Dunstable News Desk

Burglary gang sentenced Gang targeted vehicles during burglaries. Committed 19 offences across three counties. Investigation led by Hertfordshire's Specialist Investigation Team. Reece White from Dunstable  is wanted by police for his part in a number of robberies across three counties. The other four men from nearby have been sentenced. Burglary offences took place across Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire. Hertfordshire Constabulary’s Specialist Investigation Team launched an investigation after a number of burglaries were committed between April and July 2019. In most cases the offenders forced entry into homes during the night to steal car keys and other small items. They would then steal the car. The approximate value of the property stolen was in the region of £125,000. Nineteen offences were committed in Hemel Hempstead , Harpenden , Caddington , Winslow , Leighton Buzzard and Chesham. And, the offenders would commit a number of offences in the same nigh

Coronavirus has changed how we all operate. Unfortunately, as a result of lockdown and the restrictions on movement, the Covid-19 emergency has seen drug dealers and other organised crime gangs move off the streets and into vulnerable people’s homes. That is why the Safer Central Community Safety Partnership is raising awareness of the increasing criminal activity known as cuckooing. What is cuckooing? Named after the cuckoo that steals other birds’ nests, this is the practice of drugs gangs taking over the home of a vulnerable person in order to use it as a base for their criminal network. Last year, Bedfordshire Police identified more than 80 cuckooed locations in the county with theses addresses becoming a base for the production or dealing of drugs, as well as exploitation of the person living there. Victims are befriended by the dealers as they may be vulnerable, isolated, and often drug users themselves. The victims can be robbed, threatened, bullied or even assaulted, sometim

Community Action Bedfordshire are asking people to send in their photographs, comments or video clips to help say a huge THANK YOU to a neighbour or someone in the community who has been a big help during the  Covid-19 pandemic. To make this part of  Volunteers’ Week you are asked to please send us in the photos by Monday 1st June. As Volunteers' Week 1-7 June this year will be slightly different a novel way of saying thanks has been created. It will still be an opportunity to say THANK YOU to everyone who has volunteered their time to help and support others in the community during this difficult time. If you would like to join in and say thank you, please send off a photo of you with a thank you sign, a thumbs up, a short clip of you saying thank you, or simply a thank you comment!  These will be combined into a Thank You video to go out during Volunteers' Week.  Please help to make this a video filled with thanks from across all the wonderful communities in Central Bedfor

This video features Councillor Sue Clark, Central Bedfordshire Council's Director of Children’s Services, Sue Harrison and Assistant Director for Safeguarding and Early Help, Sacha Rymell and lots of the team behind the scenes, all thanking the wonderful foster carers in Central Bedfordshire. Foster Care Fortnight is an annual event to mark the amazing work that foster carers do all year round, but this year due to social distancing they could not than people individually.  Instead, they've made the video to thank them from afar, More than ever before the work foster carers are doing for some of our area's most vulnerable children, is making such a difference. Watch the video and if you’re interested in joining this wonderful group of foster carers, go to www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/fostering . If you’d like to speak to a member of the fostering team you can reach them on 0300 300 8181, they’d love to hear from you. “We've fostered one young man from I

The Signpost Hub has supported almost 2,500 victims of crime in the last year, as it celebrates its two year anniversary. The Signpost Hub was launched in April 2018 to provide emotional and practical support and access to restorative justice for all victims of crime. From April 2019 to April 2020, the hub supported 2,452 victims who were referred into the hub by police officers, partner agencies, after being assessed as needing support, as well as a number of self-referrals. This is a rise of ten per cent more victims supported from the previous year and figures show 99 per cent of those say they’ve been satisfied or very satisfied with the service they have received from the hub in the last year. Trained Victim Care Co-ordinators (VCCs) support those affected by the crime including children, partners and parents. Signpost provides a one-stop-shop offering access to available help, support, advice and guidance, with referrals to a wide range of specialist support organisation

There were 200 fewer victims of serious youth violence in Bedfordshire last year, with new strategies and Government funding helping cut the number of incidents by around 9 per cent. It comes as the Home Office confirmed that us and the county’s Violence and Exploitation Reduction Unit (VERU) have both received fresh funding to carry on this successful work over the next 12 months. Over the past year we have been able to draw on £1.38 million of ‘surge funding’ from the Government to run enforcement action targeting things like gangs and drug dealing. A separate £880,000 from ministers was used to establish the Police and Crime Commissioner’s VERU, which brings together partners such as the police, councils, health and community groups to tackle the root causes of violence and offer young people an alternative path. This has enabled Bedfordshire Police and the VERU to: Reduce serious youth violence by 9 per cent in the year to March 2020, equivalent to 200 fewer vict

The Amazon team at Dunstable have been keeping the team at Luton &  Dunstable Hospital stocked with food and toiletries throughout April and May.  Weekly donations of essential goods from the worth more than £4,000, included wish-list items of food, treats and hygiene products. They were delivered to the hospital by Amazon’s Dunstable Delivery Station team. The Amazon team also treated hospital staff on International Nurses Day  12 May to an additional donation including chocolates, biscuits and sweets to acknowledge the hard work of NHS nurses during the COVID-19 crisis. The International Nurses Day delivery contained easily wiped drawstring bags for carrying uniforms home from the hospital. The Amazon team learned that nurses were finding cloth bags difficult to wash and maintain and added them to the donation. The products were donated to Luton and Dunstable Hospital Charity on a weekly basis as part of the “Amazon in the Community” programme, whereby the company su

Dunstable Town Council held a virtual Annual Town Council Meeting on Monday 18th May. The largely scripted meeting resulted in the following positions being agreed: Town Mayor – Councillor Peter Hollick Deputy Town Mayor – Councillor Gloria Martin Chairman Finance and General Purposes – Councillor Sid Abbott Vice - Chairman Finance and General Purposes – Councillor Philip Crawley Chairman Grounds and Environmental Services – Councillor Liz Jones Vice - Chairman Grounds and Environmental Services – Councillor Lisa Bird Chairman Community Services – Councillor Gloria Martin Vice - Chairman Community Services – Councillor Cameron Restall Source: If you have news for Dunstable, please send it in

A Caddington man has been jailed for five-and-a-half-years after killing a young boy on his bike on a crossing. Michael Raffermati, 35, of Wren Close, Caddington pleaded guilty to one count of death by dangerous driving in October 2018. At around 2.20pm on 20 October, emergency services were called to reports of a collision. 6-year-old, Zi Singh, was crossing the road on his bike with his father at a crossing point on White Horse Vale , when Raffermati hit him with his blue Vauxhall Astra. Singh was taken to hospital, where he died a short time later due to the injuries he sustained. Yesterday (Monday) at Luton Crown Court, Raffermati was sentenced to five-and-a-half-years for causing death by dangerous driving, five years disqualification extended by 33 months, and he will have to take an extended re-test. Sergeant James Thorne, from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Roads Policing Unit, said: “I would like to commend Zi’s family for the manner in which

Planning News - CB/20/01270/FULL  A detailed planning application for the residential development on land at St Mary’s Church, West Street, Dunstable has been submitted to Central Bedfordshire Council  (CBC) for consideration. St Mary's Roman Catholic Church is at 82 West Street, Dunstable, LU6 1NY. The application includes the demolition of an underutilised presbytery building to enable the construction of a block of flats. In all, 10 units are proposed, three of which would be affordable, and all to be sited along the western boundary of the site. Associated car parking and landscaping is included but this would remove an amenity ground and 9 original parking spaces. The plan includes 22 car parking spaces for the 10 x 2 bed apartments to meet with the CBCs design standards. The site entrance would continue to be off West Street for the church as well as the apartments. The site along with sections of Prince’s Street and Burr Street was proposed to be ad

Central Bedfordshire Council has been revamping roads across Central Bedfordshire while traffic levels are low during the coronavirus lockdown. Their highways teams have taken advantage of the quieter roads and since the start of the lockdown has fixed more than 600 repairs including potholes, streetlights and road signs as well as eight re-surfacing schemes. Work has also been progressing on the A421 Dualling Scheme, with over 80% of the carriageway works now completed, and on track for completion before the winter. The Highways team has been using their Super-Vac machine, clearing out drains more efficiently than ever before, unblocking nearly 2,000 gullies. Work is still underway on a number of lining schemes and traffic calming measures. The team maintain around the clock response for any highway’s emergency across the Central Bedfordshire's 850-mile road network together with a large footpath network and public rights of way. Councillor Ian Dalgarno, Central Bed

Bedfordshire Police is experiencing an increase in animal and wildlife crime reports and is warning the county’s residents to be wary about purchasing meat from unregulated suppliers. Since the start of the lockdown, the force has received a higher number of reports from the farming community. These range from incidents of walkers trampling crops, leaving gates unsecured and loose dogs chasing cattle, sheep and deer. A single incident resulted in a number of sheep and lambs being killed and mutilated. Evidence of cattle rustling has also been discovered at one farm near Bedford, where a pig was also slaughtered overnight and the innards left behind. Inspector Craig Gurr, from the force’s Rural Crime Team, said: “This activity can be devastating to small farms, as the loss of crops and livestock can have a serious effect on a farmer’s livelihood. “It is also worrying that potentially unsafe meat may be circulating for sale in the county, as the animals were not slaugh

This Foster Care Fortnight is underway with an appeal for people in Central Bedfordshire to use their time during lockdown to research and consider fostering, and to join Central Bedfordshire Council’s Fostering Team for a virtual information session. Foster care transforms lives and the council are keen to share the incredible difference that their foster carers make, day in, day out, even during uncertain times such as the outbreak of the Coronavirus. Foster carers Sharon, Tina and Stacey got together before lockdown to talk about fostering in films captured by Central Bedfordshire College students as part of their media studies. They all agreed that fostering has given them a different outlook on life and as families, they’ve gained more of an understanding of what some children have been through and how they can help them in a positive way. Councillor Sue Clark, Executive Member for Families, Education and Children said: “Fostering has the potential to be life-changin

Deaf Awareness Week runs from May 4 to May 10th. (Text of video) “Greetings to you all! I am CRAIG CROWLEY, Chair of UK Council on Deafness (UKCOD), a membership organisation representing a range of organisations with a Deaf and hearing loss remit. It is wonderful to see many organisations, agencies and authorities sponsoring, celebrating and promoting the importance of raising awareness of Deafness and hearing loss. Thank you! Annually, we highlight different themes of Deafness. This year it is Acquired Deafness. It is important to raise this awareness so this year we are putting a spotlight on what is it like to become Deaf, be it sudden, health or age related. If you know someone or have customers who have lost their hearing, how are you able to meet their access and communication requirements? This has become even more vital during this virus pandemic and the huge increase in the use of technology to keep businesses/services open. A range

Lifting the Lockdown: Workplace Safety ( LINK ) Andrew Selous The Second Church Estates Commissioner: If we want businesses to come back, they need to survive. Small businesses that pay themselves through dividends are not pariahs; they operate entirely legally. Will my hon. Friend speak to the Treasury to make sure that these businesses survive, and can we look again at the dividend issue, because many small businesses will not survive to allow their workers to come back next week if we do not? Paul Scully Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy), Minister of State (London): I am grateful for that comment. Clearly, the Government’s first priority in all of this is saving lives, but livelihoods and making sure that businesses and jobs are retained and that we can bounce back is very important. I will certainly take that away. I know that the Treasury has always been keen to look at each step of the situation to ensure that we can