Hereford Voice

The end of an era for RBS Bank as they will be closing their doors to customers tomorrow (Wednesday 8th) for the last time in Hereford. We would like to wish all of the staff good luck for the future.

Shell store development to create a business incubation and innovation centre. Former munitions site to be transformed into a flagship business incubation and innovation centre Work is to begin on a £7.3m redevelopment of Hereford’s Shell Store in January, transforming the historic building into a flagship business incubation and innovation centre. The redevelopment of the derelict building on Skylon Park, at Rotherwas, will create more than 2,000 sq metres of employment space, with room for new and growing businesses to set up and expand alongside facilities for development and innovation, presently earmarked for the new NMiTE University. This week saw the final funding agreements put into place to support the project at the former munitions site on the Hereford Enterprise Zone. The project is being funded via the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), Herefordshire Council and a loan from the Marches LEP’s Marches Investment Fund. The Shell Store, which is not a listed building, was built in the First World War and used again as an ordnance site during the Second World War. The project will see commercial space created within the existing building footprint, retaining much of the original factory including its steel roof structure. The incubation centre will provide high quality accommodation and support services to new or young enterprises as well as an application and development centre for the new Herefordshires university, NMiTE. This will create an interface between the new university and businesses as well as providing space for students to develop their practical projects. Chairman of the Hereford Enterprise Zone, Andrew Manning Cox, said the redevelopment is a major milestone for Skylon Park. The Marches Local Enterprise Partnership is providing a £2.498m interest free loan for the work with £2m being contributed by the ERDF and Herefordshire Council is investing the balance. Graham Wynn, chairman of the Marches LEP, said the project demonstrated the LEP’s commitment to delivering modern, sustainable jobs to the region and helping build a thriving economy. Councillor Harry Bramer, Herefordshire Council Cabinet Member for Contracts and Assets, said: The centre is due to be completed in early 2020 and initial preparatory work has already begun and will continue over the coming weeks.

Life in prison for the murder of Robert Eacock. Anthony Boyd, 23, of Circuit Close, Willenhall and Artaf Hussain, 33, of Slater Street, Tipton both received sentences of life imprisonment, with a minimum of 25 years, today. Mr Eacock was murdered on January 29 in Hereford city centre. Both Boyd and Hussain were found guilty of murder by the jury at Worcester Crown Court on August 3.

HEREFORDSHIRE’S MPs and county councillors are among the lucky few who do not have to pay to park at county council car parks, a freedom of information request has revealed according to this article in the Hereford Times Access to information officers also revealed that Herefordshire Council has allocated a total of 547 staff business passes for the last financial year. County MPs Bill Wiggin and Jesse Norman have been given permits for use while on business along with the Countess of Darnley, Susan Bligh, who is the Lord Lieutenant of Herefordshire. All 53 county councillors are issued with free parking permits which the council says can only be used while on council business but one member admitted it could be open to abuse.A councillor, who did not wish to be named, said: An information access officer said the 547 staff business passes had been allocated can only use them when on council business. She said: The officer explained that the parking permits were issued to remove the necessity of claiming back car parking charges while on business.She added:

AN elderly woman was in a collision with a cyclist in Hereford High Town yesterday. Police are appealing for witnesses to the incident. If you saw what happened or helped the woman call police on 101 with reference 583s 020818.

Two found guilty of the murder of Robert Eacock in Hereford Today at Worcester Crown Court, 23-year-old Anthony Boyd, of Circuit Close, Willenhall, and 31-year-old Artaf Hussain of Slater Street, Tipton have been found guilty of the murder of Robert Eacock. On the afternoon of 29 January 2018, Robert was stabbed in broad daylight as he waited to cross the road in Hereford City Centre. The 33-year-old tried to pursue his attacker but collapsed on Commercial Street, where he was treated by paramedics and then taken to Hereford County Hospital. Despite the best efforts of members of the public, police officers and medical professionals, Robert sadly died. CCTV from that day showed an interaction between Robert and Anthony Boyd outside a shop in the city. Following the conversation, Boyd went in and purchased a kitchen knife, which he concealed as he walked through the city centre. Anthony Boyd Footage revealed a further encounter between Boyd and Robert in Commercial Street at Blue School Street. There, in full view of members of the public, Boyd rushed towards the victim from behind and stabbed him once in the back. Boyd then ran from the scene and was initially pursued by the victim before he collapsed. The police investigation revealed that in the hours after the stabbing, Boyd left Hereford and travelled to the Tipton area of the West Midlands where he met up with Hussain, at the flat of an associate, Luke Mansell. Knowing the crime Boyd had committed, 21-year-old Mansell, of High Street, Tipton, proceeded to provide him with a change of clothing. Artaf Hussain Mansell was charged with assisting an offender and entered a guilty plea at an earlier court hearing. He is yet to be sentenced. An operation coordinated by West Mercia Police on 31 January led to Boyd's arrest in the Willenhall area of West Midlands. He was found in possession of a quantity of cocaine, but the murder weapon was never recovered. Witness evidence suggested Robert may have been stabbed by a drug dealer who was operating a supply line into Hereford, in partnership with a man who was later identified as Artaf Hussain. He was subsequently arrested by officers from West Mercia Police at an address in Dudley, West Midlands on 15 February. In court, Hussain claimed he did not have any contact with Anthony Boyd around the time of the murder, and did not take part in any discussion or agreement to harm the victim. Boyd had entered a guilty plea for manslaughter which was not accepted by the prosecution. He claimed that he did not buy the knife with the intention of killing Robert Eacock or causing serious harm to him. DCI Leighton Harding, Senior Investigating Officer said: "Robert Eacock was murdered by Boyd, a drug dealer, in a deliberate act of violence. At the time of the murder, Boyd had been operating as a county lines drug dealer for Hussain. "The victim's initial encounter with Boyd on the morning of 29 January started a chain of events that involved two-way mobile phone communication between Boyd and Hussain, and an agreement between them or encouragement for Boyd to harm the victim. "This resulted in Robert being brutally murdered in broad daylight, and in the most public of locations. "Their actions were premeditated and demonstrated a total disregard for human life and public safety. Whilst no length of sentence will ever ease the pain felt by Robert's loss, I hope that today's verdict will provide a sense of closure for his family." He continued: "I would like to pay testament to the members of the public, police officers and medical professionals for their best efforts to save Robert's life, both at the scene and in hospital." "I would also like to thank the witnesses who came forward with their valuable contributions, and the local community for their support. "Finally, I would like to thank all police officers and staff who worked on this case for their professionalism and commitment to bring the offenders to justice." Police and Crime Commissioner, John Campion said: "Like the rest of our communities, I was shocked and saddened to hear about this incident. I'd like to thank the officers who acted professionally to arrest the offenders and bring them before the courts, as well as the communities who came together, and supported the police. It is reassuring to know that incidents like this are extremely rare, and I am confident in West Mercia Police's continual approach to keeping the public safe from harm. "

Here is the location plan.

Plans have been submitted for a proposed retail pod at Asda store. The Timpson retail pod if approved will be positioned just outside of the entrance to Asda in Hereford. Application P182499/F

The Three Choirs Festival has begun in Hereford and is a week-long programme of choral and orchestral concerts, cathedral services, solo and chamber music recitals, masterclasses, talks, theatre, exhibitions and walks, rotating each summer between the beautiful English cathedral cities of Hereford, Gloucester and Worcester. It is the oldest non-competitive classical music festival in the world, which celebrated its 300th anniversary in 2015. At the heart of the modern festival are the large-scale evening concerts featuring the Three Choirs Festival Chorus and the Philharmonia Orchestra, which has been resident at the festival since 2012. The main festival’s packed schedule of daytime events is augmented by a community programme which varies slightly in style in each city. The Three Choirs Festival is run by dedicated voluntary committees in Hereford, Worcester and Gloucester, supported by a small professional management team based at the Three Choirs Festival Association’s office in Gloucester. The Three Choirs Festival, which was first held in 1715, is probably the oldest music festival in the world. The Festival is held in turn in one of the three cathedral cities of Gloucester, Hereford and Worcester. This year the Festival takes place between 28 July and 4 August and, by rotation, it will be hosted by the cathedral and city of Hereford. Click HERE for tickets and more details.

Spot on

A former Hereford trader has been jailed for 25 months after Herefordshire Council’s Trading Standards Officers seized a record haul of counterfeit tobacco A former Hereford trader has been jailed for 25 months for selling illegal tobacco. Hemin Jamal, 37, the former owner of the Hereford shops, Supersam on Eign Street and Mila on Belmont Road, pleaded guilty to eight offences in June, and was sentenced at Worcester Crown Court on Monday 23 July for selling illegal tobacco and for being in possession of a large amount of counterfeit tobacco products. The case was taken to court by Herefordshire Council, after the illegal tobacco was discovered at Mr Jamal’s shop premises in November 2016, by the council’s trading standards team. Officers seized a total of 360,000 illegal cigarettes and 25kg of fake hand rolling tobacco. The fake and smuggled products were found hidden in containers hired by Mr Jamal and were concealed in instant barbecues in a bid to avoid detection. The record haul equated to £130,000 in duty tax evasion. Investigations unveiled that almost half of all customers entering the Supersam convenience store at Eign Street, were purchasing illegal tobacco products, which were retrieved from the flat above the shop by members of staff. Mr Jamal owned both shops for over a year, until new owners took over both premises in February 2017. Marc Willimont, Head of Development Management and Regulation, said: If anyone has any information regarding the sale of illegal tobacco within Herefordshire, please contact trading standards on 01432 261761.

This is how High Town Hereford looks and this is the scene that visitors and tourists will remember about our city... 'Stop The Drop' they say, how about we start our own campaign called 'Rid The Trash' to encourage the council to start emptying the bins more often throughout the day, particularly at the weekends. Where has the pride in our beautiful city gone? ENFORCEMENT We have wonderful community groups all volunteering their own time to clean up our city, but rather than cleaning up AFTER people have dropped the litter maybe we should concentrate efforts more towards encouraging the council to start issuing fines and using the CCTV facilities in order to catch these people. We are also in favour of 'Naming and Shaming' people who drop rubbish and litter.

Five boys from the Hereford area, (four 17-year-olds and a 16-year-old) have been arrested on suspicion of drug related offences, as police continue to investigate the death of a 17-year-old boy.