Archive

A woman who battered her husband with a child’s scooter and plastic baseball bat before stabbing him has been jailed. Thai-born Thippawan Croft flew into a rage after her husband Daniel came back from the pub. As the couple’s young son watched

Hundreds of MG drivers from Oxfordshire descend on Silverstone on Friday to pay homage to Abingdon’s best known export. An estimated 15,000 people will attend a three-day bash at Britain’s most famous racing circuit as Abingdon’s MG Car Club lays

An RAF officer from Oxford who was discriminated against when she was pregnant was awarded more than £16,000 by an Employment Tribunal, the Equality and Human Rights Commission said today. In a case funded by the commission, the officer claimed she

AN RAF officer from Oxford who was discriminated against when she was pregnant was awarded more than £16,000 by an Employment Tribunal, the Equality and Human Rights Commission said today. In a case funded by the commission, the officer claimed

BEFORE the Mini sets out to conquer new territory by launching three radical new models, the boffins at Bavarian Motor Works have been quietly tweaking the performance of all its existing Minis to offer a bit more “ooomph” for potential new buyers of

Aston Martin — one of the greatest names in motoring history but also one which has flirted with bankruptcy more times than a Premiership football club with a penchant for big names and bad results. During the 1970s the situation was particularly bad

A WOMAN who battered her husband with a child’s scooter and plastic baseball bat before stabbing him has been jailed. Thai-born Thippawan Croft flew into a rage after her husband Daniel came back from the pub. As the couple’s young son

PROTESTERS were tonight holding a peace vigil at Carfax, Oxford, over the Israeli attack on an aid flotilla heading to the Gaza Strip. And Oxford father-of-four Shahzad Sarwar, 42, who travelled to the territory last year as part of a aid convoy

11.03: SPIKE PREVIEW, Leetial 2, Enchantedmorning, Homestead Form 3, Snazzy Sky, Hamilton Hero. 11.19: Greenfield Baby 2, Springville Luc, Kilkeedy Maldini, KILMORE AMEY, Burwood Layla 3, Smile On Sveta. 11.34: Friendly Fire, Burwood Tamara, All Black

Rising star William Buick may be known for having a cool head – but he admits to being excited about his first ride in the Investec Derby at Epsom on Saturday. The 21-year-old, who lived with his father, Walter, at Letcombe Regis, near Wantage

Spectacular gardens designed by a Chelsea Flower Show bronze medallist are the highlight of Wychwood House. The property was built in the late 1970s and the grounds around it were designed by Stephanie Hunter, who planned it as a low-maintenance garden

An unusual property with classical-style columns in its facade was originally built as a folly in the grounds of another house. The Temple in Henley was extended and refurbished by the previous owner and is now a spacious three-bedroom house with landscaped

Independent financial advisor Simon Neal is selling the Edwardian house in East Oxford that has been his family home and workplace for the past 11 years. Mr Neal and wife Jane have decided to make a move from their four-bedroom property in Minster Road

A classic Edwardian detached house in Banbury Road offers three storeys of family accommodation and a slice of history. The house was designed by architect Harry Wilkinson Moore in 1904, according to architectural historian Tanis Hinchcliffe in her book

A FUNDRAISING appeal has been launched in the name of a popular Aunt Sally player who died from cancer. Gavin Anderson, from Kidlington, was 59 when he lost his 10-month battle with oesophageal cancer at Sobell House hospice in Oxford in January. Now

Why do some purchasers opt for a brand new home? For first-time buyers, it is sometimes a financial decision, for others it may be location. But there is more to it than that, according to Jeremy Montagu-Williams of Savills, who believes there

It was a case of going from throttle to bottle as the Oxford Wine Company toasted a move to new premises on Botley Road in the city. The company, one of the largest independent wine retailers in the UK, is to open its new retail outlet in what

An up-and-coming singer from Oxford has shot her first music video in a revamped bar in the city centre. Cameras rolled at Roppongi, formerly Mood, in George Street, as 29-year-old Natasha Budd appeared in the video for the single Playa, by

Youngsters who disturb residents by tearing around on mini motos will be offered a safe place to ride. Police in Barton, Oxford, hope to secure an area of land near Didcot where young people can legally ride their noisy miniature bikes, which

A model student died after suffering a sudden epileptic fit, an inquest heard. Irfan Alyas, 23, a teetotaller with no recorded medical problems, was found in his bedroom on Monday, September 14, last year. The inquest at Oxfordshire

Next week, in a little seaside town on the north coast of Australia called Tin Can Bay (population 1,900), a lady called Sharon Bates is going to get a lovely surprise. Two people will be responsible for it, one she’s never heard of, and the other is

MADE in Britain. The bad news is that those are three little words that we see far too little of these days — especially on cars. The good news is that those 13 letters can spell out something a bit special when applied to automotive engineering

HUNDREDS of MG drivers from Oxfordshire descend on Silverstone today to pay homage to Abingdon’s best known export. An estimated 15,000 people will attend a three-day bash at Britain’s most famous racing circuit as Abingdon’s MG Car Club lays

The honeymoon is over for new Culture Minister and Wantage MP Ed Vaizey. Ed is no stranger to the small screen – having been a regular guest on daytime talkshow The Wright Stuff – but our love affair with the gogglebox has put the MP in a testing situation

YOUNGSTERS who disturb residents by tearing around on mini motos will be offered a safe place to ride. Police in Barton, Oxford, hope to secure an area of land near Didcot where young people can legally ride their noisy miniature bikes, which have been

A MODEL student died after suffering a sudden epileptic fit, an inquest heard. Irfan Alyas, 23, a teetotaller with no recorded medical problems, was found in his bedroom on Monday, September 14, last year. The inquest at Oxfordshire Coroner’s Court

IT WAS a case of going from throttle to bottle as the Oxford Wine Company toasted a move to new premises on Botley Road in the city. The company, one of the largest independent wine retailers in the UK, is to open its new retail outlet in what had been

RACE for Life competitor Jane Winter has described her reasons for joining thousands of other women in the fundraising event. Five years ago the mother-of-two from Shillingford felt her “world stand still” when doctors told her she had a severe

A FATHER-of-two has taken over his local pub to save it from the threat of closure. Bal Gill, 31, has relaunched the Gardiner Arms in Tackley, near Kidlington, because villagers were worried the pub was going to be sold. The buyout comes days after

AN up-and-coming singer from Oxford has shot her first music video in a revamped bar in the city centre. Cameras rolled at Roppongi, formerly Mood, in George Street, as 29-year-old Natasha Budd appeared in the video for the single Playa, by

Rail passengers in Oxfordshire were delayed today after a train struck wooden pallets and cables left on the track. Network Rail said the 5.02am service from Worcester to London, via the Cotswold Line and Oxford, ran into the obstruction at

Police are appealing for witnesses to a collision in Abingdon involving a cyclist. At about 8.10am on Tuesday, police received a report of a woman cyclist lying on the pavement by passing motorists on the B4017 Drayton Road heading out of Abingdon,

SATURDAY. CRICKET. SERIOUS CRICKET HOME COUNTIES PREMIER LEAGUE. Div 1: Aston Rowant v Welwyn Garden City, Banbury v Tring Park, Potters Bar v Oxford. Div 2 West: Thame Tn v Slough. MP SPORTS CHERWELL LEAGUE. Div 1: Cumnor v Challow & Childrey,

ANDREW FFRENCH falls for the twists and turns of our latest Book of the Month. The Book: IF you mention the Oxford-based author Iain Pears in conversation then the first topic for discussion will inevitably be The Instance of the Fingerpost

Kings of korma Ed Nix and Tim Hughes are on a quest to find the finest South Asian cuisine in Oxfordshire. They are the Curry Brothers, and Qumins is where they’re at this week. EVERYONE loves a cheap and cheerful chicken jalfrezi, and none

DEATH AT A FUNERAL (15). Comedy. Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence, Zoe Saldana, James Marsden, Tracy Morgan, Luke Wilson, Danny Glover, Regina Hall, Peter Dinklage, Loretta Devine, Keith David. Remakes have become the scourge of a Hollywood

SHE’S OUT OF MY LEAGUE (15). Comedy. Jay Baruchel, Alice Eve, TJ Miller, Mike Vogel, Nate Torrence, Krysten Ritter, Lindsay Sloane, Adam LeFevre, Debra Jo Rupp. Self-doubt is hard-wired into the British psyche at birth. While

Didcot Phoenix’s promising rider Henry Latimer, 17, performed well in the junior nat-ional ten-mile time trial championships, on the A46 in Warwickshire. His time of 23mins 28secs gave him 46th position overall. l Sponsored rider Jesse El-zinga (Beeline

You've got to hand it to her. Heather Mills just won't go quietly. And despite being vilified in the press, she's still holding her head up high and campaigning fearlessly for the causes she believes in. On the eve of her trip to Oxford for Viva! she

Headington ruled the roost at the National Schools Regatta last weekend, not just domestically but nationally. The Headington girls won nine medals – six gold, two silver and one bronze – at Nottingham beating the Eton in the overall medal table by one

Mark Jones, of Oxford City Road Club, won Oxonian CC’s 25-mile time trial on the two-lap Burford-to-Lechlade route in record time. In ideal conditions, with little wind, Jones completed the course in 53 mins 55 secs, an unofficial course record. That

Ex-Coronation Street barmaid Sophiya Haque brings her colourful new musical – Britain’s Got Bhangra – to Oxford. Her last film starred Angelina Jolie, her most recent soap was Coronation Street and her previous TV presenting job was on

Police are appealing for witnesses following the theft of jewellery from a house in Kingston Bagpuize. Thieves broke into the property situated on the main route through the village, near to the Hinds Head public house. Entry was gained

Things turn dark and dirty tonight when The Damned return to the Oxford O2 Academy. More than three decades after they exploded on to the punk scene, Captain Sensible, Dave Vanian and co remain a must-see band, who veer seamlessly between raucous punk

Singing for his supper wasn’t something Tim Jones was expecting on a recent trip to America, but thanks to the ash cloud that’s exactly what he ended up doing. But as a singer in one of the world’s best a capella bands Out Of The Blue, with numbers like

Shhh! RICHARD BELL checks out the Silent Disco at Po Na Na. One thing I very rarely do in the course of venturing around the city in search of new club experiences is end up anywhere quiet. Music is the one truly essential element of a

Tim Hughes talks to an unsung hero of the Oxford music scene – Charly Coombes – ahead of the UK festival debut of his new band. ANYONE with older siblings will know what it’s like to grow up in their shadow. But how much worse it must be

The vampish, chameleon-like Alison Goldfrapp has squeezed into a pink jumpsuit and gone all 80s. Tim Hughes struggles to keep up… YOU never quite know where you are with Alison Goldfrapp. Strident, flamboyant and radiating sexuality, she

A section of the A34 is to be closed tonight and for two more nights during the next week. As part of the replacement of the Wolvercote Viaduct, the Highways Agency will shut the northbound carriageway tonight between Botley and the Peartree Interchange

FANCY spending two unforgettable nights with Mickey Mouse, Goofy and Chip ’n’ Dale? The Oxford Mail has teamed up with Disneyland Paris to provide an exciting trip to the theme park for the winner of our Baby of the Year contest 2010. One lucky family

POLICE have launched an appeal for information about a man they believe may have been abducted in Oxford. A member of the public reported seeing someone being bundled into a small vehicle outside the Cape of Good Hope pub, at The Plain, at about 7pm

They said he was irreplaceable — and, my goodness, didn’t they go on about it! But a few months after his takeover of Sir Terry Wogan’s breakfast slot on Radio 2, Chris Evans is proving a more than adequate substitute. I can with justification say “I

The first sentence of a laudatory story in The Independent on Saturday offered the opinion of an unnamed Conservative MP that “David Laws is one of us”. Moments earlier I had just finished reading a report in the Daily Telegraph which revealed, among

Despite the soggy end to Summer Eights, partying students were still smiling as we made our way along the rain-washed pavements on Saturday to dinner at Qumins, an appealing Indian restaurant in St Clements. We rarely venture to this side of the

Now that there is an abundance of fresh mint growing in our gardens, allotments and pots on the windowsill, it’s time to enjoy it while it is at its best. Mint tends to toughen up somewhat as summer progresses and often takes on a harsher flavour; it

Even if you only have a few herbs growing in your garden, or in a pot on the windowsill, you have noticed just how fragrant they are at the moment. Rub a leaf of mint between your fingers and you will realise why this amazing herb has been popular since

Nostalgia is not what it used to be, they say. Not so sure about that when it comes to nostalgia on wheels. Take next month’s 50th anniversary celebrations of the MG Car Club’s Vintage Register, for instance, when dozens of fogies, young and old

Self-doubt is hard-wired into the British psyche at birth. While Americans seem to exist in a bubble of self-confidence that borders on arrogance, we don’t just hide our lights under a bushel, we extinguish them entirely. Heaven forbid we

Tacky, tasteless but always tremendously entertaining, Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show roars back to the New Theatre this week to the delight of its legion of fans. As ever, basques and fishnet tights were out in force on the first night as

Yes, I remember Adlestrop – The name, because one afternoon Of heat the express-train drew up there Unwontedly. It was late June. These are the opening lines of one of the most evocative poems about rural Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire at

Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory have spent the last decade as one of Britain’s most challenging and intriguing bands. They emerged in 2000 with Felt Mountain to join late 90s success stories Morcheeba and Moloko, creating elegant, pristine electronic

Stepping Out is not a dance show, it’s a play by Richard Harris about people who dance — the characters who turn up at a weekly church hall tap-dancing class. We’re talking strictly amateur here; these women, and the single man, are to Fred and Ginger

It’s been 25 years since Antipodean rockers Crowded House were formed and nearly five since they last visited the UK. Back in Oxford on Sunday, they have a brand new album, Intriguer, due out in July and are set for a nine-date UK tour. Most famous for

Medical equipment company Penlon, the only independent UK-based manufacturer of anaesthesia systems, will receive a Queen's Award for Enterprise from the Lord Lieutenant for Oxfordshire, Tim Stevenson, on July 7. Based at Abingdon Science Park, it exports

Fairport Convention is one of Oxfordshire’s treasures. OK, so the band started in London, but they have strong associations with North Oxfordshire, too – and, of course, their name is virtually synonymous with Cropredy, the festival they started 30 years

Packing cases, hammers, pieces of wood, and other paraphernalia were strewn around when I arrived at Christ Church Picture Gallery last week. The college’s three fine art undergraduates from the Ruskin School of Art were setting up their show. Was this

Dadbrook Gallery is holding an exhibition of etchings and original prints by Sir Terry Frost (1915-2003), one of the most celebrated post-war abstract artists in the UK, who remains an influential figure in British art. The gallery will also be showing

ONE of the county’s oldest coaching inns has been bought by Lana de Savary, wife of international property developer and former owner of Land’s End in Cornwall, Peter de Savary. The de Savary family bought the 16-bedroom Old Swan at Minster Lovell,

An Oxfordshire charity at the forefront of an initiative to save local pubs — now closing down at the rate of 39 a week — is waiting with fingers crossed to discover whether a £3.3m grant, promised in March by the Labour Government, will turn into reality

It may be unfashionable to celebrate anything exclusively English, but Em Marshall — founder and artistic director of the English Music Festival — clearly has no qualms, and for four years has been on a crusade to revive forgotten gems of the English

Think of your favourite aria or duet – and the chances are it featured in London Festival Opera’s A Night at the Opera last week. This was an unashamed stroll through some of opera’s greatest hits, performed in period costume by a cast of distinguished

This show consists of more than 50 pieces by Oxford-based artist Keith Hill. Hill describes himself as self-taught and over the last 20 years he has devoted himself to refining and extending his quirky representations of people and animals, often

Tip no 1: leave it as late as possible to enter the Playhouse auditorium. In this Headlong and Leicester Curve production of Salome, it is made abundantly clear from the outset that Oscar Wilde’s play is not another Lady Windermere’s Fan or The

Mystic, wonderful: the sound world presented in Claude Debussy’s only completed opera, Pelléas et Mélisande — and, indeed, the visual world in the best productions of it, like this one — invites comparison with the eerie beauty of Alfred, Lord

Joanna Kavenna’s new novel can be truly described as a labour of love, since much of it was written just after she had given birth. “I started writing it when my first child was about six weeks old. There is that period when they go to sleep on your lap

It’s a strange sensation, reading about a reader reading within a book. In Austin Wright’s Tony and Susan (Atlantic Books, £14.99), the reader within the book is as much part of the story as the story itself, and it’s a clever, enthralling device. The

Iain Pears, a former art historian who saw his first crime novel, An Instance of the Fingerpost, become a bestseller, was once a financial journalist with Reuters. He uses his experience to great effect in his latest novel, Stone’s Fall, now in paperback

Pythius, a border collie, is co-writing a series of dog walks and pub guides with his owner Helen Peacocke, food writer for The Oxford Times. Their latest book Paws For History (Wychwood Press, £9.99) explores walks with history, from Flora

Firefighters have recovered a body, believed to be that of a young man who went missing while swimming with friends in Oxford. Police spokesman Rebecca Webber said: "Thames Valley Police is investigating an unexplained death in Oxford.

The folly of youth has been a recurring theme in the films of French director André Téchiné and he dwells once more on the muddled motives behind a momentous action in The Girl on the Train. Adapted by Jean-Marie Besset from his own stage play, this unsettling

Given the bad publicity Facebook has received over its privacy policies, the release of Megan Siler and Ellen Seidler's And Then Came Lola couldn't be better timed, as this lesbian comedy caused something of a stir when the social networking site refused

BILLY Turley, who has joined Brackley Town on a two-year deal, believes Oxford United’s promotion was “a great way to finish” full-time football. And he says the people behind Brackley are so ambitious it reminds him of his time at Rushden & Diamonds

The pinot grigio grape, or pinot gris as it is known in Alsace, is closely related to pinot noir, and its pinky-grey berries can look more like black grapes than white. In fact, it has enough colour to make some really tasty and savoury rosés in the north

HOPES are mounting that children’s heart surgery services could be saved in Oxford, with the John Radcliffe still in the running to become one of the UK’s elite specialist centres. Rather than facing closure in the aftermath of the suspension of services

Sir – No less than three photographs of Mr Christopher Gray on one page (Gray Matters, May 27). Is this a response to public demand? Martin Murphy, Oxford

Sir – This must be the end of an era. Surely it cannot have happened before, can it? Someone has had more pictures of themselves in a single edition of The Oxford Times than Christopher Gray! Perhaps being young, blonde and photogenic helped this upstart

Sir – I was interested to read the piece about cyclists being warned not to cycle in Sheep Street, Bicester. PC Entwistle said: “We are fed up with people cycling through Sheep Street who constantly say they don’t understand the rules and issued a threat

Sir – I would like to say thank you to the person in Witney who handed my car service pack into the police station. I was having a bad day, being late for my first lesson. Then finding out that I had a nail in my rear tyre, which needed changing before

Sir – Once again I feel I must write about the excellent care I have received from the NHS. After experiencing dizziness in the night, I fell when my legs gave way. When I had difficulty walking the next day, I made an appointment with my GP, Dr Stephen

Sir – Between Saturday, June 5, and Saturday June 12, the residents of Bicester and the surrounding villages are being offered the chance to contribute their views and ideas to the early masterplanning stages of the proposed NW Bicester Eco Development

Sir – I have just been notified that the podiatry clinic at the Bury Knowle Health Centre is to close from the beginning of July, and that thereafter, patients can be seen either at one of three clinics in East Oxford, or one in Jericho. This means

The man charged with nursing Oxfordshire’s main hospitals through the tough years lying ahead was setting out his credentials in frank fashion. “I have a depth of knowledge, because I’ve done it. I have the blood stains, as it were.”

Sir – Reading about the comedy being enacted at the Beckley TV mast reminded me of the time when we lost our television signal due to the construction of the John Radcliffe Hospital. I got in touch with the body concerned with radio interference and

Sir – Christopher Danziger (Letters, May 27) is right to praise Costain for the A34 flyover at Pear Tree, but there is an important facet of this project he does not mention: Costain has invited local people to exhibitions, demonstrations, meetings

Sir – Along with the notification to renew residents’ parking permits in West Oxford we receive a form asking for ways to improve the scheme, which I have completed and, they will ignore, as this is a revenue stream! The most obvious improvement would

Sir – It is preposterous that the decision on such an important and controversial a Listed Building Application as that for the New Bodleian should have been delegated to officers (Report, May 27). Strong objections to specific aspects of the proposals

Sir – Spending £78m on the New Bodleian is unjustified. It has disfigured Broad Street for seven decades. Redeveloping it will perpetuate this disfigurement. The fact that a Giles Gilbert Scott building in a prestigious site is only Grade II

Sir – I imagine most residents of Abingdon have by now received notification of the new rubbish collection procedures from October. I note the leaflet is very upbeat and makes no mention of the restrictions on householders, such as where the bins must

Sir – I refer to the article (May 20) Police officers fly flag for gay pride. We are well used to the loony left of Oxford City Council flying strange flags as they do have a particular political agenda, so it is no surprise they are flying the

Sir – Our new Tory/Lib Dem government should be ashamed of themselves. Their first proposals weren’t about securing the recovery or protecting jobs it was about rigging the electoral system to prevent them from being defeated. First they want to change

Sir – The Government proposal to abolish Regional Spatial Strategies (Report, May 27) had been expected and CPRE Oxfordshire welcomes the move to reform planning and give back greater control to local communities. But we need a clear, effective system

The poor condition of some service housing in Oxfordshire has sadly been a regular feature of these columns, not just in recent times, but over many years. As part of the move to transfer RAF Lyneham’s services to Brize Norton over the next couple of

I am Scottish. This does not mean I will be supporting some other country in the forthcoming World Cup. Absolutely not; I will be cheering for the English team in the same way that I did Tim Henman (for years) and hundreds of other English sportsmen and

There have been some encouraging noises from the new coalition Government about the abolition of regionally-set housing targets, which say 40,680 homes should be built in Central Oxfordshire by 2026. Any move to abolish targets imposed from outside and

Ihave just spotted my first rose of the year — a bright-pink semi-double rose called ‘Roseraie de l’Hay’. This fragrant ‘rugosa’ has bright-green foliage and it will flower in shade. It also tolerates poor soil because in the wild this healthy Japanese