policesweets

SEN-eO1-S2 [SF] THE SENTINEL Saturday February 18, 2012 5NEWS

Officers issuecash warningPOLICE are urging bankusers to protect themselvesagainst theft while using cashm a ch i n e s.

The advice comes after twomen were arrested inconnection with tamperingwith cash machines.

The men, aged 26 and 37,from the Oldham area, werestopped in Longton towncentre just before 8.30pm onT hursday.

They were taken to thefo rc e ’s Northern AreaCustody Facility (NACF) inEtruria and last night theywere being questioned inconnection with the incident.

Police are also investigatingsuspicious activity around thecash machine at Tesco inLiverpool Road, Kidsgrove,during the same day.

But the officers say it is notyet known whether it wasconnected to the incident inLongton.

Police urged residents to:■ Check a cash machine hasnot been tampered with;■ Avoid getting distracted bypeople nearby;■ Stay away from a machineif they see someone actings u s p i c i o u s ly ;■ Keep PIN numbers safe andcover the keypad.

Anyone with information isasked to contact DC JeffTaylor on 101, quotingincident 685 of February 16, orcall C r i m e s t o p p e r s,anonymously, on 0800 555111.

Fifth time luckyfor race teamAN engineering firm hasfinally secured entry to thebiggest sports car race in theworld – after four failedat t e m p t s.

JWA Racing, in Eccleshall,has been accepted into theWorld EnduranceChampionship (WEC), whichcovers five continents overnine months.

Its most famous leg is theLe Mans 24-hour endurancer a c e.

JWA will be racing aPorsche 911 GT2 RSR in thechampionship, which startsnext month.

Company director andfounder, James Watt, said:“The whole team are thrilledto be competing on the worldsta g e.

“The world of motorsportsis a fickle one and this newshelps us plan for the future,ensures job security andprovides new opportunitiesfor us to grow the business.”

JWA designs and makesmany parts for a wide rangeof cars.

Hospital wards closed over flu scare

In briefLEEK: Police have charged a

teenager with stealing aNissan pick-up vehicle.

The Nissan was stolenfrom Cauldon Close,Leek, in the earlyhours of Tuesday,February 7, but was

abandoned a short distanceaway. A 14-year-old boy f ro mManchester has been chargedwith taking a motor vehiclewithout the owner’s consent,and will appear beforemagistrates at Fenton onMonday, February 27.

KNYPERSLEY: Marg aretWoolliscroft, aged 56, ofCoronation Avenue,Knypersley, denied fourcharges of acting in breach ofa restraining order and fourcharges of breaching an anti-social behaviour order. Hertrial will be held at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court on a dateto be fixed. Woolliscroft wasremanded in custody.

HANLEY: A woman stolealcohol on the firstanniversary of her father’sdeath so that she could bingedrink, a court was told.Gillian Green, aged 44, ofLower Bethesda Street,Hanley, pleaded guilty to theftof alcohol and food fromMorrisons, Etruria, onJanuary 8. She was given aconditional discharge for 12m o n t h s, with £85 costs.

CREWE: The Crewe andDistrict Youth Centre AGMwill be held in the MirionStreet centre on Wednesday at7pm.

THE SWEETBLUE LINE!

for officers’ work in theirneighbourhood, fromcommunity members.

“Procedures are inplace to make sure thatsuch donations aremade as transparentlyas possible and thatstandards of profes-sional public serviceand integrity aremaintained by allofficers and staff.”

What do youthink? Email us atletters@thesentinel.co.uk

Gifts to police includecakes, chocolates andbiscuits, booze, meals,concert tickets, acat... and evena Russian hat!

BY ALEX CAMPBELLalex.campbell@thesentinel.co.uk

BOBBIES in Staffordshirehave scoffed more than £7,400worth of chocolates, cakes,meals and biscuits handed inas gifts from the public inthree years.

Police are advised todeclare all treats donated tothem during work time on thefo rc e ’s gifts and hospitalityre gister.

Records from 2009 to 2011show 500 of the 639 giftsaccepted by officers weremeals, hospitality, confec-tionery and alcohol.

But officers also acceptedgifts worth a total of morethan £12,400 which rangedfrom a £6 kettle to £30 B&Qvouchers and a job lot ofm e n’s shower gel worth£200.

Other donations acceptedby officers included:■ A cat – accepted by oneofficer who was warned bythe owner it would be des-troyed if it did not find a newhome;■ Concert tickets worth £540handed to a PC by the eventorg aniser;■ A £100 cash donation usedto fund the upkeep of bicyclesat the Bradwell Police Post.

Chief Constable Mike Cun-ningham, pictured below,signed the register 17 timesafter attending a series ofmeals and suppers.

The county’s top cop alsogot two tickets worth £86 eachto the 2010 Carling Cup finalbetween Aston Villa andManchester United.

He also accepted a Russianhat from visiting dignit-aries and a bottle ofwhisky after givinga speech and a glassd e c a n t e r.

The register alsoreveals the 55 giftswhich were turnedd ow n .

They include aninvitation to the IT

Directors Forum on board acruise ship and a £200 VIPpackage at Leicester TigersRugby Club.

Notes on the register showsome officers are uneasyabout accepting gifts, withone stating she stored a bottleof wine in the station’s cup-board until she could find acharity raffle to hand it to.

Another officer who accep-ted a free lunch stated: “Des-pite many attempts to pay, themanager refused to acceptp ay m e n t . ”

And at least 20 officers saidthey only accepted gifts toavoid causing offence.

Former StaffordshirePolice inspector NigelGunn said: “I had to turngifts down quite regu-larly because peoplewould call in to saythanks with a bottle ofwhisky or wine andyo u ’re not supposed toaccept alcohol.

“I imagine the alcoholthat was accepted was toavoid causing offence,because that’s a realissue. If you do have toturn something downyou still want to makethem feel good.

“T hey’re little tokens.If someone takes thetrouble to send in a cardand a box of chocolatesit’s worth more to abobby than extra paybecause that’s why mostof them joined the force –to make a difference.

“It’s ever so common. Ithink it shows the public,by and large, support thepolice and we’re lucky tohave that relationship in

Staf fordshire.”A spokesman for

Staffordshire Policesaid: “By far the

largest categoryrelates to smalltokens of appreci-ation, such as bis-

cuits andch o c o l at e s,

WARDS in two North Staffordshire communityhospitals have been closed to new admissionsbecause patients and staff have gone down withflu-like symptoms.

They are the Cottage Ward at Leek MoorlandsHospital, where the virus has been confirmed,and the Chatterley Ward at Burslem’s Haywoodcentre, where tests are still being carried out.

Both are among a network of communityhospitals which take in recovering patients from

the University Hospital of North Staffordshire sobeds there can be cleared more quickly.

The wards are likely to stay shut to new casesfor between a week and a fortnight as the fluvirus can exist longer than other winter infec-tions such as the norovirus vomiting bug.

Nursing director Siobhan Heafield said“Other wards are not affected and routine clin-ics, the Leek minor injuries unit and Haywoodwalk-in centre continue to operate as normal.”

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