THE policeman shot by fugitive Raoul Moat told today how a vision of his children saved his life. Pc David Rathband said he knew he was bleeding to death when he was blasted in the face as he sat unarmed in his patrol car last month.
A CAT had to be rescued after becoming stuck at Hartlepool United Football Club. Firefighters were called to the ground on Clarence Road around 1.30pm on Wednesday. The cat was found behind an internal wall and plaster board was removed
A CASH reward offered by police for information leading to the capture of gunman Raoul Moat has been paid out, it was confirmed tonight. Police offered a £10,000 reward after the former nightclub doorman went on the run. Moat, 37, shot his former girlfriend
TWO loud explosions led police in Darlington to investigate on Wednesday night. Numerous callers from all over the town contacted The Northern Echo after hearing the successive bangs around 7pm. A spokesman for Durham Constabulary said
Had a chat with Christine Watters the other day and she was telling me how the Christmas Lights committee are organising a ‘200 club’ draw, to help boost funds. Christine explained; “The idea is to get up to 200 people to purchase a unique lottery
WORKERS at Steel giant Corus are to be balloted on whether to accept a new pay deal, the union Unite said today. Unite national officer Terry Pye described the deal, worth 3.2per cent and backdated to April, as a breakthrough. Corus is also offering
POLICE are investigating a report from two 11-year-old boys that a young girl was put into the back of a silver car by two men in Middlesbrough this afternoon The incident is said to have happened on Corporation Road at 1.15pm. The description
A CHARITY golf day is to be held in memory of a cancer victim. David Dodds, known as Spiderman, died earlier this year following a short battle with a brain tumour. He was 43. Friends of Mr Dodds, who was a keen golfer, have organised a three-club
MULTI-million pound plans to rebuild two village primary schools have been submitted. Durham County Council wants to rebuild Brandon Primary School and Esh Winning Primary School, both near Durham, both on the existing school sites. Following months
A CHARITY golf contest is being planned for next month. City of Durham Lions Club will hold the event at Houghton-le-Spring golf club, Wearside, on Wednesday, September 1. There will be prizes for winners, runners up and third place, the two tee shots
A MEMORIAL service is to be held in honour of a former mayor and long-serving councillor. Jeff Lodge died on May 13 following an illness. He was 77. Mr Lodge, who farmed near Pity Me, Durham, was a councillor for 43 years, Mayor of Durham in 2006, an
A NORTH-EAST country park is bracing itself for an invasion. The Roman’s will descend on Hardwick Park in Sedgefield, County Durham, next Saturday and Sunday. The ever-popular annual Romans Return event is organised by Durham County Council and this
A TEENAGER from Richmond has been playing a crucial role in a four-day summit dealing with pressing youth issues. Ben Lacey, 16, was one of the three North Yorkshire members of the UK Youth Parliament who took part in the event, held in Northern Ireland
A GARDEN created in memory of New Zealanders who died in the Second World War has been remembered on the other side of the world. Some 23 airmen from New Zealand are buried in the Stonefall Cemetery in Harrogate and in the 1950s a special garden
Echo Memories looks at the life of William Barningham, an unpopular man who ended up very rich, but very lonely. APAIR of curious castellated lodge houses, surrounded by intrigue, adorn the southbound side of the A1(M) near Catterick, in North
A DRIVER who knocked down and killed a 12-year-old boy who had overcome cancer has been told he faces jaIl. Steven Atkinson, 12, of Sunderland, was an inspiration to many for the way he successfully battled against leukaemia and there was a big turn
A NORTH-EAST firm is introducing technology that will revolutionise the process of buying and selling property. Husband and wife Paul and Mary Milliken, who run Darlington’s Property Search Group (PSG), are bringing the rapidly-growing AudioTours
ELECTRICAL engineer Houghton International has won its first order from the Far East as it continues with its plans to create 40 jobs over the next three years. The business, based on Walker Riverside, in Newcastle, has won a lucrative order
A KITCHEN-TABLE popcorn business has beaten established US rivals and won a contract to supply a major supermarket. The savoury flavoured Corn Again range, developed by the fledgling Consett Popcorn Company, will be sold in 19 Asda stores across
PRISON education staff at jails across the region are staging a strike today in a row over terms and conditions. Members of the University and College Union (UCU) are taking action against Manchester College, which runs courses throughout the country
CASH support for rural businesses in the North-East has been extended to include dairy farmers. The £1.5m Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) funding, which was approved by development agency One North East last year to support rural
AN event is being held in the region to help businesses achieve growth as the North-East continues to emerge from recession. The Fighting Fit Conference is designed to help companies grow and thrive in the current climate, and will give people
A NEW handbook for council tenants will feature the work of seven young artists. Durham City Homes recruited the help of children to add some colour to its new tenants’ handbook. Youngsters at schools and Sure Start centres in Durham were challenged
NORTHERN ROCK’S “good” bank could be sold almost immediately if the right offer came along, despite not officially being up-for-sale, its chief executive admitted. As the company released its first set of results since its split on January 1,
ROYAL Bank of Scotland was fined £5.6m yesterday after lax controls put the banking group at risk of laundering money for terrorists. The Financial Services Authority said part-nationalised RBS and its NatWest, Ulster Bank and Coutts arms all
STOCKS were subdued on both sides of the Atlantic yesterday. The FTSE 100 Index was in the red throughout the session and eventually finished 0.6 points down at 5396.5 and America’s Dow Jones Industrial saw choppy early trading. Analyst Michael
The Normans (BBC2, 9pm) Dan Snow’s Norman Walks (BBC4, 10pm) Newlyweds: The One Year Itch (C4, 9pm) SCHOOL’S out for the summer, but the learning continues as the BBC is keen to educate us about the Normans. Most of us know they had something
Roaches on the railways, malaria in the snow and the Bishop Auckland head known for his wit and wonderful voice. STARTING from scratch – and in a church magazine, so it must be true – The Messenger, the mag of St Margaret’s in Brookfield, Middlesbrough
WITH the sounds of fireworks still ringing in my ears and the sights of breathtaking artistic displays still fresh in my mind, I look back on this year’s Stockton International Riverside Festival with immense pride. It is the 23rd year it has been
I WAS saddened to read that Bishop Auckland Football Club was proposing that no football memorabilia would be on show at the new stadium clubhouse. One of the highlights for visiting fans from all over the country who visited the old Kingsway
THE assertion in your report headlined “‘Merry hell’ fear over review snub” (Echo, July 29) that Middlesbrough Council will not consult residents in the Gresham ward “for fear it will inflame their lack of trust” is not correct. The facts are
BY absolute chance, my weekend wanderings dragged my happy family up Arkengarthdale. It's a narrow dale, north of Reeth. It's a little more desolate than Swaledale, and we crouched behind a wall above a hamlet called Booze and ate our picnic while watching
WE’RE busy doing nothing… but it could be a lifesaver. Keeping busy keeps us happy, says US research, even if the tasks are unnecessary or pointless. Humans are actually programmed to do things rather than lie around all day in a state of catatonic
I SHUDDER with sheer revulsion when I consider, even momentarily, the depths of terror, fear and despair those two charming schoolgirls, Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells, felt at the evil and odious hands of Ian Huntley. It sickens me further to
ALED Jones states that we should use eugenics to “stop ourselves from spawning those evil people who shoot and murder the innocent” (HAS, Aug 2). Whom does he suggest eugenics be applied to? It’s not the chinless, inbred nobility who are descendants
I READ with interest Nigel Mansell’s comments as he cycled through Darlington on a 13-day ride to raise money for the charity, UK Youth, of which he is president (Echo, Aug 2). He extolled the benefits of cycling and said there was no better interest
WE would like to thank The Northern Echo for the prize we won in your World Cup Get Your Flags Out promotion (Echo, June 24). We won a night staying in the executive suite with a three-course evening meal and breakfast at the Aston Hotel, Newton
AMONG the paintings in my home is a watercolour of Whitby’s swing bridge. Actually, it isn’t quite of the swing bridge. It shows the bridge’s tiny, shingle-roofed control house with one of the bridgemen leaning against the open door. Though he’s
IN many ways, it is good that Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has continued his visit to London. It gives our Prime Minister David Cameron a chance to mend a few fences and to rebuild our relationship with a country that is extremely important
As the Tall Ships Race comes to Hartlepool this week, Ruth Addicott talks to a crew member to find out what life is like on board these magnificent vessels. CROUCHING on deck, clinging on for life as waves crashed over the side of the 45ft Bowman
PRECISION Break proved a bitter disappointment at Goodwood last week, but he can atone for that at Pontefract. Paul Cole’s flashy stayer could finish only 11th in the Summer Stakes at the Sussex venue, but he is far better than that, as he showed
PAUL DRINKHALL will be targeting a Commonwealth gold medal when he spearheads a nine-strong England table tennis squad for October’s Games in Delhi. Drinkhall, of Loftus, east Cleveland will be joined by Northallerton-born Daniel Reed in the
ENGLAND all-rounder Andrew Flintoff remains optimistic of making his longawaited comeback from injury, but has not set himself a timescale after his domestic season was ended prematurely without him playing a match. The 32-year-old has not played
GRAHAM ONIONS is still hopeful of playing a part in the Ashes series this winter. The Durham and England fast bowler has not played since leaving the winter tour of Bangladesh with a back problem and more recently he has had to contend with a
IF you subscribe to the view that the race for the LV County Championship title race is between only Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire, then the Trent Bridge side grasped the upper hand yesterday. Taking a point lead into this game at Headingley,
A THEATRE group is appealing for two extra young people to join the cast of its annual pantomime. Shildon CentreStage presents Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood, at Shildon Civic Hall, in November. Most roles have been allocated, except for those
BASINGTOKE is not a happy hunting ground for Durham and on their third visit things went wrong from the moment they lost the toss. They became calamitous after lunch as Michael Carberry and Michael Lumb, who were both dropped, added 199 in 33
PLANS to extend an award-winning farm shop and tea room leading to about 16 new jobs have been approved. Richmondshire District Council has given the go-ahead for Mainsgill Farm at East Layton, off the A66, to quadruple the size of its existing
DARLINGTON manager Mark Cooper is looking forward to having on-loan striker Liam Hatch leading the line at Gretna on Saturday. A lacklustre showing against last season’s Northern League champions Spennymoor Town on Monday exposed the lack of
Deportivo La Coruna 0 Newcastle United 0 (Newcastle win 5-4 on penalties) JOEY BARTON went from villain to hero last night when he made amends for missing a penalty in normal time to score the crucial spot kick that decided the contest against
LAWYERS say a decision to halve the number of firms able to offer free legal aid could put families in a vulnerable position. In a shake-up of provision, the Legal Services Commission (LSC) has not renewed contracts for civil case work for
MIDDLESBROUGH striker Kris Boyd believes his burgeoning strike partnership with his former Celtic adversary Scott McDonald can fire Boro back into the Premier League this season. Bookmakers have installed Gordon Strachan’s side as firm favourites
THEY are some of the most beautiful and fragile creatures in the country, and some of the most threatened. But now they are to be given some much-needed help – thanks to a load of old rubbish. North Yorkshire’s declining butterflies will benefit
A TALENTED teenager’s troubled past came back to haunt him yesterday when he was jailed for 16 months for “two or three minutes of absolute madness”. Michael Downs was said to have turned his life around after moving from Teesside to County Durham
A LABOUR leadership candidate’s plan to pay lower tax credits in the North than in the South has been criticised by a local MP. Ed Miliband put forward the proposal in an interview with The Northern Echo, arguing it could help deliver a higher
A SERIAL pervert who once worked as a teacher in the North-East mocked a prison treatment programme he was on saying it was “run by fools” , a court was told. Gary Anderson admitted to police he was sexually attracted to girls aged eight to
A DATE has been set for a North-East delegation to meet a Government Minister to put forward the case for bringing train building back to the birthplace of the railways. A group of North-East business, union and political leaders will meet Transport
A REVIEW of a council’s decision to give financial aid to a popular music venue and studio has backed the decision. But councillors will continue to monitor the business plan and lease agreement drawn up by The Forum music centre, which is being
THE North-East has become the first region in the country to log details of victims of alcohol- related crime attending hospital accident and emergency (A&E) departments. A year after the initiative was launched, nearly every hospital in the area
A MAN convicted of killing a football fan outside a pub has appealed against his sentence. Maurice Rowell, 27, is serving seven years in jail for the manslaughter of Stephen Wilson, 48, from Bishop Auckland, with one punch in August last year.
PARISH councillors are to meet county council officials to discuss an accident blackspot in their village. Several members of Eldon Parish Council will meet representatives from Durham County Council's traffic section and the police at the crossroads
JOHN MENSAH is due to return to Wearside this morning after Sunderland agreed a new season-long loan deal with his French employers Lyon. Mensah will spend the whole of this season at the Stadium of Light after Lyon officials reluctantly conceded
A MAN who sued his mother for ruining his childhood and failing to protect him from a tyrannical and violent father has lost his unique High Court bid for compensation. Judge Mrs Justice Thirlwall rejected claims that his mother, from the Bishop
A CONFIDENTIAL youth support service is being extended to help young people during the school holidays. Ferryhill Business and Enterprise College’s Ferryhealth facility offers youngsters from the town and surrounding areas advice on health and social
