Tamworth Blog

Ambulance - Photo: PoliceBlue999

On Tuesday November 3, Emergency crews were called to a collision between two cars on Amber Close, outside the Amington Industrial Estate.

Two Ambulances and a Rapid Response vehicle were sent from the West Midlands Ambulance Service, with one person being transferred to Good Hope Hospital.

There are no more details on this incident at this time.

An EFIT of the Peelers Way Attacker

E-FIT IMAGE OF TAMWORTH ATTACK SUSPECT

THIS is the face of the man detectives believe is behind an assault on a 20-year old woman in Tamworth.

The computer generated image shows a man in his early to mid 20’s who grabbed the woman and pulled her to the ground as she walked along Peelers Way near to Campion Drive close to the town centre (See a Google Map Here).

Detectives have built up the picture of the offender after interviewing his victim following the incident which happened at around 3am – 3.30am last Saturday morning (31 Oct).

Although badly shocked, the 20-year old was not seriously hurt and is making a good recovery.

Detectives at Tamworth are hoping this e-fit will help someone put a name to him and prompt them to call police.

Detective Sergeant Mitchell Thomas, who is heading the enquiry, said it was important the man was identified quickly.

The offender is white, in his early to mid 20’s and of ‘muscular build.’ His hair was cropped very short and possibly ginger or very fair.

He was wearing dark trousers or jeans and a distinctive black ‘V’ neck sweater – but he was not wearing a shirt underneath the sweater.

DS Thomas Said

“This style of dress and his muscular build may have made him stand out to other people who were out and about in Tamworth on Friday night. Anyone who feels they know who he is should call us as a matter of urgency,

“We are also appealing for help from anyone who saw anything suspicious in the Peelers Way/Campion Drive area in the early hours of Saturday morning or who knows anything about the incident,”

Anyone with information should call Tamworth CID on 0300 123 44 55 or, call Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.

Calls to Crimestoppers are free and callers do not have to leave their name or give any information which could identify them. Crimestoppers pay rewards – again anonymously – for information leading to a conviction.

Inspector Emma Griffiths, neighbourhood policing Commander at Tamworth added:

“Fortunately, the assault was interrupted when a passing motorist stopped to help. The offender ran from the scene along Peelers Way, away from the town centre.”

“It is extremely important for police to trace this individual. He is very likely to have returned home to his family, partner or parents in the early hours of Saturday with potentially grass stained or dirty clothing.”

Inspector Griffiths said she wanted to reassure people that this was a rare and isolated incident and police were doing everything possible to trace the offender including checking CCTV in Tamworth town centre and at local pubs and clubs.

The Bolebridge in Tamworth

The Bolebridge, the JD Wetherspoons Freehouse on Bolebridge Street is currently hosting it’s annual Beer Festival.  Running from now till November 15, beer lovers can sample beers sourced from New Zealand, USA, Japan, Czech Republic, Poland and Belgium.

The festival will feature award-winning real ales, speciality, seasonal and fruit beers, as well as draught cider and perry. In addition, a number of beers have been brewed exclusively for the festival.

The beers available for you to try include; Galbraith’s Mr G’s Luncheon Ale (New Zealand), Toshi’s Amber Ale (Japan), Purkmistr Bohemian Schwarzbier (Czech Republic), Port Grumpy’s Pale Ale (USA), Anker Gouden Carolus Ambrio (Belgium) and Namyslow Original Plum Beer (Poland). These are joined by UK brewed beers including; Long Eared Owl (Cotleigh Brewery), Holy Cow (Wood Brewery), Supernova (JW Lees Brewery), Red Torpedo (Traditional Scottish Ales Brewery), Morocco Ale (Daleside Brewery), Gathering Storm (Leeds Brewery) and Banana Bread Beer (Wells & Young Brewery).

Sharon Prickett, manager of The Bolebridge, said:

“The festival will give people the opportunity to enjoy a superb selection of UK and international beers at The Bolebridge.

“It promises to be great fun and I am certain that my customers will enjoy themselves.”

Visitors to the pub will be able to sample any three of the festival brews in a special third of a pint glass for the price of a pint

Woodhouse High School

Tamworth parents group, Hands off Tamworth School’s have told Tamworth Blog their thoughts after the Government signed contracts agreeing to fund the Academy’s day to day operations, (read the story from Monday November 2 here).

The HOTS group which was setup to campaign and oppose the proposed changes to the towns secondary school have today expressed their disappointment on the signing of the contracts.  The group which welcome the investment have expressed concern over handing over the Woodhouse school and 6th Form provision to private company Landau Forte.

A spokesperson for the Hands Off Tamworth Schools group said:

“We are disappointed but not surprised that the funding agreement for the new Tamworth Academy run by Landau Forte has now been signed off. It is our experience that no amount of evidence and reason has prompted our elected representatives and the officials at Staffordshire County Council to act logically and revise the Building Schools for the Future plans to better meet the needs of Tamworth and of our children.”

The main disappointment for the group is that no one has been able to answer the questions that have been asked.  With the Academy Principal Stephen Whiteley not ‘knowing the answers’ in a recent interview with local newspaper the Tamworth Herald.

The spokesperson continued:

“Absolutely nobody has been able to tell us exactly how Landau Forte and the centralised sixth form centre it will run will improve educational outcomes. Even academy Principal Stephen Whiteley admitted in a recent Tamworth Herald interview that he ‘didn’t have the answers’.”

As well as not knowing answers to the questions posed, the group are also concerned about the increased entry criteria to A’Level courses, the new Academy will ask for A* to B’s in specified subjects as opposed to today’s 5 A to C’s for all schools around the country.

The spokesperson continued:

“The vast majority of parents, students and teachers in Tamworth supported the head teachers’ preferred model of collaborative post-16 provision (including the academy, if necessary), with a supporting sixth form centre at Torc Campus and ‘quality assurance’ through using only the best A Level teachers drawn from the town’s five high schools (two of which have far better A Level results than Landau Forte). Under this model, which former Woodhouse head Mrs Hogg also signed up to, A Level subjects would have widened, providing more choice and opportunity for our children, subject ‘specialisms’ were planned to rise from seven to nine and the sixth form centre would have been located in the heart of the communities that would benefit from it the most.

“We are at a loss to understand how, despite agreeing with our concerns and declaring an election policy to keep sixth form provision in local authority hands, the new Cabinet at Staffordshire County Council has proceeded with the former administration’s educational plans. The Cabinet has failed to answer our questions adequately on this score. However HOTS will be holding to account Deputy Councillor Ian Parry’s promise to review the situation in two years and we will monitor closely the academy’s impacts on educational outcomes and demographic shifts in the high schools once the academy is up and running. We will continue to campaign for alternative / additional sixth form provision governed by our high schools in Tamworth, particularly as planning permission has not yet been passed for the sixth form centre to be built on the QEMS site”