NEWCASTLE United midfielder Joey Barton remains in police custody tonight in connection with an allegation of assault. The 25-year-old was one of three people arrested in Liverpool in the early hours of today. It is understood that he was detained
A FUNERAL will be held next week for film and stage star Pat Kirkwood, who died on Christmas Day. Miss Kirkwood lived at West Burton near Leyburn, North Yorkshire, for ten years after an illustrious career that saw her both as forces' sweetheart and
GRATEFUL Allen Snaith has been counting his lucky stars after his Christmas was saved from the local tip. When the 49-year-old electrician told wife Vivienne to throw away his old work-trousers he forgot about his wallet in one of the pockets. By the
A CARJACKER who drove off a 120ft cliff to his death has been named by police as 22-year-old Stephen Heslop. Mr Heslop threatened Brian Tate with a knife, forcing him out of his taxi before driving off in the black Nissan Primera last night. The 41-
PRIME Minister Gordon Brown has joined international condemnation of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, saying she had been killed by "cowards afraid of democracy". He said the former 54-year-old Pakistan prime minister had shown "immense personal
BURGLARS who forced their way into two houses this morning found keys which they used to drive off in two cars parked outside. They also stole other property from the two homes which are a short distance from each other at Startforth Park, an estate
REPORTS emerging from Pakistan suggest that former prime minister and opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was shot by a gunman who then blew himself up. A party adviser said she had been shot twice, once in the neck and once in the chest, as she got into
FORMER Pakistani prime minister and opposition leader Benazir Bhutto has been murdered in a suicide bomb attack. Ms Bhutto was wounded in the attack as she left an election rally in Rawalpindi today and died at about 1.15pm British time in hospital.
POLICE have identified a man whose body was found on a County Durham industrial estate on Christmas Day. The body of Kevin Oswald Smith was found on Salter's Lane Industrial Estate, Sedgefield, on Tuesday afternoon by a dog walker. The 54-year-old lived
POLICE are appealing for witnesses after a young woman was raped late on Christmas Eve. The 19-year-old woman was attacked in Gateshead at approximately 11pm as she walked along Durham Road towards Cambourne Grove. She was approached by a man, thought
A TAXI driver had his car stolen at knifepoint and then watched the thief drive off a 120ft cliff to his death. Brian Tate was sitting in his black Nissan Primera when a youth pointed a knife at him and forced him out of the car. The 41-year-old then
Chris Parker talks to Viv Hardwick about his decision to tour to Newcastle in a new version of TV's Strictly Come Dancing and his change of career CREATING one of the UK's most-watched TV programmes wasn't on Parker's mind at all when he agreed
Steve Pratt looks back at a year when the better films didn't always earn the big bucks anticipated THE numbers add up again as the top-grossing films of 2007 are revealed. If your movie has a figure in the title, then the odds are in your favour
Gemma Quade discovers that Corrie star Beverley Callard has a double celebration in mind because she owns a bar both on and off the screen BEVERLEY Callard doesn't just play at being a landlady as Liz McDonald in Coronation Street, she also owns
UK DVD/VIDEO RENTAL 1 (-) The Simpsons Movie 2 (-) The Bourne Ultimatum3 (1) Transformers 4 (2) High School Musical 2 5 (3) Shrek The Third 6 (4) Pirates Of The Caribbean 7 (8) Jeremy Clarkson - Supercar Showdown 8 (5) Harry Potter And The Order
KEVIN Wicks should know better than to get behind the wheel of one of his own cars. The motors he sells from his used car lot in Albert Square have been supplied by Fill the Fug, who is to motoring what the Titanic is to sailing. Fill has been
Extras (BBC1, 9pm), Carluccio And The Renaissance Cookbook (BBC2, 8pm) TV comedy star Andy Millman dolls aren't selling in the shops despite this being the Christmas present buying season. But why, asks his agent holding up one of the dolls, would
WE are in the dying embers of our time at primary school. By next Christmas, our youngest will be in his first year at big school, our eldest will be settling in at university, and the other two will be somewhere in between. All of which means
Sara Hough became probably the youngest WI member in the country when she joined at the age of 14. She tells Sarah Foster what she gets out of an organisation most people still associate with grannies THE WI - or Women's Institute - may
RE Miss EA Moralee's letter about the film, The Golden Compass (HAS, Dec 10), and Eric Gendle's reply (HAS, Dec 15). Mr Gendle seems to be saying children should encounter as wide a range of religious and philosophical points of view as possible
I ENJOYED Mike Amos's article about former footballer Ivor Broadis on the occasion of his 85th birthday (Backtrack, Dec 14). I remember him from the 1950s and, as an inside forward, he was sometimes seen as an international rival to Wilf Mannion
THE demise of an empire left Britain's defences in a weakened state, so its leader sought assistance from its European neighbours, who secretly had agendas of their own. People started migrating to Britain seeking easy money, but as their numbers
THE festive period can be a very expensive time. With this in mind, TV Licensing is reminding people aged 75 and over in the North-East and North Yorkshire to make sure they are claiming their free TV licence. All you need to do is contact TV
AT the end of the year I wondered if the following might arouse further thoughts? I remember when: 1. Love meant more than just sex. 2. There was no such thing as a halftruth. 3. Please and thank you were part of our language. 4. When men said
RE John Gilmore's letter about police pay (HAS, Dec 19). The issue at stake is not how much a policeman is paid or is worth. In the 1970s, police forces were haemorrhaging officers because of low pay. Officers who worked three weekends in a month
MANY adverse comments have been made regarding the engagement of Italian Fabio Capello as England manager, but just how can a manager be engaged for this thankless task and command such a high salary without an appropriate record at club and international
MARK Walker is right about the huge inbuilt advantage that the political party in power has (HAS, Dec 18). Here is an example. The Labour Party has long claimed that immigrants pay £2.5bn a year more in tax than they draw from the public purse.
Ashok Kumar has been so impressed with the efforts of one mother to make the streets safer after her son was murdered that he names her as his Tees Valley Woman of the Year AT this time of year, when newspapers and television programmes are full
BRITAIN'S railway network will be getting back to normal this morning after train companies rejected calls for at least a basic service on Boxing Day. In stark contrast to the rest of Europe, this country was without a rail service for the holiday
THOUSANDS of people turned out to support the traditional Boxing Day hunts in the region, almost two years after the sport was outlawed by the Government. Nationally, the Countryside Alliance estimated that more than 300,000 people attended about
A RUSSIAN Prince and a champion donkey may not appear to have anything in common, but both have enriched the history of an idyllic County Durham village. A local genealogist has used his research and computer skills to produce a DVD and help reprint
COUNTY Durham needs to attract more discoverers, traditionalists and cosmopolitans. That is the conclusion of the County Durham Tourism Partnership's end-of-year report. The three are types of tourist the partnership says the county needs more
A RACING driver who was born in County Durham is to compete in a charity kart race against some of the sport's best. Andrew Bentley, 25, will be one of four of the UK's most talented young saloon-car racing drivers joining forces to raise money
A NORTH-EAST gymnastics club is blowing the whistle for the last time after 35 years. Thousands of youngsters have passed through the doors of Saltburn Gymnastic Club, in east Cleveland, achieving success around the world. Coach Clive Lee, now
WHEN Garry Thompson takes to the waves for a winter surf, he doesn't leave any of the family behind - even the family dog, Fudge. Mr Thompson, 50, who works in pipeline construction, has owned cocker spaniel Fudge since he was a puppy and the
WETHERBY'S Castleford Chase offers Lennon (3.05) the chance to improve an already magnificent career strike-rate. If, as expected, Howard Johnson's horse scoops the £30,000 showpiece, it'll be Lennon's ninth win from 18 career starts, a record
SHILDON got the better of tenman West Auckland in their local derby at Dean Street. West had midfielder Danny Key red-carded for a foul on Karl Everitt in the opening minutes, and Shildon took the lead when Adam Emson nodded the ball down for
Darlington 1 Rotherham 1 IN the first leg of their Christmas double-header at home to two of their promotion rivals, Darlington had chances to win a game in which a draw was a fair result. Visitors Rotherham United had won eight of their previous
Hartlepool United 1 Leeds United 1 PERHAPS it was inevitable that Leeds United would nab a late goal to deny Hartlepool United victory. With time running out and Pools looking set for a third successive home win, Leeds striker Jermaine Beckford
MANAGER Sam Allardyce last night sympathised with the travelling Newcastle supporters who criticised the woeful performance at Wigan. There were more than 5,000 that made the journey to witness yet another pitiful display at the JJB Stadium
Everton 2 Bolton Wanderers 0 EVERTON manager David Moyes praised Phil Neville as the club captain shrugged off a bout of sickness to score his first goal of the season. The former Manchester United defender made the breakthrough in the 52nd minute
Derby County 1 Liverpool 2 PAUL Jewell hailed Derby's battling display, despite losing in the final seconds to a Steven Gerrard goal. Liverpool were stretched to the limits before scrambling a fortunate 2-1 win at Pride Park against the bottom
Chelsea 4 Aston Villa 4 ASTON Villa manager Martin O'Neill pointed the finger at Michael Ballack over a controversial penalty and condemned the performance of referee Phil Dowd during yesterday's thrilling 4-4 draw with Chelsea. O'Neill is considering
Tottenham Hotspur 5 Fulham 1M/b> JUANDE Ramos has revealed how he slimmed down his Tottenham players to get them out of relegation trouble. The Spaniard saw the weight of some of his players as a problem when he arrived in October but his regime
AN angry Gareth Southgate last night refused to make excuses for Middlesbrough's 3-0 defeat to Birmingham City, and claimed his players had "let themselves down" at St Andrew's. Stewart Downing's own goal sparked a first-half collapse that saw
A TASK force has been set up by a council as part of a charter designed to bring more film and TV production to the region. Wear Valley District Council signed Northern Film and Media's Filming Friendly and Partnership Charter earlier this
A PROJECT in which North-East students help drug addicts recover from their problems through the power of football will expand. The Sports Universities North East England (Sunee) programme has been running for two years. After winning extra funding from
MOBILE phone company Vodafone last night said it would try to come to an arrangement with a North-East factory worker who ran up a £27,000 mobile phone bill in only four weeks. Ian Simpson, from Darlington, said he laughed out loud when he learnt
NEWCASTLE Falcons will be grateful that Leeds and Worcester are well adrift in the Guinness Premiership after slipping to the fringe of the relegation places yesterday. Tries from Iain Balshaw and Olivier Azam helped Gloucester remain top after a competent
HUNDREDS of residents living near a rail line will have to put up with noisy nightime work every weekend until spring. Network Rail has defended a decision to spend every weekend for the next three months carrying out engineering work and cutting back
FOOTBALL fever was blamed for foiling a bid to raise record funds for charity during an annual Boxing Day dip yesterday.About £40,000 was raised for 55 good causes by last year's Boxing Day Dip at Hartlepool - £15,000 up on the previous year.But organisers
SHOPPERS rushed out across the region in search of Boxing Day bargains yesterday.Traffic tailbacks to get into the MetroCentre at Gateshead started before 8am, with shoppers reporting a 45-minute wait for a parking space.About 260 of the 350 shops opened
A PLANNING inspector's decision will leave disabled pensioner members of a club out in the cold, it was claimed last night. Committee members proposed putting a canopy on the front of Marske Workingmen's Club, in east Cleveland, to protect wheel-chair
A NORTH-EAST gymnastics club is blowing the whistle for the last time after 35 years. Thousands of youngsters have passed through the doors of Saltburn Gymnastic Club, in east Cleveland, achieving success around the world. Coach Clive Lee, now 78, has
AN ancient order of Freemen is hoping to score a unlikely victory for women.Women have been precluded from membership of Durham Freemen since the organisation, established to protect the interests of city artisans, was founded.For more than 700 years,
Birmingham City 3 Middlesbrough 0 THE Boxing Day dip has become something of a North-East tradition and yesterday, at St Andrew's, Middlesbrough got in on the act.Having started brightly against a Birmingham side two points below them in the Premier
AFTER emerging from Sunderland's last two fixtures feeling robbed, manager Roy Keane was more gracious in defeat after watching his side outclassed by Manchester United. The Premier League champions cruised to a fifth successive top-flight win, courtesy
Sunderland 0, Manchester United 4 ROY KEANE turned to the youth team in the hope of helping Sunderland to a sensational festive result. Those wishes, however, were soon erased by a first half performance from Manchester United of the quality of Premier
Wigan Athletic 1 Newcastle United 0 JUST when Newcastle United supporters thought their team could not plunge any lower on the entertainment barometer, they produced arguably their most turgid, and unimaginative, performance of the season at Wigan yesterday
actress Pat Kirkwood, star of stage and screen since the Thirties, has died at the age of 86.Her death was announced yesterday by author and royal biographer Michael Thornton, a family friend.Miss Kirkwood, who lived at West Burton, near Leyburn, North
ONE of the youngest delegates to attend a world conference on climate change has returned home to the North-East disappointed.Teenager Thomas Bielby, from Middlesbrough, won the right to attend the recent Bali summit after impressing the Institute of
THREE people had a lucky escape after their car hit a lampost and overturned - landing on its roof 40 metres away. The driver and two passengers managed to scramble free before the Renault Megane burst into flames shortly before 4am today (December 26
ONE of the largest scale theatre productions seen at Durham University will take to the stage next month. The university Light Opera Group (Dulog) production of Cole Porter's musical Anything Goes is such an undertaking the whole student cast is returning
