Murdered girl met gang in pub car park
The 16-year-old girl whose body was found at Prospect Park in Reading met a group of men in a pub car park on the night of her death, police believe.
Mary-Ann Leneghan died of a single stab wound to the neck, after being subjected to serious assaults over several hours. An 18-year-old female friend, who was shot, was in a serious but stable condition in hospital.
Police believe that the girls were in the car park of the Wallingford Arms in Caroline Street, Reading, between 10pm and 11pm on Friday night in a white car. At around 11pm, they were approached by a group of men and walked to another maroon or burgundy car in Wickes car park on Weldale Street.
They arrived at Abbey Guest House on Connaught Road at around 1am, and left between 3am and 5am with up to six men in the car. The 18-year-old girl raised the alarm just after 5am.
A reward totalling £15,000 was offered by police and the Victims of Crime Trust for information about the death. Anyone with information can call 08458 505 505 or 0800 555 111.
Life for licensee who had wife killed
A licensee who ordered the contract killing of his wife, so he could live abroad with a pub barmaid, has been jailed for life after a retrial last week found him guilty of murder.
James Garside, 56, believed he would get more money if his wife Marilyn died than he would in divorce proceedings, so he paid a hitman to stab her to death, the Old Bailey heard.
The couple sold their pub, the Cross Keys in Redgrave, Suffolk, for £250,000 in June 2001 and split up a month later. Marilyn was stabbed to death that October but Garside had told barmaids at the pub that he would kill her. Both Garside and hitman Richard Bates were convicted of murder in summer 2003 but a retrial was ordered on a legal technicality. After the retrial Garside, of Margery Road, Dagenham, and Bates, of King's Lynn, were jailed for life. The judge, Mr Justice Fulford, ordered them to serve at least 20 years.
The court heard that Garside, a serial womaniser, told one of his barmaid lovers that he had used some of the cash from selling the pub to set up a jet ski business in Greece.
Manageress kicked police officers
A pub manageress who kicked a policewoman in the face and a policeman in the groin at her Norfolk pub has been told she could be jailed.
Tanya Green, 33, who lives at the Ugly Bug in Colton, near Easton, appeared at at Norwich Magistrates Court last week and admitted twice assaulting PC Karen Fiszer and resisting PC Darren Cunningham.
The court heard police were called to the pub in the early hours of 15 December 2004 with reports that Green's partner, Stefan Crisp, had been glassed.
Simon Nicholls, defending, said Green had not realised that the people approaching her in her private quarters were police officers, so she became frightened and kicked out. Green had been the victim of assaults in the past, the court heard. The case was adjourned for a pre-sentence report but judge Philip Browning told Green: "At this stage I have custody in mind."
Drug dealing closes Bristol clubs
The Carlton Club in Bristol became the 28th venue in the city to receive a closure order last week, after police said it was "the centre of drug-related anti-social behaviour".
Bristol Magistrates Court granted the order for the club, on Easton Road, Lawrence Hill, after police evidence showed there had been drug dealing on the premises.
The action came just one week after a closure order was issued for the Caba Club in Easton, which police said was "also a haven for drug dealing".
The closures followed raids in April by Operation Atrium, which targets the drug market. More than 30 people were arrested in the raids and drugs were found in the Carlton Club and Caba Club.
VE day flags torn down by vandals
Vandals ripped down flags from a Suffolk pub that were put up as part of the commemorations for VE Day on Sunday.
Two St George flags and a Union Jack, worth about £100 in total, were taken from the Grinning Rat in Ipswich on Saturday evening. The pub was hosting a musical event to mark VE Day.
