Man jailed for biting police officer in Harrogate

A notorious thug has been jailed for biting a police officer following a disturbance in Harrogate town centre.

Adam Snowdon, 31, was arrested following a drunken incident in Parliament Street and brought into Harrogate Police Station, where he bit one officer and allegedly assaulted two others.

He was charged with affray and assaulting three police officers. 

He initially denied all allegations but admitted affray on the day of trial. 

Snowdon, of Lupton Close, Glasshouses, was tried by a jury on three allegations of assaulting a police officer.

At York Crown Court yesterday (Monday, September 12), he was found guilty of one count of assaulting a policeman but not guilty of attacking the two others.

The substantive charge on which he was found guilty was biting a named officer at the police station on Beckwith Head Road on May 1. 

Prosecutor Ben Whittingham said that Snowdon was on a community order at the time for previous offences, including violence against police officers. 

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Defence barrister Allan Armbrister said Snowdon was “very much a loner” who desperately needed help after years of mental-health issues. 

He said Snowdon had not yet received that professional help and would now “lose that chance” due to the inevitable jail sentence for his “awful behaviour” in the town centre in May.

He added that Snowdon had recently become a father but any hopes of family life were now “completely lost” because his now-ex partner didn’t want “anything more to do with him”.

Snowdon, who was no stranger to prison, had been diagnosed with behavioural problems as a child.

Judge Sean Morris, the Recorder of York, said he had “taken a chance” with Snowdon when he gave him a community order earlier this year, but jail was now the only option because of his “bad” record for violence.

He said although Snowdon didn’t start the violence in the town centre, it was a “prolonged incident thereafter, on a busy street where people are fed up with…drunken violence”. 

Jailing Snowdon for 19 months, the judge said he would reserve all future cases involving the Harrogate man to himself and would “come down on you like a tonne of bricks if you cause trouble in North Yorkshire’s towns and cities”.

Snowdon will serve half of that sentence behind bars before being released on prison licence.

Hospital ‘not anticipating’ service cuts due to energy price surge

Harrogate District Hospital has said it does not expect to cut back on vital health services because of soaring energy bills after revealing its costs have more than doubled from last year.

The hospital’s gas and electricity costs shot up by 132% between April and June when compared to the same period last year, but bosses have insisted the price rises “are being managed”.

This comes amid warnings that some NHS trusts will have to find as much as £2 million extra a month this winter due to the fuel price surge.

The NHS Confederation – which represents trust bosses across the UK – told the BMJ that the energy crisis coupled with higher than expected inflation was already “wiping out large parts of the NHS budget”.

A spokesperson for Harrogate District Hospital said that as part of its own budget planning it would do its “utmost” to take into account further rises, adding:

“Inflation costs above those included in the budget are being actively managed through the trust’s efficiency programme so that we can provide the best possible value for the taxpayer.

“It is important that our community has the best possible healthcare system to turn to when they need it and we are not anticipating that the current fuel rises will impact on the vital services we provide.”

Energy bills for non-domestic customers such as hospitals are not subject to the energy price cap and have therefore been even more vulnerable to surging prices.

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Under Liz Truss’s energy plan, household bills will be frozen at an average of £2,500 for two years and the new prime minister said businesses, charities and public sector organisations would also be offered an “equivalent guarantee” – but only for six months.

Harrogate District Hospital was last year awarded £14 million to reduce its carbon footprint and energy bills as part of its drive to become a “greener, more environmentally friendly organisation”.

The funding is being used for works to install new insulation and glazing across the hospital site.

A hospital spokesperson added:

“Another exciting project currently underway is the drilling of a borehole, from which the heat energy will be extracted from the water, put through a heat exchanger and into our heating system to help reduce our reliance on gas and other fossil fuels.

“We also have a number of other projects that are currently being progressed or will start shortly, including replacing air handling units to increase efficiency and extract heat energy, and installing photovoltaic arrays to generate electricity on the site.

“Through this work we are already seeing big efficiency gains and further projects will continue in the years ahead.”

Plans to convert former Slug & Lettuce in Harrogate

Plans have been submitted to convert the Herald Buildings in Harrogate, which was most recently home to the Slug & Lettuce pub, into four retail units and apartments.

Built in the 1850s, the buildings were also the headquarters of the Harrogate Advertiser newspaper for much of the last century until it moved out in 1990.

The Slug & Lettuce chain then occupied part of the buildings for nearly 30 years before closing in May last year.

Plans were submitted last week by Leeds-based developer Rushbond PLC to give it a new lease of life.

It hopes to subdivide the downstairs pub into four retail units and convert the upstairs area into five apartments.

It’s in the Montpellier Quarter which is a popular area for boutique shops.

The plans have been designed by Harrogate-based SPX Architects. Documents say the development would “enhance the area’s reputation” as a destination for independent boutique-style shops.

It says:

“The proposals generate a sustainable, long-term use for the upper floors of this locally designated heritage asset and simultaneously improve its energy efficiency and visual contribution to the area.

“Moreover, the replacement of a large public house and its associated outdoor eating and drinking areas with a scheme providing a complementary mix of small high-quality ground floor retail units to those found on Montpellier Mews, Montpellier Parade and Montpellier Street only serves to enhance the areas reputation as a destination for independent boutique style shops.”

HBC will decide on the plans at a later date.

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Transport chief denies inflation will lead to ‘cheap’ Harrogate Station Gateway

The councillor in charge of transport in North Yorkshire has claimed inflation will not lead to cheaper materials being used in the £11.2 million Harrogate Station Gateway scheme.

Cllr Keane Duncan, executive member for highways and transportation at North Yorkshire County Council, told Harrogate district businesses last night the scheme would not be “compromised”.

David Simister, chief executive of Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce, told the organisation’s monthly meeting that Harrogate was a “premier town” and “the last thing we want is for the town centre to be cheapened”.

Mr Simister said he would prefer to see any town centre investment spent on improving Cambridge Street and Oxford Street rather than on the gateway project, which would pedestrianise part of James Street and reduce traffic on a stretch of Station Parade to single lane to encourage walking and cycling.

Cambridge Street in the sun

Cambridge Street – in need of investment?

He asked Cllr Duncan if he could guarantee the gateway would be a high quality project. Cllr Duncan replied:

“At the moment there hasn’t been any discussion around compromising the scheme.

“If there are inflationary pressures we will have to look at what we can do around those costings. Does the council look at contributing to any shortfall? That’s not anything we have discussed at this time.”

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Cllr Duncan added all local authorities faced inflationary measures that required “tough decisions” but added:

“The last thing I want to see happen is compromise on the public realm because that is an important part of the scheme.”

Cllr Duncan told the meeting the third round of gateway consultation had now ended and if, as expected, councillors decide to proceed, work is likely to start next year.

Encouraging active travel

He also told the chamber meeting, which focused on carbon reduction,  that “how people shop and get around” was a key part of the council’s plan to be carbon net zero by 2034 and carbon negative by 2040.

Cllr Duncan, who lives in Malton, said there were four strands to achieving this. They were: fleet and logistics; shifting to low carbon vehicles; decarbonising public transport and increasing active travel by encouraging more people to walk distances of up to 2km and cycle distances of up to 8km rather than drive.

Cyclist on Otley Road. Photo: Hedgehog Cycling

Encouraging cycling is a council priority. Photo: Hedgehog Cycling

Responding to a question by a chamber member that the council’s aim to double the use of public transport seemed completely at odds with what is happening, Cllr Duncan agreed the number of bus routes had decreased over the last 20 years, adding:

“We are now at a critical time. Passenger numbers are now at 80% pre-pandemic levels.

“A number of routes that were previously commercially viable are now essentially at a cliff edge situation.”

He said the council was therefore “trying to do things differently”, for instance by introducing the on-demand minibus service for rural areas YorBus, which covers Ripon, Masham and Bedale.

Last night’s chamber meeting at the Cedar Court Hotel in Harrogate also heard carbon reduction-themed talks from Paul White, a procurement specialist at Auditel, Sarah Jones, the founder of Full Circle Funerals and from Danny Wild and Mike Kay from Harrogate District Climate Change Coalition.

Business Breakfast: district’s pubs decide whether to open for The Queen’s funeral

Business Breakfast is sponsored by Harrogate law firm Truth Legal. 

The district’s hospitality businesses are deciding whether or not to open on Monday 19 – the day of Her Majesty The Queen’s funeral.

Alyson Griffiths the manager of the  Prince of Wales in Starbeck told the Stray Ferret that the pub would stay open. The decision was taken by its operators the Craft Union Pub Company yesterday. Ms Griffiths said the idea was to be somewhere for people who lived alone to congregate and watch the service.

The Queen’s Head in Kettlesing said it would close during day but open again at 6pm.

Bettys of Harrogate has said its cafe tearooms will be shut on Monday 19.

The government has designated the day of the funeral as a Bank Holiday but left organisations to decide for themselves if they’ll stay open and give employees a day off . It has said

“The government cannot interfere in existing contractual arrangements between employers and workers. However, we would expect that many workers will be able to take the day off on the bank holiday.

“We also expect employers to respond sensitively to requests from workers who wish to take the day of the funeral off work.”

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Beauty therapists, The Treatment Rooms in Harrogate are celebrating after winning an award.

The salon on Mayfield Grove won Best Beauty Treatments in the Yorkshire category of the  England’s Business Awards. They now go through to the finals in Birmingham in November.

Celebrating on their Instagram account Alex Smith said:

We couldn’t all be there last night…however I am so proud of my fabulous, talented & hard working team!!

Every one of my team shows so much care & attention to detail with every customer who walks through our door & this goes to show!!

Developer proceeds with ‘unseemly’ Maltkiln event in mourning period

The developer behind a proposed new Harrogate district town of up to 10,000 people are proceeding with a consultation event today despite calls for it to be deferred.

Caddick Group is holding a public drop-in event at Green Hammerton Village Hall from 3pm to 7pm.

The proposed new town, called Maltkiln, will be built in the Hammerton and Cattal area and include up to 4,000 homes, as well as two primary schools, shops and a GP surgery.

But some councillors and residents feel the event should be postponed until after the Queen’s mourning period ends.

Cattal train station would be at the heart of the new development.

North Yorkshire County Council and Harrogate Borough Council have postponed meetings this week.

Paul Townsend, a member of Kirk Hammerton Parish Council, questioned whether it was appropriate for the event to proceed. He said:

“The guidance we have been given as parish councils is that it is expected that non-urgent business should be deferred until after the period of national mourning.

“I have therefore informed the scheme promoters that Kirk Hammerton parish councillors will not be attending the event in their official capacity.”

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Today’s event is not part of any official consultation process. Harrogate Borough Council, the planning authority, is expected to open an official consultation next month.

Local resident Alex Smith said:

“It feels unseemly right now even to be drawn in to a debate about whether or not this event should go ahead. I think many residents were just assuming Caddick would postpone it out of respect — and also out of a professional concern to have an effective consultation, with residents’ full attention.

“Volume developers aren’t renowned for their sensitivity, and if Caddick have pressing commercial reasons to hold this event right now, however compromised it might be and whatever the optics — they’re within their rights to do.”

‘Cancelling now would cause confusion’

A spokesman for Caddick said it was “shocked and saddened” to hear of the Queen’s death, adding:

“In line with government guidance on the period of national mourning, which was published on Friday, we decided that the correct course of action is to continue with our consultation event.

 

“To cancel this at very late notice would risk causing confusion amongst the 1,250 residents and businesses we have written to in the local area, and it is important that we conclude this specific consultation process well before Harrogate Borough Council consults on their draft development plan document in October.

 

“However, we can confirm that we will extend the duration of the consultation period by two days, to midnight on September 21. In addition, as part of our ongoing application and engagement with the local community we are always ready to discuss our proposals and receive comments regarding these.

 

“We updated politicians and stakeholders advising them as to our decision to proceed with the consultation, on Friday 9th September. We have been absolutely committed to consulting fully on our proposals throughout this process and are constantly reappraising what we need to do as a business to ensure the widest variety of views can be heard.

 

“If we receive any requests to meet separately with stakeholders, then we will of course consider those and seek to arrive at a suitable outcome. It is of course a difficult time for many and we will further review our approach as the consultation progresses.”

 

 

 

 

Inquest hears how Harrogate boy had taken multiple drugs

An inquest into the death of 16-year-old Ben Nelson-Roux heard how he had multiple drugs in his system, including cocaine and diazepam, when he died.

Ben, a former student at St Aidan’s Church of England High School, died in Harrogate on April 8 2020.

His body was found by his mum, Kate, at Harrogate Borough Council-run homeless hostel Cavendish House. He had been living there since February of that year.

The hostel on Robert Street is intended for adults and has 9 bedsits.

The inquest into Ben’s death is expected to last twelve days and began this morning at the North Yorkshire Coroner’s Office in Northallerton.

Ben, who left St Aidan’s in 2019, was a known drug user and two days before he died was deemed by NHS Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) to be ‘at significant risk of death’.

He was also recognised by authorities as a victim of child criminal exploitation from county lines drug dealers.

The inquest into Ben’s death will explore the decision by the North Yorkshire County Council and Harrogate Borough Council to place Ben in an adult homeless hostel, given his age, vulnerability, and what was known about his lifestyle at the time.

Toxicology report

The inquest heard how cannabis, tablets and white powder were found in Ben’s room when he died.

Two days before his death Ben attended accident and emergency at Harrogate District Hospital where he said he had ingested a number of diazepam tablets as well as crack cocaine.

Dr Stephen Morley, toxicologist, told the inquest that blood and urine reports identified MDMA and cocaine as well as the painkillers diazepam and buprenorphine.  Mirtazapine and temazepam, used to treat depression and insomnia, were also found.

However, Dr Morley said all the drugs were found in “relatively low” concentrations.

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Dr Carl Gray, consultant pathologist at Harrogate District Hospital, said he was unable to undertake a full post-mortem on Ben’s body as it took place during the first covid lockdown.

He said:

“The cause of death cannot be certain as there was no internal dissections due to the pandemic. Multiple drugs were present but were low and the effects were debatable.”

Dr Gray added:

“My opinion on the balance of probability is that the most likely cause of death was multiple drug abuse and cocaine toxicity”.

Died alone

North Yorkshire Police detective sergeant Dominic Holroyd said police studied CCTV of Ben’s last movements in the hostel.

He said the footage ruled out anyone else being involved as Ben was the only person seen entering or leaving his room.

DS Holroyd added that following Ben’s death, police had made two arrests on suspicion of supplying him with the drugs but the investigation was dropped due to lack of evidence.

He also said there was no evidence that anyone at the hostel supplied him with the drugs.

The inquest continues.

Rural Harrogate has worst internet connections in county

Rural areas in Harrogate have been revealed as the worst in North Yorkshire for internet connections.

Ofcom figures show parts of the district are lagging behind Ryedale, Craven, Hambleton, Richmondshire, Scarborough, Selby and York for superfast broadband, with 69% connectivity in rural Harrogate compared with 96% in urban areas.

Slow internet speeds can hinder economic growth and leave thousands of businesses and households plunged into “technology blackspots”.

That is according to North Yorkshire County Council, which launched its broadband company NYnet in 2007 and said the rollout of superfast internet in rural communities has involved one of the most challenging projects of its kind nationally.

It said it has invested £85 million in broadband services, although it admitted improving connectivity remains a “significant challenge”.

Alastair Taylor, chief executive of NYnet, said:

“We remain committed to providing broadband coverage across all parts of North Yorkshire, from the county’s major urban areas to the remotest communities.

“NYnet has been working for more than a decade on a programme to bring superfast broadband throughout North Yorkshire.

“More than 190,000 premises have been upgraded on Openreach’s digital network to provide faster and more reliable broadband connections.

“More than 80% of premises have now taken advantage of the dramatically improved broadband speeds which have been made available to them.”

Mr Taylor also argued that the Ofcom figures date from 2019 and since then there has been “a great deal of work conducted in both the Harrogate district as well as the whole county”.

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Across the whole of the Harrogate district, overall connectivity is now 93% – just above the county’s average of 92%, Mr Taylor said.

The latest figures come after research by the independent North Yorkshire Rural Commission – which was established by the county council and launched in 2019 – revealed that a fifth of all rural areas in the county had no broadband connection.

The council said engineering challenges have “intensified” in the past four years as its Superfast North Yorkshire project has extended into some of the most remote rural communities.

It added more than 190,000 premises have been upgraded over the past decade and that the digital network is now available to the majority of people in the county’s two national parks covering the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors.

Council leader Carl Les said:

“The issue of poor broadband connectivity has been a long-standing problem for many parts of North Yorkshire, especially in communities in deeply rural areas.

“The chance to introduce these improved broadband connections is vital for businesses in the 21st century, whether they are based in the biggest town or city or in the smallest village or hamlet.

“But they are also a necessity to ensure our rural communities have a future, helping to attract families and younger people to live in the countryside to ensure services and facilities such as schools, village stores and pubs can continue to operate.

“We have made huge improvements for tens of thousands of businesses and households, but the work does not stop here and we will continue to look at how we can introduce better connections for the remaining parts of the county.”

‘Hundreds’ of fish killed by pollution on Harrogate’s Oak Beck

Hundreds of fish are believed to have died in a pollution incident at Oak Beck, Harrogate.

The cause of the incident, which occurred at Oak Beck Park, close to the retail park, is not yet known.

A Yorkshire Water spokesperson said:

“Our teams, along with the Environment Agency, have conducted initial investigations after reports of a pollution at Oak Beck over the weekend.

“Our tests have indicated the substance entering the beck is not sewage. We are continuing to investigate and will also be visiting local businesses to try and trace the source.”

The beck flows into the River Nidd.

Councillor Paul Haslam, who represents Harrogate Old Bilton on Harrogate Borough Council and Bilton and Nidd Gorge on North Yorkshire County Council, informed Yorkshire Water of the incident after being notified by a resident yesterday.

Cllr Haslam posted some images, which we have published, that were sent to him by the resident.

They show fish floating on the surface and the water looking extremely brown.

Cllr Haslam said the only way to get over the seriousness and upsetting nature of what had happened was to quote the person who reported it, who said:

“There are hundreds of dead fish in the water. I am presuming it’s sewage by the colour and presence of foam. No smell though.
“I could have cried this morning at the scale of the disaster. As I took my first photo evidence, from the bridge on Oak Beck Road, a kingfisher flew under the bridge heading downstream.”
An Environment Agency spokeswoman said it was unable to comment on what, if any, action it had taken because it was not responding to media inquiries about non life-threatening incidents during the Queen’s mourning period.

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Floral tributes to Queen increase at Harrogate war memorial

About 100 floral tributes to the Queen have now been placed at Harrogate war memorial.

People began laying flowers shortly after the Queen’s death was announced on Thursday.

The number has grown steadily since, with many accompanied by moving handwritten notes, some written by children.

Yesterday, Andrew Jones, the MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, signed the book of condolence at St. Peter’s Church in Harrogate.

Mr Jones had previously attended the choral matins special memorial service for the Queen.

St. Peter’s is open from 8:30am-6-30pm every day during the period of mourning where there is a book of condolence that people can write in.

Also, on Wednesday and Friday at 12noon there will be a short act of prayer.

Andrew Jones

Andrew Jones signs the book of condolences at St Peter’s Church. Credit: Steve Martin

At County Hall in Northallerton, councillor Margaret Atkinson, who is chair of the council and represents Masham and Fountains, read the local proclamation of King Charles III yesterday.

Today, the local proclamation of King Charles III was read by Cllr Margaret Atkinson, Chair of the Council, on the steps of County Hall in Northallerton.

God save the King. pic.twitter.com/AKgSitiNlh

— North Yorkshire Council (@northyorksc) September 11, 2022

 

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