Daily Post

Wales: Business Tips at Drop-in Day Clinics

FLINTSHIRE County Council will be holding free drop-in clinics this week called Smart Business for Tough Times. They will give businesses information and guidance from independent consultants and the council's business advisors.

Student Scaling Heights to Opera Fame

Tories Promise Mayoral Vote ; Exclusive Liverpool to Get Ballot Within a Year of Conservative Win

LIVERPOOL will be forced to hold a referendum to decide if it should be run by a directly-elected mayor within one year of a Conservative government taking power, the party will say today. Residents will take part in a dramatic mass vote in England's 12 biggest cities, in a bid to revive flagging interest in mayors after the exciting contest that elected Boris Johnson in London.

Wirral Swimming Baths Close in Anniversary Year

A POPULAR Wirral swimming baths - due to celebrate its 75th anniversary this year - has suddenly shut after going into compulsory liquidation. Parents bringing their children to Byrne Avenue swimming baths, in New Ferry, Birkenhead, yesterday found a notice on the door from its directors saying the centre had closed down.

Mother of Rhys's Killer: 'I'm Guilty' ; Judge Warns of Long Sentence

THE mother of Rhys Jones's teenage killer wept yesterday as she admitted trying to help her son escape justice. Janette Mercer, 49, a former pounds 50-a-time prostitute in a city centre vice den, gave a false statement to police about a bike owned by Sean.

Pc Denies Attacking Train Passenger

JURORS have watched CCTV footage of an offduty policeman allegedly assaulting a young man. PC Paul Malpus is alleged to have attacked Leigh Allen, 20, as they travelled on a train from Liverpool to Chester.

In Brief: Shop Woman Threatened with Cleaver

AN ELDERLY woman was threatened by a man armed with a cleaver during a robbery in Frodsham. The offender entered Elliots newsagent in Main Street at about 8.15am yesterday and threatened the elderly shop assistant.

In Brief: Russian Crisis Costs Billions

In Brief: Power Boost

In Brief: Poorer Britons

Weeping Woman Admits Scam

A FORMER postal worker who scammed her employers was spared prison on her 60th birthday. Weeping Alma Scragg was given a community sentence after Liverpool Crown Court heard she had lied because of her own incompetence.

Seeking Police Jobs

THE economic downturn could see more people turn to their local police force for a job, said a senior officer. Chief Superintendent Geoff Feavyour, of Leicestershire Police, commented after more than 600 people applied to fill a single vacancy for a pounds 22,762-a-year emergency call handler.

Tricksters Leave Man, 39, Mortified

THE moment a man found he had been tricked into travelling 400 miles to meet a 'woman' he fell in love with online is fast becoming an online hit. Stuart Slann, 39, drove nine hours from his Sheffield home to Aberdeen last month to meet 'Emma', a girl he met on Facebook, only to discover she was the creation of two rival football fans he had met on holiday.

Firemen Killed

A HELICOPTER carrying firefighters from a forest fire crashed in southern Chile, killing all 13 people on board, authorities said. The helicopter hit a hillside near Chanco, some 165 miles south of Santiago, said Maule province Governor Maria del Carmen Perez.

Hamlet 'Theatre Event of the Year'

DAVID TENNANT'S return to the stage as Hamlet was named the Theatre Event of the Year at an awards ceremony. The Whatsonstage.com Theatregoers' Choice Awards, were voted for by 35,000 theatre fans online.

Mystery Solved

THE fireball that blazed across the Texas sky and sparked numerous weekend calls to police was an identified flying object, it has emerged. The Federal Aviation Administration said the fireball was a natural phenomenon, not flying space junk, and a North Texas astronomer said more specifically that it was probably a pickup truck-sized meteor with the consistency of concrete.

Policeman Jailed for Role in Transporting Cannabis

A MERSEYSIDE police officer is behind bars after being caught transporting 1kg of skunk cannabis with a "professional dealer". PC Sayful Islam was branded a "bad apple in the police barrel" by Judge Gerald Clifton who jailed him for 18 months after he was stopped with pounds 5,000 worth of high quality cannabis in the boot of his BMW.

Clerk Is Jailed for Pounds 625,000 Swindle ; Firm Forced to Lay Off Workers

A TRUSTED accounts clerk who stole pounds 625,000 from her Merseyside employer was yesterday sentenced to five-and-a-half years in jail. Sheila Hodgetts's five-year scam was so damaging to Waterloobased company R Betts Construction Ltd that directors were forced to lay off workers.

Father, 13, to Take Dna Test

BABY-FACED 'father' Alfie Patten has pledged to take a DNA test after two other boys claimed they had also slept with baby Maisie's teenage mother. Chantelle Steadman, 15, said 13-year-old Alfie is the father of her one-week-old baby daughter. The news that such a young boy had fathered a baby prompted a fierce political debate over the high rate of teenage pregnancies in the UK and the sexualisation of children.

Piracy Test Case

FOUR men behind the file-sharing website The Pirate Bay have gone on trial accused of helping millions of users break copyright law. The Stockholm trial is being followed by film and music labels and file-sharers around the world as it could determine at what point copyright infringement becomes illegal.