The lead story on this page is about Roma migrants in Page Hall, Sheffield. I expanded on comments made by Hillsborough MP David Blunkett to BBC radio by interviewing those who actually live in the area, as well as speaking to local councillors. Also on this page is a story I produced after a day in court, about a man sentenced after he strangled a young boy (not his actual picture!). Finally, there is a story about an ice dancer who I met through social media, and a light-hearted one about the Loo of the Year awards.!
The lead story on this page is about Roma migrants in Page Hall, Sheffield. I expanded on comments made by Hillsborough MP David Blunkett to BBC radio by interviewing those who actually live in the area, as well as speaking to local councillors. Also on this page is a story I produced after a day in court, about a man sentenced after he strangled a young boy (not his actual picture!). Finally, there is a story about an ice dancer who I met through social media, and a light-hearted one about the Loo of the Year awards.!
The lead story on this page is about Roma migrants in Page Hall, Sheffield. I expanded on comments made by Hillsborough MP David Blunkett to BBC radio by interviewing those who actually live in the area, as well as speaking to local councillors. Also on this page is a story I produced after a day in court, about a man sentenced after he strangled a young boy (not his actual picture!). Finally, there is a story about an ice dancer who I met through social media, and a light-hearted one about the Loo of the Year awards.!
The lead story on this page is about Roma migrants in Page Hall, Sheffield. I expanded on comments made by Hillsborough MP David Blunkett to BBC radio by interviewing those who actually live in the area, as well as speaking to local councillors. Also on this page is a story I produced after a day in court, about a man sentenced after he strangled a young boy (not his actual picture!). Finally, there is a story about an ice dancer who I met through social media, and a light-hearted one about the Loo of the Year awards.!
migrants may boil over, warns Blunkett Residents who are patrol- ling local streets to control anti-social behaviour from Roma migrants may turn violent unless integration is improved, according to Hills- borough MP David Blunkett. Concerns have been raised in Page Hall, Sheffeld after a number of Roma migrants from Slovakia moved there. Dale Cooper, 23, from Firth Park, said: Its not just hap- pening in Page Hall, its Firth Park, Wincobank and Darnall as well. Its all getting a bit out of hand now. I cant tell you everything thats happening here but its not just loud noise and litter, you should spend a full day here and see it for yourself. They go through peoples bins at night, elderly peo- ple have been mugged, and people have even been of- fered sex with young girls. Many people wont leave their homes after dark. Its a vile place. Its been going on for ages now and police are not lis- tening to us. All we want is for them to respect our way of living. They have got no right to come here and do what they are doing. Its going to come to a point where people will deal with it without the police its getting that bad now. The police seem to be on their side. You ring them and all you get is an incident number and nothing is done about it. No one is helping to sort the area out apart from the residents. All we want is peace around here. The council is looking into in- troducing a selective licens- ing scheme for landlords in the Page Hall area in an ef- fort to prevent overcrowding and curb the behaviour from the Roma migrants. Cllr Mazher Iqbal, Labour councillor and cabinet mem- ber for communities, said: We have zero tolerance to the problems that have been reported in Page Hall and surrounding areas. Together with the police, we will be making more use of CCTV cameras in the area and on the spot fnes will be issued for littering and fy- tipping. We are also running a num- ber of initiatives to help the Roma and Slovak people learn English and fnd jobs, which is all part of their in- tegration, something that people argue needs to be worked on. Were doing all we can. Blunkett fears there may be a repeat of race riots that took place in Bradford, Old- ham and Burnley in 2001. In an interview with BBC Ra- dio Sheffeld, Blunkett said: If everything exploded, if things went really wrong, the community would obvi- ously be devastated. We saw this in Bradford, Burnley and Oldham all those years ago when I frst became home secretary. We saw that the community itself were the losers. More than 200 people were jailed in the 2001 riots after far-right groups such as the British National Party clashed with Asian communities. Blunkett said the Roma com- munity needed to stop be- haviour such as gathering on the street and dropping litter. He said: Weve got to be tough and robust in say- ing to people you are not in a downtrodden village or woodland, because many of them dont even live in areas where there are toilets or re- fuse collection facilities. You are not there anymore, you are here - and youve got to adhere to our standards, and to our way of behaving, and if you do then youll get a welcome and people will support you. A recent study by Salford University concluded that there was a Roma commu- nity of over 200,000 living in the UK. But the Government has axed Labours Migration Im- pact Fund, which would have provided 50m to help with schools and housing. Man dragged away after punching boy, 16, on foor An unemployed man who was dragged away after punching and strangling a 16-year-old boy was today ordered to complete 120 hours of unpaid work. Philip Button, 32, grabbed the boy by the throat and threw him to the foor after aiming 15 punches and a number of kicks at his face and stomach. The child, who cannot be legally named, was walking on Hole House Lane, Stocks- bridge, in March amid snow and ice on the pavement, said Adam Walker, prosecut- ing. Button got out of his car and attacked the boy after he punched another vehicle which narrowly swerved by him. Giving evidence via vide- olink, the 16-year-old said: He caught me on the right hand side of my cheek, grabbed my head and start- ed to knee me in the face. I barely even knew what hap- pened. He was proper going for me and strangled me while I was on the foor. Giving evidence, witness Sarah Wallace told Sheffeld Magistrates Court: He had got the lad by the throat on the foor. The boy was a hor- rible, purple colour. I thought he was choking. Button pleaded guilty to common assault contrary to section 39 of the Criminal Justice Act. He admitted grabbing the boy but denied punching him. Karen Smith, mitigating, said: He [Button] is not ac- cepting punching or kicking this lad. Chairman of the bench Tony Griffths ordered But- ton to complete 120 hours of unpaid work, and to pay 85 costs, a 60 victim sur- charge, and 100 in com- pensation. Speaking to reporters out- side court, Button said: Look at the size of me. Dont you think I would have made more damage than that? Its a fucking joke. Ice dancer raises more than 300 to compete at the British Championships A 13-year-old ice dancer from Stocksbridge is to com- pete at the British Ice Skat- ing Championships after raising more than 300 with donations from all over the world. Dominic Barters online plea drew money from Germa- ny, Canada, Belgium and France, as well as Britain. His 300 target was met within three days and dona- tions continue to arrive. He said: We needed a lot of money for the champion- ships and this mainly goes towards the costumes - a couple for ball room dances and one for the free dance. There is also an entry fee and coaching fees which are quite expensive. Dominic will compete with By Ruud Van Nistelrooy Visit our website, HH.com, for more on this story Analysis: Who are the Roma? By Ben Topliss Button punched the boy 15 times By Cristiano Ronaldo Pub triumphs in Loo of the Year awards A nomadic group of people whose ancestors are thought to have left North-West India at the beginning of the 11th century before spreading across Europe Most commonly referred to as Gypsies, Roma are the largest minority group in Europe The largest Roma mi- nority in the EU is in Ro- mania - where more than a million reside They make up between fve and ten percent of the population of many European countries The total population of Roma people is uncertain, estimates have ranged from two million to more than twelve million Poverty and discrima- tion have long held back Roma people The Rawson Spring pub in Langsett Road, Hillsborough, has been recognised in the Loo of the Year awards. The Wetherspoon pub won gold, the second highest honour in the competition. The Francis Newton in Clark- house Road, Broomhill, and The Sheaf Island in Ecclesall received the highest rating - platinum. The pub tweeted on their of- fcial account: Great news!! Weve won gold at the Loo of the Year Awards! Chuffed with that #Rawsome. The competition has encour- aged high standards in pub- lic toilets since 1987. partner Hana Wrigglesworth, 11, in the Novice Dance cat- egory at the Championships. The event will be held at iceSheffeld between the 25th and 30th November. There is no direct funding available for Dominic so all his costs around 10,000 a year - must be met by family and supporters. Dominic, who attends Stocksbridge High School, said: We do a lot of self- fundraising, events such as discos, quiz nights and spon- sored events. There is also my website and my Facebook blog. Louise Barter, Dominics mother, said: Im person- ally quite amazed because the people who have donat- ed have been people from all over the world, from people who have only met him once to people who havent even met him at all. Its amazing to have that kind of support. Its an awful struggle to raise the money needed to support Dominic. My husband works but Im unable to work full-time as I take Dominic to all the com- petitions and training. Weve had to cut back on everything, but its worth it. Dominic trains up to 6 days per week. David Blunkett fears a repeat of the 2001 northern riots if Roma migrants in Page Hall, Sheffeld, do not change their anti-social behaviour HILLSBOROUGH HERALD 2 JANUARY 2014 10,000 The amount of money it costs to fund Dominics ice skating every year, which is all met by his family.