Live: Breaking news, traffic and travel across Teesside

The Evening Gazette's live breaking news blog brings you regular updates, pictures, video, tweets and comments covering the latest Teesside and North Yorkshire traffic, travel, weather, crime and council news for today, Thursday 6th November, 2014.

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Friend of stab victim Simon Bennett denies the pair 'were on a drug dealing round' prior to death

A close friend of a man killed in a Middlesbrough street fight denied the pair were on a drug dealing round on the day he was killed.

Daniel Blenkinsop said he had been “taking drugs and drink all day” and was with Simon Bennett, known as Simo, and another friend, Paul Cronin, before victim Mr Bennett was stabbed in Thorntree in May this year.

Mr Blenkinsop gave evidence at Teesside Crown Court today, as Craig Conway, 30, stands trial accused of murdering Mr Bennett, 29.

He admits manslaughter but denies murder.

Defence barrister Tim Roberts suggested to Mr Blenkinsop that he had been on a “round” of the Centurion and Fountain pubs in Ormesby, dealing drugs and collecting money with Mr Bennett.

He told the witness he had taken a knife with him for protection.

Reacting furiously, Mr Blenkinsop said: “No. Absolutely not. Of course not.”

Mr Roberts told the court of Mr Blenkinsop’s convictions in 2009 for possessing cocaine, and possession with intent to supply crack cocaine.

Mr Blenkinsop replied: “That was then. I was sent to prison, I served my time, and I learnt my lesson.”

The court was told that Mr Blenkinsop, Mr Bennett and Conway had grown up with each other and had met up at lunchtime on the day of the fight and “were friendly”.

VIEW GALLERY

Here, said Mr Roberts, Conway, of Epworth Green, Pallister Park, had referred to another man, known as Micky Robbo, who had been arrested in possession of 1kg of cocaine and said: “Micky Robbo has been set up.”

This, according to Mr Roberts, intimated that someone had ‘grassed him up’ - and reflected badly on Mr Blenkinsop and Mr Bennett.

But Mr Blenkinsop said: “No, I don’t get involved in that kind of ‘he said, she said’ stuff. I don’t remember.”

He also told the court that while he was with Mr Bennett leading up to the incident, he did not see him “shadow boxing” or see a fight.

He said he only saw Conway on the Greenway after Mr Bennett had staggered towards him.

When asked if Conway had spoken to him, he said: “He might have done, I don’t know I was under the influence of drink and drugs all that day.”

In his police statement given on May 10, two days after the incident, Mr Blenkinsop said Conway had told him: “Hurry up, phone an ambulance.”

But in court, Mr Blenkinsop said he could not remember and “was focusing on Simo”, but remembered Conway riding away on a motorbike.

Also taking the witness stand yesterday was Amy Smith, who lives close to where the incident took place.

She described being woken at around 11.30pm that night to shouting outside.

She said she looked out the bedroom window to see “Simo and about four other lads”, adding she saw Mr Bennett “stumble to the floor”.

Miss Smith said she then heard one of the other shout “You’ve stabbed him, you’ve stabbed him”.

Forensic expert Michelle Walton also gave evidence on her findings after she examined photographs and diagrams from the scene, plus clothing from both Mr Bennett and Conway as well as four knives and a “rubber handle” found close to the area.

None of the knives or the handle were found to contain any blood or DNA from either of the men.

Ms Walton said none of Mr Bennett’s blood was found on Conway’s clothing, and none of the pockets or sleeves in clothing worn by the two men showed evidence, such as cuts, that they had carried a concealed sharp, pointed blade. She added that a knife could still potentially have been carried but not done damage to the fabric.

Proceeding.

Friend of stab victim Simon Bennet denies the pair 'were on a drug dealing round' prior to death

A close friend of a man killed in a Middlesbrough street fight denied the pair were on a drug dealing round on the day he was killed.

Daniel Blenkinsop said he had been “taking drugs and drink all day” and was with Simon Bennett, known as Simo, and another friend, Paul Cronin, before victim Mr Bennett was stabbed in Thorntree in May this year.

Mr Blenkinsop gave evidence at Teesside Crown Court today, as Craig Conway, 30, stands trial accused of murdering Mr Bennett, 29.

He admits manslaughter but denies murder.

Defence barrister Tim Roberts suggested to Mr Blenkinsop that he had been on a “round” of the Centurion and Fountain pubs in Ormesby, dealing drugs and collecting money with Mr Bennett.

He told the witness he had taken a knife with him for protection.

Reacting furiously, Mr Blenkinsop said: “No. Absolutely not. Of course not.”

Mr Roberts told the court of Mr Blenkinsop’s convictions in 2009 for possessing cocaine, and possession with intent to supply crack cocaine.

Mr Blenkinsop replied: “That was then. I was sent to prison, I served my time, and I learnt my lesson.”

The court was told that Mr Blenkinsop, Mr Bennett and Conway had grown up with each other and had met up at lunchtime on the day of the fight and “were friendly”.

VIEW GALLERY

Here, said Mr Roberts, Conway, of Epworth Green, Pallister Park, had referred to another man, known as Micky Robbo, who had been arrested in possession of 1kg of cocaine and said: “Micky Robbo has been set up.”

This, according to Mr Roberts, intimated that someone had ‘grassed him up’ - and reflected badly on Mr Blenkinsop and Mr Bennett.

But Mr Blenkinsop said: “No, I don’t get involved in that kind of ‘he said, she said’ stuff. I don’t remember.”

He also told the court that while he was with Mr Bennett leading up to the incident, he did not see him “shadow boxing” or see a fight.

He said he only saw Conway on the Greenway after Mr Bennett had staggered towards him.

When asked if Conway had spoken to him, he said: “He might have done, I don’t know I was under the influence of drink and drugs all that day.”

In his police statement given on May 10, two days after the incident, Mr Blenkinsop said Conway had told him: “Hurry up, phone an ambulance.”

But in court, Mr Blenkinsop said he could not remember and “was focusing on Simo”, but remembered Conway riding away on a motorbike.

Also taking the witness stand yesterday was Amy Smith, who lives close to where the incident took place.

She described being woken at around 11.30pm that night to shouting outside.

She said she looked out the bedroom window to see “Simo and about four other lads”, adding she saw Mr Bennett “stumble to the floor”.

Miss Smith said she then heard one of the other shout “You’ve stabbed him, you’ve stabbed him”.

Forensic expert Michelle Walton also gave evidence on her findings after she examined photographs and diagrams from the scene, plus clothing from both Mr Bennett and Conway as well as four knives and a “rubber handle” found close to the area.

None of the knives or the handle were found to contain any blood or DNA from either of the men.

Ms Walton said none of Mr Bennett’s blood was found on Conway’s clothing, and none of the pockets or sleeves in clothing worn by the two men showed evidence, such as cuts, that they had carried a concealed sharp, pointed blade. She added that a knife could still potentially have been carried but not done damage to the fabric.

Proceeding.

The Election Was Fun But Don’t Get Too Happy

David Horowitz was one of the founders of the New Left in the 1960s and an editor of its largest magazine, Ramparts. He is the author, with Peter Collier, of three best selling dynastic biographies: The Rockefellers: An American Dynasty (1976); The Kennedys: An American Dream (1984); and The Fords: An American Epic (1987). Looking back in anger at their days in the New Left, he and Collier wrote Destructive Generation (1989), a chronicle of their second thoughts about the 60s that has been compared to Whittaker Chambers’ Witness and other classic works documenting a break from totalitarianism. Horowitz examined this subject more closely in Radical Son (1996), a memoir tracing his odyssey from “red-diaper baby” to conservative activist that George Gilder described as “the first great autobiography of his generation.” His latest book is Take No Prisoners: The Battle Plan for Defeating the Left (Regnery Publishing).

Eighteen years ago I met a Democratic consultant who said to me, “David, your side doesn’t give people a reason to vote for them. Republicans only win when Democrats screw up big time.” This year Democrats screwed up big time (along with many pollsters), and Republicans won big time. There’s a lot of good news here, especially the Republican gubernatorial victories in Democratic states like Michigan and Wisconsin, and battleground states like Ohio and Florida. Perhaps the most inexplicable good news of the day was the fact that Sandra Fluke got trounced by a Republican in the People’s Republic of Santa Monica. No wonder Democrats are weaker now than at any time since the 1920s.

Looking over this Democratic wreckage, Republican doomsayers should take note. The American people are not “low information” dummies, who will believe anything Democrats tell them. Abe Lincoln had it right: “You can fool some of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time, but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time.” Republicans should also note that despite all the people on food stamps and all of the voters getting free stuff – 47% by Mitt Romney’s misguided count – they were still independent and savvy enough to return Scott Walker in Wisconsin, to elect Tim Cotton in Arkansas, and to defeat Sandra Fluke in Santa Monica. Finally, Democrats’ racist appeals to minority voters don’t seem to be working as well as they used to. All these Republican whines were in fact excuses for poorly run political campaigns. Normally, you have to defeat your opponents. You can’t count on them to defeat themselves. Normally.

And this raises the big question, which is 2016. Democrats, when they are not over reaching and claiming against all evidence that the party of Joni Ernst and Shelley Moore Capito and Nikki Haley is conducting a war against women, are formidable political opponents. When they regroup after this defeat they will not be so easy beat in 2016. Unless…

Unless Obama, ideologue that he is, determines to stay the course, grants amnesty to 11 million illegals, continues to use fly swatters to combat ISIS, alternately stonewalls and heads for the golf course in the face of major crises, and vetoes Republican bills to restore the economy. There is always this possibility but don’t count on it. And in the absence of such screw-ups, Republicans will need to get their act together and give voters something to vote for.

Here’s an idea. What Republicans should offer voters is a national security program that protects them, and individual freedom. Freedom to choose their healthcare; freedom to run their businesses in an environment where government is not looking over their shoulders at every turn and stifling their incentives to create jobs; freedom to go about their lives without fear of terrorist attacks; freedom to shape their country and its culture within secure borders; freedom from electoral fraud, and IRS intrusion designed to turn their country into a one-party state.

These are not only policy preferences; they are moral themes – calls to action – that sum up what the Republican Party is about.

David Horowitz is the author of the recently published book Take No Prisoners: The Battle Plan For Defeating The Left (Regnery 2014).

Freedom Center pamphlets now available on Kindle: Click here .

Vigilante mob drove family from home after hurling paving slabs through window

A vigilante mob attack drove a family out of their home after paving slabs were hurled through their window, a court heard.

John Muir walked into a man’s garden and threw the two slabs through his front room window - wounding the householder’s shin.

A child had left the spot where one of the blocks landed moments before the terrifying attack at the Middlesbrough home.

Prosecutor Shaun Dryden said: “The defendant and a group of men attacked the property.

“Effectively the family were subjected to quite a terrifying attack with at least one men wearing a balaclava trying to force his way through the door.”

Muir knocked over a wheelie-bin and other men made threats, told the family to leave their home and said they would be driven away on the night of July 18.

Police found the family in a distressed state, Teesside Crown Court was told yesterday.

Mr Dryden said the trouble had flared after word spread of an unproven allegation.

“If the intention was that the family should leave the area, it has been successful,” he added.

The householder since said the family were made homeless and stayed with a friend out of the area.

He said the attack had a huge impact on their lives, he suffered from depression and extreme stress, felt on edge, struggled to sleep and was afraid to go out.

His leg wound needed five stitches and he still felt pain.

Muir, of Cornhill Walk, Ormesby, Middlesbrough, initially denied any crime - saying he simply followed men in balaclavas and shouted at the scene.

The 34-year-old later admitted wounding, affray and criminal damage.

The former heroin addict had been released from prison weeks earlier and had an extensive record of 161 offences including two assaults.

Uzma Khan, defending, said Muir was upset at the time.

She said: “Mr Muir would say he was not in fact the instigator of this confrontation.

“He attended, caught up in the melee.

"It was very much a spur-of-the-moment decision.

"He picked up the breezeblocks and chucked them through the window.

“He had absolutely no intention to cause injury or harm to the complainant or anybody else.

“He regrets those actions. He accepts that this was an utterly appalling way to act.

“This was very much an isolated incident because of the extreme circumstances.”

Ms Khan said Muir's family suffered as he was remanded in custody for nearly four months and that he wanted to be reunited with them.

Judge Peter Armstrong told Muir: “You were part of a vigilante attack on the home.

“Whatever the background - obviously the court is aware that feelings run high - this isn’t the way to go about matters.

“But you took the law into your own hands. This must have been terrifying.

“This behaviour cannot be tolerated. It is so serious only custody can be justified for it.”

Muir was given a 10-month prison sentence of which he will serve five.

With remand time, he will be out in just over a month.

Middlesbrough town centre power cut causes havoc for shoppers as stores are forced to close

A power cut affected shops and shoppers in Middlesbrough town centre this afternoon.

All but four of the shops in The Cleveland Centre closed for business and most of the shops on Linthorpe Road also shut when power went down at around 1.50pm.

The power cut lasted about 30 minutes.

North-east MEP says region is in 'danger of falling behind' in CCS race

A North-east MEP says the region is in ‘danger of falling behind’ in the Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) race - as it’s estimated the technology could bring thousands of new jobs to Teesside.

Labour Member of the European Parliament for the North East Jude Kirton-Darling said Teesside is “ideally suited” for CCS - and has called for the technology to become a ‘central element’ in emerging European plans.

CCS stops carbon dioxide being emitted into the atmosphere by transporting it, via pipelines, for storage in underground voids.

Local Enterprise Partnership Tees Valley Unlimited (TVU) has labelled it a ‘gamechanger’ for local industry - and Teesside could now become the UK’s ‘industrial CCS’ test-bed, after the Government allocated £1m to investigate the feasibility of a network.

But Jude said: “While the UK and the North-east in particular could be a leader in this area, we are in danger of falling behind. Last month, a CCS facility opened at Boundary Dam in Canada.”

At a key CCS event in Scotland this week, TVU said the technology could create thousands of jobs in the Tees Valley - and protect 12,000 local chemical and steel sector jobs.

It made the claims at the ‘Carbon Capture Future for Europe’ event in Edinburgh, held by Scottish Carbon Capture and Storage - the largest carbon capture and storage research group in the UK.

Stephen Catchpole, Managing Director at TVU said: “CCS will be a game changer for vital industries like those here in Teesside which are major emitters but also major employers.

“The technology will be a crucial part of decarbonising the UK economy, whilst also maintaining a strong industrial base, jobs and competitiveness.”

CCS could not only help the environment, added Jude, but create and maintain jobs in the development, manufacture and installation.

“By making industry and manufacturing more environmentally sustainable, CCS can also protect tens of thousands of well-paid jobs in local industries.

“The Tees Valley is ideally suited to use this new technology and local industry could benefit from environmental improvements.

“The Government has allocated Tees Valley Unlimited £1m to investigate whether Carbon Capture could be used in the area.

“Together with my Labour colleague Paul Brannen we have made the deployment of CCS in Europe one of our key regional priorities for the next five years.

“I believe that the Tees Valley has a particularly strong interest in CCS for three reasons: we have industrial, geographic and, most importantly, social interests that see CCS as part of our future.

“The development of CCS and the associated infrastructure further develops our long history of heavy industry and energy production which today employs thousands in the region, particularly across the Tees Valley - my home area - and our North Sea position and the offshore oil and gas network links.

“Carbon Capture and Storage must be a central element in the emerging European plans if we are to tackle climate change and rebalance our economies. CCS investment can create jobs today and protect jobs for decades to come”.

Former Grand Prix winner Kevin Procter leads entries for Croft rallycross bonanza

Former British Rallycross Grand Prix winner Kevin Procter will head a bumper entry in the climax to the Autosport International BTRDA Championship at Croft Circuit later this month.

The meeting, on Sunday, November 16, looks set to attract around 60 cars.

Procter, from nearby Leeming, is not registered for the championship, but will neverthless do battle in the supercar class.

The European Championship challenger endured teething problems with his new Ford Fiesta at the recent British GP meeting at Croft but hopes to have them ironed out in time for his return visit.

Simon Horton and Gary Pusey (both Subaru) and former national champion Andy Grant (Ford Focus) are expected to be challenging for top honours too.

‘Mad’ Mark Watson will be hoping to be at the business end of the field too as he returns to action in his revamped Citroen Xsara after a year out.

The two-wheel drive classes are well represented with Aycliffe’s Chris Harper (Citroen Saxo) aiming to stay at the top of both the overall and production class championships.

Northallerton Peugeot 206 drivers Guy Corner and Larry Carter hold the advantage in the 2000cc and 1600cc supermodified categories respectively.

Irishman Kieran Curran (1600cc Vauxhall Corsa) will again be the man to beat in the supermodified class but with the likes of newly-crowned Super 1600 British Champion Jack Thorne (Citroen C2), the powerful RWD Corsa of Allan Tapscott and Barnard Castle’s Brian Jukes in his diesel-powered Audi TT, it’s anyone’s guess who will emerge victorious.

Martin Peters from Ingleby Barwick (Citroen Saxo) is no stranger to winning at Croft - or anywhere else for that matter - and Stokesley’s Ian Horn (Vauxhall Nova) will be fired up to impress in his first rallycross for a year.

A number of other top drivers are expected to enter by tomorrow’s closing date, including Dave and Paige Bellerby from Northallerton in their Lotus Exiges and Hartlepool driver Des Wheatley in his iconic Rover Metro.

Shoppers in Darlington town centre will have the chance to get up close and personal when the organisers will have a selection of cars on display and drivers to meet next weekend.

From noon until 4pm on Saturday, Watson will be on hand along with his 550bhp Xsara Supercar.

He’ll be joined by Corner and his Peugeot 206 as well as Jukes and his Audi TT.

Darlington and District Motor Club will also be in attendance with information about the meeting.

Adult admission to the meeting is £10 with accompanied children under 15 free.

Parking is free also and action commences at 9.30am.

Paul Kerrison: New information revealed as concern grows for man who has been missing for 11 days

New information has been revealed concerning a man who has been missing for 11 days.

Paul Kerrison, 30 , was last seen on Saturday, October 25 and family and police are increasingly concerned for him.

It has now been revealed that Paul Kerrison may have been in the area of Birkdale Road in New Marske.

Acting Detective Inspector Peter Carr, said: “We now believe that Mr Kerrison was in the area of Birkdale Road in New Marske on Saturday evening.

“His family are really concerned for him and we know it is out of character for him to go missing.

“We would ask anyone that may have seen him to get in touch.

“We need to know that he is safe and well.”

Paul is described as around 6ft 3” tall, of slim build with short, brown hair and was last seen wearing a black tracksuit top and bottoms and Nike Air Max trainers.

He requires daily medication which he may not have with him.

Anyone with information asked to contact Cleveland Police on 101.

Title number eight for Ingleby Barwick kart ace Colin Peacock

Redcar’s Ste Allan battled to a narrow half-second victory over Ben Oates in the final round of Stockton and District MC’s Powerline Surveying Kart Championship.

But the title went to Mr Consistency Colin Peacock from Ingleby Barwick after a thrilling battle for honours.

Allan took pole but was beaten away from the grid by Oates.

A great lunge into the hard-braking zone ahead of the hairpin on the second lap put Oates to the outside and Allan completed a classic move worthy of any racing driver.

The pair fought all race long and the lead swapped several times but Allan kept on the pace to take his second win, even with an injured shoulder.

Behind the lead pair the overall championship was to be decided by any one of four drivers.

Peacock and Mark Asher were tied at the top of the table and although Karl Parkin and Brian Naylor mathematically could have won it was really down to who finished ahead out of the top two.

In the end only 1.5 seconds and a fourth placed finish decided the title in Peacock’s favour.

Despite not winning a race for two seasons, his consistent performance and a level headed approach paid dividends as he notched up his eighth title in the series in 16 years.

Asher’s performance was by no means poor but he struggled to find his way past a feisty Santino Sirignano in the early stages.

Other notable performances included David Graham keeping Parkin and Peacock honest in a very creditable fifth overall.

Titles in Classes A and C were won by Parkin and Brian Naylor respectively.