New Milton Advertiser 30th Oct 2020

Friday 30th October 2020 · 7 News

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Public help catch jewel raid leader

A BLACKFIELD man caught drink-driving for the fourth time was given a 16-week suspended prison sentence. Paul James (59), of Heather Road, was stopped in the village on 9th May and police found him three times the limit. Southampton magistrates told James he had “a total disregard” of the rules because of the high reading and the fact it was his fourth offence. They suspended his jail term for 12 months, banned him from driving for five years, and imposed costs of £213. Suspended jail sentence for drink-driver Warning for bike riders’ parents PARENTS whose children illegally ride motorbikes on public land were warned they face prosecution after youngsters flouting Covid-19 regulations damaged a Hythe field. Police responded to reports a group of more than six – a breach of the government’s Rule of Six – was seen riding three trial bikes on a field off Forest Front shortly before 5.30pm on Saturday. They ran away when a PCSO arrived at the scene. Similar nuisance was also reported in nearby Shore Road, police said. Appeal over six homes refusal AN APPEAL has been made against New Forest District Council’s refusal of six new homes to be built in Holbury. CR Acquisitions Ltd applied to demolish the existing building at 207-209 Long Lane and replace it with a terrace of three- bedroom homes as well as two two-bed chalet bungalows. The appeal will be decided on the basis of written representations submitted to the Planning Inspectorate at Bristol by 23rd November.

TWO jewellers have praised members of the public who helped them chase down the ringleader of a three-man gang who raided their shop. Thanks to support from fellow traders and shoppers in Lyndhurst village centre, the married couple not only thwarted the trio but also salvaged thousands of pounds of stock. Steve and Suzanne, who live in the New Forest and run Christopher Stephens Jewellers in the high street, have asked for their surnames to be withheld over fears of repercussions. They spoke to the A&T ahead of the sentencing of the ringleader of the three-person gang, Lewis Bale (34), of Sleap Crescent, Poole. He was due to appear at Southampton Crown Court yesterday (Thursday) having pleaded guilty to one count of theft. Steve recalled how he was in the workshop when the three entered the shop. It soon became clear they were up to no good so he blocked the door and the shop’s panic button was pushed. “One of the gentlemen was still saying he didn’t know the other two but I said to him, ‘That’s fine, you are going to have to sort it out with police who are on their way’. “But the situation escalated quite quickly and I had a tussle with the main guy while the other chap decided he would take advantage of that and was managing to get more stock, and the guy managed to get away from me and went out. But I chased him out of the shop and across the road. “I roughly tackled him outside. It wasn’t like a fight or anything like that but I was trying to grab him. A customer Valuables recovered from street and gang brought to justice BY JON WALLER

Ben Williams (10) hands the £715 cheque over to Alistair Mackay at the lifeboat station (Photo: Lymington RNLI) Bookworm’s RNLI aid

RNLI rescuers at Lymington enjoyed a happier chapter in a difficult year thanks to a young bookworm who helped raise over £700. Ben Williams (10) decided last year to challenge himself to read 100 books during his school year at Durlston Court Prep School in Barton, choos- ing the lifeboat service as ben- eficiary for his fundraising drive. Having succeeded in his page-turning quest, the young- ster collected a total of £715 and visited Lymington’s life- boat station for a socially-dis- tanced presentation. Alistair Mackay, the station’s deputy launching authority, was on hand to receive the cheque and in turn Ben was handed a framed picture of the town’s lifeboat.

He was also able to watch the crew launch as they set off on one of their weekly training ex- ercises on the water. Lymington lifeboat opera- tions manager Nick Hayward said on Tuesday: “It is wonder- ful that Ben decided to choose the RNLI as his fundraising charity. “It has been a difficult year for the station as most of our big fundraising events have been cancelled. All the crew at the station are volunteers and it’s fantastic to see that young people are understanding the importance of the work that the RNLI do. “We cannot thank Ben enough for this fundraising ac- tivity and it was great for some of the crew to meet him at our training session last night.”

Christopher Stephens Jewellers in Lyndhurst high street was targeted

came out of Costa – who is a first responder – and helped me detain the guy. He was brilliant, he was so calm and took control of the situation. “Meanwhile other traders and villagers ran out of their shops to help and surrounded the guy and stopped him getting away. “Without their help it certainly would have ended a very different way and we managed to detain the guy until police turned up and arrested him – which took a considerable effort considering the guy was still desperately trying to get away.” Susanne added: “People were coming from all directions and we really would like to say a special thank you to everyone who did help out. “We even had people come to us and hand in some of the stock these men had taken which they had dropped on the floor.” Steve commented: “I always think to myself, I wonder if

people find a diamond ring on the floor if they’d pick it up and take it to a jewellers. “But people picked things up and brought them back and that was quite heart-warming actually. “The reaction of fellow traders and the public was incredibly selfless, swift and impressive. The care and support of everyone was immensely encouraging and emphasised the wonderful community spirit of Lyndhurst.” The other two involved in the incident, which happened on the afternoon of 15th December 2018, have already been sent to prison. Caroline Johnson (44), of Whitelaw Road, Southampton, and Martin Poole (49), of Rosemary Road, Poole, were each given 18 months’ jail, having both pleaded guilty to theft. After police arrived and arrested Bale, they drove Steve around the village to see if he

could spot the other two who were still at large. They were subsequently arrested after officers linked them to Bale and analysed CCTV from other shops. A jeweller for 18 years, Steve laughed that his response on the day was exactly the opposite of what he would preach to other store owners. “Look, I’m the first person to say this is not what you should do,” he said. “I would always advise anyone else, and the insurance companies always advise people, not to confront anyone like this and leave it to the insurance. You do not know if they are armed or how desperate they are. “I’m not a brave person at all and it was just instinct. It was all over in a very short time. “Everybody helped to bring these people to justice and it shows what a great community spirit there is here in Lyndhurst amongst people and the traders.”

Items taken from ATM

POLICE have released a CCTV image of a man they want to trace after personal documents were taken in Christchurch town centre. The victim, a local

“Following enquiries I have obtained a CCTV image of the man who is suspected to have taken the folder from the cash- point. “It is possible that

man in his 20s, had left a folder contain- ing documents in- cluding his passport, national insurance number and bank account details, on top of a cashpoint at

the folder was taken with the intentions of handing it in, but this has not yet hap- pened. “I would ask any- one who recognises this man to please

HSBC bank in High Street after using it shortly before 3pm on Wednesday 30th September. However, when he returned a short time later, he discovered the folder had been taken. Police community support investigator Kate Hann said:

get in touch so that we can try to reunite the victim with his documents.” Contact Dorset Police on 101, quoting crime reference num- ber 55200148320, or call Crime- stoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

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