crime Archives - Page 34 of 80

Famous crime author announced for Harrogate writing festival

Harrogate International Festivals has announced its final special guest for the 2024 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival.

Peter James is a globally bestselling author and the creator of the much-loved Detective Superintendent Roy Grace series, now an ITV drama starring John Simm.

He joins authors Chris Carter, Jane Casey, Elly Griffiths, Erin Kelly, Vaseem Khan, Dorothy Koomson, Shari Lapena, Abir Mukherjee, Liz Nugent and Richard Osman in an all-star lineup of special guest headliners.

Mr James will be celebrating his milestone twentieth Roy Grace book at the Festival with an exclusive preview of One Of Us Is Dead, published by Pan Macmillan in September 2024.

He will discuss his new standalone novel, They Thought I Was Dead, with a long-awaited reveal of what happened to Roy Grace’s missing wife Sandy in conversation with TV presenter Louise Minchin.

This will be his eighth appearance, having been a special guest twice before and programming chair in 2016.

Mr James said:

“This year I am celebrating my 20th Roy Grace novel and where better to do this than at Harrogate, the jewel in the crime festival crown. I had a wonderful time as Programming Chair in 2016 and I look forward to returning as a Special Guest this year, spending a delightful summer’s evening with my fans and fellow authors.

“I’ve no doubt a pint or two of Theakston Old Peculier might be involved.”

Returning to Harrogate for its 21st year it offers fans from around the world a unique opportunity to hear from the biggest stars of the genre, discover exciting new talent and enjoy a packed programme of panels, talks and inspiring creative workshops.

Simon Theakston, chairman of T&R Theakston Ltd, said:

“Peter James has been hugely popular with the Festival audience over the years, and we can’t wait to welcome him back to hear more about his twentieth Roy Grace book.

“Peter completes a stellar line up of Special Guests in a stunning programme that truly reflects the strength, breadth and diversity of the genre.”

The three day festival curated by 2024 Festival Chair Ruth Ware, is set to take place July 18-21. The full programme for this year’s Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival will be announced on May 14, 2024.

Tickets are on general release on 15th April. More information about tickets and packages can be found here.

Ripon man admits impersonating a police constable in Harrogate

A Ripon man has admitted impersonating a police constable to steal an electric scooter in Harrogate.

Harley Stacey, 18, of Cedar Close, denied impersonating a police constable when he appeared at Harrogate Magistrates Court on October 27 last year.

But he changed his plea to guilty at York Magistrates Court on Tuesday (April 2) this week.

Stacey also this week admitted falsely claiming to be a police officer to steal an electric scooter for himself on the same date — a charge he had also previously denied.

In a statement at the time, North Yorkshire Police said the incident happened in Bilton.

He was ordered to complete 120 hours of unpaid work within the next 12 months and pay £200 compensation.

According to court documents, his guilty plea was taken into account on sentencing.

Sports watches worth £4,400 stolen from Harrogate shop

North Yorkshire Police has issued a CCTV appeal following a high-value theft at a shop in Harrogate.

The theft took place at Cotswold Outdoors on West Park on Saturday, March 16 at around 11am, according to a statement by the constabulary today.

It said nine Garmin devices, valued at about £4,470, were stolen from a display cabinet.

Garmin is a company specialising in sports devices and activity tracker watches aimed at activities such as running, water sports, golf and cycling.

The statement added:

“We’re appealing for information about the two men pictured who we believe may have information that could assist us in our investigation.”

Anyone with information can email Helen.James@northyorkshire.police.uk or call North Yorkshire Police on 101. Quote NYP reference 12240046885 when passing on information.

To remain anonymous contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or online at crimestoppers-uk.org.

Boys arrested after bottles thrown on Harrogate’s Parliament Street

Three boys have been arrested after items including fire extinguishers and glass bottles were hurled on to Harrogate’s Parliament Street today.

Police were called to reports of a burglary just before 2am. Parliament Street was closed and fully reopened at about 8am.

A North Yorkshire Police statement this morning said:

“CCTV in the area showed three young people throwing items from the top floor of the property into the street.

“Items included fire extinguishers, poles and boxes, one of which contained an amount of glass bottles, which smashed across the road.

“Specialist officers, including negotiators were called to the property bringing the incident to a safe conclusion around 6.30am.”

Yorkshire Ambulance Service and North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service were also called out and highways workers cleared debris before the road fully reopened at about 8am. Many windows on floors above the businesses on Parliament Street were broken this morning.

Two lanes of Parliament Street reopened until the remainder of the debris was removed.

The statement added:

“Three boys aged, 15, 16 and 17-years-old were arrested a short time later on suspicion of burglary and affray. They remain in police custody while the investigation continues.”

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service’s incident report said it was alerted at 2.43am.

“A crew from Harrogate responded to reports of a large number of youths inside an unsafe derelict building, throwing items from the roof.

“Fire crew stood by awaiting instruction form the police. Eventually incident was dealt with without fire service intervention.”

CCTV appeal following supermarket theft in Boroughbridge

North Yorkshire Police has issued a CCTV image of a man it would like to speak to following a theft in Boroughbridge .

More than £170 worth of alcohol was stolen from the Morrisons supermarket on Wetherby Road at 4.45pm on March 12.

A police statement today said:

“Please contact us if you recognise the man pictured on CCTV, as he may have information that will assist our investigation.”

Anyone with information can email hazel.simms-williamson@northyorkshire.police.uk or call 101 and ask for PC1338 Simms-Williamson.

You can also contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 quoting reference 12240044229 when passing on information.

New figures show North Yorkshire ‘safest place in England’

North Yorkshire is the safest place in England, the county’s acting chief constable has said after new crime figures were released.

Elliot Foskett made the claim after three-year crime trend figures showed North Yorkshire has a lower crime rate than the England and Wales average in all but one of 15 categories. Bicycle theft was the exception.

The figures were revealed during an online public meeting yesterday (March 25) held by North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Zoe Metcalfe.

Temporary assistant chief constable Catherine Clarke said the figures, for the period from March 2021 and Feb 2024 showed all areas of crime were lower than in recent years with the exception of the period during covid.

Acting chief constable Foskett then said:

“This for me is the big one. This makes North Yorkshire the safest place in England.”

He said crime levels usually rose during summer but the trend last year from May to August was “significantly flat”, adding:

“What this means at the end of the day is fewer victims of crime. I don’t want to underplay this because I think it is such a huge thing for this county.

“Everytime I go out speaking to people in the street or in the community, sometimes they don’t realise just how safe it is here.”

A slide from the meeting showing crime levels.

Temporary ACC Clarke’s presentation also said the response rate for answering 999 calls was “vastly improved”.

The national target for police forces is to answer 90% of calls within 10 seconds. In February this year the figure in North Yorkshire was 89%, she said.

The response time for answering non-emergency 101 calls has also improved but remains below the target of 90% of calls being answered in 120 seconds.

North Yorkshire Police is currently achieving 75%, with the longest wait for a 101 call being one hour 23 minutes.

Yesterday’s public meeting was the first since the publication of a report by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services recognising significant improvements in North Yorkshire Police after a highly critical previous inspection in October 2022.

It was also the last police public meeting chaired by Ms Metcalfe before her role is taken over by whoever is elected Mayor of York and North Yorkshire on May 2.

Dog attacks child outside Knaresborough school

North Yorkshire Police has appealed for witnesses after a dog attacked a child outside a school in Knaresborough.

In a statement this afternoon, the force said the dog was tied to a fence outside the front gate of St Mary’s Catholic Primary School on Tentergate Road when it bit the child.

The incident happened on Wednesday, March 13 at school pick-up time.

The child required hospital treatment for what police described as “minor injuries”.

The statement said:

“Dog owners are urged take responsibility for their pets. Please do not leave dogs tied up and unattended around school premises near where young children may be playing.”

Anyone who saw the incident or knows the dog owner is urged to contact North Yorkshire Police by calling 101, or emailing jack.bocking@northyorkshire.police.uk, quoting reference 12240045161.

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Trading Hell: Shocking rise in shoplifting in Harrogate town centre

Yesterday, we heard traders concerns that anti-social behaviour and shoplifting are getting worse, but do the official statistics back these experiences?

Our Trading Hell survey showed that traders feel that incidents of shoplifting, drug misuse and general anti-social behaviour are far too common.

Traders also expressed a deep sense of frustration that not enough is being done to make our shopping streets the safe and pleasant places they used to be.

The Stray Ferret has examined official statistics for the “hotspot” areas identified in our survey.

Shocking rise in shoplifting

Among the areas of most concern for traders has been shoplifting, which 78% say is an issue.

The Stray Ferret has found that statistics show a shocking rise in the number of reported incidents to police.

Our research of the force’s own data found that in 2022, 139 reports of shoplifting in the town centre were made.

In the same period last year, this increased by 66% to 232.

Concern over the problem have been heightened following incidents of thefts worth hundreds of pounds on Beulah Street and Commercial Street last year.

Another incident in November 2023 saw a “prolific shoplifter” threaten staff in Asda on Bower Road after staff tried to stop her stealing two bottles of alcohol.

One business owner told us:

“I’ve seen a group of five people coming out of the shop next door with armfuls of hangers, just walking off. Not even running. The security guard couldn’t do anything. They just told him to f*** off.”

Anti-social behaviour

Much of traders concerns centre around anti-social behaviour, a term which often can capture various different issues.

The police define anti-social behaviour as “someone acting in a manner that causes or is likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to one or more people not living in the same household”.

According to the force’s own data, in the 12 months to January 2024, a total of 285 reports were made to police in those hotspot areas.

This compares with 261 incidents in the same period in 2022.

While this is a slight increase, almost every business of the 50 which were surveyed (96%) told us that anti-social behaviour is a problem – only two said it isn’t.

Organisations such as Harrogate BID feel not enough businesses are reporting what is really happening.

One reason is a lack of confidence among traders that the police will act.

One business owner told us:

“Ring for thefts – not interested. Ring for feeling unsafe out the back of our courtyard due to large group of kids smoking weed and intimidating staff, and drunks – nothing done after ringing several times for numerous incidents.”

It means that the true picture of just how much of an issue anti-social behaviour is in the town is unlikely to be reflected in the figures.

Although shoplifting and anti-social behaviour are among the most concerning issues, there are other offences which crop up in the statistics such as violence and sexual offences.

Last year, a total of 99 reports of violent and sexual offences were reported to police in the “hotspot” areas identified in our survey. This compares to 98 in the previous year.

The most high profile of those incidents was a report of a serious sexual assault in the town centre which saw police cordon off areas of James Street, Petergate and Market Place on October 5, 2023.

Rough sleeping, street drinking and drugs

Among the other areas of concern raised in our survey was rough sleeping (70%), street drinking (74%) and drug taking (66%).

Traders feel that these three issues are part of a wider problems currently affecting the town.

According to police data, reports of drugs, which includes possession, consumption and supply, has fallen slightly from 44 in 2022 to 40 last year.

The force themselves said Harrogate has a “low level” of drug offences for a town of its size.

Paul Rawlinson, who owns Baltzersen’s and Bakeri Baltzersens on Oxford Street, told us that the issue of rough sleeping is most pronounced in the summer when it is a “more comfortable option”.

A rough sleeper outside Primark in Harrogate town centre.

According to a freedom of information request from North Yorkshire Council, last year three females and 27 males were counted as sleeping rough in the Harrogate town centre area.

The council said all except eight of those were provided with alternative accommodation.

It added that the rough sleeping count for each year “could represent the same people where accommodation has been secured and then lost”.

There have been flashpoints over the last couple of years where businesses and residents have complained of people sleeping rough causing issues in their area.

In November 2022, concern was raised over rough sleeping, street begging and drinking at the back of Primark on Oxford Street.

At the time, Harrogate Borough Council said three “entrenched, long-term” rough sleepers had been sleeping overnight in the area.

The authority sought to assure residents and businesses that those gathering in the area had been offered accommodation, but was turned down. Those gathered there later accepted support.

Similarly, in November 2023, North Yorkshire Council erected fencing at a pavilion at Harrogate’s Crescent Gardens after rough sleepers occupied the area and returned twice after being dispersed.

The Stray Ferret followed the saga closely after nearby residents, who complained of anti-social behaviour during the group’s encampment. Many sympathised with the rough sleepers but wanted to know what long-term measures would be put in place on the site.

Why the stats matter?

Whether the statistics reflect the true picture is a significant issue because police crime figures determine how much resource is given to tackling a problem. The figures mean Harrogate is still designated as a low crime area by the police, despite the trader’s experiences.

On Thursday, we will be asking the force whether they could do more to tackle Harrogate’s problems and give confidence to the traders to report crimes.

But there are other agencies who work with the police to support people who traders feel to a greater or lesser extent are involved in some of the town’s issues. Those who help support the homeless and have responsibilities for youth justice.

Tomorrow, we look at the agencies outside of police enforcement who are involved in supporting people considered to be part of Harrogate’s issues.

Four arrested after police chase in Harrogate

Suspected motorbike thieves were arrested after a police chase in the Cold Bath Road area of Harrogate last night.

North Yorkshire Police said in a statement today (March 14) it received a call that four people were interfering with a motorbike parked on Montpellier Parade at around 6pm.

The statement added:

“We immediately deployed police units to the area, and with the assistance of CCTV tracking the suspects, officers detained two people as they were pushing the motorbike away.

“Two other suspects were seen walking up Cold Bath Road, and when officers arrived they ran off. However, officers caught up with them, and they were detained after a short foot chase.”

The males aged 16, 17, 20 and 28 were arrested on suspicion of stealing a vehicle. Two were also arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage, and going equipped for theft.

The statement said:

“We were able to identify the owner of the motorbike, and visited him to update him – he was on the phone reporting the theft when we spoke to him.”

Police added “enquiries are ongoing into the theft”.

Police and council launch project to tackle crime in Harrogate

A new drive to target anti-social behaviour, street crime and shoplifting in Harrogate has been launched by North Yorkshire Police and North Yorkshire Council.

Project Spotlight was announced yesterday, just days before the Stray Ferret publishes Trading Hell, a week-long series of features investigating these very issues.

Over the course of our investigation we spoke to a chief inspector from North Yorkshire Police, as well as North Yorkshire Council, Harrogate BID, Harrogate Homeless Project and dozens of town centre traders. You can read the first of our special reports on Monday.

Project Spotlight sees teams working with residents, shoppers, town-centre workers and businesses to:

gather information about crime and anti-social behaviour and use it to target police and council resources at key times and locations;
reduce thefts, anti-social behaviour and other crimes by working with retailers and licensed premises;
prevent begging and rough sleeping by ensuring vulnerable people have access to the services they need and are encouraged to use them;
deploy targeted, high-visibility patrols to make sure residents, town-centre visitors, workers and businesses feel safe;
reduce drink- and drug-related crime by working with specialist teams, licensed premises and support services;
‘design out crime’ by making changes to the town-centre environment;
keep the public informed about the project and its progress, encouraging them to keep sharing information about any town-centre issues affecting them.

Project Spotlight builds on work between North Yorkshire Police, North Yorkshire Council and other organisations to address street crime, retail theft, begging, rough sleeping, substance abuse and anti-social behaviour.

Photo of a police officer and someone from Harrogate District Community Safety Partnership talking to a store manager from Primark in Harrogate.

Project Spotlight will work with retailers to tackle shoplifting and other town-centre problems.

In a sample of 140 patrols of the town centre since October 2023, North Yorkshire Police made 10 arrests and moved people on or gave words of advice 54 times. The force also issued one dispersal order, which effectively bans someone from an area for a certain amount of time.

Harrogate neighbourhood policing inspector Nicola Colbourne said:

“Project Spotlight sees us stepping up that positive work we’ve already done with partner organisations, the public and town-centre businesses.

“We’re using a good old-fashioned mix of community engagement, information-gathering, targeted policing and robust law enforcement during this project, which we’re delivering alongside policing Harrogate’s wider residential areas.

“Harrogate is already an incredibly safe town, in what is officially England’s safest county. With the help of the public, businesses and key organisations, we’re working hard to make it even safer.”

North Yorkshire Council’s assistant chief executive for local engagement, Rachel Joyce, said:

“Alongside North Yorkshire Police and others, we have been working hard to maintain Harrogate town centre’s reputation as a safe and welcoming place in which to visit and work.
“Operation Spotlight presents an opportunity for all concerned to come together and build on this work. To do this we need the co-operation of the public and the business community and I would encourage everyone to support us in this aim.”

Project Spotlight comes in response to problems highlighted by the Stray Ferret’s Trading Hell survey, which revealed very high levels of dissatisfaction among town-centre traders at North Yorkshire Police’s response to anti-social behaviour and retail theft.

The results of the survey, some of which have been shared with North Yorkshire Police, will be revealed in our first Trading Hell report, published on Monday.