Forum Topics

Prolific Murderer - Harold Jones?

Further to the B.B.C. 4 documentary Dark Son - The Hunt for a Serial Killer being broadcast nationally at 9.00 pm on Tuesday February 12.  South Wales Police are actively pursuing forensic opportunities to link Abertillery-born Jones to the murder of 12 year-old Swansea school-girl Muriel Joan Drinkwater, 3 months after he left the army in 1946. A third cold-case team are actively researching Jones' possible involvement in the murder of Ignac Ulycz in Putney in August 1965. See information below from my book "Who Was Jack the Stripper? The Hammersmith Nudes' Murders."(At 10.45 pm on Sunday 15 August 1965, Mr Ignac Ulycz was fatally stabbed outside his own front gate at 323 Upper Richmond Road Putney...........Maddalena Ulycz told the police the assailant was between 50 and 60 years old. (Jones was 59.) Another witness said that the attacker had run around the corner into Colinette Road and just seemed to vanish into thin air. (Jones had been living in 20 Colinette Road.)The Wandsworth Boro' News of Friday 24 September 1965 reported on the inquest into the death of Mr Ulycz.........."The man who killed Mr Ulycz........may have been insane or a psychopath who every now and again feels the desire to attack someone in this way" suggests the Coroner Mr Gavin Thurston.)The fact has now emerged that Jones was living at 20 Colinette Road Putney using the name Harry Stevens while AT THE SAME TIME registered as living at 51 Aldensley Road Hammersmith under the name Harry Jones.

Neil Milkins ● 1875d0 Comments ● 1875d

Read with children!

Do you remember a character from a childhood book as fondly as an old friend?If you do, you’ll know the magic of being able to slip into another world as and when you need to, or how books can make your world a bigger, brighter place.For bookworms especially, it’s hard to believe that anyone could see reading as anything other than empowering, or even just a pleasure. For the third of children from disadvantaged areas who leave primary school without being able to read well, often it’s nothing but a chore.That’s why we like to turn up on the doorstep, with a backpack of books, two little stools, and a pair of volunteers who know that words take you places. Every week, come rain or shine, our volunteers bring the magic of reading directly into families’ homes every week, in low-income areas across London.Doorstep Library volunteers don’t just read stories; they do the silly voices, handpick the books, and give special recommendations. By making it fun first, we get to watch children transform into budding readers. We love when parents get stuck in with the sessions too and encourage them to get involved in their children’s education.Sometimes though, we’re just there to give a bit of extra support, whether we’re passing on info about a family activity, lending an ear, or even just being a friendly face. Then, before we go, we leave behind a selection of books for each child to borrow for the week.If this sounds like the role for you, these are the basics. We run projects on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday afternoons in estates across Westminster, Hammersmith and Fulham and Lambeth.In Hammersmith and Fulham, we start at 3.45pm and finish at 6.30pm. If you'd like to know more contact Daniela Cardoso at digital@doorsteplibrary.org.uk

Emily Oliver ● 1882d0 Comments ● 1882d

B.B.C. Documentary.

B,B.C. 2 Wales at 9.00 pm on January 12. For viewers with Sky and Freeview it can also be seen on the same date and time. Otherwise for viewers throughout the U.K it can be viewed at 9.00pm pm on B.B.C.4 on January 22.                                                                                                                             It is the biggest unsolved serial murder case in British criminal history - the so-called 'Jack the Stripper' murders took place in Swinging Sixties London.Six women lost their lives to a killer who was never caught. Criminologist Professor David Wilson leads an investigation to unmask the killer, who claimed more victims than even his notorious Victorian namesake, Jack the Ripper.Professor Wilson and his investigative team - which includes former detective Jackie Malton and forensic psychologist Professor Mike Berry - begin their hunt for the killer not in London, but 150 miles away in Abertillery, South Wales. In 1921, the Welsh mining town was devastated by the double murder of two schoolgirls when eight-year-old Freda Brunell and 11-year-old Florence Little were killed just weeks apart by a local boy 15-year-old Harold Jones, who the Abertillery residents still refer to as their 'Dark Son'.Those murders - especially the sadistic nature of their deaths, and the treatment of the bodies afterwards - have eerie parallels with the 'Jack the Stripper' murders. Could Harold Jones the boy killer really have matured in later life into a serial killer?To test this theory, the team revisit the scenes of the murders in west London. They use contemporary policing techniques such as geographical and offender profiling to see if the crimes of Jones the boy can be measured against those of Jack the Stripper. And from the outset, it becomes apparent there are many chilling similarities.

Neil Milkins ● 1910d0 Comments ● 1910d

Volunteering with Doorstep Library- Read with Children

Do you remember a character from a childhood book as fondly as an old friend?If you do, you’ll know the magic of being able to slip into another world as and when you need to, or how books can make your world a bigger, brighter place.For bookworms especially, it’s hard to believe that anyone could see reading as anything other than empowering, or even just a pleasure. For the third of children from disadvantaged areas who leave primary school without being able to read well, often it’s nothing but a chore.That’s why we like to turn up on the doorstep, with a backpack of books, two little stools, and a pair of volunteers who know that words take you places. Every week, come rain or shine, our volunteers bring the magic of reading directly into families’ homes every week, in low-income areas across London.Doorstep Library volunteers don’t just read stories; they do the silly voices, handpick the books, and give special recommendations. By making it fun first, we get to watch children transform into budding readers. We love when parents get stuck in with the sessions too and encourage them to get involved in their children’s education.Sometimes though, we’re just there to give a bit of extra support, whether we’re passing on info about a family activity, lending an ear, or even just being a friendly face. Then, before we go, we leave behind a selection of books for each child to borrow for the week.If this sounds like the role for you, these are the basics. We run projects on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday afternoons in estates across Westminster, Hammersmith and Fulham and Lambeth.In Hammersmith and Fulham, we start at 3.45pm and finish at 6.30pm. If you'd like to know more contact Daniela Cardoso at digital@doorsteplibrary.org.uk

Emily Oliver ● 1966d0 Comments ● 1966d

National Health Service breakdown and privatization: "Sustainability and Transformation Plans"

I'm deeply concerned that in the build up to the General Election there has been little discussion about the disastrous changes to the NHS being proposed by the local Sustainability and Transformation Plan, the "North West London STP" which covers 8 boroughs from Westminster to Hillingdon. These plans for the 44 "footprint" regions of England and Wales have been made in a secretive manner, with very little public information and are nothing more than plans to slash, trash and privatise our NHS.           But most worrying are large private healthcare companies and their lobbyists, such as Virgin Care and American healthcare companies including UnitedHealth, the previous employer of Simon Stevens CEO of the NHS, which will chase the UK's expenditure through the NHS using the Health and Social Care Act 2012. This pressure will inexorably lead to the American model of healthcare management which causes 50% of personal bankruptcies each year in the US. All the STPs call for "Accountable Care Organisations/Systems", a term which Americans recognise only too well. This system with low fixed budgets will be screwed down so that it does not meet the public need and it will turn the health provision in England and Wales into a two tier health system where the rich will pay and the rest of us will be left with a very poor, minimal NHS, like the American Medicare/Medicaid system.         I would urge all readers to contact their candidates and let them know that the public will not stand for the destruction of the NHS and all MPs must reject the STPs and reject the move to Accountable Care Organisations. These "new models of care" will end the NHS as a comprehensive service that provides the full range of care to all who need it, free at the point of need and fully accountable to the public (private companies will hide their waste as well as their profits).               Readers can find their candidates on the website. www.whocanivotefor.co.uk/elections

Una-Jane Winfield ● 2490d0 Comments ● 2490d

Cygnet Players present Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

Cygnet Players are proud to present Dirty Rotten ScoundrelsFrom Wednesday 15th to Saturday 18th February 2017At John McIntosh Arts Centre, London Oratory School Theatre, Seagrave Road, London, SW6 1RXPerformances nightly at 7.45pm with a 2.30pm Saturday matineeTickets £16 (£14 concessions) can be bought from the Cygnet Players box office via telephone on 07941 448 689, via email at cygnetsboxoffice@gmail.com or via www.cygnetplayers.com Book by Jeffrey Lane | Music and lyrics by David YazbekBased on the film "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" written by Dale Launer, Stanley Shapiro and Paul HenningThis production is presented by arrangement of Music Theatre International (Europe) All authorised performance materials are also supplied by MTI Europewww.mtishows.co.ukAbout the show Two con men, a beautiful woman and the elite of the French Riviera collide in this sexy and irreverent farce. Based on the 1988 MGM film starring Sir Michael Cane and Steve Martin, this hysterical comedy features a delightfully jazzy score by David Yazbek (The Full Monty) and was nominated for a staggering 11 Tony Awards. Be transported to Beaumont Sur Mer and its decadent underworld, as two seasoned swindlers attempt to hoodwink a millionaire heiress. As the pair compete in the true art of the con, they discover there is only room for one of them. Sophisticated, suave with a good dash of mischief, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is set to be the finest night out of 2017 - Secure your ticket today!

Cygnet Players ● 2642d0 Comments ● 2642d