'PORN' COUNCILLOR SUSPENDED BY LABOUR PARTY
A Wigan Metro Labour councillor has been suspended by his own party following an internet porn scandal.
Mark Hale was at the centre of an investigation which alleged that he and three other Wigan councillors accessed pornographic images on their lap-top computers, which were provided for their use by the council. The other three coucillors have not, as yet, been named, but Mr Hale admitted he had internet access on his computer restricted and was ordered to repay �12 phone line costs for viewing unauthorised material.
Mr. Hale, a front runner for selection as a parliamentary candidate for Leigh to replace retiring MP Lawrence Cunliffe, was told about the decision to suspend him by a regional officer of the party on Monday evening. This latest move by government chiefs has effectively ruled him out of the race to be Leigh's Labour candidate for the next election.
A disappointed Mr Hale said, "This has now taken me out of the ball-game. I will not be able to stand in the selection process, but will probably be exonerated and welcomed back to the party once someone else has been chosen."
Mr Hale insists that the matter was dealt with by the Chief Executive of Wigan Metro in January and on television at the weekend said that he felt that he was being targeted by the Labour party central office, who were trying to get him deselected. He suspects the leak of his involvement in the scandal was a deliberate attempt to slur his name in the run-up to the selection procedure for Labour's parliamentary candidate to replace Lawrence Cunliffe when he retires.
Chris Maile, local political activist and a member of the Campaign for Planning Sanity Party, has now called for the three other councillors involved in the scandal to be named. He added, "The public have a right to know who has been misusing the facilities paid for by them."
YOUNGSTER TO MAKE TRIP TO LOURDES
The parents of Wigan youngster Ryan Entwistle are to make a pilgrimage to the religious shrine of Lourdes.
Brenda and Anthony Entwistle, from Alderley Road, Hindley, will travel with 11-month-old Ryan on April 14th, to visit the French
shrine which is said to have miraculous healing properties.
Ryan was diagnosed last December as suffering from Krabbe disease, a rare degenerative neurological
disease, which means that he could die before the age of two. The condition is so rare that only one in 150,000 babies are affected by it and it's symptoms range from
difficulty in feeding and loss of movement to paralysis, deafness and blindness.
His parent's hopes that he could have a bone marrow transplant were dashed because
doctors did not think it would benefit him.
Friends and neighbours are now rallying round to help the couple raise vital funds for the week-long trip.
A family
fun-day- arranged by big-hearted neighbour Denise Draper- has already helped to raise a bumper �700 for the trip fund. Denise said, "I just wanted to do something to
help them. We had people coming from far and wide for the fun day and local businesses were so generous in their donations, especially Hindley Taxis who donated �100
and Spar who gave us food and drink."
A charity concert and raffle in aid of Ryan will be held at Platt Bridge Labour club on Thursday (March 16th) starting at
8.30pm. Tickets cost �1.50.
Brenda, 25, who also has a five year-old daughter, Lauren, said, "People have been talking about Lourdes and I have met a couple from
Essex whose five year-old child has Krabbe disease and is the oldest living. It has given us hope. They have been to Lourdes and they seem to think it has done
something for their child."
COMMUNITY SHOCKED BY PRIEST'S AFFAIR
A Wigan priest was in hiding this week after admitting he has been having a secret love affair for four years.
Rev Mark Worden has not been seen at St Aidan's RC in Winstanley since Ash Wednesday after being told he must choose between the church and the woman he loves. Church officials say he is spending time alone to try to solve his agonising dilemma.
Last week Father mark went to Liverpool to confess to his archbishop, Patrick Kelly, that he has been seeing his partner, Sue Miles, for four years.
Parishioners have been shocked at the news of his double life. A few of them knew about the secret romance and gave the couple their blessings, but others are said to be annoyed that the priest, known as Father Mark to many in the Winstanley area, has broken his vow of celibacy.
A spokesman for the Archbishop of Liverpool said, "If he decides to stay with his partner, he would have to leave the act of ministry."
Rev Worden, also a governor of St Aidan's Primary School, has said he does not want to be portrayed as a troubled priest, who has been led astray, but wants to speak out against what he sees as the church's outdated attitude towards relationships and sex.
It is believed the couple have been friends for ten years. In recent times the priest has been carrying out his parish duties during the week and leaving on Fridays to stay with Sue, in Maghull near Liverpool, returning to take Mass on Saturday evening.
On Sunday, parishioners at St Aidan's were read out a statement issued by the Most Reverend Kelly. It said, "In response to Father Mark feeling that some peace, quiet and space is what is right for him as this Lent begins, I have made arrangements for other priests to stand in for him at St Aidan's for the next few Sundays. It is clear to me how very much he values your prayerful and constant support."
Yesterday, a woman at St Aidan's said the priest was not at the presbytery where he usually spends his time and church had no comment to make. Local people in the nearby shopping centre either claimed they did not know about Rev Worden's problems or were unwilling to speak.
Christine Mason, acting head-teacher at St Aidan's RC Primary School said, "The staff and governors are aware of the statement made by the Archbishop of Liverpool at each of the parish masses and I have no further comment to make."
HISTORIC CAFE WRECKED BY VANDALS
Young vandals have gone on a wrecking spree at one of Wigan's best known buildings.
The famous Cassinelli's cafe at
Mesnes Park has been attacked, a dozen windows were shattered, tables thrown down a staircase, large amounts of crockery smashed to pieces and food thrown around the
rooms and outside. Fridges and other appliances were broken and emptied, fire extinguishers let off and toilet and till rolls thrown around the park to festoon the
trees.
The repair bill has been estimated at little short of �10,000 and the place is not insured. Although long plagued by burglars and vandals, this is by far the
worst attack ever to be inflicted on the cafe in it's 80-year history.
Manager Rita Hanley, whose parents Nicholas and Ada Cassinelli first converted the one-time
shelter into a cafe back in 1920, said "the cafe has always been vulnerable to attack, even in my parent's day, and that is why we cannot get insurance. But there has
never been anything as bad as this, I'm just glad my mum and dad aren't here to see it."
Husband Ted added:we will not be beaten by this,
but it is not going to be a quick repair job, we could be closed for several weeks. There has to be tighter security to ward off any further attacks, not least some ornate
grills on the windows."
Police apprehended more than 20 juveniles in Mesnes Park last Friday night and the bulk of them were cautioned in front of their parents at
Wigan police station. A further four teenagers were arrested and released on police bail pending further enquiries.
MEN QUESTIONED OVER MURDER
A murder investigation has been lanched after a woman was found battered to death in an alleyway.
Lynn Dowling was
found seriously injured after officers were called to a fight in Upper Dicconson Street, Swinley, on Saturday night. Miss Dowling, 25, who was from Worsley Mesnes, died at
Wigan Infirmary shortly after midnight on Sunday morning.
Detectives yesterday applied for a detention extention from Wigan magistrates to question further three men and
a woman who were arrested at 4am on Sunday. A post mortem examination showed that Miss Dowling died from 'severe trauma to the head and body'.
Police are still wanting
to speak to further witnesses who were in the Upper Dicconson Street area around the time of the attack.
The alarm was raised shortly after 10pm when members of the
public phoned to say that a fight had broken out in Swinley. Officers arrived minutes later to find Lynn Dowling slumped in an alleyway between two terraced houses.
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