Archive

  • Shop fronts wrecked when man 'went wild'

    Shops suffered thousands of pounds worth of damage when a man threw dustbins through windows. Among those attacked, in Cowley Road, east Oxford, early yesterday, were Proctor's Pharmacy and the Excelsior cafe. Excelsior manager Andrew Koumi said: "I was

  • Lorryloads of trouble

    Chaos hit a tiny village when three lorries got stuck after drivers tried to avoid the A34 jams. The lorries, two from France and one from Czechoslovakia, tried to get through Wytham to rejoin the bypass via Wolvercote - but found their way barred by

  • Eagle-eyed Clare nabs man on run

    Eagle-eyed Clare Ashton acted quickly when she spotted an escaped prisoner in a crowd. She immediately got out her mobile phone and called the police station. Within minutes, officers arrived and, after a hot pursuit through the streets of Witney, a 17

  • MP Smith spells out quarry anger

    Residents battling to stop Railtrack building a massive quarry near their homes have been backed by Oxford East MP Andrew Smith. The employment minister has spelled out the extent of public outrage to his Government colleague Planning Minister Nick Raynsford

  • Accused 'knew nothing of blaze'

    Student Haroon Sharif knew nothing about a fatal arson attack until he had a phone call from the brother of a young girl he is accused of murdering, a court heard. Sharif, 21, is one of six accused of killing Anum Khan, nine, in a fire at her home in

  • Geoff's View to A Thrill

    James Bond fan Geoff Pratchett is now the proud owner of the complete back catalogue of the secret agent films, writes NICK EVANS. Mr Pratchett, 36, of Farmington Drive, Witney, won the films in a competition on Chris Evans' Breakfast Show on Virgin Radio

  • Stone me, it's all crystal clear now

    Call it strange or a freak of nature, but after Philippa Barton 'cleansed' three shelves of crystals and gemstones by playing a pair of Tibetan chimes over them, they shone, writes FIONA TARRANT. I witnessed it happening. Me - the sceptical, mistrusting

  • A nation pauses to honour the fallen

    On Sunday, it will be a full 80 years since the guns fell silent, marking the end of the conflict that had been labelled The War To End All Wars, writes GEORGE FREW. In four hellish years, more than two million British servicemen were wounded and 908,

  • Anne gets on with life

    TV presenter Anne Diamond has said a reconciliation with her straying husband Mike Hollingsworth is out of the question. Ms Diamond, 44, of Cuddesdon, near Wheatley, who presents a breakfast show at LBC radio station, is reported to have told colleagues

  • Rotting rubbish may power 7,000 homes

    ROTTING rubbish on Oxfordshire waste dumps is being used to generate power for thousands of homes. A mini-power station near Sutton Courtenay run by ARC (Greenways Waste Management) will sell enough electricity to Southern Electric to supply 7,000 homes

  • Publican recovers from brick beating

    A pub landlord is recovering after being smashed in the face with a brick by a player from a visiting darts team. Tim Howard, of the Lampet Arms, Tadmarton, near Banbury, suffered severe bruising to his left eye and needed stitches. Minutes earlier, another

  • Taxi drivers' bus lane joy

    Taxi drivers were celebrating after beating moves to ban them from using bus lanes in Oxford. It had been planned to prevent black cabs from using bus lanes in the Banbury, Woodstock and London Roads after the introduction of the Oxford Transport Strategy

  • Dog may be destroyed after attack

    The owner of a Staffordshire bull terrier will get a special court hearing to prove his pet is no danger to anyone and is kept securely at home. Phillip Rennie, of Ashdown Way, Grove, will have to fully convince Wantage magistrates - or the dog faces

  • River swim ended in tragedy

    A teenager's desperate struggle to rescue his drowning friend has been praised by a coroner. An inquest yesterday heard how 14-year-old Mark Faulkner, of Mortimer Road, Rose Hill, Oxford, made two separate attempts to help struggling Glen McCulloch, 16

  • Chocolate charge boss 'a Jack the Lad'

    Mars bar warehouse supervisor Martin Keys was described as a "bit of a Jack the Lad character - very confident, very cocky", a court heard. The description of the man, charged with masterminding a £548,000 plot to steal chocolate bars from his employers

  • McSporran in the big time

    STRIKER Jermaine McSporran is determined to make the most of his big chance after his record-breaking move from Oxford City to Wycombe Wanderers. The 21-year-old forward, whose lightning pace has attracted a host of top clubs and saw him score twice for

  • United back in business

    OXFORD United's players are on the dough-path tomorrow. With their wages in their bank accounts at last, and the threat of any strike action over, it's back to the small business of trying to avoid relegation when they travel to Watford. After going nearly

  • 'I think my missing sister was murdered'

    The sister of a woman who vanished a year ago has made an emotional plea for Oxford Mail readers to shed light on the mystery, writes Gill Smith. Gracia Morton, who spent most weekends in her husband's second home in Stonesfield, near Woodstock, during