Category: Thame news

A woman today pleaded Not Guilty of causing the death by dangerous driving of Thame teacher, Ellie Bongers and her toddler son.

Sally Rundle, aged 72, entered entered her pleas at Oxford Crown Court today.

She was involved in the collision that fatally injured Ellie Bongers, 32, a teacher at Lord Willians’s school, Thame, and seriously injured Mrs Bongers’ 19 month-old son Joseph who later died.

The collision happened on the A4260 at Tackley on December 20, 2009.

PHOTO: The late Ellie Bongers, Courtesy of Graham Timbrell, www.soundclick.com

WERE you out and about in Oxford in the early hours of the morning on Saturday, October 23, 2010? May be out drinking or clubbing in the Park End Street area of Oxford? If so, you may be able to help the police with their investigation into the rape of a 19 year-old woman that night.

Thames Valley Police has issued new CCTV images of men they would like to speak to in connection with the rape in Oxford on Saturday, October 23.

The victim, a 19-year-old woman, met a black man, aged in his twenties, in Anubar in Park End Street. They then went to the Bridge nightclub and were seen leaving at around 3am on 23 October.

The offender is around 5ft 8ins, with short dark hair and possibly a moustache. He was wearing a dark-coloured, long-sleeved hooded top, jeans and trainers.

The victim is white, 5ft 8ins, of medium build, with distinctive blonde hair and was wearing a distinctive pink sleeveless top with ruffles on the front, black leggings and black boots.

Det Con Lisa Heaton said: ?These new images are much clearer, showing the man?s face from the front and I feel anyone who knows this man would clearly recognise him from these.

?The third image shows the back of the top he was wearing, with a distinctive logo on it. Do you recognise this logo? Have you seen it anywhere? Do you know of any shops in the area that sell these? If you do, we would like to hear from you.

?The second man shown in the CCTV images was with the man and he is shown entering the Bridge nightclub with him on the night the offence took place.

?He is quite tall, approximately 6ft 2ins, and was wearing a long-sleeved, dark-coloured jacket, jeans and dark-coloured shoes.

?Do you recognise him? Have you seen him out in Oxford? Did you see these two men with the victim on the night of the offence?

?I would urge anyone with information to come forward and help us with our investigation. As the following video shows, the victim has been left badly affected by what has happened to her – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8k4a5-CLDts

Anyone with information should contact Det Con Heaton via the 24-hour Thames Valley Police Enquiry Line on 0845 8 505 505. Alternatively, you can contact the Crimestoppers charity anonymously on 0800 555 111.

A first edition copy of George Orwell’s book, Animal Farm has been sold by the Thame Oxfam Bookshop for

COMMUNITY SAFETY NEWSLETTER – From: Supt. Chris Sharp, Area Commander South Oxfordshire – for the period DECEMBER 2010/JANUARY 2011: The successful arrest of a male in the Thame area led to a significant amount of stolen property being recovered from burglaries from both the South and Vale police areas. A vehicle was also recovered which had been used in a number of petrol thefts from garages across the area.

This male has been charged with nine offences so far and remanded in prison awaiting trial. The investigation is still ongoing at this time so more charges may be added.

Overall crime is down by 13% on last year in relation to burglary, vehicle crime and robbery. Detections (investigations that result in a charge or caution) are up by 50%. Anti Social Behaviour (ASB) incidents are down by 25% and assaults, both domestic and alcohol related are down by 16%.

The Priority Crime Team (PCT) are a proactive team focusing mainly on crimes such as Burglary Dwelling and Vehicle Crime. They have achieved some good results in South Oxfordshire, some examples are outlined below:

WORKING TOGETHER FOR SAFER COMMUNITIES
AREA COMMANDER?S UPDATE

A cross border operation was carried out recently where we supported Surrey Police in conducting a search of an industrial estate believed to have been involved in the theft of Land Rover vehicles from across the south of England, including South Oxfordshire. This was a success with five vehicles being recovered, the discovery of approximately four hundred cannabis plants and a significant amount of cash and illegal alcohol. This investigation is in the early stages and will be ongoing for sometime. Another joint operation was conducted with Hampshire with the execution of eight Search Warrants across both Counties, leading to two people being arrested on suspicion of theft of motor vehicles. Again this investigation is still ongoing at this time.

THEFT FROM VEHICLES DOWN

In February 2010 there was a Robbery at Lloyds bank in Henley. A protracted investigation was commenced by the CID, which has led to the arrest of a male from outside the area. He is currently on bail whilst the investigation continues. I would like to add that this type of crime is very rare for our police area.
There has been a 18.5% decrease of theft from vehicles in the period April to October 2010 in South Oxfordshire, compared to the same period in the previous year. This is a good result, which we would like to see continue.

With Christmas and the New Year sales drawing closer, you may carry more cash or leave valuable items such as a mobile phone, handbag or extra shopping on display in your vehicle. Please do not leave anything of value on display, a car full of goodies is a great shopping window for the opportunist thief and you risk it being stolen.

Do not leave your vehicle insecure at any time, even for a very short period. A thief can steal items and be away in seconds. Have a happy, safe & secure Christmas & New Year.

THE Thame Police Teams have been running a range of operational activity from intelligence gathering through to prevention and deterrence, as well as enforcement activity. This has been a busy year that started with a concerning initial increase in distraction burglary in the Thame area which was halted by the effective arrest, charge and remand of offenders.

CCTV

The operator saw and reported three males climb onto a roof at the rear of a shop in High Street. Police attended and one of the males was arrested for Breach of Bail.

CCTV is part of an integrated, multi-agency approach to reduce crime and disorder and the fear of crime. In addition, the cameras play a role in the prevention of incidents and proactive policing.

CCTV is an additional tool that has a significant impact in crime reduction. This includes deterring crime, the detection of crime and a reduction in the fear of crime. There are currently 61 operational CCTV cameras in South Oxfordshire. The CCTV control room is a council run service located at Abingdon Police Station, where camera operators are employed to monitor the cameras.

The district council, town councils and police all contribute to paying for the CCTV service.

The Neighbourhood Teams continue to engage with local communities with advertised monthly ?Have Your Say? meetings and the team welcome meeting people at these events to tackle their community safety issues. A range of operational activity including Operations Merlin, Mickle and Maginot have been running to tackle serious acquisitive crime. Operation Merlin led by Sergeant Hookham has been active in tackling autocrime, lead thefts and graffiti within the Thame and Wheatley area. One prolific offender was arrested and charged with disqualified driving, receiving a six month custodial sentence. Six persons have been arrested and are currently on police bail for lead thefts and six persons have been arrested in relation to graffiti in the Wheatley area.

We are actively promoting Country Watch and have been running Operation Muddy which included 4X4 off road patrols in the more remote rural communities. Bollard placement on the Ridgeway has successfully restricted access in liaison with Local Estates and Oxfordshire County Council.

Local police have taken a robust approach in relation to Raves, successfully disrupting events at an early stage and last year resulted in a successful prosecution of a Rave organiser and seizure of a significant amount of amplification equipment.

Operation Shovel has also been running to tackle the theft of agricultural plant and machinery.

There was a tragic murder at Oxfordshire Golf Club. The police response was effective with police on scene within four minutes and a prompt arrest with the offender now charged and remanded, awaiting trial in January. This was an isolated and shocking incident.

A robbery took place at Gatwards the Jewellers in Thame, arrests and prosecutions have resulted from this offence.

Thame has experienced a 27% reduction in reports of anti social behaviour in the current year 2010.

TRICKSTER – Burglary play proves a distracting attraction?Thame and Henley

Hundreds of elderly and vulnerable people in South Oxfordshire have been given advice on how to avoid falling victim to criminals. Police in the area, working alongside partners and the Solomon Theatre Company, gave a presentation and play at the Thame Leisure Centre and the Christchurch Centre in Henley on 13th October, spelling out how distraction burglars operate and gain entry to homes.

Those attending had been identified as needing support through existing networks established by the police, Oxfordshire County Council and Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue.

They were given simple, easy to remember advice through musical production in which a distraction burglar attempts to take cash from an elderly man.
The event, organised by Crime Reduction Advisor Malcolm Wills and PC Paul Gregory, was a huge success. It was funded by South Oxfordshire Community Safety Partnership.

At the end of the event all those who attended were presented with a bag containing emergency numbers and information about what to do if they are a victim of crime.

PHOTO: Courtesy of www.oxfordmail.co.uk

OVER 200 students from Lord Williams’s school in Thame, are currently massing in front of Thame town hall protesting against eduction cuts and increased university tuition fees.

To a background of whistles, they are waving placards and chanting: “No Ifs, no Buts, no education cuts!” and:

“Nick Clegg, shame on you, shame on you, for turning Blue!”

Several police officers are there monitoring the protest and have issued a video to reassure the public http://youtu.be/cy3nbtBmdzQ?a

The protest appears to be part of a co-ordinated event as other educational establishements all over the country are holding protest right now.

A Googlemap has been produced of student occupations and protests against fees across the UK:
http://ow.ly/3eOnR

PHOTO to follow shortly.

THE Headteacher of a Thame school, from where around 200 students walked out this morning to protest against education cuts, has accused them of causing anxiety to staff and hurting the school as an institution.

Headteacher of Lord Williams’s school, David Wybron, told ThameNews.Net this afternoon: “They are mostly nice kids and we encourage them to be interested in politics but it is just too easy to ‘bunk off’ without thinking about the consequences.

“We are all concerned about the cuts but by disrupting lessons and causing worry to staff and parents, they have only hurt the school. There are more productive ways of making views known, writing to the MP or the papers for instance.”

“It was mentioned to me on Monday that they were going to do something and I made it clear that it was not something I could go along with and explained why.”

When asked if there would be any sanctions or consequences for the pupils’ actions, Mr Wybron said that he would be “having a chat” with them tomorrow.

THAME fire officer, Andy Ford, has warned against defrosting fridges with knives after a Thame employee did just that and was taken to hospital after breathing in toxic gas.

Oxfordshire Fire & Rescue Service were called to a gas leak at Business Careware Ltd, High St, Thame at 09:51 yesterday (22/11/10)

Andy Ford, who was in charge of the incident, told Thamenews.net: “When we arrived, two officers wearing breathing apparatus entered the property to identify the source of the gas, which turned out to be R12, a gas found in small quantities in old fridges. Whilst this lady was not showing the side effects of breathing in this gas, she was taken to hospital as a precaution because it can be up to four hours before the effects can manifest themselves. These can include cardiac arrest.

“We removed the fridge to the open air and ventilated the building and all was well.”

Knives should never be used to hack away accumulated ice in fridges and freezers. Appliances should be turned off and allowed to defrost gradually.

R-12 Leak Dangers
Inhaling R-12 directly from a leak can be toxic. Freon settles into the lungs whenever it is inhaled. It is heavier than air. Large quantities displace oxygen and can lead to asphyxiation.

In 2008, it killed 20 and injured 21 Russian submariners on board the submarine K-152 Nerpa when a freon-based fire system was activated by mistake.

Freon has been banned from production in the developed world since 1994.

THE charity Children In Need has once again brought out the generosity of the people of Thame.

Last Saturday, November 20, 22 members of 1st Thame Scout group took part in a Traithlon in order to raise money for Children in Need, trying to beat the