Basildon Essex
Archive for April, 2011
8 cats poisoned, 2 missing
Apr 27th
DEVASTATED owners are spending thousands of pounds trying to protect their pets from a cat killer.
Eight cats have died after being poisoned with anti-freeze, while two have vanished without trace.
The deaths began in October 2010 with the most recent death just two weeks ago.
Cats are attracted to the taste of anti-freeze but it crystallises in their kidneys causing renal failure.
Police have carried out inquiries in the area while the Environment Agency has carried out tests on a stream that runs through Saxon Close to see if it was contaminated with anti-freeze.
However, the tests proved negative.
via Echo
Man sprayed with noxious substance
Apr 18th
A MAN has been taken to hospital after yobs sprayed a noxious substance in his face.
The incident happened at 8.30pm Saturday night on the doorstep of a property in Beech Road, Basildon.
The victim, who was in his 40s, had the unknown substance sprayed in his face and was taken by ambulance to Basildon Hospital where he was treated and released.
Police say no lasting damage has been caused but are appealing for information.
It is believed the man responsible was in a group with three other men, who were all white and believed to be 18 to 19 years old.
Police uncover 77 cannabis plants in raid
Apr 18th
POLICE found 77 cannabis plants with an estimated street value of £20,000 after storming a house in Wickford Place, Pitsea.
Officers smashed the door of the house, at 9.50am on Thursday, 14 April, 2011 and found the plants in two of the three bedrooms. The plants were concealed behind tarpaulin in the rooms.
Pc Dan McHugh, of the Pitsea neighbourhood policing team, said the house had a complex set-up and officers suspected electricity was being stolen by bypassing the meter.
“We executed a warrant as a result of information received by the community.”
A 43-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of cultivating cannabis and taken into police custody.
Attempted arson in Pitsea
Apr 15th
POLICE are investigating after an arson attack which saw a front door doused in petrol and set light.
Fire crews and officers attended the address in Broomfields, Pitsea, at 1am this morning after reports of a blaze.
An accelerant, possbily petrol, was poured onto an outside front doormat and set alight causing and estimated £500 damage to the front door.
Life for body in the bath killer
Apr 15th
A MAN who killed his wife before dismembering her with a chainsaw in the bath has been jailed for life.Unemployed Nicky Ward, 29, from Laindon, told a jury yesterday his wife, Emma Ward, 22, had “died at his hands”.
Her family now want to know where he hid her body.
Former Laindon High School pupil Ward said she died as a result of an accident, claiming he had no memory of what happened or of cutting up her body.
Norwich Crown Court found Ward guilty of murder and he was jailed for life with a minimum tariff of 22 years.
During a two-week trial the court heard Ward attacked his wife at their home in Rockland St Peter, Norfolk.
Forensic investigations revealed the pretty blonde waitress was killed in the bedroom before being dragged to the bathroom.
Ward then used a hired chainsaw to dismember his wife’s body.
Judge Peter Jacobs said the amount of blood found suggested Ward had attacked his wife with a “sharp instrument”.
Woman punched during attempted robbery
Apr 14th
A WOMAN was repeatedly punched in the face while a man tried to snatch her handbag.
The 35-year-old woman was walking down an alleyway in Whitmore Way, Basildon, between 10.50pm and 11pm on Monday, April 11 when the incident happened.
The culprit walked into the alleyway with the victim and demanded her handbag.
She was then punched in the face repeatedly, causing bruising and swelling, before the man fled empty handed.
Kids find rifle in bushes
Apr 13th
TWO schoolboys got a shock when their hunt for grass snakes ended up with them finding a gun.
Kane Blackmore and Callum Wallis-Sheldon, both 11, found the Czech rifle in bushes while searching for the snakes on fields behind Vange Community Centre, in Mapleford Sweep.
Fortunately the weapon wasn’t loaded and the boys alerted some nearby teenagers who handed it over to police.
Chip shop robbed of £2.5k
Apr 8th
A CHIP shop owner was repeatedly punched during a robbery in which £2,500 of takings were snatched.
37-year-old Amarjit Atwal, known as George, who owns the takeaway in Clay Hill Road, Basildon, was closing up with his brother, Surjit, when the robbers struck.
Mr Atwal was holding a bag containing the £2,500 in takings. As the shop’s shutters were closing he saw two men running towards him.
Mr Atwal said: “One of them was shouting ‘give me the bag’. I had the bag in one hand and my other hand was full with various bits and bobs. One of them grabbed the bag, which spun me around, and the other one started hitting me.
The robbers were white men aged between 21 and 40. One wore a light coloured, hooded top, white jogging bottoms and had a blue scarf covering his face. His accomplice wore a red hooded top.
9.30pm Thursday, 31 March 2011.
Man stabbed in Vange Hill Drive, Basildon
Apr 8th
A 24 year-old man was airlifted to hospital with life threatening injuries after he was stabbed.
The violent assault happened yesterday (Sunday 3rd April 2011) at around 3.30pm in Vange Hill Drive, Vange, Basildon.
Police have arrested a 21 year-old man in connection with the incident.
Man jailed over £1.9m bogus tobacco racket
Apr 7th
A BASILDON fraudster has been jailed following an investigation into a major tobacco smuggling operation linked to Bulgaria.
William Sartin, 40, of Timberlog Lane, was sentenced to 14 months behind bars after pleading guilty to conspiring to cheat the public revenue.
Sartin was among a gang of four who were in the process of setting up a factory to process raw leaf tobacco into hand rolling products.
More than 16 tonnes of raw leaf tobacco, with an estimated value of £1.9million was discovered when premises in Essex, Suffolk, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire were raided in a joint operation by customs officers and the police, in July 2008.
Basildon
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