Marylebone and Paddington Mercury from Westminster, London, England • 3

i MM Friday February 10 1984 3 versus story wins pupil literary prize Guides seeks adult guiders BROWNIE AND guide organisers in Paddington had a novel idea for solving the problem of a lack of guiders They organised a poster competition with the theme need more There is a chronic shortage of adults to help the brownie packs and guide companies in the area The competition was organised by the district commisssioner Ann Barnes and the Local Association a group of interested people who provide support for guiders when they put on events such as swimming galas fetes and fundraising activities A window display which includes all the winning entries is now on show at the Queensway branch of the Britannia Building Society which also donated some prizes Yesterday evening the manager Mr 6 Skipton presented the prizes to the winners who were judged by him and Mrs Ianthe Cornwall-Jones the London North-West County Arts Advisor for the Girls Guides Prizewinners: Chloe Evans (13) for the guides and Dayo Gilmour (10) for the brownies Jade Crowford (7) Jones (9) Highly commended were Damaris Evans (8) Zoe Farmer (8) Fiona Gordon (9) Natasha Moss (10) Jackie Mullane Elleves (9) and Sandra Whipham (8) A FOURTH year pupil at North Westminster Community School Kenneth Coffrey won this Bellman Literary prize for a short story of his called dare Writer and broadcaster Edward Blishen judged the entries and presented six awards during a special morning assembly last week at the Lower House Penfold Street attended by 450 pupils He described the story of as: radical story of children at odds with the police It has a great quality of honesty and shows an excellent use of dialogue very real and straight story reveals the young author as someone who is not content with the surface of things and he helps the reader to go deeper into why situations There were five runners-up in this years competition which is in its second year and is highly popular with the children of the Paddington area Azadur Rahman a fourth year pupil wrote a tale about the future entitled 2500 AD It depicts the subject of slaves fighting a future military elite A literary piece called The Ghost of a Child came from another fourth year pupil Samih El- Shahat about the excavation of a cursed Egyptian tomb The three other runners-up were second year Shanta Sutton-Kirouch third year Jason Buckingham and third year Michelle Di Leo At the prizegiving Michael Marland CBE the headmaster of North Westminster Community School said that he was pleased that Edward Blishen was able to judge and present the awards this year work has delighted children and adults The Bellman Literary prizes owe their existence to Sir Harold Bellman who was born in Paddington in 1886 and became a wealthy businessman and writer He took a great interest in education being a governor at several local schools Before he died in 1963 he opened a special fund for a prize to be awarded each year to a local pupil showing the greatest literary ability The award was discontinued for several years but in 1982 the Inner London Education Authority agreed that the new North Westminster Community should take over the fund Last year saw its revival gold in them thar loos! order to inspectors fords Bathrooms of Stoke sponsors of the competition presents the first Loo Award" to Councillor Robert David (Right) vice chairman of Environment Committee Looking on are (left to right) Ms Bridget Rowe edttor of Sunday magazine and the two attendants who run the toilet on alternate shifts Reg BedweH and Les HanSng THE CITY Council public convenience in Covent Garden has been voted the best run public toilet in Britain In a national competition run by Sunday magazine the toilet received over 1200 nominations out of a total of 2700 votes cast Mr Les Tench deputy managng director of Twy- Westminster savings claim if GLC goes says Labour made up by Government grant assume there will be no extension of the equalisation scheme by which resources are directed from Westminster and other central London boroughs to the other he says Mr Hegarty continued: Government has made it clear in its consultation document that there will be an extended equalisation scheme And briefing notes to Ministers which have recently come to light urge them to say that extra costs falling on the likes of Bromley It also revealed that the Borough Solicitor had put away his file on fire inspection notices in 1981 Housing chairman Christopher McLaren told last council meeting: have been instructed to minimise the delay between initial and final He added that the Ombudsman had said the council was not responsible for the fire and that the maladministration was for minor matter of He said the delay had taken place because of a council policy to tackle the worst houses in the borough first Labour leader Neil Kearney said that politicians should shoulder the blame for the blaze He described the decision as and said: every member of this council is to blame for the death of these people in Clanricarde The fault lay with the council because it refused to make resources available to carry out the fire inspections despite knowing how bad the conditions were he said Knife charge MICHAEL JOHN Oates 24 of Gloucester Place Marylebone appeared at West London Court charged with having a knife as an offensive weapon in Bush Road West Kensington on December 5 and failing to come to court on the same day He was remanded in custody until tomorrow Friday WARRANT CHARGED with obstructing Pc David Marshall in Greek Street Soho on February 2 jobless George Sneddon 29 of Sussex Gardens Paddington failed to appear at Marlborough Street Court and a warrant was issued for his arrest nasty distributor FIRE INSPECTORS have been ordered to get a move on following an report on a blaze which killed eight people housing chairman instructed officers to speed up fire safety inspections in the light of the report on the fire at three bed sit houses in Clanricarde Gardens Notting Hill The report on the blaze in 1981 found the council guilty of because of an 18 month delay in inspecting the gutted houses The Ombudsman added that the council was not to blame for the fire But the report revealed that the council knew that possible fire exits in the three homes were blocked and that there had been regular requests from tenants for rehousing jailed VIDEO NASTY dtetribut-or David Hamilton -Grant Nobody is living in a puritan age one of unbridled Derek Malcolm of the Guardian one of the two film critics who gave evidence at the trial said the verdict was an and a retrograde step for the cinema Mrs Mary Whitehouse hailed the Old Bailey result as adding: hope this will encourage the Director of Public Prosecutions to continue with further prosecutions He has been most reluctant to do so up till CLAIMS BY Westminster City Council that the abolition of the GLC will lead to huge savings for ratepayers are bogus Labour leader Joe Hegarty claims this week Mr Hegarty said the figures produced by Westminster in conjunction with Bromley Kensington and Chelsea and Wandsworth claimed But he argues that they are misleading because they are based on the assumption that the extra cost of services to the boroughs will be Video A DISTRIBUTOR of the Nightmares in a Damaged Brain was jailed at the Old Bailey after a jury decided that the 86 minute film which they had watched was to deprave or In the first case of its type at the court three men David Hamilton-Grant 44 Malcolm Fancey 43 and Roger Morley 39 were found guilty under the Obscene Publications Act of possessing copies of the video cassette for publication for gain Judge Christopher Beaumont told them: who make money out of this sort of obscenity can do much harm and have got to be Hamilton-Grant of Broadstone Place Ma-rylebone whom the judge said was the most responsible of the three was jailed for 18 months 12 of which were suspended Fancey of Kingswood Surrey was given a nine-month jail sentence suspended for two years and ordered to pay £250 towards the prosecution costs Morley of Leeds was fined £250 and ordered to pay £250 towards the and Wandsworth will be met by ratepayers in Westminster the City and The Westminster Labour Group leader claims the abolition of the GLC will actually cost ratepayers more It will lead to a duplication of work now carried out by one authority to 33 boroughs and will create several non elected bodies without accountability to the voters Mr Hegarty concludes: the GLC goes we can all expect a much worse service at far greater shown in the Judge Beaumont ordered the destruction of the 212 cassettes seized by police during in raids in London and Leeds in October 1982 Mr Geoffrey Robertson defending put forward a special defence that the film should be allowed the public He said it was about immorality danger perversion and corruption in society and far from glorifying or encouraging violence it worked to deter it Two film critics defended the artistry and merits of the film 'and it was argued that although not suitable for children it should be left to the responsibility of parents and guardians to ensure that they did not see it One critic described the film as which in 30 years time might be seen like an early The judge had warned the jury that they were not to concern themselves with the safeguards of the film industry either financially or otherwise He told them that they had to the standards of what is cost of the prosecution The American-made video hailed as the cult terror film of 1982 shows a young boy witnessing his father engaged in sexual bondage with a young woman In the last four minutes the boy decapitates the women with an axe and then sinks the weapon into his head The three men sentenced ran a distribution company April Electronics of West London which has now gone into liquidation Hamilton-Grant was the company secretary Morley was the works director in Leeds and Fancey the marketing director in London The 10-2 decision by the jury of nine men and three women was described by defence counsel as a for the film But for Mr Graham Bright the Tory MP who is spearheading legislation to outlaw all video nasties said it was a triumph of good sense He commented: underlies the need to classify every video cassette and to tighten the statute for films that are Pensions expert WESTMINSTER COUNCILLOR for Little Venice Iain Walker (above) has been recently appointed managing director of Fenchurch Life and Pensions Consultants Ltd and of Fenchurch Trustees Ltd He will also be joining the board of Fenchurch Insurance Brokers Ltd Mr Walker was previously a partner in Towers Perrin Forster and Crosby international pension consultants As a consultant and actuary his primary concern will be the life and pensions business He has more than 15 years professional experience in those fields Before joining Fenchurch Mr Walker was a principal partner of Towers Perrin Forster and Crosby (TPF and C) an international firm of management and pension consultants Before joining TPF and in 1977 he was an assistant actuary with Commercial Union Assurance He is an accomplished public speaker and in particular lectures regularly for professional organisations including Advanced Management Research (International) and the National Association of Pension Funds He is a member of the Faculty of Actuaries European Research Group At the General Election Mr Walker was the Conservative Parliamentary candidate for Kirkcaldy in Fife He is a member of Westminster council and also serves on the governing committees of several schools and charities He is also a member of the Carlton Club Political Committee Iain Walker is a graduate of Glasgow University a Fellow of the Faculty of Actuaries and the Pensions Management Institute He is also an Associate of the Institute of Actuaries and a member of the British Computer Society GRAND OPENING GREAT BEGINNINGS 82A CHILTERN ST W1 A Montessori Nursery taking children from 2Vi years upward Please come to our open days on TUESDAY 14th FEBRUARY 10 am -4 pm WEDNESDAY 15th FEBRUARY 10 am -4 pm or on an open evening WEDNESDAY 15th FEBRUARY 7 pm 9 pm to see what Montessori can offer your child SCHOOL TERM BEGINS 20th FEBRUARY 1984 Any enquiries please telephone Head Teacher Wendy Parfect Days: 01-935 7842 Evening: 01 -736 6392 GIVE YOUR CHILD A HEAD START WITH MOHTESSORI.