A serial paedophile, who filmed himself abusing children as young as three, has been jailed for life in a case said to be the worst of its kind in Oxfordshire. Divorced father-of-three Anthony Barron pleaded guilty to 87 charges of sexual abuse of children
As forest fires which have devastated parts of Greece are finally brought under control, Oxford's Greek community is rallying round to help affected friends and family. The Oxford University Greek Society, which has about 200 members, is pledging £450
The funeral of R'n'B legend Clarence 'Tex' Walker took place at a packed Oxford Crematorium at Headington today. he former lead singer of The Drifters and The Coasters died on August 8, after suffering a heart attack at the King's Arms Hotel, in Woodstock
Your article praising the catch of a Porbeagle shark off the Devon coast (Oxford Mail, August 11) was hardly a "fintastic affair". Fishers Restaurant should know that this species of shark is classed as vulnerable by the World Conservation Union. I
Michael Heavey defends the principle of freedom of speech by insisting that Alan Page is perfectly entitled to his views on hunting (Oxford Mail, July 24). Yet, at the same time, he condemns animal rights' defenders for criticising Mr Page for making
Sophie Wilkinson, of the RSPCA, appears to be knowledgeable about sentencing of people whose dogs attack other creatures or a person (Oxford Mail, August 9). She quotes a maximum six-month prison sentence and/or a £20,000 fine. I would be interested
It is a common misconception that the Simpson cartoon characters are responsible for those two seminal phrases - 'D'oh' by Homer Simpson and 'Eat my shorts' by Bart Simpson (Oxford Mail, August 17). In fact, they are both guilty of plagiarism. 'D'oh
It is a pity to have to criticise a think tank for lack of thought, but in attacking the Green Belt (Oxford Mail, August 16), the Social Market Foundation has failed to grasp the very purpose for which it was created. If adopted, the founation's proposals
Drug dealers are operating next to a children's playground on an Oxford estate - but parents say they are too scared to go to the police about it. Crack and heroin addicts are queueing in two alleyways leading to Haldane Road and Warburg Crescent in
Plans to redevelop Bicester town centre can go ahead following approval from the Government. Planning permission will be issued once a legal agreement between the developers and Cherwell district and Oxfordshire county councils has been completed.
A former BBC director who left Oxfordshire to live in a French castle is looking for love through the pages of the Oxford Mail. Ben Lenthall, 63, from Appleford, near Abingdon, dropped out of the rat race in 2000, and he and his wife Deena moved to
Bulldozers could appear on Green Belt land south of Oxford to start work on a massive housing estate within five years. As revealed in the Oxford Mail, a 370-acre site on land south of Grenoble Road, which is jointly owned by Magdalen College and Thames
A fire deliberately set alight in a wheelie bin spread and destroyed a car and a garden fence. The fire, which was started in Cromwell Road, Banbury, in the early hours on Tuesday, completely gutted the Vauxhall Cavalier. Det Sgt Matt Bick appealed
There are three counters at which customers can transact business at my bank - or to be precise, the layout is such as to make this a possibility. More often than not, only two are open, while the third is closed. Furthermore, it is not unusual for one
A FIRE deliberately set alight in a wheelie bin spread and destroyed a garden fence and car. The bin was set alight in Cromwell Road, Banbury, between 2am and 4.50am on Tuesday. It spread to a garden and Cavalier which was completely engulfed in flames
BURGLARS stole copper piping from a house while it was being renovated. The theft took place at the house in Islip Road, Bletchingdon, between 7pm on Sunday and 3.30pm on Monday. Thieves broke into the property, which is being renovated, and stole
AEA Technology 121.75 BMW 2960 Electrocomponents 248 Isoft Group 68.5 Nationwide Accident Repair 150.5 Oxford Biomedica 42.25 Oxford Instruments 232.75 Reed Elsevier 593.25 RM 192.25 RPS Group 369.5 Courtesy of Redmayne Bentley, Abingdon
Thousands of visitors are expected to enjoy Oxford's annual St Giles Fair when it begins on Monday. The two-day fair, which developed from a small parish celebration more than 380 years ago, will be blessed by the Bishop of Oxford before the fun gets
The average price of a house in Oxfordshire rose by 10.1 per cent to to £245,357 over the last 12 months, according to new figures. The rise compares with an average house price for England and Wales as a whole of £181,460 - an 8.6 per cent annual
Burglars stole copper piping from a house while it was being renovated. The theft took place at the house in Islip Road, Bletchingdon, between 7pm on Sunday and 3.30pm on Monday. Thieves broke into the property, which is being renovated, and stole
A fire deliberately set alight in a wheelie bin spread and destroyed a garden fence and car. The bin was torched in Cromwell Road, Banbury, between 2am and 4.50am on Tuesday. It spread to a garden and Cavalier which was completely gutted in flames
Oxfordshire man Anthony Barron was found guilty today by a jury at Oxford Crown Court of rape and attempted rape. Barron, 54, of Collett Way, Grove, also faced a long string of indecency offences against girls under the age of 12 in the Wantage and
Budding young detectives from across the city have been trying out their sleuthing skills at the Museum of Oxford. The children, including Rachael Copeland, 10, pictured, were taking part in a Catch the Culprit workshop, part of a series of summer holiday
Community hospitals across Oxfordshire are set to benefit from a share of an extra £1.2m. The investment, from the county's primary care trust, will help improve the quality of services and spruce up facilities at Abingdon, Bicester, Chipping Norton
Past and present members of the Oxford and District branch of the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association are set to mark their silver anniversary. The branch will celebrate its 25th anniversary at the Foxcombe Lodge Hotel, in Boars Hill, Oxford. Anyone
PLANS to redevelop Bicester town centre have been backed by the Government. Residents of Bicester now wait in anticipation for building work to begin on the new £70m development which includes a 950-seat six-screen cinema, a new Sainsbury's superstore
There is a special bond between mothers and sons. In Hallam Foe, a young man's deep emotional ties to his dead mother fester into obsession and a voyeuristic journey of self-discovery that threatens his mental well-being. It's a bold, and at times
Scott Hicks's romantic drama serves up a tantalising New York twist on the award-winning German film Mostly Martha. Hicks garnishes his version with a stellar cast including Catherine Zeta-Jones, making her welcome return to the big screen after embracing
On February 18, 2001, Special Agent Robert Hanssen was arrested by fellow FBI operatives, accused of treason against the country he vowed to protect. Hanssen was charged with selling classified, top secret documents to the former Soviet Union, jeopardising
The conventions of the horror genre have shifted immeasurably in the past five years, moving increasingly into the godforsaken realms of sadism and torture. When some poor victim screams, it's not from the shock of a boogeyman leaping out of the shadows
A man who was paralysed in a snowboarding accident has inspired a friend to complete one of the world's most gruelling races. Tom Nabarro, 23, from Standlake, fractured his verterbrae while performing tricks on a visit to Bulgaria to see his girlfriend
Racehorse trainers in Blewbury are taking part in an initiative to attract young people to the sport of kings. Eve Johnson Houghton, the trainer at the village's famous Woodway stables, was chosen to train a three-year-old filly for the Racehorse Owners
An Oxford Mail campaign to get cyclists to wear helmets has met with an overwhelming response. We have teamed up with Oxford Products, a Witney firm which supplies cycle helmets approved to stringent European safety standards, to offer crash hats for
A mini festival which was born out of a garden party takes place in Yarnton this weekend. Festinho started life as a fundraising and arts festival called Minichill in 2005. Just 500 tickets are available for the event, which has raised nearly £20,000
Market traders have expressed delight over their new site in Didcot. The popular Sunday market was based at Didcot Railway Centre car park for 22 years until the market operator was forced to withdraw, leaving traders stranded. But they are back in
A budding piano ace is already dreaming of the day he can take to the stage at the Royal Albert Hall. Michael Ng, who achieved his grade five in April this year, is just seven years old and has been wowing the crowds with his skills. He won a trophy
"The play was conceived for an audience that regards the theatre as box sets, big red curtains and tedious actors. The theatre can certainly be all that - but it can also be Bouncers..." So said writer John Godber about his theatrical opus Bouncers,
Five survivors - four men and one woman - movingly reveal their memories... From the high hopes of recruitment, to the killing fields of the Somme, these stories reveal a complete narrative of an awesome war that claimed more lives than any other previously
The summer festival season may be drawing to an end, but for those in the know, the best is yet to come! Thousands of party people from Oxfordshire will next week pack their bags, choose the craziest fancy dress costume imaginable, and head south for
The Kazbar: Halfprice food is available from Monday to Friday between 4-7pm. No doubt you're thinking: who's going to take advantage of that? Students or 'creatives' who sip lattes while tapping at laptops? Several people, almost all female, were seated
Firefighters were called out to a kitchen fire in student accommodation. The fire at Hertford College accommodation in Abingdon Road, was sparked by an electric kettle at around 8.30pm last night. Firefighters extinguished the blaze within 30 minutes
A RESTAURANT which features in a forthcoming reality TV show featuring Michelin-starred chef Raymond Blanc has folded. The Restaurant, screened on the BBC on Wednesdays, puts nine couples through their paces to see if they have what it takes to run
To visitors or passers-by it may seem nothing out of the ordinary. But behind the façade of the Women's Institute hall at Carterton is a remarkable story of determination and sacrifice. The hall might never have been built but for the efforts of three
Children whose parents are forever shouting at them to "stop playing on that computer now" may soon have the ultimate answer - scientific proof that computer games improve school results. What's more, middle-aged parents could soon be logging on themselves
MONDAY Book signing: The Red Lion Bookshop, Burford, 11.15am. The Dowager Duchess of Devonshire will be signing copies of The Mitfords: Letters Between Six Sisters, edited by Charlotte Mosley. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10 Talk: Inspector Rebus creator Ian
Knowing that I would find it difficult to relax with a book or a newspaper for the first few days after a cataract operation, I stocked up with a few audio books from Oxford's specialist audio publisher Isis Publishing - and I am so glad that I did.
Age Concern in Oxfordshire has launched an appeal for more Local Links volunteers in clubs and communities in an attempt to ensure that every older person living in Oxfordshire is helped by a supportive network. An ambitious target, but, with the help
Armies of God Dominic Green (Century, £20) Gordon's last stand on the palace steps at Khartoum, Churchill in his splendid Hussar uniform and the Dervishes who fought and died valiantly at Omdurman. These are the legendary images that have conquered
Of all the possessions left on the London Underground, and now in its Lost Property Office, an urn of someone's ashes must be the strangest. How can anyone leave a dead person on a tube train - especially someone they knew well enough to be carrying their
The Harwell science site is visible from miles around, with the silver doughnut of the Diamond Project shining like a UFO. But how many people know what goes on there? Nick Hance, former PR for the UK Atomic Energy Authority, has been giving illustrated
The number of school pupils experiencing research first hand has doubled, writes CLAIRE DIMOND More school pupils are being offered the opportunity to experience scientific research first hand through the Nuffield Science Bursary Scheme. In the
THE DANGEROUS BOOK FOR BOYS YEARBOOK Conn and Hal Iggulden (HarperCollins, £20) Almost a million copies of The Dangerous Book for Boys have now been sold, so it clearly makes good commercial sense to publish a sequel. Earlier this year, the Iggulden
It is rumoured that this same weekend in 1940 an air raid on the city was thwarted, writes CHRIS KOENIG Why were Oxford and Oxfordshire bombed so little in the Second World War? Rumour had it that a squadron of Heinkel III bombers on their way
A motorist was slashed across the face with a broken bottle when he refused to get out of his car in an unprovoked attack. A 45-year-old man was parking on The Slade near the junction of Windmill Road and Old Road in Oxford at 6.15am on Friday of last
VAL BOURNE says asters are perfect to brighten the autumn gloom The Michaelmas daisy is a flower of my childhood. It occupied the nature table every autumn term, brought in by children to please the teacher, and it was a garden stalwart until the
A CYCLIST has died after he was found injured lying by the side of the road. Police are baffled about how the 60-year-old suffered his fatal injuries. The man was discovered by a passing cyclist in Stoke Row Road, Stoke Row, on Sunday morning. He
The number of species added to the list needing protection, including hedgehogs and harvest mice, has almost doubled in ten years, writes EMILY BEAMENT Hedgehogs, house sparrows and harvest mice will be part of a list of species needing protection
THERESA THOMPSON reviews one of the hit exhibitions of 2007 - Hockey on Turner "The pictures I have chosen for this exhibition are ones that, it seems to me, come directly from the heart, down the arm. And I like that," said David Hockney about
A one-woman show pays tribute to the remarkable pioneering naturalist Rachel Carson, writes HELEN PEACOCKE When Rachel Carson's landmark book Silent Spring was published in 1962 it alerted us all to the environmental and human dangers of indiscriminate
AEA Technology 121.25 BMW 2961 Electrocomponents 246.5 Isoft Group 69 Nationwide Accident Repair 151.5 Oxford Biomedica 42 Oxford Instruments 232.25 Reed Elsevier 594.25 RM 193.5 RPS Group 371.25 Courtesy of Redmayne Bentley, Abingdon
HELEN PEACOCKE talks to John Godber about the return to Oxford of the popular comedy Bouncers Playwright John Godber may have written his award-winning play Bouncers more than 30 years ago, but it is as pertinent now as when he first wrote it
Carl Pettefer believes Oxford United showed what a good side they are with their super second-half showing at Stevenage. And the midfielder (pictured) is confident that they can really make their mark by taking maximum points from the back-to-back home
A cyclist has died after he was found injured lying by the side of the road. Police are baffled over how the 60-year-old suffered his fatal injuries after he was discovered by a passing cyclist in Stoke Row Road, Stoke Row in south Oxfordshire, on Sunday
Wallingford Exiles lifted the Hedley Toms/Michael Brown Memorial Trophy with a 5-1 win over Clanfield 85 in the Autotype UTV League's traditional curtain raiser. Matty Peates opened the scoring for Exiles at the second attempt after his initial shot
FRILFORD HEATH Ladies' Mary Carslaw Memorial Cup: 1 B Sandys-Lumsdaine +5, 2 S Alden +2 (cb), 3 B Hamilton +2. OXFORD LADIES August Medal - Silver Div: 1 M Peddie 95-20=75, 2 J McCairns 85-9=76 (cb), 3 V Wakefield 91-15=76. Bronze Div: 1 P Dudding
James Spenle gave Brailes their third consecutive victory in the Oxfordshire Junior League's Gibbs Putter. Spenle was seeded seventh for the event at his home club, but victories over Charles Pickford (Frilford Heath), Alex Stubbs (The Oxfordshire)
Frilford Heath reached the semi-finals of the Shaw Gibbs Oxfordshire Foursomes Knockout Trophy after a pulsating play-off victory over Burford. Hosts Burford secured match one thanks to David Summers and Simon Hopkins, while John Summers and Paul Richardson
'IT'S not over yet' - that is the message from South Oxfordshire's planning chief after inspectors ruled on future housing growth. The inspectors' report into the South East Plan - the housing blueprint until 2026 - was released yesterday and recommends
COMMUNITY hospitals across Oxfordshire are set to benefit from a share of £1.2m extra money. The investment, from the county's primary care trust, will help improve the quality of services, as well as patient environments at Wantage, Abingdon, Witney
OPPONENTS of a planned reservoir near Abingdon claim the inspectors' report into the South east Plan rides roughshod over any future public inquiry into the proposals. Inspectors have recommended that plans for the Upper Thames Reservoir and its location
A teenager has been charged with driving a stolen car at up to 90mph through Oxford. The 16-year-old boy, who cannot be named, was arrested after a police chase which went from Grandpont through East Oxford, Rose Hill, Cowley and ended in Barton on
THREE Oxford museums are to get a share of a £4m pot of Government money. The Ashmolean, Oxford University Museum of Natural Histoy and the Pitt Rivers Museum will all receive cash from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Wolfson Foundation
POLICE are appealing for witnesses after a man was attacked with a branch in an attempted robbery. It happened between 8pm and 8.15pm on Tuesday, August 28, when the 50-year-old man was walking along the cycle path that runs inside the Oxford Southern
PRISON officers at Bullingdon Prison, near Bicester, and at Huntercombe Young Offenders' Institution, near Nettlebed, have been involved in a wildcat national strike. It is understood more than 40 officers at Huntercombe, the UK's largest young offenders
Planning inspectors have singled out land south of Grenoble Road in Oxford as ripe for a 4,000-home housing development. Last night's revelation effectively ended years of speculation over whether Green Belt land in Greater Leys could be used for housing
ONE OF OXFORD's oldest residents has died aged 105. Bessie Florence Crawford passed away at the Audit Care Mon Choisy residential home, in Kennington, where she had lived for the last 10 years. Staff at the home said Mrs Crawford died peacefully on
ASHLEY BAKER LEAGUE Great Bedwyn 69 (8), Kingston Bagpuize & Southmoor 38 (2) (Kingston skips first): F Abraham 8, T Bolland 37; D Buckland 12, T Jarrett 20; P Mortel 18, M Wilde 12. Kintbury 59 (8), Kingston Bagpuize & Southmoor 43 (2) (Kingston skips
Hosts Headington held on to beat South Oxford 17-16 in a thrilling Jack Stowe open triples final. Going into the last end of the Shaw Gibbs-sponsored competition, Headington skip Craig Nicholl's trio had a four-shot lead. But after some skilful jack
The Country Clubs retained the Oxfordshire Bowling Association's Bradshaw Cup after a thrilling 115-115 draw against the City Clubs - by virtue of being the holders. The City Clubs led 60-51 after ten ends of the annual clash at Carterton, but the Country
Banbury Central stayed on course for the double with a 76-66 win over Shiplake in the semi-finals of the Oxford & District League Cup. The league champions gave Division 2 winners Shiplake a taste of what to expect next season, winning on three rinks
Oxfordshire's Nick Welsh was in sparkling form at the English Bowling Association's Anglo Irish Bank Singles Championship at Worthing before bowing out in the quarter-finals. The Headington star came through three rounds at Beach House Park only to
John Cook has been appointed the Berks, Bucks & Oxon Golf Union's (BB&O) new head coach as they look to become England's leading county. Cook, a world renowned coach who opened his golf school at Witney Lakes this year, will head up six other professionals
New Police Community Support Officers have yet to solve a single crime in Oxfordshire. Instead, in recent months they have been credited with helping Brownies achieve their badges and visited schools and youth clubs to speak to youngsters. The latest
'It's not over yet' - that is the message from South Oxfordshire District Council on planned future housing growth. The inspectors' report on the South East Plan recommends house building figures in line with previous predictions. But the council's
We can no doubt expect a vigorous defence from ministers of the concept of having Police Community Support Officers. We are constantly told that they are not a substitute but rather an accessory for the police. They are there to identify problems,
Government-appointed planning inspectors have singled out land south of Grenoble Road in Oxford as ripe for a 4,000-home housing development. Last night's revelation effectively ended years of speculation over whether Green Belt land around the city
