Looking back: the Gazette's review of the year

So here is the first part of the Gazette’s run down of the biggest stories affecting readers over the last 12 months.

It details just a few of the stories which made a splash between January and June, an eclectic mix featuring births, deaths, rescues, suspensions, politics and much much more.

See Monday’s paper for the second part.

To read more about these or any of our stories from 2018, visit www.gazette-news.co.uk.

January

• A RESPECTED businessman was left in a heap on the floor after a crowbarwielding robber dragged him upstairs and screamed for the key to his safe.

Thugs raided the Langham Road home of well-known Boxted butcher John Coleman, threw him to the floor and dragged him to his office upstairs, before making off with between £6,000 and £8,000 in cash, gold watches and a collection of rare coins.

Essex Police launched a manhunt for the two suspects and released CCTV images in the hopes of tracing the men, one of whom knocked the 72-year-old victim over.

•  A PREGNANT mum who was stranded by the Strood in Mersea praised the quick-thinking hero who got her safely across a flood... only minutes before she gave birth.

Kelly Brinkman and partner Paulo were rescued by HGV driver Justin Tacey who loaded their Ford Kuga onto his low loader and got them across the water.

Once on dry land, Mr Tacey unloaded the car and the couple raced to Colchester Hospital, where Kelly gave birth to little Lillie Rose Maria Pereira by emergency Caesarian

•  CLACTON was thrust into the national headlines when an 81-year-old woman died after waiting four hours for an ambulance at her home.

The pensioner initially rang the East of England Ambulance Service complaining of chest pains, but when medics forced their way into her home, she was already dead.

After the news broke, Tendring Pensioners’ Action Group criticised the “complacent attitude of this particular Government”.

February 

•  THANKS to the incredible generosity of a dedicated team of fundraisers, Gazette readers, and an anonymous £1 million donor, Colchester’s new cancer centre was set to become a reality. Following a four-year Gazette campaign, it was announced enough funding had been secured to get started on the new state-of-the-art facility in Turner Road. 
• A DISGRACED Essex Police officer who brought a bag of sex toys with him after arranging to meet what he believed was a 15-year-old boy managed to avoid jail. After being caught, Det Con Jonathan Davies-Brewin, of Colchester, told officers his arrest was “long overdue” and they had “done him a favour”. Davies-Brewin, 50, received a ninemonth jail term, suspended for two years and was later found guilty of gross misconduct after a special case hearing by Essex Police
• NORTH Essex and the rest of the country was rocked by sub-zero temperatures and battered by blizzards blown in from Siberia. Known as the Beast from the East, the treacherous weather caused havoc across the county’s roads but miraculously drivers escaped with only minor injuries after a massive 17-vehicle pile-up on the A120 between Colchester and Clacton.

March 

• ARMED robbers - including one wearing a Spiderman mask – threatened shop workers with a screwdriver and an axe as two Coop stores within eight miles were targeted by crooks. Two raids took place at stores in Rowhedge and West Mersea on the same evening however Essex Police said the incidents were not being linked. Although not present during the break-in at the Mersea store, which took place after closing time and involved a crowbar, a Spiderman mask and an axe were used in another armed robbery at Coral, in Maldon High Street, which is around roughly 20 miles away. 
• DEVOTED football fans travelled hundreds of miles to give ahero’s farewell to Colchester United icon Vic Keeble. Legends of the beautiful game including former England internationals Bobby Hunt, Trevor Brooking and Bob Moncur joined friends and family of the former Newcastle United and West Ham striker, who passed away in January aged 87. Starting his career in his hometown of Colchester, Keeble scored an extremely impressive 65 goals in 81 appearances for The U’s in a five year spell between 1947 and 1952.
•  TWO leading school chiefs were suspended whilst an investigation was launched into a educational trust. The suspensions of Catherine Hutley, headteacher of Philip Morant School, and Nardeep Sharma, chief executive officer of the Thrive Partnership Academy Trust, were shrouded in mystery but the trust insisted it would take time to “carry out further work to establish the facts of the situation”.

April 

•  COLCHESTER’S community was rocked by the discovery of the body of a rough sleeper in a town centre car park. A murder probe was launched investigating the death of Martin Dines, who was found in St Mary’s Car Park, and Essex Police quickly charged Heidi Kennedy, Darren Miller and Mark Hartley with murder. Following his death, Mr Dines’ father paid tribute to the 56-year-old, saying he was “no angel, but he couldn’t be too bad, because he always laughed at my jokes.”
•  RAIDERS on mopeds used hammers to smash their way in to a high street department store before making off with around £20,000 worth of designer handbags. The duo targeted Colchester’s Fenwick store, in High Street, in the early hours of the morning, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake and escaping with accessories made by Mulberry, DKNY and Hill and Friends.
•  DOZENS of jobs were put at risk as DIY chain Homebase announced it was set to close its central Colchester store, which had been a mainstay of the town centre for decades. Money troubles for the firm’s Australian owners Wesfarmers led to the announcement, leaving the future of the St Andrew’s Avenue site open to speculation. Lidl would later announce it would be opening its third Colchester store on the land.

May 

•  COLCHESTER Council’s “progressive alliance” coalition was ratified after May’s local elections... but they clung on to power with a majority of just one seat. The town’s Conservative group gained two wards on election day, leaving the coalition hanging on by a thread. However calls from some, including group leader Darius Laws, for a Tory lead minority council were dismissed after a vote which the ruling party won by 25 votes to 24. Colchester did however have a new council leader, with Lib Dem Mark Cory, then 31, at least briefly being the youngest in the country.
•  DETECTIVES discovered a body in the search for missing Kelvedon man Chris May – three years after he went missing. The 28-year-old’s body was found by a member of the public in the woods near Faulkbourne, roughly two miles away from where his Volkswagen Golf was discovered several years earlier. Det Chief Insp Stephen Jennings said Essex Police would continue to “seek answers for his family” and admitted the body was found outside of the force’s initial search area. An inquest into Mr May’s death opened at Chelmsford Coroner’s Court just days later.
•  A PENSIONER was seriously injured after plunging from a town centre bridge on to the busy road below. The woman, who was in her 80s, fell from the railings over Balkerne Hill, Colchester, but luckily a group of Good Samaritans rushed to her aid. The heroes worked together to provide medical treatment and also stop traffic in the road, which was closed for two hours to allow the East of England Air Ambulance to land at the scene. Paramedics worked to stabilise her at the scene before taking her to hospital. Family members of the elderly woman later thanked the members of the public and emergency services who had helped save the pensioner’s life.

June 

•  THE borough’s Local Plan was thrown into turmoil after a Planning Inspector found the council’s proposals for three massive garden communities to be lacking in detail. Roger Clews’ damning report of the North Essex Garden Communities, sent Colchester, Tendring and Braintree councils back to the drawing board, with more evidence needed before the process could proceed.  
• HEARTLESS crooks stole an electricity generator from a charity working on a project to keep rough sleepers off the freezing streets at night. Colchester Rough Sleepers Group was forced to implemented tougher security measures to protect its ongoing bus project after thieves raided the vehicle. Kind-hearted residents soon chipped in however and raised enough money to but a new one. 
• BUSINESS leaders and council bosses called for unity behind the campaign for a new A120 after announcing their preferred £550 million route option. A massive 82 per cent of the public supported Essex County Council’s plans for a new road to be built, however many were less enthusiastic about potentially waiting until 2026 to be able to use the new road, which will link Marks Tey and Braintree.