Police boss demands heavier penalties for Covid coughers and spitters

* Police and Crime Commissioner Arfon Jones.

A police boss is urging the courts to inflict the maximum penalty on people found guilty of spitting our coughing in the faces of officers saying they were infected with coronavirus.

North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Arfon Jones has been sickened after hearing of frontline police officers and other emergency workers being subjected to the “vile practice”.

Mr Jones, a former police inspector, spoke out after hearing of a growing number of cases.

The issue has also been raised by First Minister Mark Drakeford who is “very concerned” about reports of police being assaulted, including being coughed and spat on.

Earlier this month a woman appeared before magistrates in Mold after spitting in the faces of two officers in Holywell.

The offence happened  after the officers were called to deal with a disturbance involving a man and a woman at a kebab shop in the town.

After the man was detained the woman became aggressive with both officers and spat in their faces.

She was charged with two counts of assaulting an emergency worker under Section 5 of the Public Order Act.

The woman received a 26-week prison sentence which was suspended for 12 months and she was ordered to pay £150 in compensation together with a Victim Surcharge of £128 and a curfew for 26 weeks with electronic monitoring

Other incidents are understood to have taken place in Flint and Bangor while a man from Rhyl was recalled to jail after preparing to spit at police whilst saying he had COVID-19.

Mr Jones said: “Unfortunately, we have had a number of examples of people spitting or coughing in the faces of officers in North Wales.

“The sentence was criticised by the Police Federation for being unduly lenient and it is unfortunate the magistrates did not take the opportunity to send a message out.

“The Sentencing Council for England and Wales, which produces guidelines on sentencing for the judiciary and criminal justice professionals, go by the seriousness of the offence and not by the evidence and there is nothing more serious than breaking the law to spread a deadly virus.

“This vile behaviour by a minority of offenders are putting these brave frontline staff at risk of contracting this awful virus, with potentially fatal consequences.”

After hearing the punishment imposed on the woman who was prosecuted following the incident in Holywell, Mark Jones, General Secretary of North Wales Police Federation, said: “I am absolutely appalled at this pathetic sentence.

“Two police officers, carrying out their public duty have been disgustingly spat on, in their faces, by this vile person. My two colleagues have received no justice whatsoever and have been completely let down by the judiciary.

“Given the national crisis we are in with COVID-19; the dangerous and killer virus that it is, for the Courts to give a light slap on the wrist for this disgusting act is shameful.

“We seemed to be making some progress recently with tougher sentences being issued to those who weaponised COVID-19 but with taking one step forward we have now taken two steps back."

Latest Citizens Advice column

Q: I’ve got tickets to an event next week and I’m not sure what will happen in light of coronavirus. I bought the tickets for myself and a few friends, one of them is worried about attending. What can I do?

A: Ticket holders who change their mind about going to see an event, such as a concert that is still going ahead, have no legal right to a refund.

If, however, the event is cancelled, your refund rights will depend on how you bought the ticket.

If you bought your ticket from an official seller and the organiser cancels, moves, reschedules, or makes the event behind closed doors, you should get a refund. This is the case even if it is cancelled due to a government ban on large events. The official seller is the best person to ask about how to get a refund.

If you bought your ticket from a ticket-reselling website, refunds will depend on the site's terms and conditions.

If you bought from a private seller and the event is cancelled or rescheduled then it is unlikely you will be able to recover your money. We recommend you contact the seller.

If you're due to go to an event, keep checking the information from the official seller or organiser to ensure you're up to date.

Unfortunately we’ve found that in these situations scammers prey on those who are affected.

If your event is cancelled and people or companies offer their services to try to recover money on your behalf, make sure that you're looking out for the signs of a potential scam.

MP welcomes extra £64.5 million for Wales

Clwyd South MP Simon Baynes (pictured) has welcomed the announcement that Wales will receive an additional £64.5 million as a result of UK Government funding allocated to Transport for London earlier this week.

The UK Government has so far announced over £2.2 billion of additional funding in Wales to support people, business and public services in the ongoing fight to tackle COVID-19.

This funding is in addition to the UK-wide measures that the people and businesses in Wales can access, such as the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme and the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme.

Simon Baynes said: “Transport organisations across the UK are facing hardship as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic, and those in Clwyd South and Wales are no exception. 

"While the Government is urging people to work from home where possible and only travel when absolutely necessary, there are still those who need to travel by train and bus to work and people need to be able to travel safely while respecting social distancing once restrictions are gradually lifted.

"In addition, with schools, private hire and the tourism industry currently closed, life is particularly difficult for coach companies – of which there are a sizeable number in Clwyd South – and they like the rest of the transport sector need additional support during the Coronavirus crisis.

"I really welcome this additional funding, and encourage the Welsh Government to spend it wisely to help support Wales’ economic recovery from COVID-19.”

Young singer Shea raises £1,200 for charity during lockdown

* Keep singing: Talented young singer Shea Ferron.

During lockdown 17-year-old Shea Ferron, well known for his acting and singing in a range of local amateur shows, has raised over £1,200 for charity through his outdoor performances. In an article written originally for the Eistedfodd volunteer newsletter, he describes how he did it.

"I was very saddened to hear that this year’s eisteddfod was cancelled due to the current circumstances.

Eisteddfod week for me is one of, if not, the best week of the year.

I love how people from all around the world are able to come together and unite in the language of music, and really I’ve been using this as an inspiration during lockdown.

Two weeks before we were in lockdown I was seeing videos of Italian people singing on their balconies to entertain one another and this gave me the idea for my street concerts and fundraising concerts.

Within the first few days of lockdown I was having neighbours passing my home telling me that I should hold some sort of concert for the neighbours and at first I wasn’t sure how everyone would react but I gave the idea a go.

I went live onto my Facebook page and performed live for my street. The neighbours loved it along with 12,000 people who were watching online.

This idea has continued and we are regularly holding them each week and look forward to carrying them on post lockdown!

I take requests for donations each concert to raise money for the NHS and we have raised just under £200.

As well as this, I have been posting online videos onto my singing page on Facebook.

Taking part in the Musical Theatre Self Isolation Challenge has been great fun and something that has kept me busy!

My video raised £300 for Cancer Research in memory of a teacher from my primary school who sadly passed away.

This has developed into holding charity concerts online in a concert series I’m calling “From Stage to Sofa”.

I was first approached by North Clwyd Animal Rescue Centre, near Holywell, wondering if I’d be interested in supporting.

I didn’t hesitate in responding with a yes as we have supported the centre for a number of years having adopted two dogs from there. The concert was a success having raised £500 for the charity.

I have since held another in aid of Nightingale House Hospice and raised £250 and am looking to hold more during the weeks to come.

One thing I’ve found in doing these is that people have united (at a distance) just like they would at the eisteddfod.

Neighbours who would usually be a hermit in their homes have come out and socialised with us and relationships have developed with people who were new to the neighbourhood and were a little shy to get to know others.

One thing to look forward to post lockdown is the community spirit that has been developed and the long-lasting friendships that have been gained.

We can all take lockdown and have our own little eisteddfod within our own communities using the important message to unite."

Officers have busy weekend policing the lockdown

It was a busy weekend for officers, Special Constables and PCSO’s ensuring compliance with Covid regulations, says North Wales Police.  

They say over 2,500 vehicles were stopped across the force area - the vast majority of these were local people with valid reasons to travel.

Approximately 60 were from out of the area and were either reported for breaching COVID legislation or sent home having had suitable advice.

On Sunday, officers issued four fines to the occupants of one car who were driving back to Wales after a weekend visiting family in London. 

They were also issued with fines for not having their two and four-year-old children in child car seats.

On Saturday, on the A539 at Acrefair, three men from Birmingham were reported for travelling to Wales to visit Snowdonia.

In Flintshire, one visitor from Wigan going to the Lighthouse in Talacre was advised regarding the restrictions and sent home.

In Conwy Rural and Anglesey, officers had a busy weekend engaging with motorists, and again most people had a valid reason for travel. 

However, vehicles from London, Manchester and Norwich received fines for breaching Covid regulations. A couple from Scotland, who were camping near Llyn Geirionedd also received summons notices.

In Denbighshire Coastal, police responded to various reports from members of the public in Kinmel Bay and Abergele, regarding possible breaches at caravan parks etc. 

All incidents involved key workers and we were able to reassure the community that all was in order. 

Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Nigel Harrison said: ‘We will continue to adopt a proportionate response towards everyone – we always look to engage with our communities, explain the regulations, encourage people to do the right thing, and only where necessary will we need to enforce the regulations with a fine.

‘These results show that in the vast majority of instances, people are complying with the current restrictions. 

"We have received an overwhelmingly positive response from the motorists that we have stopped. We thank you for your support and understanding in these exceptional times, and we continue to work hard to make north Wales as safe as possible."

Making sure no-one goes hungry is Llan Foodshare's mission

* A Food Share volunteer wheels away more baskets of 

donations from local supermarkets. 

The small team of dedicated and unpaid volunteers at the heart of Zero Waste and  Food Share Llangollen were already busy enough before the coronovirus pandemic hit.

But the lockdown has given massive new impetus to the help they have been providing to the local community. 

In just the past eight or nine alone weeks the team has made 250 deliveries and collections of essential packs, parcels and surplus to those in need of assistance.

Here, team member Jane Louise Tornado explains what Food Share is all about ...

Food is the medium, love is the message. We care, you matter. 

We have two aims: Stop food waste, reduce food poverty.

It is for everyone. No-one in need goes hungry. Everyone shares the surplus.

We started in June 2019 by collecting food surplus from well-known supermarkets, mainly fruit, veg and bread, sorting it at home and then delivering it to people or taking it to community groups who could use it. 

We shared them with people who needed a bit of support to help reduce their food bills and also whoever wanted to join us in using the food to reduce waste. 

We were lucky enough to then be offered storage space at Pengwern Community Centre which we are rapidly filling!

* More donated supplies on the way to distribution by Foodshare. 

We post up recipes and have recently developed a meal planner that will have a weekly pack to make all the meals on it, which gives a variety of food. This is for supporting someone back on their feet if e.g. they have lost their job and are awaiting benefit payments.

Covid-19 has vastly expanded both what we need to do and what we can do, by means of grants and funding to do so. 

Currently we are open 2-2.30 every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday at Pengwern Community Centre. We also do deliveries on those days from 2.30-4pm.

So, what do we do?

1. We provide care packs to the over-70s – they can request or a relative can 

2. We provide food parcels to people from food we buy, supplemented with food surplus from supermarkets, in instances of losing a job, delay in benefits such as Universal Credit, and before Covid, for people who were on zero hours contracts and had weeks of no work or who wouldn’t use a traditional food bank but are happy to help share with us all reducing food waste, which in turn supports them and reduces their food bill

3.  We run a night surplus round four nights a week, delivering food surplus to people (fruit, vegetables, ready meals, meat, bread, pastries, packed food) this is between 7.45pm and 9.30pm we usually finish by.

4.  We share the food surplus (veg, fruit, breads) too at the four sessions we do each week at the community centre – anyone can join in with this – we post up when we have lots of eggs, bread, fruit, etc.

Care Packs and Food packs we do:

Approximate costs are (subject to fluctuations due to current availability)

Care Pack costs £12-£13 per pack depending on availability of items

Food Parcels cost: 1 person: £12.00, 2 people: £20.00, 4 people: £30.00 

Food surplus from supermarkets:

We have had soups made from surplus food which have been distributed with care packs and food parcels. Soups and meals numbers in the 100s now. Thanks to Steve at the Swan Inn, Pontfadog and more recently this week TynDwr Hall.

We had 35 adults and 30 children on our night surplus delivery list as at the end of April. And we have 20 more people come on to our lists in the last two weeks for help.

The last few weeks 

Overall, we have done over 250 deliveries and collections of packs , parcels and surplus in the last 8-9 weeks. These are either to an individual, couple or families, plus the VE Day distribution. 

There is a lot of admin, coordination, collecting of surplus food, shopping at wholesalers etc plus dealing with all the cardboard packaging afterwards! 

We have also been finding help and signposting people to other services to help them with housing, Universal Credit etc.

We have been very grateful to have funding so far as follows:

Denbighshire Council, Llangollen Town Council, The Welsh Food Poverty Grant via Flying Start, Llangollen Raffles, Evans Home Improvements and Joinery, Jane’s UAREUK birthday fundraiser and several private donations.

We have had donations of surplus food from businesses, for which we are very grateful and we have had two food deliveries from Flying Start from the Welsh Food Poverty Grant.

And last week we had a big delivery from a local resident who works at Kelloggs which will keep Llangollen breakfast bowls full. 

You can join our page at www.facebook.com/llanfoodshare

By the work we do at the foodshare we have built up trust also of the users and helped them by identifying other services that could help them/signposting.

Food Share was set in June 2019 and was run from home until we started doing sessions at Pengwern Community Centre, where we are now lucky enough to have a base.

It’s run by Jane, Kirsty, Steph and Lesley, with Jen also kindly running our Friday session to give us a rest. We are all unpaid volunteers.

The need is such that we have, through one of our volunteer’s other charities, set up another separate fund to help Wrexham residents who are struggling to access help.

We have had some really touching messages from people we have delivered too and a few tears shed all round. 

Our fundraising link to help us continue our work will be up in the next few days and we will share it with everyone. 

We are also hoping to find a local shop or two who can collect food for us and also a shop or two to have a virtual donation charity tin for us which can be used contactless.

We continue our mission to make sure no one goes hungry and that food is not wasted.

Latest roadworks in the area

Latest local roadworks notified by One Network are:  Castle Street, Llangollen, Denbighshire 20 May — 22 May Delays likely - Traffic control (multi-way signals) Works location: Castle Street Works description: 18/05/20-23/05/20/Jayne Valentine/Trial holing/multiway signals... Responsibility for works: Sir Ddinbych - Denbighshire Current status: Advanced planning Works reference: QR015S000000001470 Market Street, Llangollen, Denbighshire 20 May — 22 May Delays possible - Traffic control (multi-way signals) Works location: Market Street Works description: 18/05/20-23/05/20/Jayne Valentine/Trial holing/Multiway signals... Responsibility for works: Sir Ddinbych - Denbighshire Current status: Advanced planning Works reference: QR015S000000001473 East Street, Llangollen, Denbighshire 20 May — 22 May Delays unlikely - No carriageway incursion Works location: East Street Works description: 18/05/20-23/05/20/Jayne Valentine/Trial holing/3 way lights... Responsibility for works: Sir Ddinbych - Denbighshire Current status: Advanced planning Works reference: QR015S000000001469