Investigation at kids' gymnastics club
Plus: Leaders juggle past and future and M&S knifeman detained indefinitely
Hello and welcome to today’s edition of The Lancashire Lead. For me, the week has been centred around returns to school with a mixture of nerves, excitement and questions - and that’s just for the parents.
Throughout the year, out of school activities can be hugely important to children and they are the kind of place where you don’t expect to see investigations and government probes. But that’s what happening in Chorley now as the Charity Commission announced it is looking into Flic-Flac Gymnastics Club amid concerns about payments made to trustees.
The charity was set up to encourage young people to take part in gymnastics and the club is based by the Park Hall Hotel and the former Camelot Theme Park site. It had already been under investigation as a result of repeatedly filing its account late and a new probe was opened in July in relation to what the commission described as “further regulatory concerns”.
The commission said it has “identified concerns about payments to trustees that may be unauthorised by the charity’s governing document, as well as concerns around managing conflicts of interest in relation to any trustee payments”. Further, it says the charity is currently operating with an insufficient number of trustees and the inquiry will examine the following charity regulatory issues:
Whether the trustees are complying with their legal duties, with particular regard to their accounting and reporting responsibilities; their compliance with the charity’s governing document; and the extent of any unauthorised trustee personal benefit.
The extent to which any failings or weaknesses identified in the administration of the charity by the inquiry are a result of misconduct and/or mismanagement by the trustees.
A report is due to be published when the inquiry is completed. In the meantime, the club did not respond to a request for comment from The Lancashire Lead.
In December 2020, unimaginable scenes broke out in Burnley as Munawar Hussain entered the town’s Marks and Spencer store and attacked a store manager and customer with a knife.
Hussain, now 59, was detained by the store’s security team and members of the public who held him until police arrived and the two victims were left with serious injuries. Hussain later told officers that he targeted the store because he believed M&S funded Israel in persecuting Palestinian people in the Middle East and he was remanded and detained under the Mental Health Act.
In March 2023, he was found guilty of one count of attempted murder and one count of a section 18 assault and while awaiting sentencing he was remanded back to a secure mental health hospital where he attempted to kill a nurse by trying to stab him with a kitchen knife.
At a subsequent court hearing at Manchester Crown Court on Friday 6 June 2023, he pleaded guilty to another count of attempted murder and this week he was finally sentenced to to an indefinite hospital order.
The judge subsequently ordered restrictions under the Mental Health Act, ruling it is considered necessary to protect the public from serious harm. This means that Hussain can only be discharged by the Secretary of State for Justice or the Mental Health Tribunal.
Chief Superintendent Sarah Kenwright of CTPNW said:
“These incidents are deeply disturbing and traumatising for all the victims. We have supported them and they have been at the forefront of our minds throughout the investigation and the subsequent trial.
“No one should go to their place of work or out shopping and fear for their lives, sadly this has been a reality for three people, who have undoubtedly had their lives changed, both physically and mentally, by Hussain’s actions.
“Our subsequent investigation, and ultimately today's sentencing, means that Hussain will remain in a safe place for him to get the treatment he needs, and that the public are safe from the threat that he clearly posed that day.”
In some very different East Lancashire news, plans to revive Accrington’s town centre have taken a step forward with the appointment of Jon Matthews Architects to develop a new masterplan.
Hyndburn Council says the Government-funded contract will see the firm - which has been involved in similar tasks in Greater Manchester - identify how to take the town forward while still remembering and recognising its proud industrial past.
David Sanderson, Chair of the Accrington Town Centre Partnership Board said:
“Our vision is to build on this foundation, creating a vibrant, bustling, and proud market town steeped in industrial, cultural, and architectural heritage.
“Visitors and locals will come together to sample the best of Lancashire’s homegrown produce, enjoy a diverse mix of local eateries, browse thriving independent shops and cultural venues, and relax in family-friendly green spaces. Jon Matthews Architects are an excellent choice to help us achieve this vision.”
Over on the western side of Lancashire, Blackpool also find itself as a town with a proud history and a battle for a prosperous future. Various efforts are ongoing to protect both of those things and that can be seen at the Grand Theatre where a £450,000 restoration project is under way.
Writing in The Blackpool Lead, Ed Walker reports that scaffolding has now been put up around the 125-year-old building. Funding was secured from Arts Council England for the stonework project, with other work to include restoring the Victorian iron rainwater foods and replacing large areas of slate and lead across the two acres of roof.
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In Preston, tens of thousands of music lovers will attend Radio 2 in the Park this weekend with acts including Sting, Sugababes, and The Pet Shop Boys set to perform at Moor Park.
The BBC has been keen to ensure its presence it felt more widely in the city and yesterday broadcasters including the legendary Tony Blackburn left their state of the art studios for a go at hospital radio. Blog Preston reports that Blackburn stepped in to an afternoon shift for the Royal Preston Hospital’s radio station, while Richie Anderson was on air there in the morning.
On top of that,, Lancashire Teaching Hospitals’ head of recruitment and volunteers Stefanie Johnson got to chat with Scott Mills during the Breakfast Show. Blackburn said:
“I feel incredibly lucky to be able to do what I do and I know how important hospital radio is to the patients and their families, so it was my absolute pleasure to present a show on Royal Preston Hospital Radio.
“It was an honour to read out their messages and play the songs that will brighten their day ahead of Radio 2 in the Park this weekend.”
Meanwhile, more than 7,000 households living close to Moor Park are being urged to apply for a parking permit during the festival. So far, less than half of the free passes have been taken up, leaving thousands at risk of facing a penalty notice for parking near their own homes.
I don’t tend to include much sports news in this newsletter but like many others I was very surprised to see veteran manager Steve Bruce appointed at Blackpool FC last night.
Like rivals Preston North End, Blackpool parted company with their manager very early into the season and a man who has been promoted from the Championship four times previously. The only thing more surprising than the appointment is the graphic used for the announcement which unfortunately made Bruce resemble a comic book villain rather than a football manager.
The pushback against Lancashire’s agreed devolution deal now has another voice added to it after Burnley Council voted to withdraw its support. The East Lancs authority only narrowly supported the previous deal in the first place but councillors are now among those who want to see if a better offering can be found.
Bill Jacobs reports that at an extraordinary general meeting, Labour group leader Cllr Mark Townsend proposed that its support for the existing deal be scrapped in the light of the new Labour government’s request for views on the issue of transferring power from Westminster to the English regions by the end of September.
The meeting adopted an amended motion put forward by the authority’s Burnley Independent Group leader Cllr Afrasiab Anwar which ‘calls on the new government to scrap the Lancashire devolution deal proposed by the upper tier authorities that would establish a County Combined Authority’.
Cllr Anwar’s approved motion says: “The proposal to establish a Lancashire County Combined Authority received a poor consultation response from residents and businesses in Burnley.
“This council will work with government and like-minded Lancashire council leaders to submit an ambitious devolution proposal with strong, accountable and inclusive governance for the whole county by the end of September.
“This council calls on the government to legislate so that a devolution deal, that may or may not include a directly-elected Mayor for Lancashire, can be approved with full district council involvement where reasonably practicable (one member, one vote on all matters) without the right of veto given to individual authorities who oppose the creation of a combined authority.
“This council supports a directly-elected Mayor for Lancashire if this is the only way of securing a comprehensive and ambitious devolution package.”
🛖 Portable cabins for homeless people to sleep in are to be kept in use in Blackburn for another year (BBC).
😔 A Morecambe businessman who ran some of the town's most famous entertainment venues has died aged 65 (Beyond Radio).
🚓 A 17-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after a stabbing in Morecambe (Lancashire Telegraph).
🚗 Drivers who delayed emergency services trying to deal with a crash on the M6 are to receive court summons (Blog Preston).
🤦 A woman who accidentally incriminated herself in her own secret recordings has lost an unfair dismissal claim (LancsLive).
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