A 49-year-old man who was arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with the death of Deborah Smith in Wheatley on Monday (26/5) has today (30/5) been released from hospital.
The man remains in custody and is due to be questioned about the incident over the weekend.
The man is understood to be the victim’s husband of one year, Russell Yeates.
Author: Sonja Francis
-
Wheatley murder – update
-
Tribute from Wheatley murder victim’s family
THE following tribute has come today from the family of Deborah Smith, who was murdered in Wheatley on Bank Holiday Monday;
“Deborah was a lovely, bubbly, fun person, who was a wonderful daughter, mother, sister, auntie and friend.
“As a family we are absolutely heartbroken by the loss of Deborah. Our lives will never be the same.
“We love and miss her. A most precious sister, daughter and mother, has been taken from us.
From,
Mum and dad, Mavis and Gerald and brother, Gary Wiffen. “Photo: Deborah Smith
-
Review of bus services
BUSES in the area came up for some discussion at a recent meeting of Thame Town Council’s Planning Committee.
After pointing out that without county council subsidy, there would be no local public transport, Cllr Jeanette Matelot-Green, the town council’s Transport representative, reported back some changes in the Oxfordshire Local Travel Plan Bus Strategy:
1. The revenue budget is to be increased by 25%.
2. The Rural Bus Subsidy Grant would subsequently come
from the government.
3. With any new development, the council expects
developers themselves to subsidise any public
transport until that transport became viable.
4. There will now be only one review per year
instead of two. Thame and Wheatley will next be
reviewed in 2011.
5. If a service is stopped, it will now have to wait
10 years to be reconsidered for support.
6. Tenders for joint public and schools services will
no longer be sought, but school pupils and the
public kept separate.
7. New bus services will not be introduced if there
is another service available within 400 m i.e.
quarter of a mile.
8. If the cost per passenger is less than -
Thame planning notes
THE following are notes from the latest meeting of Thame Town Council’s Planning committee meeting on Tuesday, May 27.
The committee’s new Chairman is Cllr David Bretherton, and Cllr Beatrice Dobie is the new Vice Chairman.Once again the committee recommended refusal of an application for Outline residential development on the old Thame United site in Windmill Road. The committee felt that the Amendment of the inclusion of a flood assessment, did not change its reasons for refusing the application before in that it is still over-development of the site and that increased traffic generation would not be unacceptable.
The committee was against an application to remove the existing old lath and plaster ceiling of 15, High Street, Thame, and replace it with plaster board, stating that, as recommended by SODC Conservation Officers, it should be replaced like-for-like.
From April 6, Planning applications to South Oxfordshire District Council can now be made on line.
-
Thame to be one of the first to ‘fly the flag’
THAME has become one of the first towns in England to permanently fly the Union flag from a public building, following the recent lifting of restrictions on flag flying, “to boost national identity.”
The idea to fly flags from the town hall came from Cllr Mike Dyer, who brought the suggestion to a recent meeting of the town council’s Policy and Resources committee.The restrictions to fly flags on only 18 named days in the year, had been in force since 1924.
From today, both the Union ‘Jack’ and the European Union flag will be flown every day and other flags, such as the St George flag and the French flag, flown on other relevant days.
-
District Council leader tipped for Tory election battle
THE leader of the Conservative group at South Oxfordshire District Council has been tipped to stand in place of Boris Johnson at a by-election in his Henley constituency, called after he was elected as Mayor of London.
Read the full story.
Photo: Anne Ducker, Leader of the Conservative group and former Council Leader at South Oxfordshire District Council
-
Man arrested on suspicion of murder
A 49 year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder, in connection with the death yesterday of a woman from Wheatley, found with her throat cut on Bank Holiday Monday.
Police remain at the bedside of 49 year-old Russell Yeates, who was also discovered at the scene of the incident in Bell Lane, Wheatley, with a wound to his neck.He has now recovered consciousness and his condition is said to be stable and not life-threatening.
-
Lib Dems Thame HQ signs up for ‘green’ energy (Status: Press release)
THE Lib Dems election candidate, Stephen Kearney’s campaign for Henley has signed up to Good Energy, a supplier of 100% renewable energy, for their headquarters in Thame.
The new headquarters in Bertie Road, Thame, was officially opened at the weekend by the President of the Liberal Democrats, Simon Hughes MP. Mr Hughes was joined by a large team of activists in supporting Stephen Kearney’s campaign for Henley.Simon Hughes MP said: “The Conservatives will under-estimate the Liberal Democrat challenge at their peril. We have a fantastic team here led by Miranda Roberts who have been campaigning for many weeks already. Stephen Kearney will make a fantastic MP for the local area, he will be a strong voice for local people and will really listen to local communities.
“The Liberal Democrats are the clear challengers to the Conservatives in this election. Just two years ago the Liberal Democrats achieved a 14% swing from the Conservatives. If we do the same here in Henley we will take the seat.
“I would urge all Liberal Democrat members to make a visit to our fantastic headquarters. Already the Liberal Democrat by-election machine is in full swing, Nick Clegg has sent out a survey to local residents and thousands of replies have been flooding back to the HQ. There are lots of local leaflets and surveys being distributed already and many more are being produced.”
The Liberal Democrats are taking a series of environmentally friendly measures as part of their campaign in order to highlight the simple steps people can take to reduce their impact on the environment.Liberal Democrat Campaigner, Stephen Kearney said:
“There are so many little things that we all can do to help safequard the future of the planet by signing up to Good Energy we are trying to do our bit.”For further details of the Liberal Democrats’ environmentally friendly actions visit Web Link
-
Woman murdered in Wheatley (Status: Press release)
THE Police have launched a murder investigation after the death of a woman in Wheatley yesterday (26/5).
Officers were called to Bell Lane at around 4.15pm following reports of an altercation between a man and a woman.Officers entered an address where they discovered a woman with serious injuries. A man was also injured. Both were taken to the JR2 Hospital where the 47-year-old woman was pronounced dead on arrival.
The man, aged in his forties, remains at the JR2 Hospital in a stable condition.
Det Insp Colin Seaton, leading the investigation, said: ?I would like to reassure the community of Wheatley that we are treating this as an isolated incident.
?We are still in the very early stages of the investigation and would ask anyone with information that could assist our inquiry to contact police immediately.?The woman has not yet been formally identified.
A post-mortem is expected to take place today (27/5).
Anyone with information about the incident is urged to contact Det Insp Seaton via Thames Valley Police Enquiry Centre on 0845 8 505 505. If you don?t want to speak to police and don?t want to leave your name contact the Crimestoppers charity on 0800 555 111.