30.3.2000 News from Wigan

News Report Archive 30th March 2000

INTERNET ACCESS SUSPENDED FOR 'PORN COUNCILLORS'

The three Wigan councillors involved in the town hall porn scandal have had their internet access withdrawn until they have undergone further training. That's the punishment meted out by the policy sub-commitee which investigated their case of internet misuse on council loaned laptops, but the council accepted fully their explanation that it was other family members who accessed the adult sites, not the councillors themselves.
The three councillors, Rona Winkworth, Barry Hampson and Barbara Bourne have also paid back a 5p per minute 'penalty' for the unauthorised use.
Coun Winkworth, has repaid line rental for 47 minutes unauthorised internet access, Coun Hampson, 45mins and Barbara Bourne just six minutes.
Coun Brian Strett, chairman of the sub-commitee, said, "They were devastated, absolutely devastated when they learned what had happened and have apologised profusely and sincerely for any offence this affair may have caused.
"There is no doubt this has been a nightmare for them, a very difficult period of time indeed, but we have appreciate the fact that they volunteered their identities publically to avoid any embarassment to colleagues."
But the policy sub-commitee which monitors member's standards stops short of the year long ban already imposed on Labour parliamentary front runner, Mark Hale, in January.
A new security password system has now been installed to prevent any repitition.
Coun Strett said there were 'significant differences' between their cases and that of suspended Coun Hale. The Hope Carr (Leigh) member has consistently claimed that he was carrying out his own practical investigation into how councillor's computers were open to internet misuse, prompted by fears as the father of a young family.
But leader of the council and chairman of Leigh CLP, Lord Smith of Leigh,said, "Testing the system was not accepted by the sub-commitee as a reason for misuse of the computers. The members were guided in this case by the law involving members of staff within the council who have previously been found to be misusing equipment in this way."
Coun Hale, whose conduct is now being investigated by the national Labour Party, has paid back, �21.21p for line rental- the equivalent of six hours and one minutes unauthorised use.
All 60 members of the council who accepted had signed a code of conduct in advance, added Coun Strett, which specifically warned them against logging on to 'adult' or gambling sites. The system is also designed to 'download' any sites accessed by councillors onto the town hall's own huge mainframe computer which left them stored and ready to be notyed during any of the regular audits which protect against the misuse of any of the council's thousands of computers.
Councillors have been warned to report any accidental log-on to an unauthorised site to town hall IT chief David Smith immediately. However, even with the benefit of hindsight, Metro chiefs insist that they are still strong supporters of the decision to equip councillors with computers, despite the undoubted political damage the scandal may have done to Labour in Wigan Borough.

NEIGHBOUR FROM HELL TOLD TO STAY AWAY

A court heard how a Wigan woman constantly screamed abuse at her next door neighbour.
Sheila Maggs, of Windsor Road, Ashton-in-Makerfield, subjected Teresa Nation to a barrage of remarks over a period of time, causing her distress.
And now the 55 year-old has been made the subject of a restraining order following the hearing at Leigh Magistrate's Court. Maggs was charged with harassing Mrs Nation in June and August last year, and was found guilty of the offence at a trial last October.
Since then she has failed to show up at court for sentencing, sending in sicknotes provided by her GP. The magistrates finally had enough of the case and decided to fine Maggs �1,000 with �200 costs in her absence.
The restraining order means she must refrain from any conduct that would cause harassment to Teresa and her husband Peter for a period of twelve months.
In May last year, Mrs Maggs was bound over in the sum of �200 for twelve months relating to a public order offence and because she has not complied with that sentence, she will have to forfeit the �200. She was represented in court by Anne McCracken who said, "Since the last occasion there have been no further incidents," and PC Harmer of Wigan police told the bench that Teresa Nation had told him things had been 'relatively quiet'.
Miss Anne-Marie Siney, prosecuting had asked for a restraining order for an indefinite period of time.
The bench said it had been a very sensitive case which had taken several months to come to a conclusion andd that it was a matter they had taken very seriously.

PIER NAMED ONE OF COUNTRY'S MOST VALUED BUILDINGS

Wigan Pier has been named as one of the country's best buildings in the past 40 years.
The redevelopment of the derelict warehouses beat off more than 1,000 competitors, some of them very famous, to win a Civic Trust award.
The other five winners at the ceremony , held in London to celebrate the organisation's 40th anniversary, included the first Severn Bridge and the York Theatre Royal.
Keith Bergman, Tourism and marketing manager for Wigan Metro's leisure sevices department said the award was great for the town. He added, "It's a wonderful honour and nice to be recognised for a national award. The Pier fully deserves it."
The winning buildings were chosen from the 1,025 past winners and judges paid close attention not only to the design and appearance of the buildings, but it's performance and in particular to the attitude of those who use it.
Wigan Pier has been a great success since it was decided to redevelop the derelict warehouses and mills on the banks of the Leeds-Liverpool canal in the early 1980s. the project took the buildings, some of them dated back to the 18th century, and transformed the area into a major tourist attraction.
Since then both locals and visitors have been able to enjoy, a tourist information centre, shop, heritage centre, educational facilities, the Orwell public house and various new garden landscaped areas. The most recent addition to facilities was Opie's museum.
It is thought many will be surprised by some of the winners, which included a council estate in London, which beat off more familiar names.
The Millenium Dome was not given an award because judges condemned the fact such a large project should have been undertaken with no thought about it's future use.

CHANGES AT HISTORIC HOUSE APPROVED

Councillors have approved controversial plans at one of Wigan's most historic buildings.
Planning commitee members carried out a site visit to the 160 year-old grade two listed Moat House in Copperas Lane, Haigh, before evaluating Tom Bibby's scheme.
They then refuted claims by cultural guardians that industrial cleaning boss Mr Bibby's plans would 'fundamentally damage the character' of the house, built by the Earl of Balcarres as a home for one of his land agents.
Mr Bibby wants to remove a garage and WW2 Anderson shelter and replace them with a single storey extension. And Aspull councillor John Hilton said, "Now that I've seen the place in person, I can't see what all the objections have been about." While planner Bob Tacey added that altough the proposals were just under the maximum size of extension permitted, they would have a 'minimal impact' on neighbours.
Northern branch of the Society for the Protection of Ancient buildings (SPAB) had demanded Mr Bibby justify the scale of the project which they claimed would fundamentally damage the character of the house.
Haigh Parish Council feared that the proposed extension would be large enough to become a commercial property in the future.
Meanwhile, more than 90 buildings in Wigan have been singled out to become "listed" for extra protection as part of a major government review aimed at protecting the town's heritage.
Following eight years of uncertainty, culture secretary Chris Smith has given the go-ahead for 36 of the area's properties to be given assured futures. Town centre buildings include the County Court and Gerard Winstanley House on Crawford Street, the Queen's Hall entrance block at Market Street and on Wallgate, the Clarence Hotel and Wallgate Station.
Outside the town centre buildings to become listed are the Church of St John the Divine (Pemberton) and it's boundary walls and gates,the former Carnegie Library at Pemberton, the entrance lodge, gates and the Powell monument in Mesnes Park, the Griffin and Pagefield hotels and houses 5 to 15 Swinley Road together with Pottery Road canal bridge, numbers 4 and 5 Canal Cottages, Pottery Road and 146 Chapel Lane and Frog Lane Railway Bridge.
The buildings will now be identified as being of special architectural or historical interestand cannot be altered without Metro permission.

'ANIMAL LOVERS' JAILED

A Wigan couple described in court as 'animal lovers' are behind bars after admitting 16 charges of cruelty to their pet rabbits and dogs.
Lillian Carol Houghton,34, and 36-year-old Denis Houghton were banned from keeping animals for life after they let their pets live in squalid conditions and watched them die 'a slow and miserable death of starvation'.
The couple who now live at Engineer Street, Ince with their four children aged six, eight, nine and ten, each pleaded guilty to eight charges of causing unnecessary suffering to six rabbits and two dogs at the town's magistrate's court this week.
They were each jailed for 120 days.
The court heard that The two dogs, one a German Shepherd and the other Collie Cross, were even forced to eat another dog because they were dying of starvation. All that remained of the third dog was a front leg and hind leg connected by a piece of skin and could be barely identified.
RSPCA officer Stephanie Daly said it was the most horrific case of cruelty she had ever seen.
Tony Stock, prosecuting for the RSPCA said, "RSPCA officer Inspector Daly attended the Houghton's house at Hereford Road, Hindley after complaints from neighbours. She found carcasses of dead rabbits inside hutches which had no bedding and no food and water. One of the rabbit's eyes was missing and there were flies flying around the cage. The hutches were full of mouldy faeces.
"The two dogs were kept in a rotting outhouse, again full of mouldy faeces and fresh food had been placed on top of rotting food. Mr Houghton was carrying bin bags and when questioned by Insp Daly, he replied, "I am removing the dead bodies for disposal." When asked "What bodies?" he replied "Dogs and rabbits."
"One of the binbags actually split open and the carcass of the dead German Shepherd fell out."
A veterinary surgeon's post mortem examination conluded all the animals had died from starvation. He also said that he found it 'hard to comprehend the extent and severity of the case because several animals were involved.'
Mr Stock added; "When Insp Daly interviewed the couple Mrs Houghton said it was the children's responsibility to look after the rabbits and when asked Mr Houghton said he 'couldn't find time to look after the animals because I was out at work and forgot.'
Mr Sean Joyce, defending, said, "Mrs Houghton has spent her whole life surrounded by pets and animals, and a woman who would say she is an animal lover. This cruelty was not intentional. They have neglected their responsibilities rather than carrying out any intentional acts. But as well as the animals they had four children and this has added to the strain of looking after the pets."
Speaking after the sentencing Insp daly said, "They deserve to spend time behind bars. It was the most horrific case I have ever seen and my only regret was that I was too late. I have had sleepless nights over this. It is a case I will never forget.