A THURROCK teenager was the main subject of a BBC documentary The Prisoners. Jade West (18) was followed by the BBC film crew as she tried to break a cycle of offending. Jade, a former student at the Chafford Hundred Campus (now Harris Academy Chafford) was first seen in a distressed state in HMP Holloway, where she is seen trying to kill herself.
BORDER officials have seized cocaine estimated to have a street value of £17m at Tilbury docks. The drugs, weighing 370lb (168kg), were found inside seven holdalls which had been placed on top of legitimate cargo of tin alloys in two containers.
The containers arrived from Senegal and were bound for Belgium.
TWO men were arrested by police in South Ockendon around 1.15am on Saturday morning (April 20). A BMW car failed to stop for police doing a routine stop check and then crashed into a lamp post a short distance away in Daiglen Drive. The driver and passenger received minor injuries and were checked out at hospital before being arrested. The car was badly damaged.
POLICE have now charged a man with causing death by careless driving following a fatal road crash in Purfleet last October. The collision occurred on the A1306 Arterial Road, near the junction with Watts Crescent at about 3.55pm on Sunday, October 28, 2012. The incident involved a white motorcycle, a silver Transit van and a green HGV parked in a lay-by.
A SECOND man has appeared in court today charged with the murder of father-of-two, Liam Holden. Ryan Wood (21), unemployed, of Godman Road, Chadwell St Mary, was originally arrested on suspicion of murder and bailed until May 22, pending further enquiries.
ESSEX Police and Crime Commissioner Nick Alston has announced half-a-million pounds’ worth of funding for community initiatives to reduce crime.
The £500,000 New Initiatives Fund will be distributed to local groups who feel they can tackle crime in their areas. Schemes can include supporting victims, reducing youth offending, tackling re-offending and combating drug and alcohol abuse.
SKATEBOARD fans were left heartbroken this morning as a visit to a new park in Purfleet unearthed that it had been severely damaged by fire. The park at Spiderfields off Tank Hill Road was opened in February 2012 with over £50,000 spent on facilities for skateboarders and parkour enthusiasts.
DETECTIVES are appealing for information on the whereabouts of a pizza bag following a robbery in Grays. A delivery man had been attending a residential address on Mill Road at 10pm on Tuesday, April 16 when he was approached by several men who threatened him with a firearm, before stealing the pizza bag and its food contents.
The Community Protection Team has had another successful year addressing the ongoing problem of fly-tips in the Borough. We all know this is a major concern for our residents so we have concentrated the efforts of the Team on delivering a robust programme of prevention. This year we have seen a 25% reduction in the number of fly-tips reported in 2012/13, compared with the previous year, down from 1,299, to 972. The improvement in the figures is partly attributable to the work of the team in targeting vehicles carrying waste and enforcing the rules on waste carrier licences. This has been done in conjunction with the Police and is a productive way to disrupt fly-tippers before they tip and so avoid otherwise costly clear up and investigations. 11 fixed penalty notices were served for failure to produce appropriate waste licences during the year.
POLICE are reminding people to keep their bags and keys out of sight to help prevent burglaries following an incident in Deben, East Tilbury, where a car was taken from the driveway. Thieves had got into the premises and took a bag containing the car keys for a black VW Golf on Thursday, April 11 sometime overnight.
Investigators from the EA believe that criminals are making huge sums of money by charging to take away household or business waste but then dumping it at remote rural locations instead of using official permitted sites.
The rubbish is being compacted into plastic wrapping, capable of holding about half a ton. These are taken to fields or open land and built into haystack shapes, to give the impression that they are seemingly ‘normal’ plastic bags used by farmers to store hay, straw or silage.
POLICE are hoping someone will be able to identify a man from an e-fit they are issuing following an attempted accosting in Corringham.
A woman in her 40s was running in One Tree Hill Country Park just before 8am on April 4, 2013 when she was approached from behind by a man who grabbed hold of her in a sexual manner. The woman managed to free herself and sought help from nearby dog walkers. She was unharmed but shaken.
A GRAYS man was fined after attempting to bring drugs into a Suffolk prison in a balloon reports the Bury Free Press. Conor Hughes, 21, hid a quantity of cannabis inside a balloon as he visited a friend at Highpoint prison in Suffolk
PARENTS of a much-loved Chadwell man killed in a crash in Crete say they will never give up in their pursuit of justice for their son. Glen Daly, 24, of Chadwell St Mary, died when his motorcycle was involved in a collision with a lorry on the Greek island in June 2009.
An £800 reward is being offered for the safe return of a unique African painting stolen in south-west Essex in which thieves also stole a number of limited-edition designer T-shirts which commemorated the launch of David Bowie’s album in March.The items were taken from a lorry on London Road in West Thurrock at 1pm on Tuesday, March 5. As well as the T-shirts, a number of Paul Smith trousers and shoes were also taken with all the designer clothing worth an estimated £165,000.
