Colin James

Hereford Man Jailed For Life For Stabbing Friend To Death Stacy Hales A man from Hereford has been sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering his friend in the city in August last year. At Worcester Crown Court today, Stacy Hales, aged 36 (DoB 03/10/1977), of Belmont Road, Hereford, was found guilty of murdering Steven Paynter, aged 46. He was sentenced to serve a minimum of 22 years in prison. Following a two-week trial, a jury unanimously found Hales was responsible for stabbing Mr Paynter, known to friends as Taffy, during a fight at his home in Rylands Street. Also sentenced today were Stephen Munn, aged 21 (DoB 04/12/1992), of Golden Post, Hereford, and Mark Edwards, aged 22 (DoB 13/10/1990), of Prior Street, Hereford. Murder victim Steven Paynter They received 30 months each after pleading guilty to the offence of violent disorder at the start of the trial. Hales stood trial with his girlfriend - Kim Horry, aged 20 (DoB 03/08/1993) of Copse Cross Street, Ross-on-Wye – who was charged with assisting an offender, but she was found not guilty. Mark Edwards The jury heard how on the afternoon of 3 August Hales, Munn and Edwards went to Mr Paynter’s flat in Ryelands Street to demand he pay back £40 he owed Hales for bike parts he had sold to him. Hales, who is known as Buzz, took exception that his friend was having a relationship with Joanne Fryer because she had previously been in a relationship with him. A witness (who cannot be named for legal reasons) stated that Hales had become violent as soon as he arrived at the flat and assaulted and strangled Mr Paynter, who armed himself with a knife. Munn and Edwards remained outside the flat and when the witness attempted to leave they blocked the way. Stephen Munn Meanwhile, the fight between Hales and Paynter continued and ended when Hales stabbed him in the neck with a large kitchen knife, which was found afterwards by police in a communal shower room next to the flat. It was favoured by forensic officers and a pathologist that this had been the murder weapon. Hales, Munn and Edwards made off from the flat while Mr Paynter collapsed in the vestibule outside his door and died through loss of blood. Other residents in the multi-occupancy property raised the alarm and called the emergency services. Meanwhile, Hales, along with Munn and Edwards, fled to his home address on Belmont Road where he cleaned himself and got first aid for a cut to his arm. Once the emergency services had attended, Hales was quickly identified by witnesses as Mr Paynter’s attacker and he was arrested by police within a few hours. Detective Inspector Dave Williams, who led the investigation, said: “In court, Hales claimed he did not see a knife and only saw ‘a flash’. He denied ever handling a knife during the struggle and could not account for how Mr Paynter suffered the fatal injury. “However, we are convinced Hales went to that flat with the intention of doing serious harm to Mr Paynter: he had made threats about this earlier in the day, he took along two henchmen – Munn and Edwards – and deliberately wore steel toe-capped boots in anticipation of violence. “I find it very sad that Hales’ moment of madness over relatively trivial matters has led to Steven Paynter’s murder and he has been cruelly taken away from his family, including his two children. Our thoughts are with them at this very distressing time. “At the time, his death also caused great concern to those living in and around Rylands Street and the wider Hereford community and I hope I can reassure them that this was an isolated incident that stemmed from a dispute between parties known to each other. “I would like to thank all those who assisted with the investigation in a variety of ways and thank those who were inconvenienced by the investigation particularly those affected by the closure of Rylands Street for some days due to essential forensic examination.” Following today’s sentencing, Steven Paynter’s family released a statement: “As a family we are delighted that justice has been seen to be done today, however nothing is going to bring Steven back to us. “What happened is a tragic waste of a human life and Steven leaves behind two children, family and friends. “Steven’s death has come as a shock and has devastated his family and friends: this is something we will never recover from. “We are grateful to the police for their work and the support they have given us.” Camella Webley, the mother of Steven’s 12-year-old son Ben, added: “Ben misses his father terribly following his tragic death. “Ben was very close to him: he would often spend weekends with him and do many activities together. Sadly his father has been taken from him far too early.” Issued: Friday 21 March 2014 - Source West Mercia Police

Good article in the Mail Online

Scenes Of Crimes Officers (SOCO) vehicles

I noticed the Police had cordoned off all of the entrances to the subway between Victoria Street and Eign Gate Hereford and also the pavement outside of the Cashino in Eign Gate. So I went along and chatted to one of the Police officers and took these photographs, he clearly could not comment but it was obvious that a serious incident had happened in Eign Gate and forensics (SOCO) where examining for evidence in the underpass. (Rumour) While taking these photographs a member of the public came up and asked the police officer if they had found the gun, the police officer said he could not comment obviously, this lad then went on to say that it was his mother that was attacked and robbed by foreigners... I am hearing rumours that is was actually the Casino that was robbed but I will update you as soon as I receive the official police press release. UPDATE A 26 year old man named as Ionut Juganaru (which sounds Romanian to me)from Ryelands Street Hereford will appear at Hereford Magistrates Court this morning charged with possessing an imitation gun and or air weapon. The raid happened at Cashino Gaming in the Eign Gate area of the city at about 06:00 GMT on Saturday. Staff were threatened into handing a robber cash, which has since been recovered, West Mercia Police said.

I thought I would create a small topic to explain how to use TAGS in new topics. Tagging: The ability to 'tag' content with special keywords and then find other content tagged with the same keywords.Perfect for searching. Below are a few images showing how to add as many TAGS as deemed appropriate for a given topic.

No worries its sorted Bobby

I have added the club logo to your post to add more attraction but I have to agree with Mick's post above. I used to go to virtually every game back 8-10 years ago but I cannot remember that last time I went to a game and came away feeling good, ask yourself the same question... It would be a shame to see Hereford United disappear and although the clubs very loyal fan base may manage to raise the £78,000 now urgently needed to survive a bit longer, :Cha ching: I think that will only go towards stalling the inevitable, as sad as that sounds.

I still go out but not as often and I will keep on about this stupid rule until something is done. Local traders rely on their weekend trade. I have just come back from a trip to Lisbon and although I appreciate it is a huge city, I was amazed to learn that the 'Vasco da Gama Shopping Centre' is open 7 days a week from 9am until midnight! Yes midnight! I was looking in a jewellers on the Saturday and asked the assistant what time they closed to be told midnight, wow I thought, then I asked what about tomorrow being Sunday are you open? to which she replied, we are open until midnight tomorrow too, in fact, 7 days a week and to be fair it was packed with people! On the top floor were plenty of restaurants and fast food joints all bustling with people, everyone that I was with thought it was fantastic. Give people choices!

Ditto, Council are good at giving land and buildings away and also equaly as good at acquiring them too by the seem of things.

Hmm I had similar thoughts, so who ultimately is accountable? when wrong decisions are made or when things go wrong or do things like that just fall at the feet of everyone in the hope that equal disbursement will go unnoticed.

Find the topic on their website and scroll down you can then leave comments (provided you have registered)

A former Hereford pub could be turned into a Tesco Express according to this article in the HT. The supermarket giant has bought the lease of the former Buckingham Inn pub and has set the wheels in motion to turn it into a convenience store - creating up to 20 jobs. The Buckingham on Whitecross Road will go the way of the Game Cock pub after the latter was converted into a Tesco Express on Holme Lacy Road in 2010.

I am sometimes amazed at the power of social media. I posted a simple photograph from HV back in 2010 of the old Belmont Pub on the HV Facebook page, with the words "Who remembers the Belmont Pub?" This has had over 10,000 views with 407 likes and over 40 comments, I was quite surprised at the numbers. Clearly people have shared this photo out to their friends but it just goes to show the power of social media and the extent of it's reach

Pete Beadle is Hereford United's new caretaker manager. Steve Jenkins is his assistant.

Yes on all counts!

There does not seem to be an update anywhere.

Anyone?

Yes I tend to agree. I cannot remember the last time that they won a game even.

Continued

"Herefordshire Council ready to defer a decision on the future for its Bath Street offices in Hereford" According to this HT article tonight.

Hereford United reverting to part-time football is a possibility for next season, the club admits. Details from tonights AGM taken from the HUFC website:

This is disgusting, this has been going on far too long now, can they not monitor the area with CCTV or something and catch these people?

Please find attached minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 6th February 2014 at Northolme Community Centre, Northolme Road, Belmont Hereford. Minutes 6.2.2014.pdf

Please find attached minutes of the extraordinary meeting held on Thursday 23rd January 2014 at Belmont Community Centre, Eastholme Avenue, Belmont Hereford. Minutes - 23.01.2014.pdf

Agreed 2014-2015 Expenditure Budget & Precept Request Agreed budget and precept request 2014-2015.pdf