Oxford Mail Review of the Year: April to June

APRIL

DEADLY TOXIC FISH TANK

A COUPLE poisoned by a lethal toxin in their own home used the Oxford Mail to warn others of the risks from a deadly fish tank coral in early April.

Chris Matthews and his family were taken to hospital, along with four firefighters, after he inadvertently released the lethal substance while cleaning his fish tank at their Steventon home.

Unaware the palytoxin, one of the deadliest substances known to man, was in the air, the 27-year-old soon began to suffer breathlessness, coughing and fever which he described as ‘as bad as pneumonia’.

He and his partner Emma Mundy recovered from their exposure a few days later.

STEP OUT OF IVORY TOWER

ON April 19 Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) revealed extensive plans for public engagement on plans to overhaul its services.

Louise Patten, chief executive of NHS watchdog Healthwatch Oxfordshire, told the commissioning board they would have to start again ‘with the very basics’.

She said there was a detachment between the board and the reality of the practises, saying they needed to start working together but some reactions to this have been sceptical.

‘YOUR LIFE SENTENCE IS LIVING WITH THAT KNOWLEDGE’

A WOMAN who suffered from years of delusions and psychosis was detained at a mental health hospital indefinitely on April 20 after she stabbed her five-year-old son Tyler Warmington to death.

Emma Jackson, a paranoid schizophrenic, of Bromsgrove, Faringdon, showed little emotion throughout the tragic case at Oxford Crown Court.

During the trial the court heard that fears over Tyler's wellbeing were first raised after staff at his primary school noticed his absence on the morning of March 13 last year.

After efforts to contact his mother failed, someone called police, who then discovered what had happened.

Passing his sentence, Judge Ian Pringle said: "Your life sentence is living with the knowledge that you have killed your son."

MAY

RED DAWN

THE Labour Party tightened its grip on Oxford at this year's local council elections on May 3.

The party won two seats from the Greens but lost another, Quarry and Risinghurst, to the Lib Dems.

Elsewhere the Tories lost ground on on West Oxfordshire District Council and Cherwell district, north Oxfordshire, remained solidly blue.

Overall little changed in the county because of the elections.

CITY CENTRE SHOOTOUT

A SHOOTOUT in Paradise Square near the Westgate Centre brought parts of the city centre to a standstill on the afternoon of May 7.

Police were called to a property shortly after 1.15pm, after reports a man had access to a gun.

When they arrived, it was said that shots were fired from the building and Thames Valley Police officers returned fire. One person was injured.

Duncan Shearman of Paradise Square was later charged with possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence and three counts of possession of a weapon for the discharge of a noxious liquid or gas.

He has a provisional trial date set for January 21.

THE ROYAL WEDDING

PATRIOTIC partygoers flooded the streets of Oxford to celebrate the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on Saturday, May 19.

The bunting came out in force across pubs and shops as people crowded round public televisions showing the ceremony.

The day also saw Didcot charity stalwart Courtney Hughes invited to part of the event in Windsor for her tireless work as a charity Secret Santa at hospices and hospitals across Oxfordshire.

JUNE

DEPRAVED

A ‘PREDATORY and cynical’ gang who groomed and sexually abused young girls from across Oxfordshire were jailed for a total of nearly 70 years at Oxford Crown Court on June 12.

After a five-month trial Judge Peter Ross passed the sentence for the six men’s ‘hundreds of episodes of sexual abuse.’

The victims, some as young as 13, had been exploited by the group between 1998 and 2005.

Assad Hussain, of Iffley Road, Oxford, was given a life sentence; Moinul Islam, of Wykeham Crescent, Oxford, was jailed for 15 years and nine months; Kameer Iqbal, of Dashwood Road, Oxford, was jailed for 12 years.

Khalid Hussain, of Ashhurst Way, was jailed for 12 years; Alladitta Yousaf, of Bodley Road, Oxford, for seven-and-a-half years, and Haji Khan, of Littlegreen Lane, Birmingham, for 10 years.

HEART OF GOLD

IN early June the community in Didcot rallied around a young father who was given just weeks to live.

Friends, neighbours, and even total strangers raised more than £3,000 in 24 hours to help care for the daughter of Harley Curran, after he was diagnosed with terminal bowel cancer.

Five days into the campaign it had raised more than £5,000 for a man described as the ‘life and soul of the party.’

Mr Curran died in his sleep on June 23. Donations continued to pour in after his death and passed £7,000 before the end of the month.

THANKS A MILLION

THIS year’s Oxford Mail OX5 Run at Blenheim Palace saw the annual fundraiser smash the million pound mark.

More than £145,000 of that was raised by the 1,000 runners who joined this year's race on Sunday, March 25.

They were set off by two special guests, Anna Drysdale, six, and Noah Castro, eight, both battling cancer at the Oxford Children’s Hospital, the beneficiary of the run.

In its 16th year, the run was at its most successful so far, and Douglas Graham, executive of the Oxford Hospitals Charity, said he was ‘so proud’ of the continuing success of the event.