2019: THIS WAS THE YEAR THAT WAS...
MAY
THE arrival of May meant it was election time and Sir Peter Soulsby won himself a third term as the city mayor.
There were also elections of city councillors and Labour tightened its grip on Leicester City Council by winning all but one of the 54 seats.
The result wiped any Conservative presence from the council.
Sir Peter said: “Obviously I am delighted to be elected for a third time as the mayor of this great city.
“It is a city with a wonderful past and a great future.
“This result shows people see that Labour is delivering for Leicester.
“We have been the only party with a clear and consistent vision for the future.
“Now it is our responsibility to deliver what we have promised. There is much to do.”
A fake homeless man was jailed in May after attacking a woman who tried to help him.
The 45-year-old woman, who lost an eye in the assault, let James Squires into her flat to warm up after she saw him begging outside the One Stop store in Evington Road, Evington, Leicester.
But after being fed and given some tea and cider Squires, who really had his own home in Avon Street, Highfields, refused to leave and punched the woman unconscious and stamped on her.
She woke up covered in blood with bruises, a broken jaw and a ruptured right eye which had to be removed in surgery.
Squires, 39, pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent and he was jailed for seven-and-ahalf years.
A couple made a unexpected discovery in May while renovating their home.
Donna Harrison and her partner Paul Boggett were shocked to find a 60ft well beneath their kitchen floor at their farmhouse in Thurlaston.
The property had been in the family for about a century and has been passed down through generations.
Donna, 45, said: “About 55 years ago the village got mains water supply, so the well was covered over with a limestone slab.
“We were taking up the floor at the weekend to put in underfloor heating and that’s when we found the limestone slab.”
Police officer Paul said he tied a climbing harness round himself “just in case” he fell in while working on the kitchen floor.
“We were aware that there was a well somewhere because the legend had been passed down through the generations.”
In May a shocking murder trial began in Leicester of a mother accused of killing her newborn.
Hannah Cobley’s second child was born in an outhouse toilet at her parents home in Stoney Stanton.
She then hid the infant in the garden moments after giving birth in April 2017.
Her parents had no idea she had even been pregnant and the police only got involved because she had to go to hospital due to medical problems after giving birth.
She denied to hospital staff she had given birth but they did not believe her and the police searched the garden and found the dead baby in a carrier bag.
The 29-year-old was eventually found guilty by a jury of the murder and was sentenced to life with a minimum of 18 years in prison.
The sentencing judge told her: “You may never be released.”
Cobley left the dock showing no emotion and saying nothing.
There was drama in Oadby on May 9 when a gang of masked, armed men crashed a car into a bank before robbing it.
The 8.40am raid was witnessed by numerous people who filmed the robbers despite the gang warning them not to.
An employee at Timpsons in The Parade was one of several people defiantly filming the robbery at the neighbouring Santander branch.
He said: “They were screaming at people and the ladies working inside the bank were screaming. It was fairly scary.
“I was standing quite close just outside our shop filming it.
“The men had crowbars and were shouting ‘stop filming’ at me and other people across the road who had their phones out. But no one stopped filming. I’ve handed the footage over to the police.”
One of the Sun newspaper’s most famous headlines came into question when a Leicestershire woman revealed that Freddie Starr did not, in fact, eat her hamster.
Ex-model Louise Fox spoke following the death of the Merseyside comedian, who featured in the tabloid story in 1986.
Louise revealed he had put her pet hamster, Sonic, in a sandwich but didn’t actually eat it.
She said: “It was my hamster. It was a long, long time ago and it’s not the same story that was printed in the paper.
“The thing was, it arrived in the paper five years after the event and it was all misconstrued.
“He had the hamster in the sandwich but nobody ever said he ate it.
“There was nobody more shocked than me when that headline came out.”
Describing what actually happened, Louise said: “He went and got two big slices of bread, doorstop things, and buttered them and when he sat down on the settee he had the hamster between them.
“He did bite into the bread, but not the hamster.
“I was more upset because the hamster was covered in butter, which took two days for it to lick off!”
The quiet Rutland town of Oakham made headlines in May when it emerged that local people were fighting a bid by McDonald’s to open a restaurant.
The company had hopes of building their first ever Rutland eatery on the town’s bypass but having spent years battling to have their county status returned, the local population was ready to defend their status as the only McDonald’s-less county in the UK.
Oakham resident Paul Beech said: “The vast majority are against having a McDonald’s in Oakham or anywhere in Rutland.”
Rutland folk have also resisted Burger King and KFC outlets within the 151 square-mile county.
There was concern in rural Elmesthorpe, near Hinckley, that people were using the driveway to the village church as a dogging location.
But luckily it was just a group of Pokemon Go players.
Resident Nirad Solanki, 30, who spotted the group, said: “I saw these four dodgy characters pointing their phones in the air and was worried that they might be taking pictures of my kids.
“So I took a picture of them and, as I did, one of them stuck a finger up at me.
“I was merely safeguarding my property and my kids.”
He took to Facebook to complain about the incident and one of the players, Jim Buck, contacted him and revealed he and his companions were actually playing mobile game Pokemon Go. The church, it turned out, is a Pokemon Gym on the game.
JUNE
IN June, an Islamic school in Leicester had to be ordered by education inspectors to stop breaking the law by segregating pupils by sex.
Boys and girls were separated at The Imam Muhammad Adam Institute
School, which had been rated as “inadequate” by Ofsted inspectors.
In their report, the inspectors outlined a list of measures the independent school, which has sites in East Park Road and Bridge Road in Evington, needed to undertake to improve.
“It must end the school’s unlawfully discriminatory practice of strict segregation by sex,” the report stated.
“Pupils in year five and six and in the secondary provision are segregated by sex for both their lessons and their special time.
“They are taught at separate sites and do not have the opportunity to mix. This is despite the school being registered to teach both boys and girls, and the fact that such segregation is contrary to the Equality Act of 2010.”
A new tactic was tried out in the battle against New Walk cyclists in June.
Six heavy concrete blocks were placed on the 200-year-old footpath to discourage cyclists from using the route.
Leicester mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said: “Speeding cyclists on New Walk are a long-standing issue and these temporary seating blocks are being installed to deter cycling.
“We have been in discussion with the Friends of New Walk, who support this scheme to help preserve the traffic-free nature of this historic route.
“They are temporary structures, which can be reused at other locations when needed.”
The blocks have since been removed and a new cycling route along London Road has been completed as an alternative for bikes.
Another concern in June was people building dens in local beauty spots to act out their SAS fantasies.
Swithland Wood, run by the Bradgate Park Trust, issued a warning that people building dens could face fines of up to £20,000 for spoiling the area.
Trust director Peter Tyldesley said: “We are not talking about children putting a few sticks up against a tree.
“We are not against youngsters building dens and exploring and enjoying our natural countryside.
“We are talking about concerted efforts to erect a substantial structure.
“These dens are adult sized and I don’t know why people are doing it - maybe they are acting out their SAS fantasies. They are uprooting small trees and cutting bark off trees. They are doing substantial damage to a protected area.”
He said the dens were a threat to the animals and a breach of the Wildlife and Countryside Act.
A report later in the month revealed the bizarre gifts that had been given to Leicestershire police officers.
They included six courgettes, numerous pizzas and seven bags of Bombay mix.
Meanwhile, some of the gifts declined by police included a pheasant shoot and a bottle of Hugo Boss aftershave.
Some of the more poignant entries on the gifts, gratuities and hospitality register include a bottle of wine given to a detective constable by the mother of a murder victim as a thank you, and signed Leicester City shirts given to a Pc and sergeant, and a signed football given to a detective constable, seven weeks after the helicopter crash which killed Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, by the family of the late Leicester City chairman.
One generous customer paid for an officer’s McDonald’s meal worth £5.68, driving off before they could decline.
Boxes of chocolate and bottles of wine are regular entries on the register.
News from the courts in June included the story of a drunk driver who crashed on a level crossing and was pulled from his car before it was hit by a train.
Thomas Dixon was given a suspended jail sentence for causing the crash, which delayed 69 trains.
Katrina Wilson, prosecuting, said 28-year-old Dixon was on his way home from a night out when he drove his Ford Fiesta erratically through Brooksby.
He lost control and crashed into a bollard, ending up on the rail lines at Asfordby level crossing in Station Lane, Kirby Bellars, near Melton, at 3.30am on Saturday, May 4.
A witness, who was concerned about the defendant’s driving, had already called the police, before arriving at the scene. They pulled Dixon to safety before a freight train smashed into the car.
Dixon, of Chetwynd Drive, Melton, admitted drink-driving, dangerous driving and obstructing a railway.
Dixon was given an eight-month jail sentence, suspended for 18 months, with 150 hours of unpaid work. He was also disqualified from driving for two years.
By the end of the month the full, scorching heat of the summer had arrived, with temperatures soaring beyond 32C in Leicestershire.
Hundreds of people sought the cool relief of Rutland Water as its beach filled up with families grabbing the chance to enjoy the great weather at the end of what had largely been a pretty miserable month of June.
In Leicester, Town Hall Square and Bede Park filled up with sunworshippers and pub beer gardens were doing good business on the final Saturday of the month, as temperatures rocketed.
Sam Clayden, 21, who was enjoying an ice cream in the city centre with her friend on Saturday, June 29, said: “I love it when it’s like this. I’ve got the factor 30 on and I’m going to lie here until I’m cooked – then we’re going to get some cocktails.”
On Monday, we move on to July and August...