Sussex weekly round-up: 27 June - 2 August 2024
Organisers say they are relieved the event is back on
- Published
The story about an East Sussex Pride event being saved by an 11th-hour donation after being called off due to financial troubles proved a popular read this week.
A variety of local issues featured on the BBC News website, BBC Radio Sussex and BBC South East Today.
We have picked five stories from the past week in case you missed them.
Officers cycle in memory of fallen colleagues
The riders passed through Surrey, Sussex and Berkshire, stopping for a photo at Windsor Great Park
Officers, staff and volunteers from Surrey and Sussex police forces took part in a 240-mile (386km) cycle to remember fallen colleagues.
The group set off from Brighton Pier on 25 July before passing through Sussex, Surrey and Berkshire on their way to the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire.
In memory of officers who have been killed in the line of duty, they are fundraising for Care of Police Survivors (Cops), which supports the families of those who have died on duty.
Assistant Chief Constable Simon Dobinson said there was a "real purpose" to the ride in remembering those who had died.
Climate protesters target Gatwick departure gates
Sussex Police said eight people were arrested at the airport
Eight people were arrested after Just Stop Oil protesters targeted Gatwick Airport's departure gates, Sussex Police reported.
The organisation said seven members of the environmental protest group entered the South Terminal at about 08:00 BST on 29 July and "used suitcases with lock-on devices to block the departure gates".
The action was part of the "Oil Kills international uprising", the group said, taking action at airports around the world.
A London Gatwick spokesperson said: “London Gatwick is open and operating normally today. There are a small number of protesters at the airport who have now been arrested and are being removed from the airport.”
Theft forces charity shops to shut changing rooms
Shoplifting is surging in Sussex, the Office for National Statistics has found
A chain of charity shops has closed its changing rooms due to rampant shoplifting and anti-social behaviour.
Guild Care, which has 15 stores across Sussex, said it had shut all but two of its changing rooms to deter thieves and that new shops would not include them at all.
"Unfortunately, shoplifting from our charity shops has become more widespread," said the Worthing-based chain's director of retail Adam Rider. "We’ve definitely seen a marked increase since Covid and the financial crisis."
Shoplifting in Sussex surged 52% in the year up to 2024, Office for National Statistics figures show.
RNLI rockets return to mark 200th anniversary
Hastings has had a lifeboat station since 1858
Two hundred maroons were fired into the air above East Sussex to mark the bicentennial of the RNLI.
Maroons - rockets which cause a loud bang when fired - were historically used to call crews to their lifeboat station during an emergency.
The rockets made their return as part of the Hastings Lifeboat Crew concert at The Stade beach on 1 August, featuring sea shanties, folk songs, tap dance routines and a host of other nautical-themed performances.
“We’re really looking to what we hope will be a great day,” said Kevin Boorman, from the RNLI launch authority Hastings, before the event.
'We lost faith in justice after our father's death'
The family have sent a Victims Right to Review of the case to the Crown Prosecution Service
The family of a man who died at an East Sussex holiday park are seeking to overturn a decision by prosecutors not to bring charges in connection with the death.
The daughters of Michael McDonagh, who died at the Parkdean resort in Camber Sands, in 2022, said they have "lost all faith in the criminal justice system" after the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) decided nobody was to be prosecuted.
The family, from north London, have sent a Victims Right to Review of the case to the CPS after they were sent a letter by the body outlining the reasons for not pursuing the case.
A CPS spokesperson said: “During our first review of the case, having considered all the available evidence, it was determined our legal test for prosecution was not met.”
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