Two Die On Roads

It has been revealed that the motorcyclist killed in a crash on the north Antrim coast on Tuesday was from Co Meath. Edward David Manly (64) crashed on the Causeway Road outside Bushmills. His wife, who was riding pillion at the time, remains critically ill in hospital today. There were no other vehicles involved. Meanwhile a woman killed in a crash between a car and transit van outside Dungannon last night was named as Elizabeth Campton (83), from Coagh Street, Cookstown. Two other women in the car and two men in the van were injured and taken to hospital. None are believed to have suffered life threatening injuries. The deaths increased the toll on Northern Ireland roads so far this year to 70.

'Historic' Killing Probed

A man - aged 58 - has been arrested and charged over a murder in Belfast 36 years ago. The suspect was questioned by officers from the PSNI's Historical Inquiry Team yesterday at Antrim PSNI station about the killing of Alfredo Fusco in February 1973. The victim died after a gun attack at his cafe on the York Road in north Belfast. The accused will appear in court next month.

Chicken Waste For Vote

Lisburn City Council is to refer a planning application to build an incinerator close to Lough Neagh to public inquiry. The council took the decision after Rose Energy outlined plans to build a power plant near Glenavy to convert chicken litter and bone meal into energy. Campaigners against the plant said it will damage the Lough's ecosystem by extracting 3.8 million litres of water per day to cool the incinerator, and then pumping much of the 'waste' water back into this major source of drinking water. A European Directive means NI's poultry industry must come up with alternative ways of disposing of poultry waste or face huge fines.

Coroner Warns Of Road Tragedy

An NI coroner has said that she hoped the tragic circumstances of an accident would serve as a warning to young and inexperienced drivers. Suzanne Anderson commented this week on the case of an 18-year-old student from Dungiven, Ryan McCloskey from Rannyglass, who was killed while not wearing a seatbelt. The car in which he was a passenger struck a telegraph pole when it went out of control along the Ballyquinn Road on July 14, 2007. The inquest into the death was told that the driver of the Vauxhall Vectra car, Anton O'Hara from Mountview Park, Dungiven, who was a restricted driver at the time, was later fined £150 and also had three penalty points imposed when he pleaded guilty to careless driving and driving without R-plates.

NI Water Spending Plans

Northern Ireland Water has unveiled plans to invest around £1.5bn in improving infrastructure over the next eight years. The works are set to upgrade water and sewage systems across the Province. A contract advert, published today, is calling for expressions of interest from consultants and contractors to from a "capital delivery alliance." The part-public owned company said it was currently spending up to £150m on infrastructure every year. The utility regulator will be approached to approve the latest round of spending plans.

Coal Man Short-Changing

A Co Antrim coal packer, James Walker, trading as Redon Fuels, Newtownabbey, has been fined £400 plus £25 court costs at Newtownabbey Magistrates' Court for selling shortweight coal. In a case brought by the Trading Standards Service of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, Mr Walker pleaded guilty to 15 charges under the Weights & Measures (Northern Ireland) Order 1981. A fine of £200 was imposed in respect of two charges with a conditional discharge being imposed on each of the remaining 13. In December 2008, a Trading Standards Inspector check-weighed 25kg bags of pre-packed solid fuel at a Newtownabbey filling station and later at Redon premises. Five different varieties of fuel were tested and it was found that 67 out of a total of 101 bags weighed less than the lower legal limit of 24.5kg. Two of the five varieties were on average 10% short of the nominal weight. Investigations at the coal yard revealed further problems, including the use of unapproved weighing equipment. In addition, there was an ineffective system for checking the weight of bags packed.

(BMcC/KMcA)