New Milton Advertiser 25th December 2020

Friday 25th December 2020

70P

N EW M ILTON A DVERTISER | advertiserandtimes.co.uk

Sport Festive football postponed due to tier restrictions Pages 15-16

Season’s greetings

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Happy Christmas from all of us at the A&T

Woman’s relief as her rapist jailed

Pandemic can’t stop Santa

INSIDE Search for owner of wedding ring found by treasure hunters Page 3 90-year-old veteran has electric bike stolen for the second time Page 5 Jail for man who stamped on pregnant girlfriend in lockdown Page 9 Antique linked to death of Lord Nelson comes up for sale Page 11 12 Christian Comment 14 Letters 14 From Our Files 17 Puzzle Corner 17 Food and Drink 18 Reflections 19 Classifieds 22-24 Motoring 25-26 Family Announcements back page LT Price Rise 03 9 771353 223033 51 Index Obituary Planning 11

Man (70) likely to die in prison for ‘horrible’ crimes over 11 years

“I feel more able to take life in my stride and look forward to new adventures and making plans for the future.” At Southampton Crown Court Judge Christopher Park- er sent down Boyt, who was previously found guilty at a trial of eight counts of indecent as- sault and one count of rape. The offences were committed in the 1980s and 1990s. Boyt, of Beech Crescent, had pleaded not guilty to all counts and maintained his innocence, the court heard. At the sentencing he was castigated by Judge Parker for what he said were “horrible”

Father Christmas made some early visits helped by New Milton Round Table – full story, page 3

BY JON WALLER

Forest fences ‘carnage’ warning

A BRAVE rape victim has re- vealed her pride at standing up in court to her now-70-year-old attacker who has been jailed for 21 years. Stephen Boyt, from Hythe, is likely to die in prison for “hor- rible” crimes a jury convicted him of committing against the woman over an 11-year period which started more than three decades ago. In a defiant statement to Southampton Crown Court, where Boyt was sentenced, the woman – who cannot be named for legal reasons – said she was determined to move on with her life. She said she was proud of herself for speaking out and grateful to the criminal justice system for hearing her voice. “When I spoke out, it felt like 20,000 breeze blocks had been removed from my head and, when the verdict came back, felt like 28,000 more had been lifted,” she said. “It was such a relief that I had spoken out and people had listened and were doing some-

HAMPSHIRE County Council is being urged to strengthen fences to reduce the risk of New Forest animals wandering onto busy main roads and causing “carnage”. Concerns have been raised

for several months at meet- ings of the verderers that the existing post-and-wire bar- riers are not strong enough, and some repairs by highway teams have not been up to standard.

According to latest minutes of their November meeting, the issue is being taken up with the authority by Cllr Ed- ward Heron – who as well as being a verderer is also on HCC’s ruling cabinet, and a member of the national park authority. The promised action followed a presentment to the verderers by Tony Vanderhoek, from the Commoners’ Defence Associa- tion committee, who highlight- ed fences beside the A337, A35 and A326. He said: “The default stock fencing standard adopted by HCC is very poor and I urge the verderers make it clear to HCC to improve the standard of fencing. “No one wants to see breach- es by commoners’ animals onto these busy, fast roads and the people/animal carnage that

Stephen Boyt

thing about it. I now know that I am not a victim – I am a sur- vivor.” She continued: “I was a nerv- ous wreck going to court. But I did what I needed to do by giv- ing evidence and, where once I felt trapped, I now feel relieved. “When the [guilty] verdicts came I felt lighter and it was an indescribable thing being there and hearing confirmation that someone had listened to me.” She added: “I am now start- ing to feel stronger in myself and can now express myself with friends, and this has had a positive impact on my relation- ships. “I do not feel I will ever be 100% and it will be a slow pro- cess. But I feel I can now see a future clearer than I could be- fore.

Continued on page 2

IN this unusual year, it seems as if Chris Rea has been driv- ing home for Christmas since October, and no one’s quite sure if he’ll actually make it. We all have so many ideas, from our childhoods, from the images on our Christmas cards, from what we see on TV, of what our ‘ideal Christmas’ might look like. But we find ourselves in 2020, and many of the things we hope for are not possible. As we reflect on the first Christmas, we find that was a messy story too. Unmarried Mary having a child – would she be suspected of adultery? Joseph, would they think his wife was tainted? Did he re- ally want to go through with this? If Mary and Joseph had

knocked on your door, would you welcome them in? The visitors at the stable, the shepherds. I know we like to picture them with their nice, clean, white tea-towels on their heads, but there’s every chance that they were smelly and dirty. They’d been sleeping rough in the fields – these were the first visitors on that first Christmas. Is that who you would want to cele- brate the birth of your child with? The wise men, would you have let in these strangers from the east? Illegal immi- grants? Foreigners? They’d been following the stars, speaking a different language. Are these the visitors you would choose at Christmas?

So if you’ve bought into the perfect Christmas picture, and are feeling slightly dissatisfied or disappointed, think back to those outsiders at that first Christmas. There is no such thing as a perfect Christ- mas. Jesus was born into mess, confusion, and uncomforta- ble surroundings, so that we might know something of the truth that God is love. My prayer is that this Christmas, among the twinkling lights, we each might get a glimpse of light, of hope, of love. And to remember that the best gift we can give another this season is the gift of love. The Rev. Rachel Noël, Priest-in-charge St Mark’s Church, Pennington

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