This is Hull and East Riding -- REMEMBER hitchhikers? At an M1 services recently I spotted two, the first I'd seen in months if not years. What was even more astonishing is that they were young women. Mad? Probably. British? No chance. The girls were Spanish - and clearly unaccustomed to the theory that any hitchhiker on our roads is just there to be nabbed by some berserk HGV driver with murder on his mind. The fact is hitchhikers don't really exist any more because our perception of safety is now so warped compared to 20 or 30 years ago. There was never some mad serial hitchhiker killer stalking Britain's roads – or some homicidal hitchhiker bumping off drivers for that matter. People just got scared of picking up hitchhikers – and hitchhikers got scared of people picking them up. In the same way, our perception of how safe children are when they go out alone has changed dramatically over the years. When I was a lad on school holidays I'd disappear at dawn, pop home for fuel at lunch and then be out again until dusk. There were trees to climb, cliffs to scramble over, knees to scuff and building sites to explore. Today few parents would feel comfortable with their little lad or girl disappearing into the unknown for the day. What has changed? Not the statistics on child abduction and murder. In the last 30 years the number of child murders has been consistent and consistently low, around 70 a year. Of the total just over ten per cent were murdered by a "stranger" instead of a parent or guardian. High-profile cases such as Jamie Bulger in Liverpool in 1993, Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in Soham in 2002 and the victims of Robert Black in the 1980s seemed to fuel a change in parental concern which has now changed the freedom we allow our children. Kids don't go out as much – and it's not just down to obsessions with Xbox and PlayStations. It's because parents are happier for their kids to be in their homes – or at least within sight. Even the school run has become an escort mission for many mums and dads who have a nagging feeling their little ones are in danger walking to school alone. Another consequence of this change in attitude has been with the way police handle reports of children being approached by strangers. Police are now reluctant to issue more than the briefest of statements about incidents – or are happy to leave it to schools to inform parents - because they fear a pandemic of panic if they make "too big a deal" of any reported abduction attempt. But as the recent cases in Hull show, first at Hull Fair, and now several reported attempted abductions from the street, there may actually be something to be concerned about – or at least informed about. After all the first thing any decent copper worth his salt is going to do is ask A) was this a genuine abduction attempt? and B) is there a connection between them? If there is the slightest possibility that A and B are correct then the police have a duty to come out and warn parents that there may be sone genuine danger out there to children out alone. If A and B are questionable then they should say so too. And it is then up to parents to decide what measures to take. The fact remains, it's very unlikely there's someone out there intent on abducting a child in Hull. But how unlikely that is today remains something only the police know. What advice are they giving to their children when they go home? Because whatever that is, we should be able to give the same advice to our kids.
*• Read more: Warning after two more child snatch attempts in Hull area* Reported by This is 10 hours ago.
*• Read more: Warning after two more child snatch attempts in Hull area* Reported by This is 10 hours ago.
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This is Scunthorpe -- A Scunthorpe couple whose tragic story of the loss of their child will be shown on Channel 4's One Born Every Minute are set to appear on ITV's This Morning.
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This is Bath -- She may have been competing in her third half-marathon in four weeks but that did not stop Team Bath's Holly Rush smashing the course record at Yeovil on Sunday. The British international's time of 80mins 57secs was actually the slowest of the month, following on from her sixth place at the Bath Half and tenth spot in Reading. But the Yeovil course was the toughest of the three and the bitterly cold conditions were hardly conducive to fast running. Rush has experience of icy conditions, having previously tackled the Manaslu Mountain Marathon Trail race in Nepal, and obliterated the previous record of 86:24 set by Bristol-based Nikki Linfield last year. That earned the Bradford on Avon runner a £50 bonus on top of the £400 first prize and she was also winner of the Queen of the Hills award, netting another £50 towards training shoes as she churns out 100-mile weeks to prepare for her Comrades Ultra Marathon debut in South Africa. "Sunday was a good, hard run for me over an undulating course," said Rush. "I definitely felt better in Yeovil than I did in Reading the previous week. That was horrific as I felt so tired and I think all the miles caught up with me. It is all about building up my strength." Rush was in a class of her own in the women's race as she finished 16th overall of the record 813 finishers and virtually nine minutes clear of her nearest rival. Club colleague Renee McGregor was fourth woman in 91:55 and Lucy Taylor eighth (94:35), earning Team Bath the first team prize.
Reported by This is 6 hours ago.
This is Somerset -- Ben Tickner smashed the course record on his way to an emphatic victory in Sunday's Yeovil Half Marathon. The Wells City Harriers runner finished more than two minutes clear of his nearest rival, crossing the finish line at Huish Park in a time of 1hr 8mins 29secs. Tickner's winning time was 2mins 6secs quicker than the existing course record, which was set by Bristol & West AC's Shaun Antell during last year's race. Behind Tickner, Jim Cole and Phil Burden had a good battle for the runners-up spot. But it was Tavistock AC man Cole who broke clear to cross the line second in 1:10:50, with Taunton Running Forever RC's Burden third in 1:11:23. Team Bath AC's Holly Rush won the women's race with a time of 1:20:57 that was also fast enough to earn her 16th overall. Three other Somerset club runners finished inside the top ten. Crewkerne RC's Mike Pearce was sixth in 1:16:14, while Yeovil Town RRC duo Tim Hawkins and Bryn Phillips were seventh and tenth in 1:16:18 and 1:19:41 respectively. Yeovil Town RRC club mate Chris Burton won the King of the Hill title in 2mins 12secs, while Rush was Queen of the Hill in 2mins 42secs. Both were records. Click the link for the official 2013 Yeovil Half Marathon results. *2013 YEOVIL HALF MARATHON - PICTURES AND VIDEO* Photos: Yeovil Half Marathon 2013 - pre-race Photos: Yeovil Half Marathon 2013 - part one Photos: Yeovil Half Marathon 2013 - part two Photos: Yeovil Half Marathon 2013 - part three Video: See yourself start the Yeovil Half Marathon 2013 *See Thursday's Western Gazette for an eight-page Yeovil Half Marathon souvenir pull-out with a full list of finishers, photos and reports.*
Reported by This is 5 hours ago.
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