June 2008 Archives

Violent crime, teen pregnancy and adapting to climate change are among the issues Brent will be tackling as a priority over the next three years.
Results of a government shakeup of council targets released today (Monday) show that Brent Council has agreed 23 priority areas.
The local authorities worked with service providers, such as the police and Jobcentre Plus, to identify key priorities individual to each area.
In Brent priorities include the serious violent crime rate, the number of drug users in effective treatment and the under 18 conception rate.
The priorities will be used to develop targets for the next three years and the full lists can be seen here.

Art, design and media students from Queens Park Community School will be holding a free exhibition of their GCSE examination work, next month.
The youngsters will be showing paintings, sculptures and drawings at a preview party at The Gallery, in Willesden Green Library Centre, on July 10, and the creations will be on view until August 1.
New Zeland artists Sonja van Kerkhoff and Sen McGlinn will also hold a poetry-inspired exhibition at The Gallery from July 18.

Brent Friends of the Earth has launched a new newsletter and website to spread the green message across the borough.
The site, www.brentfoe.com, details the group's activities and events and features a gallery section.
And the downloadable newsletter, which is also available at libraries, will encourage residents to do their bit for the environment.
Viv Stein, the organisation's spokeswoman, said: "Interest in green issues and our group has really taken off. Our membership has doubled in the last year and we will be supporting the council to promote compulsory recycling."

By Aisha Silin

Byron Court Primary School held its annual summer fair last Saturday (21) to raise funds for the school.
Children and parents were treated to a day of activities such as face-painting, henna and a bouncing castle game. The fair also included a number of international food stalls.
Umesh Raichada, chairman of the Parent Teacher Association, said the school held a special raffle for helpers in order to get more of them on board.
He said: "It was a great day, and that's thanks to all the parents, the helpers, the teachers, and the year 11 students who participated."
The raffle prize was a video game player donated by a former student, Sundip Patel, who is now managing director of a toys and electronics company. Rasa Murugasu, whose child attends the school, was the lucky winner.
The fair raised approximately £2,000, which is more than £200 more than last year. At least three 300 people attended, and although it started out as a rainy morning, the weather fortunately turned warmer and sunnier in the afternoon.

Anglican churches St Augustine's, Wembley Park and the Annuncation, South Kenton, are holding a joint Summer Fair this year on Saturday July 12, between noon-5pm.
The fair will take place at St Augustine's Church, on the corner of Forty Avenue and Wembley Hill Road, and stalls will include homemade Caribbean food, BBQ, raffle, bric-a-brac, handmade cards, homemade cakes, books, ice cream and many more activities.
Entrance is 50p for adults and free for children.
The performance area at the fair will include a salsa lesson and dancing, keep fit classes, Wembley Operatic Society and Irish dancing.
Funds raised support local churches and last year some 300 people attended the fair which raised £3,000. Everyone from the local community is welcome and warmly invited.
For more information see st-augustines-web.com/.

By Tom Lawrence

Three men who conspired to murder a special constable in Wembley have each been sentenced to life in jail.

Businessman Fadi Nasri, 34, hitman Jason Jones, 36, and drug dealer Rodger Leslie, 38, were all given life sentences today (Wednesday) by The Recorder of London, Judge Peter Beaumont QC, for the murder of Nasri's wife Nisha Patel-Nasri outside her Sudbury Avenue home.

The judge ruled Nasri and Jones must serve a minimum of 20 years and Leslie a minimum of 18.

Leslie and Jones were not present to hear the sentence, having unexpectedly returned to their cells earlier in the morning, but Nasri, in a dark pinstripe suit and flanked by security guards, displayed no emotion as the sentence was passed.

Nasri, who lived with his wife of three years, wanted her dead so he could pay off his debts with her £350,000 life insurance policy and start a new life with his prostitute lover Laura Mockiene.

Limousine company boss Nasri recruited Jones through underworld contact Leslie. Tony Emmanuel, 42, was the hired driver but was found not guilty of murder and manslaughter.

Nasri, Jones and Leslie were found guilty of murder on May 28 at the Old Bailey after the jury had deliberated for 26 hours.

Emmanuel insisted although he had driven Jones and Leslie to the scene, he knew nothing of the sinister plot.

The trial heard Nasri - who owed £54,000 to banks and building societies - arranged the murder for May 11 2006 and gave Jones the house keys.

He had organised a game of snooker to give himself an alibi, leaving his wife, 29, to count the takings of her hairdressing business and get ready for bed. He even told her to lock the doors as he left, knowing the hitman was on his way.

Mrs Patel-Nasri was in her pyjamas when Jones slipped into the house in Sudbury Avenue, Wembley, shortly before midnight.

Police believe he took a knife from the kitchen and found the petite 29-year-old at the bottom of the stairs where she had come to investigate a noise.

But Mrs Patel-Nasri may have grabbed the knife to defend herself before she was stabbed in the left groin as she struggled with the hitman.

She managed to get out on to her driveway but bled to death before emergency services could reach her.

Jones calmly walked away from the house and was driven away by Emmanuel. He then dumped the murder weapon in a drain but, crucially, was caught by a security camera, and phone records linked all four defendants on the night of the murder.

Sentencing Nasri Judge Beaumont said: "I find there was in the circumstances of the attack a significant degree of planning and premeditation.

"I find that Mrs Patel-Nasri was that night vulnerable, but not through age or disability, vulnerable because the plan left her defenceless in her home as Mr Nasri exercised the alibi that he constructed for himself.

"The aggravating factor was that there was gross abuse of the trust he owed her as a husband."

Ms Mockiene was in the packed public gallery and broke down in tears as the sentence was passed.

Nasri had been having an affair with Ms Mockiene since January 2006 and she may have been pregnant at the time of the killing.

She was with him when he was arrested nine months after his wife's death.

After sentencing, it emerged Nasri's father killed himself in prison in 2001 while on remand accused of killing his own wife and son in a house fire in Derby and that Nasri was planning to sue Leicester Prison over the incident.

By Tom Parnell

Brent Police are hunting two burglars who have gone on the run after breaching their bail.
Cops believe Richard Harding, 42, and Benjamin Clarke, 28, are staying in Brent and are calling on community members to help catch them.
Sergeant Johanne Hughes, of Brent Marshals, said: " Police would like to speak to both Richard Harding and Benjamin Clarke.
"We would like to hear from anyone who may know of either of the subjects' whereabouts.
"If you have any information, please contact us in confidence on 02087333159 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111."

By Tara Brady

Parts of the River Brent, long buried under concrete, may be uncovered to revitalise the area.

Advisers to Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, are discussing plans to raise tributaries which flow into the Thames to create more waterways and open space.

They also believe that unearthing stretches of buried river could help cool down inner London during hot weather.

The Wealdstone Brook, which joins the River Brent, flows at the back of John Timms' house in Belvedere Way, Kenton.

The 64-year-old, who is vice-chairman of The North Brent Flood Working Group, thinks money should be spent on preventing future flooding rather than exposing lost rivers.

He said: "I like the idea of naturalising the channels but I don't like the obscene amount of money it would take to do this.

"Money needs to be spent on rivers which are polluted, improving flood defences or the sewage systems. We all remember last summer when Brent and Harrow experienced some of the worst flooding in years."

But Erin Brooks, 45, of Harrow Road, thinks it is will make parts of the city, including Brent, more beautiful and accessible. She said: "People forget there are rivers flowing underneath us that we never see. It would be lovely to open them up and change the concrete jungle look of the area."

The Brent is one of London's main rivers and gave the London Borough of Brent its name when the boroughs of Wembley and Willesden merged in 1965.

It flows through Neasden, Harrow Road, North Circular Road and leaves Wembley to join the Thames at Brentford.

The scheme, which was put together by company Design for London, works with other organisations to improve the quality of living in the city.

If the project goes ahead it will start in the suburbs, like Brent, but some designs even propose creating ornamental, venetian-style waterways in inner London.

A spokesman for the Mayor of London said: "At the moment opening up parts of London's subterranean river networks is one of many ideas that have been proposed to improve the quality of living in our city. As with all these ideas a full study would need to be undertaken to assess its feasibility."

An exhibition showing the designs are on display at Somerset House in central London until July 8.

By James White

Police are investigating a possible double shooting which they believe took place at a house party in the early hours of this morning (Monday).

Officers were called at approximately 4am to Bleinheim Gardens in North Wembley where they found a woman in her 30s suffering from gun shot wounds.

At 4.10am, staff at a west London hospital also contacted police after a man in his 20s was admitted with gun shot injuries which are said to be life-threatening.

Police are linking both shootings.

Trident, the Met's black gun crime unit, is investigating and a police spokeswoman said no arrests have been made.

By Tara Brady

Officials have caused outrage by suggesting that Brent's name should be changed to The London Borough of Wembley.

In a recent newsletter by Brent Council's Chief Executive, Gareth Daniel, it is revealed the borough could be renamed to capitalise on the world renowned 'Wembley' brand.

But people are already opposing the idea saying it would cost millions of pounds to change street signs, council buildings and council owned vehicles. Councillors also believe that people in different parts of the borough will resent the new name.

Councillor Ann John (Labour) said: "The borough is called Brent because the river Brent was the dividing line between the former boroughs of Wembley and Willesden and people have grown used to that name.

"This proposal will seem like a takeover by Wembley and it will be resented by Willesden residents. But it will also be resented throughout the borough because it is a pointless waste of taxpayers' money."

Should Brent change its name? If so what to? Let us know what you think in our forum.