January 2009 Archives

A man has been jailed for 16 months after he was caught with more than £300,000 of cannabis at a house in Stanmore.
Son V Dinh, 30, of St Edmunds Drive, was found at a four-bedroom house with hundreds of the plants on December 16.
Dinh was imprisoned for the production of cannabis at Harrow Crown Court, in Hailsham Drive, on January 23.

The Stanmore Society is holding a meeting with local traders to set up a business association in the area.

The event, which is open to all businesses in the Stanmore area, will take place at 1pm next Thursday at Glebe Hall, in Glebe Road, Stanmore.

Passengers can quiz British Transport Police (BTP) officers next week about crime and safety on the Jubilee line.

The Jubilee Line Neighbourhood Policing Team - comprising one sergeant, two constables and two PCSOs - has been patrolling the line and stations between Stanmore and St Jonh's Wood stops since its launch in August.

They will take questions at the conference room at Wembley Park London Underground Station, Bridge Road, Wembley, on Thursday 5 February from 7pm onwards. It will the second such public Q&A the team has held.

PC Matt Dobbs said: "The neighbourhood team means we can respond to issues and needs more easily, as well as making people feel safer using the Tube.

"We are easy to contact and always welcome feedback from the community.

"These meetings give passengers the opportunity to highlight issues of concern and discuss them with us. ItÕs always very helpful to speak to people face-to-face."

Tunde Taiwo, group station manager for the London Underground's Willesden Green Group, said: "Our staff work closely with the BTP Neighbourhood Policing Teams and whilst crime remains low on our network we know it's important to talk with our passengers as well as the communities that live and work close to our Tube station.

"We are fully supportive of these meetings and hope they'll help everyone move around more confidently and safely across our network."

n Anyone who is unable to attend but would like to share comments can email the Jubilee Line NPT by email at Jubileelinenorth.npt@btp.pnn.police.uk

The Stanmore Society is holding a meeting with local traders to set up a Business Association in the area. The event, which is open to all businesses in the Stanmore area, will take place at 1pm next Thursday (February 5) at Glebe Hall, in Glebe Road, Stanmore.

People met at Harrow Civic Centre on Sunday to pray for peace.

Councillor Navin Shah, (Labour) member for Brent and Harrow, jointly organised the meeting with the Middlesex New Synagogue, Muslim Council of Britain and Harrow Interfaith Council.

They prayed for all those who had lost their lives or have suffered during recent conflicts in the Middle East. The climax of the meeting was the signing of a peace declaration by almost 100 people.

Mr Shah said: "The gathering was a true reflection of the unity and harmony enshrined in Harrow's diverse community."

Representatives from nine faiths including Hinduism, Judaism and Sikhism read prayers as well as committing to maintaining peace and harmony among Harrow's diverse communities.

The fire brigade and police commanders for Harrow are also to sign the declaration. Mr Shah is hoping to conduct regular meetings to reflect upon global crisis.

When asked what was gained from the meeting he said: "At a local level we saw the will to continue working for piece and solidarity. It is great to see the desire to live in Harmony."

A pioneering Harrow scheme to get more young people teaching the elderly to surf the net is being introduced across the borough.

The Double-Klik project gets ex-young offenders giving lessons to the over 50s at two Harrow day care centres.

The Youth Offending Team is planning to join forces with Harrow YMCA in February to get more people online.

Councillor Christine Bednell, portfolio holder for children's services, said: "This is an innovative and cost-effective opportunity, developed by Harrow Council for both the older generation to get online and for the young offenders to engage in something positive and help members of the community.

"We are seeing our seniors corresponding with distant friends and relatives by email and even using YouTube to watch and listen to their favourite music and film clips and it has proved a great hit, many of our senior clients have never before used a computer.
"Getting more supervisors for the service will mean that even more people are able to get on the web with confidence."

Harrow College is also considering offering a foundation or NVQ level qualification to people taking part in the Double-Klik scheme.

Harrow residents are being urged to inform on graffiti artists in a bid to tackle problem spots across the borough.

Harrow Police are asking community members to take a close look at the vandals' work to see if they recognise the spray painters' images or tags.

Sergeant Paul Culver, at Rayners Lane Safer Neighbourhood Team, launched the project at Churchill Court in North Harrow last Thursday.

He said: "It is an ongoing problem. We had a rise over Christmas, so it suggests it might be young people who were off school.

"People do not like it. Whenever we do surveys and ask people what concerns them, they always say graffiti.

"If someone has pebble-dashed their wall and then they get someone spraying a lot of graffiti it is not very nice.

"It is the first time we have done anything like this. We want to eradicate graffiti and show the public we are taking it seriously."

Graffiti has affected areas across the borough, including Harrow bus station and allotments in west Harrow.

Regent College, a private college in South Harrow, could be teaching students at Boundary House in Edgware's Turner Road if approval is granted.

The business based at Sai House in Imperial Drive has applied to Harrow Council to change the use of the ground floor from an office to a non-residential education and training centre (D1 use).

It would convert the existing offices to create five small classrooms, a common room, new toilets and a larger kitchen to accommodate a maximum of 20 students and five staff, and would add a ramp to the entrance of the building.

The Harrow Police Community and Consultative Group is holding its annual general meeting from 7.30pm on Monday.

The event will take place at the council chambers, at Harrow Civic Centre, in Station Road and will feature a talk on counter terrorism and tackling violent extremism.

Clothing worth a total of £1,000 was stolen from the boot of a car parked in Beverley Gardens in Stanmore on Wednesday.

The 52-year-old owner of the silver Lexus discovered 53 samples of blue and black jeans had disappeared some time between 7.30 pm on Tuesday 13 January and 11am the following day.

He thinks that the vehicle had been left unlocked outside his home since there was no damage or signs of forced entry.