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Blackpool Gazette
  • 24/03/2025
A round-up of the top stories from across Lancashire.
Transcript
00:00Hello, my name is Luke Patrick, I am a reporter for the Lancashire Post and the Blackpool
00:05Gazette. Here is the Daily Bulletin.
00:09Preston prisoner granted early release by Kia Starmer is sent back to jail after striking
00:13again.
00:14One of the first inmates let out of jail early under Sir Kia Starmer's plan to ease prisoner
00:20recrowding is back inside for stealing cars in Preston.
00:24Jamie Rowling O'Grady was released from the city's jail in September among the first batch
00:29of 1,700 convicts freed by the Labour government across the UK.
00:35The serial burglar McCarthy has been serving three years for stealing a £33,000 Mercedes
00:41and selling it for £100 when he was shown the door as one of 14 released from hatred
00:46booth Preston.
00:47While he was recalled to serve the remainder of his sentence after being convicted of another
00:54vehicle theft, he will not now be freed until February next year.
01:00Huge police search for 80-year-old who disappeared on regular walk around Lancashire beauty spots.
01:06Police are appealing for the public's help to find a missing 80-year-old who disappeared
01:09after going for a walk in Preston in Lancashire yesterday.
01:15Brian Fletcher, 80, has not been seen since leaving his home in Bury at around 1pm on
01:19Saturday March 22nd.
01:23Officers say his vehicle was last seen in the village of Totcoals near Blackburn and
01:27Darwin at around 1.30pm.
01:31A spokesperson for Lancashire Police said we are continuing the search for Brian Fletcher,
01:3580, who is missing having been walking in the Totcoals area of Lancashire.
01:42Drunken builder who took police on a highly dangerous 20-minute car chasing blackpool
01:47A drunken builder who tried to flee from police in a highly dangerous 20-minute car
01:53chase through the streets of Blackpool was spared jail by a judge.
02:00Kyle Hendry was said to have jumped five red lights, driven on the wrong side of the road,
02:04cut corners, smashed into a traffic island and flattened a street sign before losing
02:10control and crashing into two parked cars.
02:15When his black Mitsubishi pickup truck came to an abrupt halt he tried to escape on foot
02:20only to be arrested by officers a short distance away.
02:26Preston Crown Court heard he was almost 1.5 times over the drink drive limit when tested.
02:34Handing down a suspended prison sentence, recorder Geoffrey Lowe told Hendry, you indulge
02:39in an appalling piece of driving, the only mitigating factor is no one was injured.
02:45EastEnders mentioned Cheryl Ferguson set to open a new charity superstore in Lancashire.
02:52Actress Cheryl Ferguson, who is best known for playing Heather Trott in the BBC soap
02:57between 2007 and 2012, will be officially opening the new Trinity Hospice superstore
03:03in Cleveland at the end of the month.
03:05The Cleveland resident herself, Cheryl, who first moved to the Fylde Coast eight years
03:10ago with her husband and son, will be cutting the ribbon to the store on Monday March 31st
03:16with the ribbon-cutting ceremony taking place at 10am.
03:20The event also launches 59-year-old Cheryl's support of Trinity Hospice and its dedicated
03:26children's hospice, Brian's House.