THE Conservative Party has maintained over-all control of Oxfordshire County Council, with a gain of eight new seats.
The final scores are:
Conservative -52 seats (up from 44)
Lib Dems – 10 seats (down from 15)
Labour – 9 seats (up from 8)
Greens – 2 seats (down from 5)
Independant – 1 seat (down from 2)
Full results breakdown available on OCC website
JON Shirley, aged 23 and of no fixed abode, has pleaded guilty to four counts of armed robbery and two firearms offences and has been sentenced to six-and-a-half years imprisonment.
The sentence relates to armed robberies at Londis, in Wheatley where the owner was pistol whipped, a BP petrol station in Marston and a private residence in High Street, Beckley where a couple were robbed and beaten.
These armed robberies are part of a large series across the county which started in December 2008 and ended with the arrest of Shirley in February 2009.
Det Insp Simon Morton, ?We aren?t looking for anyone else in connection with these robberies.
?This was an extensive police investigation which lasted months and involved a team of detectives, many local officers, specialist departments, and help from the community.
?We worked relentlessly and used many innovative tactics to track down and arrest this elusive, determined and violent criminal who raised the fear of crime across Oxfordshire.
?Shirley must now pay for his violence and Oxfordshire is a safer place with him in prison.
?I would like to thank the public and the media for their support in this investigation which assisted us in bringing him to justice.?
AN image of a couple suspected of stealing a charity box from Newitt’s Butchers shop in Thame, has been released today. (See full report bolow)
Anyone who recognises either or both of these people or who may have any information about the theft can contact the police via the Police enquiry line: 0845 8505505, or Crime Stoppers anonymously: 0800 555111
OVER 100 customers signed up for the text reminder service on the first day of Thame’s ‘Plastic bag free Thame? promotion running all this week (1-6 June,2009)and given the chance to win a
THAME is going to the polls today, for the County Council elections and the European elections, and so far polling has been described as ‘slow’.
The Polling stations are open until 10pm tonight, so we may yet see a surge in polling this evening. Local pundits though are predicting a turn-out of around 25%.
Oxfordshire County Council will be publishing the county election results live on its website and on Twitter tomorrow, Friday, June 5, 2009. The results, which will be announced throughout the day on Friday 5 June, will appear instantly on the web site: www.oxfordshire.gov.uk, using maps, charts and tables to allow people to easily follow which divisions have changed hands, how many seats each party has won so far and the overall political landscape of the county.
Those who don’t want to sit in front of a computer all day can follow Oxfordshire County Council on Twitter to get each result texted to their mobile phone (twitter.com/OxfordshireCC).
The results of the European Parliamentary Elections for the South East Region should be available from Sunday onwards at www.europarl.europa.eu. The local results will be available from Monday on the South Oxfordshire District Council web site: www.southoxon.gov.uk.
Photo: A Lib Dem and a Conservative candidate supporter enjoy the warm sunshine outside the Polling Station at Barley Hill School, this afternoon.
THE Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has been in the national press today, following a revelation that he claimed expenses for a Remembrance Sunday wreath that he laid in Thame.
Boris, who was Thame’s MP at the time he made the claim in 2006, has said that he “mistakenly” included the
POLICE Officers investigating the fatal collision that occurred on Sunday, May 17, 2009, on the A4129, Risborough Road, outside Thame, are appealing for the driver of a vehicle towing a horse box to come forward.
Greg Stiles was pronounced dead at the scene and his girl friend, Abigail Dowdy, is currently in the JR2 in a critical condition.
PC Phil Hanham, who is leading the investigation, said: “We are trying to trace the driver of a vehicle towing a horse box that was travelling between Kingsey and Towersey that afternoon between 2.30pm and 3pm. We are making contact with local riding stables in the area and distributing leaflets in the hope that it might jog someone?s memory. We would urge this person to come forward as they may have some vital information that might be able to help us with our investigation.”
An unknown 4×4 vehicle was also involved in the collision, but did not stop at the scene. Police have been appealing for help from the public in tracing the vehicle.
A 25-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving. He has been released on bail until Wednesday July, 15.
Anyone with any information is asked to contact the Operation Tahiti incident room via 0845 8 505 505. If you don?t want to talk to police, or leave your name, please contact the Crimestoppers charity on 0800 555 111.
A CHARITY box has been stolen from a busy Thame butcher’s shop after thieves cut the string securing it.
The charity box, which the shop owner, Tom Newitt said raises between two and three hundred pounds a year for MacMillan Cancer Support, is suspected to have been taken by a couple seen behaving suspiciously by other customers.
The theft was however caught on the shop’s CCTV and an image of the suspected thieves is currently being prepared to be distributed to the media and local businesses.
Tom Newitt told ThameNews.Net today: “Its just unbelievable that anyone could do such a thing as take a charity box. The money is donated by our customers who come in for a bone for their dog, or to have their knives sharpened and odd things like that which we don’t charge for and just ask them to put something in the charity box. Or they come in for their lunch and put their change from the cost of a sausage roll or something in the box.”
Another member of Newitt’s staff said that her and her colleagues felt “disgusted”, especially since children come into the shop and actually give some of their pocket money to the charity.
Staff are continuing to accept money for MacMillan Cancer Care while they await a replacement, official charity box.
NB As soon as the CCTV image of the suspected thieves is available, it will be published on ThameNews.Net
POLICE investigating a collision in Kingsey in which a young Thame man died, have arrested a 25-year-old man on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving.
The collision happened at around 2.40pm on Sunday, May 17, 2009, on the A4129, Risborough Road. Greg Stiles and Abigail Dowdy were travelling in a blue Ford Fiesta from Kingsey to Longwick when it was involved in a collision which also involved a blue Vauxhall Corsa, a silver Renault Clio and a silver Toyota Yaris.
Greg was pronounced dead at the scene and Abigail is currently in the JR2 in a critical condition.
An unknown 4×4 vehicle was also involved in the collision, but did not stop at the scene. Police have been appealing for help from the public in tracing the vehicle.
The 25-year-old man has been released on bail until mid-July.
PC Phil Hanham, who is leading the investigation into the collision, said: ?I would like to thank all those people who have so far come forward to help us with our investigation. We are continuing to ask for any witnesses or anyone with any information to please come forward.?
Anyone with any information is asked to contact the incident room at Aylesbury police station via 0845 8 505 505. If you don?t want to talk to police or leave your name, please contact the Crimestoppers charity on 0800 555 111.
Photo: Greg Stiles and Abigail Dowdy
PUPILS at a Thame school learnt today that top TV chef, Anthony Worrall-Thompson’s worst school dinner memory is liver!
Worrall-Thompson visited Barley Hill School this morning (01/06/09) to officially open its new cookery room provided with funds raised by the PTA.
During a ‘grilling’ by pupils, AWT said that he was served the liver, which he said resembled “a piece of shoe leather” with over-cooked, mushy swede. He emphasised however, that he had since grown to like liver. His favourite school meal, which was served up at the boarding school he attended from the age of three, was, he said, a breakfast of porridge – “the most important meal of the day” he said, and very necessary to prevent children from being unable to concentrate and stay alert at school.
He revealed that his favourite food these days was Japanese food, particularly healthy in his view. But his favourite meal to cook at home remained a traditional family roast, he said, including sprouts, the mention of which caused a collective groan around the assembled school!
According to Anthony Worrall-Thompson, recent scientific research has suggested that children need to taste a particular food 17 times before it becomes acceptable to them.
After cutting the ribbon to officially declare the cookery room ‘open’, Anthony worrall-Thompson cooked a meal with the five winners of a Design a school meal competition, during which the Mayor or Thame, Cllr Jeannette Matelot Green, who is a Governor of Barley Hill, dropped in to meet the school’s special visitor.