LANGLEYS NEWS, FROM MARCH 19
Cabbie Carol Bright |
VITAL clues to a crime are in danger of being lost because Herts police are “dilly-dallying” over an investigation.
This is the claim of Abbots Langley cabbie Carol Bright who has hopes of identifying two villains who cheated her out of a fare from closed circuit television footage at Kings Langley railway station.
“Unless the police stop dilly-dallying this tape is going to get recorded over and then I won’t be able to identify them,” said Carol Bright who lives at The Garth in Abbots Langley. “The British Transport Police can’t release the video unless Herts Constabulary request it and so far our police are doing nothing.”
Mrs Bright, who has worked with her husband Alan in their private hire firm for the past eight years, picked up two 18-20 year old men from the railway station at 9.25 last Tuesday morning. They asked to be taken to Welwyn Garden City where they did a runner without paying the £27.60 fare.
“I was obviously very shaken and upset and immediately asked someone for directions to the police station because I am not very familiar with that area,” explained Mrs Bright. “Unfortunately I was mistakenly directed to police headquarters where I was told they don’t deal with the public and I should make my way to Welwyn police station.”
But when she got there the inquiry desk was closed and Mrs Bright says she was advised to travel to Hatfield police station.
“I couldn’t take any more and obviously looked very upset so a community police officer was sent for. But he just told me there wasn’t much the police could do. He suggested I keep an eye open for the boys myself and ring 999 if I spotted them on my way home,” she added.
The next day Mrs Bright phoned Watford police station to ask for the railway station CCTV tape to be impounded before the evidence could be recorded over.
“But they told me it would be several days before they could start to investigate,” she said. “I suppose the evidence will be lost by then. It seems as if the police aren’t interested in catching them.”
A Herts police spokeswoman confirmed that no approach has yet been made to the railway station to request the video tape but insisted inquiries are continuing into the reported crime.
She went on to say: “We get members of the public turning up all the time at headquarters and it is straightforward protocol to direct them elsewhere. It is unfortunate the inquiry desk at Welwyn police station was closed due to staffing problems.
“But there is a telephone in the lobby there that is obvious for people to see and she could have used that to report the crime.”
ABBOTS LANGLEY: NEW ON THE BEAT
ABBOTS Langley’s new community police officer Pc Dave Pearce is holding a property postcoding day on March 27.
The postcoding session will be held all day at Henderson Hall between 10am and 2pm when Pc Peace is also hoping to give visitors general crime-prevention advice.
VILLAGE conservationists are wading in over a fishy problem that threatens to spoil a renowned local beauty spot.
Goldfish that grow too big for their bowl are being dumped in Apostles Pond on Chipperfield Common along with other ornamental fish such as Japanese Koi.
The result is that Crucian carp, who already live in the pond, are dying off because there isn’t enough food for all the different species.
In the autumn Dacorum Borough Council, which manages the Common, removed a large number of ornamental fish to help save the population of Crucian carp.
Soon the pond will be restocked with more Crucian carp and parish councillors in Chipperfield are calling for no further dumping of ornamental fish.
Council clerk John Pringle said: “We are having this problem of people dumping their unwanted and outgrown fish and we want them to stop.
“There are also instances of garden waste being dumped around there and, although I don’t want to paint too drastic a picture because it is still very much a beauty spot, it is causing a nuisance.
“The borough council is most conscientious in keeping our Common the way we want it and it is a shame when anyone does anything to spoil it.”
BOVINGDON: HEROIN HAUL FOUND IN PRISON
SNIFFER dogs found a haul of heroin in an early morning raid at The Mount jail in Bovingdon.
Forty wraps of the drug were found in a special communal area of the prison where inmates are often left alone with not a guard in sight.
The raid took place at 5.30am on Tuesday, February 25. Prison officers swooped on a wing of the jail known as The Annex.
The wing is for low security inmates who are not locked in their cells at night. From 8pm they have the run of the place when prison officers pull out. Prisoners can use the phones through the night, cook meals and play pool. The Annex houses around 40 prisoners.
During the raid a sniffer dog found 40 bags, or wraps, of heroin. The street value of a wrap, which is a single fix, is £20 but in prisons a wrap sells for around £8, the currency usually being tobacco or phone cards.
Inmates get drugs into the jail by arranging for friends on the ‘outside’ to hurl them over the fence. The size of the prison means it is difficult to patrol every inch of the perimeter.
As a result of the find two inmates are to be moved to other prisons.
A spokeswoman for the Home Office said: “We can confirm a quantity of drugs was found at The Mount on February 25.
She said the raid was launched after the prison authorities had received “intelligence” that heroin was in the wing.
She also confirmed that the haul consisted of 40 wraps of the drug and sundry items such as phone cards had also been recovered.
CHIPPERFIELD: SHOW IT'S SORING
IF your daffodils look ready to bloom or vegetables about to sprout then think about entering Chipperfield Horticultural Society’s spring show on Saturday next week. (March 29)
The society is hoping for bumper entries from members in the show to be staged at the village hall with classes for daffodils, pot plants, flowers, vegetables, floral art, handicrafts and home baking. Sections are also open to junior aged 16 years or younger.
“I think the timing for daffodil exhibits in our show is going to be just right this year,” said show secretary Roger Pigg.
He added that anyone wanting to enter can sign up as a member of the society on the day but should give him a call by Friday 28 March on HH 217863.
All entries can be taken to the hall for judging at 10am and the doors open to the public at 2pm.
n Sarratt Horticultural Society also holds its spring show on March 29 when classes are open not only to gardeners but also to wine makers, cooks and craftsmen as well as children.
KINGS LANGLEY: JOYFUL NEWS
A WHOPPING £400 raised for the Hospice of St Francis made the Kings Langley-based Life and Soul Theatre Academy more than happy.
The money came from their musical Joyful Joyful staged at the end of January, when audiences at the two shows gave generously to the tap-dancing nuns who were a main attraction in the performances!
Principal Sally Ilsley said: “Our musical was a very uplifting and happy one, we think the hospice is such a worthy cause”.
The Academy’s next show in December this year celebrating musicals through the ages, will be Musical Mayhem.
CHIPPERFIELD: BROWNIES CALL
A call has gone out to girls in the Chipperfield area to put their names on the waiting list for the Brownie group.
Although the group has a full pack at the moment, all girls aged six and under can sign up to the 1st Chipperfield Brownies now to be sure of a place when they reach their seventh birthday.
For details call Sian Hopkins on 01923 268852.
ABBOTS LANGLEY: LANGLEYBURY SPLIT
ONE COUNCIL ward in the Abbots Langley parish is to be split into two, following the 2000 boundary review.
The ward of Langleybury will be split into two as it is too large. There will now be two wards - Hunton Bridge and Langleybury, and Tanners Wood - which will each return one councillor.
