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Review ; LOOKING BACK: The big news stories that affected Derbyshire this week. [Derby Evening Telegraph (England)](Derby Evening Telegraph (England) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) MONDAY CATTLE MARKET CAR BOOT RETURNS Weekly Sunday car boot sales at Derby's Cattle Market finally returned at the weekend - more than three months after they ended unexpectedly in June. Although 300 car-booters turned up along with more than 600 buyers, Derby City Council markets' manager Gary Marshall admitted the numbers were not as high as in the past. He said: "We are hoping that the changes we have made will encourage people to return in the coming weeks and also that word gets around that we are back." BEDROOM TAX VICTIM ESCAPES EVICTION A mother-of-two who lost a stressful legal battle against eviction after the so-called bedroom tax left her in arrears is has been left astonished to find she will not have to move. Renleigh Anderson was instead reassessed for financial help to cover the debt owed and told she would get backdated cash. She had previously gone through the same process unsuccessfully and would have been the first person in Derby to be evicted because of the Government's under-occupancy rules, which penalise people not using all their bedrooms. TRIBUTE TO 75 WHO WENT TO THE FRONT LINE Six sets of brothers were among 75 men from a tiny Derby parish who gave their lives for our country 100 years ago. Now, thanks to one man's tireless quest to honour their bravery, the poignant stories behind their ultimate sacrifice have been brought to life. Geoff Parton decided to embark on the quest after regularly walking past the war memorial outside St Paul's Church, in Chester Green. TUESDAY DAUGHTER'S SHOCK AT WEB TROLL TAUNTS Laura Bates could hardly believe her eyes when she saw the sick that messages bullies were sending her on Facebook. She was told she was "going to die with a sad life". The abuser then said he hoped her mum, dad, or grandparents got cancer "and dies right in front of her". Laura's dad, Simon, 68, was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2012. The disease hit him hard, and very nearly killed him, leaving him with poor speech. It also took the life of his brother-in-law, who died at Christmas. Laura, 17, of Hilton, said the bullying, last month, had left her petrified, and her father had been traumatised by the abuse. ANGER AFTER SURVEY SLATES CULTURE OFFERING City experts have hit out over claims that Derby is among the "least cultural" places in Britain. The city was ranked fifth in a list of the least cultural towns and cities with more than 50,000 residents. All 50 cities were placed according to the number of museums and fine-dining restaurants per 100,000 people, as well as venues including theatres and grade one listed buildings. Only Chelmsford, Plymouth, St Albans and Leeds were listed worse than Derby in the ranking, which was analysed by a team at the Manchester Evening News. EX-RAMS PLAYER FACES JAIL OVER FRAUD SPREE A former Derby County footballer who masqueraded as a Premier League star to maintain his celebrity life of champagne and shopping sprees is facing a "substantial" stretch in jail for fraud. A court was told how midfielder Medi Abalimba, 24, was so ashamed at his career at top-flight clubs floundering due to injury that he falsely claimed to be multimillionaire Chelsea midfielder Gael Kakuta to get drink and clothes on credit. Abalimba, now of London, admitted three charges of fraud, taking a Range Rover without consent and making off without paying for Pounds 104 of petrol. WEDNESDAY HS2 COULD FOLLOW NEW COUNTY ROUTE Plans for a high- speed rail link should be moved into Derbyshire, according to a report. The original proposals were for the station to be at Toton Sidings, in Nottinghamshire but, according to the report, the new idea is to try to link HS2 to existing rail lines to Nottingham and Derby. It is believed the site will be somewhere between Long Eaton and Breaston. FIRE AT EXCHANGE DISRUPTS PHONES Telecoms giant BT was staying tight-lipped over how a fire at its exchange in Derby knocked out phone lines of tens of thousands of customers, including Rolls- Royce and Toyota. The blaze happened at 3.30am on Tuesday and BT said "the majority" of customers were back on by 2pm, but could not give a time when the remainder were reconnected. The firm apologised for the disruption but could not say how the fire started, why it caused such major problems and what measures would be taken to stop it happening again. MUM PUNCHED IN FACE BY PAVEMENT CYCLIST A CYCLIST punched a mother in the face after she refused to get off the pavement with her two children. The 31-year-old victim was walking along Nottingham Road, Chaddesden, with her youngsters when a woman on a bike approached them from behind. The cyclist, who was riding on the pavement with a man on another bike, told the pedestrian to move out of the way and started an argument when she refused. She then got off her bike and punched the victim twice in the face, before cycling away. The incident happened about 4pm on September 15. THURSDAY TORNADO TEARS THROUGH HOMES IN COUNTY Shocked families watched from inside their homes as a tornado swept through suburban streets, ripping off roofs, demolishing sheds and sending tiles spinning through the air. The twister developed near the centre of Alfreton as freakishly heavy showers swept through Derbyshire on Wednesday after noon. After the funnel cloud left a trail of damage across several streets, eight fire engines rushed to the scene and cordoned off the area of damage, ordering people from their homes for safety's sake. MANAGER CLEANS UP AFTER ZERO-STAR RATING The manager of a Derby restaurant which scored zero stars in a food hygiene inspection admitted "droppings" had been found - but insisted now it was clean. The New Water Margin Cantonese Restaurant, in Burton Road, was ordered to make "urgent improvement" by an inspector who turned up announced. It was the only premises to score the low rating in the latest batch of hygiene scores released by the city council. ROBBERS JAILED AFTER GUN TERROR Three robbers who made a shop worker fear for her life in a masked raid, during which a starting pistol was fired close to her face, have been locked up. Ringleader Cory Thompson, 19, who pointed the gun at Kulwinder Kaur in the Derby store, was jailed for seven years. Lemar Nicholson, 21, a lookout, was given four years and Oliver Reeves, 17, a two-year detention and training order. The three, with faces covered, struck at Esquire Mini Market, at the junction of Boyer Street and Leman Street, Derby, getting away with 10 packets of cigarettes and a small amount of cash. The terrifying scene was captured on CCTV. FRIDAY 'WE WANT TRUTH OVER STEPHEN'S DEATH' A family is demanding answers over the death of a father after a key witness admitted lying. An open verdict was recorded on father-of-four Stephen Doherty who was found dead at a block of flats in Ashbourne Road, Derby 11 years ago. Tests showed heroin in his bloodstream and an inquest recorded an open verdict. Now a police report has stated that a key witness in the case has admitted lying in the original inquiry. After originally saying Mr Doherty injected himself, the witness now says he was injected with heroin by another man in a misguided robbery attempt. Stephen's family feel the revelations show his death should have been treated as murder but they are frustrated that police say they do not intend to reopen the case. Sean Doherty, 42, one of his brothers, said: "We will not give up our fight to bring the people we believe killed Stephen to justice." PAY OFFER HALTS STRIKE ACTION Council workers' strike action that was due to affect bin collections and library opening times on Tuesday was called off. But action from NHS workers over pay is still planned for Monday. The planned Tuesday strike had been over the 1% pay rise offered to council staff for this financial year but the main local Government unions - Unison, GMB, and Unite - announced that this would be suspended after a new pay offer from the employers. A statement from the unions said: "We have decided to suspend strike action planned for October 14 and consult members on new proposals put forward by the Local Government Association as the best achievable by negotiation." ENGLAND BOSS HAILS RAMS STAR HUGHES England under-21 boss Gareth Southgate hailed Derby County's Will Hughes ahead of last night's European Championships play-off against Croatia. The Derby County starlet is in the squad to face Croatia in a twoleg play-off for a place at next summer's finals in the Czech Republic. Southgate said: "He's clearly maturing as he's gone on. He's played in a Championship play-off final, so he's played in some big matches already with Derby. He's a super player - technically very good. "One of the things for us to work on with him is tactical awareness and a match like this is great, because things like transitions and the threat of the counter attack, which a team like Croatia pose, are the types of things he's now got to experience and add to his game. We're really excited by him and, like all of the squad, he's a very grounded boy." Comment on these stories at derbytelegraph.co.uk (c) 2014 ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved. |