Teens use bolt cutters to steal scooters from car park outside Middlesbrough Cineworld

Two teenagers are being hunted by police after they stole two scooters before crashing one of them and then making off on the other.

The incident happened in the car park outside Cineworld in Middlesbrough and is believed to have involved two male teens aged 16-18.

A spokeswoman for Cleveland Police said the suspects used bolt cutters to steal the two bikes.

They then made off down the tunnel towards the Riverside Stadium.

The spokeswoman said: “As they drove off one of them drove into a wall and left the bike. They then both made off on the other bike.”

Police say an onlooker saw the incident and tried to stop the suspects.

The incident happened on Tuesday at some time between 5pm and 6.30pm.

One of the bikes stolen was a black Sym Orbit 50.

Kevin Forsey was parking his car when the incident happened.

He said: “The two youths were dressed in cycle helmets. They popped the chains to the modern scooters parked directly under a spotlight.

“I was parking at the time and beeped my horn several times to alert attention to the culprits.”

He said one of the suspects fell off bike.

He added: “His friend picked him up and both jumped on the second stolen scooter, riding away towards the A66 underpass.”

The suspects are described as being aged between 16 and 18 and wearing crash helmets and dark tracksuits.

Police are appealing for witnesses to the incident. Anyone with information should contact them on the non-emergency 101 number.

Bez on a Boat: Happy Mondays star to DJ at floating rave this weekend

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Grab your maracas!

Happy Mondays star Bez is set to showcase his many talents aboard the Teesside Princess this Saturday night.

As well as his signature dance, Bez is set to DJ and has promised to provide percussion at the house and techno rave down the Tees - as well as dropping in some ‘Madchester’ beats.

The event has been organised by riffraff, a popular Teesside club night which has been running for 11 years with its regular home now at Middlesbrough’s Medicine Bar, on Corporation Road.

Organiser and DJ Lee Pennington, 34, from Acklam, who also lectures in the music department at Middlesbrough College, said: “It’s definitely a coup and it’s totally sold out.

“Bez is going to be DJing - acid house and ‘Madchester’ stuff from the 90s.

“He’s got his maracas ready.

“We’re all really looking forward to it.

“The after party will be at the Medicine Bar in Middlesbrough which is also sold out but people can buy tickets for on the night - and he may also be there depending on how much he enjoys himself!

“We have had about eight parties on the Teesside Princess and they’ve always proved popular.

“No one has gone over board yet...so we’ll see what Bez does on Saturday!”

Zoo Project DJ Lee and other riffraff residents will also be DJing at the event which starts at 6.30pm from Stockton Riverside.

Bez - real name Mark Berry - was a maraca player, dancer and the mascot of Salford band Happy Mondays, having been invited in by singer Shaun Ryder shortly after the band was formed.

The 50-year-old is chiefly known for his unique style of dancing - and his use of the maracas.

After the Happy Mondays split, Bez became a member of Black Grape, a group founded by Ryder, but he left in 1997.

In March he said he planned to stand as an MP at the next election on an anti-fracking ticket.

The Teesside Princess - which travels from Stockton riverside to Yarm and back - event has a capacity of 120. All tickets have been now sold.

Tickets on the door at the after-party will be £10.

Campaign to stop closure of nursery at North Tees and Hartlepool hospitals 'has come to an end'

Campaigners fighting the closure of a hospital nursery have reluctantly thrown in the towel.

Organisers of the ‘Stop the Closure of North Tees and Hartlepool Children’s Nurseries’ campaign say it was now important for parents to secure alternative childcare for their children.

News of the campaign’s end comes as health chiefs confirmed that talks with private firms who expressed an interest in running the nursery have come to nothing.

North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust announced in September that its hospital nursery would close by the end of the year, and gave more than 50 staff 90 days’ notice.

The trust said the facility had become “uneconomic to run”. Over the past four years the trust has made a total anticipated loss of more than £765,000 subsidising the nursery.

But parents across Teesside were left reeling after the shock news of the closure, saying it would have a massive impact on their children’s lives.

Parents Jamie Picken and Debbie Ling set up the ‘Stop the Closure’ campaign and launched an online petition which garnered nearly 500 signatures in less than two days.

But this week Debbie posted on the campaign’s Facebook page that it was “with huge sadness” she was advising parents “that our campaign to save the North Tees and Hartlepool Day Nurseries has come to an end”.

She said: “Everyone involved has worked incredibly hard to try to change the trust’s decision and have followed every possible course of action available, but the outcome remains unchanged.

“It is clear the trust never had any intention to keep the nurseries open, as evidenced by the total lack of consultation with staff and parents.

“For the parents, the important thing now is to secure alternative childcare for our children.

“I strongly feel that we can no longer afford to wait because it would be terrible to be left in a situation where all the local nurseries are full.”

Unison’s Mark Edmundson said: “Given the current shortage of nursing staff at the trust, this decision will make it harder still to recruit hardworking parents to work at the hospitals at Hartlepool and Stockton.”

Health chiefs have pledged to look at start and finish times for parents in frontline healthcare positions to support them so they can continue working for the trust.

Ann Burrell, director of human resources and education for North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We have met with several private nursery providers with a view to leasing or purchasing our nurseries. Unfortunately we have been unable to secure a positive outcome from these discussions.”

Long-suffering mum choked, punched and terrorised by son in her Middlesbrough home

A mother thought she was going to die when her son choked, punched and terrorised her in her own home.

Alexander McPartland was banned from contacting his mother under a restraining order after he “went berserk” and robbed her in 2012.

She still took pity on her son when he was homeless, and let him stay at her Middlesbrough home last month.

“She felt she couldn’t see him on the street in the cold weather,” said prosecutor Paul Lee today.

He was not allowed in the house on his own and they argued when she caught him after he climbed in through a window.

He turned violent, putting his arm around her throat from behind and tightening his grip, choking her, Teesside Crown Court heard.

As she fell to the floor on her hands and knees, he told her: “You should just die.”

She struggled to breathe and thought she was going to die, said Mr Lee.

He added: “The only thing she could do was pretend to be unconscious in the hope that it would stop it. Fortunately it did.”

Mr McPartland then picked up a craft knife and made swiping motions in front of her neck.

She said his eyes were full of hatred and anger as he told her: “You deserve to be dead. I want to kill you.”

“She believed he was going to try to cut her throat,” Mr Lee told the court.

“Not content with that, he began to punch his mother to the face and head.”

Bleeding from a cut to her scalp, she calmed her son down and called the police.

She later said in a statement: “I just want to cry all the time. I don’t know why he’s always so violent to me. I can’t take it anymore.”

Mr McPartland, formerly of Delarden Road, Pallister Park, Middlesbrough, admitted assault causing actual bodily harm and two breaches of the restraining order.

He had drug problems since he was 13 and, in a long domestic violence history, most of his previous convictions were against his mum.

He was given a suspended sentence for violently robbing her of £45 from her bag in 2012.

He was sent to a young offenders’ institution after he beat her unconscious in her home in June last year.

He was given another suspended sentence in March this year after he kicked her door open to come in and brush his teeth.

Rachel Dyson, defending, said he was devastated by his “exceptionally violent and worrying” behaviour and understood the harm he had caused.

He had used drugs and alcohol excessively at the time but did not want to excuse his behaviour.

Ms Dyson said Mr McPartland was a “polite and intelligent young man” when sober, but had “deep-seated underlying issues” and needed counselling.

She added: “There is clearly a very, very difficult relationship between Mr McPartland and his mother.

“She felt she couldn’t see him on the street, then he effectively threw that good will back in her face by acting in this fashion.”

The judge, Recorder Graeme Cook, jailed Mr McPartland for 86 weeks.

Teen too scared to enter Redcar in case she sees man who sexually assaulted her in public park

A teen has been left terrified to enter a Teesside town in case she sees the man who sexually assaulted her in a public park.

The 17-year-old was groped on a bench on the junction of Corporation Road and Locke Park, near Redcar and Cleveland College, by Paul Owen in June.

Owen, 38, initially denied groping the teenage girl, claiming he was so drunk he couldn’t remember the sexual assault.

But before a trial last month, Owen changed his plea to guilty but maintained he had no recollection of the evening.

Teesside Magistrates’ Court heard a statement yesterday in which the victim described how the assault had left her terrified of meeting Owen again.

Reading the victim’s words, Joanne Hesse, prosecuting, said: “When the incident occurred, it didn’t sink in at the time. I was in shock.

“It was only after speaking to my mum that things started sinking in.

“I felt disgusting and violated.

“It’s not fair and it’s not right that this man can behave like he has.

“If I’m out on the streets, I’m terrified that I will see this man again. What if he can remember my face?

“I will not go into Redcar on my own. I’m cautious about men I don’t know.”

Last month the court heard how Owen sat next to the victim, who was with a friend, on a bench and produced a pack of condoms and said “do you want some of this?”.

Owen then went on to assault the girl.

Amy Dixon, defending, said Owen was “a man of good character with no previous convictions against him”.

“It has been difficult for Mr Owen to come to terms with his offending behaviour,” she said.

“I spoke with him in detail before that trial. As a result he had to accept that this young lady would not have made up these allegations against him.

“He couldn’t remember the evening in question. That is incredibly difficult for him to come to terms with.

“What he has always said is that he couldn’t believe he had acted in that way.”

Sentencing Owen, bench chairman, Alan Duckling, said that aggravating features included the age of the victim, the fact that the assault happened in a public place and that Owen had touched the victim three times.

Mr Duckling did however note that Owen was of previous good character, had no previous convictions and gave some credit for his guilty plea on the day of his trial.

Owen, of Oak Road, Redcar, was given a 24 month supervision order, a £110 fine, a £60 victim surcharge and £300 in compensation to the victim.

He was also ordered to pay £300 in costs for the trial that had been arranged following his previous not guilty plea.

Owen is now a registered sex offender subject to a notification requirement for five years.

Turkish minister: ‘We will drive Israeli soldiers out of Al-Aqsa with their shoes in their hands’

Turkish Minister for EU Affairs Volkan Bozkir expressed his anger and disapproval over the recent entry of Israeli troops to Al-Aqsa Mosque with their boots on.

“I want to direct my speech to the group of Israeli soldiers who entered Al-Aqsa with their shoes still on and say that if you do not leave Al-Aqsa as soon as possible, then we will force you out with your shoes in your hands and we will watch you as you walk away with your backs turned to us,” Bozkir added.

During his speech at a Justice and Development party conference in Burdur, Bozkir heavily criticised Israeli violations in Jerusalem as of late and the IDF’s decision to storm Al-Aqsa Mosque by saying that it is sacred to Turks as well as Arabs and other Muslims.

“Turkey has not allowed anyone to spoil the peace that we have achieved in Palestine to this day and we will not allow it from here on out,” he concluded.

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