Dunstable News Desk

Man’s sentence increased in connection with kidnapping and stalking– Aylesbury A man who was sentenced for kidnapping and other offences last year has had his sentence increased following an appeal to the Royal Courts of Justice. Following an investigation by Thames Valley Police, Liam Goodenough, aged 42, of Norfolk Road, Dunstable, was convicted of kidnapping, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and stalking involving serious alarm or distress after pleading guilty. Additional charges of controlling or coercive behaviour in an intimate or family relationship and disclosing a private sexual photograph with intent to cause distress were to lie on file. He was sentenced at Aylesbury Crown Court on 5 November 2021 to 12 months imprisonment and was also handed a restraining order for a period of 10 years. Thames Valley Police and the CPS raised the case for review by the Solicitor General and on Thursday (13/1), Goodenough’s sentence was increased to three years’ imprisonment. On 2

Levelling Up: East of England — [Esther McVey in the Chair] – in Westminster Hall at 9:30 am on 18th January 2022. Andrew Selous The Second Church Estates Commissioner  10:07 am, 18th January 2022 It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms McVey. I congratulate my hon. Friend Peter Aldous on bringing this much-needed debate. Sometimes gratitude is in slightly short supply where the Government are concerned, so I start with a thanks before I come on to my shopping list, because the town of Houghton Regis in my constituency received £19.9 million for a new community wellbeing centre hub, which I am very pleased about . It is much needed. We have a new one in Dunstable, and the local authority just committed to a new one in Leighton Buzzard, so this completes the piece. I am extremely grateful. An enormous number of new homes are being built in my area. Around 14,000 are going up—about 8,000 north of Houghton Regis and around 6,000 to the east of Leighton Buzzard. My partic

Motorists risk their vehicles being stolen if they leave them running and unattended while their windscreens defrost. The warning has been issued by the tri-force Road Policing Unit (RPU) for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire, as overnight temperatures continue to dip below zero.   PC Grant Duke, from the RPU, said, “No-one looks forward to defrosting their windscreen on a cold morning but everyone must stay with their vehicle while they do so. If you leave your vehicle running and unattended, you make it an easy target for criminals. Unfortunately, there are unscrupulous individuals out there who will be on the lookout for these opportunities on icy mornings.” It is also important that motorists defrost their windscreens fully before setting out on a journey. A frozen or partially defrosted windscreen makes it difficult to see properly, putting lives at risk. Motorists caught driving with obscured vision  can receive a £100 fine and three penalty points for careless d

Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service (BFRS) has launched a consultation on its proposals for Service delivery and its Budget and Council Tax requirements for 2022/23. BFRS is engaging with the local community to seek views on its priorities and proposals to increase contributions to its funding from council tax. You can view the full consultation document here. If you haven't already responded they would really appreciate your feedback. You can take part in the consultation here. The Community Risk Management Plan (CRMP) which you can  view here , sets out how BFRS propose to focus its efforts on delivering next year. The Fire and Rescue Authority is currently considering a  council tax increase of 1.99% , increasing the Band D charge to £104.45 per annum or an increase for a  Band D property of £2.04 per year  or just under  4 pence per week . BFRS would like your views on whether this increase is reasonable or not. They would also like to hear any ideas you have for future sa

The BP petrol where the robbery took place (Image: Google) Appeal after Dunstable petrol station robbery Police Officers are appealing for information after a robbery at a Dunstable petrol station  Thursday evening. At around 9.15pm, two men entered the BP garage in Luton Road and began taking items from shelves within the store and putting them into a black bin bag. After being challenged by a member of staff they then became aggressive and forced the victim to hand over an amount of cash, and then fled the scene. The men are described as white, around 5’10” and in their late 30s. They were both wearing dark clothing. Detective Inspector Nick Gardner, from our Criminal Investigation Department, said: “This is a very concerning incident which left an innocent member of staff extremely shaken. “We are progressing a number of lines of enquiry, including reviewing CCTV footage, and would encourage anyone in the area at the time or who saw the offenders fleeing the scene to get in touc

Whipsnade Zoo’s keepers began the mammoth task of counting every animal for their annual stocktake on Thursday 6 January 2022.       Home to more than 9,500 animals, zookeepers at the UK’s largest Zoo gathered their clipboards and calculators, to take stock of each invertebrate, bird, fish, mammal, reptile and amphibian.    Keepers have to count every single animal in the Zoo; from three, boisterous, Amur tiger brothers, to hundreds of fragile butterflies. The Zoo’s group (also known as a ‘conspiracy’) of ring-tailed lemurs were curious about the activity, while its ‘waddle’ of penguins happily got in line to be counted in exchange for their favourite fishy treats.    2021 saw the conservation Zoo celebrate the birth of rhinoceros calf Nandi, who was counted alongside her “crash” of Southern white rhinos. Several, recently-hatched, baby chameleons, had to be added to the Zoo’s official records, as well as hundreds of Critically Endangered and Extinct-in-the-Wild freshwater fi

Schools in Central Bedfordshire will receive £19 million in extra funding this year, as part of a £4 billion funding boost from the Government across the country.   Funding per pupil will increase nationally by five per cent in real terms from this year, giving significant increases for every pupil in every school. A record £1 billion extra will be spent to support pupils with special educational needs and disabilities, so that all young people can reach their full potential.  Andrew Selous MP has welcomed the news that schools in Central Bedfordshire will receive £254 million in funding this year, a boost of £19 million as part of the Government’s £4 billion increase in spending for schools across the country.  The £4 billion extra funding for school delivers on the Prime Minister’s commitment when entering Downing Street, when he pledged to level up school funding by pledging over £14 billion for primary and secondary schools by 2022-23.  The £19 million extra funding can use for hir

The Home Secretary has announced that funding for police in Bedfordshire will be boosted by up to £6.9 million in 2022-23, as part of the Government’s Beating Crime Plan to make our streets safer. Which begs the question of why does the PCC for Bedfordshire want to increase the police and crime precept by a typical £10 a year? Nationally, police forces will receive a cash boost of up to £1.1 billion – an inflation-busting 7 per cent cash increase on the previous year – bringing total funding for 2022-23 to £16.9 billion. The boost in resources will allow the Government to continue cracking down on crime and making our streets safer – which so far has seen 11,053 new police officers recruited, over 1,500 county lines closed, and 16,000 knives and dangerous weapons taken off our streets. Police in Bedfordshire will receive a funding increase of up to £6.9 million this year, the Home Secretary has announced.  The announcement comes as police forces across the country are set to receiv

... But Have Your Say, Anyway Each winter, the Central Bedfordshire Council refreshes its budget proposals which include proposals for Council Tax in 2022/23. In the next financial year (from April 2022 until March 2023), the council expects to be spending £468million on services . This is known as the revenue budget and is largely funded by council tax and business rates. The largest proportion of the funding is spent on care services for adults and children who are frail, disabled or vulnerable and need protection. This budget also funds their core services such as refuse and recycling, roads, leisure, libraries, parks and countryside services. A further £240million is expected to be spent from their capital budget . This includes roads, care homes, schools (including around £9million on specialist school places for SEND), leisure provision and other infrastructure projects. The capital budget is funded through loans or selling land or buildings the council owns and re

Published 31 December 2021 Commander of the Order of the British Empire Jennifer COLES Director of Children's Services, Hertfordshire County Council.  For services to Children's Social Care,  Dunstable, Bedfordshire Officer of the Order of the British Empire James Gerard JAMIESON Chairman, Local Government Association.  For services to Local Government, Bedford, Bedfordshire Member of the Order of the British Empire Professor Alan Michael COTTENDEN Emeritus Professor of Incontinence Technology, University College London. For services to Sufferers of Incontinence, Bedford, Bedfordshire Member of the Order of the British Empire David JONATHAN Director, Grassroots Programme, Luton Council of Faiths and Near Neighbours Programme. For services to Community Cohesion and Interfaith Relations in Luton, Bedfordshire Luton, Bedfordshire Member of the Order of the British Empire Paul Francis John MACKIN Town Councillor and Mayor, Shefford Town, Bedfordshire.  For services to L