Updates on Friday, 5 February 2016
News, sport, travel and weather updates resume at 08:00 on Monday
Proposals to restore and find a new use for the former Tolly Cobbold brewery on Cliff Quay in Ipswich are set to be given the go-ahead, external by the council on Wednesday.
Image source, Ipswich Star
Kate Williams
BBC Local Live
The judge sentencing 40-year-old Nicholas Churchill, who admitted stealing a dumper truck and going on a 37-mile rampage while high on amphetamines, described the incident as a "trail of destruction."
Image source, Norfolk PoliceAt Norwich Crown Court, Judge Anthony Bate sentenced Churchill, who had already admitted dangerous driving, aggravated vehicle-taking and driving while unfit through drugs, to 14 months in prison and banned him from driving for two years.
He said: "You left a trail of destruction and damaged police vehicles in your wake. It was a shocking piece of sustained dangerous driving."
Philippa Taylor
BBC Local Live
The prosecutor in the case of Nicholas Churchill, 40, from Brandon, who stole a dumper truck and left a 37-mile (60km) trail of destruction during a police chase across two counties, described the truck as "a dangerous vehicle to be driven on public roads."
Image source, Norfolk PoliceDuring sentencing at Norwich Crown Court, Andrew Oliver added: "It caused massive disruption and a massive involvement by Norfolk and Suffolk police. He put the lives of members of the public and police officers at risk."
Churchill was jailed for 14 months and banned from driving for two years.
We've posted video of Nicholas Churchill's dumper truck rampage through Norfolk and into Suffolk on the BBC Look East Facebook, external page. Here are some of your comments:
Here is the back page of the Bury Free Press, external.
Image source, Bury Free PressCouncillors at Suffolk Coastal have been told not to speak with the media about current plans to merge the local authority with neighbouring Waveney District Council.
Brenner Woolley
BBC Radio Suffolk sport
Ipswich Town, external boss Mick McCarthy believes there's more pressure on tomorrow's hosts Queens Park Rangers than his own side.
He thinks the Rs - who're currently 12 points off the play-offs - need a victory if they're to mount a late challenge for the top six.
"Without a doubt, it's their home game and it's one of those stadia where the fans are right on top of you," McCarthy said. "It's a tough place to play but if you're playing well as the away side it can be tough for the home team as well."
Ipswich Academy has a “real chance” of becoming a front-running school according to the town’s MP Ben Gummer, after an Ofsted report published yesterday said it had made progress, external.
Image source, Ipswich Star
Kelly McCormack
BBC Radio Suffolk
A teenager arrested after a man was stabbed near an Ipswich bus stop has been released on police bail.
The 17-year-old was questioned after the incident on the junction of Dickens Road and Pickwick Road on Wednesday night.
The victim, a man in his thirties, has now left hospital.
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Police have released footage of Nicholas Churchill's 30-mile-plus dumper truck rampage, during which he rammed three police cars on a journey from Spixworth, near Norwich, to Brandon in Suffolk.
Churchill, 40, has just been jailed for 14 months and banned from driving for two years.
He admitted aggravated vehicle-taking and dangerous driving, and driving while unfit through drugs.
As well as a prison sentence, Nicholas Churchill has also received a driving ban:
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The latest from Norwich Crown Court, where Nicholas Churchill has just been jailed for 14 months over his dumper truck rampage:
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Nicholas Churchill has been jailed at Norwich Crown Court:
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Alex Dunlop
BBC Look East
In July last year, 40-year-old Nicholas Churchill set off in his 20-tonne dumper truck from Spixworth Quarry near Norwich, following a row with his boss over the air conditioning in his cab.
For more than 30 miles (48km) he evaded capture on the A11 and through Thetford Forest, driving at speeds of up to 30mph, repeatedly ramming police cars that were trying to stop him. One officer said: "I thought I was going to die. I was petrified."
When he reached Brandon, where he lives, the 40-year-old turned into a pedestrian precinct, sending people running for cover. Churchill earlier admitted dangerous driving and driving under the influence of drugs. Sentencing is continuing this lunchtime.
Norwich Crown Court has been hearing that Nicholas Churchill, 40, caused £26,000 of damage while behind the wheel of the dumper truck.
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More from the sentencing of a dumper truck driver who went on a rampage through Norfolk and into Suffolk.
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BBC Look East's Alex Dunlop is at Norwich Crown Court where Nicholas Churchill, 40, is being sentenced over dangerous driving in a dumper truck.
Churchill has previously admitted dangerous driving and being under the influence of drugs.
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Vikki Irwin
BBC Radio Suffolk political reporter
People from Suffolk are seeking to join terrorists in Syria, according to the head of counter-terrorism for the region.
John Boutcher says police have seen people linked to every force area in the region seeking to, or travelling to Syria : "This new conflict in Syria is attracting mainly young people, mainly young men, we know families have also gone.
"This is completely different to what we've seen before."
Vikki Irwin
BBC Radio Suffolk political reporter
The BBC understands there are plans to move counter-terrorism police officers away from ports on the coast, such as Felixstowe, to inland areas considered more at risk.
Former police officer and terror expert Simon Trundle said degrading protection at ports and airports could be dangerous.
He said: "If they do that the terrorists will become aware of it and potentially exploit a weakness... our ports and harbours, we have to secure them, we have to have some kind of a watch on them."
