Thursday, March 16th, 2006 No. 6,242 ^ news and views from the.Centre of the Kingdom . www.clitheroetoday.co.uk Price 60p imes snaps months of terror Court hears that frail old folk were teen gang’s target by Andrew Bellard


A YEAR-LON G “campaign of terror” against his elderly parents caused a Clitheroe man to finally snap and attack one of the teenage gang responsible, magistrates


■ in Blackburn were told. Edward Howard, pictured,


chased the 14-year-old ring­ leader through the streets of Clitheroe and, when he caught him, beat the boy with a wooden table leg. . , The slightly-built 41-year-old


claimed he had been forced to take the law into his own hands ■ because the police had complete­ ly ignored his parents’ pleas for help, i .


: - “On the night of the incident I just snapped,” said Howard, of Mearley Brook Fold.


: “My mum rang me up in tears and r accept that I lost it. I am


. not a violent man, but I went looking for them and when I saw this lad I was really angry.” Howard pleaded guilty at


Blackburn Magistrates’ Court


Jo affray and possession of an offensive weapon. But magistrates dealt with>


him by way of a conditional dis- ; charge because of what they described as “extreme provoca- ■ tion”. Miss Claire Fanning (prose- ■


cuting) said the prosecution evi­ dence came mainly from a 14- year-old boy who was not the subject of the attack. That boy had refused to make a complaint to police.


■ Miss Fanning said the witness ’ and some friends were approached by Howard in Turn­ er Street and he appeared to have some kind of stick con­ cealed under his jacket; He ' grabbed one of the youths, but then said “sorry, wrong person” andlethimgo. “Within seconds another


friend appeared on the street and when Howard saw this boy he said ‘there’s the bastard’,” said Miss Fanning. “He took out the two-foot-long table leg and chased after the boy shouting i


P '■m


‘I ’m going to kill you’.” Miss, Fanning ■ said when


Howard caught the boy he struck him with the leg before pushing him against a wall. . “He then hit him a further


three or four times about the le^ and the lower back,’’ she added.


ammm.


Mr Jonathan Taylor (defend­ ing) said the victim had not


: made a statement of complaint -because he knew full well the kind of behaviour he.had been involved in. ^ “There had been a systematic campaign againstmy client’s ; parents,” said Mr Taylor.


1 “His father is 75, his mother is


65 and they are not in the best of health.”; He smd the couple had care of


a young relative who had been targeted by bullies at school. “The people who torment him


at school didn’t even allow him a safe haven at his home,’! said Mr Taylor. •. ' “Some 12 months ago win­


dows were smashed at the house and since then there has b^n an endless catalogue of incidents.”


.. He said youths congregated- outside the house, banging on the door, throwing mud on the windows aiid shouting abuse at Howard's parents. There had been many anonymous and abu­ sive phone calls. ; :;;“ These incidents have been


reported to the police, but noth­ ing has been done,” said Mr Tay-


. lor. . “He had held back and hoped


the police would resolve the situ­ ation, but he accepts that on this occasion he took matters into his own hands.” • Passing sentence the presiding


magistrate said the offences were very serious. ■ “ We have heard what was said on yoiir behalf and we believe it fully,” he said. “We accept that your family has been the subject of extreme prbvocation and


. abuse, but you can’t take mat- - ters into your own hands.” Speaking after the hearing


Howard said that, despite his anger, he had some sympathy for the teenagers. .“I grew up in Clitheroe and I


had to hang around the streets because there isn’t anything for them to do,” he said. . “I just hope people reading


this, the police, the council and the parents of jhese kids realise


■just what is going on and do something about it.”


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Council walkout planned


THE borough council’s hew wheelie bin collections could be just one of the services affected by planned strike action later this nionth. Some of the country’s


biggest trade unions, including Unison, yester- • day v oted:to support industrial action on Tues­ day, March -28th, in protest to what they call “unfair and unjust cuts” to their pension scheme. And the one-day strike,


which unions say will be the biggest bout of indus­ trial action since the 1926 General Strike, will hit the borough council during it s , first week of wheelie bin collections. In total, Ribble Valley


Borough Council employs around 300 workers, 55% of whom are members of Unison. Council-run facilities


such as Kibblesdale Swim-. ming Pool, Clitheroe Cas­ tle Museum and services such as street cleansing- could also be affected by. the strike. Linda Jones, Unison


branch secretary at Ribble Valley Borough Council, commented: “I will now be speaking to council employees to determine


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