SEVERAL East Grinstead athletes performed well at the County Schools Championships last weekend.
A small number of East Grinstead Athletic Club members took part in the Sussex and Surrey Schools Championships, with the majority competing at the Sussex Championships at Crawley's K2. And the Grinstead athletes performed well, winning several medals in the track and field events.
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SPrint star: Chloe Hollamby won the 300m at the Sussex Schools' Championships
Sarah Killick-Bird was one of the star performers, winning her senior girls' 400m hurdles race in 73.9 seconds. In her last appearance at these Championships, she also took part in the high jump, clearing 1.40m.
Abby Beswick was also in action in the junior girls' 75m hurdles. She was a comfortable winner in her heat with 12.2 seconds and she then went on to claim another gold medal by winning the final, this time against a stronger wind, in a time of 12.3 seconds. In the early afternoon, Chloe Hollamby made it three track gold medals in her intermediate girls' 300m when she ran strongly to win by about 20 metres in a time of 44.2 seconds.
A fourth Sussex gold medal was obtained, this time in a field event. In 2011, Natasha Barnes went to school in Kent and she won the junior girls' javelin in the Kent Championships. However, a change of schools meant a change of counties in 2012 and her best throw of 29.28m, a pb, won her the Sussex junior girls' javelin.
Meanwhile, at Kingston, Joe Domingues was taking part in the junior boys 400m races in the Surrey Championships. He was second in his heat in just under 59 seconds, and then came seventh in his final in 58.27 seconds.
Sarah Rusling, in the Surrey intermediate girls long jump, found the wind upsetting her run-up and she was disappointed to jump only 4.65m.
Elric Doswell, at school at Kings School in Ely, was taking part in the Cambridgeshire Championships. On holiday the previous week he had triple-jumped more than 12 metres for the first time in a league match for the club. He was not quite able to repeat this, but nevertheless his best jump of 11.98m was enough to give him first place in intermediate boys. He then added to this when he jumped a 5.65m long jump pb to earn a second gold.
รข— The club's under 15 athletes are this Friday evening at Broadbridge Heath in the Sussex Under 15 League, while some of last weekend's athletes will represent Sussex Schools at Kingston.
Training continues on Tuesdays and Thursdays at Imberhorne Upper School from 7 to 8pm for younger athletes and 7.30 to 8.45pm for older athletes.
New members (Year 6 and up) are welcome. More information can be found at www.egac.co.uk or from Lester Medcalf at lestermedcalf@btinternet.com.
Source: www.thisissussex.co.uk
London 2012: Jenny Meadows a doubt for Olympic Games - The Guardian
Jenny Meadows's participation in the London 2012 Olympics is in doubt after she was ruled out of this weekend's trials in Birmingham. The 800m runner has not raced at all this year because of an achilles injury.
Meadows is still recovering from the problem and will now need to rely on the discretion of the selectors to be awarded the third and final place on the team for London. "I am gutted to be missing out on the trials, but we always knew it would be a race against time to be fit enough," she said. "Every day of my recovery is like a week so the extra few days ahead of [the European championships in] Helsinki will make a big difference to the injury and ensure I am able to go out and compete and demonstrate my fitness ahead of selection for London 2012."
Jeanette Kwakye, a 2008 Olympic finalist in the 100m, will also miss the trials due to an achilles and ankle injury. "I have been working with the UKA medical team at Lee Valley and on their advice and in consultation with my coach Michael Afilaka we have decided to miss the trials," said Kwakye, who has a best of 11.68sec this year and sits well down the British rankings. "We will reassess the injury on Monday in relation to the European championships.
"I am eligible for selection for the Games and am still determined to be fit and ready for competing in my own backyard in Stratford."
The pair's withdrawal is worrying news with the Games six weeks away and comes just a day after Hannah England, the world championships silver medallist over 1500m, announced she too would miss the trials after suffering a spike to her achilles in a race in Holland three weeks ago.
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
London amongst the most congested cities in Europe - The Independent
London, Manchester and Liverpool were all among the most congested cities in Europe last year, statistics from traffic information company INRIX showed.
Based on rush-hour commute-to-city travel in 2011, the figures revealed that UK drivers spent 32 hours of the year stuck in traffic, although this was four hours less than in 2010.
Heading the congestion list last year was Belgium where drivers wasted 55 hours in traffic. The Netherlands was the next-worst country for jams, followed by Italy.
The INRIX figures also showed that in the London commuter zone last year, drivers wasted 66 hours in traffic, with the Greater Manchester figure being 45 hours and Liverpool being 39 hours.
The worst time for congestion in London was Friday from 4pm to 5pm, while Greater Manchester's worst time was Tuesday from 9am to 10am, with Liverpool's jams being at their worst between 4pm and 5pm on Wednesdays.
Nationwide, the worst time to be on the roads was in London between 4pm and 5pm, when it took an average of 33% longer to complete a journey than in uncongested conditions.
Overall, a journey along a UK major motorway during peak-time driving hours took, on average, 17% longer than in jam-free conditions.
All 18 UK cities analysed had fewer jams last year than in 2010, with Friday being the worst traffic day and Tuesday being the worst weekday morning.
The best weekday for traffic in the UK last year was Monday, with the worst commuting hour being 9am to 10am on Tuesdays and the best being 7am to 8am on Fridays.
Among UK cities, the biggest decline in hours wasted in traffic last year was in Birmingham, where drivers spent eight hours less in queues than in 2010.
Londoners spent seven hours less, with drivers in Newcastle upon Tyne, Nottingham and Glasgow all spending five hours less.
For European countries, the biggest drops in congestion between 2010 and 2011 were in Portugal (down 49%), Ireland (down 25%), Spain (down 12%) and Italy (down 12%).
INRIX Europe senior vice president Stuart Marks said: "So goes traffic, so goes the economy.
"Traffic congestion is an excellent economic indicator telling us whether people are going to work, businesses are shipping products and consumers are spending money."
These were the 10 most congested areas in the UK in terms of hours drivers spent stuck in traffic in 2011:
1. London commuter zone 66
2. Greater Manchester 45
3. Liverpool 39
4. Birmingham 34
5= Belfast-Lisburn 33
5= Newcastle upon Tyne 33
7. South Nottinghamshire 32
8. Leeds-Bradford-Harrogate 30
9= Sheffield 29
9= Edinburgh-Lothian 29
Source: www.independent.co.uk
'Remorseless' mother jailed for killing young daughter 'laughed and joked as girl lay dying in hospital' - Daily Mail
- CPS had felt there wasn't enough evidence top prosecute Lesley Dunford
- In 2009 East Sussex coroner Alan Craze demanded the case was revisited
By Leon Watson and Chris Parsons
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Lesley Dunford was onvicted of the manslaughter of her three-year-old daughter after an inquest into the 2004 death was dramatically halted by a coroner
A 'remorseless' mother jailed for killing her three-year-old daughter had laughed and joked as the young girl lay dying in hospital, it emerged today.
Lesley Dunford, 33, was yesterday convicted of the manslaughter of her young daughter Lucy eight years ago, after a coroner dramatically halted the youngster's inquest.
Dunford, jailed for seven years at Lewes Crown Court, suffocated Lucy just six months after her seven-month-old son Harvey died in an apparent cot death, the court heard.
But it emerged today that Dunford laughed and joked with her youngest daughter just minutes after medics said they were losing the battle save Lucy.
The mother also telephoned a vicar and her husband before calling for an ambulance for her stricken daughter, according to The Sun.
Dunford's daughter Lucy was found dead in February 2004 and after two conflicting post mortems her mother was arrested, however at the time the CPS felt there was not enough evidence to prosecute.
Sentencing yesterday Judge Richard Brown said: 'The jury have convicted you of manslaughter of your three-year-old daughter Lucy.
'It may well be you are the only one who knows exactly what happened on that dreadful day in 04 which took you from carer to killer.
'Since then you have done your level best to lie your way out of any responsibility.
'This indicates you have little or no remorse for what you did.'
Dunford's daughter Lucy was found dead in her bed at the family home in Camber, near Rye, East Sussex.
An original post mortem found that Lucy may have died from a sudden onset of a bacterial infection which led to her choking on her own vomit.
Dunford's house in Camber, East Sussex, where her daughter Lucy was found dead in her bed
However, during a second examination this was disputed and the idea put forward that suspicious bruising on the tot's upper body may mean her airways had been compressed forcefully.
At the time Dunford claimed her daughter had been 'perfectly fine' earlier in the day but that she had been tired so she had put her to bed - she later told paramedics she thought her daughter had had a 'fit'.
After she had found her daughter Dunfold refused to ring the emergency services until she had spoken to her husband - whom she told 'it's happened again' in reference to Lucy's younger brother Harley who had been found dead in his cot six months previously.
Describing how Dunford joked about her daughter in hospital, nurse Caroline Simpson, who was in a waiting room with the mother, said: 'The girl put a paper cup of water to her mouth but it spilled down her front.
'The mum said, "She's always doing that". She appeared to find it quite hilarious.'
Paramedics at Conquest Hospital in Hastings noticed two marks on her neck which had started to bruise and requested the attendance of police at the hospital.
Dunford was arrested in February 2004 and interviewed by police then and again in May.
Her case was passed to the Crown Prosecution Service who decided there was not enough evidence to charge Dunford with the murder of Lucy.
'This was a difficult and complex case that involved evidence from a number of medical experts.'
Simon Ringrose, CPS
But during her inquest in 2009 East Sussex coroner Alan Craze demanded the case was revisited.
The inquest threw up new information which had been given by medical experts in 2005 during a Family Court hearing into Lucy's death.
This information had not been passed on to the CPS. Dunford was then rearrested and charged in July 2011.
Prosecutor Sally Howes QC said during the trial that the inquest had 'excluded the likelihood' of a serious infection and found that injuries to the airways were consistent with an 'application of force'.
On July 12, 2011, Dunford was therefore rearrested and Ms Howes said she told officers: 'I have been waiting for this to happen.'
Dunford, 33, was arrested in February 2004 and interview by police then and again in May
During his sentencing Judge Brown told the court he took into account Dunford's 'childlike manner' and the 'long delay' in bringing the trial to court.
However he said courts have a duty to 'protect little people like Lucy from violence'.
Speaking afterwards, Detective Chief Inspector Nick Sloan, of the Surrey and Sussex Major Crime Team, said: 'There was a thorough police investigation at the time but the forensic evidence then did not support a prosecution.
'The death of Lucy was immediately treated as suspicious by Sussex Police. Her mother was arrested and interviewed and there was a thorough investigation.
'However, based on the information available at the time, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) decision was that there was insufficient evidence to support a criminal prosecution.
'The CPS decision turned largely on reports from two pathologists, which were conflicting.'
Simon Ringrose, of the CPS, said: 'This was a difficult and complex case that involved evidence from a number of medical experts.
'The reinvestigation into the circumstances of Lucy Dunford's death included obtaining further medical evidence.
'This evidence effectively ruled out a natural cause of death and was consistent with Lucy having been suffocated.
'The only person who could have done this was her mother, Lesley Dunford.'
After the sentencing Wayne Dunford declined to comment.
Source: www.dailymail.co.uk
Oh good heavens I shouldn't have looked at the mugshot, my eyes, my eyes!!!!!!
- Meg, here, 21/6/2012 06:05
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