Decision on major village homes and appeal after town centre robbery
Your weekly round-up of Ashfield News
Good morning. In this week’s edition of Ashfield News a decision has been made on a proposal for new homes in an Ashfield village and there was an interesting call out for Ashfield Fire Station.
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Man assaulted shop employee and stole bike
A criminal who walked into a Nottinghamshire shop, assaulted an employee and stole a bike, has been jailed.
Jake Dennington rammed the bike into the victim and threw him into some shelves and into an arcade machine as he struggled to stop him, leaving him in pain and with cuts and bruises.
Following the struggle in Market Place, Sutton-in-Ashfield, Dennington, 32, left with a Carrera Vendetta bike.
The incident happened on Tuesday afternoon, October 3, and Dennington was arrested on October 9 in the back garden of a home in Pelham Street, Worksop.
Dennington, of Bath Street, Sutton-in-Ashfield, pleaded guilty to robbery and was jailed for three years and four months when he appeared at Nottingham Crown Court for sentencing on Friday, January 26.
He was also made subject of a two-year restraining order.
Police Constable Richard Shaw said: “This was a brazen robbery carried out in broad daylight. As well as being left with painful injuries, the victim was understandably left shaken and scared following this incident which happened in his place of work where he should feel safe.
“This type of violent criminality will not be tolerated in our communities and I’m pleased Dennington has now been taken off our streets.”
Decision on village homes plan
A proposal to create 50 homes on land in a Nottinghamshire village has been rejected.
It was hoped the properties would have been built off Main Street in Huthwaite.
In its decision, Ashfield District Council said current access along Main Street is ‘narrow and sub-standard’ and that proposed access alterations were ‘insufficient’.
Planners added in their notice that it was “deemed to represent an inappropriate form of development within the countryside, which would be an uncharacteristic intrusion into the open countryside through a substantial development.”
Images show huge observatory progress
New images released by the Sherwood Observatory show the progress being made on the multi-million pound project.
Funding for the Planetarium and Science Discovery Centre has come from the £62.6m Towns Deal.
The birds-eye images show how the radio centre workshop is now in position - this is the green container at the lower left of the picture - while the formwork for the concrete first floor.
A spokesperson for the observatory said progress is ‘really starting to accelerate now’.
An Ashfield District Council spokesperson added: “Opening later this year will be a world class facility opening up the world of science, technology, engineering, maths, and space to a whole new generation, and we can't wait to see the benefits this project will bring to Ashfield and beyond.”
‘Key witness’ sought after street robbery
Police are appealing for a ‘key witness’ after a 59-year-old woman was robbed in Kirkby-in-Ashfield while walking to walk.
The woman was walking through the town centre when she was approached by a man who demanded her rucksack.
She refused and the man then punched in the face, which caused her to fall to the floor. He then took her rucksack which contained a bank card, bus pass, water bottle, phone, umbrella and £60 cash.
After informing police of the incident, officers searched the area around Lowmoor Road, where the incident took place at around 5am on Thursday, January 25.
A suspect was arrested 40 minutes later, police said.
Detective Sergeant Matt Scott said: “This was a callous and cowardly robbery on a vulnerable woman who was assaulted before falling to the ground.
"She suffered facial injuries and pain to her knee as a result of this attack.
“As well as her physical injuries, this frightening incident has also caused her significant mental stress.
“Shortly before she was robbed, the victim spoke to a man she knows as ‘Steve’.
"I would like to stress, he is not a suspect, but he may be a key witness who has vital information which could assist our investigation. I am appealing for him to please come forward and speak to us as soon as possible.
“We’d also like to hear from anyone else who was in the area around the time of this incident, and has any relevant information, or who may have captured CCTV, dashcam or mobile phone footage that could aid us with our ongoing inquiries.”
Anyone with information is urged to call us on 101, quoting incident number 67 of 25 January 2024, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
A 22-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of robbery and remains in custody.
Firefighters called to large animal rescue
Firefighters from Ashfield Fire Station were called out to assist in a large animal rescue.
A horse managed to get stuck on a high gate on Sunday, January 28, images taken by the crew show.
The location of the incident was not revealed, but the animal was rescued by the gate being disconnecting the gate from the fence. This allowed it to walk away freely.
A tongue-in-cheek statement from the station said: “The horse was checked over by a vet and was ok, despite the long face.” See what they did there?
Thank you for reading this week’s Ashfield News. If you have a story, send an email to matt.bunn@protonmail.com