March 2009 Archives

A second man has been accused of murdering 19-year-old student Hassan Kul Hawadleh at a Wealdstone petrol station last month.

Onochie Madekwe, 33, of no fixed abode, appeared at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court on Friday charged with murder, the attempted murder of the victim's 19-year-old friend, unlawful killing, causing grievous bodily harm and violent disorder.

The case was sent to Southwark Crown Court in south-east London and Mr Madekwe was remanded back into custody.

Mr Hawadleh, from Colindale, north-west London - son of a former Prime Minister of Somalia - died on February 19 of a stab wound to the heart at High Weald Service Station in High Road, Harrow Weald.

One of eight siblings, he was a former Alperton Community School and Harrow College student before enrolling on a construction engineering course at the University of East London.

The first man to be charged in connection with the fatal stabbing was Andrew Spence, 21, of Freeland Court, Freeland Road, Ealing.

Mr Spence was brought from custody to Brent Magistrates' Court on February 28 charged with murdering Mr Hawadleh, the attempted murder of the friend, and violent disorder.

Parking measures will be imposed on the streets of Harrow's County Roads estate, Harrow Council has controversially decided.

Councillor Susan Hall (Conservative), portfolio holder for environment and community safety, provisionally signed off the plan on Thursday, March 12 despite residents earlier handing in several petitions against the idea.

The original postal consultation, held in September last year, showed that in the County Roads area 50 residents supported the idea of a controlled parking zone (CPZ) - but 89 did not, with 11 having no opinion.

The CPZ will be introduced to the whole of Devonshire Road, Dorset Road and Oxford Road, the eastern sections of Pinner Road and Sussex Road, the southern sections of Rutland Road, Bedford Road and Pinner View and part of Neptune Road.

It will mean that drivers must display a permit to be able to park their vehicle within the CPZ between 11am and 12 noon on weekdays or risk attracting a parking ticket.

Extra short-term pay-and-display parking bays will be created at the southern ends of Devonshire Road, Oxford Road, Rutland Road, Bedford Road and Pinner Road.

In addition, certain junction throughout Headstone South ward will be painted with double-yellow lines as part of the scheme.

Ms Hall was recommended to approve the plan by the council's Traffic and Road Safety Advisory Panel which met to consider the issue on November 26.

Traffic officers at Harrow Council will now publish the legal notices required to confirm the introduction of the CPZ and, if there are no legal objections, the measures will come into force.

Six months after implementation, further consultation will be held to see if residents support an extension of the area covered by the residents-only parking.

To celebrate the opening of its new Harlesden store, Specsavers has teamed up with the Observer to offer four lucky readers the chance to each win £150 worth of eyecare.

The competition is part of the store's two-week celebration to mark its launch.

Each prize includes a free eye examination and a pair of designer specs up to the value of £125.

The four winners can chose from well-known brands including Jasper Conran, Quiksilver, Red or Dead, Missoni and Specsavers' own best selling range of designer glasses - Osiris. A trained store stylist will be on hand to advise on the best frame style and shape to suit their face.

To enter email your name, address, and daytime telephone number to or on a postcard to Specsavers competition, Gazette House, 28 Bakers Road, Uxbridge, Middlesex, UB8 1RG.

The closing date is March 27.

A member of staff at Harrow Council could face the axe after accidently sending a crude email to a resident.

The council confirmed it was now investigating the incident, which is believed to have occurred after the worker forwarded the joke attachment to a resident who had previously emailed in a complaint about bin collections.

Carol Cutler, director of customer services, said: "The council is taking this matter extremely seriously and a member of staff is away from work while we are carrying out an investigation under the council's disciplinary procedure.

"All staff have immediately been reminded again of the council's email policy which covers all forms of inappropriate use of email.

"I will be writing to the resident to apologise unreservedly for the email and ensure the problem with their bins has been resolved."

Young people across Harrow are to benefit from impressive new sports facilities now that the borough has secured a £4.2million grant.

A multi-use sports hall, gym, IT suite, art room, recording studio, cafe and outdoor pitch will be constucted on the Cedars Estate in Harrow Weald thanks to the project, entitled The Pitch, A Place to Go.

It was announced on Tuesday that Watford FC's Community Sports and Education Trust would work with Harrow Council to develop the idea, after the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) gave the multi-million pound grant the go-ahead.

If planning applications are approved it is hoped yougsters between 11 and 19, as well as disabled people up to the age of 24, will steer clear of antisocial behaviour and use the club to socialise and hone their sporting skills.

But far from just being a centre for children to enjoy football, council chiefs say the site will offer a diverse range of activities, including karate, basketball, art, music and cookery.

It is anticipated that the council and Watford FC will also look to use the facilites to help improve young people's health, diet, fitness and social skills, as well as provide important information on issues ranging from education, training, sex and mental health.

Speaking after the announcement Paul Clark, the council's corporate director of children's services, expressed his delight at securing the money.

He said: "This grant is fantastic news. Young people helped us choose the design and shape of this application so we will be delivering facilities they have actively been asking for.

"Over the next few weeks we will be working with residents, voluntary and private groups, and young people to ensure we put the right planning application forward and secure approval for what I am sure will prove to be a great legacy for Harrow."

Chris Norton, Chairman of Watford's CSE Trust, said: "We are delighted to receive this grant, which will now allow us, working closely with Harrow Council, an opportunity to make a real difference through sport and learning outside of the Watford area.

"We are honoured to be able to help deliver a project of this scale, demonstrating the expertise within, and the development of our community trust."

Young people across Harrow are to benefit from impressive new sports facilities now that the borough has secured a £4.2million grant this week.

A multi-use sports hall, gym, IT suite, art room, recording studio, café and outdoor pitch will be constucted on the Cedars Estate in Harrow Weald thanks to the project, entitled 'The Pitch - A Place to Go'.

It was announced on Tuesday that Watford FC's Community Sports and Education Trust would work with Harrow Council to develop the idea, after the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) gave the multi-million pound grant the go-ahead.

If planning applications are approved it is hoped yougsters between 11 and 19, as well as disabled people up to the age of 24, will steer clear of antisocial behaviour and use the club to socialise and hone their sporting skills.

But far from just being a centre for children to enjoy football, council chiefs say the site will offer a diverse range of activities, including karate, basketball, art, music and cookery.

It is anticipated that the council and Watford FC will also look to use the facilites to help improve young people's health, diet, fitness and social skills, as well as provide important information on issues ranging from education, training, sex and mental health.

Speaking after the announcement Paul Clark, the council's corporate director of children's services, expressed his delight at securing the money.

He said: "This grant is fantastic news. Young people helped us choose the design and shape of this application so we will be delivering facilities they have actively been asking for.

"Over the next few weeks we will be working with residents, voluntary and private groups, and young people to ensure we put the right planning application forward and secure approval for what I am sure will prove to be a great legacy for Harrow."

Chris Norton, Chairman of Watford's CSE Trust, said: "We are delighted to receive this grant, which will now allow us, working closely with Harrow Council, an opportunity to make a real difference through sport and learning outside of the Watford area.

"We are honoured to be able to help deliver a project of this scale, demonstrating the expertise within, and the development of our Community Trust."

Addicts in desperate need of treatment may revert to crime if health bosses carry out plans to hand responsibility for drug treatment programmes to private firms.

That is according to a senior source at Harrow Primary Care Trust (PCT), who says plans are in the pipeline to commission out the services in a bid to cut costs - raising fears the quality of the provision will be compromised.

The whistleblower approached the Observer because of growing concerns that drug users will no longer get the attention they desperately need and that drug-related crime could rise as a result.

The source said: "If all the services are put out for tender it is likely that voluntary groups will run substance misuse programmes for a lot less money.

"These services do offer decent treatment, of course, but they have a history of having lower standards because they don't have to meet the same government criteria.

"Because of this they are not required to hire staff with greater qualifications and are therefore, comparatively, less qualified to deal with these vulnerable patients."

If these plans do go ahead, the doctor says staff who currently work within the service will be moved or redeployed, not necessarily within the same field, and crucial relationships with users will be lost.

They added: "Statistics show that the best kind of treatment for drug users comes when they deal with the same person on a regular basis.

"If staff are moved around, this rapport will be lost and, therefore, so will the effectiveness of the treatment.

"If this happens then more drug users face failing to deal with their problems and potentially there will be higher levels of crime in the area."

The medic added that at present there are seven programmes set to go out to tender, used by 642 people, according to the latest figures - many of them for the use of drugs like heroin and crack cocaine.