Thame.net

Author: Sonja Francis

  • Thame Scouting event leader jailed for fraud

    A Deputy District Scout Commissioner for Oxfordshire has been jailed for fraud after fiddling the books over a payment for the hire of Thame Show ground.

    Colin Arter (Image courtesy of The Oxford Mail)
    Colin Arter (Image courtesy of The Oxford Mail)

    Oxford Crown Court heard Colin Arter, of Spruce Drive, Bicester, told that he had ‘set a terrible example’ by taking the money from Oxfordshire Scouting, where he had volunteered for more than 25 years, and that by helping himself to £18,200 of the movment’s money he had committed a ‘grotesque breach of trust’.

    The court heart that Arter had requested £10,000 for a deposit to book the Thame Show Ground for the county’s One World camp last summer, and £4,600 to hire a marquee. But he provided his own bank details and those of a friend he owed money to, and the sums were deposited to their accounts. Arter was caught when the Scouts tried to recover their deposits and when questioned he also admitted claiming a further £3,600.

    seans_choice_crendon_bedsHis defence lawyer told the court that his client had run into financial difficulties and ‘had not been himself for some time’. Arter had, he said, at one time  ‘found himself standing precariously on a bridge over the motorway’.

    Arter was jailed for 14 months after admitting one count of fraud by abuse of position between June 1, 2013, and March 27, 2014 this year.

  • Pupils’s week’s work reflects Remembrance Day

    ST JOSEPH’S Catholic Primary School in Thame rose to the occasion to mark this year’s Remembrance Day with a range of activities to commemorate all those who have been affected by conflict.

    St Joseph's poppy collectors (400x349)Prior to Tuesday, November 11, the children learnt about the significance of Remembrance Day and recorded their findings on large paper poppies to form a red poppy display in each classroom.

    On Remembrance Day itself the older children stood in attendance at Thame’s war memorial at 11am and attended a special assembly. Later in the day, they worked in small groups of mixed ages to produce special ‘prayers of peace’.

    “We feel it’s incredibly important to teach the children about both past and current conflict and its impact, as well as nurture their respect and understanding on something they have little experience of,” said teacher Fiona Dyer.

    seans_choice_crendon_bedsThe children also undertook various writing tasks ranging from letter and descriptive writing following a visit to Thame’s war memorial by the school’s 7-11 year olds, as well as an imaginative piece by the younger pupils describing what aliens would see looking down onto Earth on Remembrance Day.

    The upper years also made clay poppies inspired by the poppy installation at the Tower of London and had the opportunity to ask questions, which they had prepared as a part of their studies, to a visiting member of the British Legion.

  • Mayor launches charity Christmas card shop

    CARDS for Good Causes, the UK’s largest multi-charity Christmas card organisation, opened its latest pop-up shop in Thame today (12/11).

    Photo by Nick White Photography
    Photo by Nick White Photography

    The Mayor of Thame, Jeanette Matelot Green, pictured with Janet West, the Shop Manager, and three of the volunteer staff, officially declared the shop open at Christchurch, in the Upper High Street, Thame. It will be open from 10am to 4pm, every Monday to Saturday, until Friday, December 5.

    The Charity Christmas card shop is staffed by volunteers and sells Christmas cards for more than 25 national and local charities, including Scannappeal, Thame Cottage Hospital, Breakthrough Breast Cancer and Thames Valley Chiltern Air Ambulance.

    Janet West, Manager of Thame shop, said: “Not only are Christmas cards an important source of funding for charities, they also help to raise awareness of their work. By popping into the Thame shop, anyone can choose from a fantastic array of charity cards and stock up on all the Christmas essentials, such as wrapping paper and gift tags.”

    In the past five years, charities have received more than £20 million from Cards for Good Causes – representing at least 70p in every pound out of which charities had to pay for the production and distribution of their Christmas cards and any VAT.

  • Kerry Katona to Light Up Thame

    THE TV personality and former Atomic Kitten, Kerry Katona, will be turning on the Christmas lights at Thame’s Santa Convention on Friday, December 5.

    Kerry Katona
    Kerry Katona

    Kerry has regularly been spotted in Thame since her move to the area two years ago. A spokesperson for Thame Town Council who is organising the Christmas event, said: “We are delighted to welcome Kerry and her family to this highlight in Thame’s calendar. Kerry will be flipping the switch at approximately 7pm with the help of the winner of this year’s Santa Hunt.” (Spot all 24 Cool Santas around Thame and you could be in with a chance! LINK HERE for more information).

    Before the the big switch-on, there’ll be lots of other activities, stalls and entertainment in the town centre from 3.30pm, and to really get in the ‘Santa Convention’ mood, everyone is encouraged to dress as a Santa character.

    The festive fun doesn’t stop after the big switch on event on Friday. The next day is Small Business Saturday, a national event which aims to ‘support, inspire and promote’ small businesses, and from 10am there’ll be stalsl, attractions and events going on around the Town Hall and Butter Market areas, including a Frozen sing-a-long, Racquets fitness test, mulled wine and a hog roast. And, for music fans, live bands will be playing outside Vintage and Modern Guitars in the Shambles in the Buttermarket.

    seans_choice_crendon_bedsAfter all that eating and drinking, what better way to burn off some of those naughty-but-nice treats than to enter the ‘Santa Dash’ Fun Run in aid of the Florence Nightingale Hospice on the Sunday, December 7. Register to take part on the website – www.fnhospice.org.uk – or sign yourself up at their Christmas stall on Friday or Saturday.

     

  • Do you know the whereabouts of this man?

    THAMES Valley Police is re-appealing for the public’s help in tracing a man wanted on recall to prison, who is believed to be in Oxfordshire, possible Thame.

    Lee Doyle, who is wanted by the police
    Lee Doyle, who is wanted by the police

    Lee Doyle, aged 29, was imprisoned for a burglary dwelling offence which he committed on June 28,  2012, and for which he was sentenced to 32-months’ imprisonment.

    He was released from custody on licence on November 18, 2013, and was recalled to prison on March 28, 2014, for breaching the terms of his licence.

    Lee Doyle is white, 6ft, slim with dark brown hair.

    PC Ollie Norridge, from Didcot Local Area CID, said: “Lee Doyle remains outstanding and is believed to be in the south Oxfordshire area, possibly in the Benson, Wallingford, or Thame area.

    “He has been wanted for more than six months and every effort is being made to locate him. We would also like to speak to him in connection with a burglary which took place in Benson Place, Oxford, on March 16, 2014.

    “I would once again like to urge members of the public to report any sightings of Doyle to the police.”

    Doyle is known to frequent Oxford and has links to Weston-super-Mare and Hayling Island in Hampshire.

    Anyone with information about the whereabouts of Lee Doyle should contact PC Norridge via the 24-hour Thames Valley Police enquiry centre on 101.

    If you don’t want to speak directly to the police you can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at Crimestoppers (opens new window). No personal details are taken, information is not traced or recorded and you will not go to court.

  • Resident’s questions for Councillor over Elms development

    DEAR EDITOR, Mike Dyer’s diatribe in the local press last week once again asserts that the Town Plan was put together by the people of Thame who voted for its adoption at a referendum.

    Certainly people were consulted and residents’ views were taken into consideration, but competing and conflicting points of view from a number of residents groups and local organisations had to be ironed out. These are the words of Jake Collinge, Planning Consultant to the Council.

    This ‘ironing out’ was done by a working group lead by Cllrs Dyer, Bretherton and Lambert who, in public statements, constantly made it clear whether they were wearing their Councillor or Plan Working Group hats at the time.

    Cllr Dyer asserts that the referendum was entirely legitimate but fails to explain, first, why people were not told in the circular that went to all households where the 775 houses would be built and second, why people were told that there was “no point in voting NO, because 775 houses were coming anyway.” The number of houses was never the issue. The plan’s purpose was not to decide the number. It was to decide WHERE the houses allocated to Thame would be built.

    Cllr Dyer has a strange inability to see this, or to accept that a large number of people who voted YES, as instructed, have since realised that they were mislead and have signed the petition against development in Elms Field. One has to wonder about Cllr Dyer and his cohorts, one of whom has wrongly accused the previous owner of the Elms from profiting from the Elms development scheme (and failed both to apologise or to redirect his accusation). Have they visited the SODC planning website and logged in to application P14/S2176/FUL and seen the number of objections registered there? It is probably a record for South Oxfordshire.

    It is also notable that Cllr Dyer has nothing to say in response to the accusation that Councillors, at the meeting which passed the Plan for referendum, were not shown an important letter from English Heritage on the subject of development on Elms Field. They were told, falsely, that the letter was received “…late, three weeks after the closing of the public consultation period.” The letter was not written as part of the consultation period. It was written within a week of a site meeting with the developer’s planning consultants, and rejected the site assessment presented by those consultants. Who gave this false information to the assembled Councillors and who thus witheld the letter? Will Cllr Dyer say it wasn’t him? Will he identify who was responsible? The minutes do not say.

    Maybe Cllr Dyer would like to clarify the issue of the other false statements made to Councillors at that meeting. These concern the nonsense about “ensuring viability”, the increase in number from 35 to 45: “…after further consideration” – consideration by whom? Also the nonsense that “feedback from the community” and the English Heritage letter had caused the increase. Also how 35 was in the plan in the first place?

    Cllr Dyer asserts that no “mistake” was made. If it wasn’t a mistake and if there is no proper rejection of the points raised in the above questions, then what are we left with?

    Peter Webb
    Thame
    Save The Elms group

  • Chinnor snatch win over stubborn adversaries

    IN a true ‘nip and tuck’ match, Chinnor RFC, with the last play of the match, snatched victory from Old Elthamians by 25-22, on Saturday (Nov 8).

    chinnorRFC (400x289)The match was affected by both wind and rain with the visitors from Chislehurst in Kent benefiting from a strong wind at their backs during the first half. The first score of the match went to Chinnor with Alfie To’oala touching down from a driven penalty lineout. Keohane’s conversion put the home side 7-0 ahead on 15 minutes. Just three minutes later, Old E’s Bressons went blind from a scrum and slipped the ball to Renford Bennett, who strolled through the Chinnor defence for a 7-5 score. The Kentish men then went into the lead when the lively Cullen charged down a Chinnor kick and was first to the ball as it crossed the Chinnor line. White converted to put the visitors 12-7 ahead on 22 minutes.

    The driving rain slowed the game down for a while. Old Elthamian’s Sullivan was yellow carded on 30 minutes for slapping the ball away as Chinnor threatened. Just three minutes from half-time, Chinnor drew level 12-12 with another driven lineout, this time Hayes being the last man on the ball.

    The second half started badly for Chinnor when scrum half Frank Jones was yellow carded for coming in at the side. Old E’s White slotted the resulting penalty to put the visitors 15-12 ahead. Keohane, for Chinnor, squared the scores again with a penalty goal on 50 minutes, 15-15.

     Chinnor re-took the lead with a try from To’oala at the rear of a rolling maul. Keohane’s conversion put the home side 22-15 ahead on 63 minutes. Daring play from the visitors was rewarded with a try from Cullen, converted by White. Old Elthamians eschewed an easy penalty kick in front of the posts for a scrum. After working the ball down the blindside, it was zipped across the open field to Cullen to bag his second try of the day and to tie the scores again.

    With a few minutes to go, Chinnor upped the pace and spent the last two minutes on the visitors’ line desperately looking for a winning score. Old E’s Nelmes succumbed to pressure to allow Keohane the easiest of penalty kicks in front of the posts to snatch a 25-22 lead as the referee blew for no side.

    SOURCE – Contributed by Dave Winpenny

  • Six in a row for Thame United

    THAME United ground-out their third consecutive 2-1 victory at Shrivenham on Saturday,November 8, to extend their winning run in the Uhlsport Hellenic League Premier Division to six matches.

    thame_united_logoOn a pitch that was sodden, United played up the pronounced slope in the first half and were, for the opening exchanges, on the back foot as the home side pressed. Indeed, they created one of their best chances on three minutes, only for the ball to be skewed wide from in front of goal. The first chance for United came on ten minutes when good interplay between the returning Marcus Mealing and Dan West saw an effort from the latter well saved by Clark in the home goal, before a goalmouth scramble ensued. Five minutes later a Mealing header from a Matt Hall cross was well saved by Clark.

    The opening goal arrived on 26 minutes when a Luke Ricketts effort went wide for a corner, which Dan Jones floated in from the left, only for West to be pushed to the ground. Referee, Neil Evans, had no hesitation in pointing to the spot and West brushed himself off to hit a powerful spot kick giving the keeper no chance. For the remainder of the half there was little goal mouth action until the last kick of the half when United failed to clear their lines and Robertson finished for the home side.

    United came out the stronger of the two teams in the second half and, following a couple of chances, what turned out to be the winning goal arrived on 51 minutes. West was fouled on the edge of the penalty area, with Dan Jones hitting the free kick low, only to see his effort come back off the post. Fortunately for United a number of players had followed the ball in to the area and Luke Ricketts was the first to react to finish from close range.

    The remainder of the game followed a similar pattern to the first half, with few goal scoring opportunities for either side. That was until the last few minutes of the game when Cockerill was twice called in to action, pulling off good saves in both instance.

    The win consolidates United’s fifth place league position before the Oxfordshire Senior Cup match next weekend against North Leigh United.

    United: Cockerill, Evans, Hall, Hercules, Burrows (Hodgkins), Lynch, Jones, Morris, West, Mealing, Ricketts

  • Supermarket’s bid to build in Thame

    TESCO has announced that it wants to build a supermarket, an eight-pump petrol station, new offices and car parking, on the edge of Thame.

    TescoView 03 (400x200)

    Tesco today confirmed that it would like to redevelop the Howland Road site it has owned since 1996, which is currently leased to DAF Trucks and also occupied by Kubota, R E Foster, Lucy Electric, M40 Cars and GMQ. The supermarket giant claims that such a development would boost the local economy by providing around 200 jobs for local people.

    Jack Pearson, Tesco’s Corporate Affairs Manager, said: “We have been keen to open a supermarket in Thame for many years and think that a store would be popular.”

    A public Consultation will be carried out before a formal planning application is submitted, beginning with an exhibition at the Barns Centre, Thame, on Novemer 28 and 29.

    Back in 1994 and then again in 1999, Tesco failed attempts to gain planning permission for an out-of-town store on the same site, and then turned its interest to the Cattlemarket site where it was equally unsuccessful in 2004/5.

    As before, Tesco’s main claim is that their supermarket will prevent money being drained away to supermarkets in other towns. In 1994, the then Thame Chamber of Commerce joined the ‘Save the Heart of Thame’ campaign to fight the proposals, its Chairman claiming that there were already five major supermarkets within 15 miles of the town, and that the chamber did not want to spoil the character of Thame.

    seans_choice_crendon_bedsHe said the local authority’s independent consultants, at the time, Hillier Parker, has estimated that a Tesco would take £10m out of the centre of Thame.

    Whether or not it will be fourth time lucky for Tesco, will depend largely on a proven need in an expanding town, and the provisions made for retail supermarkets in the Thame Neighbourhood Plan.

  • Today’s generation commemorates war dead

    Young_people_wreath_laying_Remembrance_Thame2014 (673x800) (337x400)A FLY past by two army helicopters low over Thame Memorial Gardens yesterday, brought a touch of the reality of modern warfare, to the hundreds gathered, gazing sky-ward during the annual Remembrance Day service. 

    A birds-eye-view of Sunday's crowd at the Thame Remembrance service
    A birds-eye-view of Sunday’s crowd at the Thame Remembrance service. Image by Nick White, Thame

    Representatives from the Town Council, the District and County  councils, Guides, Brownies, Scouts, the Fire Service, Showmen’s Guild, The Thame Twinning Association and many other community groups were represented, many  laying wreaths on the steps of the Thame War Memorial. The following is a full list of wreaths laid:

    Town Mayor – on behalf of the Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire for Her Magesty the Queen, Royal Air Force – RAF Halton, Royal British Legion, Royal Naval Association (Thame Branch), Merchant Navy, Polish Community, Air Training Corps, Thames Valley Police, Thame Fire & Rescue Service, St. John Ambulance, Rotary Club of Thame, Thame & District Round Table, The Lions Club of Thame, Thame Masonic Lodge, Women’s Institute, Thame Townswomen’s Guild, Thame Inner Wheel, Thame & District Twinning Association, Thame Market Traders, Lord Williams’s School Girlguiding Thame District 1, The Showmen’s Guild of Great Britain, Corner Stone Church, Christchurch, Stones Close Allotments, Co-op Funeral Care, Thame Concert Band, St Joseph’s Church, Thame, Thame Remembers, Royal Air Forces Association (Oxford & District), 594 (Thame) Squadron, South Oxfordshire District Council, Oxford County Council, Fleet Air Arm, Oxfordshire Army Cadet Force (Thame Detachment), Thame Scout Group, St Mary’s Church and Barley Hill Church.

    A minute’s silence, broken only by a distant barking dog and a restless toddler, was heralded by the bugle call, Last Post, played by Richard Van Ryne, who will also be playing outside the Town Hall on Tuesday morning (11/11) at 11am, for a collective minute’s silence.

    seans_choice_crendon_bedsPhotographs from the event can be viewed here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/thamenews/sets/72157649206080921/