Emma named interim head of county force
IT FOLLOWS THE RETIREMENT OF GARETH MORGAN
EMMA Barnett is to serve as Staffordshire Police’s temporary chief constable (TCC), following the retirement of Gareth Morgan.
Mr Morgan stepped down from the force’s top role on Monday, bringing an end to a 33-year police career, including four as Staffordshire’s chief constable.
A recruitment campaign to find his long-term replacement is now set to start, with the appointment expected to be made by October, although the new chief constable may not take up the role until next January.
As the law requires police forces to have a chief constable at all times, police, fire and crime commissioner Ben Adams has asked Ms Barnett, the deputy chief constable (DCC), to cover the role on a temporary basis.
As TCC she will be on an annual salary of £156,693 – similar to the pay received by Mr Morgan. The DCC’S salary is between £125,000 and £130,000.
Members of Staffordshire’s police and crime panel will be asked to confirm Ms Barnett’s appointment when they meet on Monday, June 21.
Ms Barnett has served as a police officer for more than 27 years, and has been with Staffordshire Police for nearly five years, joining the force as assistant chief constable in 2016.
The report to the panel states: “As DCC, Emma has formally acted as the Chief Constable on a number of occasions, whilst the Chief Constable has been on leave, or not in the office.
“She has the knowledge and experience to carry out the role, in all of its aspects, whether these be internally driven, or externally through sound partnership working.
She has also been the National Police Chief’s Council lead for victims and worked with national leads from other sectors in this role. Emma has the confidence of the commissioner to carry out the TCC role, while recruitment to the permanent role takes place.
“It is recommended that the panel confirm Emma Barnett into the TCC role.”
Ms Barnett is not the only female head of a police force in the West Midlands. Warwickshire Police’s incoming first ever female chief constable has described it as an “absolute honour and privilege” to be confirmed in the role.
Debbie Tedds will be making a little bit of history, becoming the first woman in its 164-year existence to lead what is England and Wales’ second smallest territorial force, the Office for the Police and Crime Commissioner of Warwickshire said.
A current serving officer with more than 30 years’ service in Warwickshire, Ms Tedds was selected by the area police and crime commissioner Philip Seccombe, with her appointment agreed on Friday by police and crime panel members.
She will take up the role vacated by outgoing chief Martin Jelley, who retires at the end of June.
A HANDWRITTEN letter written by children’s author Roald Dahl which reveals his secrets to good storytelling has been sold at auction to a UK buyer for more than £2,000.
The letter, dated August 2 1989, which showcases the writer’s opinion of his own work and his determination to get children reading, was sold by Etwall-based Hansons Auctioneers.
It had been handed a guide price of £500-£800, but managed to fetch £2,200 from a buyer in the UK.
Librarian Christine Wotton said she wrote to Mr Dahl “speculatively” as a 20-year-old student as she was studying for a degree in literature and linguistics in the late 1980s.
The letter she received back reads: “Never shelter children from the world… the ‘content’ of any children’s book is of no importance other than that it enthrals the child – and thus it teaches or seduces him or her to ‘like’ books and to become a fit reader – which is vital if that child is going to amount to anything in later life.
“The book-reading child will always outstrip the non-book-reading child in later life. There are very few messages in these books of mine.
“They are there simply to turn the child into a reader of books.
“Damn it all, they are mostly pure fantasy. Have you read the latest one, Matilda?
“It seems to have broken every sales record in the history of hardback publishing.”
It went under the hammer in Hansons’ specialist library auction at Bishton Hall in Staffordshire.
Charles Hanson, owner of Hansons Auctioneers, said: “I think this was a case of Charlie and the amazing auction factory. Dahl was hugely talented and sadly missed. Nevertheless, his extraordinary imagination lives on thanks to his many books and the films they inspired.
“We’re thrilled for our client that this letter did well but not at all surprised.
“Dahl’s work has brought immense joy to people across the world for decades. It’s also helped countless children learn to read and appreciate books.”
Born in Wales in 1916 to Norwegian parents, Roald Dahl remains for many the world’s No. 1 storyteller. His books include Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, The BFG and James and the Giant Peach.
Wanting the best for her only son, his mother sent him to boarding school – first to St Peter’s, Westonsuper-mare; then, in 1929, to Repton, where many bizarre and memorable events would later be recounted in Boy. Pupils at Repton were invited to trial chocolate bars, a memory that stayed with Dahl throughout his life, inspiring Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Schooldays happily behind him, Dahl’s lust for travel took him first to Canada, then to East Africa, where he worked for an oil company until the outbreak of the Second World War. He enlisted in the Royal Air Force at 23 years old.
In September 1940, Dahl received severe injuries to his head, nose and back when his Gladiator crashlanded in the Western Desert. After six months recovering from his injuries in Alexandria he returned to action, taking part in The Battle of Athens. Later, after a posting to Washington, he supplied intelligence to MI6.
In 1953 Dahl married the American actress, Patricia Neal, with whom he had five children. They divorced after 30 years, and he later married Felicity “Liccy” Crosland, who has furthered Roald’s legacy through the foundation of Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Children’s Charity and The Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre.
Dahl, who also wrote TV scripts, died in 1990.