Category: News

Five and a half years is not enough !!!


Two young women were crossing Stoke Road after enjoying an evening in a pub, when Matthew Styler drove his car into them.

Daniel Riley, defending, told the court Styler, who was wounded on a tour of Afghanistan in 2010, had expressed remorse for what he had done and said he had been since diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder.

But

Sentencing, Judge Sarah Munro said: ‘It was nothing to do with post traumatic stress that let you to get into the driving seat.

‘You were so drunk you couldn’t see what was outside the windscreen of your car.

I think that the sentence is too lenient. Styler wasn’t so drunk that he didn’t know what he had done. He knew enough to try to cover his tracks. After the incident he tried to destroy the evidence and change his appearance.

He drove the car into a secluded wooded area four miles away from the incident and set fire to it in an attempt to destroy the evidence.

The 36-year-old washed his clothes, as well as boots and sunglasses, and shaved off his beard to cover-up the crime.

Five and a half years is not enough !!!

Gosport man jailed for ploughing car into friends – Local – Portsmouth News.

Waterlooville Wally Of The Week Award


A few posts ago I introduced the Waterlooville Wally Of The Week Award

Well I have a new candidate, Bradley Woodacre.

Woodacre, of Boxwood Close, Waterlooville, who has a string of previous convictions for driving offences, later admitted dangerous driving and driving while disqualified and without insurance

So he drives while disqualified and obviously that means no insurance but he doesn’t have the brain cells to drive quietly. No he drives like a total twat and then wrecks the car.

Father-to-be Bradley Woodacre was driving a Volkswagen Golf while disqualified when he narrowly avoided hitting a 13-year-old boy on a bike and a Peugeot 307.

Woodacre then lost control of the car, which a witness claimed was travelling at up to 70mph in a 30mph zone in Park Avenue, Widley.

The Golf mounted the kerb and ploughed through a fence and a brick wall before flipping on to its side and hitting a van parked in a driveway outside a house.

Him and his mate do a runner. When later interviewed by the police he denied driving the car. Seems like the fashion police were out to get him to. Not showing exactly the height of sartorial elegance his attire let him down.

Daniel Sawyer, prosecuting, said: ‘Unfortunately for Woodacre, CCTV from a petrol station showed him filling up that car that morning, wearing the pink or peach-coloured top and the red shorts described by the witnesses.’

Woodacre was sentenced to 18 months in jail and banned from driving for five years. At least while he is locked up we can assume he won’t be on the roads. However his previous record shows that he is unlikely to heed the driving ban.

What compounds this piece of driving is the fact that you are no stranger to these courts and in particular you are no stranger to the offence of bad driving.

‘You are a man now of 23 but you have been before these courts on 11 occasions for 23 convictions.’

On this basis alone, Bradley Woodacre, I award you the “Waterlooville Wally Of The Week Award”

‘Appalling’ Waterlooville driver handed 15-month prison sentence – Local – Portsmouth News.

It’s Polling Day !!!


The News, our local rag, has run an article imploring us to use our votes.

If you asked me, I would only be able to name two of our local councillors and only one for my own electoral ward.

The local candidate is Margaret Beauvoisin. I have never seen her, she certainly hasn’t come knocking at my door. Nor have any of her supporters.

So how do I know that she exists ?

Well someone stuck a screwed up leaflet through my letter box and I have read it.

I would have enjoyed the opportunity to discuss with her the issues that are important to me i.e. the slow death of Waterlooville Town Centre. I would have enjoyed the opportunity to discuss how she believes the further annexing of the Town Centre, by pushing additional commercial enterprise into the West Of Waterlooville development zone, is going to be

an asset to our town

Lifted from her leaflet.

Well at least I got a leaflet from the Labour candidate. Haven’t heard a dickie bird from any of the others.

So The News wants us to

Please make sure you have your say at the ballot box

Will there be an option that allows me to say that I have no idea what any of my local candidates stand for ?

Oh, at the beginning of this post I said I could name two local councilors.

The other was Penny Mordaunt and I know she stands for elephants.

‘Please make sure you have your say at the ballot box’ – Local – Portsmouth News.

Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun


My apologies to Pink Floyd but this is good news for employees of local business Astrium

Jobs have been secured in Portsmouth after space firm Astrium signed a contract to send a satellite close to the sun.

The deal is worth £245m for Astrium UK, which has bases in the city at Broad Oak, and in Stevenage.

Astrium sign deal to build Solar Orbiter satellite – Local Business – Portsmouth News.

Nature Lover Mugged – RSPCA Should Be Ashamed


The RSPCA should be ashamed of their actions.

The greatest joy in the life of animal enthusiast David Brown was the wild habitat he owned opposite his cottage that was home to foxes, badgers, hedgehogs and squirrels.

So when he wrote his will, Mr Brown chose to leave his property to the RSPCA – a charity he trusted.

But the RSPCA repaid his trust by selling the land to property developers, and last week, to the horror of his former neighbours, the habitat was flattened – in just 12 hours.

Legally they may not be bound by David Browns “wishes” but morally they were.

From the RSPCAs own website

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals – the UK’s leading animal welfare charity. We rescue, rehabilitate and rehome hundreds of thousands of animals each year. We offer advice on caring for all animals and campaign to change laws that will protect them, which we will enforce through prosecution.

The cynical amongst us  may believe that people at the RSPCA are motivated by self-interest, that the officers of the RSPCA saw this bequest as a way in which they could help safeguard their inflated salaries.

The cynical amongst us will also be distrustful of the RSPCA since they do not seem to exhibit either sincerity or integrity when they have quite blatantly diverted from their stated intent.

And in their own name ..

Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

How cruel was it to clear this site and deprive the many creatures of their homes and habitat.

I believe the RSPCA have been hugely disrespectful to David Brown and have damaged their own reputation.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2136714/Nature-lover-leaves-wildlife-haven-RSPCA–sell-bulldozed-built-on.html#ixzz1tPFrOWEh

Nature lover leaves wildlife haven to RSPCA ¿ who sell it to be bulldozed and built on | Mail Online.

Portsmouth Bid To Be At Centre Of National Celebration For 2014


PORTSMOUTH has launched a bid to be at the centre of a huge national celebration to honour our armed forces.

Council leaders want the city to become the stage for a week of displays on land, sea and air by thousands of army, navy and air force personnel.

We should support Pompey in this bid.

This country tends to be rather London centric when it comes to national celebrations. London likes to think that they are the centre of the British universe and unfairly, in my opinion, the government tends to support this notion.

London is not geographically central to the UK and the prestige national events should be shared around the country.
Portsmouth, amongst many other cities, has as much right to host these events.

Now councillors and business leaders have urged everyone to get behind a push to bring the Armed Forces Week celebrations to Portsmouth in 2014.

The year will also mark the 70th anniversary of D-Day, 100 years since the start of the First World War and 350 years since the founding of the Royal Marines.

Conservative culture, leisure and sport spokesman, Cllr Jim Fleming, said he was fully in favour of the bid.

He said: ‘This would be a terrific boost for the city’s economy and will be an opportunity to show the city in the best light possible.’

It is the economic benefits from this type of event which keeps London grabbing the best events. Pompey council have to show that they are just as ruthless and show that their city has the where with all to pull it off.

We have a great naval heritage… I can’t think of a better place for it – Defence – Portsmouth News.

Vandals made to clear up graffiti after they went on 10-day spree – Too Right


You reap what you sow as the saying goes and it was certainly true for these five miscreants.

VANDALS who went on a 10-day graffiti spree were made to clear up their scrawlings after being caught in the act by police.

The five youngsters aged 11 to 13 defaced buildings across Havant, Hayling Island, Leigh Park and Bedhampton, with their signature graffiti signs, known as tagging.

It caused hundreds of pounds worth of damage to 17 homes, underpasses, shops and car parks.

We definitely need more of this sort of punishment doled out to the perpetrators. It shows society that there are consequences for negative actions.

PC Wimshurst added: ‘These lads are first-time offenders and the best solution seemed to be putting right what they had done.

‘It offers the best compensation for those who suffered and it also helps to make the offenders realise the amount of damage they have caused.

‘I think that this will teach them more than being put in a cell and told off. It was a chance to put common sense policing to work.’

These kids will have found that they had to work harder to clean up the results of their actions. It will have given them first hand experience of what their victims would have had to endure.

They spent four days scrubbing walls, litter picking and tidying up areas across the Havant borough.

Seeing them cleaning up is also a visible indicator to society that this type of action will not be tolerated. The handing out of cautions, ASBOs etc. are all to often seen as the soft approach.

Vandals made to clear up graffiti after they went on 10-day spree – Local – Portsmouth News.

83 Additional Homes Proposed For Waterlooville


Is this the straw that broke the camels back ?

CONCERNS about traffic congestion and overdevelopment were raised as plans to redevelop a convent and its grounds went on show.

But Ian Roberts, highways consultant, said the road network could cope, with 34 vehicle movements estimated from London Road at peak times and eight movements from the Hulbert Road side.

Does that figure take into account the extra burden that is being placed on London Road by the Berewood development or the potential additional burden being placed on Hulbert Road by the proposed development at Dunsbury Hill Farm ?

Where on earth does the “34 vehicle movements” figure come from anyway ? Surely there must be an assumption of one vehicle for every home at the very minimum. I appreciate that not every vehicle will be on the move at peak times. The highways consultants must be assuming that many of the new residents will be either walking into Waterlooville town centre or hopping onto a bus to take up the employment opportunities mentioned by John O’Donovan.

John O’Donovan, the developer’s planning consultant, said: ‘I would suggest it is an ideal site for housing.

‘It’s very close to Waterlooville town centre, to employment opportunities and to the bus corridor.’

So what are these employment opportunities ?

These would be the same opportunities that the folks in Leigh Park, the new residents of Berewood and the current residents of Waterlooville and the surrounding areas have their hopes pinned on.

More than 50 residents packed into Havant’s council chamber as developers laid out initial proposals to build 83 homes on the site of the former St Michael’s Convent….

I’m glad to see that so many folks are taking an interest in their local area. We, the Waterlooville residents, have been too quiet. As a consequence the planners and the developers have had free rein and we are paying for it.

It comes as Peter Holloway, a spokesman for residents in Hermitage Gardens, said he would never have bought his house last year if he knew so many houses were in the pipeline.

He said: ‘We knew something might be built there but when we contacted Havant Borough Council we were told they would not be allowed to build any more than 57 houses and the part of the land nearest our garden would not be developed because there is an old apple orchard there, a sewage pipe running through it and it is so steep.

‘Now we’ve found out they want to build right at the bottom of our land, 26 more houses than we were told.

Sounds like the council were acting like the old-fashioned brush or encyclopaedia salesmen. Get a foot in the door with the low numbers, then jack them up once the flow of opinion is headed in the right direction.

Council officers said the land was earmarked for 57 homes in the latest local plans – but this figure was ‘indicative’.

Presumably “indicative” is the councils “get out of jail” card.

Fears raised as Waterlooville homes plan goes on show – Politics – Portsmouth News.

Two cars in Waterlooville crushed after tree topples in strong winds – No Injuries


A lucky escape for the vehicle owners but two cars were severely damaged after tree topples in strong winds.

Apparently the tree had received a lightning strike a short while ago which may have weakened it.

Two cars in Waterlooville crushed after tree topples in strong winds – Local – Portsmouth News.

Russell Brand: Addiction is an illness not a crime


Addiction should be treated as a health problem rather than a criminal matter, comedian Russell Brand has told a committee of MPs.

The 36-year-old former heroin addict described addiction as an “illness” and said that those suffering from it should be treated with “compassion”.

He advocated an “abstinence-based recovery” approach, telling MPs this was how he overcame his addiction to drugs, which he said was caused by emotional, psychological and spiritual difficulties.

He said he thought the money spent on arresting drug addicts would be better spent on treating them, as he gave evidence to the Home Affairs Committee on 24 April 2012, as part of its inquiry into drugs policy.

Brand may well be right that addicts should receive treatment rather than be arrested and locked up. But that doesn’t address the real problem.

Drugs is big business and all the while it is lucrative to the criminal elements then there will be people willing to supply to the weak-willed who are willing to buy.

We still need a solution to the source and supply of drugs in this country. Only then will the cost of addiction be reduced. Whether it be by reducing the number of addicts arrested for the crimes they commit trying to fund their habit or by reducing the number of addicts that end up in our hospitals as a result of bad drugs, overdoses or drug related illnesses.

BBC – Democracy Live – Russell Brand: Addiction is an illness not a crime.