Court report

A man with a schizophrenia background was given a suspended sentence yesterday at Bournemouth Crown Court amidst the “escalation of violence” related to knife crime.

Simon James, 32, was charged with possession and production of a knife in public place, which was “serious” in the words of Mr. J. Fuller Q.C.

On July, 23 last year, the defendant was overheard quarrelling with his girlfriend in a flat in Poole, Dorset. Close by were the car wash facilities, said Miss Carolyn Branford Wood, prosecuting. On that Wednesday afternoon, James, holding a knife with his right hand, entered the premises and pinned a man against the wall. A witness said: “I could see terror on the lad’s face”.

The police arrested James and seized a number of knives including the kitchen knife he used. Mr. Chris Gair, defending stated his client’s act was merely to show that he had a knife.

Miss Wood mentioned the drunken state of the defendant after drinking gin. James was so drunk that he could not remember anything when interviewed afterwards.

In 2003, James was arrested for drink-related disorder. Two years later, he was sentenced at Southampton Crown Court for dishonesty offences.

The man suffered from “spontaneous, irrational thinking”, “high anxiety”, some schizophrenic symptoms listed in his psychiatric report. Mr. Gair said James was caught in a “vicious circle” where he was disadvantaged because of his mental illness. The defendant was said to have tried to “get his life back on track” as well as seeking medical advice; “It was not his bad.” However, James did fail to attend his appointment due to family entanglements.

The judge announced a suspended sentence of 6 months with an operational period of 18 months. Mr. Fuller Q.C. stressed the public concern with the growing knife culture, which had just been highlighted by this case.

Nightmare before Christmas

Two bears from a vandalised Christmas theme park have been shot dead by Dorset police.

Superintendent Deb Daubery said the public was no longer in danger from the wild animals. Kirsty and Phill – 2 North American brown bears - escaped from Tinsel town theme park, Bournemouth after their cage was tampered with in the vandalism today. Mr Bob Statten, the owner, discovered the damages to the theme park first thing when he went to work at 8am.

“It is a sad ending but we had no choice” – Mr Daubery said. The bears did not react to the tranquiliser in the first place and ran away into the area of residence. They have now been removed from a garden on Glenferness Avenue, near Bournemouth University where the incident took place.

Police also arrested an animal rights activist, who dressed up as a bear to distract them from capturing the real animals.

One member of the Bear Unity movement – Sky, 14 said “I’m here to take the bullet for them”. The police risked shooting one of these people but none were injured.

Sky said the bears should have never been kept in Tinsel town. “People need freedom. The bears need freedom”, he assimilated the captivity to Guantanamo Bay prison. “We need to stop the exportation of animals.”

“We would die for our cause”, the activist wanted to send his message across to the owner of Tinsel town that “the bears should live unmolested by people”.

During the course of the search, a man was bitten by one of the 2 bears. Steve Bond – a worker for Meyrick Park - suffered from a minor injury to his shoulder while in a kebab shop at 1:30 am the previous day. “It’s a natural thing” – said Sky – “If the bears are brought to the urban and suburban areas, they will attack people”.

It will take a couple of weeks before the theme park could be reopen to the public. “It has ruined Christmas for the children”, said Mr Statten.

NATIONAL YEAR OF READING SCHEME BOOSTS BOURNEMOUTH BOOK BORROWERS

The National Year of Reading has recruited 12,506 new borrowers to Bournemouth libraries since its official public launch in April this year.

This adds to the existing number of active borrowers, which is 53,835 – around a third of Bournemouth population. Ms. Gerardine Bodey – Area Manager of Bournemouth Libraries said the increase was significant. In the same period of time last year, only 8,653 people took up library membership.

The National Year of Reading, led by the National Literacy Trust and the Reading Agency, is a government-backed scheme with the slogan “Everything starts with reading”. There are a number of monthly themes all embracing the core values of promoting reading in wider communities.

In Bournemouth, as part of the initiative, the Frankenstein novel written in 1817 by Mary Shelley was picked for ‘The Big Bournemouth Read’. The aim is to encourage everyone in the borough to engage in reading and discussing about the book. This latest theme, chosen for the connections between the author and Bournemouth, was set to take place from October to December. The writer - Mary Shelley - was buried at St Peter’s Church, Bournemouth in 1851. Her son was living in Boscombe Manor not far from there at the time.

The book stock in Bournemouth libraries up to April this year was 313,308. If aligned by length, the books would form a line of around 42 miles, that is 6 times the length of Bournemouth‘s golden sands. Last year, the average number of visitors to Bournemouth libraries each day was 2,890.

Drinking during the credit crunch: what Bournemouth has to say

By Linh Dao and Vicky Meadows

The British Beer and Pub Association reported a slump in beer sales of approximately 1.8 million pints a day.
So have the government awareness campaigns been effective in making people drink less? Or are we simply drinking less beer and turning to cheaper types of alcohol due to the credit crunch?

A random sample of 10 people on the streets of Bournemouth is asked to give opinions on what is responsible for the decline in beer sales.

Sociology student Amy Bryant, 20 from Norton Road, Winton blamed the credit crunch. She said students have to start saving for necessities and cannot afford expensive alcohol.

Amy Bryant


Ms Holland, from Boscombe, said “It’s definitely a money issue”. She only drinks once a year but said that when she does, it’s from cheap supermarkets.


“The credit crunch has nothing to do with this”- said Perkins David, a retired councillor from Parley Road, Winton. He said the Government’s actions to cut down on youth drinking culture were really helpful.

Perkins David

Dave, a 24-year-old student from Lansdowne said: “Just because beer sales are down, doesn’t mean people are drinking less. They just buy booze that’s cheaper than beer” .


Lewis, who works in the Old Fire Station - a popular student pub - shared Dave’s view. He said: “I go out less because I can’t afford beer, not because I think I should drink less.”


An unemployed chap from Elgin Road, Winton commented, “The government hasn’t really done anything has it?” Jeremy Canning said that finding a job was already hard, let alone affording binge drinking.

Jeremy Canning, unemployed


Regular drinker Alix Traynor from Boscombe believes that it’s the price of beer that puts people off, claiming; “I buy cheap spirits in the supermarket. Gets you wrecked, don’t it?”


Nani Leung, a non-drinker from Knole Road, Boscombe, attributed the sales slump to the credit crunch. The 30-year-old carer said the fall also affects other commodities, not just alcohol.

Nani Leung, non-drinker

Paula Castano, a student from Christchurch Road, Lansdowne, solely blames the increased tax on beer for the lack of sales. “It’s too expensive” she said.

Whilst most people appeared to blame the current financial climate for the falling beer sales, Gerard Howell, a lawyer from London believed the government’s measures have had just as much impact. “Government alone can’t stop people from drinking, there’s got to be a real squeeze from the credit crunch.”

Gerard Howell