Man arrested for attempted murder of two children in Beckwithshaw

A 40-year-old man has been arrested for the attempted murder of an 11-year-old child and a 10-year-old child, following an incident in Beckwithshaw on Monday.

The man has also been arrested for an assault on an emergency worker.

A 13-year-old child also sustained minor injuries during the incident.

North Yorkshire Police said this morning the man has been released from hospital and is now in police custody for questioning by officers from the major investigation team.

Detective Inspector Steve Menzies, senior investigating officer, said:

“The incident took place around 8:10am both inside and outside a property in Beckwithshaw which is situated on the main road, the B6161 Otley Road, and is very close to the local primary school.

“I reiterate that this incident is not connected to the school, however I am appealing to anyone who may have been dropping off children at the school, or commuters passing by, to check their vehicle dashcam and report any footage that may have captured any part of the incident prior to the attendance of the emergency services”.

The police appealed to anyone with information to contact them by calling 101, then pressing option two and asking to speak to the major investigation team.

Quote reference number 12220105995 when passing on any information.

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Forensic experts at serious police incident in Bilton

Forensic teams remain on the scene following a serious incident in Bilton last night.

Yesterday evening, police were called to a property on Byland Road but no further information has been released since.

The Stray Ferret has been down to the address this morning to talk to residents. There is  frustration by the lack of information.

Many are also shocked by what has happened. The property remains guarded by police with forensic teams working under a tent.

At 7.15pm last night North Yorkshire Police released this statement:

“Officers are currently in attendance at a property on Byland Road following an incident earlier this evening.

“The investigation is currently in the early stages and we will issue an update in due course.

“Speculation can often be unhelpful and we ask anyone posting on social media to be mindful of this.”

The Stray Ferret has gone to the police for a further update but received nothing at the time of publication.

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Ongoing police incident in Harrogate
North Yorkshire Police is currently attending an incident in Harrogate.
Officers were called to a home on Byland Road in Bilton this evening.
No further details are available at this stage.
A police statement said:
“We are currently in attendance at a property on Byland Road following an incident earlier this evening.
“The investigation is in the early stages and an update will be issued in due course.
“Speculation can be unhelpful and we ask anyone posting on social media to be mindful of this.”

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No update from police following blade incident in Beckwithshaw

A man and young boy were left with serious injuries following an incident with a “bladed article” on Monday in Beckwithshaw but the police are yet to give any further updates.

North Yorkshire Police was called to a house on Church Row at 8.20am on Monday morning. It later said an 11-year-old and a 40-year-old man had been taken to hospital with serious injuries.

Later in the day, police confirmed the 11-year-old had undergone emergency surgery and was now in a “stable condition in hospital”.

The 40-year-old man, however, was still in a serious condition and remained under police guard. The police added two children aged 10 and 13 had escaped the house and were now under the care of relatives and specialist officers.

Since this update at 3.15pm on Monda,y the police have given no more information.

The Stray Ferret asked today about both the man and child’s current condition, whether anyone has been charged and if the man was still under guard. The police said:

“No update at the moment – enquiries ongoing.”

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On the day, the Stray Ferret received reports of numerous emergency services vehicles and an air ambulance attending the scene.

Boy ‘stable’ and man under police guard in hospital after Beckwithshaw incident

An 11-year-old boy who suffered serious injuries in an incident in Beckwithshaw today is now in a stable condition in hospital following emergency surgery.

A man aged 40, who was also taken injured from the scene, remains in hospital in a serious condition and is under police guard, North Yorkshire Police confirmed this afternoon.

Both are believed to have been injured with what police are describing as “a bladed article” around 8.20am today.

Senior Investigating Officer DI Steve Menzies, of the North Yorkshire Police major investigation team, said:

“Two other children aged 10 and 13, who were also in the house at the time of the incident, are being cared for by relatives and supported by specialist police officers.

“I can reassure the public that we are not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident and an investigation is underway to establish the full circumstances of exactly what happened this morning.

“I also want to thank ambulance staff, paramedic teams and police officers who quickly arrived at the scene and administered emergency aid to the injured males.”

The B6161 through Beckwithshaw was closed for several hours this morning as police entered the home in Church Row, close to Beckwithshaw Primary School, which police said was not linked to the incident.

An air ambulance landed in the field behind Beckwithshaw Village Hall, while numerous police cars and vans, as well as road ambulances, were on the scene.

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Police appeal after motorcyclist seriously injured near Harrogate

Police today issued an appeal for witnesses following a crash near Harrogate in which a man suffered serious injuries.

The collision, on the A59 near Kettlesing, involved a white Transit van and a motorcycle.

Both were travelling in the direction of Harrogate.

The incident happened at about 2.30pm on Friday and led to the road being closed for several hours.

The motorcyclist sustained life-threatening injuries.

North Yorkshire Police are appealing for any witnesses to the collision, or anyone with relevant dashcam footage.

If you wish to do so you can call 101 and speak to the force control room, quoting reference number NYP-17062022-253.

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Boy, 11, and man seriously injured after blade incident in Beckwithshaw

A boy and a man have been taken to hospital with serious injuries after a major incident in Beckwithshaw this morning.

Armed officers and a police helicopter were deployed at about 8.20am to a house on Church Row in the village.

North Yorkshire Police released a statement minutes ago saying an 11-year-old boy and 40-year-old man had suffered “serious injuries believed to be sustained by a bladed article”.

Both males have been taken to hospital and police remain on the scene.

The statement said:

“Officers were called to a property in Church Row, Otley Road, at 8.20am today and on arrival found an 11-year-old boy and 40-year-old man with serious injuries believed to be sustained by a bladed article.

“Both males have been taken to hospital.

“The incident is not connected to the nearby school.”

This morning, the Stray Ferret received reports of numerous emergency services vehicles and an air ambulance attending the scene.

A police cordon is in place and the road from the roundabout near the cricket club to the junction with Shaw Lane was closed.

One villager told the Stray Ferret the road had reopened.

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Motorist clocked speeding at 84mph in Pannal

A motorist was clocked driving 84mph through a leafy street in Pannal, the parish council has revealed.

A machine operated by Pannal & Burn Bridge Parish Council records the speed of vehicles on Church Lane and it registered the car racing down the 30mph zone last year.

Since then it has regularly found cars and vans dangerously breaking the speed limit. In May 2022 alone, 277 vehicles were recorded travelling faster than 50mph.

Speeding problem

The parish council has three Speed Indicator Devices (SIDs) within the parish.

The machines flash the current speed to the motorist and run 24/7, with the data then relayed back to North Yorkshire Police.

The council’s chair, Cllr Howard West, said they have begun to publish the data because “many people had no idea” of the speeding problem in Pannal.

Mr West said:

“With more housing being built on the western arc, it will only become worse.

“More white vans for home deliveries under time pressure and more irresponsible drivers were some of the reasons we chose to employ Speed Indicator Devices (SIDs).”

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In March 2022, the top three speeds were 76mph, 71mph and 69mph.

Mr West wants to make people aware that Church Lane, Yew Tree Lane and Burn Bridge Road are 30mph zones and through Main Street in the village itself it is 20mph.

He added:

“We’ll keep highlighting those ridiculously high speeds, sometimes around school pick-up times, in the hope that common sense will prevail and people will travel at no more than 30mph or in some cases 20mph in our parish. “

40 years ago today: PC David Haigh was murdered in Beckwithshaw

North Yorkshire Police officers are paying their respects today to PC David Haigh, who was shot on duty 40 years ago by multiple murderer Barry Prudom.

PC Haigh, 29, was sent to arrest a petty criminal sleeping rough in woodland near Beckwithshaw on the morning of June 17, 1982,

Instead he found Barry Prudom, asleep in his car, and was murdered by a fatal shot on the side of the road.

An error in the police system meant PC Haigh wasn’t aware the petty criminal had been arrested the night before, retired PC Mike Clipston told the Yorkshire Post when he recalled the incident a decade ago:

“The person he had a warrant for, I had taken into the police station the night before. If he had known, David would never have gone.”

PC Haigh is now buried at Stonefall Cemetery.

David Haigh was the the first victim of Prudom, who over 17 days killed a further two people, including another officer Sergeant David Winter. He also attempted to kill dog handler PC Ken Oliver.

The search for Prudom became the biggest manhunt the country had seen at the time.

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Barry Prudom, ‘The Phantom in the Forest’

In the summer of 1982, Prudom avoided trial at Leeds Crown Court for violent assault with an iron bar and went on the run. He was found by PC David Haigh sleeping rough in a car near Norwood Edge, Beckwithshaw. He murdered the officer and drove off in a green Citroen.

After abandoning the car, he hitchhiked to Lincolnshire and broke into the home of Freda Jackson on June 20 and stole £4.50. By June 23 he’d made it to Nottinghamshire and shot both George Luckett, 52, and his wife Sylvia, 50, in the head after tying them up. Remarkably Sylvia survived and crawled to her neighbour’s house to raise the alarm.

By this point, Lincolnshire Police, Nottinghamshire Police and North Yorkshire Police had shared information and realised they were all after the same man.

Prudom was stopped on a routine check by dog handler PC Ken Oliver near Dalby Forest, eight miles from Scarborough. He shot PC Oliver in the face and the dog reacted giving the officer time to run for shelter. PC Oliver was hit seven times but none were fatal, the dog was also shot twice and survived.

Within hours a huge manhunt had commenced in the forest involving police marksmen, helicopters and 1,000 police officers on foot.

Prudom’s name was released to the media as the police’s prime suspect and a report came in of a suspicious man seen in Old Malton, North Yorkshire. Police Sergeant David Winter, 31, and PC Mick Wood went to the scene.

Sgt Winter was shot three times and died from his injuries, Prudom managed to escape capture once again.

Police put a cordon around the village of Malton believing Prudom was nearby, they told the media they were focused on Dalby Forest in the hope Prudom would believe it and resurface in the town.

He was found in a shelter he made using his survival training, near Malton’s Tennis Club just 300 yards from the police station that became the temporary headquarters co-ordinating the manhunt.

Police opened fire on the shelter but a port mortem revealed Prudom died from a self-inflicted shot to the head.

Motorcyclist seriously injured in Harrogate district crash

A motorcyclist is in hospital with serious injuries after a crash in the Harrogate district last night.

The collision, which occurred at the junction of the A61 Harrogate Road and Weeton Lane, involved a black Range Rover and a Yamaha motorcycle.

It occurred at about 7.30pm.

North Yorkshire Police is appealing for witnesses and information about the incident.

In a statement this morning it said:

“Unfortunately, the rider of the motorcycle suffered serious but not life-threatening injuries and was transferred to hospital where they remain in a stable condition.

“A stretch of Harrogate Road was closed for around two hours in both directions to allow for an initial investigation and vehicle recovery.”

Anyone with information or dashcam footage of the collision or the events leading up to the collision can email adam.smith@northyorkshire.police.uk, or contact North Yorkshire Police on 101, select option 2, and ask for Adam Smith.

Quote the North Yorkshire Police reference number 12220103906.

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