Boy, 14, riding off-road motorbike dies in crash with car in Sheffield
The teenager was on a Stomp Juice 110 bike which crashed with a Ford Mondeo on Tunwell Avenue in the Parson Cross area of the city at 6.14pm on Monday.
A police officer who was on patrol in the area at the time was on the scene within minutes after he was flagged down by a member of the public.
He provided first aid to the boy ,who was taken to hospital where he later died.
The driver of the car, a 30-year-old man, was arrested on suspicion of causing death by careless driving and traffic offences.
Sgt John Taylor from South Yorkshire Police said: "We understand that any fatal collision can have a shocking effect on our communities, and especially those involving a child.
"We are in the early stages of our investigation to ascertain the circumstances, but we urge that you do not speculate on social media or share anything that can prejudice our inquiry.
"Local neighbourhood officers will be in the area today to speak to anyone with concerns."
Police said the family of the boy was being supported by specialist officers.
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The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
Government launches Orgreave inquiry, 40 years after clashes at miners' strike
More than four decades after the violent policing at Orgreave during the miners' strike and a failed prosecution criticised as a police 'frame up', the government has established a statutory inquiry into the scandal. The home secretary, Yvette Cooper, announced the inquiry having informed campaigners last Thursday at the site in South Yorkshire where the Orgreave coking plant was located. The inquiry into the policing on 18 June 1984 and the collapsed prosecutions marks the culmination of remarkable persistence by campaigners, who argue that the miners' strike remains an enduring source of injustice. The present-day focus on Orgreave developed after 2012, when the Guardian highlighted the violence and alleged manipulation of evidence afterwards by South Yorkshire police, and the fact that five years later the same force was responsible for the Hillsborough disaster, in which 97 people were unlawfully killed. Speaking to the Guardian at the Orgreave site, which has now been developed into an advanced manufacturing complex, retail estate, new homes and parkland, Cooper said: 'I think the miners' strike still has deep scars across coalfield communities, and the decisions made at that time – the broadest decisions that were taken by the Thatcher government in the 1980s – the scars can still be felt across the coalfields.' The Home Office said in its announcement that the criminal charges brought by South Yorkshire police against 95 miners were dropped 'after evidence was discredited'. The legacy of Orgreave has been to undermine 'the wider mining community's confidence in policing for decades,' it said. Cooper said that as an MP for a former mining area in West Yorkshire, she understood the community feeling. She made it clear that the inquiry would address the collapsed prosecutions as well as the policing on the day. 'People have waited for answers for over 40 years,' she said. 'The scale of the clashes, the injuries, the prosecutions, the discredited evidence, all of those things – there's still so many unanswered questions.' At Orgreave, about 8,000 miners assembled for a mass picket called by the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), and were met by 6,000 police officers from forces nationwide, led by South Yorkshire police. The violence that ensued has become an infamous episode in British history, police charging on horseback and hitting miners over the head with truncheons. Some miners did throw stones before the police charge and retaliated after it, and the next day 28 officers were reported to have been injured. Official reports later put the figure at 72. The NUM, however, has always believed the police violence was pre-planned, and that the South Yorkshire force, and Margaret Thatcher herself, who described the Orgreave picketing as 'mob rule', greatly exaggerated the extent of miners' misbehaviour. The prosecution of 95 miners for the offences of riot and unlawful assembly collapsed on 17 July 1985 after their barristers repeatedly accused police officers of lying in their statements and in court. Michael Mansfield KC, who represented several defendants, said after their acquittals that it had been 'the biggest frame up ever'. The form of the Orgreave inquiry is modelled on the Hillsborough independent panel, whose 2012 report is recognised as a landmark, establishing crucial details about the disaster and overturning the false South Yorkshire police narrative that was intended to avoid responsibility and blame the victims. The inquiry, which will have the power to compel witnesses to testify, will be chaired by Pete Wilcox, the bishop of Sheffield, who has long regarded it as important for community healing. As dean of Liverpool from 2012 to 2017, Wilcox worked with James Jones, then the bishop of Liverpool, who chaired the Hillsborough panel. The Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign (OTJC), founded by strike veterans and activists in 2012, welcomed the announcement. Joe Rollin, a founder member, said he was 'cautiously elated' by the prospect of the inquiry. 'We've got a long way to go – and people know us, we're determined, and we'll not give up until we get the justice we deserve.' Arthur Critchlow, one of the miners prosecuted, suffered a fractured skull from a police truncheon blow at Orgreave. He was with the OTJC representatives who met Cooper, and said he lived with the trauma every day. 'It's a massive injustice. For the 48 days of that trial I was convinced I was going to get life in prison.' The inquiry announcement was fantastic, he said. 'I just hope the miners will be vindicated, and the majority of the country will realise that we weren't lying – the media were lying, and the police were lying. I just want the truth, for people to know what the police did, and who ordered it.' The NUM president, Chris Kitchen, said: 'We we are over the moon. We're hoping the inquiry will show that our dispute, which we believe was industrial, was political, orchestrated from No 10, or higher up the food chain towards No 10. 'And that the police were used as a parliamentary force to push a political objective, against working-class lads that were fighting for their jobs in this community and the industry. 'We never came to this field to cause a riot or to deliberately lame people. I don't think that was the same for the police, who came tooled up, with a plan to injure us, and to try and get the public perception on their side and end the strike.' A spokesperson for South Yorkshire police said: 'We will fully cooperate with the inquiry in a bid to help those affected find answers.'
BBC News
a day ago
- BBC News
Bravery award for man, 84, who fought off Maltby laundrette mugger
A pensioner who fought off a mugger with the help of a pair of jeans has been commended for his Croker was on his own at the Coin-Op Launderette in Maltby, Rotherham, on 7 January when a masked Lloyd Smith burst in and demanded his Croker, 84, wrapped a pair of jeans around his arm to protect him from any potential weapons and shoved Smith, 42, back through the week, Mr Croker was presented with a commendation for his "tremendous courage" in fighting off Smith, who has since been jailed for the attack. Mr Croker suffered bruises to his hands and arm but otherwise escaped without losing his wallet or any other previously told the BBC he had worked "all my life" for his money and decided Smith was "not having it". Rotherham District Commander Ch Supt Andy Wright said Mr Croker's actions had been "nothing short of remarkable"."We often talk about police officers running towards danger when others run away from it," he said."In this instance, Ron did neither. He stood his ground, fought for what is right and showed tremendous courage when it would have been easy not to."According to South Yorkshire Police, Smith was identified by members of the public after CCTV footage of the attack was of Myrtle Grove, Rotherham, pleaded guilty to attempted robbery and was jailed for three years and nine months at Sheffield Crown Court in June. Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Daily Mail
The thief next door: How mum-of-two posed as ordinary housewife living in quiet suburban road... while running £100k raid under the noses of her police officer neighbours
On the surface, she looks like any ordinary middle-aged mum. Living on a quiet cul-de-sac with her childhood sweetheart and two dogs, 55-year-old Jacqueline Fletcher is not who comes to mind when you picture your typical conniving fraudster. The mother-of-two was born and bred in the rural village of Brinsworth, Rotherham, and raised her daughters from the very same semi-detached dwelling she and her husband still reside in now. And despite living on the quiet street for over three decades - where the 'only thing you hear is a car door slamming' - neighbours say she 'kept to herself' and never struck them as having led a particularly luxurious lifestyle. So it came as an utter surprise to residents when it transpired that Fletcher had all along been running a £100k raid under their noses - with even her police neighbour being ignorant to her elaborate scheme. And to make matters even more shocking, the brazen criminal carried out her theft in plain sight at a police station. Despite being jailed for more than two years for the crime, the mother-of-two now faces more jail time if she does not cough up more than £100,000 in three months. Fletcher had been a South Yorkshire Police employee at the time and had stolen £98,500 while working at Attercliffe Police Station in Sheffield. In 2013, a large quantity of cash was seized as part of a police investigation and placed into the station's property store. Fletcher had been working as a team leader at the store and as part of her role was responsible for managing cash. Pictured: Fletcher's semi-detached house in the village of Brinsworth, Rotherham. A flower vase can be spotted in the window. The 55-year-old now has to pay up £108,000 for her crimes or risks facing another 12-month jail sentence She informed the officer in charge of the investigation that she had counted and banked the seized money in the force's account, but never did. Instead, she only put £1,500 into the force account and banked a staggering £98,500 into her own bank account. She then continued to work at the station with her crime going unnoticed, and subsequently left the force in 2015. It was only in 2017, when a Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) investigation connected to the seized money was requested, that it was noticed the cash was missing. An investigation was launched and in 2018 the mother-of-two was sentenced to two years and eight months after admitting to four counts of theft. She was also handed a confiscation order instructing her to pay back £47,000 under the POCA. But now, following a reconsideration of the original 2018 order by the Yorkshire and Humberside Regional Crime Unit (YHROCU), Fletcher has been ordered to pay back an additional £108,256.86. It comes after the YHROCU's Asset Confiscation Enforcement team reviewed and identified new assets and pursued outstanding orders. The unassuming mum now faces a 12-month prison sentence if she does not pay the additional order in three months. MailOnline visited the sleepy street where the woman lives. One neighbour said: 'She has two daughters. They are grown up. 'You just see her sometimes get into her car. 'Since she came back [from prison], she keeps herself to herself. 'They have got two dogs. I have seen her husband walking the dogs, but you never see her out walking. 'Her husband went to school with my son. I think her and her husband were going out together from school so they have always been together. 'It is very quiet around here. They have lived here a lot of years so we could not believe it - fancy robbing from the police.' The couple are understood to have two adult daughters who both live away from home. A vase of flowers sits in the front window of Fletcher's modest dwelling on the cul-de-sac. In the driveway is parked a 2018 model Mazda and 2016 Toyota hatchback. Neighbours say she has kept a low profile since her arrest. Another resident added: 'We have been here 32 years and had to wait for the builders to finish the house so they have lived here for many years. 'I think she was born and bred around here. It is not a big place. This street is a quiet place all the time. The only thing you ever heard is a car door slamming. 'You never see her and no one really talks about what happened. 'Her husband is really quiet. My partner give him a lift one and he never spoke all the way back. He doesn't talk to anyone.' Detective Superintendent James Axe, head of our Professional Standards Department, said: 'We expect all of our employees to behave professionally, honestly and with integrity. Fletcher showed none of these traits, behaving disgracefully and abusing the trust placed in her. 'The vital work carried out the YHROCU's ACE team has ensured that more of the money Fletcher stole will be recovered. The money secured through confiscation order helps fund community grant schemes and officer training allowing us to give back to our communities, as well as ensuring Fletcher does not continue to benefit from her offending.' Ramona Senior, head of operations at the YHROCU said: 'Our dedicated ACE team proactively reviews opportunities to revisit confiscation orders made under the Proceeds of Crime Act. 'We will relentlessly pursue outstanding unpaid orders and identify where new assets have been acquired that can be subject to confiscation, no matter who has acquired them. We also look at increasing the amount available for recovery if a criminal's circumstances have changed since the original confiscation order. 'The ACE team has recovered more than £10.3 million in criminal assets on behalf of our region's four police forces over the past two years.'
