The family of the 12-year-old boy whose body was found in Eccles yesterday have paid tribute to him.

Police were called to an address on Boardman Street at around 3.30pm on Tuesday 1 April 2014.

Officers arrived after responding to a call from ambulance services and discovered the body of a 12-year-old boy, now formally identified as Kyle Darker.

There are no suspicious circumstances surrounding his death and the case has been passed to the coroner.

The following tribute comes from mum Lorraine Darker and stepdad Kev Walsh: “My beautiful baby, I can hardly breathe without you here, we miss you every second.

“Kyle, you don’t know the gap that you have left in my life. You were the sweetest kid and everyone loves you so much.

“We don’t know how we will carry on without you. We love you beyond words, why oh why??

“My poor baby, sweet dreams. You have a big family to look after you in heaven so you won’t be alone. Our hearts are completely broken without you.”

Police in Salford are investigating after a man indecently exposed himself on 8 separate occasions.

Between January 2014 and April 2014, police believe the same man has exposed himself on 8 occasions to school girls and young women in the Walkden and Eccles area, either in the afternoon or early evening.

The most recent happened on the 2 April 2014, as an 18-year-old woman walked over the Quaker Bridge on Ellesmere Road, Eccles.

The man is described as being white, around 6ft tall, of slim build, in his 30s with blonde hair and was wearing a dark fleece with black trousers.

DI Alan Clitherow said: “This is the latest in a string of similar offences committed by this man, who has previously exposed himself to girls aged between 12 and 16 on their way home from school.

“We have increased police patrols in the area to offer reassurance to the community and I would ask anyone who may have any concerns as to what has happened to speak to their local officer.

“It is important to emphasise that these are traumatic offences for the victims and although no physical contact is made it is important we catch the person responsible and he is held to account for his actions.”

“If you have any information that can help us identify who is responsible or if you have been a victim of this man, I would ask you to contact police as soon as possible.”

Anyone with information should phone police on 101 or the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.

Police have released CCTV images as part of their on-going investigation into an alleged theft from an ATM at the Co-Operative Store on Curzon Street, Maryport.

Police would like to speak to a male, pictured in the CCTV images, in connection with the alleged theft of £500.

The victim attempted to take money from the machine, but was unsuccessful and left the area. Their account states that the money was dispensed.

The incident occurred on 26^th February 2013 at around 2.55pm.

The CCTV images show a male, approximately mid to late 40’s with long greying hair. He is wearing a red bandana, a black bomber jacket and jeans.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Police on 101 and ask to speak to PC Jill Robertson.

Cumbria Police can confirm that a man who was allegedly assaulted has sadly died today (3^rd April 2014).

Andrew Paul Armstrong, aged 46, from Central Avenue, Egremont died at West Cumberland Hospital. A post mortem is to be carried out shortly.

Police were called at 13:35 on Sunday (30th March) to a report of an assault at Central Avenue, Egremont.

Two men, aged 57 and 17 both from the Egremont area, who were arrested on suspicion of attempted murder have been released on bail as investigations continue.

Detective Inspector Gemma Hannah from Cumbria Police’s Public Protection Unit said:

“Our thoughts are with Andrew’s family at this awful time. Our investigations are ongoing to establish the circumstances that led up to the alleged assault and find out exactly what has happened.

“If anyone has any information about this incident please call Cumbria Police on 101 and ask for Detective Sergeant Vasey, or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.”
No firearms were involved in this incident, and there was no danger to the general public at any time.

Police have issued footage of a pub brawl that saw a man receive a broken jaw.

It happened in the Prince of Orange pub, Warrington Street, Ashton-under-Lyne, at around 10.15pm on Sunday, 2 March 2014.

The 33-year-old victim was in the put with a friend when he saw a fight break out in which one man was pinned up against the wall.

He went over to intervene and began to talk to the man who had been pinned against the wall. Without warning he suddenly punched him hard in the face, briefly knocking him unconscious.

When he came to he was taken to hospital where he had treatment for a suspected broken jaw.

The offender was described as white, in his 30s, over 6ft tall with dark hair and wearing a zipped-up bomber jacket.

Detective Constable Sharon Hilton, based at Ashton, said: “This man was trying to act as peacemaker when he was punched in the face for his trouble.

“He made no attempt to takes sides and had simply wanted to help calm the situation down.

“He was felled with a punch of such force that it momentarily knocked him out. The blow shattered his jaw.

“I now want people to take a look at the CCTV images and tell us if you know who the suspect is.”

Anyone with information is asked to call police on 0161 856 9350 / 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

A man from Birkenhead has been banned from begging in Wirral.

Police looking for a missing Salford man Barry Shaw have found a body.

At 10.50am on Thursday 3 April 2014, police were called following the discovery of a body in woodland just off Argosy Drive, Barton.

Officers do not believe there are any suspicious circumstances surrounding the death and the details will be passed to the coroner.

Police are investigating reports of two dogs who took ill and showed signs of amphetamine or ecstasy poisoning in the area of the Sheepmount, Carlisle.

Ashlea Veterinary Centre in Carlisle have had two dogs rushed into the clinic showing signs of amphetamine or ecstasy poisoning in the past week.

On Friday 28^th April, a three and a half year old Huntaway/Rottweiler dog was brought in having had diarrhoea at home. By the time she got to the clinic she was very agitated with severe muscle tremors. She was twitching, panting, salivating and had dilated pupils.

The vets at immediately sedated her and put her on intravenous fluids and fortunately within five hours she was returning back to her normal happy self and has gone on to make a complete recovery.

On Monday 31^st March they again had another dog, Buster, in a very similar manner although though not quite as extreme.

Both of these dogs had been walked down through Willowholme to the Sheepmount.

Their clinical signs are highly suggestive of amphetamine toxicity which we presume they picked up somewhere on that walk.

Officers from the Force’s Dog Unit have attended the area and at present nothing suspicious has been located.

PC Stuart Woodward, a Dog Handler in North Cumbria, is investigating the incident. He said: “We want to put dog owner’s minds at ease that this sort of incident is very rare. This is not an intentional act by someone to harm people’s dogs.

“Dogs in their nature are very inquisitive and unfortunately in these two cases it is believed that some hidden controlled drugs may have been found by the dogs and as such have been eaten. Patrols have been conducted in the area and will continue to do so in order to prevent further incidents of this nature.”

If anyone is seen acting in suspicious circumstances or suspicious items are found within the area, please contact Police on 101.

Police continue to appeal for information following the theft of pharmaceutical drugs from a van outside a chemist in Fore Street , N18.

On Wednesday, 2 April, at 17:35hrs a courier was collecting a quantity of the drug Enbrel. He loaded six blue plastic boxes each containing 20 to 23 boxes of four pre-filled syringes

He returned into the store to collect more items and when he came out to his vehicle he became aware the boxes had been stolen.

Officers from Enfield are investigating and are currently making enquires which include the collation and viewing of CCTV footage from the area.

Acting Detective Sergeant Stuart Miller, Enfield Borough Police, said: “It has been a number of hours since the boxes were stolen and our investigations have moved on. We now do not believe that the white transit van and its occupants were involved in this theft and are no longer appealing for information about it. However the drugs are still outstanding and I wish to take the opportunity to appeal again to anyone who may have seen anyone acting suspiciously outside the pharmacy at the time the boxes were stolen or anyone who may have been offered the drugs to contact the police.

Anyone with information of the whereabouts of the drugs is asked to call the police non-emergency line on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Enbrel® (etanercept) is indicated for the treatment a number of inflammatory disorders, including moderate to severe active rheumatoid arthritis.

Patient safety is of utmost importance to Pfizer. Patients should only take medicines that have been prescribed to them by their healthcare professional and should follow the relevant safety information provided.

If you are a patient and have concerns please contact your healthcare professional immediately.

A man has been charged following a violent burglary in Chorlton-Cum-Hardy.

Christopher Uthman (01/08/93) of Bullfinch Walk, Chorlton-Cum-Hardy, Manchester, has been charged with burglary dwelling with violence.

He is due to appear Manchester Crown Court, Crown Square, on Thursday 17 April 2014.

On Tuesday 25 March 2014 Police were called to a house on Wintermans Road, where four men had broken in and one of the offenders behaved violently towards a member of the family, whilst the other men searched the house. They left empty handed.

A man has been charged following a fire at a house in Blackley.

Anthony McAndrew (born 16/06/1987) of Pembridge Road, Blackley has been charged with arson with intent, theft from dwelling and possession of cannabis.

He appeared at Manchester magistrates’ court on Thursday 3 April 2014.

Police were called around 8.10am on Wednesday 2 April 2014 to reports of a fire at a house on Belthorne Avenue.

A 50-year-old, who was inside the house, was taken to hospital with smoke inhalation. He remains in hospital in a serious but stable condition.

A man has been charged following an arson attack in Wigan.

Stuart Woods (born 4/5/76) of no fixed abode has been charged with Arson.

He was remanded in custody and is due to appear at Wigan magistrates’ court this morning, Friday 4 April 2014.

On Sunday 30 March just after 2.30am at the same address where it is thought one person broke in and set fire to another HGV. The man then walked off towards Wallgate.

Police are searching for the owners of three bicycles that were recovered in Gorton.

Police officers have recovered a number of pedal cycles and various items of cycle equipment from the Gorton areas and believe they were taken in a burglary in the Chorlton area.

One of the bicycles was then offered for sale on Gumtree.

Civilian Investigator Bob Ashworth from South Manchester Division said: “We make every effort to try to return stolen property to victims of crime.

“We believe that one or more of the three bikes we recovered were stolen and we want to reunite them with their owners.

“If you had your bike stolen and you recognise your bike from the photographs, please contact Police on 0161 856 4973”.

Detectives from the force’s Matrix Serious and Organised Crime team are investigating an attempted cash vehicle in transit yesterday morning (Thursday, 3 April).

Officers were called to Penketh Drive, Speke at around 11.40am, to reports a security officer was leaving one of the stores, when two men wearing balaclavas approached him.

They threatened the guard before stealing the cash box and getting into a nearby Ford Focus. The guard was uninjured but left shaken by the ordeal.

Officers attended and the unopened cash box was found at the side of the shops. A blue Ford Focus was also recovered nearby in Harefield Road near to Conleach Road.  The box and the car have been recovered will be forensically examined.

Detective Chief Inspector Hesketh  said: “This is a busy shopping area and I believe that there would have been a number of people in the area who would have witnessed this incident.

“This is not a victimless crime and I and we would be particularly keen to speak to anyone who saw a two men behaving suspiciously in the area or anyone who saw the cashbox being left at the side of the shops  or the car in Harefield Road.

“CCTV from the location and the surrounding area is being examined and forensic enquiries will be carried out. Investigations to establish the full circumstances of the incident are on-going.

”Specialist investigators from the MSOC investigation team are investigating this incident, as the force recognises that this is not a victimless crime. We will look to robustly deal with those involved in this type of serious and organised crime”

Anyone with any information about this incident is asked to contact MSOC Investigation Wing on 0800 230 0600 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.”

Merseyside Police can confirm that a body found on a beach in the La Zenia area of Alicante on Saturday was last night formally identified by the Spanish authorities as Francis Brennan.

Francis’s parents have been informed of his death and a family liaison officer from Merseyside Police is providing them with support and advice at this difficult time.

A live police investigation carried out by the authorities in Spain remains ongoing.

Detectives in St Helens are appealing for information after a bookmakers was robbed by a man with a gun.

The lone offender walked into the Betfred bookmakers in Nutgrove Road in the Thatto Heath area of the town just after 8.30pm last night (Thursday 3rd April 2014).

The man produced a black handgun from a rucksack he was carrying and demanded that the two members of staff – the 25-year-old female manager and her 22-year-old male colleague – open the safe.

When the offender discovered they did not have access to the cash in the safe he ordered them to hand over cash from the till instead. He then left on foot in the direction of Scholes Lane and staff activated a panic alarm which called the police.

The two members of staff, and a customer who was in the shop at the time, were left uninjured but distressed.

Patrols carried out a search of the area and house-to-house and CCTV enquiries from neighbouring properties.

Detective Inspector Martin Earl from St Helens CID, said: “This was an extremely unpleasant ordeal for these two members of staff and the customer to go through when they were just going about their business. The offender did not threaten violence but he produced what staff believed was a black handgun and that was clearly very frightening. I would like to reassure people that we are doing everything we can to catch this man and that extensive enquiries are being made to establish who he is and where he lives so that he can be arrested.

“This robbery happened early evening after the first day of Aintree when many people may have been in the area having had a drink at a local pub, or on their way to the bookmakers to place a bet. I am sure that someone will have seen this man either before he carried out the robbery or afterward when he fled the scene.

“I would urge anyone who can help us investigate this crime against a local business where local staff have been put through a terrible ordeal to please contact the police or Crimestoppers.”

The offender is described as white, aged in his late 30s, around 5ft 9ins tall with a black hood and black neck-warmer covering his head and face.

He spoke with a local St Helens accent and was wearing a dark blue waterproof jackets and blue jeans.

Call St Helens CID on 0151 777 6812 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

A local man from Carlisle, Michael Tinning, aged 23 of no fixed address, has today (4 April 2014) been sentenced to over two and a half years for stealing £21,000 from his grandmother.

The victim in this case was an elderly lady who had a general mistrust of banks and keep a large amount of money under her mattress, rather than placing it in a bank account. She believed that the money would be safe with her, never believing that her own grandson would be the one to steal her life savings.

Detective Constable Chris Hind said: “The victim in this case did not trust the banks and believed that her money would be safe at home. She never expected that a member of her own family would steal the whole amount and then waste it.

“The actions of Tinning showed total disregard for his elderly grandmother and his family as a whole. Tinning showed no remorse during his police interview and continued to refuse to admit what he had done when faced with damming evidence of his fingerprints having been found on an envelope left behind. He did plead guilty to his actions in court.

“The family have placed total trust in the police throughout this investigation. The actions of Tinning have deeply affected a good family. This sentence given at Carlisle Crown Court, emphasises how seriously the courts take offences committed against vulnerable persons.”

A man has been sentenced after he threatened a shop assistant with a kitchen knife in Dukinfield.

Luke Heald (born 28/06/1990) of Queens Terrace, Dukinfield has today, Friday 4 April 2014, been sentenced to four years in prison.

He was found guilty of robbery at an earlier hearing.

On Monday 18 February 2013, at about 7pm, Heald ran into an off license on Astley Street, approached the front counter brandishing a knife and threatened the shop assistant who was working there alone.

He demanded he open the till and when the assistant refused, Heald ran round the counter and grabbed a few packets of cigarettes off the shelf.

Heald ran back to the front of the counter and threatened the assistant again and after a few minutes, when his demands were not met, he ran out of the shop and went into a house over the road where he was arrested about an hour later.

Detective Constable Melanie Hutchinson from Tameside division, said: “Heald has denied his guilt from the moment of arrest which has forced his victim to relive this traumatising robbery over and over again.

“Most of us can’t think of what it would be like to be violently threatened in their place of work, and shopworkers should be afforded the same protection.

“Heald has today been sentenced to a long time behind bars, those people who think they can walk into a shop and take what they want without paying should realise there is always a price to pay.”

Police in Salford are reassuring pupils and their parents following a report that a man grabbed a schoolgirl’s arm.

Police are investigating a common assault in which a man briefly grabbed the 12-year-old of a girl on her way to school, in Higher Broughton.

The incident happened at about 7.40am on Wednesday, 2 April 2014, as the girl walked along Great Clowes Street, near the junction with Upper Camp Street.

She saw a man walk towards her and, as he got close, he said to her: “Going to school are we?”

He then grabbed her left arm for a couple of seconds before she pulled her arm away and he walked off laughing.

The girl was physically unharmed but upset by what happened.

The offender is described as mixed race, around 20-years-old with black hair, a skinny build, around 5ft 5in tall and wearing a hoody.

This is no link whatsoever with any other similar reports at this stage and this is believed to be an isolated incident.

Sergeant Helen Hoban, based at Salford East INPT, said: “It is understandable that parents and pupils will be concerned whenever they hear of someone grabbing a child’s arm in the street.

“Thankfully she wriggled free from him and he walked off. From what she has told us there was no attempt to abduct her.

“We want to reassure people that, while we are determined to catch this man and want the public’s help in finding him, we do not want anyone to be unnecessarily alarmed.

“We have already seen scare-mongering headlines in the local media about this which are over-the-top and could potentially increase the fear of crime.

“We have a great relationship with most of the media and they are usually extremely helpful in publicising many of our witness appeals. With cases like this however, we would ask that they use a bit of common sense and try to strike the balance between warning people about potential danger and scaring them unnecessarily.”

Anyone with information is asked to call police in Salford on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

A woman was threatened with a gun during an early morning robbery in Manchester.

Sometime between 2.15am and 2.45am on 22 February 2014, a man entered Vanessa’s on Barlow Moor Road, pointed a gun at a woman who was working there and demanded cash.

She handed over some cash and the man left.

An evo-fit of the suspect has been compiled.

He is described as an Asian man with light skin and brown eyes, about 6ft tall and in his late 20s/early 30s. The male is of medium build, wearing a black hooded top and scarf. He was clean shaven and had a local accent.

Detective Constable Fiona Manning, said: “The woman has been left deeply upset at being threatened at gunpoint and we are working hard to identify the offender.

“From the description provided we have been able to compile a digital image of the suspect and I would ask anyone with information about who this person might be to contact us in complete confidence.”

Anyone with information is asked to call police on 0161 856 6158, or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.