Minghella wants school lessons in TV
The Oscar-winning film director Anthony Minghella called yesterday for children to be taught how to watch television. Minghella, 50, who won the Best Picture Oscar in 1996 for The English Patient, is backing moves to allow children to watch films and television in the classroom. Speaking at the Discovery Film Festival, Scotland’s first International Film Festival for Children and Young People, he said: “Introducing the moving image to the school curriculum will encourage children to think more about the world around them.”
House ban
A woman has been blocked from selling her former council house because the buyers are not local. Cilla Connor, 62, was selling her home in mid-Wales for £240,000. Under council rules, Mrs Connor may only sell to buyers who live or work in the area.
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Fountain repairs
The £3.6 million Diana, Princess of Wales memorial fountain, in Hyde Park, is to close at the end of the year for a further round of repairs and modification. Bars to prevent children being trapped beneath the fountain’s low bridges will be installed and new turf laid.
Pier charge
Passengers escaped injury when a rollercoaster on Brighton Pier was stopped short of a 16ft section of missing track in December 2002, magistrates were told. Brighton Marine and Pier Company admitted safety charges and the case was sent to Lewes Crown Court.
Driver jailed
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A driver who caused a collision that killed three people has been jailed for three years. Guiseppe Constantini, 64, of Shrewsbury, was convicted last month of causing the deaths by dangerous driving of a van driver and a married couple.
Seabirds hit by North Sea fisheries
A catastrophic breeding season, the worst on record for Britain’s seabirds in 2004, may be due to the activities of industrial fisheries, according to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.
The society has investigated two of the world’s largest fisheries, the Peruvian anchovy fishery and the North Sea sandeel fishery, to gauge how sustainable the industry is. It found that industrial fisheries around the world are failing to meet crucial criteria to be considered sustainable.
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The anchovy fishery scored worst but the sandeel fishery was also deficient, failing to fully meet sustainability on around 60 per cent of the criteria tested.
Pedestrian killed
A widow aged 80 died when she was knocked down by a council lorry in Cupar, Fife, as she crossed the road after buying a pie for her lunch. Lovat Langridge, a chiropodist, was taken to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee but died soon afterwards. Witnesses said that she had suffered extensive injuries to both legs.
Lecturer loses
Declan Quigley, 47, a former lecturer at the University of St Andrews who claimed he was bullied out of his job, has lost his fight for compensation. Dr Quigley, a senior anthropology lecturer, claimed there was a culture of intimidation at the university but the case was thrown out by an employment tribunal in Edinburgh.
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Schools go-slow
Part-time 20mph speed limits will come into effect on busy roads near 30 Glasgow schools on Monday. Glasgow City Council has responded to statistics showing that about 200 children have been injured on their way to or from school across the city in the last three years.
The new limit will apply only on busy periods during school days.
Husband set on fire by suicidal wife
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A man was in critical condition after he was set on fire by his estranged wife, who then jumped to her death from a bridge.
Sheila Dawson, 54, set fire to her husband, Paul, also 54, at their home in Moston, Manchester, minutes before jumping from a bridge across the M60 near Oldham into oncoming traffic. She was hit by a lorry and died instantly.
Police arrived at their house after neighbours reported seeing “a human fireball” running from the house. A neighbour said: “The flames were all over him from his face down to his shoes. It was like a human fireball.”
Mrs Dawson was seen running from the house with burns on her arms and hair. She then sped away in her car. Mr Dawson was taken to Wythenshawe Hospital with “life-threatening” burns to his legs, back and face.
Mother jailed
Maria Wavell, 44, of Southend, Essex, was jailed for 28 days for failing to ensure that her son, 13, and daughter, 10, regularly attended school. Michael Vancoevorden, for the borough council, told magistrates that it was the fifth time Miss Wavell had been similarly prosecuted.
Killer driver
A banned motorist driving a defective van with no insurance killed a pregnant teacher, Fay Lee, 25, after crashing into her car. Nick Craven, 28, was on bail over two offences of driving while disqualified. He was jailed for four years at Leeds Crown Court after admitting causing death by dangerous driving.
Spiral rejected
Trustees of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London have formally abandoned plans to build a futuristic “spiral” extension designed by Daniel Libeskind. The decision comes after the rejection in July by the Heritage Lottery Fund of a £15 million application towards the £70 million cost.
Hadrian at home
A lost stretch of Hadrian’s Wall was discovered under a domestic garden. The Roman wall ran under the front garden of Eileen Mass, 58, a grandmother in Byker, Newcastle. The hidden stonework — thought to have been long demolished — was uncovered by builders digging a trench.
Who ate the pies
More pies from Tesco have been eaten in Norwich than anywhere else in Britain this year. The 121,700 population has consumed 1.8 million pies since January, an average of 14.8 per person and 200,000 more than Leeds in second. Southampton was third on the list compiled by the supermarket chain.