Local Harrogate News & Views around the district - Page 826 of 1118

Bilton’s McColl’s to rebrand as Morrisons Daily

McColl’s convenience store on King Edward’s Drive in Bilton will rebrand as a Morrisons Daily later this month.

The store will close today and reopen on Thursday next week following a refit.

It will still be owned and operated by McColl’s but will include Morrisons items.

In March, Morrisons announced it had extended its wholesale partnership with McColl’s as part of an agreement to convert more of its stores to the Morrisons Daily format.

Under the deal, 300 McColl’s branches will be converted to Morrisons Daily stores by 2027.

McColl’s chief executive Jonathan Miller said:

“I am delighted to extend our partnership with Morrisons, ensuring the continued supply of a supermarket-quality offer across our entire estate, as well as the planned conversion of additional Morrisons Daily stores.

“In Morrisons we retain a long-term partner with best-in-class sourcing and manufacturing capabilities and a leading convenience offer for the local neighbourhood communities we serve across the country.”

Harrogate murder accused ‘acted purposefully’, court told

A man on trial for murder in Harrogate “acted purposefully” in the lead up to killing his victim, a court heard yesterday.

Daniel Ainsley, 24, of no fixed address, is accused of murdering 48-year-old Mark Wolsey in his bedsit on Mayfield Grove on March 5.

He denies murder on the grounds of diminished responsibility due to an “abnormality of mental functioning”.

Much of the second day of the trial was taken up with talk about Mr Ainsley’s state of mind.

Dr John Kent, a consultant forensic psychiatrist told Leeds Crown Court that Mr Ainsley had a “complex psychiatric background” and “a lifelong pattern of behavioural problems”.

Dr Kent, who interviewed Mr Ainsley after his arrest, also told the court the accused had a “significant personality disorder” that went back to his childhood. One characteristic of this was paranoia, he added.

But he told the court that Mr Ainsley’s accounts of the incident differed and were “unreliable” and that, in his opinion, the defendant’s behaviour was “purposeful”.

Mark McKone QC, prosecuting, asked Dr Kent what the significance was of the one hour interval between Mr Ainsley leaving 38 Mayfield Grove and returning to carry out the alleged murder.

Mayfield Grove

Dr Kent told the court:

“It provides a great deal of time and opportunity to consider his behaviour.”

Dr Kent told the court that “from start to finish” Mr Ainsley was “aware of what he has done” and was able to “make conscious decisions”.

‘Can’t rely on his accounts’

Mr McKone asked Dr Kent whether Mr Ainsley’s actions amounted to diminished responsibility.

Dr Kent said:

“In my opinion he does not. Personally, his accounts I cannot rely on. It is difficult to know which accounts are important.

“Secondly, he is not psychotic. Thirdly, the behaviour described appears to be very purposeful and thought through in terms of each stage of his actions and consequences.”

Dr Kent said the phone call Mr Ainsley made to police after the alleged murder was an example of the defendant “being aware of his choices”.

Forensic officers at the scene after Mr Wolsey died.

‘Diminished responsibility’

John Harrison QC, for the defence, told the court that Dr Kent’s report to the court met the tests for diminished responsibility.

Mr Harrison asked Dr Kent whether the defendant’s interpretation of Mr Wolsey’s behaviour “may have been influenced by his tendency to paranoid thinking as a result of his personality disorder”.

Dr Kent told the court that he did not think it did.

The defence claimed it reflected “on his ability to form rational judgements”. Mr Harrison told the court that Mr Ainsley was suffering from an “abnormality of mental functioning” on the night of the incident.

The trial continues.

Harrogate murder trial: victim stabbed 15 times

A Harrogate man was found “slumped” in his chair after being stabbed 15 times, the prosecution alleged in a murder trial today.

Daniel Ainsley, 24, of no fixed address, is charged with the murder of Mark Wolsey, 48, at a bedsit on Mayfield Grove, close to Harrogate town centre, on March 5.

Mr Ainsley denies murder on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

On the second day of the trial today, Leeds Crown Court heard that Mr Wolsey died due to stab wounds to the chest.

Mark McKone QC, prosecuting, called Dr Jennifer Bolton, the pathologist who carried out the post-mortem on Mr Wolsey, to give evidence.

Dr Bolton said nine of the stab wounds were to the chest, fatally damaging Mr Wolsey’s heart, diaphragm, liver and bowels.

Mr Wolsey also had six stab wounds to his left upper arm.

The court heard that the emergency services found Mr Wolsey in his bedsit “slumped” in his chair, with the knife still in his chest.

‘Slumped back in his chair’

A witness statement given by Vincent Rooney, a resident who lived above Mr Wolsey, was read in court.

Mr Rooney said he and his partner went down to Mr Wolsey’s bedsit after “hearing a loud bang” between 9pm and 10pm while watching television and could hear Mr Wolsey’s dog “barking constantly”.

Mr Rooney said after following his partner downstairs and opening the bedsit door, he saw Mr Wolsey “slumped back in his chair”.

Police on Mayfield Grove after Mr Wolsey’s death.

The court also heard a statement from Mr Ainsley’s father, David, which was read out by the prosecution.

He said in his statement that Mr Ainsley called him around 10.05pm. Mr Ainsley told his father that he “loved him” and that he had “killed Mark”, the court heard.

David Ainsley said in his statement:

“I was in a state of shock, I did not know what to do.”

The prosecution also read a statement from John Harrison, clinical supervisor at the ambulance service, who said that Mr Ainsley was outside the flat when he arrived at the scene.

Mr Harrison said:

“He said ‘I have killed him’. I wound my window down and asked him to lie down on the ground.

“He said ‘I have nothing on me’”.

The trial continues.

Another 150 covid cases in Harrogate district as rate reaches 734

A further 150 people have tested positive for coronavirus in the Harrogate district in the last 24 hours, according to the latest Public Health England figures.

It brings Harrogate’s total number of cases to 19,271 since the start of the pandemic. The district has a seven-day infection rate of 734 per 100,000 people.

The rate in the Harrogate district is the highest in Yorkshire and the eleventh highest in England.

Public health officials said today school pupils were driving the rapid increase in infections in the Harrogate district.

Headteachers have been urged to bring back face masks and postpone after-school activities.

Despite the rise in infections, deaths and hospitalisations remain lower than previous waves with 15 covid-positive patients at Harrogate District Hospital on Monday.

According to the latest NHS data, the hospital in Harrogate has not reported any new coronavirus deaths today.

Harrogate district schools urged to bring back face masks

Schools in the Harrogate district are being encouraged to reintroduce face masks and postpone some activities after the district’s sharp rise in covid cases was linked to young people.

The district has the 11th highest infection rate in England, with cases rising most sharply among five to 19-year-olds.

Public health officials called an urgent press briefing today and revealed every headteacher in Harrogate had been contacted with the offer of extra support and advice.

Amanda Newbold, assistant director of education and skills at North Yorkshire County Council, said:

“We are working to minimise the disruption to education by recommending that face coverings are worn in certain settings and on school transport.

“We have asked schools to consider the risk of mixing and for some out of school activities to be postponed until case rates are reduced.

“We would also ask that everybody at schools continue to conduct twice-weekly lateral flow testing and report their results.”

Attendance levels down

Neil Renton, headteacher at Harrogate Grammar School, also said extra measures including no mixing of students at break times and moving parents evening online had been introduced.

Neil Renton

He said of the school’s 2,100 students, attendance levels had fallen from 96% to 92% largely due to covid. Mr Renton said:

“Young people have been really pleased to be back at school – it has been very positive.

“However, we are seeing more cases at this point than we saw last year.

“Cases are higher, but the distribution to learning I would argue is lower because of the different rules about isolation.

“We have some staff who have been absent due to Covid, but not at a level to significantly disrupt provision.”

At the start of term, all schools were advised by the government that face coverings were no longer routinely needed for staff or pupils, although they were still recommended in crowded spaces such as on school buses.

But the Department for Education also said schools could temporarily reintroduce bubble groups and face masks in communal spaces in areas with higher Covid rates.

45 district schools have covid

The Harrogate district’s weekly infection rate has been rising steadily since mid-September and currently stands at a record level of 733 cases per 100,000 people.

A total of 45 schools, colleges and early years settings in the district are currently dealing with at least one confirmed covid case.

Despite the rise in infections, deaths and hospitalisations remain lower than previous waves with 15 covid-positive patients at Harrogate District Hospital on Monday.

It was also announced at today’s briefing that the Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate will reopen as a vaccination centre later this year to support the booster programme.

Louise Wallace, director of public health for North Yorkshire, has urged people to take up vaccines which are now available for 12 to 15-year-olds, as she also said everyone had a part to play in reducing the high infection rate.

She said: “The rate in Harrogate is higher than any of us would like it to be. No one at any age wants to catch covid so I want to reiterate some key messages.

“Washing your hands will not only help to protect you from covid, but also from other unpleasant things you do not want to catch this winter.

“Letting fresh air in is also hugely beneficial.

“The other big thing we can all do that makes a difference is to pop on a face covering. This is particularly important in enclosed and busy indoor areas, and on all forms of public transport.

“If you have symptoms, please isolate and book a test. It is still really important.

“And please come forward and get a vaccination. It is the best form of defence.”

Daytime knifepoint robbery in Ripon left ‘little boy crying’

Two knifepoint robbers threatened to “shank” a young boy as they stripped him of precious items including his jewellery and mobile phone.

The terrifying incident in Ripon had the boy in tears as other youths laughed at the spectacle, York Crown Court heard.

The teenage victim was sat with friends on a bench outside the Ship Inn on Bondgate when he was approached by John Paul Wilson, 21, from Harrogate, and others including a youth — the second robber who cannot be named for legal reasons.

Prosecutor Michael Cahill said that as the victim’s friends got up to leave, the teenager himself was blocked from doing so by Wilson’s sidekick.

“They waited until the (victim’s) friends had walked out of sight (and then) both (robbers) began to remove his jewellery, his Nike shoes and his phone,” added Mr Cahill.

“They then threatened him with a knife, and he was told that if he “did not hand everything over, he would be shanked”.

“The other individuals (who were with Wilson and the youth) watched this and at one point they were laughing,” said Mr Cahill.

The Ship Inn, Bondgate in Ripon.

The victim, who had been surrounded by the group, took off his trainers as instructed and handed over his phone and jewellery including a silver chain.

“They then demanded he come with them around the back of the Ship Inn,” said Mr Cahill.

“When he told them he didn’t want to, they ordered him to come with them as a knife was held to his upper leg.

“He was told he would be stabbed if he didn’t comply,” added Mr Cahill.

A witness called the victim’s father who rushed to the scene and ran towards the group, shouting at them.

The robbers handed back the phone and ran off with the other youths, taking the trainers and jewellery.

Previous convictions

However, they were later arrested and charged with robbery and possessing a blade. They admitted robbery but neither accepted they were the one carrying the knife.

The prosecution ultimately accepted this, although there was no argument that it was a knifepoint robbery.

Wilson and his teenage co-defendant appeared for sentence on the robbery charge on Tuesday after being remanded in custody.

Mr Cahill said the victim was left in tears following the incident on August 13 which made him “extremely nervous”.

The court heard that Wilson had previous convictions for 12 offences including robbery, battery and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

The youth had four previous convictions for offences including possessing a weapon, criminal damage and serious violence. They had both served youth detention orders in the past.

Difficult childhood

Lauren Hebditch, for Wilson, said he had endured a difficult childhood and had effectively been living rough at the time of the incident.

“He says he can’t even imagine how scared the victim must have been.”

Rob Stephenson, for the youth, said he too had had a “turbulent and unhappy” upbringing but said there was a “degree of peer pressure” from Wilson to commit the robbery with him.

Judge Sean Morris, the Recorder of York, criticised the pair for the appalling daytime attack which was “prolonged” and left “a little boy crying”.

“You were the oldest of the two and you were more criminally experienced. You were playing to the gallery of other youths who found it at times amusing.

“You reduced your (victim) to tears and threatened him (with being) knifed or ‘shanked’.

“A knife was used to keep him detained and to lead him round the back of that pub, well out of sight, and I’m satisfied that you would have been the leading role in this group, and I’m satisfied that you exercised a degree of influence on your co-accused.

“Your victim was a lone (teenager) abandoned by his friends at the start of this incident and surrounded by a group, with you at the forefront.”

Banned from Ripon town centre

Wilson, of Newby Crescent, Harrogate, was jailed for three-and-a-half years and given a five-year restraining order banning him from contacting the victim or going anywhere near his address.

Mr Morris said he was satisfied that it was only due to the “malign influence” of Wilson that the youth joined in the robbery.

He said he believed the youth could “start afresh” in life, partly because he had work lined up.

The youth was given a three-year youth-rehabilitation order which the judge said was an “exceptional” sentencing decision. He told him he had come very close to going to prison.

The order includes a 91-day rehabilitation programme, supervision and a six-month doorstep curfew.

In addition, the judge made an exclusion order banning the youth from Ripon town centre for the next 12 months, except in the company of youth-justice officers or guardians. He too was made subject to the same restraining order as Wilson.

Great Yorkshire Showground vaccine centre to reopen

A vaccination centre will reopen at the Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate amid surging covid cases driven by the transmission of the virus in schools.

An urgent press conference called today to address the Harrogate district’s high infection rate heard the Yorkshire Event Centre will be used to administer jabs again.

Currently there is no specific date for the return of the showground vaccine centre, which was last used in June. However, the meeting heard it will coincide with the “peak of the booster programme”.

Today’s meeting was convened hastily in response to the district’s seven-day coronavirus rate reaching 733 cases per 100,000 people.

It is the highest in Yorkshire and one of the highest in England.

Rachael Durrett, head of communication and engagement at North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group said during the meeting:

“In response the Yorkshire Event Centre site will be stood up later in the year to cover the peak of the booster programme.

“There are also pharmacy sites that service the Harrogate area, including at Knaresborough. We will share a full list of pharmacy sites.”

‘Vaccine centre will not clash with events’

A spokesperson for the Great Yorkshire Showground said the vaccine centre will not clash with any of its existing events.

The vaccine centre will open in Hall 2 straight after the Christmas fair, which runs from December 2 to 5.

New Harrogate cocktail bar to open next month

The opening date of a Harrogate cocktail bar and restaurant, which is owned by TGI Fridays UK, has been revealed.

63rd+1st will welcome its first customers on November 26.

The venue, named after the street in New York that was home to the original TGI Fridays, will generate 30 part-time and full-time jobs.

Joining the likes of Yo Sushi! and Estabulo on Albert Street, the company has said it wants the place to attract customers ranging from early morning coffee drinkers right to late evening drinkers.

The restaurant, lounge and bar will seat 101 people and there will also be an outdoor dining area. The menu is inspired by Manhattan street food.

Robert Cook, chief executive of 63rd+1st said:

”63rd+1st represents the coming together of people, culture, tastes and styles. Inspired by over 50 years of unique heritage it is a cocktail bar and restaurant where great things happen.

”We have always felt the loyalty from our Yorkshire fan base and we can’t wait to welcome them to enjoy the 63rd+1st experience in Harrogate.”

Green light for 1,000 solar panels on Harrogate Convention Centre roof

More than 1,000 solar panels are to be installed on top of Harrogate Convention Centre in a bid to reduce the building’s carbon footprint.

Harrogate Borough Council has approved its own plans for 1,077 solar panels on several buildings at the venue, which is the largest energy consumer of all buildings in the district.

The solar panels will save 24 tonnes of Co2 each year and be paid for with £375,000 of decarbonisation funding from the government.

Energy efficient lighting, air source heat pumps and insulation will also be installed at the venue, which hosted a business conference event as part of the first Harrogate Climate Action Festival on Friday.

A council spokesperson said:

“The grant is enabling the delivery of a fully-funded carbon reduction scheme, supporting the proactive delivery of our carbon reduction strategy and reducing the council’s annual carbon emissions by 70 tonnes per year.”

Using cash from the same decarbonisation scheme, 420 solar panels and air source heat pumps will also be installed at the Hydro swimming pool in Harrogate in a move that could reduce the venue’s annual Co2 emissions by 577 tonnes.

Harrogate District Hospital also received £14m to reduce its carbon footprint by 25%, while North Yorkshire County Council was awarded just under £2m to improve the efficiency of its buildings.

How the solar panels will look on top of the Harrogate Convention Centre.

Meanwhile, Harrogate Borough Council is pushing ahead with plans for a potential £47m redevelopment of Harrogate Convention Centre after warning it may not survive without major investment.

The 40-year-old venue was struggling financially before the pandemic and was used as a 500-bed NHS Nightingale hospital for almost a year.

It did not treat a single coronavirus patient and the facility was dismantled earlier this year.

Harrogate hospital charity seeks Christmas hamper donations

Harrogate Hospital & Community Charity is asking for donations for its Christmas hamper campaign.

Last year the charity provided over 1,000 hampers to families and children in need in North Yorkshire, County Durham, Gateshead and Sunderland.

This year it hopes to spread even more festive cheer by sending 1,200 hampers.

It is asking businesses to donate non-perishable foods, drinks, new books or other festive goodies to fill up the hampers.

Yvonne Campbell, head of charity and business development project manager at the charity, said

“Last year we had wonderful feedback from those who received our festive hampers, and after another difficult year we would like to impart the same magical feeling to those who are vulnerable or in need across the Harrogate and District Foundation Trust footprint.

“Any support will make a huge impact to those in need this winter.”

HHCC is the charity for Harrogate District Hospital and community health services. It raises funds to help patients and their families, fund specialist equipment, training and services. It also raises funds for individual departments and services.

To offer hamper donations, email hdft.hhcc@nhs.net before October 28.

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‘Can’t rely on his accounts’

‘Diminished responsibility’

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‘Slumped back in his chair’

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Attendance levels down

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45 district schools have covid

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Previous convictions

Difficult childhood

Banned from Ripon town centre

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‘Vaccine centre will not clash with events’

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