Category Archives: Hampshire

UK recruiter emerges from insolvency for third time, avoiding millions owed in tax

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Hampshire business seems to have benefited from ‘phoenixism’, which costs the taxpayer about £800m a year

A UK recruitment business has been acquired out of administration for a third time in four years as part of a succession of deals that left some of the former management team in place and millions of pounds owed to the public purse.

The chain of insolvencies appears to contain more examples of phoenixism – a process when companies are liquidated and directors are able to rise from the ashes with a new entity, free of debts.

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Pilot ‘crawls out’ after plane crashes on to beach in Gosport

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Bystander describes ‘loud crashing sound from the rocks’ as light aircraft goes into sea at Lee-on-the-Solent

A pilot survived after a light aircraft crashed on to a beach in Hampshire on Saturday.

The pilot had exited the aircraft before firefighters arrived and was subsequently assessed by the ambulance service, Hampshire and Isle of Wight fire and rescue service said.

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Lovejoy episode helps antiques dealer identify stolen Napoleon III artefacts

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Repeat of BBC series gave clue to Paul Gostelow about 19th-century altar cards taken from crypt in Hampshire

Two priceless artefacts stolen more than a decade ago from the crypt of Napoleon III in England have been recovered after an antiques dealer realised he had them while watching a repeat of the comedy drama Lovejoy.

The wooden 19th-century altar cards were taken in a burglary at St Michael’s Abbey in Farnborough, Hampshire in February 2014 and were feared lost for ever.

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Couple who died in Isle of Wight helicopter crash named

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Justyna Czoska, a horse riding instructor, and her partner, Wojtek Kowalkowski, died along with a third person

A couple who died in a helicopter crash during the bank holiday on the Isle of Wight have been named by relatives.

Justyna Czoska, 52, a horse riding instructor, and her partner, Wojtek Kowalkowski, 49, from Bloxham, Oxfordshire, died after the aircraft crash-landed at about 9.24am on Monday between Shanklin and Whiteley Bank. The helicopter had taken off from Sandown airport 20 minutes earlier.

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Council recognises right of River Test to flow unimpeded and unpolluted

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Test is one of only about 200 chalk streams in the world and councillors says biodiversity in and around it has declined

The right of a famous chalk stream, the Test in Hampshire, to flow freely and unpolluted has been officially recognised by politicians.

Councillors on Test Valley borough council voted unanimously to acknowledge “the intrinsic rights” of the rivers within its boundaries including the Test, which is renowned for its trout and fly fishing.

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Woman admits manslaughter of daughter, two, who was found in Hampshire pond

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Not guilty plea to murder accepted due to diminished responsibility at time of Annabel Mackey’s death

A woman has pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of her two-year-old daughter who died after being found in a pond.

Alice Mackey, of Oakhanger in Hampshire, entered the plea at Winchester crown court in connection with the death of Annabel Mackey, who went missing from her home in Kingsley on 10 September last year.

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Dismay after Southampton airport gets permission to cut down cemetery trees

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Campaigners attack council for backing plan to fell trees in burial site near runway to allow for increase in passengers

A Labour-led city council has been criticised for backing an airport’s scheme to cut down “majestic” trees in a historic, wildlife-rich cemetery close to a runway.

Environmental campaigners, people whose loved ones were laid to rest in the cemetery and opposition politicians have expressed dismay that the trees in South Stoneham Cemetery in Southampton are to be lost.

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Southern Water issues hosepipe ban for 1m people in Hampshire and Isle of Wight

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Announcement takes number of people hit by restrictions across England to about 8.5 million

Southern Water has become the fourth English utility to issue a hosepipe ban, taking the number of people hit by such restrictions to about 8.5 million.

The latest ban, which comes into force for about 1 million residents across large swathes of Hampshire and all of the Isle of Wight from 9am on Monday, comes after Yorkshire, Thames and South East Water announced similar measures.

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Chief constable retires after being told of investigation into alleged workplace relationships

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Scott Chilton leaves post at Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary with immediate effect after notice from IOPC

The chief constable of Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary has retired with immediate effect, on the same day he was given notice he was under investigation for two alleged workplace relationships.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said it had notified Scott Chilton on Monday morning that he was under investigation for potential gross misconduct over a relationship from before he became chief constable and another after taking the force’s top job.

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Slovenian girl, 12, saves project aiming to reintroduce cicadas to New Forest

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Conservationists failed to capture elusive insects this summer, so Kristina Kenda offered to step in

When British conservationists flew to Slovenia this summer hoping to catch enough singing cicadas to reintroduce the species to the New Forest, the grasshopper-sized insects proved impossible to locate, flying elusively at great height between trees.

Now a 12-year-old girl has offered to save the Species Recovery Trust’s reintroduction project. Kristina Kenda, the daughter of the Airbnb hosts who accommodated the trust’s director, Dom Price, and conservation officer Holly Stanworth in the summer summer, will put out special nets to hopefully catch enough cicadas to re-establish a British population.

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Portsmouth hospital reopens A&E after restoring power

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Queen Alexandra hospital had closed ward to new admissions and declared major incident after outage

A hospital has reopened its emergency department after closing it to new admissions and declaring a major incident after a power cut.

The outage on Monday morning at the Queen Alexandra hospital in Portsmouth, Hampshire, also affected phone lines. A small number of procedures had to be cancelled.

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Man jailed after shoplifting hundreds of Cadbury Creme Eggs

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Layton Richards, 29, sentenced to eight months in prison for string of thefts in Dorset, Hampshire and West Sussex

A thief has been jailed for eight months after being found guilty of shoplifting almost 800 Cadbury Creme Eggs over a three-month period.

Layton Richards, 29, had been charged with 24 shoplifting offences between 6 January and 18 April this year, with Hampshire and Isle of Wight constabulary accusing him of stealing as many as 798 of the confectionery items.

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Man graduates 41 years after being denied ceremony by parrot problem

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Jonny Clothier was refused graduation at Bristol University over unpaid bill relating to flatmate’s bird

A man who was denied his graduation for 41 years because of an unpaid bill of £64.80 relating to a parrot has finally donned his cap and gown on the same day as his son.

Jonny Clothier studied architecture at the University of Bristol and was meant to graduate with his peers in 1983. But his old flatmate had a parrot which, after being left unsupervised, had free run of their university accommodation and was said to have wrecked the place.

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Dozens of dead wild animals dumped outside Hampshire shop

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Police investigate discovery of about 50 hares, an owl and a kestrel at door of Broughton community shop

A police investigation has been launched after dozens of dead animals were left outside a shop in Broughton.

The Broughton community shop in Hampshire said it was “shocked” to discover the bodies of about 50 dead hares, as well as a barn owl and a kestrel outside on Friday.

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Hampshire allotment holders ‘appalled’ over eviction notices

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Villagers in King’s Somborne angry over letters from landowner, the diocese of Winchester, sent over festive period

For more than a century villagers have grown fruit and veg on allotments at King’s Somborne, a picture postcard village in the Test valley, Hampshire.

But plot holders are up in arms after being served eviction notices from the owner of the land, the diocese of Winchester, to make way for housing.

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Hampshire police officer sacked for using ‘extreme’ force against detainees

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Force apologises to victims, who included a traumatised woman, for Sgt Simon Lythgoe’s ‘inexcusable’ behaviour

A police officer and power-lifting champion has been dismissed after using “extreme” force against two detainees, including a traumatised woman.

Hampshire police described the actions of Sgt Simon Lythgoe, who was based on the Isle of Wight, as inexcusable and apologised to his victims.

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