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MAN ARRESTED
AFTER CANNABIS PLANTS FOUND IN BIRKDALE HOME
A Southport man has been
arrested after cannabis plants and the remnants of a cannabis
factory were found in his Birkdale home. More than 100 cannabis
plants were found in a garden shed when officers executed a warrant
in Kent Road on Sunday night. 8 of them were fully grown plants and
around 100 were seedlings. Evidence of cannabis having been grown in
the loft of the property was also found during the raid, including
used plant pots and heating and lighting equipment. Police officers
from the Sefton Tactical Team arrested a 33 year old man when he
returned to his house a short while later. During the search a large
amount of cash was found in an upstairs bedroom and seized as
evidence. The 33 year old was arrested on suspicion of cannabis
production, possession of Class B drugs with intent to supply, and
money laundering. He was interviewed at Southport Police Station and
kept in custody overnight before being released on police bail
pending further enquiries. Birkdale Neighbourhood Inspector Jim
Atherton, said:- "This was excellent police work by officers
getting a search warrant on the back of information from the public
that cannabis was being grown there. The amount of plants that had
been in that house points to drugs supply rather than personal use
and it looks like a crop had been recently harvested. Illegal drugs
fuel all sorts of other crime which affects the lives of ordinary
working people and I would encourage residents to keep reporting
suspicious or criminal activity to the Police."
HILLSBOROUGH DISASTER LESSONS MUST
NEVER BE FORGOTTEN!
LABOUR'S Euro MPs are at
the forefront of new legislation to test for drug safety which is
being voted on in the European Parliament in Strasbourg on 12
September 2012.
Local Labour Euro MP, Arlene McCarthy said:- "The thalidomide
scandal has been back in the news again recently and it has
re-affirmed our resolve to ensure that never again should patients
suffer because their prescribed drugs have not been properly tested
and monitored. We know that good medicine needs drugs but it is
important that the right level of vigilance is in place to monitor
new medicines for their side effects. The same drugs are sold across
Europe, so it makes sense for regulators to collect information on a
Europe-wide basis from as many patients as possible so that problems
can be picked up more quickly.”
Euro MPs are looking again at drug safety laws following a scandal
in France last year with a diabetes drug called Mediator. This drug
was not licensed in the UK but was widely available in a number of
other European countries.
Commenting on Mediator Arlene McCarthy said:- "Potential
safety problems were raised with regulators in the early noughties
and a drug safety study requested from the manufacturer Servier in
2000. But the study wasn't carried out in time frame requested and
the drug remained on the market until it was finally withdrawn in
2009. An estimated 500-2000 deaths have been linked to the drug and
a court case is pending in France."
Under the new proposals, in cases where regulators have asked
companies to carry out a safety study on a particular medicine, that
medicine will now have to carry a black "warning"
symbol on the packaging and on the patient information leaflet until
the study has been carried out.
In addition, serious concerns about drug safety will trigger an
automatic investigation by European regulators, instead of being
left to the discretion of individual national regulators.
Labour Euro MPs have the support of other political parties in the
European Parliament and EU governments to fast track this
legislation, to get this in to the statute books so that the changes
can be implemented quickly across the EU. |
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SOCIETY’S MERSEYSIDE
BRANCHES HELP SMASH FUNDRAISING TARGET FOR THE RNLI
THE Yorkshire Building
Society’s 5 branches in Merseyside have helped Yorkshire Building
Society Charitable Foundation to reach its £100,000 fundraising
target for it’s Charity of the Year, the Royal National Lifeboat
Institution (RNLI), 4 months early!
At the beginning of the year Yorkshire Building Society Charitable
Foundation set a challenge to the Society’s staff to raise £50,000
for the RNLI which the foundation would then match pound for pound.
It was hoping with the help of its staff and members to raise
£100,000 by the end of the year for the charity that saves lives at
sea.
Yet, thanks to the brilliant fundraising efforts of the staff at the
Southport, Liverpool, St Helens, Wallasey and Woolton branches and
the support from customers and members of the public the Charitable
Foundation reached its target four months ahead of schedule.
Pauline Rylands, area manager for Yorkshire Building Society’s
Merseyside branches said:- “I am absolutely thrilled that we
have been able to make a significant contribution to the £100,000
donation to the RNLI. We have worked really hard to organise
fundraising events but we couldn’t have done it without support from
the people of , Liverpool, St Helens, Wallasey and Woolton!
Yorkshire Building Society staff celebrate with some of the RNLI
crew. We have another four months to keep going with our mission to
raise as much money as possible for the RNLI and I hope our
customers and members of the public in Merseyside we will continue
to support us as we do what we can to raise money for this truly
fantastic charity.”
All funds raised by the Society’s staff and through the support of
customers and members of the public will be used by the RNLI to
train more of its vital volunteer lifeboat crew and lifeguards who
are called to the rescue; no matter what the weather, come rain or
shine!
Catherine Kaye, Corporate Partnerships Manager at the RNLI charity
said:- “Corporate partnerships are very important to the RNLI
and we are delighted to be working with Yorkshire Building Society
as their charity of the year. Staff in the branches and at head
office have really engaged with the Come Rain or Shine Campaign to
raise funds for training RNLI volunteer lifeboat crews and
lifeguards, so much that they have exceeded their fundraising target
well ahead of the year end. This is a fantastic bonus for our
charity as we will now be able to fund essential training for more
of our volunteer lifeboat crews and lifeguards so they can continue
to save lives at sea as safely and effectively as possible.”
The £100,000 donation to the RNLI was made up the £50,000 raised by
staff so far with Yorkshire Building Society Charitable Foundation
matching every penny raised and boosting the total to £100,000.
The Merseyside branches have contributed over £1,500 to the
fundraising total so far with donations still coming in!
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