Teen’s sentence for drug dealing reduced ‘in part due to covid in prisons’

A crack-cocaine dealer has been jailed for more than two years for peddling the potentially lethal drug in Harrogate.

Michael Balog, 19, was still on prison licence for previous offences when he was caught with what turned out to be a relatively small amount of the Class A drug in the town.

But prosecutor Lewis Allan Kerr told York Crown Court that the teenager had been street dealing, ostensibly to pay back a debt.

Recorder Tahir Khan QC, who jailed Balog for two years and four months, told him:

“We are talking about the supply at street level of Class A drugs.

“It’s general knowledge that Class A drugs, and the supply of them, cause misery and the courts have to take a hard line on people who involve themselves in this type of conduct, even at the level that you were at.”

York Crown Court

Appearing via video link yesterday, Balog, of Kennion Road, Harrogate, admitted possessing a Class A drug with intent to supply. He was caught with the drugs at Cheltenham Mount on October 2.

Jeremy Barton, for Balog, said the teenager had been using drugs himself after being released from his last prison sentence and started dealing to pay off debts. Although Balog had previous convictions, he had none for drug dealing.

Mr Khan QC told Balog:

“You’ve been in trouble before and (the dealing offence) was about six to seven months after you were released from your last (prison) sentence.”

Jailing Balog for 28 months, Mr Khan said he had reduced the sentence that he originally had in mind due to the “powerful” mitigation, the teenager’s timely guilty plea and the Covid crisis, which was prevalent in prisons.

Just 11 coronavirus cases in Harrogate district

The Harrogate district has recorded just 11 more coronavirus cases in the daily figures today.

It is one of the lowest daily increases since the second wave of the pandemic but remains above the cases reported in tier one areas.

So far, the Public Health England figures for the district total 3,939 since early March.

Harrogate District Hospital has not reported any further coronavirus deaths since December 12. On that day the hospital reached 106 deaths.

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The seven-day average rate of cases for the district is at 93 per 100,000. For North Yorkshire, the number is 116. Scarborough has the highest rates in the county at 214.

The Harrogate district learned this week that it will remain in tier two after the first government review of the national tier rules.

Tier rules are based on factors such as infection rates, particularly in the over 60s, and pressure on hospitals.

Case rates in the Harrogate district remain more than double those in tier one areas.

Harrogate gallery ‘Giraffle’ raises £1,000 for food bank

A Harrogate gallery has raised £1,000 for the town’s Trussell Trust food bank with a “Giraffle.”

Watermark Gallery, on Royal Parade, sold 200 tickets at £5 each and pulled the name of the winner today.

A six-year-old boy called Dominic, and whose parents own Westmorland Sheepskins just up the road, won the top prize created by illustrator Jane Ray.

Jane created the five-feet tall paper mache giraffe based on the main character of a book called “Zeraffa Girraffa.”

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Just as the character of that book travelled far to her new home in Paris, Zeraffa toured the Harrogate district in past few months.

The giraffe took pride of place in the windows of Catherine Smith Vintage, Bespoke Eyewear, Westmorland Sheepskins and the Little Ripon Bookshop.

When Dominic found out that he had won Zeraffa he jumped for joy out in the town centre. Anna Martola, of the Watermark Gallery, told the Stray Ferret:

“It is a real treat that it is going to someone who is going to love it, and a little boy just like in the story of Zeraffa.

“I mean it took Jane three weeks to paint and her original art pieces go for between £1,000 and £7,000 so it’s definitely a little investment.”

Liz Hawkes, owner of the Watermark Gallery, previously said:

“Zeraffa was a real talking point in the window of our gallery, and we had countless enquiries about buying her.

“I think people saw her as a ray of sunshine during a somewhat challenging time.”

Face mask sales support Harrogate charities

Sales of face masks have resulted in a donation of £2,500 to a Harrogate charity this Christmas.

The Brora shop on Prospect Crescent has raised £10 from the sale of every £19 Liberty print face mask. It chose local charities Harrogate Homeless Project and Harrogate Easier Living Project (HELP) to receive the proceeds from the sales.

The money will be used to fund the latter’s Here to HELP covid-19 response service, providing practical and emotional support to people in Harrogate and Ripon who are struggling at home during the pandemic. Anna Woollven, Project Development Worker at HELP, said:

“With many people struggling in the wake of Covid-19, we are seeing lots of people turn to our trusted services. This fantastic donation will help ensure we can continue to be ‘Here to HELP’ those who need us at this challenging time. Thank you to Brora and its customers for their incredible generosity.”

HELP has seen a significant rise in demand for its support during the pandemic, with more than 5,000 calls for help received since March. The charity’s volunteers have assisted with tasks including shopping, collecting prescriptions and phone befriending.

Meanwhile, most of its usual fundraising opportunities have been called off.

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Across the country, Brora’s mask sales have raised £250,000 for charities chosen by each local shop. Victoria Stapleton, founder and creative director of Brora, said:

“So many of our communities across the UK have been really impacted by Covid-19. We felt it was particularly vital to support smaller charities so we could make a real difference to their work.

“Kate Heyworth from our Harrogate store identified HELP and the Harrogate Homeless Project as two charities who would really benefit from our donation. We are delighted to be able to contribute to their frontline work.”

The charity face masks are still available at Brora’s shop in Harrogate or on the website. For more information about HELP’s support services and volunteering opportunities, visit www.helpharrogate.org.uk  or call 01423 813096.

Final two days to buy shares in Long Lands Common

The countdown is on to buy the remaining shares in Harrogate’s first community woodland.

Long Lands Common Ltd reached its initial £300,000 target to buy the 30 acres of land in November but appealed for a further £75,000.

These are the final shares the committee expects to offer for a few years and it is eager to meet the final target of £375,000.

The additional £75,000 is earmarked for improved access.

The current total is just over £340,000 and the cut off point is this Sunday. It says some of its donations are yet to be added to the totaliser.

It is hoped the committee will have taken ownership of the land in late January and can then organise an open day for March to let people see the land.

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Secretary of Long Lands Common Ltd, Chris Kitson, said:

“It’ll be the last chance for a while, maybe a few years, until we set up an open membership. All in all it’s been quite a challenge with covid but it may have helped because people wanted optimism and something to look forward to.

“Hopefully we can inspire others to do the same it could be quite a movement standing up and taking action.”

Some of the ideas for the land include a duck pond and a sensory garden with shareholders invited to offer their own ideas too.

To learn more and buy shares, head to the website here.

‘Long covid clinic’ opens at Harrogate District Hospital

Harrogate will be one of almost 70 locations in the UK to operate a clinic for people suffering with long-term effects from coronavirus, the NHS announced today.

The long covid clinics will take referrals from GPs for people suffering from a wide range of symptoms, including breathlessness, fatigue, anxiety and depression, after they have recovered from the virus itself.

Hosted by Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, the centre will offer specialist treatment from doctors and nurses as well as physiotherapists and occupational therapists. Physical and psychological assessments will be carried out before patients are directed to appropriate treatment and rehabilitation.

NHS chief executive Sir Simon Stevens said:

“The NHS is taking practical action to help patients suffering ongoing health issues as a result of coronavirus. Bringing expert clinicians together in these clinics will deliver an integrated approach to support patients access vital rehabilitation, as well as helping develop a greater understanding of long covid and its debilitating symptoms.”

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Research by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) showed one in five people with coronavirus went on to develop long-term symptoms. Around 186,000 people were affected for up to 12 weeks, according to the research.

The Harrogate District Hospital clinic is one of 18 similar operations which have been launched across the North East and Yorkshire. NHS England has provided £10 million of funding for the 69 sites across the country.

A new national covid taskforce has also been launched by the NHS, bringing patients, charities, researchers and clinicians together to lead the response to long covid, producing information and supporting materials for patients and healthcare professionals, and developing a wider understanding of the condition.

Are you suffering with long-term effects after having covid-19? What do you think of the plans for the new clinic? Get in touch to share your views and experiences: contact@thestrayferret.co.uk.

Mystical Ways shop brings the occult to Harrogate

A shop specialising in the mystical and spiritual has opened in Westminster Arcade, Harrogate.

Mystical Ways is owned by Harrogate-born Jay Clarke, who is also a full-time manager at The Crest care home on Rutland Drive.

He said his passion for the occult led him to opening his new business, which could be the only venue in Harrogate to have a pentagram on the window.

According to Jay, there’s a growing community of witches, druids and pagans in Harrogate and Knaresborough.

But rather than being something to fear, he says modern witchcraft, or Wicca, has more positive connotations in the 21st century.

For sale are dreamcatchers to “ward off nightmares”, crystals that can summon “good energy” and insense which can help cast spells that attract “money, love, protection or light”.

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Jay said lockdown has led to more people turning to the occult and witchcraft to find answers and help them through a tough year.

And he doesn’t mind the skeptics who say it’s all made up.

“There is criticism, people find it funny but paganism is a real thing. People get comfort from looking at tarot cards or meditating. If that gives people good intentions then why not? It’s no different to going to church and praying.”

Once social distancing rules are relaxed, Mystical Ways will partner with Westminster Arcade neighbours, Harrogate Tea Rooms, to host tarot card readings.

Jay says a recent tarot reading told him that the covid crisis will begin to disappear by Easter.

“The cards say 2021 will begin by being a struggle, but by Easter things will be much better. They also told me to continue to be dedicated and strong and bring Wicca to Harrogate.”

Infection rates in Harrogate district ‘too high for tier one’

Local health and police leaders have acknowledged there will be disappointment in the Harrogate district at the news that it will stay in tier two.

Infection rates across North Yorkshire fell rapidly from mid-November but have plateaued lately at a rate that is still five times higher than it was in the summer.

After announcing the tier decisions this morning, the government released a written explanation on how it reached its verdict for North Yorkshire, which describes the outlook in the county as ‘improving’.

Besides the county’s overall infection rate, other key factors in determining the tier level include infection rates in people aged over 60, which are described as ‘stable or decreasing’.

Another factor is hospital coronavirus admissions, which are decreasing steadily. The government explanation said:

“The epidemiology indicators are too high for allocation to tier one but the trajectory does currently not warrant inclusion in tier three.”

The explanation highlights Scarborough as the most concerning area of North Yorkshire because infection rates are above 150 people per 100,000.

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Richard Flinton, chair of the North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum, which is a partnership of organisations tackling emergencies in the county, said:

“We know there will be some disappointment in areas where rates are lower, that we remain in tier two as a whole county.

“But we can see that rates of reduction have flattened out and in some areas have risen again and our priority has to be about keeping our people safe.

“If we have to stay in tier two to achieve it then we must work to the government’s tiering plan.”

Christmas bubbles

Amanda Bloor, the accountable officer for North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group, which buys health services for the county, added:

“Colleagues across the NHS continue to do a phenomenal job to provide health services for the people of North Yorkshire and York.

“Even though there will be a brief and specific relaxation of government guidance over the holiday period we are urging people to make sensible choices.

“Your choices now will help protect NHS services for those who need them most this winter.”

Chief inspector Charlotte Bloxham, silver lead for North Yorkshire Police’s covid response asked people to “carefully consider their own situation” and “make an informed decision based on their own personal circumstances” regarding Christmas arrangements. She added:

“If you have vulnerable people in your family, please consider carefully whether forming a Christmas bubble with them is the right thing to do.

“There will be no exemption period in place for New Year’s Eve celebrations, so it may be an idea to plan now for a quiet end to 2020.”

Harrogate Benetton store set to close its doors

The United Colors of Benetton shop on Montpellier Parade is to close.

The shop confirmed the news when asked by the Stray Ferret, but declined to give further details so the closure date is unknown.

Many products are on sale and some shelves are light on stock as the final items are sold.

Benetton Group, which is based in Italy, has about 5,000 stores worldwide.

The Stray Ferret asked the group for details of the Harrogate store closure and received this response:

“The store belongs to an independent partner of Benetton Group.”

This closure is the latest high street casualty in Harrogate’s. Department store Debenhams has gone into liquidation and looks set to close its stores.

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Harrogate district remains in tier two

The Harrogate district will remain in tier two after the first government review of the national tier rules.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock made the announcement in the House of Commons this morning.

But there was disappointment for West Yorkshire, including Leeds, which was hoping to move down from tier three to tier two.

This could have implications for local pubs and restaurants, as well as policing, which have had to deal with people flouting the rules and travelling to North Yorkshire for a night out.

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Tier rules are based on factors such as infection rates, particularly in the over 60s, and pressure on hospitals.

Case rates in the Harrogate district remain more than double those in tier one areas.

The Harrogate district currently has a rate of 84 infections per 100,000 people compared to 25.9 per 100,000 in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, which is in tier one.

What are the rules in tier two?

Tier two:

What about Christmas?

Coronavirus restrictions will be eased in England between December 23 and December 27.

Three households will be able to form a temporary bubble. It must be fixed but there will be no limit on numbers joining bubble.

Those who are self-isolating should not join one of these so-called Christmas bubbles.

If someone is in an at-risk group the government has said they must use their own judgement and consider the risks of mixing over Christmas.