New Milton Advertiser 6th Nov 2020

Friday 6th November 2020 · 15 News

news@adt.press · advertising@adt.press · 01425 613384

Mum left ‘worthless’ slams justice system

Man had 4,800 child sex images A LYMINGTON man who made thousands of indecent images of children will be sentenced by a crown court judge. Andrew Burtt (51), of Mar- ram Close, pleaded guilty to three charges from between January 2011 and Septem- ber 2018. Of the nearly 4,800 images, 850 were category A – the most serious level. Southampton magistrates granted him unconditional bail to reappear at the city’s crown court for sentence on 17th November. Burtt was told in the interim he must register with the police in accordance with the Sex Offences Act 2003. Firefighters test faith in rods FIREFIGHTERS used spe- cial rods to put out a chim- ney blaze at a New Forest pub on Saturday night. The alarm was raised around 8.15pm, with reports of sparks emitting from the upper part of the stack at the Lazy Lion in High Street, Milford. Using chimney rods, a Lymington crew contained the incident in just over half an hour. tensive search and some ex- cellent teamwork they were found safe and well, albeit a bit soggy,” the post said. A FAMILY had a spooky time of it when they got lost in the woods in Burton on a Hallow- een night stroll. Posting on Facebook afterwards, local police said they had to scour Burton Common for the unfortunate group on Saturday evening. “Thankfully after an ex- Lost in woods on Halloween

that a restraining order she re- quested against Munnik was not issued, which left her feel- ing “scared and vulnerable”. She had also asked that an officer accompany her to court in support, but said one did not show up. In its response, Hampshire police admitted the officer did not come to court – but that was because Melanie decided she would attend court on the day of the hearing. “The busy nature of policing often means we may not be available for a last-minute request like this, but we would have tried to at- tend with her had we known in advance she needed our assis- tance.” Hampshire police defended its conduct, maintaining it had done “everything it could” to support Melanie, which includ- ed drawing up a Victim Con- tract Agreement (VCA). It said it made a referral for Melanie to have an Indepen- dent Domestic Violence Ad- vocate, would have got special measures had the matter gone to trial, and officers also helped her produce a second victim statement at her request. “We kept the victim up to date throughout the investiga- tion through the VCA we had set up, and we’re sorry if the support we provided through- out the investigation was not enough,” the force added. “We are absolutely commit- ted to improving the service we offer to victims of crime, espe- cially in responding to each per- son’s individual circumstances, and will continue to work with specialist agencies to achieve that.” Stressing it worked “very hard” to support domestic abuse victims, the force added: “At the first point of call, we be - gin to discuss and assess safe- guarding with the victim. Their ongoing safety is reviewed throughout the investigation process, and this is a priority for us.” CPS Wessex said it did not comment on individual cases.

Victim of violent attack says her experience was ‘absolute hell’

Quilters cotton on to scanner fundraising Jenny Davies (left) and Lymington hospital trustee Anne Bowman

BY JON WALLER

A MOTHER has slammed the justice system for “failing” vul- nerable women after a man who choked her during a violent at- tack walked free from court. Melanie Holman (32), who lives in New Milton, has spoken to the A&T about being left to feel “utterly worthless” and “humiliated”. She has called on the police and prosecutors to have a greater appreciation of the trauma which attack vic- tims endure. “There was little respect for what I was going through or how I was feeling. Just no sym- pathy and a lack of understand- ing,” she said. “I was left feeling as if I was nothing, utterly worthless and humiliated. This whole thing has been absolute hell. “I have been injured really badly and the emotional effects of it have changed me as a per- son forever.” Melanie was attacked in November 2018 at a family get-together at the Woodvale Gardens home of her brother- in-law Jamie Munnik. Motor mechanic Munnik was drunk and smashed a wine glass over her foot – which led to emergency surgery and her spending two months in a wheelchair. She now cannot bend down properly or run. Munnik choked her before he fled the property and was con - fronted by police. He then at- tacked them during his arrest, biting PC Dan Tuckey. When the incidents went to court Munnik admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm and battery against the police officer. He was handed a 26- week prison sentence at South- ampton Crown Court, suspend- ed for two years. However, he denied charges

A TEAM of skilful sewers gath- ered up a cheque for £600 to help fund a new MRI scanner for Lymington hospital. Members of the New Forest Quilt Group presented the mon- ey to the Lymington hospital Friends after collecting from raf- fles, donations and fabric sales. The group raised the cash despite not being able to meet at the New Milton Community Centre since March due to the pandemic. Quilters chair Jenny Davies said: “Our group is based in New Milton and in normal times we meet every month to swap ideas, share materials and demonstrate new projects in a ‘show and tell’ session. “During the Covid pandemic, we have kept up our work for a number of local charities. It is fun for our members and we en- POLICE have charged a man following a spate of burglaries in which nearly £6,000 worth of goods was stolen from busi- nesses in Lymington and New Milton. Stephen Joseph Dempsey (46), of Lower Buckland Road in Lymington, appeared at Southampton Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday accused of four counts of burglary. Dempsey is said to have sto- len perfume and aftershave val- ued at around £4,500 from The Perfumery & Co in Lymington

joy raising funds through dona- tions, raffles and craft material sales to help others.” Arthur England, joint chair of the Friends, said: “We are so pleased to work with local com- munity groups and it’s really great to meet Jenny and Den- ise today to receive their dona- tion and learn more about the work of the New Forest Quilt Group. “Thank you so much to all of your members for their hard work making crafts to sell to support the hospital and other local charities. “This donation will go to- wards new imaging equipment that is much needed to ena- ble the hospital to continue to improve patient assessment care.” Visit www.newforestquilt- group.weebly.com High Street on 27th Septem- ber. He is further accused of tak- ing around £1,100 from The Wok Inn in Milford Road between 1st and 2nd October. He allegedly also stole £245 from Visual Vibes, also in Mil- ford Road, on 28th October, and £100 from Ciao Bella in Gosport Street at some point between 10pm on 31st October and 9am on 1st November. Dempsey was given bail until his next hearing at the court on 8th March 2021.

The injuries Melanie Holman suffered durin g the attack

Man charged over £6,000 raids on local businesses

of unlawful wounding and as- sault occasioning actual bodily harm relating to Melanie and a trial was set for early this year. But Munnik later changed his plea to guilty to both mat- ters. When he appeared before Bournemouth Crown Court he

was given a 14-month jail term suspended for 15 months. He was told to pay Melanie £2,000 compensation and carry out 150 hours of unpaid work. As well as the authorities’ attitude she said she encoun- tered, Melanie also complained

Read by 38,484* Local People

*JICREG: June 2019

I wash my hands to protect my family .