Five things you need to know in Leeds today
1. Driver terrified women with fake gun at petrol station “for a bit of fun”
A driver terrified two women when he approached them with a fake gun as they sat in the back of a car. Pawel Wierzbicki was in a Fiat Punto when he followed the women in their car into a petrol station and “produced a handgun from his lap.” Wierzbicki held the gun and said ‘bang’ before driving away at speed. He was later arrested on Pontefract Road that night and told the police he had found the fake weapon in a river while fishing but had thrown it away. He had told the police it was “meant to be a bit of fun.”
2. Dozens of Leeds care homes underperforming
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Hide AdDozens of care homes and services in Leeds were found to be underperforming and three were rated as “inadequate,” a health watchdog has found. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) found a total of 40 out of 104 Leeds care homes that were inspected between April and September were found to “require improvement” and three were rated inadequate. The three homes that were rated inadequate were The Gales Nursing Home in Pudsey, Owlett Hall Nursing Home in Morley and Elderly Care Services in City and Hunslet.
3. Leeds ‘Tent City’ campaigners celebrate as council offers up alternative site
Campaigners who set up a camp for homeless people in Leeds were in court again as the City Council sought to move them for a second time. ‘Tent City’ had originally been pitched up outside Leeds Art Gallery in Victoria Gardens from September 23 until the campaigners were asked to relocate. The camp moved to Park Square gardens last Tuesday and had been there ever since, until Leeds City Council applied to Leeds County Court on Monday for a second order to move the group, but the case was adjourned. Yesterday, the City Council agreed to allow the campaigners to run the camp from the former Leeds International Pool site in Westgate. The camp will be able to operate without fear of being moved for six weeks and the council has committed to carry out housing assessments for the campers.
4. Jo Cox case: Thomas Mair to stand trial next month
Thomas Mair, 53, who is accused of murdering Leeds MP Jo Cox, will face trial next month after refusing to speak when he was asked to enter pleas in court. Mair allegedly shot and stabbed the MP outside of her constituency surgery in Birstall on June 16. He is charged with murder, possession of a firearm with intent to commit an indictable offence and possession of an offensive weapon. In light of his silence, a judge ordered that not guilty pleas be entered on all the charges. A provisional four-week trial date has been fixed for November 14.
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Hide Ad5. Boy suffers severe electrical burns on West Yorkshire railway line
A 12-year-old boy is in critical condition after he suffered electrical burns on the main Leeds to Doncaster line near South Elmsall, West Yorkshire. The British Transport Police and paramedics were called to the tracks on Monday and took the boy to the hospital. One witness said the boy’s clothes were “smouldering.”