May 2009 Archives

A MAN has been jailed for three and a half years for cultivating cannabis plants.

Xuong Tran, 51, was jailed at Harrow Crown Court on May 14 after a jury found him guilty of producing approximately 180 cannabis plants in Langley Avenue, Eastcote.

He was charged after police found the cannabis factory on December 24 last year.

GARDENS across the area will be open to the public for a weekend to raise funds for charity.

Midsummer Weekend 2009, sponsored by Gibbs Gillespie and Ducks Hill Garden Centre, is taking place on June 20 and 21.

Twenty gardens in Moor Park, Northwood, Ruislip, Eastcote and Ickenham will be open all weekend to raise funds for various charities.

Tickets are £7 and many of the gardens will offer attractions such as tea, refreshments, plants for sale, raffles, live painting and a jazz band.

For tickets call Warren on 01923 451 616 or Tony on 01895 677 925 or go to www.localopengardens.com for more information.

A FORMER Eastcote teacher has been charged with repeatedly raping a nine-year-old girl and sexually assaulting another.

Robert Stringer, 56, a former teacher at Field End School, in Field End Road, Eastcote, was accused of three counts of rape and eight counts of sexual touching on one girl.

The Metropolitan Police said the offences are alleged to have taken place between June and December 2007.

He was also charged with two counts of indecent assault on another girl, who is believed to have been eight at the time, which allegedly took place between 1999 and 2000.

Stringer, who lives in Hertfordshire, was a teacher for several years at Field End School before he resigned.

He quit his job after a parent complained that he had shown the film Shakespeare In Love, which includes sex scenes, to children as young as seven in his drama club.

Police investigated but found no evidence that a crime had been committed.

The drama and class teacher then got a job at Canonbury Primary School in Islington, north London, but was sacked earlier this year.

He was removed after it emerged he was being investigated for showing the film to children at Field End School.

At the time of his dismissal, he said: "The police investigated and dropped the allegations completely. I left (Field End School) because I had serious health issues at the time."

It is understood the alleged sex attack victims came forward after publicity in the local and national media about his dismissal.

A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said Stringer was released on bail and will appear at Uxbridge Magistrates' Court on June 4.

Canonbury Primary School, whose pupils include one of London Mayor Boris Johnson's children and a child of Transport Minister Lord Adonis, has had a tempestuous year.

Headteacher Jay Henderson was sacked this month after being caught watching pornography on the internet at work.

Mr Henderson, 35, was also accused of presiding over a lax system of recruitment at Canonbury in which proper references were not obtained.

There is no suggestion that he is involved in any criminal wrongdoing.

WORK is due to start on the new access road into the old RAF Eastcote site.

The Great Crested Newts have been removed from the site and the clearing of the area for the construction of the alternative access to the site from Eastcote Road is due to start.

Wimpey Homes have also submitted revised plans covering additional tree planting to replace trees which were incorrectly removed.

Detailed plans of the alternative access have already been submitted to Hillingdon Council for approval. These include details of the road-works on Eastcote Road and details of the new Zebra crossing.

Any complains about things happening on or near the site should be made to the Site Manager Jim Mackay on 07887 873795.

When I looked on the Queensmead website for my next class I realised the only one I could do that week was 20-20-20. I had no idea what that was so I read the description. Basically it consists of 20 minutes aerobics, 20 minutes upper and lower body tone and 20 minutes floor work and stretching.

When I saw it was a class full of women and just two men, I thought it would be an easy one. However, when I saw the instructor I realised it was the same one who takes the Cardio kick class at Highgrove and I remembered I was in a lot of pain the day after that class.

This particular instructor likes to make you do the same exercise over and over again until your muscles pretty much can't take it anymore. After about 20 minutes of aerobics - you never would've guessed - we moved on to the upper bodywork. I thought that was hard enough but the next exercise we did was a killer. We had to do three sets of 16 side lunges on each leg. I could feel the lactic acid building up in my thighs, but I didn't realise how much they were hurting until the next day. I couldn't walk for three days after the class!

The floor work wasn't as bad. It involved a lot of sit ups, which always tends to hurt my neck more than my stomach.

I enjoyed the class but I didn't like the fact we worked certain muscles a lot more than others. There was also quite a lot of choreography involved as well, which I detest!

So, I have come to the end of my blog now. I didn't realise at the time of booking the 20-20-20 class that it was my last class. I said from the beginning that I would try out all the evening and weekends classes and I have - with a few exceptions.

I have done the Stretch and tone class and also the Step class so I don't think the Step and tone class is really going to be any different from these two. I haven't done Core stability, but that's because ever time I tried to book the class it was full. I also haven't done Pilates (which is a disappointment because I was quite looking forward to that). Even though it says on the website it's a class for all intermediate to advanced, when I called to book they told me the classes were run as a special course.
I also haven't done Ju-jitsu because it isn't included as part of the membership package...and to be honest with you, even though I did kickboxing for four years, I didn't feel comfortable with being thrown on the floor repeatedly.

However, 14 classes overall isn't too bad. It has been fun testing out the classes and writing this blog. I am going to try and keep up the exercise, so the classes I think I'll go back to will be the ones that involved a bit of kickboxing.

Hope you enjoyed reading, and if you want to have a look back at all my blogs, just type in fitness blog in the search bar to the right. Keep up the exercise!

CONCERNED residents are campaigning to get traffic calming measures in their road due to a huge increase in the volume and speed of cars.

More than 50 people turned out for a meeting held at St Lawrence Church Hall, in Bridle Road, Eastcote, last night (Tues) to come up with a way to make Cheney Street in Eastcote safer.

Carolyn Derecki, 66, a resident of the street and one of the organisers of the meeting, said: "We want some sort of traffic calming so it's safe to walk because in some areas there are no pavements, so with cars going at 30mph there's nowhere for pedestrians to jump."

In September 2007 residents of the road submitted a petition to Hillingdon Council requesting traffic calming measures in the road.

A survey was carried out in response to the petition and the results showed that the highest speed reached in the 20mph advisory section of the road was 56mph and in the 30mph section it was 55mph. Nearly a quarter of the vehicles recorded had broken the speed limit.

However, the council decided that the results did not justify a traffic calming scheme on safety grounds, but instead recommended that Cheney Street be kept under review.

Mrs Derecki said: "They were not sympathetic to our plight, but the danger continues to exist for all pedestrians and particularly the elderly, mums with buggies and children going to and from school.

"It will get worse and at some point someone will get knocked down and killed."

Resident Linda Laurie, 52, who also helped to organise the meeting, said: "The Government wants people to walk and cycle but the council didn't really see this as coming into the equation.

"The speed and volume of traffic has got worse over the last few years because of an increase in traffic in general and people's attitudes. Drivers aren't concerned about pedestrians and cyclists and they are getting increasingly aggressive.

"Cheney Street used to be a country lane and structurally it hasn't changed but traffic and society has."

Everyone at the meeting was in favour of the road becoming 20mph, but another meeting will be held to make a decision on what the residents want before taking a proposal to the council.

POLICE are appealing for witnesses after a man was viciously attacked in Eastcote.

Police were called to The Village Pizza, in Field End Road, Eastcote, at 1am on Saturday (9) and on arrival they found the 39-year-old Asian male with serious facial injuries.

The victim was in the eatery when the two suspects approached his two friends outside and asked them for a cigarette.

An argument ensued and when the victim came out to see what had happened he was approached by one of the suspects from behind who punched him in the face causing him to fall to the ground.

This suspect is described as a white male, about 25 years old, 5ft 7ins, stocky build with short dark hair wearing a white shirt, dark jeans and white trainers.

He then ran towards Eastcote Underground Station and was seen with his accomplice a little later at the junction with Field End Road and Aragon Drive.

The second suspect is described as a white male, about 25 years old, 5ft 8ins, with short dark hair wearing a blue shirt, dark jeans and white trainers.

Detective Sergeant Stephen Murphy said: "This was an unprovoked attacked which has left the victim with serious injuries.

"It is believed that the suspects spoke to two men in a car nearby who then drove off. We are keen to trace the driver and occupants of this vehicle.

"We are appealing for witnesses who may have seen the attack or have any information that may assist in the investigation."

Anyone with any information can call DS Murphy at Uxbridge CID on 020 8246 1447 or Crimestoppers anonymously 0800 555 111.

A MAN was taken to hospital after he was attacked in Eastcote.

The 35-year-old was taken to hospital with head injuries after the attack outside The Black Horse pub, in Eastcote Road, Eastcote, on Friday (8) at about 5pm.

Hillingdon Police are investigating the incident and are appealing for witnesses to come forward.

Anyone with information should call Detective Sergeant Beverley Kofi at Uxbridge CID on 020 8246 1447 or Crimestoppers anonymously 0800 555 111.

Well, Fighting fit at Highgrove was very similar to Boxercise at Queensmead - except for the fact that it was in a studio and not a school sports hall and there were a lot less people in the class.

I did notice though, that both the classes are about working different muscle groups and there's not much room to concentrate on technique.

A DRUNK driver who crashed into the central reservation barrier on the A40 has been given a suspended sentence.

Sarah Jane Veronica Sitton, 33, of Southbourne Gardens, Eastcote, was caught drink driving after she crashed on the A40, in Hillingdon, on April 10.

At Uxbridge Magistrates' Court today (Fri) she was handed a 12-week custodial sentence, suspended for 12 months, ordered to carry out 240 hours unpaid work, disqualified from driving for 29 months, and ordered to pay £70 court costs for the two offences.