A Northampton man died after being struck by a taxi as he tried to make his way home from a night out last October.

Michael Nuttall, aged 24, of Riverwell, Ecton Brook, was hit on the A510 near Finedon after he went for a drink in Wellingborough. He had been with friends, who made their way home separately.

The collision happened in the early hours of Sunday, October 27. Taxi driver Keith Everett and his two passengers were uninjured.

Mr Everett told the inquest at Kettering Magistrates’ Court last week that he could see Mr Nuttall ahead of him as he drove down the road.

He added: “He put out his left arm in an attempt to flag me down, or that’s how it appeared. I swerved into the opposite carriageway to give this person as wide a berth as possible.

“To my horror, the male ran towards me from the near side.

“I didn’t have time to brake before impact. There was no way of avoiding him.”

Collision investigator, Pc Keith Millard, said he believed Mr Everett had done all he could to avoid the crash and had been travelling well below the speed limit in his Peugeot hackney carriage.

Christopher Wilson, who lives in a caravan just off the A510, told the inquest he had spoken to Mr Nuttall shortly before the crash. He had told him he was lost and was trying to find a taxi. Mr Wilson said he thought Mr Nuttall was drunk because he was slurring his words and was swaying.

In a statement, Mr Nuttall’s father, John, said: “He was such a nice young man and everyone liked him. People I don’t know have told me how much they liked him.”

Northamptonshire coroner Anne Pember recorded a verdict of accidental death.

A 63-year-old was airlifted to hospital after he suffered a heart attack at a petrol station near the M1 in Northamptonshire.

The incident happened on Thursday last week and details have been released by Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance.

The air medics were called out just after 5pm after reports the man had collapsed and gone into cardia arrest.

A spokesman said: “With the assistance of East Midlands Ambulance Service, the patient was given advanced life support at the scene. The crew took control of the patient’s breathing. He was then immobilised before being flown to University Hospitals Coventry & Warwickshire for further treatment.

“The patient’s current condition is unknown,” he added.

Ambulance bosses have announced improvements in performance as well as plans to further quicken response times, following criticism from the NHS and inspectors last year.

NHS England and the NHS Nene noted that East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) had better relationships with partners and stakeholders, successful recruitment of paramedics and emergency care assisstants, and more effective management arrangements.

But they said they expected EMAS to continue working on their improvement programme and will continue to closely monitor response times in order to meet national targets by next month.

Sue Noyes, EMAS chief executive, said: “It means a lot to us to gain assurances from both NHS England and NHS Nene that we are an improving organisation.

“These messages will be a real boost for staff who have worked particularly hard throughout the winter months to make improvements at the same time as responding to thousands of emergency calls.”

However, we are not complacent in any way, and although we are now well on the way in this big journey, we know we still have a long way to go to offer consistently high-quality services to every patient, every time.

“I am very clear, open and realistic about the work that we still need to do, particularly in the areas of staffing numbers and mix, professional development, vehicle availability at the start of shifts, and working with our staff to improve morale.”

Martin Whittle, the director of operations and delivery at NHS England, said: “EMAS is clearly getting to more patients, more quickly, and we have urged them to keep their foot on the pedal.

“As a result of our findings from the follow-up meeting in February, performance will now be monitored through the usual channels on a monthly basis.” EMAS said it will continue to work on plans under its ‘Better Patient Care’ programme which includes improving response times, effective recruitment of executive staff, increasing staff morale and satisfaction and better communications from the board to frontline staff, as well as ensuring clear career progression for clinical staff.

Two teenagers wearing hoodies robbed a rucksack containing an iPad and camera from a 58-year-old man after he tripped and fell while he was running away from them.

The man was walking through in the alleyway off Longland Road, Abington, on Friday, March 28, just after noon when he saw the two teenagers, one of whom was walking a brown bull terrier.

Fearing for his safety, the man ran off but tripped and fell. The two teenagers caught up with him and one of them punched him, demanding money.

The other teenager pulled the rucksack off his back, and the pair then ran off in the direction of Broadmead Avenue.

The victim’s rucksack contained an iPad and a camera. The bag was later discovered empty by a member of the public.

The offenders are described as aged 16, both of average build. One was about 5ft 7in tall and was wearing a black and white checked hoody. The other was wearing a red hoody. The dog was a brown bull terrier.

Witnesses, or anyone with information, can contact Northamptonshire Police on 101. Alternatively, information can be given anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

A 59-year old man was airlifted to hospital on Saturday after a was involved in a car crash in Silverstone.

The man sustained back and chest injuries after being thrown out of his car as a result of the collision shortly before 5pm.

Warwickshire & Northamptonshire Air Ambulance (WNAA) were called out to provide a rapid transfer to University Hospitals Coventry & Warwickshire.

On their arrival, the man had already been treated by other emergency services at the scene.

He was assessed by the crew before being moved on to a scoop stretcher and airlifted to hospital. His condition was described as “stable” throughout the flight.

A would-be robber was scared off by the sound of a siren after he attempted to rob a woman of her handbag in Northampton town centre.

The 51-year-old-woman was approaching the Elm Street junction on Bailiff Street when she was approached by a man who punched her and tried to grab her bag.

At this point a siren was heard in the area, which startled the offender, who ran off empty-handed in the direction of The Mounts.

The attempted robbery happened on Wednesday, March 26, just after 1.30pm.

The offender is described as black, 6ft 3in with a stocky build, wearing a dark hoody with light-coloured jogging bottoms and trainers.

Witnesses, or anyone with information, can contact Northamptonshire Police on 101. Alternatively, information can be given anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

A motorcycle passenger was airlifted to hospital following a road traffic collision in Northamptonshire.

Warwickshire & Northamptonshire Air Ambulance (WNAA) were called out to the incident in Braunston yesterday afternoon to provide a quick transfer to the nearest major trauma centre. They received the call at around 4.34pm and landed at the scene 10 minutes later.

The patient, a 54-year old woman, sustained head injuries after the motorbike rolled over. She was treated at the scene by the crew before being immobilised and airlifted to University Hospitals Coventry & Warwickshire for further treatment, arriving at 5:18pm.

The rider was treated by East Midlands Ambulance Service.

Cuts to probation services could put offenders and the public at greater risk, protesters have said.

During a march from the Northamptonshire Probation Trust head office in Bridge Street to the Magistrate’s and Crown courts in Northampton today, probation officers said proposed Government cuts to probation services will damage the relationship between officers and offenders and jeopardise the rehabilitation progress.

Members of the National Association of Probation Officers (Napo) and the Justice Alliance were particularly concerned with the privatisation of probation services.

One Northampton probation officer, Karen Steele, said: “Working in the private sector will mean I am no longer qualified to do aspects of my job which I am already trained for, such as working with high-risk offenders.

“I feel very demoralised, like skills that I have worked hard to develop over the years have been ripped out of my hands.

“A lot of offenders are vulnerable and it takes time to build a rapport with their officers and make progress. Interference with rehabilitation on this scale will have a very negative effect and increase the risk for criminals and victims of crime.”

Privatisation has already led to case transfers of up to 50 per cent from probation officers, many of whom have spent years been building a rapport and support with defendants.

Campaigners have also suggested that such cuts could lead to prison sentences being given more readily by judges as probation services would be used only for those given severe sentences.

Probation officer and chair of Napo Northampton, Lesley Donoghue, said: “There are all sorts of unforseen consequences to these cuts that will cost the taxpayer more in the long run. Justice Secretary Chris Grayling has yet to even state how much all these proposed cuts are supposed to save.”

All UK Probation Trusts will dissolve on June 1, dividing officers into public workers and private Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC) employees until shares are sold later in the year.

Courts in Northampton may run with some disruption tomorrow as solicitors take a training day in response to legal aid cuts.

Solicitors have said that they will not be appearing in court tomorrow, though they will not be taking part in any official strikes and courts will open as usual.

Steven Moore & Co solicitor, Clare Fitzpatrick, said: “The proposed cuts to the legal system are a travesty and they undermine everything we have been working for towards social equality in the industry for hundreds of years.

“Soon access to justice will be out of reach for everyone in low to medium paid jobs and the provision of legal aid will be all about the riches high street firms making money.”

Some Northampton solicitors and members of the Justice Alliance joined probation officers today on a march in the town centre against the privatisaion of probation services.

One Justice Alliance spokesperson said: “The vulnerable, and even innocent, have the most to fear from these cuts as it will lead to more self-representation in court.

“Not only will this slow court procedures down, making the system inefficient, but it will result in a lot of innocent people making guilty pleas because they do not have sufficient information about their rights and entitlements and simply don’t know what else to do.”

Following a temporary agreement between barristers and the Government, tomorrow’s protest in the capital, which will take place on Justice Secretary Chris Grayling’s birthday, will mainly involve protesters on the behalf of UK solicitors.

One spokesperson for a Northampton law firm said: “Courts may run slower than usual tomorrow but this is just a preview of what is likely to happen if Government cuts to legal aid continue.”

A woman from Northampton has been banned from keeping animals for five years after she failed to provide adequate care for five cats, three kittens, two lizards and a dog.

Tabitha Fernandez, aged 36, of Harefield Road, Blackthorn, Northampton, was prosecuted by the RSPCA after concerns were expressed about the welfare of a number of animals in a property in Boughton Green Road.

Northampton Magistrates’’ Court heard an RSPCA inspector found the animals living in filthy conditions with urine, faeces and rubbish piled around the property.

Kevin McCole, prosecuting, said the RSPCA found an adult cat with three one-week-old kittens, who were all suffering from fleas.

Mr McCole said two bearded dragons were found to be cold, lethargic and underweight and did not appear to have any source of food or water. One was also missing part of its tail.

Another four cats were found at the property infested with fleas and a corn snake was in a healthy condition.

Mr McCole said the RSPCA inspector also found a cross-breed dog called Lulu, who was suffering from severe conjunctivitis, an ear infection, skin condition, ear infection and gum problems.

He said: “The environment was not suitable for hygiene of the animals and the care was inadequate.”

Fernandez was interviewed and she said she liked to have so many animals to keep her company. She said she was not aware of the flea infestation or her dog’s skin problems.

Fernanadez was found guilty in her absence of nine animal cruelty charges after a trial on March 10.

At magistrates court on Monday she was sentenced to a 12-month supervision order. She must pay costs of £250 and victim surcharge of £60.

All the animals have made a full recovery and been rehomed by the RSPCA.

Representing herself, Fernandez told the court she was intending to appeal her conviction.

A 28-year-old man needed stitches in a large cut in his forehead after he was assaulted with a pool cue during an arm wrestling match at a snooker club in Northampton.

A group of men was in Coopers Snooker, Overstone Road, when a man taking part in the contest was assaulted by a spectator.

The 28-year-old victim was punched in the head and hit on the head with a pool cue as well as verbally abused at around 8.10pm on Monday, February 17. Police released the information today.

The attacker was a white man, aged 25 to 30, with pale skin, short ginger hair and of broad build. He wore a beige jacket over a white shirt and grey jumper, with black jeans and black shoes.

Police would like to speak to anyone who may have witnessed this incident or who may recognise the person pictured above.

Witnesses or anyone with information are asked to contact police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

A Romanian family rushed out of their home on Brook Street, Northampton, moments before bricks cascaded from the top of the house onto the pavement.

At around 3pm today the roof of Gheorghe Paveluc’s terraced house in Semilong, which he rents off a private landlord, caved in without warning.

He was at work at the time but his daughter Andra, 16, was in the home with her friend George and cousin Ionut Chirila.

Northgate School pupil Andra, said: “We were inside and everything was fine, there was no wind, it wasn’t because of the weather.

“There was just this really loud sound kind of like an earthquake. we got scared.

“Then it happened again but much harder.

“We just thought we’ve got to get out.”

The three teenagers fled the house as fast as they could, Andra said.

Within seconds several bricks toppled from the roof onto the pavement just in the doorway they had run out of.

Dad Gheorge, a self employed labourer who has been in the UK for four years said his family, which includes mum Jasilica, will now have to find somewhere to live. Tonight he says they can stay round a nearby friend’s house, but after that he is unsure.

“It’s a shame because this is a good area,” he said. We like it here. My wife works near and my daughter goes to school. It would be better if we can find a place nearby.”

Currently a crew from The Mounts fire station is waiting for structural engineers to attend the scene.

The firefighters have evacuated residents of three nearby properties and a cordon has been set up around the house.

Station manager Ronnie Rochester said it is lucky no one was hurt.

He said: “The bricks fell on the pathway - you can imagine if someone was walking past there could have been a serious injury.

“We have arranged for the temporary accommodation for the evacuated tennants. Though one of them is an elderly man.”

He added that incidents like this are very rare.

“I certainly haven’t seen it in my time as a fireman,” he said.

A 34-year-old man caused an armed siege in a residential street by attempting to get shot by firearms officers as part of a “suicide mission”, a court heard.

Matthew Anderson, of The Medway, Daventry, appeared at Northampton Crown Court after an incident on December 1 last year when he threatened police with a paintball rifle and pistol.

The court heard police attended an address in Ashby Road, Daventry, after Anderson’s partner rang 999 and said he wanted to die by “making police shoot him”.

Mary Loram, prosecuting, said officers attended the premises and found Anderson to be in possession of what they believed was a large machine gun and pistol.

She said: “The officers were not entirely convinced that the weapons were replicas and reacted accordingly.

Ms Loram said the officers took shelter behind a garden wall and heard Anderson loading and unloading his guns.

Eventually, Anderson was arrested after he admitted they were paintball guns.

After pleading guilty to being in possession of imitation firearms he was sentenced to 10 months in prison. He was also sentenced to a further six months in prison, to be served concurrently, after he pleaded guilty to possessing indecent images of children and extreme pornography.

Recorder Rachel Brand QC said officers “must have been terrified” and said prison was the “only appropriate way” to deal with Anderson.

Police have reported that Wellingborough boy Aaron Jay Mansfield has “returned home safe and well.”

The force made the announcement on Twitter a few minutes ago.

The youngster was reported missing from his home in Gannet Lane, Hemmingwell at around 4pm yesterday afternoon

Police believed he was likely staying with friends and had appealed to him to make contact with his parents.

Construction work on 80 new homes at a site in Bugbrooke has been halted for 28 days following complaints about the amount of mud left on the road by construction traffic.

Developers of the site, Persimmon Homes, were issued the Temporary Stop Notice (TSN) by South Northamptonshire Council last Friday after complaints were received from nearby residents and members of Bugbrooke Parish Council.

The development, which will see a new development of homes built on the site off Johns Road and Pilgrims Lane, was given planning permission on the condition that vehicles leaving the site be cleaned and the road outside be kept tidy.

The council have consequently halted all construction work on the site for 28 days unless the developers can first demonstrate that satisfactory measures have been put in place to protect the road from more mud.

The council’s head of planning and environment, Rebecca Breese, said: “Conditions are put in place to ensure a planning permission is acceptable once built as well as to protect the amenity of neighbours and others during the construction period.

“As we do not impose conditions lightly we will enforce them when it is in our community’s interest to do so.”

A better standard for social housing repairs is to be introduced in Northampton from 2015 to help combat tenant horror stories of homes ‘destroyed’ by maintenance.

From January 5, 2015, the current borough council managed stock of social housing will transfer over to an Arms Length Management Organisation (ALMO) that will maintain the properties.

All Northampton’s social homes are currently maintained to the Government-set Decent Homes standard, which states that homes should be in a ‘reasonable’ state of repair and ‘reasonably modern’.

Last month however, 56 tenants in Northampton complained that ‘upgrades’ to their property by contractors had actually left them in a worse state than before.

Speaking to the St James Residents’ Association last week, Jim Mitchell, of consultancy firm, Peers, which is overseeing the ALMO implementation, said a new Northampton standard would help to stop poor repair work.

He said: “The ALMO promises to improve management quality, especially when it comes to ‘decent’ homes.

“People’s houses have been left virtually destroyed rather than improved so we are creating our own standard.”

While the borough council will continue to own all its housing stock from 2015, the ALMO will be responsible for managing premises, dealing with complaints, collecting rents and for contracting repairs among its remit.

Work is now beginning to set up a management board, which will include five housing tenants, five borough councillors, four independents and two council staff.

It will be up to the board to decide what the ‘Northampton standard’ entails, though Mr Mitchell said the criteria could be that repairs are made ‘good’ as opposed to the current ‘reasonable’ standard.

He added that early plans included giving tenants who make applications for repairs a reference number so they can keep track of where they are on the waiting list.

A Northampton MP has accused the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) of being “vindictive” after it announced a fine of almost £170,000 against an estate agency business, which has 11 premises in the county.

Conservative MP for Northampton South, Brian Binley, has said he was “absolutely stunned” the Government regulator had chosen to issue its largest-ever fine against Jackson Grundy Ltd.

The fine was announced in a press release issued by the OFT last Friday, the day it was closed and its powers, in respect of estate agents, were transferred to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs.

The fine related to a series of minor administration errors the OFT identified following a visit to one of the Jackson Grundy sites in June 2012.

Despite the fact the Northampton company had voluntarily accepted the OFT on to their premises and made the recommended changes to their processes, the regulator decided to impose the £169,000 fine 18 months later.

Mr Binley said: “I am absolutely stunned that the Office of Fair Trading, in its final throes, has hit out in this manner. To fine a well-known established company £169,000 seems to me to be unnecessarily vindictive, not least when you note that the company openly welcomed help and advice from the OFT as to how they could improve their processes to ensure they did not fall foul of money laundering rules.

“Indeed it becomes even more vindictive when you note that the Office of Fair Trading itself had recognised that the company had reacted and changed its processes for the good. We should be supporting British businesses rather than trying to destroy them.”

Mr Binley said he would be writing to HMRC and raising the Jackson Grundy case with the treasury minister responsible.

Councillor David Mackintosh, leader of Northampton Borough Council, said he also thought the fine imposed by the Office of Fair Trading was “excessively harsh”.

Councillor Mackintosh said: “You need to question their motives in their last week of operation.

“I am pleased that Brian Binley is fighting this in Parliament and I will do whatever I can to support him in this campaign””

David Jackson, managing director of Jackson Grundy Ltd, said the company had appealed the decision and strongly objected to the OFT issuing a press release before the appeals process had been completed.

Mr Jackson said: “We are bewildered and saddened by the actions of the OFT and feel the decision was rushed due to their impending closure.

“The fine is grossly disproportionate in light of the minor administrative breaches identified”.

Jackson Grundy has been based in Northamptonshire for 20 years and employs more than 60 people.

Planners responsible for placing 26,000 homes in Northampton, and easing the resultant traffic congestion, have cancelled a public meeting, saying there was “little or no business of importance” to discuss.

Members of the West Northamptonshire Joint Planning Unit (JPU) gave the emailed reply to residents’ action groups, who said they have had four out of seven meetings cancelled in the last 12 months.

It comes only a fortnight after a public examination of massive housing plans which featured four days of evidence, with the planning inspector sitting from 9.30am to 5.30pm each day.

Patrick Cross, chairman of Whitehills and Spring Park Residents’ Association (WASPRA), said: “I can’t believe they can say there’s nothing to talk about when there’s clearly so much at stake for the whole town.

“Lots of issues are still contentious, from the warehouse units at junction 16 of the M1 to how one in six motorists will be expected to walk or cycle to work.

“What a ridiculous reason to give.”

One email from Councillor Chris Over to Mr Cross, giving reasons for the cancellation of the April 7 meeting, said: “It was my understanding that we had little or no business of importance to discuss.”

Another, from David Atkinson head of the JPU: “On this occasion, as on occasions in the past, it was noted that there is insufficient business on the agenda for the Committee to consider.

“In the interests of making best and most effective use of time, the chairman, in consultation with his partnership colleagues, including councillors, decided that cancelling this meeting was the most appropriate course of action. This has now been done.”

Ambulance crews were again queueing with patients in Northampton General Hospital corridors yesterday, for the fourth consecutive day.

East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) crews are required to stay with their patients at the emergency department until their care can be safely handed over.

Although patients are always monitored by a trained NHS worker while waiting, sometimes they have to wait in corridors if there are no doctors or cubicles available.

An EMAS crew member said: “At lunchtime [on Wednesday] there were half a dozen ambulance crews, with patients on trolleys, holding in the corridor with more on the way.

“Earlier in the week the emergency department had patients who had been there for as long as 12 hours as there just wasn’t space on wards for them.”

It is understood that there were similar queues on Tuesday and Sunday, with Monday even busier.

A paramedic told the Chron yesterday: “I’ve spoken to crews today and the situation appears to becoming more and more frequent; crews are now expecting to be held rather than not, and in some cases are pre-empting patients and relatives prior to getting to the hospital that there is a possibility of a protracted wait.

“At least one family member refused for their elderly and ill parent to be taken to hospital because they didn’t want them left for hours on a trolley bed in a corridor waiting to be seen.”

Detailed figures for March or April last month are not yet available, however statistics showed that ambulance crew handovers lasting more than one hour rose from about 100 in January to about 150 in February.

That month, one in five patients arriving at NGH’s A&E department took longer than the target time of four hours to be admitted or discharged.

The hospital said it was taking on more emergency department staff and looking at plans to physically improve the layout of A&E, particularly the facilities for children and young people.

Restoration specialists are being sought to complete a programme of repairs, alterations and improvements to Delapre Abbey in Northampton.

The borough council is asking for companies to come forward and bid to take on the work which will see more than £3million invested in bringing the ancient abbey back into use.

The project involves refurbishing parts of the main building, rebuilding the conservatory and opening the south wing for events and public access.

Northampton Borough Council’s cabinet member for regeneration enterprise and planning Councillor Tim Hadland, said: “The restoration of the Delapre Abbey is one of our key heritage projects.

In the last few years we have secured a significant amount of funding and raising the building’s profile as an important regional asset.

“A successful bidder would be taking on a very prestigious project as we bring this much loved building back into use.”

The work is being funded by a £3.6 million Heritage Lottery Fund grant supported by a with £1.34 million contribution from Northampton Borough Council.

Rodney Giddins, secretary of Friends of Delapre Abbey said: “We’ve waited a long time for this and are delighted that work will start later this year to bring this important historic building back into use.

“We hope that the local community and visitors from further afield will support the project and help the Abbey to have a sustainable future.”

For more information about the project and tender opportunity visit www.sourcenorthamptonshire.co.uk/contracts/show/id/10100