Today, Lancashire (excluding Blackpool) is subject to new rules.
We know people will be disappointed by this news, as for many of us, it felt like things were starting to return to normal. But it's so important we don't lose focus and undo all the great work done so far.
We know people feel like they’ve already sacrificed so much, but that’s why it’s imperative we do everything we can to control the spread of this virus, before even more restrictive measures are put in place.
We’re at real risk of not being able to celebrate Christmas with our families and our children will miss even more school. Having already missed weddings and births, Eid and Easter, we're sure nobody wants that to happen! The good news is that we can change this.
We heard from Chris Whitty yesterday that there is no individual risk in a pandemic. It's all of our responsibility to stop the spread or risk more restrictive measures. When an individual chooses to deliberately flout the rules, they are prolonging these measures for EVERYONE.
You can do your bit, by following the new rules to protect our community & ensure police involvement is kept to a minimum. The sooner everyone does as they should, the sooner we can get back to things we love.
Lancs, we've baked banana bread, done Joe Wicks P.E, held Zoom conferences from our living room and painted rainbows!🌈 Lets not undo the great work done so far.
Whatever your view, we all need to have respect for each other, follow the rules & stay safe.
Sadly, we are now able to confirm that yesterday we recovered Nicola Bulley from the River Wyre.
Nicola’s family have been informed and are of course devastated. Our thoughts are with them at this time as well as with all her loved ones and the wider community.
We recognise the huge impact that Nicola’s disappearance has had on her family and friends, but also on the people of St Michael’s. We would like to thank all of those who have helped during what has been a hugely complex and highly emotional investigation.
Today’s development is not the outcome any of us would have wanted, but we hope that it can at least start to provide some answers for Nicola’s loved ones, who remain foremost in our thoughts.
Today Andrew Burfield was jailed for life for the murder of Katie Kenyon.
We think it’s important give you an insight into the investigation that led to his conviction and tell Katie’s story.
This is that story ⬇️
Katie was reported missing in April.
Concerned family members had gone to Burfield’s home after they had received cryptic text messages - sent from Katie’s phone - saying she had “gone away to work on herself”. Those messages were from Burfield, purporting to be from Katie.
Our digital forensic experts would later recover drafts of the messages backed up in the notes section on Burfield’s iPhone, which showed he had written them at least three weeks before the day they were sent out.
Katie was a happy, much-loved mother, sister and daughter who was murdered by someone she should have been able to trust.
That someone was 51-year-old Andrew Burfield, who despite initially denying any knowledge of her whereabouts and changing his story throughout, has today pled guilty to her murder.
Burfield premeditated his attack, travelling to Bolton-by-Bowland before the murder to dig a grave
Today, DCI Al Davies was at court as Burfield gave a guilty plea on the 3rd day of his trial.
Andrew Burfield has put Katie’s family through the unimaginable pain of going to trial, only to plead guilty several days in.
Today, the 7 people who each played roles in the planning and execution of a shooting which killed 19-year-old #AyaHachem, have been sentenced for her murder.
One woman was also found guilty of manslaughter.
The 7 were handed respective life sentences totalling 216 years
On Sunday 17th May 2020 #AyaHachem was heading to Lidl to buy food, ready for her family to break their Ramadan fast that evening. She never made it home.
As she walked along Kings Street in Blackburn, she was struck with a single bullet, intended for rival car wash owner Pacha.
Ten members of an organised crime gang who conspired to supply Class A drugs in Burnley and exploit vulnerable children into selling drugs have been jailed for a combined total of nearly 60 years.
In 2019, the our Targeted Crime Unit launched OpCroatia, which specifically looked at disrupting the activities of the gang members associated with the ‘AK line’.
Preston Crown Court heard how the crime group was headed by brothers Junaid Khan and Zain Khan, who directed street dealers, including children, to sell crack cocaine and heroin on their behalf.
A lorry driver, distracted whilst at the wheel, has today been jailed for causing a collision which resulted in the death of a woman.
Leon Stott, 35, of St David’s Road, Leyland (pictured in this video) was sentenced to three years and four months at Preston Crown Court today.
Stott pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving and two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving in July.
The incident happened at around 10:10am on Tuesday, January 8th 2019 in queuing traffic on the M58, following a previous collision around an hour before at junction 3, which resulted in the deaths of Joe Cairns, 14, from Radcliffe and Anne Kerr, 50, from Southport.