This is a new section for My Abbots magazine. Each month we will spend a morning, afternoon or day with a local business or figure to see what their day-to-day activities involve. We thought there would be no better place to start with than the people who patrol our streets, the Police Community Support Officers. PCSO’s John Diaz and Marijke Stevens-Keijzer took us out on the beat to reveal what their job involves, and tell us a bit more about their roles within the community. On arriving at the police station, PCSO’s John and Marijke gave us a brief as to what the afternoon would involve, before hitting the streets of Abbots to patrol the area. On starting a shift, John told My Abbots that the first thing the PCSO’s would do is check emails and respond to any enquires that had been made. He told My Abbots: “If the guys from the morning shift are still on we’ll get a brief as to what has been happening and do a basic change over.”
“We usually plan out the day ahead, but sometimes you can get diverted to jobs from the radio.” On walking up the High Street, it is clear that local residents welcome the presence of the local officers, stopping to talk to them and notifying them of any problems. No two days are the same according to PCSO John, who claims that one day you can be dealing with a road traffic accident, and the next giving a talk to children at a local school. My day with John and Marijke would see us tackle two projects. The first would involve trying to clamp down on mini-motorbikes, with the second involving trying to catch drivers using a mobile phone. Both these issues have been raised by local residents, and the PCSO’s will always take concerns brought to their attention very seriously. Although the PCSO’s cannot issue tickets for speeding or use of a mobile phone, they can feedback information to local police, who can issue a £60 fine and three penalty points. John told My Abbots that it’s important for residents to see the officers around, stating that feedback from locals is very good. He said: “We walk down the street and people wave at us and us by our first names.
People didn’t really know our roles, and we do get some ‘sticks and stones’ comments, but you take it and try and win them round with your way of working.” John has been doing the job three years now, and still gets the same satisfaction out of the position that he did on day one. Marijke, who is from Holland, has also done the job for a couple of years, and backs John’s statement that the positives outweigh the negatives. She told My Abbots: “I like the unexpected. It’s an outdoor job and I like the freedom you get with it. You plan your own day and you are always learning. You get some verbal abuse from males and females, but I find the compliments outstrip the criticisms.” In spending time with John and Marijke it’s clear that they are passionate about making the village a better place. They are not the type to go out issuing tickets, but instead like to talk to members of the community and figure out a way to stop them reoffending. John can only recall one incident where he had to deal with a violent member of the public and he hopes it will never happen again. He said: “There was an incident where a man was attacking a woman and when we approached him, he turned on us. We used our training to deal with the situation.” The Police offices are open from 10am until 1pm, but there is a contact number on the door that puts anyone with a query through to the controller, who can then contact the relevant PCSO. After an afternoon with both John and Marijke, it is clear that the village needs the PCSO’s, mainly due to their hard work and commitment to making Abbots a safer place. Both spoke very highly of the community and clearly enjoy the job they are doing. Patrolling the streets with the two certainly gave My Abbots an insight into how valued they are by the majority of the village, even if there is a small number which do not appreciate them.
It is common knowledge that there is a problem with underage drinking in the UK. Every time you switch the news on, you are almost certain to find a bulletin highlighting the issue. So who is responsible for trying to clamp down on this continuing problem?
Trading Standards is just one of the authorities responsible for countering underage sales and one man from Abbots Langley is a at the forefront of the battle.
Phil Clark, 39, of Gallows Hill Lane, is the Head of Trading Standards for the London Borough of Newham and the owner of APC Licensing, based here in Abbots.
Part of his job in Newham is to target licensed establishments to prevent illegal sales. He works very hard in enforcing the law and in some cases this means sending children into establishments to try and purchase alcohol and then to prosecute offenders. Phil has prosecuted literally hundreds of cases and this is not just in corner shops and independent pubs; Phil has successfully taken on huge chains such as Asda, Lidl and Somerfield. Since his appointment in 2003, the figures in Newham have dropped dramatically. Previously, alcohol was served to underage drinkers in around 88% of cases, that figure has now dropped to just 15%, which Phil believes is still way too high. When Phil is not busting establishments for serving alcohol to minors, he is training them on how to be a successful licensee. His business, APC Licensing, runs courses which include the National Certificate for Personal Licence Holders, which is a one day training and exam course, successful completion of which is mandatory for new Licensees. APC also run the Award for Responsible Alcohol Retailing course, which is aimed at more junior staff. The Licence Holders course is held at the Parish Council offices, while the Alcohol Retailing training can be carried out at the establishment itself. Phil has his views as to why alcohol is commonly served to those not old enough. He told My Abbots: "In inner London there is a certain amount of intent to serve alcohol to kids, in some cases children have even been told by the trader to hide the bottles of drink because he knows they are under age. Locally, I believe it is more to do with lack of awareness and proper training. This is where I can help."
Seriously ill patients will be put at tremendous risk according to a new study conducted due to the closure of local A&E units. The findings of the study were published in the Emergency Medicine Journal and has resulted in a call for a rethink over the policy of closing local A & Es. West Herts NHS Hospital Trust plans to close A & E at Hemel Hempstead Hospital, with all patients in need of emergency care being taken to Watford General instead. This means patients from surrounding areas, including Abbots Langley, who require emergency treatment for serious conditions, will need to be taken to Watford. However, the minor injuries unit will remain at Hemel Hempstead for those with less serious cases of illness. The trust has been quick to defend the move, saying it is better for patients, especially heart and trauma patients, to be treated at a major A & E unit, rather than be taken to their local hospital and then transferred. However, the new study released found that in some cases it was better for less travel by ambulance. Those with breathing problems or suffering anaphylactic shock were just a couple of examples where ambulance travel would be better kept to a minimum. At the recent Parish Council meeting, some of the councillors in attendance voiced their concerns over the recent plans that have been announced. Leon Lay said: “I have my concerns about Watford being the only facility for emergencies, especially on a Saturday. Having only two hospitals is a real problem.” Sara Bedford revealed statistics about births in Hertfordshire which suggest that local facilities are simply not available. There are 13,500 births in Hertfordshire every year, with over 90% of those taking place in consultation units. The ideal number should see 60% being born within community facilities. On a good day, it takes 20 minutes to drive to Watford General, in some emergency cases, this may be too long. One councillor simply stated that ’there is a lack of infrastructure in the area’. The study examined 10,000 cases in four ambulance services between 1997 and 2001. Researchers said it was time to debate the merits of big regional units after finding the risk of death went up with each mile travelled for urgent care
One person was injured in a house fire in Abbots last month after the fire broke out in a two-storey home in Furtherfield in the early evening. Firefighters were called to the scene from Kings Langley and Garston and were greeted by a small fire on the ground floor of the end-of-terrace property. They used a hose and breathing gear to tackle the fire and it was under control within 20 minutes of it starting. A spokesman for the fire service said one person suffered slight injuries in the house blaze, which is being treated as an accident. Three other people were also involved.
An Abbots Langley woman has escaped a stint behind bars after being let off for fraudulently claiming more than £60,000 pounds in income support and housing and council tax benefits. The lucky woman, a 52-year-old-mother of two, was given a suspended prison sentence instead. St Albans Crown Court heard last month how she had been under the influence of her bullying husband and had been fearful of what would happen if she stopped making the dishonest claims. The woman in question pleaded guilty to three charges of failing to notify a change in her circumstances. She asked for 367 similar offences to be taken into consideration. She was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment suspended for two years. But Recorder Barry Kogan told her it wasn't the end of the story and in December she will have to appear in court again for confiscation when she will be ordered to repay the money back. The court heard how the Abbots Langley resident had been caught up in a nightmare marriage. Claire Harden prosecuting said her husband was emotionally, physically and verbally abusive towards her. As a result she left him and moved out of the matrimonial home in the Abbey Park estate, Abbots Langley, in 1993. That same year she made a perfectly legitimate claim for income support because she was unable to work. The claim was successful and she began receiving the payments. However, when she returned to her husband the following year she failed to notify the Department for Work and Pensions of her change in circumstances. She then continued to receive the payments up until 2005. The prosecutor then told of how in February 2002 the woman had left her husband and this time went to live at an another local address.
Shortly afterwards she made a claim for housing and council tax benefit which, because of circumstances, was again perfectly legitimate. She began receiving payments for that but when she moved back to her husband in 2003, she again didn't tell Three Rivers District Council and the money continued to roll in. Miss Harden said the overpayment of benefits amounted to £61,144. However, in 2005, fraud investigators at Three Rivers District found out what had been going on and called the Abbots woman in for an interview. She immediately admitted her dishonesty. Mr Silas Reid, defending, said the wife was now divorced from her husband. He said there were exceptional circumstances to the case which meant she didn't have to be imprisoned. The barrister described her former husband as an "ogre" who had bullied and ill treated his wife to such an extent that she had suffered a nervous breakdown 13 years ago. Mr Reid said: "Whatever he said she did because there were consequences for her if she didn't." He said she had thought about stopping the dishonest payments that were coming to her but she was fearful of the consequences if she did. "His will effectively destroyed hers," said Mr Reid. After reading a number of letters sent to him by friends and family of the wife, Recorder Kogan said: "It seems to me I can find exceptional circumstances. She has led a dreadful life with a bullying, overbearing husband.”
As well as sentencing her for the offences, he fixed a date for the confiscation hearing which will take place at the end of the year.
