its lush vine-clad slopes ascending from the meandering waterway. The Romans first planted vines in the fourth century, and these days some top-quality Rieslings originate here.

By teatime we had tied up at Bernkastel, surely the most picture postcard village in the whole of Germany with an abundance of 16th century half-timbered houses clustered higgledy-piggledy on narrow streets. Wine shops abound here, many selling the famous Bernkastel Doktor, which an ancient archbishop believed could cure all ills.

Next day we completed the Moselle leg of our cruise in Koblenz, where the river flows into the mighty Rhine. After a visit to the annual flower show next to a fortress situated on a bluff high above the city, we took a cable car across the Rhine to explore the beautiful old town before rejoining the Amalegro for one of the highlights of the week – a cruise through the Rhine Gorge past more than 30 castles and the famed Lorelei rock which soars 120 metres above the waterline.

The most unexpected sight was the large number of commercial barges plying their trade along this wide waterway, some almost 100 metres long and skippered from wheelhouses at the very stern. Not for the faint-hearted!

The following day we joined the Main river, which has undergone extensive canalisation work to make it navigable for shipping all the way from the Rhine in the west to the Danube in the east. It’s narrower than the Moselle and the Rhine, and its low bridges forced the closure of the Amalegro’s top deck from time to time.

Our last full day included a tour of historic Bamberg, designated a Unesco world heritage site, which is home to nine old-fashioned breweries. Their most famous product is “rauchbier”, a strong dark ale with a smoky flavour and an aftertaste of bacon. I downed a half-litre without much trouble but others in our party (Australians included) were struggling to appreciate its charm.

At the crack of dawn the ship berthed just outside Nuremberg and the adventure was over.

n BEST FOR: Beautiful scenery and plentiful stops at historic venues.

n TIME TO GO: Spring, summer or autumn.

n DON’T MISS: The sights of the Rhine Gorge.

n NEED TO KNOW: Be prepared for plenty of walking (and cycling).

n DON’T FORGET: A good map to get your bearings.

Graham Bright was a guest of AMA Waterways, whose eight-day cruise between Remich and Nuremberg costs from £1,624 per person in a stateroom for two.

]]> 1.3548782 Wed, 22 Feb 2012 14:57:23 +0000 http://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/rammstein_return_for_midlands_gig_1_3548763

LEGENDARY German metallers Rammstein will be bring their acclaimed live act to the region this weekend.

The band released a greatest hits compilation, entitled Made In Germany 1995-2011, at the end of last year and their new show will feature tracks from across the Grammy-nominated band’s career, as well as debuting new tracks.

Rammstein have sold more than 15 million albums worldwide and their shows have become renowned for combining pyrotechnics and theatrics.

Their tour of North America and Mexico won them the Best Live Band accolade at the Revolver Golden Gods Awards last year.

Rammstein play the LG Arena in Birmingham on Saturday, February 25.

Tickets cost £42.50 (plus booking and transaction fees)

They are available from www.theticketfactory.com or by calling 0844 338 8000.

STILL giggling infectiously, Charlie Moule crawled out of a large cardboard box where she had been playing hide and seek, before graciously submitting to being measured by her mother.

A moment with the tape measure later - which was followed by the dutiful measuring of teddy bear Rosie - and the verdict of Charlie’s height was delivered: 2ft 11 ins.

At six years old, Charlie is already shorter than most children her age, and 39-year-old mum Anne confessed that the height of her little girl is not expected to increase much more throughout her life.

Because, at six weeks old, the Daventry youngster was diagnosed with achondroplasia, a bone growth disorder which is one of the most common forms of dwarfism.

Anne, who spoke to the Chron this week to support the recent launch of the national group Little People UK, recalled: “I did not know I was expecting a child with additional needs.

“The health visitor noticed her head was growing too much in circumference and said it was suspected hydrocephalus, water on the brain.

“Then we were at Northampton General Hospital and the doctor kept looking at her hands.

“Then the doctor came back with all these different people. Looking back, I can see she was tiny for so long, she wouldn’t get any longer.

“I felt very alone because I thought ‘I can’t lose my daughter.’ She was going in for hydrocephalus and that can be quite dangerous and I said to my husband, we waited so long to have her.

“Then we had to wait for the blood tests to come back and they eventually came back and once we got through the initial checks it wasn’t too bad. There is so much research that we can do.

“Once we got over that initial shock, we just got on with it. I just thought it will be cheaper in clothes. She still has clothes now from two to three years ago.”

Charlie may be short, but her personality certainly fills a room. During our hour-long visit to the family’s Northamptonshire home, the youngster had everyone laughing as she extracted a surprising amount of joy out of climbing in and out of a cardboard box left over from a newly unwrapped desk chair.

She seized photographer Kirsty’s camera and asked questions about it, before trying a few of her own snaps. She also questioned me as to the exact source of the sparkly necklace and glittery white scarf I was wearing.

Charlie’s bubbly personality belies the medical ordeals she has already been through during her life and Anne says she has lost count of the number of operations and procedures her daughter had undergone at John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.

Although these are not always automatically present with dwarfism, her associated medical conditions include hydrocephalus, scoliosis (curvature of the spine), sleep apnoea and chiari malformation; a structural problem which affects the cerebellum, the part of the brain which controls balance.

Anne said: “It means she has pins and needles in her hands and feet, she has a lot of severe backaches and she is tripping up all the time.”

She added: “The hydrocephalus was quite bad and in between the brain and skull there is a kind of shock absorber. She did not have any of that, so her brain was hitting her skull. Her headaches were heartbreaking and it took them a long time to realise there was something going on in there. Then they had to take the top of her head off and rebuild it. That was eight or nine months ago.”

This week is a tense time for the family as Charlie is due to have yet another operation, this time for chiari malformation. Anne has been told that during the procedure there is a very high chance that Charlie could suffer a stroke; yet another medical hurdle the family is gearing itself up to facing.

One of the main reasons why so many families are getting behind Star Wars actor Warwick Davis’ Little People UK support and information group, is there is still so much public misunderstanding and fear attached to dwarfism.

Many find that quite often people do not know how to even refer to the condition.

Anne said: “We do get a lot of ‘isn’t she sweet?’ comments. One word we don’t like is midget, it is a horrible word, we would prefer dwarfism or even pint-sized. Vertically challenged is another one.”

Now at primary school, Charlie focuses simply on getting on with her life, and finds she has the support of her young friends.

Anne said: “My friend’s little girl, if she sees someone staring at her now, will ask ‘what are you looking at?’ and that makes them look away.

“People say to me ‘she is so pretty’ and she is pretty, she is my daughter.”

Sharing information and stamping out ignorance

COPING with dwarfism can be a lonely experience for those families who do not know of anyone else with the condition.

But a new group called Little People UK promises to be another avenue in which those affected can come together to support each other and share information about a condition which is still so widely misunderstood.

The national group was launched in Northamptonshire last week by Star Wars and Harry Potter actor Warwick Davis as well as his wife Sam and a team including Fiona and Jerry Reilly, Chris Brenchley, Kirsty Fowler and Joanne Armstrong.

All of the group’s founders have either been affected by dwarfism themselves or have children with the condition.

Joanne, from Corby, has a six-year-old daughter called Hope, who has achondroplasia.

Joanne said: “We all started talking to each other seriously about setting up Little People UK, everyone who had these ideas for years started talking about it together.

“In the UK groups we have people from Scotland, Devon and Kent, from all four corners.

“There is a one in 25,000 chance you will have a baby with dwarfism, but you might not know anyone else with a child with dwarfism. One in 25,000 is quite high, but not that common really.

“We will have meetings through the country, we have a Facebook page to support people and will have a 24-hour phone line; we are looking to get that up and running, and we will have a website.

“We will also be doing scholarships for people with dwarfism to continue in further education.”

Another major goal of the group is to educate and make people more aware that dwarfism can happen to anyone regardless of whether it is already in the family.

Joanne said: “We have people with dwarfism who have been picked on and hurt but people need to understand that this could have been their child.”

The members-only Facebook group, called Little People UK, has already attracted more than 200 subscribers. To access the social network visit www.facebook.com/groups/312922142071856 and click ‘ask to join group’.

Facts About Dwarfism

Dwarfism is a general term relating to shortness (adults less than 4ft 10 ins) caused by specific medical conditions.

There are believed to be about 200 conditions which can lead to dwarfism, but one of the most common is achondroplasia, which affects bone growth, resulting in shortness of limbs.

The average height for adults with achondroplasia is about 4 ft for men and women. Other characteristics can include a prominent forehead, bowed legs, a protruding jaw or a flat area between the eyes.

Achondroplasia affects one in between 25,000 and 40,000 children and is thought to be caused by a chemical change within a single gene.

Last week Star Wars, Harry Potter and Life’s Too Short actor Warwick Davis attended the Pen Green Children’s Centre in Corby, Northamptonshire to launch Little People UK, with the aim of allowing people to share knowledge and experiences of dwarfism.

The events at last week’s Police Authority meeting simply confirmed the awful reality of the government’s policy to create Police Commissioners.

John Harrison’s article in Saturday’s Chron reinforced what has been obvious to many, that the current system may be bureaucratic and a bit clunky, but at least a Police Authority with a mixture of councillors, magistrates and independent members allows for debate and even change.

The universal fear is that the creation of Police Commissioners will ensure there is both political control and interference in operational policing. The behaviour of the Tory county councillors at the meeting demonstrated that is indeed the shape of things to come.

From the off, the Tories, who have seven councillors to the opposition parties’ two members, were determined to wield their political clout. The theory is, of course, that the councillors leave their politics outside the Police Authority and serve not as party hacks but in the interests of the police service.

However the Tories act as a caucus for the county council administration and even had the temerity to adjourn the meeting so that they could confer with county officials about how they should proceed.

The Tories on the PA do not want any increase in the rate demand; the magnificent seven want to save us all £7.72 per household per year. This is an ideological position designed not to protect and serve the people of the country but to demonstrate the virility of the party that stands up for law and order, as well as pleasing Eric Pickles in Whitehall.

It is a curious quandary the Tories find themselves in. They accept, from the great bear Binley to the most mediocre backbench Tory councillor, that Northants has been traditionally underfunded by successive governments when it comes to the annual policing settlement.

You will be pleased to know the Tories have a cunning plan to solve the continuing problem of systemic underfunding. They want to peg back the funding even more and cut the grant from NCC to the Police Authority!

It became obvious even to the dimmest member of the Tory caucus that their position had nothing to do with effective policing and everything to do with their party. So after adjourning they come back with a solution, a grant of £300,001 for one year only, provided the Police Authority did not try to get £7.72 extra out of every household in the county.

However the Tories still intend to go ahead with cutting the £500,000 to supporting PCSOs. A commitment the ‘law and order’ party never offered in their election promises!

There was a condition the seven tried to impose; that the money would be used ‘to help fund a police programme to combat violent crime’ not of course ensure that some PCSOs were retained for another year.

Whatever way you look at this piece of sophistry, it amounts to the same thing... an attempt to interfere with operational policing.

So we now move to the function of a Police Commissioner. The argument runs that an elected commissioner will be free of political interference.

Now if the seven people on the current Police Authority Tory caucus try to implement their party’s budget policy and interfere with operational policing, what will ONE elected Tory get up to?

Ken Clarke on Question Time last week tried to defend the indefensible. His first argument was that by electing one person to run the police service he would be more accountable to all of us, and we would all know who he was, unlike the anonymous Police Authority.

Think about that. One person responsible to 400,000 electors? Ken thinks by electing him (and it’s almost certain to be a white middle aged male) we can all immediately contact him with our problems because we will know him. Like we all know our local MEPs.

Clarke also made a plea the commissioners should not necessarily be old party hacks put out to pasture. He wants independently-minded folk to stand. You know the sort, those with £5,000 to spare for the deposit and the wherewithal to pay for at least 400,000 leaflets.

That is why politicians who have never been involved with policing are standing, or former Chief Constables who have been involved in policing but will not be able to resist interfering with operations, are the sort of names coming forward.

It would appear the two main parties have already divvied up the country: Labour hacks in the North, Tory hacks everywhere else. So much for the spectacle of democratic accountability at work.

In Northamptonshire however, while it is almost certain the Tories will put up one of the seven on the current authority, there is a potential Labour candidate waiting in the wings. According to the ‘Police Professional’ a bloke with a double barrelled name from Towcester has applied to become the Labour nominee. For 27 years he was a police officer but more significantly he is a Lt Colonel, recently back from Afghanistan, and an important Freemason. Sounds a good bet for the folk here in Spring Boroughs to relate to, but maybe Labour is just a flag of convenience after he failed to wrest the Tory nomination away.

You have been warned what to expect.

Northampton Saints have announced a trio of new contracts for current players – prop Tom Mercey, wing Anders Mogensen and hooker Ross McMillan.

Mercey, 24, joined the Saints from Saracens in the summer of 2010. In his 18 months at Franklin’s Gardens the prop, who has won honours with England Saxons, has seen plenty of game time in all competitions, with the 2011 Heineken Cup final just one of his 38 appearances.

He said: “Moving to the Saints was good for me and I’m enjoying being at the club.

“Playing in the Heineken Cup final is an obvious highlight, but running out and playing in front of the great Northampton fans has also been enjoyable over the past 18 months. There are some good players at the club and I’m concentrating on improving my own game.”

Mogensen has yet to make his first team debut, but the 20-year-old winger has been identified as one to watch in the current Saints Senior Academy.

Although his game time was limited in his first season as a full-timer at Franklin’s Gardens, he has played plenty of rugby so far in 2011/12, predominantly on loan with Cambridge, for whom Mogensen scored nine tries in his 16 appearances. He is currently dual registered with Moseley and is stepping up his experience playing in The Championship.

He said: “I had a frustrating first year, but everyone at the Saints was very patient and I’m enjoying my rugby this year.

“I’ve been learning a lot playing for Cambridge and Moseley and for the Wanderers, and training with the Saints during the week. Hopefully if I put in the work I can put myself into a position where I can contribute to the Saints first team in the future.”

McMillan, another 24-year-old front rower, initially arrived at Franklin’s Gardens this season on trial, the hooker having previously played for Birmingham and Solihull in The Championship. He then signed a short-term deal until the end of the current season, which has now been extended.

He said: “I’d like to thank the coaches for giving me the opportunity at the Saints.

“Being at the club has helped invigorate my rugby and it is enjoyable being part of a squad which is aiming high rather than battling relegation, which is what I’ve experienced over the past couple of years. It has also been good to be able to concentrate on my game full-time and I’m happy to be staying at Franklin’s Gardens.”

Director of rugby Jim Mallinder said that all three players were promising and provided added depth to the Saints squad.

He said: “We need players who can contribute to the squad and this is why we’ve extended the contracts for all three players.

“Tom has been a regular part of the first team squads throughout his time at the club and we know that he can deliver good performances on a regular basis.

“Anders and Ross may not have had their first team opportunities, but they have both built up their experience in The Championship and are very eager to show what they can do in the black, green and gold.”

]]> 1.3548551 Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:33:21 +0000 http://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/callous_thieves_stole_1_000_designer_hen_coop_from_northampton_home_leaving_six_birds_for_dead_1_3548481

THIEVES who stole a state-of-the-art hen house and left six pet hens for dead have been branded ‘callous’ by the animals’ devastated owner.

A gang of thieves are believed to have stolen an ‘Omlet’ hen house, worth £1,000, from a property in Daventry overnight last Thursday.

Speaking to the Chronicle & Echo yesterday, the hens’ owner Barry Lewis said he believed two of his pets may have been left behind and eaten by foxes.

He said he has found feathers in neighbouring fields suggesting at least one may have perished. However, he said he was unsure whether the remaining four were stolen, whether they were also eaten, or whether they may have escaped.

Mr Lewis said: “We have found a lot of feathers in one of the fields so we think at least one of them has escaped and been caught by a fox. We are obviously upset about it and you just wonder why people want to do it.

“It is just so callous. We know at least one them died but we don’t know what happened to the rest.

“They have damaged livestock and for what? It is just very upsetting and very annoying.”

Mr Lewis has kept hens for three years and says most of the stolen hens were around 18 months old. He last saw them after he let his dog out at around 1.20am on the day of the theft. By 7am they had gone.

He says the hen house was so heavy it would have taken more than one person to lift it and says it’s distinctive design would be obvious to anyone if it is offered for sale.

Mr Lewis added: “It is quite unusual and you don’t find it everywhere. They last a lifetime and I think if one comes up for sale it would be obvious.”

The theft happened from a smallholding on Whilton Locks, in Whilton, in Daventry.

PC Gareth Court said officers believed the thieves used a van or another vehicle to remove the hen house.

He said: “We believe more than one person could have been involved in stealing the hen house as it’s an extremely heavy item. There is also a strong possibility the offenders would have used a vehicle such as a low loader or van.”

A CRACKDOWN on dangerous parking around schools could be rolled out across Northampton following the success of an initial campaign.

Seven drivers were issued with fines, while many more received warnings, as a result of joint action by Northampton Borough Council, the county council and the police.

Launched last September, the safety campaign is aimed at highlighting and preventing dangerous parking around schools in the north of the town.

Police, parking attendants and council officers made unannounced visits to 17 schools in response to an increasing number of concerns about inconsiderate parking, particularly around the start and end of the school day.

Philip Buckle, headteacher of Boothville Primary School, in Booth Lane North, said he would welcome another spot check.

He said since the school was visited in October last year, he had heard very few complaints from neighbours or parents.

Mr Buckle said: “I think it’s a good idea because it helps relationships between the community and schools because some parents do park badly.

“I think it did raise awareness here and I think it’s a campaign that’s worth pursuing.”

More unannounced safety spot checks are planned during 2012 and the idea of rolling out the checks to other areas of the town is being discussed.

Councillor David Mackintosh (Con, Rectory Farm), is leader of the borough council and has responsibility for community safety.

He said: “Our over-riding concern is for the safety of children and so we urge parents and people who use their cars to get to and from school to park safely, considerately and legally.”

THE car Strakka Racing will field in this year’s World Endurance Championship exceeded all expectations in its initial shakedown test, leaving the team in good shape ahead of the first race of the season in just over three weeks’ time, according to the Silverstone-based squad.

Drivers Nick Leventis, Danny Watts and Jonny Kane each did two stints in the Honda Performance Development ARX-03a at Snetterton on Friday, going through a detailed pre-planning systems check in preparation for the opening round of the 2012 championship – the Sebring 12 Hours – on March 17.

Leventis said: “The car feels extremely good. It has a lot of power, the engine feels very solid and powerful and it’s good to get back in the driver’s seat after the winter break. Expectations were high, and this initial shakedown test of the car has superseded all expectations.”

Piers Phillips, team principal and technical director, said: “It’s been eight weeks since the new tub arrived at Strakka and the team has done an incredible amount of work to enable us to shake the car down at Snetterton.

“It’s good to be out of the workshop and back at a race track, and the sound of the V8 engine has put a huge smile on all our faces.”

]]> 1.3545907 Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:00:30 +0000 http://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/northampton_saints_ashton_praying_long_wait_for_tries_will_be_over_soon_1_3545906

Chris Ashton will be on a wing and a prayer when England tackle Wales in Saturday’s RBS 6 Nations showdown at Twickenham.

The Northampton flyer, who scored a record-equalling six tries in England’s title-winning campaign last year, was starved of possession in the victories over Scotland and Italy.

The Murrayfield rain and Roman snow did not help but England have been unable to showcase the new attacking philosophy interim coach Stuart Lancaster outlined before the tournament.

Ashton will spend this week looking to the skies, hoping for a clear day at Twickenham and the chance to cause Wales the kind of damage he did in last season’s 26-19 victory.

“I’m saying a little prayer every night,” said Ashton, who scored two tries at the Millennium Stadium 12 months ago.

“We’re fine in training. Last week was unfortunate because the snow just changed everything. It wouldn’t allow the lads to force the last pass.

“I’m there and I’m running as I’ve always run but unfortunately the lads can’t get the last pass away.

“It’s killing me - but there’s nothing I can do. You have to stick with it. As long as we’re winning then that is the main thing.”

Ashton was warned about the possibility of being marooned out on the wing when he opted to leave rugby league for the 15-man code and that has heavily influenced the way he plays.

Lancaster and his predecessor Martin Johnson both described his desire to play a roving role, tracking play and sniffing out an attacking opportunity as a “unique” talent.

Ashton has scored 15 tries 20 Tests but none in his last three international and England need to bring his devastating finishing ability into the game more.

“Before I came across (from league) people warned me that I’d never get the ball. In league it’s 20 carries every game. I just said ‘well I won’t stand there, I’ll go looking for the ball’,” Ashton said.

“In the end you play the game the way you want to play the game. I just found that by running around and going in search of the ball that was the way I was going to get the ball. Not by standing on the wing.

“There are still games where you’re just not getting the ball. When the pitch is full of snow it ain’t happening. I’ve come to terms with it now. You just have to figure out ways where you can help the team another way. It hasn’t affected my confidence. If it was 30-0, the sun was shining and everyone else was scoring tries then maybe.

“But the games have been tight and it’s just gone that way. I’ll keep running as normal, so hopefully the guys will get the last pass away.”

As Ashton said, England have been winning but there is a general acceptance within the squad that their performance must be better in time for Wales’ arrival.

Warren Gatland’s men, who are chasing the Triple Crown, have scored six tries in the championship compared to Charlie Hodgson’s two charge-down efforts for England.

“They are playing well and it’s our job to stop them,” Ashton said.

“Wales have a big back line and we have to handle them, move them around a bit more, and hopefully they’ll tire before we do. (Wing) George North is a big fella. I didn’t actually realise how big he is until we played them away last year and managed to beat them.

“When he came in after the warm-up I thought ‘blimey he’s bigger than I thought’. But that day we turned him, put pressure on them and ended up beating them. So it is not an impossible task. Playing at the Millennium Stadium was right up there in terms of hostility, we have to try to recreate that at Twickenham.

“As a team we have to have the mentality ‘we will not lose there’.

“We just need to keep playing the way we want to play and hopefully it won’t be snowing, hailing, hurricaning or anything else.”

IT wasn’t pretty, and it wasn’t enough to drag them out of the npower League Two drop zone, but the Cobblers completed back-to-back wins with a tense victory over Macclesfield Town.

The Silkmen showed their frailties to fall 3-1 behind courtesy of goals for Michael Jacobs – direct from a corner – Luke Guttridge and Adebayo Akinfenwa.

They looked every inch the struggling side that they are and one that, it must be hoped, can be hauled into the relegation battle themselves. But they put the pressure on Northampton by pulling it back to 3-2 with just a couple of minutes to go, through a combination of hard work and the home side’s high error count.

Macclesfield keeper Jose Veiga made a good early decision to come off his line and block at Akinfenwa’s feet after a decent piece of interplay through the middle. The big man then saw a sidefooted effort palmed into the side netting by Veiga at the end of a counter-attack that started with an Iniesta-like pass from Ben Harding.

But it was the away side who went in front, as a result of a catalogue of errors in the Town defence.

John Johnson was not close enough to the player who crossed on the left wing, and then Clarke Carlisle was not strong enough as the ball came in and was shielded to George Donnelly, who smashed home from no more than three yards.

It was a horrible mess of a goal and, with Macclesfield playing for time even before it arrived, set the tone for their approach to the rest of the game.

Jacobs had a chance to pull Town level soon after, but his attempt from Harding’s inside pass was blocked for a corner.

Nobody could have predicted what happened next as Jacobs curled the flag kick over Veiga and in at the back post.

Perhaps the midfielder noted the height of the goalkeeper in the build-up to the game – the Macclesfield web site has him down as six-foot-one, but that looks generous.

Johnson atoned for his earlier mistake as the home defence continued an error-strewn existence, sliding in to deny Donnelly in the box after Carlisle’s slip.

Guttridge put the home side in front when he headed in from inside the six-yard box, and even he looked surprised about how much space he had. Harding’s free-kick in was good but the marking was non-existent, almost to the point where it was the perfect example of how not to defend a set play.

There was more evidence of the Silkmen’s softer side after only seven minutes of the second half, when they watched Johnson clip across into Akinfenwa, who had time to chest it, turn and dispatch it beyond Veiga.

Johnson produced another superb saving tackle soon after that when Ben Tomlinson looked like he would break away after a Guttridge slip-up in central midfield.

Tomlinson scuffed one horribly wide at the end of a similar break on the hour-mark but Marcus Marshall really should have shot earlier in the move, and it symbolised Macclesfield’s lack of confidence that he did not.

As the away side committed more numbers forward, an increasing number of gaps appeared in their defence.

Akinfenwa sidefooted over after a counter-attack took advantage of one such gap, and with 10 minutes to go Blair Adams – who had been excellent all night – had a shot on the angle well held by the keeper.

The next goal, though, went to the visitors. Town took one chance too many when defending a break, and Tomlinson swept home from close-range to provide the away side with a glimmer of hope.

It ensured a nervous finish to the game for the healthy home crowd and the players on the field, and special mention has to go to Matt Duke for his calmness under pressure when dealing with a dangerous low cross in injury time. Now keen to get on with the game by this point, and almost made the most of the nerves in the home ranks as they coughed up a couple of needless free-kicks in their own half.

But the storm was weathered and Town proceeded to pick up another precious three points.

MERCEDES GP’s new car will allow the Brackley-based team to take “the next step forward” in on-track performance, according to boss Ross Brawn.

The squad revealed the 2012 Silver Arrow, the F1 W03, to the public at the first day of the second Formula 1 test in Barcelona yesterday, several weeks later than most of the other teams making up the 2012 grid.

Described by the team as “better packaged”, lighter and more efficient, the design includes the distinctive stepped-nose that has been adopted by most of the teams for the new season, but has proved controversial with fans and the media, many of whom have branded it “ugly”.

Team principal Brawn acknowledged potential criticism over the aesthetics of the new car, but said he believed it would enable the team to make a step forward on track in 2012.

He said: “The F1 W03 is a car that I believe, and hope, our team can be proud of, and which will deliver the on-track results everybody has worked so hard to achieve.

“Notwithstanding the distinctive nose design, which is certainly an acquired taste, the F1 W03 is an elegant interpretation of the current regulations, and a clear step forward over its predecessor in terms of detail, design and sophistication.

“Last year we produced a very bold car and, although its more radical elements didn’t always deliver the results we had hoped for, the experience we gained has been invaluable to the design of the 2012 car.

“The F1 W03 is also a more integrated package, which reflects the ever-strengthening ties between our technical teams in Brackley and Brixworth, and demonstrates our Silver Arrows works team is taking the next step forward in terms of on-track performance.”

Prior to unveiling the car yesterday, the team put it through simulation testing at its technical bases in Brackley and Brixworth, followed by a filming day limited to 100km at Silverstone last week, and a private test day in Barcelona on Sunday.

Driver Nico Rosberg was the first to get behind the wheel.

He said: “We have had a good start to our 2012 testing programme, and it was a great feeling to drive the first laps in the new F1 W03.

“The car looks good and is very nicely packaged under the bodywork. All the parts are in harmony, which reflects how well the different departments of our team are working together.

“From the beginning of our running we have been able to focus on understanding the car and making good progress with our test programme. It will be very interesting to learn more about where we stand in the next few weeks.”

Speaking ahead of the first day of the Barcelona test yesterday, F1 veteran Michael Schumacher also praised the new car.

He said: “I have done quite a few roll-outs and launches of new cars, but even after all these years, I must say it still feels special. Days like this are precious moments, as they are always filled with hope and anticipation.

“Already last week, when we were driving the F1 W03 for the very first time, it instantly gave us good feedback and sensations.

“Starting today we will work intensively to make it a competitive runner. Obviously we will only see over the next couple of weeks how big the step is that we have made, but I can say already the guys and girls back in the factories at Brackley and Brixworth were brilliant in putting in so much effort, and we can only say a big thank you to them.

“I know which reward they would like, and we will definitely try to deliver it. For my part I am eager to fight again, looking forward to the new season, and I can’t wait for it to begin.”

]]> 1.3545899 Wed, 22 Feb 2012 10:00:54 +0000 http://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/westwood_hopeful_takeover_is_closer_1_3545890

ASHLEY WESTWOOD believes George Rolls is getting “closer and closer” to completing a takeover at Kettering Town.

The former Cambridge United chairman has been heavily linked to coming in at Nene Park to rescue the crisis-stricken Poppies who were beaten 3-1 at home by Forest Green Rovers last night.

They are less than a week away from a three-point deduction for failure to pay their football creditors and also have various other debts as well as a winding-up order from Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs hanging over their heads.

Rolls, who is involved at Southern League Premier Division side Weymouth, which is a club also subject to takeover talks, is thought to be interested in replacing current chairman Imraan Ladak.

And caretaker-manager Westwood confirmed Rolls is one of the potential candidates to take over at Nene Park.

“I know he is one of the potential new owners and he is working very hard to make it happen,” Westwood said.

“But until it happens, we have to keep trying to go forward.

“I am sure everyone is aware that he is one of those looking to do something and trying to get it done. If there is a deal to be done then I am sure he will do it, if not then who knows?

“He has told me he is doing his best to get it done and he is getting closer and closer as the days go by.

“I am sure when something is done he will tell me and then we can move forward.”

Westwood, meanwhile, insists Rolls has given him no indication of what would become of his position should the takeover go ahead.

“Obviously he hasn’t taken over yet so it would be hard for him to come in and tell me about my position,” Westwood added. “Until he has done anything, my position is as it was and I will just keep going.”

Meanwhile, Westwood said Forest Green Rovers’ early strike left Kettering Town with “a mountain to climb” last night.

The visitors struck from a corner after just 72 seconds at Nene Park and went on to complete a comfortable 3-1 win to leave the Poppies in desperate trouble at the wrong end of the Blue Square Bet Premier.

And Westwood said: “We gave ourselves a mountain to climb after the first minute. We conceded from a set-piece and that would give any manager nightmares really. You set up as best you can but that goal killed us.

“When the lads have had troubles and you go 1-0 down, the morale goes further down and it makes it that bit harder.

“They are the things we need to overcome.”

AIDY BOOTHROYD revealed he had ‘a bit of a moan’ at his Cobblers players after last night’s win over Macclesfield despite it being the side’s second win on the spin.

Town beat the Silkmen 3-2 which was enough to enhance their position at the foot of the npower League Two table, but did not lift them out of the bottom two.

Michael Jacobs, Luke Guttridge and Adebayo Akinfenwa got the goals that sank Macclesfield but it was an error-strewn display with a nervous finish, and one Boothroyd was not happy with.

“I had a bit of a moan at them after the game because we started so slowly,” he said.

“We were like a boxer waiting to be punched before we retaliated.

“It was one of those games where you’re never in any trouble – and I don’t mean that disrespectfully – I just didn’t think that we played very well.

“We allowed them into the game and when they score a goal like they did you start to think ‘oh no, we’ve been here before’. Goal difference could be the difference between us finishing higher up the table and it was just a bit sloppy.

“I’ve had my say and today we start preparing for Port Vale.”

Macclesfield got the nerves jangling for the home side by making the score 3-2 in the final minutes of the game, and debutant goalkeeper Matt Duke was called upon to show safe hands on a couple of occasions after that as the visitors threw everything they had at Town.

They held on for the three points and although Boothroyd did not feel his side were ever likely to lose the game, he was not happy with general performance level.

“I know we’re a little bit fragile and I know the crowd are quiet because they’re not sure what they’re going to get,” he said.

“We didn’t feel like we were in any danger but then you get to a stage where you start to concede sloppy goals.

“We should never have conceded those goals, they were very poor, and I think we could have scored a lot more than the three we did.

“I said after the Wimbledon game that we would play a lot worse than that and win and we did, in this game.”

]]> 1.3545885 Wed, 22 Feb 2012 09:02:04 +0000 http://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/northampton_saints_pdj_out_to_claim_a_start_for_england_1_3545884

PAUL DORAN-JONES is hoping to get a starting spot for Saints to press his claims to be in the England side.

The Saints prop was called up as injury cover for David Wilson last week and is currently back in the England training camp as they prepare for Saturday’s Twickenham clash with Wales.

Doran-Jones won three caps for England in 2009, and is part of the England Saxons squad this season.

The 26-year-old is desperate to regain a place in the England team and feels a starting role for Saints would be a step in the right direction, with tough trips to London Irish and Saracens coming up.

Doran-Jones has not started for Northampton since January 6 in the home Premiership win over Harlequins, with Brian Mujati being preferred.

But the former Gloucester prop said: “Hopefully there will be a start in there for me over the next couple of games, we will see how it is.

“Obviously I am hopeful of getting into the England team, but I am still only there as injury cover, so I am just holding a bag at the moment.

“It is good to be involved, but it is also good to come back here at Northampton and hopefully it doesn’t effect my continuity.”

Doran-Jones joined Northampton as a prop who can play on both sides of the scrum, but he has mainly appeared at tighthead this season.

His versatility could be an asset in forcing his way into the England 22, with Saracens’ Matt Stevens the man on the bench behind starting props Dan Cole and Alex Corbisiero.

Doran-Jones is close to breaking through but knows starting for Saints over the next few games would really help.

Though being split with England duties means he has to work hard to keep his focus on Saints.

“Being away for the last couple of games it is about re-familiarising myself with what has changed at Northampton,” said Doran-Jones.

“Learning what is new and just getting the game plan back in my head.

“I felt good out there on Saturday and it was good to be back at Franklin’s Gardens, it feels like I haven’t played there for ages.”

]]> 1.3545884 Wed, 22 Feb 2012 09:00:54 +0000 http://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/troubled_northampton_pub_branded_beyond_redemption_has_licence_revoked_1_3545350

A PUB which has been described as being ‘beyond redemption’ by the police has had its licence revoked by Northampton Borough Council.

During an official hearing at the Guildhall yesterday, members of the council’s licensing committee heard the Prince of Wales pub in Harborough Road, Kingsthorpe, had been caught trading after hours four times between April 22 and December 12 last year.

Northamptonshire Police’s licensing officer, Pc David Bryan, told the committee he visited the pub just before 12.30am on December 12, an hour after it should have closed, and saw about 20 people still drinking in the bar, loud music being played and some people smoking in breach of the smoking ban.

He said: “We’re having to deal with a poorly run premises here. The staff have been made aware of our concerns, but it’s still not being run properly.”

Commenting on the fact nobody from the pub turned up to yesterday’s hearing, he added: “I’m really disappointed they’re not here. I think it shows that they’re not taking this matter seriously at all.”

Officials from the fire service also raised concerns about the management of the pub, pointing out that when they visited with the police on December 12, three fire doors were locked.

They also told the committee that on a subsequent visit, staff did not know how to raise the alarm if there was a fire, they did not know where the pub’s fire extinguishers were and the extinguishers themselves had not been serviced since 2008.

Scott Richards from the fire service told the committee: “I have serious concerns about their ability to manage fire safety at the premises.”

The committee heard the police were first called to the pub at 1.30am on April 24 last year by a neighbour who said there had been problems with loud music being played late at night for a couple of months.

On the same night, CCTV operators spotted two drunk men fighting after leaving the pub.

Officers visited the pub again on October 30 just after 1am when there were still about 15 people in the bar, who they described as ‘being very drunk’.

Just after 1am on November 13, the police went to the pub again and found about 10 people in the bar.

After hearing the evidence, the committee said the only way forward was to scrap the pub’s licence.

Councillor Gareth Eales (Lab, Spencer) said: “It’s frustrating nobody from the pub turned up to the hearing because there are a number of questions I would have liked to have asked them. But on the face of it, this is a flagrant breach of the licensing laws.

“I’m lost for words by what I’ve heard.”

The owners of the pub now have 21 days to appeal against the decision.

CAMPAIGNERS fighting to keep Northampton’s council houses under the control of Northampton Borough Council have said they will fight proposals to hand them over to a housing association ‘all the way’.

In 2005, plans to hand over the council’s houses were scrapped despite the authority spending £350,000 on a survey to ask the town’s 12,000 council tenants if they wanted their homes to be run by a housing association.

Now, the council has put aside a further £1 million to ‘examine the options now open to the authority’.

Council housing resident, Norman Adams, who is a member of the campaign group, Northampton Defend Council Housing, said: “They shouldn’t be gambling with our money. That £1 million could be used a lot better to pay for some of the work that needs to be done to the council houses.

“But this council just wants to downsize everything so they’re just left with contracts to manage.

“They’ve already done that with the bins and the leisure centres, but there’s no need to do it with council houses. So we’ll fight as hard as we can against this. We’ve been putting money aside for years to campaign against it, because we always knew this would come back.”

The Conservatives said they would ‘consult with tenants regarding a large scale stock transfer’ in their 2011 election manifesto.

And the leader of the authority, Councillor David Mackintosh (Con, Rectory Farm) last night said that was still the plan.

He said: “We’re setting aside part of our housing budget for asking our tenants what they feel about a stock transfer in the future. This is a key manifesto pledge and something people have told us they’d like us to do to improve the quality of our housing and the service our tenants receive.

“Over the next few months we will have a lot of important information to discuss with our tenants. They will soon be asked to make some important choices, and we want to be sure we provide as much information as possible to help them understand the options.”

A PENSIONER who stole £7,000 of her father’s life savings intended to pay for the care of her sick mother has agreed to pay it all back.

Patricia Freer, aged 65, took the money from her 86-year-old father’s safe in July, which he had set aside to pay for his wife’s care at a nursing home where she had been admitted to suffering from vascular dementia.

Freer pleaded guilty to theft earlier this year and was given three weeks to show remorse by making part payment to reimburse her father by £1,000.

Northampton Crown Court heard the money had also been intended to pay for alterations to his property in the hope his wife would be able to return home. However, Freer stole the money from her father, who suffers from Parkinson’s disease, and used it to buy back jewellery from a pawnbrokers.

Rebecca Wade, prosecuting, said that when Freer’s elderly father phoned her about the missing money, she admitted taking it. She added: “For a long period from July to October, the complainant was not sure he wanted to proceed with a prosecution and she said she would pay the money back. On two occasions, he was given cheques which bounced.”

Freer arranged for a £1,000 cheque to be handed into court to start repaying the money, and also offered £100 a month from her pension to repay the remainder, which will take five years. The court heard her father has forgiven her and wrote a letter of support to Judge Richard Bray.

Freer, of Deal Court, The Mounts, Northampton was sentenced to a 12-month community order, with supervision, 120 hours’ unpaid work and ordered to pay £7,000 total compensation.

Judge Bray, who previously said the case resembled a tale by Charles Dickens, said: “I have to sentence you for the meanest of thefts. You stole from your father aged 86 who was saving the money to provide for your father who is suffering from Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. When your father asked for the money back, you broke your promise to repay. I bear in mind all the information put before me including a letter from your father who has forgiven you and spoken up for you to the court despite everything you have done to him..”

Caroline Bray, mitigating, said: “She has no money, This went on debts. She sold her jewellery to get this £1,000 and she does not strike you as a woman of means which probably led to her committing this offence after a life of looking after others.

“I hope she has demonstrated that she really is remorseful. She feels wretched about this.”

EX-Cobblers striker Leon McKenzie said depression led to him avoiding six speeding convictions by arranging for bogus letters to be sent to the DVLA.

McKenzie, aged 33, who retired from football in December, was jailed for six months yesterday after six notices of intended prosecution were responded to with letters from a fictitious garage in London stating his car had been off the road.

Claire Howell, prosecuting at Northampton Crown Court, said: “The essence of the prosecution case is between October 2008 and December 2009, on five occasions for the defendant and on one occasion his wife, committed speeding offences in a car registered in their names.

“The defendant caused certain information to be provided to the DVLA which avoided him and his wife from receiving any speeding convictions.”

The court heard how on each occasion a notice of intended prosecution was sent, letters were sent back from Pewbar Motors in London, including invoices for work on their car, stating it was in the garage and off the road each time.

Five speeding convictions, with three penalty points imposed each time, would have resulted in a driving ban for the ex-Premiership player.

However the garage never existed and investigations later revealed the address given was an empty building.

Miss Howell said McKenzie was caught out when “keen observation by staff at the DVLA noticed the letters’ type face was a bit odd”.

When arrested in August 2010, McKenzie made a full confession but only after he agreed to be cautioned. A mix-up between the detective and custody sergeant meant a caution was mistakenly issued without mandatory consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service.

Miss Howell added: “He told the police that someone had told him they could sort out the penalty points and this person had filled in the forms and sent them to the DVLA. The defendant said he did not appreciate how serious it was because he had got away with it and thought it was not important.”

Once Northamptonshire Police withdrew the caution, McKenzie pleaded guilty to six offences of perverting the course of justice.

Sentencing the father-of-four and banning him from driving for 18 months, Judge Richard Bray said: “This was repeated fraud committed over a period of time and in quite a sophisticated manner. You were prepared to pretend on each occasion that your car was at a garage that did not even exist.

“I bear in mind your previous good character, your background and the fact you have been suffering from depression but that cannot excuse these offences. A custodial sentence is necessary for this type of offence which strikes right at the heart of justice.

“It would send completely the wrong message to others if I did not impose such a sentence.”

Sean Hammond, defending, said McKenzie, who started his career with Crystal Palace and played for Northampton, Kettering and Norwich, had been suffering from depression, resulting in an attempt on his life at the end of 2009.

Acting as a character witness, his uncle, Duke McKenzie, a former world championship boxer, said he too had suffered from depression, adding: “People think we professional sportsmen live these glamorous lifestyles but we’re under the same pressures. It mounts up if things are not going your way.”

Courtney Lawes looks set to return to the England side for Saturday’s Six Nations clash with Wales at Twickenham.

The Saints forward has been retained by England interim head coach Stuart Lancaster, while Stade Francais lock Tom Palmer is among the players who have been released back to their clubs.

Saints team-mate Calum Clark has been sent back to Franklin’s Gardens and will be available for the Premiership clash with London Irish on Sunday, but Northampton will have to do without Courtney Lawes to make it six players from the club on England duty this weekend

Lawes has played the last two matches for Saints after six weeks out with a knee injury that saw him mess the first two games of the Six Nations.

The Jimmy’s End giant is likely to be on the bench to face Wales, with Leicester lock Geoff Parling set to make his first Test start for England.

Parling is understood to have been promoted into the starting line-up along with Northampton scrum-half Lee Dickson and Scarlets number eight Ben Morgan, with Saints’ Phil Dowson dropping to the bench.

All three made an impact off the bench in England’s opening Six Nations victories over Scotland and Italy.

Palmer started both those games but he has been released by interim head coach Stuart Lancaster to play for Stade Francais this weekend.

Manu Tuilagi and Toby Flood are also back in England’s match-day squad for the first time in the tournament, with both Leicester players expected to start from the bench as Owen Farrell and Charlie Hodgson keep their places.

As a result, Harlequins full-back Mike Brown and centre Jordan Turner-Hall have dropped out of England’s 22-man squad.

Lancaster has also released Harlequins hooker Chris Brooker, Wasps scrum-half Joe Simpson and Leicester number eight Thomas Waldrom.

Lancaster said: “We’ve had a great two days of training and some difficult selection decisions with players coming back into the equation.

“There are some players who have missed out this time but their attitude in training has been outstanding.

“We will look forward to meeting again on Wednesday night with our match day 22 and finalising preparations for the game.”

Palmer is the biggest casualty and perhaps a victim of England not enjoying the lineout solidity they would have liked over the opening two rounds of the championship.

“We were nine from 11 in Scotland and 14 from 17 in Italy, wih sleet all over the ball against a very competent Italian pack,” said forwards coach Graham Rowntree.

“Not all of it was clean so I am looking to improve our delivery and certainly the tempo at which we go about our line-out.”

Lancaster will confirm his line-up to face Wales on Thursday morning.

Parling, who is expected to run the lineout, toured with England to Australia in 2010 but he returned home with a neck problem and then suffered a succession of knee injuries which kept him out of England contention until this season.

Dickson and Morgan have been in line for a promotion since their game-changing impact against Italy in Rome last week, when both players injected a much-needed tempo to England’s performance.

Ben Youngs has been struggling for form and is set to be named on the bench while Phil Dowson will cover all three back row positions.

While Dickson brings a zip and an energy to England’s game, Morgan’s powerful ball-carrying has impressed the management since his arrival in the national squad.

Given Morgan plys his club trade for the Scarlets, he has also been able to pass on some useful tips about the Welsh players.

“He knows those players. Ben’s got his own game to worry about. He has made giant strides with us in terms of his game development,” Rowntree said.

“He’s a very coachable man. He showed that coming off the bench in Italy in all parts of his game. I have been really impressed with him.”

England will go into the game without any specialist cover at wing or full-back, although Tuilagi could be pressed into action out wide if necessary.

]]> 1.3545400 Tue, 21 Feb 2012 22:56:21 +0000 http://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/girl_left_seriously_disabled_after_blunders_at_northampton_general_hospital_wins_multi_million_compensation_claim_1_3544613

A YOUNG girl has been awarded a multi-million pound settlement after an accident at Northampton General Hospital during her birth left her blind and only able to feed through a tube.

Hannah Louise Gudd, aged 10, was left with cerebral palsy so severe it has cost her her sight and she will never be able to eat solid foods, after she was starved of oxygen in the womb during her birth at the hospital on April 1, 2001.

She has now sued the hospital, through her mother Emma Gudd, from Dodford, near Daventry, claiming that negligence by hospital staff was to blame for her devastating injuries.

NGH had already admitted liability for what happened but, at a trial at the High Court in London yesterday, Margaret Bowron QC, for the trust, said a settlement had been agreed.

She said Hannah will receive a £1.15m lump sum, plus annual, index-linked and tax-free payments to cover the costs of her care for as long as she lives.

Revealing more details of the award, Simeon Maskrey QC, for the family, told the judge that as well as the lump sum, Hannah will receive £135,000 each year until 2019, and £225,000-a-year thereafter for the rest of her life.

Based on the average life expectancy of Northamptonshire women of 82 years, the payment throughout her life could have been £19.8m, but the court heard that, as well as being severely disabled, Hannah’s life expectancy has been severely reduced by her catastrophic injuries.

None of the money will come directly from NGH funds because, like all NHS hospitals, the hospital pays into an insurance-style scheme to protect trusts from going bust following this kind of accident, of which there are about 100 each year across England and Wales.

Miss Bowron said: “The trust is delighted that this claim has been compromised. Hannah suffered terrible injuries at the time of her birth, for which the trust has expressed its deep regret, and we repeat that today.

“This settlement should bring her financial security and hopefully bring peace of mind to her loving and devoted parents. We wish to extend our best wishes to them,” she added.

Mr Justice Lang also praised Mr and Mrs Gudd’s selflessness displayed throughout their daughter’s life.

Mrs Justice Lang said: “I pay tribute to the parents for the devoted care they have provided. I am satisfied that it is appropriate for Hannah to accept the lump sum and the periodical payments that have been offered by the defendant. I approve the settlement.”

Parents express relief at outcome

HANNAH’S Gudd’s parents expressed relief after yesterday’s court hearing at the end of their seven-year attempt to claim the cost of their daughter’s ongoing care.

In a joint statement, her mother, Emma, and father, who did not want to be named, said: “We are greatly relieved to finally reach the end of this legal process. The settlement reached will ensure a safe and caring environment for Hannah. No amount can compensate Hannah for the injury she has suffered. The settlement will enable the house to be adapted for Hannah’s needs, provide for specialist equipment and for her extra ongoing care requirements.

“Our sincere thanks go to our legal team for their support over the last seven years.

“We could not have achieved this outcome for Hannah without such dedicated and professional assistance.”

Hannah’s solicitor, Gary Williams said outside court: “The settlement reached will ensure a safe and caring environment for Hannah. No amount can compensate Hannah for the injury she suffered.”

But yesterday, solicitors expressed worry that such successful actions on behalf of genuinely damaged NHS patients will be curtailed after upcoming changes in the law.

Carolyn Lowe, of Abington-based solicitors Henman LLP, said: “Unfortunately the Government is considering removing all clinical negligence claims from the scope of legal aid, which will mean bringing these types of deserving claims on behalf of severely damaged, vulnerable children will now become very difficult.”

It was a really good weekend for the Cobblers.

All of the results went their way, apart from the Plymouth win at Accrington.

But I don’t think it’s Plymouth they have to worry about. Northampton will have a few other teams in their sights.

Macclesfield, Hereford and Dagenham are really going to struggle come the end of the season so it was a really good weekend without even playing.

And the Cobblers can make it even better come tonight, when Macclesfield are at Sixfields.

The Silkmen are on a horrendous run of seven defeats on the trot so they’ll be on a real downer.

And Northampton, after last week, can only be on a high so I can only see three points coming their way.

And they’ve got a couple of games in hand as well so everything’s looking decent and they’ve got a good chance of getting out of it.

Come the end of February, certainly the end of March, they’ll be well clear.

Aidy Boothroyd has put a decent squad together, they’ve got a decent team and I can’t see them being in the bottom two for much longer.

Teams like Hereford, Macclesfield and Dagenham haven’t got the infrastructure and the squad to cope with the position they’re in, whereas Northampton have.

You’ve seen the players they’ve brought in on loan and permanently. Another goalkeeper’s come in and that makes it five for the season.

Northampton have got the power to fill the gaps when injuries occur or lack of form occurs, so it will be a decent end to the season and they will finish in mid-table.

Aidy is probably already looking towards next season because he’s confident they can get out of the mess they are in.

A lot of people who have been involved in football have seen the players that have been brought in, good experienced players, and think that can only be beneficial in the long run.

Northampton’s relegation rivals have got small squads and low budgets and eventually that catches up with you.

Macclesfield came up and did fantastic with Sammy McIlroy, but eventually teams find their level.

Dagenham are similar because they haven’t got the infrastructure to secure a long spell in the League and they will end up back where they came from.

You look at the crowds they get and they are struggling to get 1,500 people to their games and that affects revenue all the time.

The likes of Plymouth, Bradford and Bristol Rovers, who are down there, have kicked on again. Bristol Rovers got a good win at Torquay on Saturday.

You look at what they’ve done since their new manager came in and the strength they’ve got in their squad and eventually it pays off.

They’ve got the clout to survive.

As soon as this season is finished, Aidy Boothroyd can really start afresh.

I’m sure he can have a massive impact on the future of Northampton because in pre-season he can plan what he wants to do.

He’s only had a short space of time and he’s had a tough job to do but it seems like he’s coming through it.

Once they’ve survived and moved on to next season, Aidy’s experience of working with Watford and Colchester during pre-seasons will pay off.

Tadhg Purcell has headed off for a loan spell at Cork City and it can only be a good thing.

He needs to go and play football because it’s not been a very nice time for him.

Tadhg came in and within a space of a month he had a horrendous footballing injury that’s never easy to get over.

He’ll be comfortable going back to Ireland because he knows the league, he’s played there before and hopefully he will get some goals and get his confidence up.

You never know what’s going to happen in the future. He might stay in Ireland and make a decent career for himself.

He’s 27 now and it’s not going to be easy to come back over to England and make a career here.

He gave it a go, he had a good goalscoring record at Darlington, but he was just unfortunate when he came to Northampton.

Injury is unfortunately part of the game.

You would have hoped that the disastrous last 12 months at the RFU would have spurred them into making sweeping fundamental changes to their governance of the game.

But I fear that with the news last week that Jim Mallinder and Wayne Smith, two leading candidates, have ruled themselves out of an immediate role as England coach that not a lot has changed.

I was staggered when I heard the news about Mallinder, not that Saints fans will be too upset.

It’s only a few months ago that he publicly stated he would be interested in taking over long term from Martin Johnson, so what has happened in the interim?

Well, one fact we do know is that he has spoken to Rob Andrew about the role, and that news alone will anger many fans who believe Andrew should have nothing to do with the new appointment and I am also in that camp.

He has failed in his role and in most other organisations he would been fired by now.

To make matters worse, I have heard on the grapevine that one of last remaining candidates, and now favourite with many people to take over the role, South African Nick Mallett, will also be very reluctant to take the role should Andrew remain in a position of influence.

The rumour doing the rounds at the moment is that they are desperate for Stuart Lancaster’s new team to win another one of their final three championship games over the next month.

If he comes out of the Six Nations with three wins then I am being told that the job will probably be his long term.

Now I am the first person to congratulate Lancaster and his fellow coaches for the job they have done so far, but this should not be a coronation and the RFU should be turning every stone possible to find the best man for the job.

Why are they so keen for Lancaster to retain his interim role?

Again, only one conclusion remains for me - they want somebody who will not challenge or threaten decisions made by the blazers.

Putting it bluntly, somebody who they can control.

This brings me nicely to the process that the RFU have put in place to find the new coach.

Why did they have a closing date for applications in the first place?

To me it comes across as arrogant and very ill thought out.

They should be going on bended knee to the select band of men worldwide that can do this job, and convincing them that the RFU has changed and that the new coach will have total autonomy to get on with the job and start to deliver a team that can challenge in the World Cup in 2015.

There has been too much negative press about the problems at Twickenham, and they need to be addressed frankly and confidentially with all the relevant candidates.

The closing date for applications only serves to open up an opportunity for the media to quiz those that are in the frame with the only question a process like this allows which is: ‘Have you applied?’

Most of the key candidates are already in roles, like Saints’ own Jim Mallinder, who does not want to publicly talk about the England job.

You can understand why this might be, because his current role is extremely challenging and I don’t blame him for keeping tight-lipped.

He doesn’t want the board at the Saints to think he is not totally focused on his job.

He will also want to avoid any of his team and coaches taking their eye off the ball on their job at hand.

If this had been conducted totally confidentially, without this ludicrous closing date for applications, Jim would have been able to stonewall any questions from the media, but the only answer he can now give is yes or no.

It backs him into a corner and perhaps that explains much about his statement last week.

He is probably sick and tired of the whole thing.

It’s a very sad state of affairs.

Coaching England is one of the top jobs in sport, why are some many talented people so keen to rule themselves out?

I suspect it might have something to do with the possibility that not very much had actually changed, and perhaps that is why the top coaches around are wary.

In fact we already know that the RFU have a history of proving they do not have the stomach to accept the changes they desperately need, that is why John Steele was controversially sacked.

The new CEO Ian Ritchie is still to take up his post, so it’s far too early to judge whether he is going to have any impact in his new role, let’s keep some faith that he will.

THE annual Olney Pancake Race has been won in a record breaking time by an 18-year-old who was taking part in the event for the first time.

Devon Byrne, whose mother has won the race three times, became the first woman to complete the course in under one minute, finishing in a time of 58.5 seconds.

There were 22 competitors in this year’s race who were watched by more than 1,000 people who lined the streets of the town.

Miss Byrne was the first woman to complete the 415 yard course which finished outside the church.

Speaking at the end of the race, Miss Byrne said: “My legs hurt. I train at Milton Keynes Athletics Club so it goes with the territory.”

]]> 1.3544858 Tue, 21 Feb 2012 16:02:27 +0000 http://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/breaking_news_former_cobblers_striker_leon_mckenzie_jailed_over_speeding_ticket_scam_1_3544317

FORMER Cobblers footballer Leon McKenzie has been jailed for perverting the course of justice over a speeding ticket scam.

Appearing at Northampton Crown Court today, he was handed a six month jail term by Judge Richard Bray and banned for driving for 18 months.

Judge Bray said: ”These offences strike right at the heart of justice. It would send completely the wrong message not to pass a custodial sentence.”

McKenzie, 33, was supported in court by his uncle, former world champion boxer Duke McKenzie, former So Solid Crew rapper MC Harvey and Cobblers defender Clarke Carlisle, chairman of the Professional Footballers Association.

The court heard McKenzie sent police a series of bogus letters to avoid repeated speeding convictions and the loss of his driving licence.

McKenzie, who retired from professional football in December, was arrested and charged when false documents were sent in to Northamptonshire Police to dodge six speeding fines, between February 2008 and January 2010.

The letters, purporting to be from a fictional garage in London, claimed his car was off the road when he was caught speeding.

Claire Howell, prosecuting, at a hearing last year, said that each time he received a notice of intended prosecution, McKenzie sent back a letter stating mechanics were working on his car when it was said to have been flashed by speed cameras.

Arrested and questioned on suspicion of perverting the course of justice, the former Premier League player made a full confession on the understanding he would receive a caution. But six months later, he was summonsed to court to answer the charges again.

A mix-up between Dc Simon Coles and Sgt Gez Jackson resulted in McKenzie being cautioned for the six offences without the case being referred to the Crown Prosecution Service, which is compulsory for all indictable offences.

During a protracted series of hearings and legal argument, Judge Bray was asked to decide whether the caution should be quashed, allowing for McKenzie to be prosecuted. However, the caution was subsequently withdrawn by Northamptonshire Police.

The striker, who played for Norwich, Northampton and Crystal Palace, last month pleaded guilty to the six charges, which relate to separate occasions over a two-year period when he sought to avoid a driving ban.

The court heard McKenzie, who played his last game for Kettering Town, committed the offences around the time he was suffering from depression, and has been working with the Professional Footballers’ Association helping others with the same condition.

MCKENZIE STATEMENT IN FULL

I prepared this statement to be able to share with you all how I am feeling and most of all to explain what happened.

A few years ago, I was not in a good place and couldn’t always make sense of what was going on. Some things being personal and some being work related. Unfortunately at that time I fell deep into depression, which led me to try and take my life.

Around that period I wasn’t thinking straight, and got caught up with the wrong people around me. My behaviour towards certain things like these speeding offences were totally unacceptable and very naive of me to allow a third party to take my points for me. I allowed someone to take my points innocently, not knowing the seriousness of what was actually happening.

My mindset at the time was confused and not like it is now. Allowing someone to take my points from me, was very stupid of me and I only wish I was in a better place back then and that I could turn back the clock.

These offences happened two years ago. I was arrested over a year ago and had been told by the police at the time of the arrest if I answered all questions, told the truth and gave them everything they needed I would be cautioned and not charged. I did all that was asked off me, and as result I was given a caution.

It was only when I was arrested when I really understood just how serious this was. I was cautioned and given a chance to start to get my life back again. Which I did and learnt from my mistakes.

Five months after receiving the caution, I was told that the police officers that were in charge at the time had made a mistake and that I would now be facing charges. The officer in charge reversed his decision and got the caution removed. Two years on, I am left with being charged for these offences.

I broke the law six times in that two year period which I am now very aware of . I am truly sorry for these offences that I committed. I must stress to you all, I was not representing the real me back then and realise how stupid I have been. As most of you, especially the people who really know me are aware, I have been in a better place recently and I have really turned my life around.

It took a lot to speak out publicly about trying to end my life and now turning it around with helping others with issues of depression and starting a new career in music. I feel like I have given back in a lot of ways and will continue to do so as soon as I possibly can.

Anyone reading this, I hope you take note and learn by my mistakes, especially if you are in a bad place with depression,

I ask anyone with depression to speak out to someone before you start making any mistakes like I did.

I am not the Leon that I was a few years ago. I didn’t set an example and I am truly sorry for that. I believe now, I am Leon, not the Leon I was during that two year period, my only comment is that I wasn’t well at that particular time and was not thinking in a way that i am now. I allowed a third party to take points without realising the extent and impact it would cause to mine and my families lives today.

I am now leaving my wife and my beautiful four children along with some fantastic friends and family. God willing they will be okay.

Anyone that knows me, knows my heart and more importantly knows the change in me from where I was compared to where I am now. I am a fighter and looks like now I don’t have a choice but to battle on which I will do.

I would like to say a massive thanks to my family and friends for the support they have given me, especially while this has been going on for so long.

DETECTIVES investigating a homophobic attack in Northampton have released a CCTV image of one of the men suspected of being behind the assault.

Last month a man was followed from Northampton train station to the BP petrol station, at Westbridge, and was then punched and kicked to the head as he walked along Black Lion Hill.

The victim, a 20-year-old man from Milton Keynes, required treatment at Northampton General Hospital for cuts to his face and bruises.

Officers, who have now released this CCTV image of one of the attackers at the petrol station, say he was attacked because of his sexuality.

A police spokesman said: “We are keen to trace this man as part of our investigation into a homophobic assault in Black Lion Hill, Northampton at the end of last month.

“Between 11pm and 11.30pm on Thursday, January 26, a 20-year-old man from Milton Keynes was walking from Northampton railway station to the BP filling station at Westbridge.

“He was followed to and from the filling station by three men. They questioned the victim’s sexuality and then assaulted him, punching and kicking him to the head. He required treatment at Northampton General Hospital for facial cuts and bruises.

“We believe the man pictured in the filling station is one of the offenders.”

A PERVERT caught filming a woman using toilets in a Northampton office block was also intercepting a neighbour’s mail.

Adam Widgery, 38, hid in the ladies toilets of Ingeus, in Derngate, Northampton, and lay in wait with his mobile phone.

Rebecca Wade, prosecuting, said: “All the matters came to light on Monday, November 14 last year at 9.50am.

“As she stood up to pull up her underwear, she looked up and could see a mobile phone being pointed over the partitions into her cubicle.”

Northampton Crown Court heard the victim had tricked Widgery into the cubicle by pretending to leave the toilets.

She tackled him and he was detained by office staff and arrested.

Police officers examined his mobile phone and found he had filmed her using the toilet, as well as evidence of previous voyeurism.

Miss Wade said similar footage was found from November 4 as well as five separate episodes of women using public toilets on November 9.

It also emerged Widgery, who has an attached disorder, had been taking covert pictures of a neighbour, going through her bins and intercepting her mail.

Miss Wade said: “He said he had gone through her bins looking for underwear and sanitary towels and stated it was a perverse thrill for him.”

Widgery, of Great Gull Crescent, Southfields, admitted five offences of voyeurism and intercepting mail.

He was sentenced to a three-year supervision order, with sex offender treatment, a four-month 9pm to 6am curfew and 100 hours community service.

Judge Peter Tomlinson also banned him from having a mobile phone with a camera and from loitering near female toilets.

AIDY BOOTHROYD won’t be making too many changes to his Town team sheet for tonight’s visit of a struggling Macclesfield side to Sixfields.

But he does have one major decision to make in a position that could prove vital in a game where a victory would drag the Silkmen into the scrap at the foot of the Football League.

Jake Robinson started the win over Wimbledon last Tuesday on the left wing and was replaced in the role by lively Liverpool loanee Toni Silva, whose run and shot led to Luke Guttridge’s decisive goal.

So Boothroyd faces a direct choice between a recent arrival who might be better against tired defences and a permanent member of staff whose confidence might be affected by coming out of the side.

It is a far cry from the early days of his Sixfields tenure, when the manager admits he used to wake up in the middle of the night and write out teams and combinations – it is unlikely that, after a win, the team will be changed too much.

However, there is at least one key decision to be made.

“I haven’t quite made my mind up but I’m grateful that I’ve got two or three players that can play that position and who offer us different things,” said the Cobblers boss, who has no fresh injury concerns and almost certainly knows 10 of his starting 11 for tonight.

“I think Jake Robinson is a very good player, he did very well last week before running out of steam because he’s not had a lot of games.

“It’s a nice situation to have two very talented players going for the one slot.”

Yesterday was a busy day in the secretary’s office, with forms completed on loan deals for goalkeeper Matt Duke until the end of the season.

Also likely to be on board until May will be Silva, whose extension of a one-month loan spell until the end of the season is being discussed by Boothroyd and the Liverpool coaching staff.

““If we only had him for a month then we might have a situation like we had with Saido (Berahino) where they keep their options open,” said Boothroyd

“So we’d like to get that one done quickly and get it all tied up and agreed.

“I would like all our loan players to be here until the end of the season, sometimes you have to do things on a month-to-month basis but at the stage we’re at now I do want to have some settled players, I don’t want people with an eye on anything else.

“When I can do that it means I can look further afield for next season while getting results.”

Silva showed enough in his 15-minute cameo against Wimbledon to suggest that he could be one of the finds of the season but he remains an unknown quantity.

That could be a problem when it comes to defensive duties, and Boothroyd is also keen to establish how he gets on when defenders take a more typical ‘league two approach’ to dealing with his talents.

“He will win us a game but equally he could put us in a position where we could lose a game because he is not experienced enough,” he said.

“He’s such a good player that we’ve got to find a way to get him in the team and if not then he can come off the bench and win us the game like he did the other night.

“One way to think about him is that he is best used off the bench but we had a practice game at Moulton on Wednesday against the youth team and he played in that.

“He got the ball in the same position he did against Wimbledon and instead of beating two or three players he beat seven and scored.

“He can go past people and no doubt people will try to kick him but if they do that then it’s a test of his temperament.

“Then they’ll double up on him and that will test his will. He has to learn that and understand there is another team there trying to stop him.”

FORMER British Boxing Board of Control general secretary John Morris believes the sport has been brought into disrepute by the brawl between Dereck Chisora and David Haye at a press conference at the weekend.

The British pair clashed at a post-fight news conference in Munich following Chisora’s defeat to Vitali Klitschko on Saturday night.

Chisora threatened to ‘shoot’ and ‘burn’ Haye, whose manager Adam Booth suffered cuts during a scuffle, and also accused the former world heavyweight champion of ‘glassing’ him.

Morris, who was secretary of the sport’s governing body between 1986 and 2000, said the scenes were ‘unsavoury’ and ‘unnecessary’ but stressed the safety of what is a quickly-growing pastime for youngsters around the county.

It is understood 15-20,000 amateur boxers are registered in this country and that number is rising.

“This is not the first time something like this has happened but it disgusted me,” said Morris, who is the founder and president of Northampton Amateur Boxing Club.

“There is no need for it and the sport has been brought into disrepute by what happened.

“I don’t know how much damage it will have done to the sport in the public’s mind, we have some fantastic boxers other than the two involved in this incident.

“It is excellent for kids and it is growing all the time. Up to a certain age it is a non-contact sport and it is far safer than a lot of the popular team sports such as football, rugby and cricket.

“But things like this are damaging.”

The actions of Haye and Chisora – who both face criminal charges in Germany – have been condemned across the board by the boxing fraternity and Morris agreed the punishment meted out needs to be harsh.

He also hopes the incident paves the way for the formation of a global governing body, especially as Chisora could obtain a license to fight abroad even if he is suspended by the BBBC.

“Firstly, you can’t suspend somebody for life, it has to be done sine die,” he said. “It can be difficult to enforce a ban like that because there isn’t a world body like in football or cricket.

“If you were to give Dereck Chisora a long ban he would most likely go to the United States and get a license to fight there.

“I campaigned in the 1990s to move to a controlling world organisation in professional boxing and that would be relevant now.

“ They would then have the option to suspend worldwide for a long period. In this instance there needs to be at least a one-year suspension and a very large fine.”

THE Girl is Four. It seemed a straightforward enough caption for a picture posted on my rarely-visited Facebook page, but I didn’t expect quite as much incredulity.

What? She’s four already?

Yes, four years ago I wrote in these pages about the new arrival to the family, The Girl: Bonnie, a surprise to us all after three beloved and boisterous boys.

Looking back at the photos scattered around various hard-drives, memory sticks and Cloud-sharing sites (it would have been far easier if I’d printed some), you see that four years is quite a long time.

For a start, she was born with black wavy hair like her dad. Now she has pin-straight, wayward dark blonde hair like her mum.

For the first year she was a laid-back, compliant baby (well, as much as a baby can be), and now, well, she pretty much refuses to do anything she’s asked unless it’s on her terms.

I did congratulate myself on her fourth birthday because I wasn’t pregnant, nor had I been delivered of another baby in the previous four years.

When Jed had his fourth birthday, his little brother Dougie had already arrived. When Dougie turned four, I was pregnant with Billy. When Billy celebrated his fourth, I was pregnant with Bonnie.

This time there’s no fifth baby on the way!

We’re well past the milestones that all you new parents will be facing: the endless nappies, night-feeds, weaning, walking, talking, potty-training and (most of the time) tantrums.

Birthdays have been developmental stages too.

The first birthday is for the relatives and the one-year-old is fairly baffled by the whole palaver. The second birthday might see more relatives and friends in attendance, and Bonnie’s third was the first time she had friends over. Two of her pals came to our house for games, dressing-up and cake.

The fourth birthday was the first “outside catering do” as we took Bonnie and 10 friends to the Wacky Warehouse and let them all go bonkers in the ball pit for a couple of hours. They had a brilliant time.

At four, she’s now fairly independent, wanting to dress herself, take herself to the loo, write her name, count to 20, walk without holding your hand and tell you in no uncertain terms that “I can DO it!”

Yes, she’s utterly unselfconscious about singing loudly and without any discernable tune and will dance in a shopping aisle if the opportunity arises. But she’ll also hide behind you and be shy with strangers and jump on your lap if something is scary (which at the moment seems to be everything from polystyrene dinosaur bones to bedtime).

When I carry her to the loo half-asleep at midnight each night, it always startles me how much she’s grown, from the tiny baby who could nestle into the crook of one arm to the girl who rests her head on my shoulder while her feet dangle at my knees.

She’s ready to start school in September which will be another milestone for both of us, especially for me as I know there isn’t another baby coming up behind to distract me.

Inevitably, she’ll always be my baby, but not because she’s the youngest. I look at all four of them and think exactly the same thing. But don’t tell them I said that . . .

Cheshire Juniors 96- Northants Thunder 83: Big contributions from Piers Toone, Sam Round and Matt Yates weren’t enough to prevent Thunder from slipping to a Junior Men’s Premier Division North defeat against Cheshire Juniors last Saturday.

This defeat, the team’s fourth since Christmas, puts qualification for the end of season play-offs in the melting pot.

Thunder have five games remaining in the regular season and really need to win at least four of those and hope that other results go their way.

Round top-scored with 23 points, Yates added 20 and Toone supported well with 18 points.

Hemel Storm 60

Northants Thunder 76

THUNDER travelled home from Hertfordshire with mixed emotions after this Cadet Men’s Midland South Conference clash.

They were delighted that they had gained revenge for a 20-point defeat at the hands of Hemel earlier in the season, but disappointed they hadn’t been able to claw back the 20 point difference.

Thunder were boosted by the inclusion of Sam Round who finished with a 29-point haul including five, three-pointers and he received good support from Josh Elliott who scored 10 points.

Coach Rob Eddon was also full of praise for two under 15 players, Andre Arissol and Pauli Laurinolli. Arissol scored 12 points while Laurinolli contributed nine, a total matched by Ross Cairns.

Northants Thunder 61

Wellingborough Phoenix 72

Earlier in the season, Thunder lost to local rivals Wellingborough Phoenix by 22 points.

Last Sunday it was a much closer affair with the very tall and athletic Phoenix team prevailing in this Under 13 Boys Midland Conference clash 72-61.

The Round brother and sister combination of Jacob and Sarah scored 18 and 17 points respectively. Caitlin Stewart contributed 11 points a total matched by David Nieva.

Brentwood Fire 48

Northants Thunder 71

At the start of the season the inexperienced Northants team were butchered by an impressive Brentwood Fire outfit that persisted with their pressure defence even when leading by more than 50 points.

Last Saturday it was a very different state of affairs with several of the Brentwood players involved with a higher age group team while Thunder was able to field the influential Jacob Round and won this Under 12 Boys East of England League match.

Round was outstanding in scoring 48 points, while Zak Kitchen impressed with his 10 points and a clutch of rebounds.

Whether you have a head for heights or not, there’s nothing quite like rising high above London’s grim to get a bird’s-eye view of the capital.

The London Eye, which towers at around 443ft, over a city full of history and culture, is a “must-do” for tourists and inhabitants alike.

My mum and I wrapped up warm on one of the coldest days of the year so far to explore the sights and sounds of the city and our first stop was the iconic London Eye.

The experience starts with an optional 4D film screening and I would recommend visitors make time to watch it before going up in the sky; it captures a little bit of the magic you will be about to experience.

We had fast track tickets and were in our capsule within around five minutes, and I would strongly recommend booking this type of pass as the queues looked quite large.

We shared our capsule with around 15 other people but the space is big and it didn’t feel cramped.

The Eye climbs its height slowly, leaving lots of time to look around the London landscape and on a clear day you can see as far as Wimbledon and beyond.

Touch screen computers provide a guide to the monuments you can see outside of the capsule and the views are breathtaking.

The London Eye really shows off the city, with sights like Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, the Gherkin and St Paul’s Cathedral in clear view.

It’s a great way to see London in a day and get a real feel for what the city holds.

The experience lasts around 45 minutes and it felt like just the right amount of time.

I can imagine an evening ride on the eye would be romantic and I think I will have to go back again to see the city lit up at night.

We stayed in the Tune Hotel just off Liverpool Street when we visited and the budget hotel chain did exactly what it said on the tin.

The room was basic but nicely decorated and clean, with facilities including TV viewing, towels and toiletries, a hairdryer and wi-fi service available for hire at a small cost.

The hotel staff were friendly and willing to help and the reception was nicely decorated with a TV, comfortable seats, tables and chairs and laptops with wifi access available for use for a small charge.

The hotel, which includes 24-hour security, would be perfect for business people working in the capital on a short term basis and also for visitors on a budget.

The hotel was in a great location within five minutes walking distance of a number of independent and chain restaurants, supermarkets, off licences and clothes stores.

It is also next to Old Spitalfields market which sells lots of quirky clothes and accessories at very reasonable prices.

There are also bars and pubs around the hotel and the areas has a good atmosphere and excellent selection of things to do.

It is 10 minutes walking distance from Liverpool Street station where tubes and trains can be caught to explore other destinations or for business travel.

There are also good bus links nearby and taxi services can be booked by the hotel.

Adult tickets for the EDF Energy London Eye start at £17.01 online at www.londoneye.com

Bedrooms at the Tune Hotel in Liverpool Street start from £35 a night and are available to book at www.tunehotels.com/uk

For more information visit www.londoneye.com.

]]> 1.3542538 Tue, 21 Feb 2012 09:42:57 +0000 http://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/parenting_tips_by_smartphone_1_3542503

WHEN the world watched in horror last year as Britain’s major cities were torn up and looted by rioters – many of them youths – questions started to be asked about the moral grounding of today’s society.

Religion and faith are not the be all and end all of everyone’s lives and many people do live happily without these spiritual aspects, but there was a strong sense that the teaching of right and wrong in today’s society had gone horribly awry.

The finger of blame was pointed at teachers, parents and the Government itself as people sought to find answers for the horrifyingly selfish behaviour they were witnessing.

Of the people who witnessed the criminal activities on their news screens, many decided to take action and start personal projects to try in a small way to address some of the issues. One of them was 37-year-old mother-of-one Victoria Leith, from Queen’s Park, Northampton.

A teacher by profession, she wrote an iPhone and iPod Touch app – now available from the iTunes store – which aims at giving 97 common sense parenting tips.

Simply entitled 97 Parenting Tips, Victoria wrote the app in association with her friend’s company Detox Your World.

She said: “After the riots of last year, everyone was talking about what was going on. We can’t put the finger of blame on someone if they have been raised in a certain way. There were people who had problems and difficulties. I think in general there were young people who felt they did not really belong.”

Speaking about her new app, Victoria is keen not to be seen as a preacher of the right thing to do as she confessed parenting is a “minefield”. But she wants to help, all the same.

She said: “I started writing the app and a lot of the aspects overlooked were spiritual aspects. It can often be that having spirituality in the home, to have something to focus on which is more than the daily grind, can be important as a lot of children don’t feel satisfied with what they have got.”

Using the app, parents can spin a wheel and select cards which hold individual tips. Click on them and more information is revealed.

The tips deal with a huge range of subjects from simple advice about diet to a discussion of the impact of smacking, and tips on how to speak to and discipline children appropriately.

Tips include ‘Hold their hands, don’t smack them’, ‘Teach them to honour women and men’ and ‘Let them stay in the real world as much as possible’.

Victoria said: “I can’t go into a parent’s home and say this is what you should do, but I want more parents to talk about parenting, to be open and honest and say ‘look, I can’t cope’.

“Parents do a fantastic job but something is going wrong and you can’t blame it all on the schools.

“For me it is about conscious parenting, if you don’t think you just ‘do’ and that is when you can start doing things that parents did to you, like hitting your child because you were hit.”

For Victoria, a lot of children’s bad behaviour can come down to too much sugar and additives in their diet.

She said: “ I think food plays a huge part in a child’s development. Omega 3 is very important in brain development.

“We could be having sugar in cereal, in a mid-morning snack and then there is the sugar crash and for a child it is the same, but magnified and we wonder why a child is stroppy and don’t know where the behaviour is coming from. Sugar can be very addictive as well.”

Victoria, who has also recently penned a book called There’s More To Life Than Biscuits, said: “It is about empowering parents to go to the supermarket and buy the right foods. Over Christmas we had too much sugar and I could see the effect.”

One real challenge for modern parents, according to Victoria, is the amount of time children are allowed to spend staring at TVs, computers or other gadgetry.

She said: “A lot of children are logged on to something. My daughter looks at my iPhone some of the time but when you need to start timing a child because they are spending too much time on something, that wouldn’t have happened years ago.

“We did not have mobiles and Facebook which children stare at today. Their whole focus and vision is focused on one element. One parent said to me that it is so good for certain aspects of their development, but they can’t socialise. How can you socialise properly when you are only looking at a screen?”

For more information about Victoria, her books and other apps, log onto www.littleguru.co.uk

]]> 1.3542503 Tue, 21 Feb 2012 09:34:58 +0000 http://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/adam_gray_makes_crisp_bacon_hash_with_fried_duck_egg_1_3542477

This week’s recipe of the week is from Adam Gray, co-owner of the award-winning Red Lion in East Haddon

THIS is a great brunch dish, with the fried duck egg giving the hash extra richness.

The smoked bacon hash can be made well in advance and if you do not want to use bacon then it can be substituted with slow cooked duck or guinea fowl leg meat.

Ingredients:

l 75g shallots

l 100ml Farrington’s Mellow Yellow rapeseed oil

l 2 tsp fresh sage, finely chopped

l Ground white pepper

l 350g smoked streaky bacon

l 500g baking potatoes

To serve:

l 4 duck eggs

l 50g unsalted butter

l 1 dollop of tomato ketchup

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas mark 6.

Prick the potatoes all over with a fork, put them directly on the oven shelf and bake for about an hour or until the potatoes seem three-quarters cooked.

Meanwhile, grill or fry the bacon rashers until they are cooked, then chop them roughly.

Finely chop the shallots and sage. Heat a little rapeseed oil in a frying pan and fry them gently, without browning, until the shallots are soft.

Protecting your hands with kitchen mitts, peel and grate the potatoes into a mixing bowl while they are still hot.

Add the shallot and sage mixture, then the cooked bacon and mix thoroughly. Season with ground white pepper only – no salt.

Divide the mixture into four portions and shape as desired. Place on a small tray or plate and chill for at least 30 minutes.

Put a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Add a little rapeseed oil and fry the hash cakes until golden brown on each side. Remove from the pan and keep warm.

Add a little rapeseed oil to the pan along with the butter and fry the duck eggs to your liking.

To serve, sit a smoked bacon hash cake in the middle of each serving plate and place a fried duck egg on top. Accompany with tomato and apple chutney or a spoonful of tomato ketchup.

ANOTHER week and yet more uncertainty, but the message from Kettering Town caretaker-manager Ashley Westwood is clear.

He is ensuring his and the players’ focus is on football and nothing else.

While the dire financial situation at Nene Park is showing no sign of relenting, the Poppies’ run of back-to-back wins in the Blue Square Bet Premier was ended in a 3-0 defeat at Barrow on Saturday.

It has left them third from bottom and still in a desperate fight to avoid relegation.

Former director Ken Samuel issued a rallying call to Kettering supporters to get themselves down to Nene Park for tonight’s re-arranged clash with Forest Green Rovers as he and other volunteers continue to try to raise funds to keep the club afloat, even though the crippling debts are threatening to destroy everything.

And, despite the weekend loss, Westwood believes his Poppies team are giving the fans something decent to watch and he insists they will continue to focus solely on their matches and leave the off-field issues to those who can control them.

“Hopefully the fans have seen the way we have been playing in the last two or three matches and hopefully seen a difference,” the caretaker-boss said. “I hope it encourages them to come down and watch. With their help, I believe we can get a good result.

“We are just here to play our matches and give it our best.

“We know people are working as hard as they can off the field to try to resolve the situation and that is their business.

“I have made a point of trying not to worry about it, simply because there isn’t a single thing I can do about those issues. The players and I will focus on the football and do the best we can with the resources available.”

Westwood felt his team were hard done by in Cumbria. A 3-0 scoreline looked convincing for the hosts but it didn’t tell the full story as the Poppies missed chance-after-chance when they trailed by just a single goal.

It was a game Westwood hopes they learn from.

“We have had five clear-cut chances and if we had stuck one of them away we might have been in the ascendancy,” he said.

“It looked like we got well beaten in the end when that wasn’t the case but it’s clear what we need to put right for the game tonight.

“The attitude was spot on as it has been since I have been here.

“It was a long journey and there was no-one moping around.

“We gave it our all but didn’t convert our chances and it was one of those days where we didn’t have any luck.”

Jon Dunham

JIM MALLINDER says Lee Dickson deserves to start for England against Wales at Twickenham on Saturday.

After an impressive 30-minute shift off the bench in England’s win against Italy in Rome, Dickson is closing in on Ben Youngs’ starting spot.

And Saints director of rugby Mallinder feels Dickson is ready to step up to a starting role after winning his first two caps as a replacement in the first two games of the Six Nations, which sees England level on points at the top of the table with Wales.

Mallinder said: “I definitely think Lee Dickson deserves his chance for what he has done for us this season, and from what he has done in his short time on the field with England in the Six Nations.

“He upped the tempo against Italy last week, or helped towards that, and I would like to see him having a chance to start.”

It would complete a remarkable turnaround in fortunes for Dickson, who for so long has been ignored not just by England, but by the Saxons as well.

He was not part of the ill-fated World Cup squad at the start of the season, but Danny Care’s ban for drink-driving and Richard Wigglesworth’s injury saw him called up by new interim head coach Stuart Lancaster for the Six Nations.

He immediately jumped ahead of Wasps’ Joe Simpson, who was at the World Cup in New Zealand, to win a place on the bench and now he could take over from Leicester’s Youngs, who has been England’s number one scrum-half for the best part of 18 months.

Mallinder is not surprised by how well Dickson has taken to the international arena, with the 26-year-old a vocal member of the Saints side.

“He is a cheeky chappy, but he is quite mature,” said Mallinder.

“Lee has a sensible head on his shoulders. He is one of our leaders and senior players.

“He plays like that every week for us, he has a real good understanding of the game and has worked hard on some parts of his game.

“His kicking has improved and his ability to get the ball away is outstanding.

“I just think a nine like Dickson would help the England cause.

“He is a livewire in attack and defence, he communicates so well with the team. They respect that and that all helps.”

EVERY day Judy Whitmore prepares meals for around 11 people, tackles summits of washing and the piles of ironing which come with having nine children . . .

But Judy tells me she wouldn’t give it all up for anything in the world.

“I know some parents dread the school holidays but I love them.

“I love spending time with them altogether as a family,” she said.

Judy, aged 44, and her husband Andrew, a plumber, aged 45, from Kingsthorpe, Northampton, have nine children aged from three years up to 19.

Their family size is far in excess of the national average which has long since dropped from the oft quoted 2.4 children. The Office for National Statistics has even predicted the average family size could drop to as low as around 1.8 by 2031.

“I didn’t always want a big family, I didn’t even want children,” says Judy, who has been married to Andrew for more than 20 years.

“Then I met Andrew and we had three.

“After that I said wouldn’t it be nice to have another one. Andrew works full time, so he said if I was prepared to look after them he was happy to support them. We just enjoyed it and we kept having more.

“I enjoy being pregnant and giving birth doesn’t bother me. The births were all straightforward until the last one.”

The couple would have had a 10th child, but they tragically lost their youngest son last year.

“Peter was still born at 34 weeks. He had Edward’s syndrome but we didn’t know until after we had lost him,” said Judy.

The couple have since decided to stop having children and The Whitmore family as it now stands, includes: William, aged 19, who is studying computing and works part time at CoolTrader, Bradley, 17, who is at college training as a chef, and works for Asda, Emily, 14, at Northampton School for Girls, John, 11, at Kingsthorpe College, Matthew, 10, Adam, eight, Honey, seven, Jasmine, six – all at Kingsthorpe Village Primary School – and Penelope, who is aged three.

And they all live in a three-bedroom house, along with five rabbits, two dogs, two geckos and one snake.

“We have converted the attic for the children,” said Judy.

“The children do share bedrooms, which they don’t always like.

“Bradley is now engaged so his fiancee is around a lot, so we have acquired another member of the family, but we enjoy having her around,” said Judy.

People do sometimes make assumptions about the family, but Judy says that many of the stereotypes about big families are false.

“You get people who ask things like are they all yours? Have you got a TV!!

“Some people will think because you have a big family you must live off benefits, which we don’t, or that your children will be trouble, when the opposite is the case,” she said.

“The way the children talk to each other and behave I think you can tell they are from a big family, as they all socialise and mix well. Matthew likes his own space more than the others.”

“The younger ones obviously have their fights and disagreements, like all families, but they do always keep an eye on each other and people often comment about how thoughtful they are.”

Since Judy and Andrew lost Peter they have made more effort to squeeze in time together, but as Judy calmly explains the amount she does in a day, the term “superwoman” does spring to mind.

“I just have to be very organised,” she said.

“Andrew makes us a cup of tea at about 6.15am each morning.

“We have 10 minutes together before the day starts and I go down and start getting them ready and organise breakfast.

“Then I take the younger ones to school. My children are never late for school and after that I spend time with the youngest one.

“You never clock off.

“I iron everyday. We have two washers and dryers. I do two washes every day and then sometimes an extra one on top of that.

“Emily is really good at helping out.

“The older kids have some chores and will babysit, and the kids have to put their washing away, but you can’t expect too much of them because kids should be kids.

“We eat all our meals together as a family, sometimes the eldest do their own thing, and sometimes Emily has church choir, but most of the time we eat together.

“I only have one oven, but it is big. I cook proper meals, so today they will be having roast pork. I used to work in catering so that was good training. I do a lot of baking.

“At bedtime they are all sent upstairs at the same time but the older ones can spend some time watching TV to a certain time in their rooms.

“By taking everyone up at the same time, we avoid the ‘that’s not fair’ debate.”

The family do budget, but it is clear they are pretty savvy when it comes to deals, and as I am chatting to Judy her son’s fiancee rings to say she has spotted a good deal on some meat.

“I am always looking out for deals.

“It usually costs us about £300 a week in food,” said Judy.

“One of the hardest things is it is not one chocolate bar it has to be seven or eight. If they see one of them eating one they all want one.

“They do share clothes but I will go to the Next sale and spend £400- £500 so that they have good quality clothes.

“The last time we went on holiday was three years ago. I know people who take their kids away every year and their kids just don’t get excited about going away because it’s normal.

“For our kids it’s so special that they get really, really excited.

“We normally get a minibus and a couple of caravans.”

Anticipating the problem fitting the whole family into a standard car I ask how the Whitmores get around.

“We don’t run a car.

“We actually gave our car to friends, as we didn’t use it.

“Andrew has a van for work. But we walk to a lot of places and if we are going on trips with friends we split them up in different cars.

“We plan ahead for things like Christmas, but one of the hardest things is the older ones already having things, so from the angle of them getting things of their own it can be difficult.”

But for Judy any sacrifice outweighs the benefits of having a bigger family.

“The children always have someone there for them.

After we have gone if they fall out with one sibling there will always be another there to look after them. They will never be on their own.

“You get out of it what you put into it, we try and teach them good values and show them the correct way to treat people.”

I ask Judy how she feels about the prospect of the family growing even larger in the next generation.

“We don’t want grandchildren yet, but we do want them,” she said.

“Andrew was one of seven, and I can’t remember how many grandchildren and great-grandchildren his mother now has, as all of the children have now had children, but she is 85 and she never forgets a birthday.”

Here’s what some of the Whitmore children thought of being in a big family

John, aged 11, said: “I like that I always have someone to play with. Our house is a lot louder than other houses, so they always seem really quiet. I do like to play with my little brothers and sisters. We have a trampoline in the back garden and that is really fun to play together on.”

Matthew, aged 10: “It’s alright being in a big family but it can have its down sides as there can be lots of squabbling and it can be loud. It is nice that there is always someone to talk to or play with though. But my favourite thing to play with is my corn snake called Predator. I got him for my ninth birthday.”

Adam, aged eight said: “I think it’s really good. There are always interesting things going on and I always have Matt and John to play with. We play with the play station, trampoline, soldiers in the woods . . . I like playing with the boys best.”

Emily, aged 14 said: “I like it but you are never on your own.

“I would like to have my own room. I was the only girl for a while so I got a lot of attention and I didn’t have to share a room. When the younger girls came along I had to share again, but I do like to have sisters.”

Honey, aged seven, said: “There’s always someone to look out for you. I like to play with Jasmine, Penelope and Emily and do hair and make-up.”

]]> 1.3542323 Tue, 21 Feb 2012 08:46:42 +0000 http://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/armed_police_called_to_northampton_town_centre_after_man_claimed_he_had_a_gun_1_3542239

ARMED police were last night called to St John’s Court in Northampton after a man rung emergency services claiming he had a gun.

The 54-year-old man contacted the ambulance service shortly after 9pm and police were immediately informed. A full armed response unit was sent to the scene and the man was arrested under the Mental Health Act. No firearm was found.

Insp Neil Dorothey of Northamptonshire Police said: “We sent a full firearms team down there but the man didn’t have a gun. He spoke to us peacefully and came with us quite willingly, there was no danger to any member of the public.”

THE family of an eight-year-old girl with a brain tumour, is appealing for help as she prepares for vital surgery in her fight for survival.

Milly Adkins was diagnosed with the tumour in 2007, when she was four years old.

After initial surgery and treatment she was in remission until the end of last month, when her family was given the devastating news the tumour had grown to its original size and was now life-threatening.

The family faces a turbulent few months, during which Milly, who lives with her parents, Sam and Alex, and younger brother Max, in Daventry, will face more surgery aimed at giving her and her family more time together.

And they are appealing for the public to help them face the financial challenges ahead.

Milly’s dad, Sam, is a self-employed plasterer, and the family has only recently recovered from the financial chaos resulting from his loss of earnings during Milly’s initial treatment.

With an uncertain time ahead, the family is desperate to avoid the chaos of debt, and be able to spend quality time with their daughter.

They said: “We have never had to write a ‘begging’ letter before, but it is time to swallow our pride and do whatever is needed to be able to make good decisions and give Milly the happiest life possible.

“If Milly undergoes surgery in the next few weeks there will be lots of costs involved with caring for her and her developing needs.

“There is a huge fear of the unknown, and we are taking great strength in being able to be together as a family at this time.

“We know there are many charities and pleas for help out there, but we want only to give our daughter the best chance of living in the best possible way.”

After Milly’s initial diagnosis in 2007, surgeons managed to reduce the growth from the size of a tennis ball to the size of a golf ball, but the operation left her blind in one eye, and she suffered a stroke post-operatively.

After an intensive 18-month course of chemotherapy, Milly and her family were able to resume a fairly normal life, until the news earlier this year that the tumour had recurred.

Initially, the family hoped to send Milly to America for Proton Beam Therapy, but they were told by doctors earlier this month she was not a viable candidate for the cutting edge treatment as the tumour is too large.

They were informed the tumour could take Milly’s life in three to six months, with the only chance being surgery to reduce its size that could give the family more time and treatment options.

But it is also very risky, potentially resulting in significant complications.

Anyone who can help the family financially during Milly’s treatment is asked to call Northampton 585810, email helpingmilly@gmail.com or visit the website www.helping-milly.co.uk, where they can donate to the family.

n The family has requested that anyone who speaks to them about Milly avoids saying anything in her presence about her situation, in case it frightens her.

HEADTEACHERS of schools in Northampton have backed a Government crackdown on parents who take their children on holiday during term time.

Education Secretary Michael Gove is considering implementing proposals put forward by teacher and behaviour expert, Charlie Taylor, which could see headteachers lose the ability to sanction up to two weeks a year of ‘authorised absence’.

Mike Griffiths, headteacher of Northampton School for Boys, said there was “no reason” why parents should take children out of school during term time.

He said: “Some people mistakenly think they are ‘entitled’ to take children out of school for up to two weeks.

“This is untrue. A headteacher is allowed to grant two weeks authorised absence, but can – as in our case – refuse to do so.

“The stark facts are that time missed from lessons cannot be made up. Research nationally has shown that absence from school has a significant effect upon examination grades once you reach 10 days per year.

“Parents and schools should surely be united in their determination that children achieve the very best results of which they are capable. That means 100 per cent attendance if at all possible.”

Philip Cantwell, headteacher at Malcolm Arnold Academy, said it was the school’s policy that parents were not allowed to take students out of school during term time.

Mr Cantwell said: “Taking students out of lessons, at no matter what time of the year, can have a significant impact on their attainment levels – and therefore on their results.

“By spending the maximum time they possibly can in school, students’ chances of succeeding are dramatically improved.”

Kay Gerrett, headteacher at Cedar Road Primary School, said she had some sympathy for parents as holiday prices were hugely inflated outside term time.

She said: “I do feel sorry for parents as it is a huge hike in prices outside term time and we want children to go away on exciting holidays.”

RESIDENTS of a retirement complex in Northampton town centre have launched a petition against plans to build a block of student flats nearby.

The Chronicle & Echo first revealed in September that The University of Northampton was holding talks with Northampton Borough Council to build 464 student flats on the St John’s open air car park, close to the Derngate theatre.

The scheme has upset residents of the nearby Albion Court retirement complex, who said moving so many students into the area would change it dramatically.

David White, who lives in Albion Court, said: “A sudden influx of a large number of students so near the town centre will drastically change the character of the town.

“Although there may be positive aspects, residents at Albion Court are concerned about this potential change.

“When the council has allowed the development of retirement accommodation in the area, it doesn’t seem sensible to plan student accommodation almost next door.

“Residents have moved to Albion Court to spend their later years in a peaceful and settled environment.

“With student accommodation in the near vicinity the quietness and tranquillity will inevitably change.

“Drinking habits, noise, and behavioural difficulties which are observed in every student community, will suddenly be on our doorstep, and right in the town centre.”

To date, almost a third of the residents of Albion Court have signed the petition against the development, which they plan to hand into the Guildhall later this week.

As well as concerns about noise and disruption, they have also expressed worries about the impact the development would have on parking in the area as the 150 spaces in the current St John’s car park would be lost when the flats were built and only five disabled parking spaces would be included in the new building.

A report commissioned by the university has argued the development would not have a negative impact on parking and the borough council said there were currently 1,792 more spaces than are needed in the town centre.

The borough council will decide whether or not the scheme should go ahead by the end of April.

A widow whose late husband died after being diagnosed with dementia aged just 37, has urged people with concerns to go to their doctor as figures show more than half of sufferers are still undiagnosed.

Although the number of people diagnosed with dementia in Northamptonshire increased by 1.5 per cent to 3,379 last year, figures released by The Alzheimer’s Society yesterday showed this figure represented only 43.6 per cent of the 7,758 people believed to be sufferers in the county.

This means more than half of those living with the condition are not receiving any of the benefits, drug treatments and support that comes from receiving a diagnosis.

Dione Priddy, whose husband Mark died, aged 41, in 2010, said it was good news more people were being diagnosed, but encouraged anyone with concerns to see their doctor.

Mrs Priddy, who lives in Northampton, and continues to campaign for more research into dementia, said: “I always say with anything, go to the doctors rather than sit and wait and wonder.

“I know there’s medicine that can slow things down and that’s one reason I’d have liked an earlier diagnosis with Mark.”

Ian Howarth, area manager for Alzheimer’s Society in the East Midlands, said: “It’s shocking that well over half of the people that are living with dementia still don’t have a diagnosis in the East Midlands and so they aren’t receiving the support, benefits and the medical treatments that are often available.

“Everyone is a little bit forgetful now and again, but when memory loss starts to interfere with your daily life it is important to get it checked out as soon as possible.”

Last year, county councillor Robin Brown (Con, Braunston), the cabinet member for social services, pledged that dementia care services would expand to meet demand from the county’s ageing population.

The current estimates are that the total number of sufferers would go up by 50 per cent by 2025.

Councillor Brown said: “We can’t disprove that the numbers are likely to grow at the rate we are forecasting, and as a consequence we are investing in dementia care as part of the increases we have within adult social services.”

THE mother of former Cobblers’ trainee Richard Butcher has urged the town to get behind the team as it fights to avoid relegation from the football league.

Richard Butcher died from an undiagnosed heart condition in January 2011, aged 29.

Gail Butcher, who will attend the match at Sixfields tonight against Mr Butcher’s final club, Macclesfield Town, said she found it impossible to know who to support out of the two, given both clubs’ significance in her son’s career.

Tickets for this week’s matches, against Macclesfield tonight and Port Vale on Saturday, have been discounted to £10 for adults and £5 for children. Forty per cent of the price will go to the Chronicle & Echo’s and Macmillan Cancer Support’s fund-raising for the new haematology unit at Northampton General Hospital.

But she urged Cobblers fans to back their local team, saying the club needed them now more than ever.

She said: “I want to see as many people there as possible. Football clubs need fans behind them. Whether times are good or bad, they need support there. I think it gives them a bit more encouragement and uplift. I don’t believe in booing or moaning. Fans need to get behind the team and cheer them on.

“I think negativity does rub off on players,” she added. “I’ve experienced, with Richard, when things are not going right, and I think it can play a big part in a team having a run of losing games.”

Of tonight’s match, she said: “It’s going to be quite a difficult game for me. I don’t want Northampton to lose, but I don’t want Macclesfield to lose either. It’s such a big game for us as a family.”

The club has confirmed the discounted tickets will also be available to buy on arrival at the game tonight and on Saturday.