Man charged with Leeman Road murder

Detectives investigating the death of Nicole Selena Waterhouse in York have charged a 25-year-old man with her murder.

The man has also been charged with the attempted murder of Karen Browne.

He was arrested in the early hours of Monday 21 October 2013 following an incident at Phoenix Boulevard in the Leeman Road area of the city during the evening of Sunday 20 October 2013.

He has been remanded in police custody and is due to appear at York Magistrates’ Court this morning (Wednesday 23 October 2013).

Crime down in York

Figures released by the Office of National Statistics for a 12 month period up until June 2013 showed crime had reduced by 6%.

They confirm that the North Yorkshire Police area is the safest place to live in England, with 42.43 recorded crimes per 1000 people.

white-collar-crime-1

More up-to-date figures show that during a 12 month period up to September 2013, crime in the North Yorkshire Police area has been reduced by 4% to a total of 34,368 crimes.

This equates to 1,598 fewer victims of crime in our communities.

The figures also highlight that certain types of crime are being effectively tackled and continue to fall, with the following positive results:

•Robbery has been reduced by 11% – with 15 fewer victims compared to the same period last year

•Burglary has been reduced by 5% – with 241 fewer victims

•Vehicle crime has been reduced by 16% – with 518 fewer victims

•Theft from a person has been reduced by 9% – with 49 fewer victims

•Cycle theft has been reduced by 4% – with 59 fewer victims

•Violence with injury has been reduced by 6% with 208 fewer victims

•Criminal damage has been reduced by 9% with 587 fewer victims

•Drug offences have been reduced by 8% – with 166 fewer crimes

•Possession of offensive weapons have been reduced by 24% – with 50 fewer crimes

Reports of sexual offences have increased by 16%, which officers believe is due to more victims having the confidence to come forward and tell the police, thanks to improved facilities such as North Yorkshire Police’s Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC).

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Poor turn out at Dringhouses “ward forum”

Only about 20 residents (plus a couple of Labour Councillors from other parts of the City) turned up at the Ward Forum last night despite the welcome attendance of Julia Mulligan the Police and Crime Commissioner.

Attendance at Ward meetings has fallen off since the council stopped publicising the meeting dates in ward newsletters.

Julia Mulligan spoke and answered questions for about an hour.

She confirmed that she is maintaining Police and PCSO numbers at the level she inherited – 1392 and 183.

On 20mph limit enforcement she said that the new ACPO guidelines would be adopted in N Yorks. This means that 20mph limits will be subject to the same process as 30mph limits. If a road has persistent speeding problems then it could be subject to enforcement. Residents will have to record their concerns through the 95 Alive forms and the same process will follow.

There will be no new resources to do this so they will just have to take their turn with all the rest. The main difference is that if people are stopped in a 20mph limit then there will be the same options of taking a speed awareness course, instead of a fine and points, as there is now for the 30mph limits.

However the new policy does represent a change of approach from the Conservatives in North Yorkshire, who have previously been as sceptical as we are about wide area 20 mph limits and the wisdom of allocating scares Police resources to roads where there have been no recorded accidents.

If any tickets are issued in the new 20 mph areas during the first year of operation, on roads with a low accident record, then it is likely that the new Council, which will be elected in May 2015, will decide to scrap the new restrictions.

Appeal: York student assaulted near Tesco on Tadcaster Road

York police are appealing for information after a college student sustained serious facial injuries during an assault on Tadcaster Road.

Between 10.35am and 10.45am on Wednesday 9 October 2013, the 19-year-old man was walking back to York College with a group of friends after attending Askham Bar Tesco store.

As the group walked along the pathway which leads to the college, an altercation took place between the group and two men who were walking towards them.

Following an exchange of words, during which the victim stood up for a younger member of the group, the victim was assaulted and sustained a broken cheek bone, jaw and eye socket.

The two suspects are described as both aged around 18, both white, one around 6ft tall, of stocky build and wearing a grey shirt, the other is around 5ft 11in and of slim build with ginger hair.
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Police change policy on 20 mph enforcement?

20 mph

Chances of a major confrontation on York’s streets, over the Labour Councils proposed “wide area” 20 mph speed limits, increased today following the publication of new enforcement guidance from the Association of Chief Police Officers.

It appears that drivers found driving between 24 mph and 31 mph in the zones may be “invited” to go on a new style “speed awareness course”. Usually the other option is a £100 fine and 3 penalty points!

Similar courses have been an option for those exceeding – by a small amount – existing speed limits. They are generally well received, but reaction, from normally law abiding motorists to the new restrictions, is less predictable.

The Labour plan involves extending lower 20 mph limits to roads on which there has never been a recorded accident.

The ACPO guidance is not open ended and talks of the need for limits to be clearly signed with natural enforcement using “engineering, visible interventions and landscaping standards” to increase driver awareness of accident risks.

Nevertheless, it is a change from the previous Police policy which (rightly) supported 20 mph limits only where they were self enforcing (for example using traffic calming systems)

The guidance does not recommend if proactive measuring of speeds should routinely take place in any new 20 mph limit areas.

So the North Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioners’ assurance, given at a public meeting on 10th April, that there would be no camera enforcement of 20 mph limits presumably still holds good.

Our view remains that the Police and Council should concentrate their resources on those roads which have a poor accident record.

The ACPO guidance reads:
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Dringhouses daytime burglaries, Foxwood auto crime arrest

The police are reporting that there were 4 day time break in yesterday (Wednesday) in the Dringhouses and Woodthorpe area.

Windows were smashed to gain entry.

Police are urging everyone to keep an eye out for suspicious behaviour and report accurate descriptions via 101.

www.northyorkshire.police.uk/york-west
@snayorkwest

Police urge caution after York burglaries

York police are urging residents to keep an eye on neighbouring properties after a number of recent burglaries.

Officers are investigating four break-ins, two of which were at houses that are currently up for sale.

Three of the burglaries occurred in close proximity to each other in the Huntington Road and Monkton Road area of the city between Friday 4 October and Monday 7 October 2013.

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