Local News

A burglar who left local business owners sickened and angry was jailed for two and a half years yesterday;

MP for Redcar, Anna Turley, has called for the remit of the SSI Taskforce to be extended to support workers being made redundant at Boulby potash mine;

...and police are appealing for information after a silver Mercedes E250 AMG vehicle was stolen from a property on Levick Crescent in Middlesbrough.

A burglar who left local business owners sickened and angry was jailed for two and a half years yesterday.

Teeside Crown Court heard how on November 11th last year, 36 year old Darren Barker smashed a hole in the roof of Miss Lily’s on Redcar High Street, ripped a safe off the wall and made off with workers’ Christmas savings.

He and an unknown accomplice fled with at least £4,000 in cash.

Barker commited the offence whilst on bail after he was caught for another shop burglary almost a fortnight earlier.

He broke into UK Dry Cleaners on West Terrace, Redcar, and stole a laptop - which he later returned - along with £430 cash on the night of October 29.

Barker, of Queen Street, Redcar, admitted the two burglaries, adding to a record of 43 offences including burglary, theft and handling stolen goods.

MP for Redcar, Anna Turley, has called for the remit of the SSI Taskforce to be extended to support workers being made redundant at Boulby potash mine.

Anna has written to the Chair of the Taskforce, Redcar & Cleveland council Chief Executive Amanda Skelton, to ask for the option to be explored so that redundant workers can receive retraining support.

In the letter, Anna writes that the latest round of job losses at Boulby potash mine takes the total to more than 500 which is a huge blow to the local economy and those jobs are not going to be quickly replaced.

She says that When the government closed the steelworks, the Taskforce was set up to help the thousands of people made unemployed.

Anna says that the loss of hundreds more industrial jobs at Boulby has increased the pain. The support package needs to be urgently extended.

Police are appealing for information after a silver Mercedes E250 AMG vehicle was stolen from a property on Levick Crescent in Middlesbrough.

The incident occurred on Friday 29th December at 7:25pm when the 24-year-old male victim was de-icing his car on the drive. Two men approached the victim and one of them pushed him to the ground and the other male took his car keys and they both got into the car and drove away at speed.

The vehicle is distinctive as it has a full black panoramic roof.

One of the males is described as being white, around 5 ft 10” tall, of slim build and in his 20s. He wore a dark tracksuit with the hood pulled up tightly around his face.

The second man was of a similar size and build to the first male. He also had his hood pulled up tightly around his face and he was wearing a dark tracksuit.

Any witnesses or anyone with information as to the whereabouts of the vehicle is asked to contact Detective Constable Matthew Speak on the non-emergency number 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.