Question over town police station

16 July 2011 Last updated at 14:21 GMT The police station dominates Wrexham's skyline A total of ?175,000 is being spent on mothballing the custody suite at Mold police station in Flintshire, which closed this month.

North Wales Police want to keep it available as the long term future of Wrexham's high-rise police station is uncertain, it has emerged.

Staff from Mold have been redeployed to custody suites at Wrexham and St Asaph, Denbighshire.

But a police authority meeting was told the future of Wrexham is now in review.

Ian Shannon, the deputy chief constable, told a meeting of the North Wales Police Authority that to keep open Mold's suite of cells on a permanent basis would have cost ?750,000, and it was necessary to maintain it to an operational standard.

'Money well spent'

He said this was because of the uncertain future of Wrexham police station and its cells.

Mold police station's custody suite closed in July

He said Wrexham was an expensive station to keep open, and its long-term future was being considered under a police estates review.

Mr Shannon said it was vital to keep the suite at Mold to remain resilient and it would be money well spent.

The suite closed on 8 July 2011 and a report to the authority's professional standards committee said the impact would be monitored.

It will still be available as an important reserve for special operations and during seasonal times like New Year's Eve.

Spending of ?175,000 would involve essential improvements only, including upgrading of the CCTV, fire alarm and ventilation systems.

Without this work the site could not remain open as a contingency location.

To maintain Mold required five police sergeants and five civilian staff, said the report.

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Power station death £450,000 fine

3 June 2011 Last updated at 14:26 GMT Christopher Booker fell through an unguarded opening at Aberthaw Power Station in the Vale of Glamorgan Two companies have been fined a total of ?450,000 after a maintenance worker fell to his death at a power station.

Christopher Booker, 49, from St Athan, Vale of Glamorgan, fell about 12m (39ft) through an unprotected opening at Aberthaw power plant in June 2007.

Plant owner RWE npower Plc admitted breaching health and safety rules and was fined ?250,000 with ?30,000 costs at Cardiff Crown Court

Contractor AMEC Group Ltd of Cheshire was fined ?200,000 with ?30,000 costs.

Mr Booker, an agency worker, died of multiple injuries to his chest and pelvis.

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Both companies had a duty of care to Mr Booker that they failed to meet with catastrophic consequences”

End Quote Caroline Bird HSE Inspector The court heard that on the evening in question work was being carried out to insert equipment into a large deep pit in the water cooling system to hold back the seawater when the tide rose.

Sections of the floor gratings at the top of the pit had been removed to allow the work to proceed.

Mr Booker was working with eight others.

As the natural light faded, electric lights were turned to face those doing the grinding work which left the top of the pit in near darkness.

Mr Booker fell through the opening in the walkway to the floor below.

'Confusion and misunderstanding'

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found a large opening in the walkway was left unprotected after the floor gratings had been removed.

The investigation also identified that there was confusion and misunderstanding between RWE npower and AMEC Group Ltd as to who was responsible for controlling the work at the time of Mr Booker's death.

After the hearing, HSE inspector Caroline Bird said: "This tragic case highlights the consequences of failing to do something as simple as adding protection to an opening in a walkway.

"Inadequate planning and a poor choice of safety control measures meant that a very obvious hazard remained.

"Both companies had a duty of care to Mr Booker that they failed to meet with catastrophic consequences.

"This awful incident could so easily have been prevented had the correct safety measures been taken."

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Youths guilty of station killing

16 May 2011 Last updated at 12:32 GMT Sofyen was chased to the ticket hall where he was stabbed repeatedly Five teenagers have been convicted of killing a 15-year-old boy at Victoria station in central London.

Sofyen Belamouadden, from Acton, west London, was chased and stabbed in the ticket hall of the Tube station.

Two teenagers have been found guilty of his murder in March 2010. Three others have been convicted of manslaughter.

The trial at the Old Bailey heard the rush-hour attack was planned on Facebook, and followed tensions between pupils from two west London schools.

'Merciless' attack

The trial heard some of the pupils saw the station as "home territory".

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So brazen and confident were his killers that they openly carried the various weapons that they used with them as they ran towards him and together hunted him down”

End Quote Mark Heywood QC Mark Heywood QC, prosecuting, said the "merciless" knife attack on the schoolboy took place in front of hundreds of commuters.

One member of the gang, Samuel Roberts, told the court that he joined in the violence on 25 March - captured on CCTV - simply because "everyone else was doing it".

Obi Nwokeh, 18, of Bermondsey, south-east London, and a 17-year-old were convicted of murder by unanimous jury verdicts.

Roberts, of Camberwell, south-east London, Adonis Akra, of Stockwell, of south London, both 18, and another 17-year-old were cleared of murder but convicted of manslaughter.

Enoch Amoah, 18, of Camberwell, was cleared of both charges but convicted of violent disorder. All six defendants were found guilty of conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm.

Sofyen was confronted by a group with a sword at Victoria station before being chased into the Tube station where he was stabbed nine times, including to the lung and chest.

Mr Heywood said: "He was given no chance of life.

"So brazen and confident were his killers that they openly carried the various weapons that they used with them as they ran towards him and together hunted him down."

A number of other youths are due to face separate trials over the killing. All defendants will be sentenced following the conclusion of these cases.

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