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A high-ranking former Kent police chief at the centre
of an investigation into allegations he sexually harassed female
colleagues took his own life, a coroner has ruled.
David Ainsworth, who rose to the rank of assistant chief constable at Kent after 22 years in the force, had relocated to Wiltshire at the time of the investigation.
He was facing up to 24 allegations from women across the two forces.
The then Deputy Chief Constable with Wiltshire police was found hanged while under investigation for making sexist remarks to female colleagues.
Brian Moore, the former chief constable of Wiltshire Police, said the force had offered support to David Ainsworth in the weeks before his death.
The inquest heard Mr Ainsworth felt the force was "gunning for him" and feared he would "lose everything" as a result of the investigations.
But his former boss Mr Moore - now head of the troubled UK Border Force - said Mr Ainsworth's welfare was taken seriously.
Trowbridge Coroner's Court in Wiltshire was told investigations into alleged sexist behaviour covered DCC Ainsworth’s two years with Wiltshire Police AND his 22 years at Kent.
The high-flying officer - who earned £110,00 a year and was nicknamed ‘The Brain’ due to his intelligence - was accused of telling one female ‘nice buttons’, while looking at her top, in one of the claims.
Coroner David Ridley heard the allegations relating to Mr Ainsworth's time in Kent surrounded two text messages - but the court was not told the exact nature of the claims.
But the inquest was told yesterday Mr Ainsworth had been researching suicide methods on the internet up to one month before he died.
The information was revealed through examinations of the officer's personal computer.
They included viewing websites on hanging and started on February 25 - shortly after he received statements of those making allegations against him.
The last search was made on March 21 - one day before he died.
DCC Ainsworth’s partner Joanna Howes previously told the inquest how she found her boyfriend hanging in the garage of their cottage on March 22.
Mr Ainsworth, 49, was removed from regular duties last September as South Wales Police conducted an external inquiry. He joined Kent Police in 1986, before leaving to work in Wiltshire.
While in Kent, he took on a number of roles, including head of the force inspectorate, area commander at north Kent and head of the force communications centre.
David Ridley, coroner for Wiltshire and Swindon, recorded a verdict Mr Ainsworth had taken his own life.
Wednesday, June 13 2012
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Source: www.kentonline.co.uk
Essex collapse hands Surrey a thrilling first FL t20 win - BBC News
Off-spinner Gareth Batty took three wickets as Surrey benefited from an Essex collapse to win a low-scoring opening group match in the FL t20.
Surrey were restricted to 128-8 from their 20 overs, with Graham Napier (3-16) the pick of the Essex bowlers.
Essex reached 54-1 in reply but lost their next seven wickets for 34 runs.
Tim Phillips (16no) bravely took on the run chase but Batty (3-20) saw Surrey home as Essex finished on 111-9, 18 runs short of their victory target.
Napier did the early damage in the Surrey innings, removing skipper Rory Hamilton-Brown and Zander de Bruyn in successive balls in his first over.
Gary Wilson (33) and Jason Roy (22) led the fightback, but they were the only batsmen to pass 20 for the hosts.
England international Ravi Bopara (28) and Mark Pettini (20) gave Essex the perfect start and it seemed as though they would cruise to victory at the Oval.
But their progress was checked by Batty, who removed Bopara, Owais Shah and James Franklin.
Jade Dernbach and Dirk Nannes kept things tight at the end of the innings, as the Essex tail battled in vain to reach their victory target of 129.
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Kent State baseball team both lucky and good as it prepares for first College World Series - Akron Beacon Journal
Few, if anyone, could have seen this coming.
Kent State in the College World Series? Especially a year after losing four players to the Major League Baseball Draft, including top pitcher Andrew Chafin, the 44th overall player taken by the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Even Golden Flashes coach Scott Stricklin didn’t expect it. But despite being a predominantly young team without a superstar player, the Golden Flashes have won a program-best 46 games, including a 21-game winning streak, and are poised to play on college baseball’s biggest stage.
“I’d like to say I did, but we lost so much talent,” Stricklin said by phone Tuesday, less than 24 hours after the Flashes beat host Oregon 3-2 in the deciding Game 3 in Eugene, Ore. “I felt confident we’d compete for the [Mid-American Conference] title. But no, I can’t say I saw this coming.”
There’s an old adage in baseball that sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good. The Flashes, now ranked eighth, proved to be pretty good this season, but luck has certainly played a big part in the postseason run that has them playing Arkansas (44-20) at 5 p.m. Saturday in the opening round of the CWS.
Big and little bounces have gone the Flashes’ way. First there was Evan Campbell’s controversial home run that might or might not have cleared the proper marking that sent KSU past Kentucky in the regional. Then there was Jimmy Rider’s game-winning bloop double that was lost in the setting sun in Monday’s super regional clincher against the Ducks.
“To win 21 straight like that, it feels like we’ve had a lot of luck involved,” Rider, the MAC’s all-time hits leader, said by phone. “We’ve certainly had a lot of things go our way. It kind of went against us Sunday night (in a 3-2 loss to Oregon), but besides that, so many of the breaks have gone our way.”
Stricklin, a former KSU catcher (1992-95), knows the part a little luck can play in team’s season of dreams.
“We said that in the dugout Saturday,” he said. “We got a call in the crazy game we won 7-6 [over Oregon] and I looked at Derek Toadvine and said, ‘You know what, Derek? Somebody wants us to go to Omaha.’ ”
Perhaps even more surprising is that the Flashes have managed to advance this far without a bona fide superstar, instead utilizing a collective team effort.
“I don’t think we have any superstars on our team,” Stricklin said. “I was asked about that in regional play. They said, ‘you guys aren’t star-studded.’ I said ‘No, but we have a bunch of good baseball players.’ And that’s what we are; a group of 34 really good players who play the game hard and play the game right. Also, we’re all from Ohio and Western Pennsylvania. We’re all hometown kids and that’s what this team is: hard-working, blue-collar guys that represent Northeast Ohio.”
Despite losing top-notch talent from last year’s team, the remaining group’s desire to atone for last year’s inability to get out of regional play remained strong from the start of the season.
“I think it’s been building with this team for the last year,” Stricklin said. “When we lost to Texas in regional play, it was really tough to handle. The kids really wanted to get back and have another crack at it.”
Still, getting this far was unexpected, even if the idea of finally reaching Omaha has always been treated as the main goal during Stricklin’s tenure at KSU.
“We all talk about Omaha,” he said. “Every single college baseball coach, at some point in his speech, Omaha comes up. The city of Omaha is the mecca of college baseball. So, we’ve talked about it as a team and our players have dreamed about it. But to actually be here, it just hasn’t settled in quite yet.”
But it will. After everything the Flashes have been through this season, it’s hard to imagine any stage being too big for these underdogs.
“[TD Ameritrade Park] is a $200 million dollar stadium,” Stricklin said of the home of the CWS. “It’s one of the nicest baseball stadiums in the world. I think that’s when it’ll all start to settle in, when the guys just go ‘oh my gosh, what have we done?’ [Today] when we first practice there, that’s when it’ll really hit us.”
Stephanie Storm can be reached at sstorm@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Kent State blog at http://www.ohio.com/flashes. Follow her on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/SStormABJ .
Source: www.ohio.com
Kent State referred to as, oops, 'Kentucky St.' on mockup for College World Series 2012 T-shirts - Cleveland Plain Dealer
Should a Kent State Golden Flashes baseball player need any more reason, though, to apply all of his attention and concentration to the next pitch, he might want to remember this funny and unintended gaffe by the company that makes College World Series T-shirts for the NCAA.
The NCAA is selling T-shirts recognizing all of the teams that will play in the College World Series which begins this weekend in Omaha, Neb. Kent (46-18), making its first-ever World Series appearance, will begin tournament play Saturday against Arkansas (44-20).
Charles Apple writes for copydesk.org about the blunder. He refers to a photo, carried on the copydesk.org website, of the T-shirt backs, and writes:
Rhett Umphress, on his Twitter account, has tracked the NCAA's diss of the Golden Flashes.Check out the second one from the bottom: “Kentucky St.” In fact, that should be Kent State. The Golden Flashes are from Kent, Ohio, a few miles southeast of Cleveland.Kentucky State — home of the the green and gold “Thorobreds” — is in Frankfort, Ky. And, no: They are not playing in the College World Series.
Thanks to Rhett Umphress of ESPN The Magazine for tweeting this one today.
The mistake was quickly corrected, and KSU sources today told The Plain Dealer's Elton Alexander that the error was caught in the mock-up stage and no T-shirts with the wrong name were printed.
Nonetheless, the Golden Flashes have even more incentive to make Ohio proud.
Updated 5:04 p.m. EDT to reflect that error was made by T-shirt company and was caught before any shirts were printed.
Source: www.cleveland.com
Paramedic 'deflated ambulance tyre at end of her shift to avoid overtime and answering 999 call' - Daily Mail
- Victoria Parker avoided helping an elderly lady who had suffered a fall in Essex
- Five former colleagues accused her of intimidating and bullying them
- She was suspended by East of England Ambulance Service and has since resigned
- Panel found her guilty of misconduct and dishonesty and banned her for five years
By Rob Preece
|
A bullying paramedic who let down one of the tyres on her ambulance to dodge an emergency call-out has been struck off.
Victoria Parker admitted she had been a ‘stupid a**e’ for sticking a pen into the tyre to let out air so she could finish her shift on time.
She was guilty of misconduct and dishonesty by avoiding the call to help an elderly lady who had suffered a fall, a Health Professions Council panel ruled.
Accusation: Victoria Parker let out air from an ambulance tyre to avoid attending an emergency call-out, a hearing was told
Parker, who was a paramedic with the East of England Ambulance NHS Trust, was adjudged to have put patients at risk by deliberately putting the ambulance out of service.
Parker, who has since quit the service and moved to Australia, was also found to have bullied and intimidated junior colleagues.
She was banned from practising for at least five years.
Panel chairman Clare Reggiori said: ‘The registrant’s actions on more than one occasion of causing an otherwise sound ambulance to be taken off the road for entirely selfish reasons had the potential to put patients at risk.
‘There was very little evidence that the registrant had shown insight into the possible impact of her conduct on patients who might have suffered as a consequence of the ambulances being off the road.’
Parker, who did not attend the hearing at Whitefield House in London, admitted letting a tyre down 30 minutes before the end of her shift on May 19, 2009, to avoid treating the elderly woman in South Woodham Ferrers, Essex.
Allegation: Parker used a pen to deflate the nearside front tyre of the ambulance, the Health Professions Council heard
During the trust’s internal investigation, she admitted: ‘I untwiddled the valve cap and with my pen I let a little air out of the tyre.
‘I told control we had a slow flat. I didn’t tell anyone about this.
‘I am a stupid a**e.’
Parker had also confessed to repeating the trick on March 10, 2010, during an internal assessment day, but the panel said it could not be sure this was true after hearing ‘vague’ witness evidence.
Parker was responsible for supervising student paramedics at Rayleigh Ambulance Station.
Parker claimed to have got on with paramedics Clair Flynn, Gail Newman, and Samantha Watson, but they gave evidence contradicting this.
They described a ‘clear pattern of sustained intimidation and bullying’ during a deteriorating relationship with Parker.
Ms Reggiori said: ‘The registrant’s actions were serious, deliberate, wilful and reckless. As found by the panel, they were also dishonest.
‘They also involved student paramedics for whom the registrant was responsible while they were in her charge.
No-show: Parker, who has moved to Australia, did not attend the hearing at Whitefield House in London
‘She was a person to whom they should be able to look to for guidance on proper professional standards and behaviour.
‘Her conduct in bullying her colleagues demonstrated, in the panel’s view, a deep-seated attitudinal problem about which the registrant appeared to have virtually no insight.
‘We saw at first hand the very profound effect which her conduct still has on those of her colleagues who gave evidence at this hearing.’
Parker has shown little remorse for her actions, the panel ruled.
It also raised concerns about the training of student paramedics at the trust, and ordered for a copy of the ruling to be sent to the chief executive.
An allegation that Parker instructed a student paramedic to falsify paperwork following the tyre incident was not proven, the panel found.
Source: www.dailymail.co.uk
Essex Fire Crews Vote Two To One In Favour Of Strike Action - Market Wire
ESSEX, ENGLAND--(Marketwire - June 13, 2012) - Essex fire crews have voted TWO to ONE in favour of strike action in a dispute over frontline cuts and changes forced through without proper negotiation or agreement. Current plans for cuts would see the loss of one in five frontline crews in Essex since 2008, with the public already waiting longer for fire crews to turn up to fires in the home.
The strike ballot result will be considered by representatives from fire stations and workplaces across Essex and the fire authority will be given notice of strike dates by the General Secretary in due course. The Fire Brigades Union said there was still time to resolve the dispute before any strike action takes place.
Prior to the ballot the union was told that all issues in dispute would continue to be implemented and cuts imposed regardless of any talks with ACAS or national fire service conciliators. The union believed this undermined moves to resolve the dispute.
Mick Rogers FBU brigade secretary said: "Essex fire crews have shown the strength of opposition to frontline cuts and changes being forced through without their agreement. The result explodes the myth peddled to councillors that fire crews have no genuine concerns.
"This damaging myth has led the councillors to support disastrous plans to impose changes and press ahead with cuts. There is a window of opportunity to negotiate and reach an agreement acceptable to both sides in this dispute if councillors want that to happen.
"No one in the fire service ever wants to take strike action and no one will be happy if we are forced to do so. It is crucial the fire authority now wakes up and joins with us in genuine moves to resolve this dispute."
Ballot result
The number of frontline full time firefighters have been slashed by 100 since 2008, loss of one in eight. The number of retained 'on call' firefighters has dropped by 60 since 2008, a loss of one in ten.
Further planned cuts would bring total losses of frontline fire crews to one in five since 2008.In the same period of time, Essex Fire Service has increased back office staff by 7.5% - from 238 in 2008 to 256 today.
Source: www.marketwire.com
TOWIE's Little Chris and Danni to 'take things further' - list.co.uk
Little Chris and Danni Park-Dempsey
'The Only Way is Essex' star Little Chris is keen to "take things further" with his co-star Danni Park-Dempsey after the pair spent a number of nights together.
'The Only Way is Essex' star Little Chris is keen to "take things further" with his co-star Danni Park-Dempsey.
The 24-year-old reality TV star - whose real name is Chris Drake - has enjoyed a number of nights out with the 21-year-old beauty and the pair have grown increasingly close since filming the ITV2 show's 'The Only Way is Marbs' special episode in the Spanish resort.
A friend told BANG Showbiz: "They started getting close towards the end of the last series. In Marbella, Chris told Danni he was keen to take things further.
"Danni really likes him - he is a lot of fun. Watch this space."
Chris is planning to work his magic by taking Danni on a date tomorrow night (14.06.12) at the wrap party for 'TOWIE's fifth series at the Sugar Hunt in Essex.
The pair went out in Brighton last night (12.06.12) and Chris took to his twitter account to post a number of pictures of him and Danni snuggling up together.
In a message accompanying a picture of the pair, he wrote: "Myself with the lovely @MisPark_Dempsey :)) she so so funny xx (sic)"
In another tweet attached to a photo, he stated: "Myself and the lovely @MisPark_Dempsey but this time in (sic) her onsie on the way home:) (sic)"
'The Only Way is Marbs' will air on ITV2 at 10pm tonight (13.06.12).
More: Celebrity gossip, TV gossip (Celebrity gossip), Danni Park-Dempsey, Little Chris
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West Sussex sea defences may have trapped flood water - BBC News
The Environment Agency is investigating whether or not sea defences in West Sussex trapped flood water, making flooding there worse.
Flood water is being pumped away from parts of West Sussex where many people were forced to flee their homes.
Residents living in Bracklesham Bay said the water level only dropped when an emergency channel was dug.
However, Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman said the defences were not to blame.
The Environment Agency said no further properties had flooded overnight but it was keeping a watch on river levels.
It added that teams had been working round the clock with other emergency responders, checking flood defences and clearing blockages.
Gordon Wilson, from the Environment Agency, said: "We're investigating to try to understand what has led to such severe flooding here.
"And it is possible that given the diameters of pipes we put in as an interim measure, they were not sufficient to cope with such a huge amount of rain in such a short space of time."
Bracklesham resident Christopher Purchase said the water level remained static until the digger cut through the sea defences.
"It's pouring out of there like a plug out of the bath," he said.
However, Ms Spelman, who was visiting the area, said the Environment Agency did not believe the sea defences caused the floods, but the "sheer volume" of rainfall.
She added: "I've been very impressed by the emergency services response and all the other partners involved... but above all the community, and the way everyone pulled together to deal with an extreme weather event of this kind."
Roads impassableRising flood waters affected about 250 homes in the village of Elmer and caravans on two sites in Bracklesham.
Two flood warnings remain in place for the River Arun watercourse at the Aldingbourne Rife in Bersted and Felpham.
West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service said it had dealt with about 1,000 calls in 24 hours, evacuating hundreds of homes and pumping water from them.
Sean Ruth, deputy county fire officer for West Sussex, said it had been "an incredibly busy time" and it was necessary to seek help from neighbouring fire services in East Sussex and Hampshire.
Many roads had been impassable due to flooding. Closures remain in force on the A29 Lidsey Road at Woodgate and several minor roads to the west of the county.
There are also restrictions on the A259 at Littlehampton and A281 London Road at Henfield.
Nine schools in Bognor Regis and Chichester were either closed or partly closed because of the conditions, along with Felpham Community College.
Laburnum Grove Junior School in Bognor Regis remained shut on Wednesday due to serious flooding, and is not expected to reopen until next Tuesday.
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Former Kent State baseball greats caught up in pride of trip to College World Series 2012 - Cleveland Plain Dealer
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Kent State's baseball season usually begins the same way -- with a 16-hour bus trip south.
And the in-travel entertainment, at least when future major leaguer Dirk Hayhurst was a Golden Flash, was the highlight reel from the previous year's College World Series.
"That was the goal. That's why we played," said Hayhurst, who pitched for Kent State from 2000-03 and still holds the school's career records in innings pitched and strikeouts.
"This," he said, "is what all the guys I went there with wanted to accomplish."
As anyone who has remotely paid attention to college baseball knows by now, his old team will finally be on that highlight reel. Kent State made school history this week by reaching the College World Series.
The thrill has not been lost on some of the best who ever wore the blue and gold uniform, regardless of age or geography.
"Oh, my God, isn't it awesome?" gushed Rich Rollins.
Rollins, of Bath, starred at Kent State from 1956-60 and became the first Golden Flash to make the majors. He's played in All-Star games and the World Series with Minnesota, but the success of his college team has him bursting.
"It's like a happening," he said.
For Rollins, the team's success is also a generational thing. His son, Patrick, also played there, and one of his son's teammates was current Kent State coach Scott Stricklin.
"I don't think I've ever pulled for a team more than I have for this situation right here," said Rollins, who starred at Parma High and the Cleveland sandlot leagues in the 1950"s. "It would be awesome for the whole area. Just awesome."
When Rollins played second base, former Benedictine star and Major League draftee Nobby Lewandowski was on the mound, and Gene Michael, a former star at Akron East and a 10-year major leaguer, was at short.
In fact, Kent State played on Gene Michael Field for 39 seasons before a new one was built in 2005. The old field's namesake is now a New York Yankees scout who is appreciating his former team's achievements from afar.
"I'm tickled to death," said Michael, who hadn't been following the Flashes until Monday's thrilling, last-of-the ninth win over Oregon that sent Kent to Omaha.
Although most of Kent State's competitors in the series are from big conferences with baseball-school reputations, Michael believes Kent's chances are good.
"Anybody can win that," said Michael, who also played basketball at Kent before he was drafted by Pittsburgh in 1959. "Get a couple hot pitchers and you can win that thing."
Steve Stone knows about pitching. When he was Kent State's ace until he graduated in 1970, his catcher and roommate on the road was the late Thurman Munson.
Now a broadcaster for the Chicago White Sox, the Brush High graduate was in the air traveling to his next game when he heard his alma mater had earned a trip to the series for the first time.
"It's nice. It's nice to see," Stone said, "and this, of course, is one of the real exciting things to anyone who was associated at all with Kent State University. I'm very excited for the boys and for coach Stricklin."
Stone has followed the team all season because he's friends with Indians voice Tom Hamilton, whose son, Nick, plays infield for the Golden Flashes. But beyond the personal connection, Stone said he's drawn to this edition of Kent State baseball for its chemistry.
"It truly is a team," said Stone, who won 107 games in 11 major-league seasons, including a remarkable 25-7 record with Baltimore in 1980.
"It reminds me a little bit of the Baltimore teams I played on," he said, "because if you broke out the rosters man for man, we weren't as good as some, but we played as a team."
That togetherness carried Kent State past Big Ten champion Purdue, Southeastern Conference power Kentucky and Oregon, the No. 5 team in the country -- and is stirring pride in some of yesterday's heroes.
Source: www.cleveland.com
