‘I’VE NEVER SEEN SOMEONE SO FEROCIOUS AND OUT OF CONTROL’
Doctor tells of A50 road rage terror as children watched from car
A Road-rage driver stopped on an A50 roundabout - and challenged another motorist to a fight.
The drama unfolded on the Blythe Bridge roundabout on Friday night as a terrified doctor was driving with his two young children.
And the 45-year-old was on the phone to Police when the BMW driver wanted to start the fight.
Now the victim has given a description of the man driving the red BMW. He is in his late 20s or early 30s and was wearing a baseball cap.
The road-rage incident started when the victim pulled out to overtake a lorry on the 70mph stretch of the A500.
He said: “Suddenly a car was approaching at very high speed, easily over 100mph, and he came dangerously close to my bumper. He was flashing his lights, gesticulating, weaving his car, and tooting his horn. I found this tailgating and the rest very rude and I made no effort to go past the lorry or go quicker for him.
“He tried to undertake me at one point. I then let him pass when I pulled into the inside lane. He was screaming abuse as he drove past, and slammed his brakes on. He was clearly trying to stop my car so he could get out, so I pulled to the outside lane to avoid him trapping me in.
“I was very scared at this point for my boys and myself. He kept moving to whichever lane I went into. Cars behind were hitting their horns at his behaviour as he had caused a dangerous slowing of other traffic.”
The motorist had thought the roadrage incident was over when the BMW driver pulled off the A500. He added: “When he pulled off the A500 he slowed to scream more abuse at me, shouting for me to follow him for a fight. I ignored him and continued driving on the A500 and onto the A50 thinking it was over.
“But then further along the A50 I noticed a car speeding towards me and quickly realised, to my horror, that it was him again. I pulled over to let him pass immediately and he screamed more abuse and threats at me.”
The driver managed to call 999 at 6.25pm on Friday and captured pictures of the back of the BMW before both vehicles reached the Blythe Bridge roundabout.
He added: “As soon as he stopped he jumped out and ran to my car screaming, swearing and shouting for me to get out and fight. He punched my driver’s side window so hard I thought it would smash. Both my boys were very frightened.
“I was still on the phone to the police and keeping my window up. I shouted to him that the police were on the phone and to go away. He frantically started yanking at my door handle with a lot of force to try to get at me. Then he stopped and walked back to his car. As I drove past he screamed at me to pull over or follow him for a fight. He also shouted that he had his child in his car.
“I have never seen someone that ferocious and out of control in my life. I do believe that if he had managed to break my window or my door had been unlocked, that he would have seriously assaulted me”
It is understood that the red BMW may have earlier been involved in an accident. Police are appealing for witnesses following the road-rage incident. A spokesman said: “We were called to reports of an altercation between two drivers on the A50 by Blythe Bridge shortly before 6.40pm on Friday. Inquiries have been carried out.” Anyone with any information can call 101.
A SENIOR county councillor says she is reassured action is being taken to tackle crime in a town.
Councillor Victoria Wilson, cabinet member for communities and culture, said crime levels had fallen during the pandemic as she responded to concerns raised by Stone councillor Jill Hood at this month’s full county council meeting.
A spate of incidents, including arson, burglaries, drug dealing and vandalism, has sparked alarm – and prompted Councillor Hood and the area’s MP Sir Bill Cash to write to Staffordshire’s Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Matthew Ellis.
But at a meeting last month Mr Ellis said Stone was a ‘very, very low crime area’ – and he thought there had been embellishment of what was going on.
Councillor Hood, who addressed a question to Councillor Wilson at the full county council meeting said: “I sincerely thank you Mrs Wilson for your detailed response, which states that crime has fallen by 14.7 per cent this year and there is a three-year programme to increase officer numbers.
“My division has seen an unprecedented crime wave since the beginning of the pandemic.
“This has led to many residents expressing serious concerns of feeling unsafe in their own homes and business owners feeling extremely vulnerable.
“Stone town police officers are stretched to the limit. They are working all hours to combat what is happening and their continued hard work is showing results with arrests made.”
Councillor Wilson responded: “As a council, we have representation on various Safer Neighbourhood panels. I chair the safer and stronger strategy group meeting too and know well how our partners are working on all aspects of policing to keep our county safe.
“Chief Superintendent Jen Mattinson, or one of her colleagues, attends the board and the police are a lead partner on a number of priorities.
“I am reassured that all that can be done in Stone is being done.”
In a written response to
Councillor Hood she added: “The neighbourhood team, alongside other force departments, have moved quickly to effectively tackle the recent increases in offences and to ensure the community feels safe. The policing of Stone or any other community is never the responsibility of the Neighbourhood Team alone. They are able to call upon central resources to assist when needed.
“This may be in the form of the
police’s Tactical Support Team, the Roads Policing Team or the Neighbourhood Tasking Team.
“Superintendent Mattinson has confirmed the issues Councillor Hood referred to in Stone did receive this extra support.
“During the pandemic there have been significant crime reductions across the vast majority of crime types. All crime has reduced by 14.7 per cent, meaning 12,155 fewer victims this year.”
BANNED driver Tonin Doci was caught behind the wheel of a borrowed Land Rover.
The 34-year-old initially gave police another name when he was pulled over in Burslem. Magistrates heard police were on duty on October 15 when they stopped the vehicle.
Prosecutor Sue Hayers said: “Just before midnight officers stopped a black Land Rover on Sandbach Road. The defendant was driving.
“Initially he gave his name as Lee Challinor. When questioned further he admitted that was a lie. He said the car belonged to Mr Challinor and he had permission to take it.”
The court heard Doci’s driving ban – which he received following a conviction for dangerous driving – had expired but he was required to take an extended retest to get his licence back, which he had not done.
Landscape gardener Doci, of Peascroft Road, Norton, pleaded guilty to driving while disqualified and using a vehicle without insurance.
Richard Oldroyd, mitigating, said: “He was driving the vehicle of a friend. Mr Doci had been asked to move it a short distance. There was no bad driving. He realises it was a foolish thing to do.”
Magistrates at at North Staffordshire Justice Centre told Doci they took a ‘dim view’ of the offence.
He was handed an eight-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, with a 20-day rehabilitation activity requirement. He was given six penalty points and must also pay £263 in court costs and charges.
A SIGN believed to have remained hidden on the side of a building for more than 60 years can finally be seen again – thanks to the demolition of an iconic nightclub.
The bulldozing of Zanzibar, in Brunswick Street, Newcastle, has revealed the side of the property which is thought to have been hidden from view for decades.
It advertises F&E Butterworth. Its ‘beehive preserves’ had been ‘famous for over 75 years’.
The sign is likely to have become hidden when The Crystal Ballroom – Zanzibar’s predecessor on the site – was built in 1958. Zanzibar closed in 2004.
Site owner Aspire Housing is planning to redevelop the site as part of a £15 million regeneration.
Freelance journalist Jenny Amphlett, a former Sentinel columnist and events organiser, below, believes her grandad may have painted the sign.
Her grandfather Ewart Brown was a signwriter from the end of the Second World War up until his death in 1963. His other work includes the frontage on the former Price and Kensington teapot factory, in Longport.
Jenny said: “My grandad was a sign-writer, and the way industry worked at that time was that there would tend to be a signwriter operating in an area and they would tend to do everything in that patch.
“Newcastle and Stoke-on-trent was my grandad’s patch and the late 1950s was very much the time he was active.
“If it’s correct that this dates back to the 1950s then there’s a very good chance that those brush strokes were put on there by my grandad with his paintbrush.”
Though nothing is certain at the moment, the dating of the sign means it falls in both her grandad’s patch and the period when he was active, making him a strong candidate for its creator.
Jenny adds: “If this new one is his, and I’ve been speaking to an advertising historian who agrees with me, then of course that’s another connection.”
■ Can you help us solve the mystery of the sign. If so, email kit. roberts@reachplc.com
BUSINESSMAN Gareth Thomas says he faces being ‘evicted’ from his Trentham Gardens cafe in a row over his rent.
The Bakehouse Café Bar had been expected to close last year after a clash over post-lockdown rent charges.
But the venue struck a ‘deal’ to operate for a further 12 months.
Now its future is once again uncertain.
The 40-year-old, from Clayton, said: “I have been told that the rent is going up and if I don’t agree I will be evicted at the end of March.”
Gareth, who has lost his brother-in-law to coronavirus, has furloughed his staff.
He added: “I am in the same position that I was in last year where I can’t legally sign this contract.
“Half of the customers we had at Trentham came on coaches. There isn’t a single coach company running trips at the minute, so they are gone.
“Lots of people are trying to stay safe and, rightfully so, so they are not coming out and mixing with people.
“People can’t mix in restaurants so I can’t open my shop and I can only do takeout and delivery.
“We’ve not really taken any money, we have been in limbo. There have been large periods of time where we have been closed. The times we are open we have done takeout or had little periods where we were open with people in the shop.
“We were glad to be there rather than sitting at home, but we were never going to have the opportunity to make any money, we were always just going to kind of tick over.
“I said from the beginning that, if our business goes under but more people live, that’s fine. There are more important things than money and business.”
Trentham Estate says it has supported the business with the offer of rent relief, flexible payment terms and additional support for it to open as a takeaway-only venue.
A spokesman said: “We have worked closely with Mr Thomas throughout the pandemic to find solutions to ensure The Bakehouse Café Bar’s long-term success. We are currently still in discussions with Mr Thomas and would like to see the venue reopen its doors in due course.”