Darlington

ONE Darlington pensioner certainly didn't have a 'hoot' when the council installed a plastic owl in a failed attempt to scare away pooping pigeons.

In May, we revealed that Sydney Hodgson had been waging war against a tree that stands close to the boundary of his bungalow for years, saying it has caused a multitude of issues for him and his wife, 78-year-old Margaret, who now lives in a home.

And Darlington Borough Council came up with the ingenious idea for fixing the plastic owl to the troublesome tree.

Disabled Mr Hodgson, 81, said the tree had also caused a number of problems for him. He struggles to manoeuvre his wheelchair around his property due to the amount of leaves shed by the tree.

After reading about Mr Hodgson’s plight in the Echo, a neighbour donated an owl, which was then taken away by the council, allegedly for a risk assessment.

A team of four men were then dispatched to hang the plastic bird in the tree – where it has proved such a poor deterrent that a pigeon has built its nest right next to it.

Frustrated Mr Hodgson said: “They came mob-handed – four men with four machines and they worked half the day to hang it from a branch and then left as though they’d done a good job.

“So I’m left with a plastic owl and no better off. The leaves, some of them as big as dinner plates, will still fall on my home and block the drains, my wheelchair ramp and the gutters and shut out the light into my living room.

“I’ll still have to pay to get them taken away – and most likely my car will still end up covered in bird muck because that owl is bloody hopeless.”

South West Durham

A SPORTY secretary proudly flew the flag for the nation when she took part in the 2017 World Transplant Games.

Vicky Horan led out Great Britain and Northern Ireland’s 175 athletes at the opening ceremony at Malagueta bullring, in Malaga, Spain, in June.

And although she was disappointed not to win a medal with her volleyball team, just making it to the games brought her a huge sense of relief and achievement.

Mrs Horan, from Bishop Auckland, had been due to travel to the 2015 games in Argentina but had to withdraw after she was diagnosed with blood cancer.

That would have been 20 years since Mrs Horan won a gold medal at her first World Transplant Games.

She said: “I felt real relief to have actually got there, absolute relief to touch down in Malaga and complete phase one.

“We were the biggest nation there and to be able to lead them out felt pretty good.

“It is weird, you don’t know every single member of that team but you love them anyway.”

In 1989, aged just 13, she was diagnosed with kidney failure and subsequently had three transplants in 1993, 1998 and 2008.

With the support of husband Phil, she now looks forward to future events including the British Transplant Games in Birmingham in 2018 and the next World Transplant Games, which will be held in Newcastle and Gateshead in 2019.

She remains passionate about the gift of life and opportunities that organ donation can give.

North Durham

A NOTORIOUS killer who shot dead a planning officer in cold blood in front of media cameras was released from prison this year after suffering a stroke, The Northern Echo exclusively revealed in October.

Albert Dryden, 76, who was serving a life sentence for the murder of principal planning officer Harry Collinson is now in a County Durham residential care home.

Mr Collinson, 46, of Neville’s Cross, Durham, was enforcing the demolition of an illegally built bungalow at Butsfield, near Consett, when Dryden drew a First World War gun and shot him on June 20, 1991.

As well as shooting Mr Collinson, he wounded police officer Stephen Campbell in the buttock and reporter Tony Belmont in the arm.

The former Consett steelworker had previously been refused parole, because he had shown had no remorse.

Mr Collinson’s older brother, Roy, said: “Personally, I couldn’t bloody care less what happens to Albert Dryden. If he dies slowly that’s good. I’ll be very happy about that.

“He never showed one bit of remorse in all the 26 years he has been in prison. He still tried to justify his actions for some God-unknown reason.”

North Yorkshire

WHAT makes an ideal news story? Any journalist who knew the definitive answer to that would be sitting pretty for life.

But, whatever the formula is, the weird and the wacky would have to come up high on the list-particularly when you throw in the magic word that is “sausages”.

Despite the plethora of eye-catching tales that have come out of North Yorkshire during the last 12 months it was a football team’s “worst kit in the world” that really caught the imagination.

Bedale AFC’s striking pink and orange sausage kit went viral around the globe after The Northern Echo featured their new-look outfits following a sponsorship deal with locally-based Heck sausages.

It went on to star on major TV shows across Britain, Brazil, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Turkey and on Fox TV in the USA.

And French TV spent a whole weekend filming at the club, capturing the players sporting their banger-themed kit, for a feature that was beamed out nationally.

Club chairman Martyn Coombs used to teach Heck’s owner Andrew Keeble at Bedale High School and the sponsorship deal proved a huge hit for both of them.

“I think we have been very good for each other and I hope we can continue for many years to come,” said a delighted Mr Coombs after the fuss died down.

“The worldwide press has been so good for Bedale AFC and the town, we are well and truly known around the world.”

Replica club kits are now being sold to raise cash to help the fight against prostate cancer.

Teesside

A PUB hit the headlines after The Northern Echo revealed its controversial ban on female-fronted bands.

Doctor Brown’s, a popular live music venue in Middlesbrough, was criticised by singers who were denied a place on their stage because of their gender.

But Paula Rees, the pub's manager, defended the ban, and said it had been implemented because her regular customers do not believe women should sing rock songs.

Denying that the rule was sexist, she said: “We had female singers on in the past and customers just didn’t like it – we’re a rock bar and they don’t think that women should sing male rock songs.

“It’s nothing to do with me, it’s the pub’s regulars who come in every week, they won’t come in if there’s a female singer.”

Singer Hannah Sowerby said Doctor Brown’s had cancelled gigs for her bands – Revenant and Syndicate 66 – after discovering they were fronted by a woman.

She said: “It is a sexist attitude from the regulars and there’s no excuse for it in 2017, you’d think we’d be past this by now."

The story went viral and generated intense interest across the world, attracting the attention of thousands of infuriated musicians, fans and performers.

In what became a global show of solidarity for female musicians, rock bands including Garbage and Halestorm had their say.

Garbage singer Shirley Manson said the ban represented “tired old sexism and misogyny” while Halestorm’s singer, Lzzy Hale – one of the most famous women in rock today – shared The Northern Echo’s article with her followers.

She said: “It shouldn’t be about gender. It’s about talent. There are s***** female singers and s***** male singers.

“There are amazing female singers and amazing male singers. I think they need to run their establishment differently.”

Tyne and Wear

A DRUNKEN man who threatened the manager of a fried chicken shop with a python he had wrapped around his arm has been fined £9.

Jobless Anthony Dando – who had bought the £135 snake from a pet shop hours earlier – had already visited a bookmakers to place a bet before going into the Dixy Chicken Shop to ask for a blanket to keep it warm, a court heard.

The terrified manager, whose frightened colleagues were hiding at the back of the shop, told Dando he didn’t have a blanket and when the 30-year-old asked for a takeaway box instead, he was asked to leave.

Dando shouted: “Here, don’t talk to me like that. I will smash your head in and throw this snake at you,” Claire Irving, prosecuting, told Newcastle Magistrates’ Court.

The manager – whose nervous customers had already fled at first sight of the small python – handed over two pieces of free chicken, hoping Dando would feed the reptile and leave.

But instead, Dando ate the chicken himself and then asked for a drink.

Ms Irving said: “The injured party had noticed a snake wrapped around his arm. He had never seen a snake before in real life. He said he felt absolutely terrified."

Dando then left the takeaway in West Road, Newcastle, but was arrested in a nearby shop 20 minutes later.

Dando, of Pease Avenue, Newcastle, had earlier pleaded guilty to threatening behaviour and was sentenced on February 28.

Dando was given an 18-month community order, placed on a six month alcohol treatment plan, banned from the takeaway for a year and given a £9 fine, with £50 costs and an £85 victim surcharge.

Adrian Ions, mitigating, said: “It all stemmed from a misunderstanding. The snake was being kept warm at a local bookies and customers had been stroking it.

“He goes over to the takeaway to get a box for it but they did not understand him."

Speaking afterwards, Dando said: “I am sorry for what I have done. My snake was seized and I had to go and buy a new one two days later. That is £135 gone in one day, and then £200 the next time. Ridiculous.”