The last few months have witnessed an alarming increase in violent attacks throughout Bournemouth.
A vicious assault on a taxi driver, grandfather Thomas Newton, during an altercation with two men on Monday night, has further highlighted the perilous continuation of violence in the area.
Mr. Newton's aggressors had demanded money from the father-of-four at the culmination of a journey that was supposed to end peacefully in Boscombe. When the taxi had pulled up in Adeline Road, the attack began, which included the use of a knife, leaving the driver with a neck wound that required three stitches.
The 66-year-old victim has courageously vowed to return to work on Wednesday evening and told the Bournemouth Daily Echo, "It’s made me nervous and I keep looking over my shoulder...I want these men caught and also want to make other taxi drivers aware of the very real dangers they face.”
Violent crime numbers fell across the Bournemouth Division according to the latest statistics made available by Dorset Police. Between April 2007 and March 2008, cases of 'violence against the person' fell by nearly 10% although detections actually fell by close to 600 instances.
Details of Thomas Newton's harrowing ordeal were published as news of another story of violence emerged on Wednesday. These issues will currently appear far more pertinent than outdated police figures. After all, were it not for passing sanitation workers, Mr. Newton could have endured a far worse fate.
Three men are wanted for questioning following an incident on February 4 outside the Bournemouth International Centre where a 22-year-old man from Poole sustained bruising to the head.
In a week that has also seen the conclusion to one of the most high-profile murder cases in the town's history and the conviction of Alan Pickersgill, fears of violent crime have moved onto the agenda.
Pickersgill, 37, has been given a life sentence for the murder of Julie Bywater at his Southbourne flat in May 2010.
The Echo's Neal Butterworth, in his summation of the tragic event, somewhat reductively labelled Pickersgill 'a wrong 'un', which he undoubtedly was although such terminology obviously doesn't begin to describe the full extent of his complex psychosis.
The fact remains that whilst any large town has to grimly expect the inevitabilities of social disorder; Bournemouth's residents have had recent cause to closely examine the deteriorating situation around them.
Friday 25 February 2011
Wednesday 23 February 2011
Wycombe Wanderers Plot Path to Promotion
Wycombe Wanderers thrashed Burton Albion 4-1 on Tuesday evening to avoid the ignominy of losing four League Two games in a row for the first time since 2007.
The win has seen the Blues clamber back into the automatic promotion positions and up to second place as they plot their path to promotion with fifteen games remaining.
Manager Gary Waddock brought in Lewis Montrose for maligned loanee Scott Donnelly and Jon Paul-Pittman in place of the slightly more unfortunate talisman, Stuart Beavon.
Although Montrose had only featured for the Blues twice since November, his inclusion was certainly no gamble by Waddock as he produced a swashbuckling display of commitment and poise. Montrose's fine evening was capped off by his deflected effort, Wycombe's second goal, that looped over Burton goalkeeper Adam Legzdins.
The midfielder's delight at scoring his first goal since September was clearly evident as he took the plaudits from the crowd and his team-mates before exhaling deeply as he skipped back to the half-way line, closed eyes and a vocal expression of cathartic jubilation visible to all.
In truth, Wycombe could easily have scored more, the aforementioned Pittman was unlucky not to score his second goal for the Blues since returning from his five-month injury lay-off, his electric pace troubling the visitor's defence all evening and the striker's two quick-fire efforts after Wycombe's first goal had to be parried away to safety by Legzdins.
Wycombe's recent poor run had seen them fall to fourth place in the npower League Two table however the Burton game represented a chance to reclaim the upper hand on their promotion rivals.
An all-round strong team performance began with midfielder Stuart Lewis shuffling through a static Burton defence, with referee Oliver Langford obstructing the advancing defender, to calmly fire the ball into the back of net with only 10 minutes gone before Montrose's effort increased the Wanderers' advantage on the half-hour mark.
Lewis, awarded a well-deserved man of match accolade, then proceeded to score the goal of the evening and possibly Wycombe's best goal of the season. In what is looking to be a gem of a signing from Dagenham and Redbridge, the midfielder added to his burgeoning reputation amongst Blues fans by unleashing an unstoppable low drive into the bottom right-hand corner of the Valley End net.
Following the game, Lewis declared to wwfc.com, that it was his 'best game ever' and one he understandably thoroughly enjoyed.
It was perhaps obvious that Burton manager Paul Peschisolido would chasten his team during the half-time interval and demand the addition of composure and zeal to their play. The Brewers had lost Calvin Zola to a hamstring injury during the first-half, a crushing blow as despite his wayward control and finishing, he had looked their most promising attacking outlet until he was replaced by Greg Pearson.
The aforementioned Pearson looked to exploit Alan Bennett's comparitive lack of pace as Burton appeared reinvigorated following the resumption of the game. The reward for their endeavour was Sam Winnall's close-range effort to reduce the deficit eleven minutes into the second-half and the away side were beginning to unsettle Wycombe who had failed to replicate the intensity they displayed prior to the break.
Any hopes the Brewers were harbouring of a dramatic comeback were extinguished when the veteran Moore tussled with the lively Pittman who was rewarded with a penalty kick. Stuart Lewis had an eye on claiming his first senior hat-trick although he had to settle for a brace as striker Scott Rendell stepped up to score his 12th goal of the season, in front of just 3,345 fans at Adams Park.
The Blues issued the perfect response to a week of disappointment that saw consecutive defeats to Bradford City, Southend United and Accrington Stanley.
As the 2010/2011 season prepares to usher in its spring denouement, Wanderers will travel to Macclesfield Town and league leaders Chesterfield in the next week, two sides who had beaten them by a 2-1 scoreline in the reverse fixtures.
Following the victory over Burton, Wycombe have now won 8 of their 16 games against teams in the bottom-half of League Two this season. Macclesfield, however, enjoy a seven point cushion over Stockport County in the last remaining relegation place and will be buoyed by their 2-0 home triumph against Morecambe yesterday.
The journey to Derbyshire to meet league pacesetters Chesterfield next Tuesday evening represents a stern test for Waddock's charges although they will take confidence from previous away wins against members of the current top seven, including a 4-3 victory over Rotherham United and a 2-0 win at Priestfield, the home of Gillingham.
The last and only time I attempted to predict the outcome of all 46 games in a regular Football League season was prior to the 2002/2003 campaign. I ambitiously plumped for the Blues team in question to reach the play-offs. As it turned out, the season was a campaign of listless disenchantment and Wycombe Wanderers finished 18th in Division Two, playing some of the worst football in the club's recent history.
The 'Sanchez Way' to promotion following the FA Cup honeymoon season that was 2001/2002 was to be a return to outmoded drudgery and aimless percentage football, a strategy of methodical zonal domination with long-balls into pre-determined danger areas, a philosophy arguably still favoured by Wycombe's erstwhile manager.
This 'revolutionary' approach ultimately imploded with feverish expectations of possible promotion to what was then Division One going unfulfilled with Sanchez becoming increasing fraught at any perceived criticism aimed towards him and the team. The protracted decline that led to relegation in 2004 had already cost the former Wimbledon FA Cup hero his job and I have not been comfortable commenting on any upcoming Wanderers game since.
Alas, this meandering digression may illustrate the futile hopelessness of my powers of prediction altough it also leads into further analysis of the challenges that lie ahead.
The Wanderers still have to travel to Shrewsbury Town, Bury and local rivals Oxford United besides having the pleasure of the visits of Northampton Town and a potentially charged affair with Aldershot to negotiate.
Whilst I am not prepared to risk damaging the team's promotion chances with further outlandish conjecture, there can surely be little chance of collapse if Wycombe continue in the same vein as yesterday evening.
If the Blues can continue to be exponents of this type of high-tempo, pressure football that is often accompanied by the clinical precision as demonstrated against Burton, then re-establishing themselves in the top three will represent an achievable goal.
As Gary Waddock enthused to skysports.com after the match, "we knew they would respond because they are an excellent group of players and they put it right."
Let's hope that for the majority of Wycombe's remaining fifteen games, the Blues continue to find the winning formula as they bid for promotion back to League One.
The win has seen the Blues clamber back into the automatic promotion positions and up to second place as they plot their path to promotion with fifteen games remaining.
Manager Gary Waddock brought in Lewis Montrose for maligned loanee Scott Donnelly and Jon Paul-Pittman in place of the slightly more unfortunate talisman, Stuart Beavon.
Although Montrose had only featured for the Blues twice since November, his inclusion was certainly no gamble by Waddock as he produced a swashbuckling display of commitment and poise. Montrose's fine evening was capped off by his deflected effort, Wycombe's second goal, that looped over Burton goalkeeper Adam Legzdins.
The midfielder's delight at scoring his first goal since September was clearly evident as he took the plaudits from the crowd and his team-mates before exhaling deeply as he skipped back to the half-way line, closed eyes and a vocal expression of cathartic jubilation visible to all.
In truth, Wycombe could easily have scored more, the aforementioned Pittman was unlucky not to score his second goal for the Blues since returning from his five-month injury lay-off, his electric pace troubling the visitor's defence all evening and the striker's two quick-fire efforts after Wycombe's first goal had to be parried away to safety by Legzdins.
Wycombe's recent poor run had seen them fall to fourth place in the npower League Two table however the Burton game represented a chance to reclaim the upper hand on their promotion rivals.
An all-round strong team performance began with midfielder Stuart Lewis shuffling through a static Burton defence, with referee Oliver Langford obstructing the advancing defender, to calmly fire the ball into the back of net with only 10 minutes gone before Montrose's effort increased the Wanderers' advantage on the half-hour mark.
Lewis, awarded a well-deserved man of match accolade, then proceeded to score the goal of the evening and possibly Wycombe's best goal of the season. In what is looking to be a gem of a signing from Dagenham and Redbridge, the midfielder added to his burgeoning reputation amongst Blues fans by unleashing an unstoppable low drive into the bottom right-hand corner of the Valley End net.
Following the game, Lewis declared to wwfc.com, that it was his 'best game ever' and one he understandably thoroughly enjoyed.
It was perhaps obvious that Burton manager Paul Peschisolido would chasten his team during the half-time interval and demand the addition of composure and zeal to their play. The Brewers had lost Calvin Zola to a hamstring injury during the first-half, a crushing blow as despite his wayward control and finishing, he had looked their most promising attacking outlet until he was replaced by Greg Pearson.
The aforementioned Pearson looked to exploit Alan Bennett's comparitive lack of pace as Burton appeared reinvigorated following the resumption of the game. The reward for their endeavour was Sam Winnall's close-range effort to reduce the deficit eleven minutes into the second-half and the away side were beginning to unsettle Wycombe who had failed to replicate the intensity they displayed prior to the break.
Any hopes the Brewers were harbouring of a dramatic comeback were extinguished when the veteran Moore tussled with the lively Pittman who was rewarded with a penalty kick. Stuart Lewis had an eye on claiming his first senior hat-trick although he had to settle for a brace as striker Scott Rendell stepped up to score his 12th goal of the season, in front of just 3,345 fans at Adams Park.
The Blues issued the perfect response to a week of disappointment that saw consecutive defeats to Bradford City, Southend United and Accrington Stanley.
As the 2010/2011 season prepares to usher in its spring denouement, Wanderers will travel to Macclesfield Town and league leaders Chesterfield in the next week, two sides who had beaten them by a 2-1 scoreline in the reverse fixtures.
Following the victory over Burton, Wycombe have now won 8 of their 16 games against teams in the bottom-half of League Two this season. Macclesfield, however, enjoy a seven point cushion over Stockport County in the last remaining relegation place and will be buoyed by their 2-0 home triumph against Morecambe yesterday.
The journey to Derbyshire to meet league pacesetters Chesterfield next Tuesday evening represents a stern test for Waddock's charges although they will take confidence from previous away wins against members of the current top seven, including a 4-3 victory over Rotherham United and a 2-0 win at Priestfield, the home of Gillingham.
The last and only time I attempted to predict the outcome of all 46 games in a regular Football League season was prior to the 2002/2003 campaign. I ambitiously plumped for the Blues team in question to reach the play-offs. As it turned out, the season was a campaign of listless disenchantment and Wycombe Wanderers finished 18th in Division Two, playing some of the worst football in the club's recent history.
The 'Sanchez Way' to promotion following the FA Cup honeymoon season that was 2001/2002 was to be a return to outmoded drudgery and aimless percentage football, a strategy of methodical zonal domination with long-balls into pre-determined danger areas, a philosophy arguably still favoured by Wycombe's erstwhile manager.
This 'revolutionary' approach ultimately imploded with feverish expectations of possible promotion to what was then Division One going unfulfilled with Sanchez becoming increasing fraught at any perceived criticism aimed towards him and the team. The protracted decline that led to relegation in 2004 had already cost the former Wimbledon FA Cup hero his job and I have not been comfortable commenting on any upcoming Wanderers game since.
Alas, this meandering digression may illustrate the futile hopelessness of my powers of prediction altough it also leads into further analysis of the challenges that lie ahead.
The Wanderers still have to travel to Shrewsbury Town, Bury and local rivals Oxford United besides having the pleasure of the visits of Northampton Town and a potentially charged affair with Aldershot to negotiate.
Whilst I am not prepared to risk damaging the team's promotion chances with further outlandish conjecture, there can surely be little chance of collapse if Wycombe continue in the same vein as yesterday evening.
If the Blues can continue to be exponents of this type of high-tempo, pressure football that is often accompanied by the clinical precision as demonstrated against Burton, then re-establishing themselves in the top three will represent an achievable goal.
As Gary Waddock enthused to skysports.com after the match, "we knew they would respond because they are an excellent group of players and they put it right."
Let's hope that for the majority of Wycombe's remaining fifteen games, the Blues continue to find the winning formula as they bid for promotion back to League One.
Saturday 5 February 2011
Welcome to Vice City
Fatal stabbings, sex games gone wrong, citizens involved with armed robbery and pot-smoking students. These are the stories hitting the local headlines in Bournemouth. They may even be similar to the archetypal reports across the rest of the nation. That is, except for one important exception. These are all close to home.
This isn't post-modern revelling in Bournemouth's murky underworld nor a puritanical critique. This is just life and the current state of affairs in a town beset by scandal, intrigue and circulating rumours.
After an initial ban on releasing details of the deceased in the ongoing Moordown stabbing case, the Daily Echo appealed to the courts and more information has been released.
Mahmud Ibrahim Bakir, a 28-year-old man from Wimborne Road, Bournemouth, near the scene of the crime, has been charged with the murder of 20-year-old Kewen Khorsheed in the early hours of the fateful morning of Thursday 27 January.
Along with three other men, Bakir will appear at Winchester Crown Court on Monday 7 February.
Bournmouth man Anthony Bado was involved in a criminal gang responsible for the theft of watches and jewellery worth more than £3.5 million. The spate of robberies, mainly across southern England, led to Bado of St. Clements, Boscombe, being jailed for 12 years.
Meanwhile, another murder case filling column inches has been that of Julie Bywater, 32, last May. She was allegedly strangled by ex-boyfriend Alan Pickersgill, 37, a trainee masseur who had become obsessed with Ms Bywater after their brief relationship fizzled out.
Pickersgill, of Southbourne, Bournemouth, had invited Bywater to his flat where the incident took place. He claims the murder was a result of a 'sex game gone wrong', a strangulation intended to generate erotic pleasure at the point of asphyixiation rather than a cold, brutal murder by an obsessive, as portrayed by Anthony Donne QC, prosecuting.
As that case continues, Bournemouth residents have also been regailed with accounts of the explusion of 'a number of students' from the Bishop of Winchester school in Mallard Road, Bournemouth.
The familiar cause of their exclusion-hash, blow, pot, weed, cannabis, green, the herb. Although the school was not prepared to expand on the exact reasons for their actions or the number of pupils permanently excluded, Principal Paul McKeown said: “The academy is determined to demonstrate zero tolerance towards behaviour that threatens children’s safety.
“As a consequence, it is with regret that a small number of students involved in this isolated incident will be permanently excluded,” he told the Echo.
These are the narratives of modern-day Bournemouth. From the bunga-bunga parties of sleepy Winton back streets to the drink and drug induced haze of Charminster Road, the local media has had much to ponder in the trickle of newsworthiness to emerge recently. This is just the proverbial tip of the iceberg. This is Vice City. Keep looking.
This isn't post-modern revelling in Bournemouth's murky underworld nor a puritanical critique. This is just life and the current state of affairs in a town beset by scandal, intrigue and circulating rumours.
After an initial ban on releasing details of the deceased in the ongoing Moordown stabbing case, the Daily Echo appealed to the courts and more information has been released.
Mahmud Ibrahim Bakir, a 28-year-old man from Wimborne Road, Bournemouth, near the scene of the crime, has been charged with the murder of 20-year-old Kewen Khorsheed in the early hours of the fateful morning of Thursday 27 January.
Along with three other men, Bakir will appear at Winchester Crown Court on Monday 7 February.
Bournmouth man Anthony Bado was involved in a criminal gang responsible for the theft of watches and jewellery worth more than £3.5 million. The spate of robberies, mainly across southern England, led to Bado of St. Clements, Boscombe, being jailed for 12 years.
Meanwhile, another murder case filling column inches has been that of Julie Bywater, 32, last May. She was allegedly strangled by ex-boyfriend Alan Pickersgill, 37, a trainee masseur who had become obsessed with Ms Bywater after their brief relationship fizzled out.
Pickersgill, of Southbourne, Bournemouth, had invited Bywater to his flat where the incident took place. He claims the murder was a result of a 'sex game gone wrong', a strangulation intended to generate erotic pleasure at the point of asphyixiation rather than a cold, brutal murder by an obsessive, as portrayed by Anthony Donne QC, prosecuting.
As that case continues, Bournemouth residents have also been regailed with accounts of the explusion of 'a number of students' from the Bishop of Winchester school in Mallard Road, Bournemouth.
The familiar cause of their exclusion-hash, blow, pot, weed, cannabis, green, the herb. Although the school was not prepared to expand on the exact reasons for their actions or the number of pupils permanently excluded, Principal Paul McKeown said: “The academy is determined to demonstrate zero tolerance towards behaviour that threatens children’s safety.
“As a consequence, it is with regret that a small number of students involved in this isolated incident will be permanently excluded,” he told the Echo.
These are the narratives of modern-day Bournemouth. From the bunga-bunga parties of sleepy Winton back streets to the drink and drug induced haze of Charminster Road, the local media has had much to ponder in the trickle of newsworthiness to emerge recently. This is just the proverbial tip of the iceberg. This is Vice City. Keep looking.
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