Police make urgent appeal to trace missing pensioner

AN urgent appeal was made by police today for people in West Somerset to help find a Westcountry pensioner who has gone missing from a care home.
Police said they were becoming increasingly concerned for the welfare of Isabel Macdonald (pictured), aged 71.
She was last seen leaving her care home in Lindridge Road, Torquay, South Devon at 8.30 am on Saturday.
Now, Avon and Somerset Constabulary has circulated an appeal on behalf of the Devon and Cornwall force in an effort to widen the search for Mrs Macdonald.
She was described as white, 5 ft 2 in tall, of slight build, with wavy grey hair.
Mrs Macdonald was last seen wearing a light coloured grey mac and carrying a shoulder bag.
She walks with the aid of a stick.
Anybody who has had a sighting of Mrs Macdonald, or has any information as to her whereabouts, should contact Devon and Cornwall Police by calling 08452 777444 and quoting log number 837 24/01/09.

Family 'wait and see' after car shop man is seriously injured

AN elderly man who was seriously injured yesterday when he was hit by a car in Williton has been named as John Slade (pictured), the proprietor of car spares and accessories shop Motorline.
Mr Slade, aged 63, who lives with his wife Sandra in Watchet, appears to have been run over by a woman customer’s car outside his Robert Street shop.
He suffered ‘significant head injuries’and leg injuries and was flown by air ambulance to the intensive care unit of Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton.
Today, his condition was said to be “comfortable” and he was now being cared for on a general ward of the hospital.
Son-in-law Darren Elliot said Mr Slade’s condition had stablilised but he was still extremely poorly.
Mr Elliot said: “We just have to wait and see.”
Police have appealed for any witnesses to the incident to come forward to help their inquiries.
They believe Mr Slade was standing behind the customer’s car when it suddenly reversed into him and dragged him some distance along the road.
Mr Slade is the main sponsor of Watchet Cricket Club and also runs Great Western Cars, a luxury chauffeur service with a 1930s-style Asquith limousine.
Anybody with any information about the accident should call the police on 0845 4567000.

Car repair man critically injured as second vehicle hits him

A WILLITON man was airlifted to hospital this afternoon after suffering serious head injuries when he was hit by a car.
The Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance (pictured) was called when the accident happened in Robert Street, Williton, shortly before 12.45 pm.
The man, who lives locally and is aged his 60s, was working on a parked car when he was struck by a second car.
The air ambulance took him to Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton, where his condition was said to be ‘critical’.
Police closed Robert Street for several hours while an investigation to establish the cause of the collision was started.
They appealed for any witnesses to come forward to help the inquiry.
Anybody with information about the incident should contact Avon and Somerset Constabulary by calling 0845 456 7000.

Missing Nafisa is found safe in London

A TEENAGE girl who went missing 13 days ago has been found safe and well, police said today.
Nafisa Diyar (pictured), aged 13, of Minehead, disappeared on Sunday, January 4, during a trip to a Devon activity park.
She was thought to have headed for London on board a train to contact a relative who lived in the city, although she never arrived at the woman’s address.
After an appeal for help from the public, Nafisa was discovered yesterday in Ealing, West London, although police did not issue any further details of what had happened to her.
Police had been concerned that Nafisa was ‘vulnerable’ because of her young age.
The media was thanked by police for its help in locating missing Nafisa.

Police find missing mother and five girls in Germany

A MISSING mother and her five daughters, whom residents and visitors in West Somerset were asked to watch out for, have been found today in Germany.
The family disappeared from their home in Sunderland six months ago and a nationwide search was launched for them.
Now, Natalie Bracht, aged 34, who was said to suffer from a personality disorder, and her daughters aged from five to 13 years, have been found safe and well in Germany.
Northumbria Police were supported by the Avon and Somerset Constabulary and other forces across the country and in Europe before the family was discovered in Munich.
The five children have been placed in the care of German authorities.
A spokesman for Northumbria Police said they were working with their German counterparts and would speak with Ms Bracht ‘in due course’.
The spokesman said: “I am happy that the girls have been found safe and well.
“I would like to thank the public and the media for their help and assistance in this matter.”

• Our photographs of the family were released by police from CCTV taken at a London train station. Photos submitted.

Mystery of woman found dead in the sea off Watchet coast

POLICE are appealing for help to identify a woman found dead in the sea off Watchet by the crew of a fishing boat yesterday.
The partially-clothed woman is believed to be aged between 40 to 60 years and may have been in the water for several days.
She was spotted about 550 yards from the coast area at about noon and was recovered from the water by the Coastguard and Minehead Lifeboatmen.
Police are liaising with neighbouring forces along the Bristol Channel to see if the woman’s description matches any reported missing persons.
The dead woman was described as white, about 5 ft 7 ins tall, of medium to plump build, with short collar-length brown hair.
She was wearing calf length black zip-up leather boots and a brown coloured T-Line branded fleece jacket.
Police said a post mortem examination to determine her cause of death was due to be held later this week.
A spokesman said police were keeping an open mind on the woman’s death, pending the outcome of the post mortem.
Police want to hear from anybody who recognises the description of the woman or who has had a female family member or friend go missing during the past week.
Anybody able to help is asked to contact Taunton CID by calling 0845 4567000.

• Our photograph shows the lighthouse on Watchet Harbour sea wall. Photo by Ian Chilton.

Car crime appeal at old people's home

POWER tools and a purse and keys have been stolen from a vehicle parked at an old people’s care home in Periton Road, Minehead.
The white Renault Kangoo was broken into some time between 8 am and 11 am on Monday, October 20.
At about the same time, an unsuccessful attempt was made to break into a white Peugeot Partner van.
Police would like anybody who may have any information on the incident to contact them at Minehead police station by calling 0845 4567000 or to contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111, where reports can be made anonymously.

• Our photograph shows a Renault Kangoo (illustrative only).

New appeal supports ChildLine base for Westcountry

‘LET no cry go unheard’, is the rallying call of a local fund-raising appeal being launched today which, if successful, will massively increase the capacity of the NSPCC’s Exeter-based South West ChildLine service to help children in distress.
The fund-raising drive and expansion plans are key elements of the well-known child protection charity’s most prominent appeal since it launched the Full Stop Campaign in 1999.
Called the Child’s Voice Appeal, it aims to raise £50 million nationally over the next three years to continue to run and grow its listening services - like that provided by the ChildLine base at Exeter - and also by its national helpline for adults with concerns about a child.
A launch event is due to take place in Exeter city centre at 3 pm today where thousands of bubbles will be released into the air.
The NSPCC said its plans involved building on the existing telephone services and recruiting and training more volunteer counsellors to respond to children in need of help.
Services will eventually also include counselling online and by text.
Last year, the charity answered two-thirds of calls to ChildLine and three-quarters of calls to the adult helpline.
The Government is providing £30 million towards the development of the NSPCC helplines over the next four years.
An additional £50 million raised by the public through the Child’s Voice Appeal is needed to continue running the existing services and to get the development off the ground.
The local proposals, which would cost £2.6 million to implement, could see as many as 150 counsellors based in Exeter.
It is currently the smallest of the 15 existing and planned UK ChildLine bases with around 30 trained volunteer counsellors available for shifts supervised by five experienced, paid staff.
Nationally, the expansion would allow:

• Growth of the NSPCC Helpline nationally by more than 60 per cent to counsel 18,000 more adults who have concerns about a child
• 500,000 more calls every year put through to ChildLine volunteers
• Young people to choose how they access help - by phone, online, or by text, wherever they live

Last year, the South West base counsellors counselled 2,529 young callers about everything from feeling suicidal to family break-ups.
The average length of a call is around 20 minutes but hour-long calls are not uncommon. Many callers ring more than once.
At the moment, the South West base has two shifts operating at peak times for calls on three days a week.
Outside these times, calls are routed to other bases which may or may not have capacity to deal with the calls.
Calls are routed to the nearest base available.
ChildLine South West children’s services manager Cheryl Marshall said: “ChildLine is a vital service for children so they have somebody to turn to, whatever the worry.
“Donations really will really make a direct impact in providing this service as we can provide more counsellors to counsel children, as well as allowing us to develop other ways for young people to communicate with us.
“It is important to remember, too, the children and young people who are unable to contact ChildLine themselves, be it because they are too young, or too scared.
“Whatever the reason, we want adults who are worried about a child to be able to contact the NSPCC helpline.
“The support and advice they receive calms fears, solves problems - and even saves lives.”
To support the appeal launch, a new TV advertising campaign will screen from this evening which draws on the theme of voices being heard (image above).
For further information visit: www.childsvoiceappeal.org.uk or call freephone 0844 892 0562 for support with fundraising.
In April last year, ChildLine South West was able to relocate from Newton Abbot to Exeter city centre premises capable of housing expansion of the service thanks to funding from the Children’s Promise, a project jointly developed by the New Millennium Experience and Marks and Spencer.
The new accommodation is shared with the NSPCC’s Young Witness Support Service which helps child witnesses who have to give evidence in court - mostly in sexual abuse cases.

Appeal for witnesses to A39 three-car smash

POLICE have today, Wednesday, January 30, launched an appeal for witnesses to a serious road traffic accident which happened on the A39 neare Minehead last week.
PC Richard Overall is appealing for anybody who witnessed the accident to contact him at Minehead police station.
It happened shortly after 7 am on Tuesday, January 22, on the Dunster straight near the sawmills works.
A blue Peugeot 307 and blue Mini Cooper were travelling towards Minehead when they collided with a black Vauxhall Calibra travelling in the opposite direction.
The three-car crash resulted in the A39 being shut for several hours while the three drivers were cut free from the wreckage and the extensive amount of debris was cleared.
PC Overall said although it was a serious incident, none of the injuries suffered by the drivers - two women and a man - were life-changing.
It was the second serious road accident on the A39 outside Minehead in little more than a fortnight.

Murder squad police launch inquiry after Minehead street fight

A SERIOUS crimes inquiry was started in Minehead today, Sunday, January 20, after a man suffered life-threatening injuries in a running street brawl.
The man, aged in his mid-30s, was found at about 1 am in Blenheim Road, near the rear access to the town's hospital, suffering from serious head injuries.
It was thought that he had been stabbed during a fight which started in Wellington Square and which continued as a running battle through The Parade and into Blenheim Road.
The victim was taken to Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton, in a critical condition, where he remained on a life-support machine.
Police have issued an appeal for witnesses and have asked anybody with information to contact Minehead Police Station on 0845 4567000.
The Parade and Blenheim Road remained sealed off this afternoon while crime scene officers carried out a detailed examination of the area.
Officers were also carrying out house-to-house inquiries in the area and examining film on the town centre CCTV tapes.

Judge overturns first Exmoor hunting conviction

THE first huntsman to be prosecuted under the Hunting Act, Tony Wright, of the Exmoor Foxhounds, has had his conviction overturned on appeal.
Mr Wright, aged 53, had been found guilty in August of last year by magistrates sitting in Barnstaple of breaching section one of the Act while leading the foxhounds at Drybridge, in Devon.
The prosecution was brought by the League Against Cruel Sports, which said a hunt on April 29, 2005, allowed the hounds a ‘prolonged period of pursuit’ of a fox on two occasions.
Under the Act, all that is lawful is the exercising of hounds, chasing a scent trail, and flushing out foxes to be shot.
Mr Wright, of Exmoor Kennels, Simonsbath, was fined £500 by the magistrates and ordered to pay £250 costs.
But now, at an appeal heard in Exeter Crown Court on Friday, November 30, the conviction has been quashed.
Judge Graham Cottle allowed the appeal and said he was satisfied Mr Wright reasonably believed he had put in place safeguards which he thought would ensure compliance with the Act.
The Exmoor is one of only two fox hunts to have been prosecuted successfully.
More people have been convicted of hunting rats under the Act than have been found guilty of illegal fox hunting.
Countryside Alliance chief executive Simon Hart said: “This verdict is an absolute vindication of Tony Wright and the Exmoor Foxhounds and another nail in the coffin of the Hunting Act.
“While we celebrate this judgment, however, we must not forget why an innocent man faced with a vindictive private prosecution has had to spend over two years and two court cases to clear his name.
“The Hunting Act is not only a pointless and prejudiced piece of legislation, it is also a very bad law.
“If the courts cannot be sure what is hunting and what is not, how on earth can anybody else.
“Only by scrapping the Act can we ensure that other innocent people will not be persecuted and today’s result adds to the clear case for its repeal.”
The case has cost the League more than £100,000 to pursue, after Avon and Somerset Police refused to prosecute based on the available evidence.
Mr Wright was ‘delighted’ with the appeal result and said afterwards the Hunting Act was a ‘very difficult law to interpret’ and ‘probably not very well written for people like myself to understand’.
For the League, Mike Hobday, head of its prosecution unit, said: “We shall be taking urgent legal advice about the prospects of appealing on some of the findings of law.”
Mr Hobday described the appeal result as ‘deeply surprising’ and said he was ‘shocked and disappointed’ at the legal interpretation of the Hunting Act.

• Our photograph shows an image from a video of an Exmoor Foxhounds hunt used by the League in its prosecution. Photo submitted.