Former Plymouth soldier scarred neighbour for life in knife...

February 8, 2017, 8:47 am

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A former soldier has been jailed for stabbing a neighbour in the neck and face during a fight.Prolific offender Brian Philips, aged 56, used the man's own knife against him, Plymouth Crown Court heard.Victim David Harris, who was scarred for life, had picked up the blade as the pair argued in his bedsit.Philips, formerly in the Royal Engineers, turned the knife on its owner and inflicted six wounds to Mr Harris's face and neck.Philips later claimed Mr Harris had hit him with a stick – and...

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Rape and child abuse 'not being recorded by police'

February 8, 2017, 4:01 pm

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Rape, child sex abuse and human trafficking are among thousands of crimes not being recorded by Devon and Cornwall Police every year, inspectors have warned.In a bruising report, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary said the force was failing to properly record more than 17,400 crimes every year – the equivalent of 47 offences a day.Inspectors said the force had "no excuse" for the failings and had failed to act on many of the recommendations it had made three years ago.Read more: Woman sold...

Honest man finds large wad of cash, hands it in to police

February 8, 2017, 11:24 pm

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Police are hoping the owner of a sum of cash accidentally dropped at a city car park will come forward to reclaim it.A honest member of the public brought what was police have described as a "reasonably large sum of cash" into the front desk Charles Cross police station after discovering the bound money at the Broadway car park in Plymstock on the morning of Monday February 6. Police say there is no indication as to the identity of the money at this stage, but that given the location...

Police tell parents their behaviour is worse than their...

February 9, 2017, 1:05 am

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A police officer has told parents they are behaving worse than their children during the school run - and that they could be they could face a ban from the area. Neighbourhood beat manager Pc Mark Freshwater has issued a letter to suggest parents behave themselves at an unnamed school in his Southway beat area. He says local police were "aware of ongoing tensions between certain parents of children" who attend the school in his patch, which covers Southway, Tamerton Foliot and...

RSPCA keeps the right to prosecute alleged cases of animal abuse

February 9, 2017, 1:53 am

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The RSPCA has been under intense scrutiny in recent months. Philip Bowern reports on an important decision over its prosecution of alleged cases of animal abuse. Calls for the RSPCA to be stripped of some of its power to prosecute animal welfare cases have been rejected by the Government. The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee (Efra) – chaired by Westcountry Conservative MP Neil Parish – recommended in a report last year that the animal charity's ability to bring...

Swan found 'decapitated' under bridge

February 9, 2017, 2:09 am

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Police are investigating after a swan was found 'decapitated' at Exeter Quay on Wednesday morning. The animal was found under a blue bridge at the Quay, with witnesses describing it as 'headless'. Thomas Prideaux, who works at On The Waterfront, spotted the swan on his way to work, and said he has never seen anything like this. Thomas, 22, is a kitchen supervisor at the restaurant, and said he was walking along the blue bridge at 6.30am when he noticed the dead animal. Lisa Prescott...

Drug den Plymouth flat shut down for another three months

February 9, 2017, 3:36 am

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WATCH ABOVE: Cops move to shut down a suspected drugs den in DevonportA city flat which was considered to be a magnet for drug user and antisocial behaviour will remain shut for a further three months as a closure order is extended.Plymouth City Council applied to District Judge Baker at Plymouth Magistrates Court on Tuesday to extend the closure order on 3E Teats Hill. The original closure order was granted last November. The application was heard in the tenant Stephen Edsel Ford's absence, who...

Police under fire for 'failing' sex abuse victims

February 9, 2017, 5:59 am

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Fears that vulnerable sex abuse victims are being failed by Devon and Cornwall Police have been raised by campaigners and councillors.A report published today revealed that complaints of rape, child sex abuse and human trafficking are among thousands of crimes not being recorded by the force.It was lambasted by HM Inspectorate of Constable (HMIC) for failing to document one-in-five offences – more than 17,400 crimes a year, or 47 per day.Read more: Rape and child abuse 'not being recorded...

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Dartmoor prisoner who took a delivery by DRONE to his cell gets...

February 9, 2017, 6:06 am

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A prisoner has been given extra jail time for taking a delivery by a drone to his cell at Dartmoor Prison in the dead of night.Joshua Lodge, aged 27, has become the first inmate prosecuted for using the device to fly contraband over the jail's walls – but the problem is described as prolific nationally.Lodge, serving a sentence for a violent assault, used a pole to hook a bag hanging from a drone between the bars of his window, Plymouth Crown Court heard.Items including ten 50gram packets...

Police issue warning over violence and drinking at Plymouth...

February 9, 2017, 7:51 am

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Police are preparing for the big Devon derby this weekend between Plymouth Argyle and Exeter City with warnings for fans to behave.Extra officers are expected to be on hand for the match which historically has seen animosity overspill from the terraces to the Home Park car park and surrounding areas. Supt Glen Mayhew, the police officer in charge of the operation on Saturday, said: "As a force we are experienced in policing large scale sporting events such as this, and we have worked with...

Notorious Plymouth 'spice' addict is wanted by police

February 9, 2017, 7:59 am

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A judge has ordered the arrest of an addict who burgled a home to steal the former "legal high" drug Spice.Daniel Coles, aged 21, and two other defendants burst into the bedroom of a sleeping man whom they knew had the substance in July last year. Spice is one of several "legal highs" which has since been outlawed.Coles was addicted to the drug himself at the time of the offence back in July 2015, a court heard.The trio were handed community orders with unpaid work and...

Teenager stabbed in Plymouth street is refusing to help the...

February 9, 2017, 8:19 am

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Police are investigating a stabbing incident in the early hours of this morning which left a 19-year-old slumped in a city street.Molesworth Road near Stuart Road was shut by police after they were called to the scene at just before 2am Thursday morning.The man has undergone treatment at Derriford Hospital and remains there for observation. Police have said the man has been spoken to by detectives but has "refused to co-operative" with the investigation.Read next: Big wad of cash...

Revealed: The rapists and burglars being left off with cautions

February 9, 2017, 10:00 pm

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Thousands of crooks in Devon have been let off with cautions for crimes including rape, burglary and carrying guns.Data released to The Herald under Freedom of Information laws shows cautions were used to resolve sexual crimes between April 2015 and December 2016.Read more: Police issue warning over violence and drinking at Plymouth Argyle v Exeter CityThey included a case of a rape of a girl aged under 16 in North and West Devon.There were a total of three cautions issued for sexual assaults on...

'I thought we were going to die' says mum after terrifying arson...

February 10, 2017, 4:19 am

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A mother feared she and her five-year-old son were going to die after someone deliberately set fire to the front door of her Plymouth flat.Katie Rowe was woken by her fire alarm as smoke filled her second-floor flat in Lipstone Crescent, Lipson, late last night.The 25-year-old said: "I came out of the bedroom and all I could see was thick smoke. "I couldn't see anything in the kitchen or the lounge. Then I saw the flames coming out of the letterbox."I thought we were going to...

This banned driver swerves jail after he was dramatically stopped...

February 10, 2017, 5:37 am

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A banned driver was dramatically stopped in his car by police as he threatened to speed on to a busy city street, a court heard. Uninsured Connor Symons, aged 25, crashed into a patrol vehicle which deliberately blocked his path to stop him racing on to Mutley Plain. Officers had tracked Symons over about three kilometres but he sped away when he realised he had been spotted, Plymouth Crown Court heard. Symons, a serial banned driver, crashed his BMW into the patrol car at the junction of...

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Tearful Boomtown drug dealer who sold MDMA to undercover cop is...

February 10, 2017, 5:41 am

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WATCH ABOVE: The amazing trailer for this year's Boomtown Fair A woman has avoided jail for selling Ecstasy at the Boomtown Fair music festival – described as a "hotbed for drug dealing". Tegan Donovan, aged 20, sold a wrap to an undercover police officer at last year's event, Plymouth Crown Court heard. But she was handed a suspended prison sentence after a judge heard that she had no previous convictions and had been left with the drugs by her dealer...

Drugs gang lieutenant who flooded Plymouth with cocaine must pay...

February 10, 2017, 7:53 am

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The lieutenant of a drugs gang has been ordered to pay back almost £200,000 he made from flooding Plymouth with cocaine.Andrew Lightfoot, jailed for nine years, made almost £300,000 from bringing the drug from London to Devon and Cornwall.Now he has been ordered to sell land from his prison cell to recover his ill-gotten gains.Lightfoot, aged 56, from Liskeard, is the last of the gang to be ordered to hand over cash under the Proceeds of Crime Act.He did a lot better at holding on to...

Inmate attacked three prison officers so he could be transferred...

February 10, 2017, 8:15 am

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A desperate inmate attacked and seriously injured three prison officers in a bid to get himself moved to a more secure prison closer to his ailing grandfather, a court heard.Damon Bendall, aged 27, lured the men to a classroom by setting off an alarm and ambushed them at HMP Dartmoor.He repeatedly punched the officers and threw two of them to the floor, leaving one man with a torn bicep and the others covered in bruises.Bendall wanted to be moved from the Category C prison to a Category B/C...

Bad Grandad, 80, arrested on suspicion supplying heroin - kept in...

February 10, 2017, 8:40 am

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An 80-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of supplying heroin which was understood to have been found in his walking stick.Officers from Plymouth police's proactive team stopped a Vauxhall Astra estate in Crownhill Road at around 10.50am today and a search of the vehicle is understood to have revealed a walking stick. Inside the stick was what police believe to be a quantity of the class A drug. The man was arrested on suspicion of being concerned in the supply of heroin.He was taken to...

Stalker who hid in woman's garden escapes jail

February 10, 2017, 8:48 am

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A Plymouth man who stalked a woman for five months – getting into her home and hiding in her garden – has escaped a jail term.Magistrates heard how Laurence James Raven, from Stonehouse, harassed the woman for months, also knocking on her windows, parking his car in her road and going to her work.The 39-year-old, of Adelaide Street, harassed the woman between September 2016 and January this year.He pleaded guilty to one count of stalking when he appeared at Bodmin Magistrates' Court...