AND HERE IS THE NEWS…
….a quick glance at the latest local news with Caroline Manson
Driver with gun arrested in Toulouges
Several witnesses in Toulouges called the police to report that an individual was driving very fast in the town centre and had crashed into several parked cars. In an attempt to avoid arrest, the obviously drunk driver sped off, at the same time firing a shotgun several times into the air. He was brought to a halt by police using a ‘stinger’ on the road and when arrested, as well as the shotgun and cartridges, police also discovered a metal baseball bat, and an ‘American fist’ (am assuming this is a knuckleduster). The man was immediately tried and sentenced to six months in prison.
Fuel shortage hits the P-O
More than 25 service stations were out of fuel this weekend with long queues forming at the few stations which still had supplies. The worst hit appear to be the Total stations as their employees were on strike in several of their refineries. The general advice is to go to the smaller service stations which, although being slightly more expensive, are less likely to be out of stock than the larger supermarket service stations.
Two accidents on the N116
Late on Friday afternoon, firefighters were called out to an accident at Vinça between a motorbike and a car, which injured two people. The 49 year old driver of the car suffered neck pain and the 25 year old biker suffered multiple fractures and was transported to hospital by helicopter. Later a second accident occurred when a single vehicle left the same road (near Millas) for no apparent reason and ended up on its roof. The occupants, a man and a woman, were trapped in the vehicle and had to be rescued but were said to be uninjured.
Summer is over
While the first week of October was marked by beautiful sunshine and exceptionally high temperatures, the rain that arrived this weekend signals the end of the ‘Indian summer’. This week will remain stable and sunny but maximum temperatures will only reach 22°C around Perpignan – and another rainy period is expected this weekend followed by another drop in temperatures.
Abduction of mother and child in Ille-sur-Tet
A huge ‘manhunt’ was in place on Wednesday when a 29 year old man allegedly kidnapped his partner and child. The hunt involved nearly 50 local gendarmes, the helicopter of the Montpellier gendarmes, the presence of a sniffer dog and the installation of several roadblocks on strategic points on the RN116. The man was finally intercepted in his car and the mother and her child were found safe and sound in the same vehicle. The man, who was ‘unfavourably’ known to the police for acts of violence and road crimes, was placed in custody. In a bizarre twist to the story, according to the prosecutor’s office, the case was closed due to an absence of elements constituting a kidnapping – the alert, given by the 8 year old child, could be the result of a misunderstanding.
14 year old prisoner threatens to kill supervisor
A teenage boy, imprisoned for armed violence against people in charge of public service missions, became angry when the television was removed from his cell as punishment for bad behaviour. He started shouting insults at the supervisor and threatened to ‘slaughter’ him, and then when being transferred to another area and becoming impatient at having to wait for a door to be opened, tried to punch another supervisor. It took the intervention of two other supervisors to control him and put him back in his cell – as a minor cannot be placed in the disciplinary cells. The prison union is now asking for sanctions, and for the youth to be transferred to a more specific juvenile prison rather than the juvenile area of the main prison which is ill-equipped to deal with him.
And finally…
Police called out to a fire in a restaurant in Barcelona discovered neither a fire, nor a restaurant, but an illegal dental clinic installed on the premises of a former Chinese restaurant. The establishment was run by two people of Chinese nationality and had rudimentary equipment and the most precarious standards of hygiene. Police also found beds in the attic which were used for oral surgery. The two officials of the ‘clinic’ were arrested and charged with crimes against public health, as well as administrative offences. Perhaps the fake ‘fire’ call was made by a dissatisfied client….
