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How a family photo helped to capture Stockport knife attacker
The eerie coincidence helped to capture the dangerous attacker
A man who was on the run from the police for attacking a dog walker with a knife has been jailed after being spotted in the background of a family photograph.
Paul Norton, a dad from Reddish, Stockport, was randomly attacked with a knife while walking his dog through Reddish Vale Country Park on May 24th last year.
Norton’s attacker first grabbed his dog before turning on him, slashing him across his arm and face with a knife.
The police were immediately notified of the attack, but the wanted man was able to escape after wading through a nearby river.
David Dixon / Geograph
However, the wanted man was actually spotted by passer-by Hayley Gibson, who was taking a family photo in the park and captured him running from officers in the background.
She later saw a post on Facebook about the incident, before submitting the photograph to Greater Manchester Police.
With the help of the photograph and an identity parade a few months later, Norton was able to identify his attacker as Christopher Anthony Howe, who was homeless in the area at the time.
And this week, over a year on, Howe has been jailed for the terrifying attack.
Crown Prosecution Service North West
He had initially pleaded not guilty to wounding with intent, unlawful wounding and carrying a knife in the park – the jury acquitted Howe of wounding with intent, but found him guilty of unlawful wounding by a 10-2 majority, while finding him guilty of possession of a knife by an 11-1 majority.
Judge Recorder David O’Mahony said that Howe had twenty-six convictions for forty-six offences, some of which were for violence, and he had a previous record for possession of a knife.
Prosecuting, Wayne Jackson read a personal statement from Norton, in which he said his children were now too scared to go out on to the park – even though it is just thirty seconds from their house.
“I haven’t slept since the attack,” Mr Norton said in the statement. “The attack came out of nowhere which makes it more difficult to cope.”
Howe was sentenced to eighteen months in prison for possession of a knife and six months for unlawful wounding, with the two sentences to run concurrently for a total of eighteen months.
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Blackpool named one of Britain’s worst seaside towns
We know it’s tacky but that’s why we love it!
Blackpool has been ranked among the worst of 20 seaside towns in Britain, by The Telegraph.
The Telegraph looked at how well 20 classic seaside resorts have adapted to changing times and ‘studied how they have adapted – or not – over the past three decades’. Among those ranked as the worst in Britain were the North West’s coastal towns of Blackpool, receiving a pitiful 22 out of 100, Morecambe (24 out of 100), and Southport (28 out of 100).
The news outlet wrote: ”Big seaside cities, like Blackpool and Brighton, have always had pockets of money as well as misery…” Looking at factors such as housing and high streets, renovations and conservation, as well as the cultural clout that so often accompanies gentrification, the publication ranked Rhyl as the worst resort with a meagre five out of 100.
It was also bad news for the North East as South Shields came in near the bottom of the barrel scoring just 11 out of 100. Scarborough was rated just 39 out of 100 — perhaps its sweeping sandy beaches, rugged castle ruins and museums didn’t quite cut it?
But there was better news for two South West towns, with St Ives in Cornwall rated number one (98/100), while nearby Lyme Regis came in fourth, with 85/100.
Here’s the list of Britain’s 20 best and worst towns, according to The Telegraph.
20) Rhyl 5/100
19) South Shields 11/100
18) Weston-Super-Mare 18/100
17) Blackpool 22/100
16) Morecambe 24/100
15) Cleethorpes 27/100
14) Southport 28/100
13) Torquay 33/100
12) Southend-on-Sea 36/100
11) Scarborough 39/100
10) Worthing 47/100
9) Portstewart 53/100
8) Tenby 57/100
7) Margate 69/100
6) Brighton 76/100
5) North Berwick 80/100
4) Lyme Regis 85/100
3) Whitstable 87/100
2) Southwold 94/100
1) St Ives 98/100
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You can now get a cheese Easter egg to celebrate ‘Cheester’ properly
Call off the hunt…they’re back!
From the brand Butler’s Farmhouse Cheeses, these epic alternative Easter eggs come in two flavours: cheddar and blue cheese — sounds pungent!
Sold in a box to look exactly like their chocolatey Easter egg counterparts, you won’t feel odd opting for a cheesy seasonal delight rather than the accepted chocolate kind.
Displayed in the box, it looks as though you’ll have an awkward fully-round egg-shaped block of the creamy stuff, making it hard to slice. You actually get half an egg, so the back of it is flat and ready to be sliced lay down on a cheeseboard.
Weighing 120g, the Easter egg halves are made with the very best Butlers cheeses — their traditional Farmhouse Cheddar and their gold award-winning blue cheese, Blacksticks Blue.
At first glance they may look solid, but the cheeses have been blended to make a softer cheese consistency, so they’re easy to chop a chunk out of. The website says: “We’ve done it again and made something truly egg-cellent, the combination of award winning Farmhouse British Cheese and an Easter egg.
“Delicious and versatile, this half egg will make a sensational centrepiece for your cheeseboard, a gift for the cheese lover, or simply spread on a hot cross bun!
“Perfect for a savoury and cheesy gift this Easter and the perfect surprise for your children’s Easter egg hunt, or on the Easter Sunday cheeseboard. Available on their own, or as a letterbox gift complete with crackers and chutney!”
You can purchase Butlers Cheeseter eggs online at Amazon where the cheddar and the blue cheese versions cost £9.99 each, and can be delivered straight to your door.
The cheesy eggs also come in letterbox style packages accompanied with a chutney and crackers to complete your cheeseboard.
Cheese Easter eggs have actually been about for a little while now, but they’re still few and far between in supermarkets. Marks and Spencer had ‘Cheester’ covered a couple of years back when it sold some from Barber’s Farmhouse Cheddar. They came in an actual egg box and the eggs were filled with a ‘yolk’ of 18-month matured Red Leicester — innovative or what?!
If you or someone you know is a cheese lover, you know what to get them this Easter…a big cheesy egg.
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Five planets to be visible in UK night sky this month in rare celestial event
Let’s hope for a clear sky!
Stargazers are in for a spectacular treat later this month as five planets of the solar system will be visible from Earth as part of a rare celestial event.
On March 28th, Jupiter, Mercury, Uranus, Mars and Venus are expected to appear to line up together in a small section of the sky shortly after sunset. While it’s not unusual to see two or three planets aligned, to see five is more uncommon — it happened last year, as well as in both 2020 and 2016 prior to that.
Two of the brighter planets — Mercury and Jupiter — will be noticeable near the horizon, while Venus is expected to shine higher in the sky. Although a pair of binoculars may be needed to be able to see Uranus, Mars should be visible to the naked eye, in the alignment near to the first quarter of the moon.
Last year, stargazers in the northern hemisphere had the amazing opportunity to gaze at Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn all at once.
To easily identify the planets this month, the educational astronomy app Star Walk recommends using the app Sky Tonight — which can be pointed at the night sky to give a live display of what is going on.
The planets are expected to be aligned in a 50-degree sky sector, which means that they will appear closer together from Earth in a small area above. This visual phenomenon differs from an astronomical alignment, which refers to when planets come together simultaneously on the same side of the sun.
Beth Biller, of the University of Edinburgh, told The MailOnline that some planets would be much easier to see than others, saying: “Venus and Jupiter are both very bright and easy to pick out and you may have already seen them close together over the past few weeks.
“Mars is a bit fainter, but still easily observed with the naked eye. Mercury starts getting tricky — you need to be at a dark site with a clear view of the horizon if you want to see Mercury. Uranus is the faintest and hardest to see – you’ll need binoculars or a telescope to see Uranus.”
Skywatchers don’t need to worry if they miss out on the spectacle, as Star Walk said a number of other planetary alignments will take place this year. Less than a month later Mercury, Uranus, Venus and Mars are expected to align once again in a 35-degree sky sector.
Then on April 24th, a 40-degree sector will take place seeing Mars, Venus, Uranus and Mercury gathering together — with even more planetary alignments happening throughout the summer.
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