Latest news with #ShropshireStar
Daily Mail
16-06-2025
- Daily Mail
CHRISTOPHER STEVENS reviews last night's TV: You have to admire the understaffed police solving this brutal gang killing
Two days into a murder investigation, DCI Mark Bellamy wasn't mincing his words: 'Looking around this room, there ain't enough staff, not for what we've got on. Far from it.' The head of Operation Columbia, the hunt for seven men suspected of the gang-related killing of a 23-year-old delivery worker, Bellamy could call on 45 detectives and forensics specialists. But the sheer speed and scale of the investigation left his team stretched thin. And this wasn't the Met, with immense reserves of manpower and equipment available if required. This was a police station in Shrewsbury, a medieval market town where even muggings are rare — though the local paper, the Shropshire Star, reports they've been having a nasty spate of bicycle thefts recently. Aurman Singh was in a DPD van delivering parcels to a quiet residential street when he was set upon by youths lying in wait. Footage from video doorbells captured the gang piling back into their two cars, some still brandishing weapons. The murder itself occured out of sight of the cameras, but statements from shocked witnesses left us in no doubt of the ferocity of the attack. Mr Singh suffered multiple stabbing and chopping wounds, including catastrophic head injuries from an axe and a golf club. Murder 24/7, a gripping six-part serial filmed by a camera crew shadowing the West Mercia Police force, followed the investigation from the moment a horrified onlooker called 999. One of the cars was found abandoned. The other was spotted an hour away in the West Midlands and, after a tense pursuit involving a helicopter and a dog unit, four suspects were arrested. All of them, like the victim, were named Singh. The police were efficient, calm and so evidently competent from the start that there was little doubt the other assailants would be tracked down. But as the backdrop to the crime was revealed, DCI Bellamy's fears about understaffing proved well-founded. Punjabi interpreters had to be called in before the men could be questioned. That gives suspects an advantage, fretted one detective: 'Sometimes they can understand some English, then they get it clarified through the interpreter. There's no rhythm to it, so you're not going in with quick questions. You're not making them think on their feet.' A possible motive began to emerge — vengeance following an outbreak of violence at a kabaddi match in Derby the previous day. Kabaddi, apparently, is a sort of touch-rugby, popular in India. The difficulties confronting this provincial police force were staggering: a bloodthirsty feud spilling over from a city 70 miles away, beginning with a game whose roots are 7,000 miles away, involving suspects who either can't or won't speak English. The documentary, which continues tonight, leaves me full of admiration for the Shrewsbury murder squad. But it's impossible to know how a town that struggles to prevent cycle thefts is supposed to cope with violence of this kind.
The Sun
06-05-2025
- Business
- The Sun
Major stationery retailer with 138 branches to shut store in weeks as it launches 70% off closing down sale
SHOPPERS have been left gutted as a popular stationery store is set to close its doors for good in just weeks — with a massive sale now on. Smiggle, known for its colourful, quirky pens, lunchboxes and school bags, is shutting up shop at the Darwin Centre in Shrewsbury later this month. 2 2 The exact closing date hasn't been confirmed — but according to the Shropshire Star, it's expected to be around May 25. The branch has launched a closing down sale, slashing prices by up to 70%, as families rush in to bag a bargain before it disappears. The brand, which arrived in the UK in 2014 after launching in Australia more than a decade earlier, quickly became a hit with schoolkids thanks to its bold designs and fun accessories. It currently has 138 stores across the country — including newer openings in Telford and Brierley Hill's Merry Hill Shopping Centre — but the Shrewsbury shop is the latest in a string of closures to hit UK high streets. A spokesperson for the Darwin Centre told the Shropshire Star that Smiggle had served notice and will cease trading later this month. The Shrewsbury site has long been a go-to for back-to-school supplies and birthday gifts — especially popular with younger children and teens. The news comes just weeks after a beloved toy and bike store announced its closure after 160 years in business. The 84-year-old owner revealed that the cost of living crisis has led to a reduction in sales and to the costs of running the business skyrocketing. Both independent and industry giants have been struggling with rising costs and reduced footfall over the past few years. Dozens of shops are set to close across the country before the end of the month in the latest blow to UK high streets. Why are shops closing stores? Just a few months into 2025 and it's already proving to be another tough year for many major brands. Rising living costs - which mean shoppers have less cash to burn - and an increase in online shopping has battered retail in recent years. In some cases, landlords are either unwilling or unable to invest in keeping shops open, further speeding up the closures. Smiggle isn't the only stationary shop shutting its doors, more WHSmiths stores are set to close this month. The huge sports retailer, Sports Direct is axed its Newmarket Road store in Cambridge on April 18. Whilst, Red Menswear in Chatham in Medway, Kent, shut for the final time on Saturday, March 29, after selling men's clothing since 1999. A couple months ago, Essential Vintage told followers on social that it would be closing down after they had been "priced out" because of bigger players in the market such as Vinted. Jewellery brand Beaverbrooks is also shutting three shops early this month. New Look bosses made the decision to axe nearly 100 branches as they battle challenges linked to Autumn Budget tax changes. Approximately a quarter of the retailer's 364 stores are at risk when their leases expire. This equates to about 91 stores, with a significant impact on New Look's 8,000-strong workforce. It's understood the latest drive to accelerate closures is driven by the upcoming increase in National Insurance contributions for employers. The move, announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in October, is hitting retailers hard - and the British Retail Consortium has predicted these changes will create a £2.3billion bill for the sector. RETAIL PAIN IN 2025 The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury's hike to employer NICs will cost the retail sector £2.3billion. Research by the British Chambers of Commerce shows that more than half of companies plan to raise prices by early April. A survey of more than 4,800 firms found that 55% expect prices to increase in the next three months, up from 39% in a similar poll conducted in the latter half of 2024. Three-quarters of companies cited the cost of employing people as their primary financial pressure. The Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has also warned that around 17,350 retail sites are expected to shut down this year. It comes on the back of a tough 2024 when 13,000 shops closed their doors for good, already a 28% increase on the previous year. Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the CRR said: "The results for 2024 show that although the outcomes for store closures overall were not as poor as in either 2020 or 2022, they are still disconcerting, with worse set to come in 2025." Professor Bamfield has also warned of a bleak outlook for 2025, predicting that as many as 202,000 jobs could be lost in the sector. "By increasing both the costs of running stores and the costs on each consumer's household it is highly likely that we will see retail job losses eclipse the height of the pandemic in 2020."
