Teenager fined for burglaries
A Teenager has been fined a total of £78 by Chippenham Magistrates after he pleaded guilty to stealing money and alcohol from three properties in the village on 15th May 2007.

Shotgun man faces jail term
Defendant Mark Parker is facing the prospect of a five year jail term after admitting having a sawn off shotgun. Parker, 35, of Comet Close, Lyneham, pleaded guilty to being in possession of a prohibited weapon when he appeared before a judge at Swindon Crown Court on Monday 10th September 2007. He admitted that on 15th March 2007 he had the smooth bore shotgun that had a barrel less then 30 centimetres in length. Parker admitted one charge of having possession of a prohibited weapon.

Recorder Duncan Adam adjourned the case to 19th October 2007 and released Parker on conditional bail. He ordered the probation service to compile a pre-sentence report and agreed that a psychiatric report should be made on the defendant. Parker has been freed on condition that he does not have contact with his former wife or go to Broomfield in Chippenham. The offence carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years' custody unless the judge rules there are exceptional circumstances.

However, nearly two thirds of people convicted of having firearms are not getting the five years set out in the 2003 Criminal Justice Act. Earlier this week Home Office minister Vernon Coaker told the Association of Chief Police Officers conference not enough defendants were getting the full mandatory sentence. Home Office figures for 2005 show that only 40 per cent of those convicted get at least five year prison terms.

A Stitch in Time
Lyneham woman, Abbie Withers, has decided to open a horse rug repair business. Ms Withers, owner of a three-year-old mixed shire thoroughbred, was fed up with paying £150 each time Arawin needed a rug repaired. After making the repairs herself, word quickly spread through friends and family and Ms Withers, a former veterinary nurse, was soon taking orders from all over the west. She called her new business Pegasus, which can be reached on 07914 607778.

New help at hand
Former Lyneham mum Jo Stuttard is launching a childhood cancer support group. The mother-of-two, whose youngest daughter Emily was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2005, decided to set up a group after being supported by Swindon support group Cancer and Leukaemia Movement (CALM) before moving to Lincolnshire. She said: "When we moved up here we expected the same kind of support as we got at CALM. But there was nothing, no support, no parents getting together, no help." Emily, now seven, is in remission after two years of chemotherapy.

No answers for bereaved
The sister of an RAF Lyneham serviceman who was killed in Iraq in 2005 has stepped up her campaign to find out how her brother died. Sarah Chapman, who lives in Cambridge, lost her brother Sergeant Robert O'Connor when his Hercules crashed in Iraq. more...