New Milton Advertiser 9th Oct 2020

12 · Friday 9th October 2020

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News

Child (2) tried to fight off dad strangling ex

Remembrance parade axed

THE usual Remembrance Day parade and service in New Mil- ton have been ruled out by or- ganisers but the Poppy Appeal will go ahead with collection points at shops around the town. Faced with the current Cov- id-19 restrictions, the local branch of the Royal British Le- gion has confirmed there will only be a wreath-laying ceremo- ny which local residents can at- tend. And while there will be no street sellers and house-to- house collections, there will be poppy stalls at Lidl, Tesco and Morrisons. Ringwood’s RBL branch will also be selling poppies from stalls located at points around

the town centre, including out- side the Gateway council offices and Meeting House and History Centre, and in the Furlong Shop- ping Centre. A limited number of wreaths will be available, which can be ordered by calling appeal organ- iser Val Aldridge on 01425 478331 or emailing valterry@btinternet. com In both towns, there will be a focus on social distancing, and stalls will be equipped with all the necessary PPE and hand sanitisers. At a recent committee meet- ing of New Milton RBL, it was decided not to hold an AGM this year and that members will re- main in office for 2021.

Victim’s former partner jailed after admitting attack

and was trying to get him off when the couple’s two-year-old son ran in and began hitting Douglas. Douglas eventually stopped the attack, Ms Lamb claimed, telling her he would never go so far as to kill her, adding: “I’m sorry. I wouldn’t do it.” Friends of hers arrived at the property as she caught her breath and Douglas tried to make them leave, but her sister ‘She believed she was really going to die and was thinking of her children’ phoned the police, the prosecu- tor said. Douglas left the property but returned and was arrested, the court heard. Ms Lamb said she had been subjected to incidents of vio- lence during their relationship, adding: “I felt like a prisoner. I managed to get out but he still haunts me today.”

Douglas had 28 previous convictions for 98 offences, the court heard. One was a now-ex- pired offence of assault occa- sioning actual bodily harm on a previous partner in 1999. Defending Douglas, Am- ber Athill highlighted her cli- ent entered an early guilty plea, which she stressed was on a certain basis. That claimed Douglas was making daily visits to Ms Lamb’s home in the days be- fore the attack to see their chil- dren, and on this occasion she refused to let him see them and scratched him before the inci- dent. He also denied making any threats to kill her. Ms Athill said her client was a cocaine user. However, in the weeks before this incident he had being doing well, and wean- ing himself off the drug had led to an improvement in rela- tions with Ms Lamb. A relapse caused the attack. “This was a slip-up, a very bad slip-up, but a slip-up none- theless,” she said. “It wasn’t pre-meditated.” Since then Douglas had con- fronted his issues and stopped

taking drugs, and was engag- ing with the Inclusion service and probation, she said. He was very remorseful and agreed a restraining order would be ben- eficial. Douglas, she stressed, had been out of trouble for more than four years before the of- fence, and she highlighted he had learning difficulties and mental health issues, struggled to communicate, and had sui- cidal tendencies. Passing sentence, Judge Nicholas Rowland called the attack a “prolonged strangling” against Ms Lamb, who he said was a “vulnerable victim in her own home”. Those were “serious aggra- vating features” and persuad- ed Judge Rowland that Doug- las must receive a jail term. He also handed the defendant a restraining order, banning him from having any con- tact with the victim for five years. As Douglas was led away to the cells, his mother shouted: “Love you,” before busting into tears. “He had been doing so well,” she added.

had been getting along well in the weeks before the incident on 25th May as he appeared to have kicked his cocaine hab- it. He turned up at her Fawley home at around 3.30pm but af- ter she asked him to leave, an argument developed, eventual- ly turning into the living room attack. “At one point he was asking her about getting back togeth- er and she was clear she did not want to, and he started to get aggressive,” Ms Roberson said. “He began coming up to- wards her and intimidating her and she says he moved really quickly and his hands come up and then all of a sudden he had her by the throat with his hands. “In her statement, Ms Lamb recalled he was squeezing her throat so much she couldn’t take a breath and he said, ‘You are going to die and I am going to die’. “ She believed she was really going to die and was thinking of her children.” Ms Lamb scratched at Doug- las, Ms Roberson continued,

BY JON WALLER

A child threw punches at his father in a desperate attempt to stop him strangling his estranged partner while high on cocaine, Southampton Crown Court heard. Victim Samantha Lamb said she thought she was “going to die” during the attack by David Douglas which left her “shak- ing” and causes her continuing nightmares. Douglas, of Chapel Lane, Blackfield, was sent down for 12 months after he admitted a charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm against Ms Lamb, with whom he had previ- ously been in a relationship for 16 years. Prosecutor Nicola Rober- son said 43-year-old Douglas and mother-of-three Ms Lamb, who split around two years ago, TWO-YEAR-OLD AN INDEPENDENT lifeboat based at Lepe has received a donation of £4,000 after suffer- ing a slump in fundraising due to Covid-19. Solent Rescue, which was es- tablished in 1971, is operational at weekends and bank holidays from Easter until September. The donation came from the Morrisons Foundation, which was set up by the supermarket in 2015 and has awarded more than £32m to hundreds of char- ities across England, Scotland and Wales. Wayne Monks, fundraising of- ficer at Solent Rescue, said the group was “extremely grateful to the Morrisons Foundation for the grant, which has come at a time where most of our fund- raising activities have stopped due to Covid-19”. He added: “This grant will en- able us to replace our first aid supplies that have reached their expiry dates to enable us to con- tinue to provide medical aid to members of the public at Lepe Country Park and in the western Solent. “The training mannequins will enable us to train our crew in CPR using the latest model of dummies which will improve the response we can give.” Joe Scargill, on behalf of the Morrisons Foundation, add- ELECTRIC car charging points are to be installed in Lynd- hurst after the national park authority approved the plans despite some criticism from villagers. The scheme by New Forest District Council involves mak- ing space for the four charging points by demolishing a pre-fabricated building in the car park, which it owns, off the High Street. Originally installed as a tourist information centre, the building was later used for storage and most recently leased to Lyndhurst Baptist Church at a peppercorn rent for use as a youth club. This closed in April 2017 and the MORE than £2m has been awarded to help fund a new lab- oratory at Royal Bournemouth Hospital which is expected to create 120 new jobs. Dorset Local Enterprise Part- nership (LEP) has agreed to in- vest in the new pathology lab- oratory, writes Josh Wright of the Local Democracy Reporting Service. The £2.28m it has agreed to give to the hospital will help se- cure £20m in NHS match-fund- ing and follows the decision of BCP Council to provide a £15m loan for the project last year. The aim of the histopathol- ogy “diagnostic hub” is to im- prove the speed of testing in the county. Stephen Harding, the head of service at One Dorset Patholo- gy, the partnership between pa- thology services at the county’s

Alesco Care Services is a small locally run home care company here to support you in your own home and support you to assess the community. Times are hard at the moment and if you are looking for someone to support you with lives everyday tasks including support with your shopping and cleaning. Or if you just want someone to have a chat and a cup of tea with then Alesco is here to help you with Companionship. All our carers are fully trained and training is regularly updated to support the needs of our clients. If you feel that Alesco could help you or a loved one please contact us on 01425 276208

£4k gift to help plug lifeboat funds gap

or admin@alesco.care www.alescocare.co.uk

£1 MILLION REFURBISHMENT COMPLETED Osborne Lodge is a well-established family run care home situated within walking distance of New Milton town centre, GP surgeries and community centre Welcoming and friendly atmosphere All rooms have en suite facilities Choice of all meals Long term highly qualified staff Full range of activities RESPITE & DAY CARE FOR THE ELDERLY Are you looking after a loved one at home? Do you need a few hours to yourself? Or are you living alone in need of stimulating company? Have you had a fall and need to regain your confidence? We cater for clients wanting ongoing or short-term day care, or day care that can be called upon occasionally, whenever the need arises HALF AND FULL DAY CARE AVAILABLE Including lunch and activities (full day includes evening meal) Contact tel: 01425 618248 Email: enquiries@osbornelodge.co.uk www.osbornelodgecare.co.uk

Solent Rescue relies on fundraising to keep its operations going

about the great work Solent Rescue do. “As an entirely voluntary ser-

vice, the charity relies on pub- lic donations to ensure that live-saving missions can be de-

livered. We’re delighted to be supporting them during the time of great need.”

ed: “We were delighted to visit Lepe Country Park last year and speak to Wayne first-hand

Old youth club demolition agreed Driver arrested in three-car crash building has remained empty ever since.

ed: “The car park is often full to capacity, especially during the summer months. The addition of four extra spaces for electric cars, without the need to re- use existing spaces, would help alleviate this pressure. “Whilst it is acknowl- edged that the structure has formerly been used for the community, this use has ceased since 2017 and no further com- munity interest has been put forward. “The Lyndhurst Community Centre, opposite the building in question, provides space for all parts of the local communi- ty within a structurally sound and well insulated permanent building.”

The building has been un- able to be let out as it does not meet energy efficiency stan - dards, said NFDC. It is also nearing the end of its expected 40-year lifespan and the district council said it would not be cost-effective to invest public money to im- prove it. The application, which was signed off by the NPA’s exec- utive director for strategy and planning Steve Avery, attract- ed three letters of objection from locals concerned about the loss of the community fa- cility. However, an NPA report stat-

A MOTORIST was arrested fol- lowing a three-vehicle collision which blocked a stretch of the A326 Marchwood bypass. The incident between Jacobs Gutter Lane and the A35 Tot- ton bypass took place around 8.20am last Friday, leaving one driver trapped in her car. Firefighters cut off the vehi - cle’s roof to release the casualty, a 36-year-old woman from Marchwood. She was taken by ambulance to Southampton General Hospital with injuries described by Hampshire police as “minor”. Officers detained the driver

of a Mercedes Vito, a 44-year- old man from Southampton, on suspicion of drug-driving. He was later released under investigation as enquiries con- tinue. The stretch of the A326 was closed for more than three hours while emergency crews worked at the scene and the ve- hicles were cleared. Delays of around 15 minutes were reported for motorists travelling between Bury Road and the Marchwood bypass, as well as those driving in Jacobs Gutter Lane between Valley Road and the A326.

Your Home from Home

www.quakerhouse.org.uk | reception@quakerhouse.org.uk

£2m cash boost for new hospital lab

F ollowing the Quaker ethos of kindness, respect & friendship in our care, we welcome anyone to take up our services. Our aim is to make a real difference to the lives of the people who choose to join us at Quaker House.

We pride ourselves on putting you first, tailoring care to your specific needs and wishes, whilst continually promoting your independence. We offer a range of care, from short-term respite and reablement to extra care for those people who need more than their own carers can manage. Our staff have the heart and desire to provide a confident and competent service whilst also being highly trained professionals.

We have a ‘Good’ rating from the Care Quality Commission (registered provider No. 1-101663819) and are a registered charity (number 1156022)

three NHS hospital trusts, said the service would benefit every - one in the county. “Diagnostic testing has an ev- er-increasing role in healthcare, with pathology used by over 80% of patients to inform diag- noses and treatment plans,” he said. “Every person in Dorset will use the service at some point in their life. Having the best available facilities will therefore benefit the majority of people in Dorset and allow our fantastic NHS staff to give the best pos- sible care.” Former BCP Council leader Cllr Vikki Slade, who is also a member of Dorset LEP’s board, said the hub would make the county a “leading place” for his- topathology. Jim Stewart, the LEP’s chair- man, said he was “extremely

proud” that the investment had been agreed. “The new histopathology di- agnostic hub will deliver against the strategic objectives as set out in the Dorset Local Indus- trial Strategy, utilising medical technologies to address the grand challenge of an ageing so- ciety and will be an important asset in improving healthy age- ing,” he said. “It will also support our am- bition for Dorset to be a na- tional leader in the One Health concept, adopting a holistic ap- proach that ensures our popu- lation ages well and lives sensi- tively in the environment.” The Royal Bournemouth Hospital’s planning application for major expansion work, in- cluding the new pathology cen- tre, was approved by the coun- cil last month.

We welcome families and friends at all times. Why not come and get to know us? You are very welcome to visit us for a day or stay for a short term before committing yourself to this major change in your life. You are equally welcome to move straight in and enjoy everyday life with us.

40-44 Barton Court Road, New Milton BH25 6NR reception@quakerhouse.org.uk | call 01425 617656

The lab at Royal Bournemouth Hospital is expected to create 120 jobs