A BID by a former North-East student - dubbed the ''limbs-in-the-loch'' killer - to appeal against his conviction at the Supreme Court has been refused. William Beggs was convicted in 2001 of murdering 18-year-old Barry Wallace in Kilmarnock
POWER has been restored to 288 homes which had been experiencing five days of prolonged cuts. Energy distributors CE Electric UK confirmed yesterday afternoon that emergency repair work to cables in Darlington had been successful. The
The use of entrapment in the media is not a straightforward subject, though I share the view of most journalists that the end result usually justifies the means. Going undercover to expose frauds and hypocrites is good journalistic practice
THE funeral date of a young goalkeeper found dead was announced today. A service for Rushden and Diamonds player Dale Roberts will take place at St Mary's Church in his home village of Horden, County Durham, on January 4. His club have also announced
BOYHOOD Middlesbrough supporter Andrew Davies last night admitted it would be a dream come true if he secures a New Year move back to the Riverside Stadium.Davies has spent the last fortnight training at Rockliffe Park after being granted permission by
GOVERNMENT funding for a controversial academy has been cut by £11m, casting fresh doubt over its future. Plans to build a state-of-the art school in Consett worth £32m were approved before the formation of the Coalition Government in May. But last
A MAN threatened staff at a newsagents with a knife before making off with a quantity of cash. The suspect entered Devine News newsagents, in Clynes Road, Grangetown, Middlesbrough, at about 5pm, on Tuesday. A member of staff was in the rear of the
ALAN WRIGHT wants to find the new address of a former fellow servicemen. He was Cyril Richardson, who until last December live in Surtees Street, in the Hopetown area of Darlington. They both carried out National Service in the Royal Signals. Mr Richardson
IT might make tough reading for some, but it takes a lot to look sharp at 47. A life of excess tends to accelerate the demise of a man even further. In 1999, aged 15, I witnessed the sad sight of the stocking-clad Kevin Rowland, of Dexys Midnight
THE most quoted and most enduringly popular of Oscar Wilde’s plays, The Importance of Being Earnest, is also one of the most difficult to get right. It calls for expert timing, precise direction and clever blocking to set up what is almost an
It’s Paul Burling (ITV1, 8pm) Nigella Kitchen (BBC2, 7.35pm) Come Dine with Me: Celebrity Christmas Special (C4, 9pm) THIS time last year Paul Burling was a jobbing comedian, paying the rent with panto and stand-up gigs, while dreaming
A NORTH-EAST software company has secured funding to help revolutionise the way dyslexic and visuallyimpaired users access the internet. Recite Me Ltd’s software offers internet users with reading difficulties a range of features including the
NORTH-EAST firms and organisations are helping lead the way in seizing the business opportunities offered by mobile phone applications. Darlington-based inkredible.co.uk, an online ink cartridge company, has launched an Apple iPhone app that
A GROUP of digital businesses in the Tees Valley has moved a step closer to becoming a world-class centre for the industry after securing £1.6m of investment The investment has come at the same time as the North East Chamber of Commerce (NECC
BUSINESSES have been warned that changes to the law could have a significant impact on corporate gifts to customers and clients. From April, the UK will have one of the world’s strictest anti-bribery laws and enforcement agencies have indicated
A STRONG run for mining stocks helped the FTSE 100 Index push above the 5950 mark yesterday for the first time since June 2008. The London market closed up 60.12 at 5951.8, despite a warning from key agency Moody’s that it may lower Portugal’
"I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time… as a good time: a kind, forgiving, pleasant, charitable time. The only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women by one consent seem to open their shut-up hearts freely
A FORMER professional rugby player whose sporting career was ended by injury is enjoying business success after moving into the growing renewables market. A torn Achilles tendon ended the career of Newcastle Falcons lock Jason Oakes in November
I FIND it interesting to read all the opinions in support of stopping or reducing bankers’ bonuses. A credible argument in view of the damage done. But I ask, shouldn’t Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, the two who oversaw the decade of rampant overspending
RECENTLY, Euro-MPs from all the main political parties backed new EU plans to tackle human trafficking, an evil trade that often coerces extremely vulnerable people into forced employment, including the sex industry. The new rules are an attempt
TREVOR BARK thinks lack of respect is not a criminal offence (HAS, Dec 16). Let’s just hope that that fool of a student Charlie Gilmour shows as much respect to the judge when he’s up in court as he did to the Cenotaph because then he’ll find
I WOULD like to bring some balance to the story (Echo, Dec 15) claiming that the cuts to council funding in the North were subsidising the South. One of the biggest challenges facing the North-East is the negativity of the Labour politicians towards
WHY are professional football players in the Premier League wearing snoods around their necks? I know that the weather has been very cold recently, but if you put the effort in on the pitch then you soon get warmed up. Years ago, these snoods
I DON’T claim clairvoyant powers but I feel able to make one confident prediction. Although many supermarkets have been selling Christmas goods since early October, I predict that when the stores reopen on December 27, all trace of the festive
WHEN the Christmas TV schedules appear, the first thing I look for is to see whether The Signalman is being re-broadcast. This year, as for the last several, I have been disappointed. But there was a period, in the Eighties, when the BBC TV version
THE spectacular fall from grace of Vince Cable is almost complete. Before May, Mr Cable would have been the choice of many as Britain’s most trusted, sure-footed and respected politician. But what a difference an election makes. Earlier this month
REGARDING Christopher Wardell’s letter (HAS, Dec 14) about being charged an admission fee to perform with his band at a local working men’s club, I had a similar experience in the Sixties when I was a member of The Crusaders, a Darlington-based
A day behind the scenes at St James’ Park might not turn you into a Premier League player, but it’s got to be right up there in the first division of great gifts for fans, says Joe Willis. I’M not going to say it was the best day of my life – I’m
STOCKTON skier Lee-Steve Jackson has been named as one of the British Olympic Association’s 30 Athletes of the Year. The gongs, which were introduced in 2005, sees the BOA select a stand-out performer from each Olympic discipline, and Jackson
A SPECTACULAR motorsport event could be pushed into the pits unless fans come out in force and back it, organisers have warned. The Specsavers Christmas Stages Rally, which takes place on December 28, has been held at Croft Circuit, near Darlington
VINTAGE is a reasonably consistent performer in this sphere and the totepool Racing’s Biggest Supporter Handicap looks a good opportunity for him at Lingfield. A winner over this course and distance in September, he has been off the track since
CRICKET Australia chief James Sutherland expects Ricky Ponting to play in the fourth Ashes Test – and is confident the captain will step out in front of a world-record crowd of 91,000 at the MCG on Boxing Day. Ponting fractured a little finger
RITCHIE HUMPHREYS feels Hartlepool United have shown their League One rivals that they mean business this season. Form might have been indifferent until their recent burst of just one defeat from their last six games, but Humphreys thinks victories over
Former Darlington manager Alan Murray has returned to the club as their new general manager. The 61-year-old, who was Quakers boss for 16 months after being appointed in October 1993, has begun work at The Northern Echo Arena after succeeding Phil Preston
FIT-AGAIN Steven Taylor has revealed how impressed he is with new manager Alan Pardew since his arrival at Newcastle, after he made it clear he wants the defender to stay on Tyneside. Pardew took over from Chris Hughton days after the 24-year-old made
SUNDERLAND are ready to mount a concerted January push to sign England international Adam Johnson from Manchester City. Black Cats boss Steve Bruce is hoping to set up a loan deal that will see Johnson move to the Stadium of Light until the end of the
ENGLAND are out to prove their mettle at the MCG, by adapting successfully to whatever conditions meet them there. Much intrigue surrounds the nature of the drop-in pitch which will be used for the Boxing Day Ashes Test, groundsman Cameron Hodgkins
A SCHEME costing £2.2m will be installed next year to protect 32 homes in Darlington from flooding. Northumbrian Water will unveil full details of their plans next month, before starting the eight-month project on Monday, January 24. One councillor
A CONVICTED sex offender has been locked up for three years for “flagrantly” flouting tough banning orders to stop him downloading child pornography. Gavin Adams got a suspended prison sentence and a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO)
FORMER Manchester City chairman David Bernstein has been nominated the new chairman of the Football Association, it was announced today. Bernstein, 67, is currently chairman of Wembley Stadium and he will take over as FA chairman if, as is
POST office services are to return to a village nine months after the death of the previous postmistress. A mobile post office will be in Melsonby, near Richmond, North Yorkshire, for two afternoons a week from January 4. The village post office
ED MILIBAND has shown his support for The Northern Echo’s Back On Track campaign as Hitachi’s attempt to build a £7.5bn train factory in the region was raised in the Commons. The Labour leader posed with a copy of the Echo’s special supplement
ENGINEERS are confident they can complete emergency repairs to electric cables today as hundreds of households prepare to face a fifth day of prolonged power cuts. Several streets in Darlington, many of which are populated by elderly residents
relatively unscathed by the extreme weather – until yesterday, when freezing temperatures brought a day of major upheaval. Damaged power lines on the East Coast Main Line caused cancellations and delays to dozens of services and left many passengers
A cabaret dancer who fled Paris during the Nazi occupation of France has celebrated her 100th birthday. Betty Bourguet tells Gavin Havery why it’s a wonderful life. HEAVY snowfall and ice has caused misery for many travellers this Christmas, with
THE sister of a homeless man kicked to death in a churchyard by two schoolboys spoke of her anger at the length of their sentences. June Akers said she felt the two 15-year-olds responsible for the death of her brother should be locked up for
THE parents of a partygoer who disappeared on a night out have spoken of their fears for his safety as the freezing weather continues. Duncan Gibbon, 21, from Swainby, near Northallerton, North Yorkshire, has not been seen since Saturday night
A POLICE force is drawing up plans to cope with up to 110 fewer officers over the next five years, it emerged last night. Although reluctant to shed posts, senior officers at Durham Police are preparing for a major overhaul to deal with Government
MULTI-MILLION pound plans to transform the dilapidated former country mansion of a celebrated Victorian novelist into a county’s most expensive private home have been thrown out by councillors. Father and son Bill and Steven Spry, who made
THE region’s town hall leaders are “stupid” if they cannot cope with the most savage cuts to their budgets in generations, a Cabinet minister claimed yesterday. Communities Secretary Eric Pickles turned his fire on council bosses who have warned
A SMALL earthquake has been felt Cumbria tonight. The tremor, measuring 3.6 on the Richter scale, happened just before 11pm, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). Susan Potter, geophysicist at the US Geological Society, said
POLICE in Tyne and Wear and investigating the unexplained death of an 80-year-old woman in Blaydon, Gateshead. A female has been arrested and is being interviewed. Police are waiting for the results of pathology and toxicology tests.
