Chief reporter JACK TOLSON has a look back through the Chronicle Archives of April 2007.
MUM’S PRIDE IN MOUNTIE STEVE
STEVE Johnson has graduated as a Mountie - and his mum thinks he must have had Canada in his blood.
Steve, originally from Barnsley, now lives in Canada, where has just undergone six months of intensive training to become a constable in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
The 35-year-old former Holgate pupil used to live with is parents until he moved to Canada in 1993.
Steve’s grandad was Canadian and he was stationed in this country during the war.
He met and married an English woman who would later become Steve’s grandma.
Steve’s mum Susan said: “He’d heard his grandad talk about Canada all his life and it must have just been in his blood.
“He went over in 1993 and liked it, and apart from holidays he’s never been back.
“He says he’s lost his accent, but he hasn’t.
“He’s still got the Barnsley vowels.”
TOWN’S FIGURES RELEASED FOR ASBO BREACHES
BARNSLEY has almost twice as many ASBO breaches as Doncaster and Rotherham, which puts the town on par with Sheffield.
Barnsley’s total between April 2006 to March 2007 was 72, Rotherham’s 42, Doncaster’s 47 and Sheffield’s 80.
Paul Brannan, of the Central Safer Neighbourhood Team, is the borough’s antisocial behaviour co-ordinator.
He says Barnsley’s figures are higher than those of the similar neighbouring authorities because it issues more ASBOs.
According to Paul’s records, there are about 14 ASBOs given out for every 100,000 people in the town each year.
He said: “Before ASBOs we had nothing, we couldn’t control this type of antisocial behaviour unless it crossed the line into a criminal offence.
“Without ASBOs, we don’t have any tools of enforcement unless we are dealing with a crime.
“They give us the teeth to take some action.”
Across the country an average of 50 to 55 per cent of all ASBOs are broken.
In Barnsley the statistics are just under 50 per cent for adults and about 47 per cent of youths under the age of 17.
KIDS’ CLUB FUTURE COULD BE IN DOUBT AFTER BLAZE
MONK Bretton youth club reaches its first birthday next week but members won’t be celebrating.
Instead the group is fighting to stay open after £500 worth of equipment - including a pool table, table tennis equipment and an air hockey table - was destroyed in a suspected arson attack.
The blaze is thought to have broken out on Good Friday.
Kids attending the youth club on Wednesday had to play games but youth worker Helen Walker says the threat of closure is a ‘very real possibility’ because there is nothing for kids to do.
She said: “It had just got running sufficiently because we had been struggling for volunteers.
“We had got a full complement and then this happens.
“Youth nuisance has dropped quite dramatically since the club has been running.
“We have a good relationship with the police through the club and officers have been building relationships with youngsters.”
