Gloucestershire crime Car seized in murder probe and terrorism arrest

It's been a busy week for the police with incidents ranging from a car being seized in connection with a murder probe, a woman being threatened with a stun gun to a burglary at a fire station and stones being thrown at moving cars.

Police rely on witnesses with information to come forward.

If you have any information please contact 101 or fill in a report using the website, quoting the crime reference number if given.

Or, call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Two men charged in connection with burglary

Last Friday (February 5)

Two men have been charged in connection with a burglary at Newent Fire Station at the beginning of December.

Vincent Smith, 39, of Parkside Close, Churchdown, and Jack McIntosh, 33, of Shamrock Close, Churchdown, have both been charged with three counts of non-dwelling burglary.

They both appeared at Cheltenham Magistrates' Court on February 3.

Smith was recalled to prison and McIntosh was released on bail to reappear on March 3.

The charges also relate to an investigation into burglaries in the Bishops Norton area.

Appeal to locate stolen items taken during Southam burglary

Last Friday (February 5)

Officers are appealing for information after money and jewellery were stolen during a burglary in Southam near Cheltenham.

Police were called to Southam Lane shortly after 3.15pm on February 2.

The jewellery stolen [pictured here] include: a Cameo brooch depicting two angels, a pearl floral spray brooch with a 48mm long safety chain, a Skagen Freja two handed silver tone steel mesh watch which has a blue face and was packed up in a box.

A number of rings were also stolen including: a gold ring with two diamonds and one sapphire, a gold ring with three diamonds, two gold rings with five diamonds set into the band and one gold wedding band.

A beige holdall was also stolen and is thought to have been used to take the jewellery away in.

Crime reference: Incident 319 of February 2

Police attend a serious assault in Stroud

Last Saturday (February 6)

Police cordons were placed in Mathews Way, Stroud following a serious incident.

A man suffered wounds in a suspected stabbing at around 12.40am.

The man suffered serious injuries and was taken to Southmead Hospital in Bristol for treatment.

He remains there in a stable condition.

Earlier this afternoon two men were arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and one woman was arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender.

Crime reference: Incident 18 of February 6

Five puppies stolen from a farm in Stow -on-the-Wold

Last Saturday (February 6)

Police are appealing for witnesses or information after five puppies were stolen from a farm in Upper Swell.

Three female and two male Border Collie puppies were stolen sometime between 8pm on February 5 and 6am on February 6.

The four week old puppies are worth approximately £600 each.

They are all black and white with the males also having brown markings on their faces.

Crime reference: Incident 125 of 6 February

CCTV appeal issued in connection with assault

Sunday (February 7)

CCTV images of a man police want to identify in connection with an assault have been released.

The attack occurred at 1.42am on December 26 in Gloucester.

A man, who said he had travelled from Swindon, attempted to access a block of flats on Claremont Road where he was not a resident.

When refused, the man pulled the victim, in his 40s, into the street and punched him in the face.

The victim suffered facial fractures, requiring hospital treatment.

Police like to speak to the man, described as white and approximately 6ft [seen here] in connection with the incident.

Crime reference: CR/42905/20

Successful prosecution leads to illegal breeders banned from keeping dogs

Monday (February 8)

Three individuals have been banned from keeping dogs and received suspended sentences after a successful prosecution brought by the Forest of Dean District Council.

Appearing at Gloucester Crown Court on February 5, Jeremy Awdry of Jubilee Villa, Coleford Road, Bream, was disqualified indefinitely from keeping or looking after dogs.

He pleaded guilty to failing to meet an animal’s needs on three occasions and also selling a dog without a licence on three occasions.

He received a 19-week custodial sentence suspended for two years and a curfew order for six months and must pay £6,379 in compensation and costs.

Additionally, Andrew Bateman and Kelly Busby formerly of Cwmann, Lampeter, were disqualified indefinitely from keeping or looking after dogs.

Both received a 19-week custodial sentence suspended for two years and were ordered to complete 250 hours of unpaid work.

They must pay £6,379 in compensation and costs each, after pleading guilty to failing to meet an animal’s needs on three occasions.

In sentencing, Judge Ian Lawrie QC said that all were “guilty of a contrived exercise of cruelty and neglect hallmarked by greed”.

The conditions were squalid, the puppies were poorly looked after, the home was not a loving or caring environment and no individual was licensed to sell puppies.

Read more here.

Two men charged with attempted murder in Stroud

Monday (February 8)

Two men have been charged in connection with the stabbing of a man in Stroud on February 6.

Liam Wells, 25, no fixed abode, and Daniel Banks, 24, of Kings Road, Rodborough, have been charged with attempted murder appeared in court via video link on Monday.

The victim remains in hospital in a stable condition at this time.

A woman arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender has been bailed and will return on March 5.

Suspicious activity seen in Mathews Way, Stroud in the early hours of Saturday should contact the police.

Crime reference: Incident 18 of February 6

Three people arrested in suspicion of supplying Class B drugs

Monday (February 8)

A 19-year-old man and two women aged 21 and 23 from Stonehouse were arrested on suspicion of the supply of Class B drugs and driving whilst under the influence.

The suspects were arrested on Monday after a large quantity of cannabis was found and have since been released under investigation.

Officers on patrol stopped a vehicle after it was found to have no number plate.

Individuals were searched and a quantity of cannabis wraps were found.

The group fled from officers and were found in a shed at a nearby property and officers found a larger quantity of cannabis.

Police appeal for witnesses after £30k worth of diesel is stolen

Tuesday (February 9)

Cotswold Police are appealing for witnesses after a large quantity of diesel was stolen from a coach company in Bourton on the Water last week.

Police were called to Pulham Coaches at Bourton Industrial Park after they discovered men had entered the site on multiple occasions and stolen 27,000 litres of diesel.

CCTV shows that the offenders entered at 11.09pm on February 1 and 11.03pm on February 2.

They arrived in a large white, unmarked non-articulated lorry and left at 12.14am.

They also entered at 12.28am on February 3 in a similarly described vehicle and left at 1.56am.

Crime reference: 171 of February 3

Vulnerable OAP found

Tuesday (February 9)

A vulnerable 74-year-old man went missing from an address in Pinemount Road, Hucclecote, at around 2pm.

He was found safe and well later that day.

Farmer must pay almost £2000 for not following protocol to limit the spread of bovine tuberculosis

Wednesday (February 10)

A farmer from the Forest of Dean has pleaded guilty to ignoring rules aimed at limiting the spread of contagious diseases through livestock.

Haydn Bendall, 80, who farms at Aylburton and Hewelsfield in the Forest of Dean, appeared before Cheltenham magistrates on February 10.

He admitted 12 offences relating to his failure to observe rules designed to restrict the spread of contagious diseases through livestock, such as bovine tuberculosis, and was ordered to pay a total of £1,917.

Bendall was fined £533 and ordered to pay £1,331 in costs and a victim surcharge of £53.

Prosecuting, Lorna Bennett told the court that in February 2019 bovine TB was discovered in an animal sent to abattoir from one of his farms and, as a result, this farm was put under restriction by the Animal and Plant Health Agency.

Bendall continued to move cattle onto and off his land in breach of this restriction notice.

The court also heard that he had moved cattle off his holding on two occasions without testing for TB to ensure his cattle were free of disease.

On 10 occasions between November 2019 and March 2020, he moved cattle and sheep off his holding during a mandatory standstill period introduced after foot and mouth in 2001, to ensure animals did not move rapidly from location to location to monitor for signs of disease.

Bendall also failed to report the movement of a number of cattle onto his holding in July 2019 within seven days of the movement taking place, in breach of a disease control measure.

Appeal for information after man attempted to defraud elderly victim

Wednesday (February 10)

Officers are appealing for information after a man attempted to defraud an elderly man in Tuffley Avenue, Gloucester on January 27 at 1pm.

A man was caught approaching a vulnerable man's address and attempting to convince him that his wife had asked for their path to be jet washed on footage recorded by a ring doorbell.

The offender offered to take his debit card to a cash machine to get the money for him if he did not have cash in the house.

The victim's daughter saw what was happening after watching on the ring doorbell app and a neighbour spoke to the offender who left shortly afterwards.

The man is described as medium build with an Irish accent and thinning hair.

He was wearing a blue quarter zip top, white polo shirt and blue jeans.

Crime reference: Incident 317 of 27 January

Car seized at Gloucester Cathedral in connection with Worcester murder

Wednesday (February 10)

Police have seized a car from outside Gloucester Cathedral in connection with the suspected murder of a woman whose body was found in the River Severn in Worcester.

The car was seized by Gloucestershire police on Wednesday afternoon after they attended the cathedral and Pitt Street as part of the murder investigation.

The body of Christina Rowe, a mum and model originally from the Philippines, was found on Wednesday night.

Charles Byrne, 24, of Waterworks Road, Worcester, appeared at Kidderminster Magistrates Court today accused of murdering Ms Rowe and attempting to murder another person, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

Byrne did not enter a plea. Dressed in a grey sweatshirt with shaved blonde hair, he spoke only to confirm his name, date of birth and address to the court.

Police appeal for help identifying a man in connection with suspected assault after he was approached for not wearing a face mask

Thursday (February 11)

Police are appealing for the public's help to identify a man in a supermarket [pictured here] in Gloucester in connection with a suspected assault.

On January 9 at 5pm a man was challenged by staff in a supermarket in Gloucester about not wearing a face covering.

It's alleged that the man then became verbally abusive and was further challenged by a shopper, after which the man is suspected to have physically assaulted a shopper and left the store.

The victim has suffered some reddening to the side of his face.

Crime reference: Incident 336 of January 9

Dash cam footage appeal after youths hurl stones at moving vehicles

Friday (February, 12)

Police are appealing for dash cam footage following a report that a group of youths were throwing stones at moving vehicles in Cheltenham.

The incident happened on Tewkesbury Road on January 17 between 2.45pm and 3pm.

The driver of a blue Mercedes was heading out of Cheltenham when they noticed a group of four youths by the side of the road.

One of them picked up a handful of stones and threw them at the car, causing damage to the paintwork and cracking the windscreen.

The group ran off when the driver stopped to challenge them.

Crime reference: Incident 428 of January 17

Man, 37, arrested for assaulting a woman with stun gun

Friday (February 12)

Police in Tewkesbury arrested a man last night as part of an investigation into the assault of a woman.

Last Saturday a woman reported that she met a man outside Co-op, Northway at around 2.30am when he used a Taser/stun device which was concealed as a black torch on her

She reports that he used the device three times causing her to fall to the floor before kicking her and stealing £60.

The 37-year-old was arrested on suspicion of robbery and possession of a prohibited firearm before being released on police bail.

Crime reference: Incident 85 of February 6

Man, 43, charged with terrorism and drug offences

Friday (February 12)

Following an investigation led by Counter Terrorism Policing South East, South West and Gloucestershire Constabulary, a man has been charged with terrorism and drug offences.

Toby Shone, 43, of The Cross, Drybrook, Forest of Dean, was arrested on Wednesday and yesterday was charged with three offences under the Terrorism Act 2006.

He was also charged with four offences including supply, production and possession under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.

The above arrest and charges are in connection with searches in Lydbrook and Coleford in Gloucestershire.

Shone appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court today and has been remanded to appear at the Central Criminal Court on February 19.