A 30-year-old electrician will appear in court tomorrow on Monday charged with the murder of a young woman killed in a ''frenzied knife attack'' at her parents' home. Anthony Hilton was arrested shortly after the body of Nicola Impett, 27, was discovered
A North-East "audio artist" is hoping to prove that silence really is golden. Jonty Semper, 25, made a recording of the one-minute's silence in Hyde Park during the 1997 funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales - and has now put it on a vinyl disc. The silence
KENYAN Julius Kimtai has decided against making a bid for a hat-trick of victories in the Auckland Castle 10K a week tomorrow - to concentrate on preparations for his marathon debut in New York in November. The African, who won the Blaydon Race for a
The Norwegian Army was in Britain yesterday to bestow a military honour on one of the members of its ranks. However, the setting was a little unusual - Edinburgh Zoo - and the Regimental Sergeant Major in question was a penguin. King penguin Nils Olav
ICE Hockey Superleague secretary Brian Storey has vowed the league will not give in in the continued wages dispute at the Newcastle Jesters. The side's first league game of the season is scheduled for Sunday, September 2, with a pre-season friendly arranged
ALONG with hardy spring flowering bulbs like tulips and daffodils, bulbs of amaryllis or hippeastrum are now appearing in shops and garden centres. With regal flowers of enormous proportions, they are amongst the easiest late autumn and winter flowering
Uncertainty surrounds the future of the Cammell Laird shipyard on Teesside and Tyneside after the company was sold. The company has been in receivership since April, but now A&P, based in Southampton, has bought the yards at Tyneside and Merseyside
MORE than 100 jobs could come to Darlington when kitchen firm Magnet relocates its main office services to the town. The closure of its head office in Keighley, West Yorkshire, means up to 140 employees could be on the move to the North-East. A spokeswoman
WELCOME to management, Mr McClaren. If ever there was a baptism of fire, this was it. Steve McClaren, the chosen one to succeed Bryan Robson as Middlesbrough boss, was taught the harshest of lessons in his first competitive game in charge. When the fixture
THE former manager of a North-East pizza shop has written to The Northern Echo from the Swiss prison cell where he is being held on suspicion of a murder he says he did not commit. Since his extradition to Switzerland in February, Majid El Hamri has tried
CADEAUX CHER'S bid to repeat his 1998 success in the Great St Wilfred Handicap at Ripon this afternoon received a terrific boost yesterday with the news that he had been drawn 16 of 24. High numbers appear to hold the call at Ripon these days on the straight
A SUNNY August Saturday afternoon in Sunderland and the soccer-mad city is preparing to pay homage to "The Lads''. The Tractor Boys from Ipswich are coming to town for the first match of the new Premiership season but the large police presence is not
FARMERS face more misery as a new disease, which threatens to do more harm to the industry than foot-and-mouth, is poised to sweep the North-East and North Yorkshire. Experts claim that more than 70 per cent of pig farms could be affected by the disease
BIDDERS for the second biggest rail franchise in the region could take legal action if the decision fails to go their way. The Northern Echo has learnt that at least one of the challengers for the Trans Pennine Express contract is considering seeking
WATER rates in the North-East can now be changed outside of a five-yearly price review, in exceptional circumstances. Northumbrian Water has agreed to a condition to be inserted into its licence, following a proposal from regulator Ofwat. The new rules
IT'S enough to make Oz, Dennis and Neville unpack their trowels and stay at home. For the 1980's recession which forced many British brickies to seek work abroad - as portrayed in the hit TV series Auf Wiedersehen Pet - looks to be a thing of the past
AS far as punters are concerned, Reel Buddy (2.30) hasn't exactly lived up to his name lately, but the tide may well be about to turn in the £35,000 Group 3 Hungerford Stakes at Newbury today. Having enjoyed a successful spring campaign, Richard Hannon's
For six months now we have been denied the right to enjoy our hills, dales, woods and countryside as foot-and mouth precautions have kept the countryside closed. A slight inconvenience you may think. I have to say that you would be mistaken. Walking is
FORTUNE was definitely with Hartlepool United at Shrewsbury Town, and it helped Chris Turner's men to a 3-1 win, their first of the season. At half-time Pool were trailing 1-0 despite having a large share of possession. But within 11 minutes of the second
PRIME Minister Tony Blair last night described as "a harsh blow" news that hundreds of North-East jobs are to go with the closure of two Sanyo factories in the region. Weeks of talks have taken place to finalise a management buy out the Sanyo microwave
A MURDER inquiry was launched last night after the body of a woman in her 20s was found at her parents' home. The woman, who has not been named, was discovered at the house in Winchester Way, Darlington, at 10.30am yesterday. A 30-year-old man - believed
A COMPANY from the North-East has won sole distribution rights for a compression stocking said to reduce the risk of deep vein thrombosis on long haul flights. Peacocks Medical, of Newcastle, will sell the Mediven Travel products in the city and in Middlesbrough
ICE Hockey Superleague secretary Brian Storey has vowed the league will not give in over a continued wages dispute at the Newcastle Jesters. The side's first league game of the season is scheduled for Sunday, September 2, with a pre-season friendly arranged
TRIBUTES have been paid to a tireless North-East charity worker who died while on a mercy mission abroad. Colin Appleyard, 62, won an MBE for efforts to help thousands of poverty stricken youngsters in Poland. His Aid to Poland charity, set up ten years
MORE than 100 jobs could be transferred to the region when leading kitchen firm Magnet moves its head office services to Darlington. Magnet is to close its base in Keighley, West Yorkshire, as part of a national efficiency drive. The closure will result
POWER firm Enron has resumed work at its plant on Teesside - two weeks after an explosion killed three workers. The power station, at Wilton, began generating electricity again on Sunday morning. Darren Higgins, 28, from Normanby, near Middlesbrough,
Kimblesworth aren't getting too carried away at the top of the league as they edge closer to the title. Kimblesworth are currently 58 points clear at the top of the table, and need just three wins from the last six matches to become champions for the
MORE than 60 jobs have been created in County Durham in the past two months, thanks to £265,000 of Government grants. The latest money to develop fledgling businesses came from the Department of Trade and Industry. A total of almost £2m has now been granted
AN animal lover has spoken of her horror and anger after her cat was shot dead at point-blank range with an airgun. Vanessa Leadley's pet cat, Tails, died in agony after being shot through the abdomen in an incident which horrified animal welfare workers
NEW boys Washington Nissan are aiming for a top-six finish in their debut season in the Albany Northern League, writes RAY SIMPSON. After lifting the Wearside League title last year, Nissan are one of the favourites to go straight through the division
REFUGEES FIRSAT Yildaz became the first refugee murdered in Britain. He was only 22 and had fled the racist persecution of Kurdish people in Turkey. Ultimately, Firsat's murder in Glasgow (Echo, Aug 8) is the responsibility of the thugs who carried it
Neil Wainwright was the star attraction at Saturday's game against Kidderminster Harriers, but it was his replacement Richard Hodgson who stole the show. With his first touch, Hodgson, on as a substitute for Friday signing Wainwright, delivered a deep
ANTI-RACIST protestors plan to ignore police advice and turn up in numbers to stop the National Front, as tensions run high before a planned demonstration today. But police have reiterated their warning to members of the NF and to counter demonstrators
A SUPPORTER of former Robocop Ray Mallon is sure the suspended CID chief will answer accusations at a disciplinary hearing if he is forced to. Cleveland Chief Constable Barry Shaw is refusing to accept Detective Superintendent Mallon's resignation from
ENGLAND coach Sven Goran Eriksson could do well to check personally on the rejuvenated form of striker Kevin Phillips at Fulham on Wedensday night after a Man of the Match performance which got Sunderland off to a flying start at the Stadium of Light.
THE BBC and ITV both scored in the ratings battle sparked by the new season of Saturday night football. ITV said its 'The Premiership' pulled in 4.3 million viewers for its prime time slot, 400,000 more than last season's average for the BBC's long-running
A SUMMER drink-drive campaign mounted by three North-East police forces at the beginning of the month has resulted in the testing of more than 5,000 motorists in two weeks. The month-long campaign was launched on August 1 by the Northumbria, Durham and
WHEN Radio One DJ Sara Cox offered the girls a chance to kiss co-host Jamie Theakston for 10p a go, she didn't really mean it. But sure enough, at the back of the stage area at one of Teesside's biggest music events, there was a handful of teenage girls
A STIRRING second half display from Newcastle United ensured that their first match of the season against Chelsea did not end in defeat. Bobby Robson's United side had to cope with a barrage of attacks from the hosts for much of the game, but Clarence
THERE appear to be two different Britains when it comes to economic news. The first is thriving. Yesterday, the monthly high street sales figures were released. They showed that the nation is still liberally spending money as if it doesn't have a care
WHEN Terry Notary starts sniffing the microphone and making monkey noises you begin to wonder if working on the new Planet Of The Apes movie hasn't left him permanently scarred. He assumes the facial and body posture of the primates he studied in preparation
