The Bradley Stoke Journal

Police are appealing for information following an unprovoked assault in Bradley Stoke.

At around 8:30pm on Monday (15th August), a 29-year-old man was walking alone in the Three Brooks Local Nature Nature Reserve, near to Ormonds Close.

He was approached from behind by two men who went on to assault him by kicking him in the head and stamping on one of his arms before running off into Savages Wood.

The victim has been left with a suspected fractured cheekbone.

Police would now like to speak to anyone who may have witnessed this incident or who may have seen two white men in their mid-twenties acting suspiciously in the area around this time.

Anyone who may be able to help is asked to call police on 0845 456 7000 quoting reference 97700/11 or call the charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

The latest incident follows one in October 2010 in which a cyclist was assaulted and robbed in the Three Brooks Local Nature, close to Bowsland Green Primary School.

Police in Bradley Stoke are asking for help in identifying two youths who assaulted a man and stole his bike and mobile phone.

The incident happened on Wednesday 27th October between 5:15pm and 5:30pm as the 35-year-old rode along the Three Brooks Local Nature Reserve cycleway, towards Bowsland Green Primary School.

He was stopped by the two youths who pushed him off his bike, then punched him and stole his black Nokia 6300 phone. He was treated at Frenchay Hospital for cuts and bruises.

One of the attackers is described as being of mixed heritage, 15-16 years old, 5ft 8ins tall with broad shoulders. He was wearing a black woolly hat, a cream cardigan with a hood, dark trousers and a black bandana across his face.

The second attacker is described as black, 15-16 years old, about 5ft 6ins tall. He was wearing a black coat with the hood up and a red scarf over his nose. He had dark trousers on and was of slim build. He was riding a small, pink, mountain bike with gears and thick black tyres.

The stolen bike is a green hybrid with black rubber handlebar grips, 18 gears, a black synthetic leather-type saddle with some rust patches on the saddle bar. The rear tyre was of the make ‘Schwalbe’.

Anyone with information is asked to call Staple Hill police on 0845 456 7000, or call the charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Police say they have stepped up patrols after a spate of vandalism in which 27 cars were damaged in Bradley Stoke in the space of ten days (the Bristol Evening Post reports).

Journal readers first heard about the incidents in a reader’s comment on Tuesday, which reported that “rocks/bricks had been thrown through the windows of cars belonging to … a large number of Bradley Stoke residents”.

Another reader later revealed that cars had been vandalised in Ellicks Close and Oaktree Crescent in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

According to The Post, “incidents have been reported in The Beeches, Cornfield Close, Ellicks Close, Kemperleye Way, Mautravers Close, Winsbury Way and small cul-de-sacs off Hawkins Crescent.”

The paper says local police “are carrying out house-to-house inquiries, visiting victims and have stepped up patrols.”

The latest incidents follow an arson spree in March 2009 in which three cars were set ablaze within minutes of each other in The Beeches, Stoke Meadows and Winsbury Way.

Vandals also struck in May 2009, with numerous reports of screws being driven into the tyres of parked cars in roads that included Saxon Way, The Bluebells and Stoke Meadows.

Police are encouraging affected residents to attend the next meeting of the Bradley Stoke Safer and Stronger Community Group on Tuesday 20th July, where they will be able to raise concerns about any crime-related issue.

A community football tournament organised by the local police team is to help raise funds to send a five-year-old boy to the USA for a life-changing operation.

The Bradley Stoke Community Shield five-a-side football tournament, to be held on Saturday 5th June at Bradley Stoke Leisure Centre, will raise money to help cerebal palsy sufferer Toby Cox.

Family and friends are currently trying to raise £36,000 to pay for an operation at the St. Louis Children’s Hospital that will hopefully remove the spasticity in his legs and allow Toby to walk unaided with a significantly improved level of comfort.

Officers based at Filton police station and staff from the Willow Brook Centre have joined in with the efforts to raise the money.

Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) Paul Baxter said:

“We were already planning to run a football tournament as part of our efforts to bring the community together to make it safer and stronger.”

“When we heard about Toby, we immediately decided to make the event bigger and better in support of the campaign.”

Teams representing the neighbourhood police, the Willow Brook Centre, Tesco, Bradley Stoke Leisure Centre, teachers from Bradley Stoke Community School and Shirehampton Ladies’ football team will play in the contest.

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A former member of the Bradley Stoke Neighbourhood Policing Team is now back on the beat thanks in part to funding from Bradley Stoke Town Council.

PC Claire Fletcher has returned to the beat after having nine months off on maternity leave.

The Town Council agreed in July to become the first town/parish authority in South Gloucestershire to contribute towards the cost of a ‘dedicated’ police officer.

Avon and Somerset Police has given the Council a guarantee that PC Fletcher will be ‘ring-fenced’ from duties outside the town, with an ‘abstraction rate’ of less than 5%.

The Council is paying £13,281 p.a. towards the venture, representing 50% of the total cost of employing PC Fletcher for 25 hours per week.

PC Fletcher rejoined the team last month and now operates from an office at the town’s Willow Brook shopping centre.

Another new face on the local beat is PCSO Paul Baxter, who joined the team in September. PCSO Baxter’s position is funded directly by South Gloucestershire Council as part of a package of measures to strengthen neighbourhood police teams in the district.

The two new appointments are featured in the October edition of the Bradley Stoke neighbourhood policing team newsletter, which also includes articles about the Halloween Street Code and cycle security.

More information and related links:

• Bradley Stoke Police Newsletter, Oct 2009 [PDF, 230KB]
• Bradley Stoke Police (The Journal)

Police are appealing for information after three cars were damaged and a female was assaulted in Bradley Stoke in the early hours of Sunday 13th September.

The incidents occurred at about 1.30am in Stevens Walk (off Hawkins Crescent), when a male could be heard behaving in a loud and abusive manner in the street.

Police say that three cars – two Vauxhalls and a Subaru – received minor damage during the incident.

Shortly afterwards, in Carter Walk (off Kemperleye Way – just across Brook Way from the first incident), a 19 year old female was assaulted and suffered minor injuries, including scratches to her arm.

A 19 year old man has been arrested in connection with the incidents and is currently on police bail.

Anyone who witnessed the incident is asked to contact Staple Hill police on 0845 456 7000 or call the charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.