Newbury Weekly News - May 11th 2017

Thursday, May 11, 2017

Newbury Weekly News

Vehicle ‘took off’ in police pursuit

A SPEEDING car hit a traffic island so fast it “became airborne” during a dramatic police chase. Daniel James Moss nearly lost control several times as he jumped red lights and sped the wrong way around roundabouts, Reading magistrates heard on Thursday, April 27. The teenage motorist then fled on foot after leading officers on a hair-raising ride at speeds of 80mph, on the wrong side of the road, in a built-up area. Clare Barclay, prosecuting, said the 19-year-old, of The Strouds, Beenham, was guilty of “prolonged, dangerous driving”. She added: “He was fleeing from police pursuit, driving at speeds of 80mph in a 40mph limit. “He drove through a red light and nearly lost control of his vehicle on a traffic island, swerv- ing round other vehicles. “At a second roundabout he did spin out of control but managed to recover.” At one point, the court heard, Mr Moss was driving at speed on the wrong side of the road. Ms Barclay said it appeared he Carhitaroundabout and

‘became airborne’ courthears

available in a magistrates’ court. She urged district judge Shomon Khan to send Mr Moss to the crown court for sentencing. instead. Adonis Daniel, defending, pointed out that the offences had happened around 3am and that there was little or no traffic on the roads. He said the vehicles referred to, that his client had swerved around, had been stationary at the time. Mr Daniel added: “It has been described as prolonged bad driv- ing but, in fact, it was rather short.” But district judge Khan told Mr Moss: “I’ve listened carefully to what has been said on your behalf but I feel the safest option for me is to send this, on an ‘all options’ basis, to the crown court, where the judge will have a fuller sentencing range than I have.” He ordered pre-sentence reports to be prepared and imposed an interim driving ban. Mr Moss was then bailed until a date to be fixed for sentencing by a judge sitting at Reading Crown Court.

Report by JOHNGARVEY email john.gar vey@newbur ynews.co.uk twitter @johng_nwn

might even outrun the pursuing police car and escape – but even- tually his luck ran out. She explained: “He struck a roundabout and the car became airborne. “It slammed back down and continued on the wrong side of the road for a short way before slowing and then stopping.” Even then, the drama was not over, magistrates were told, as Mr Moss tried to flee on foot. He was eventually caught and arrested, and on Thursday he admitted driving a Honda Civic dangerously, failing to stop when required by police, driving with- out insurance and driving other- wise than in accordance with a licence. All the offences were commit- ted on the A33 near Reading on March 20. Mr Moss also has previous convictions, the court heard. Ms Barclay suggested that the offences were so serious they might merit more than the maxi- mum six months’ imprisonment

Newbur y ’sConservative parliamentarycandidate Richard Benyon dropped intotheEmpire Cafe forachatduring Companions Hour

Benyon boost for Companions Hour REGULARS at the Empire Cafe in Newbury were joined by some new faces at a recent Thursday morning Compan- ions Hour, including Newbury’s Conservative parliamentary candidate Richard Benyon. Following the session, Mr Benyon said: “Too few of us say hello to our neighbours, let alone have a proper conversa- tion. “Coffee Companions has intro- duced an easy way to open the communication channels. centre, 4pm-5pm. Tuesdays – Weaver’s Coffee Shop, Weaver’s Walk, 10am- 11am; Corn Exchange, Market Place, 2.30pm-3.30pm. Wednesdays – King’s Café, The Broadway, 3pm-4pm.

Thursdays – Empire Café, Cheap Street, 10.30am-11.30am; McDonald’s, Northbrook Street, 6pm-7pm. Fridays – Waterstones, Park- way, 2pm-3pm. Sundays – Waterstones, Park- way, 10.30am-11.30am; Café Rouge, Parkway, 3pm-4pm. For more information, or to download your own Chat Mat, visit www.coffeecompan- ions.co.uk May 9, offender(s) in Northbrook Street stole a wallet from a trouser pocket. Again on Tues- day, thieves stole two mountain bikes in Market Place between 5.30am and 3pm, while a Giant Talon mountain bike was taken from Bartholomew Street between 4.30pm and 5pm.

“Change doesn’t have to be expensive but failure to change may be for individuals and wider society.” The Companions Hours are held at the following coffee shops in Newbury: Mondays – Sainsbury’s, Hector Way, 10.30am-11.30am; Café Nero, Northbrook Street, 2pm-3pm; Coffee#1, Parkway, 3pm-4pm; Café Nero, Kennet Shopping POLICE are appealing for witnesses following a spate of thefts in Newbury town centre. On Sunday, May 7, at around 4.30pm, thieves stole a mobile phone from a coat pocket in a shop queue at a premises in Oxford Road. Then, between 3.10pm and 3.25pm on Tuesday,

The 60-minute session, organ- ised by community group Coffee Companions, encourages customers to chat to each other in an effort to provide social interaction for some older or isolated residents. Customers are issued with a ‘Chat Mat’, and if they want to get chatting they show the green side, but the red side shows they don’t want to be disturbed. Did you see thefts in the town centre?

District council has new switchboard number WEST Berkshire Council has changed its customer switch- board number to (01635) 551111. Although more people are accessing West Berkshire switchboard each week. The former (01635) 42400 switchboard number will remain active until the end of March 2018. West Berkshire Council's out-of-hours emergency number remains (01635) 42161. The council has an ongoing programme to provide more services online, which will reduce costs for the authority, ranging from accessing informa- tion and advice, requesting new bins or the cutting of overgrown hedges. These can be accessed at www.westberks.gov.uk services online, it still receives more than 2,330 phone calls to its

Shop assistant recognised shoplifter from their school days after seeing CCTV footage

Newmayor NEWBURY will have a new mayor this week. The town council was due to elect the new figurehead at a meet- ing last night (Wednes- day). The new incumbent will then be formally installed at the annual town council meeting in Newbury Town Hall at 10am on Sunday. Retiring mayor Julian Swift-Hook will present his report on his year in office.

has had in life. “The theft itself was pretty blatant. “He just walked in with another young man, picked up a case of lager and walked out.” Magistrates made Mr Dickins subject to a nine-month condi- tional discharge and ordered him to pay £20 compensation to One Stop plus a statutory victim services surcharge of £20. No order was made for costs because Mr Dickins is on bene- fits.

alcohol worth £20 from the One Stop store in Fairview Road, Hungerford, on March 4. He has previous convictions. Mike Davis, defending, handed magistrates a daily newspaper cutting headline which read: ‘Mum’s reign of cruelty’ which outlined abuse his client had suffered as a child while temporarly living in another town with his mother. He added: “The newspaper article may give you some idea of the sort of start this young man

A NEWBURY man travelled to Hungerford for a shoplifting outing. Jordan Richard Dickins, aged 18, of Kings Road, was only caught because a shop assistant recognised him from CCTV footage. Sarah McKay, prosecuting, told Reading magistrates on Thursday, April 20, that the employee had recognised Mr Dickins from school days and reported his identity to police. Mr Dickins admitted stealing

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