A Dunstable East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST) senior call handler who stayed calm and offered vital reassurance during an upsetting 999 call has been shortlisted for a national award.

Sam Barber, based in the Bedford Emergency Operations Centre (EOC), is one of 10 finalists in UK Navigator’s Dispatcher of the Year 2018 awards.

She was shortlisted for the professionalism and compassion she showed throughout the difficult call, during which she kept a man calm and gave him instructions on performing CPR on his daughter until emergency crews arrived. Although the patient sadly could not be saved, Sam’s team leaders praised the way she handled the situation and nominated her for the award later the same day.

“I love my job,” said 27-year-old Sam, who has worked for EEAST for two-and-a-half years. “I’ve always been a caring person and really like the variety which working in the EOC brings and the feeling that you’re really helping people.

“I had mixed emotions when I found out about the award, as I still feel quite sad about the call. After the call I was given support from my team and had some counselling. Talking about what had happened was really useful and helped me to manage the emotions I was feeling.

“I always try and stay calm for the caller, offering them reassurance and concentrating on giving them clear instructions about what to do until the crew can get to them. Our role is to be that supportive voice when they are at their most vulnerable.”

The award will be presented on Tuesday (18th September) during the UK Navigator conference in Bristol.

Fun for all the family is on offer when fire crews in Sandy open their doors for the day.

Sandy Community Fire Station is holding an open day on Sunday, September 23, from 10am until 2pm.

Meet your local firefighters who are inviting everyone from their community to come along and see their appliances and learn about fire safety.

Firefighters at the station in Ivel Road, are organising an afternoon of fun and discovery for the whole family.

There will also be many attractions, including children’s games, barbecue, Central Bedfordshire’s virtual simulator car Oscar, ‘Children’s Firefighter Challenge’ assault course and specialist fire appliances to see.

The open event promises to be a fun-filled event with plenty of opportunities for children and adults to learn more about your local fire station and its crews.

Station Commander, Andrew Lewington said: “Everyone is welcome. Our open days are a fantastic family day out and a great opportunity for people to come and find out about their local station and the services we provide to our local community.

“Why not mention the open day to all your friends and family. We look forward to seeing you on the big day.”

Many parts of the UK are in for a wet and windy week, with a number of low pressure systems crossing the Atlantic bringing unsettled weather.

Storm Ali will bring a spell of very windy weather with gusts of 50-60 mph possible inland.

The strongest winds will hit the north and west but the south east will also experience high winds.

Road, rail, air and ferry services may be affected, with longer journey times and cancellations possible.

Some damage to buildings is possible, such as tiles blown from roofs. Falling trees or branches are possible.

Strong winds affecting parts of Northern Ireland early in the day will continue to strengthen through the morning and then extend across many parts of Scotland and northern England and northwest Wales. For some exposed areas, in particular parts of western Scotland, gusts could reach in excess of 75 mph in places. There is also an Amber warning for Northern Ireland, parts of Scotland and the far northwest of England. The gusty winds will be accompanied in places by heavy, squally showers, making driving conditions difficult. The winds will gradually ease later on Wednesday, firstly across Northern Ireland, northwest Wales and northern England and then across Scotland.

Everton Heath Primary School has become a new Academy and to joined The Cam Academy Trust.

The Trust already oversees neighbouring newly-renamed Gamlingay Village Primary (formerly Gamlingay First School) and Everton Heath has become the 10th school to join.

Everton Heath Headteacher Aileen Russell said: “This is a wonderful move forward for our small village school. Now we are part of a 10-school multi academy trust dedicated to excellence for all.

“We strongly believe this is our best way, in the current educational climate, for being able to fully meet the learning needs of all our pupils. The Cam Academy Trust is committed to offering our school additional and exceptional opportunities whilst ensuring that we retain our unique sense of identity.”

Already Everton Heath has benefitted from a new website (www.evertonheath.org.uk) and prospectus and plans include a much closer working relationship with Gamlingay Village Primary, which is due to move to a new home on the former Gamlingay Village College site, in January.

Trust Chief Executive Stephen Munday said: “We want to ensure that every individual pupil achieves his or her full, positive potential through a broad and high-quality education.

All the academies of the Trust work in close partnership to offer exceptional opportunities for students at all stages of their education. Staff also work together to offer support and share best practice.”

The Cam Academy Trust has six primary schools, primarily in South Cambridgeshire and Huntingdon, and four secondary schools. For more information go to www.catrust.co.uk

If you saw fire engines at Biggleswade Wind Farm today, never fear, its just a practice run.

Members of the Bedfordshire Fire & Rescue joined Temporis Capital Ltd (Owner), Becon Project Management & consultancy (site managers) and Vestas (turbine Supplier) during a prearranged training and familiarisation day at Biggleswade Wind Farm.

The day was arranged to help firecrews learn more about how wind farms operate.

Temporis is keen to ensure everyone attending their operating wind farms are as safe as possible, and believe that such events are key to maintaining and growing high standards of health and safety within the renewable industry.

More training days, including controlled simulation emergency rescues, have been arranged at Biggleswade.

Residents are being warned that winds of up to 65mph could hit the region between tomorrow (Thursday, September 20) and Friday (September 21).

The Met Office has issued the yellow weather warning for a large area of the South and South East.

The alert for severe winds is in place between 6pm Thursday and 9am on Friday.

The Met Office warning reads: “An area of strong winds is likely to develop across parts of Wales and southwest England during Thursday evening before spreading further eastwards across England.

‘The strongest winds are then expected to clear into the North Sea early on Friday.

“Most likely is that we will see gusts of 45-50 mph in a few spots inland as well as more widely around exposed coasts.

“However, there is a small chance that stronger winds will develop in some areas with 60-65 mph gusts possible, particularly overnight into Friday across eastern England.

“The strong winds will accompanied by short-lived outbreaks of very heavy rain in places.

“There is a slight chance of some damage to buildings, such as tiles blown from roofs or through falling trees and branches.

“This could also bring the chance of injuries and danger to life.”

Here at Biggleswade United our plans have always been for our young players in the first team and the Under 23 side to be given game time to settle in the first team or to eventually graduate into the first team.

This week against Barton Rovers many of the youngsters covered themselves in glory when they played in the North Beds Charity Cup and as an added bonus pulled off a 2-1 win to go forward into the next round where we will face Biggleswade FC in the semi-finals next year.

I share our coach Jimmy Martin’s pride at the fight and unity shown by no fewer than eight players aged between 16 and 20 who battled as if their lives depended on it to earn the victory.

Only two from our 3-0 FA Vase victory over London Lions were in the line up.

And over and above everything else what pleases me most is that it serves as due testament to the club’s bravery and commitment to promote youth all the way up to the first team. Tuesday night our youngsters showed that despite their tender years they are more than capable of stepping up to the plate if required to do so.

I am optimistic about the future and after an unbeaten run of six, we can forget any cup commitments for a while as we now face three league games on the bounce where hopefully we can maintain the impetus and start to climb up the table.

The key this season has been the strength we have shown in both boxes and a winning mentality instilled in our players from all our sides.

There is always room for improvement and we always need to know why we win or lose so we can learn from both and impose the type of game required for any given game, sometimes direct, other times by controlling the game. That is exactly what we are gradually instilling into our players on the training ground. And I feel fans are appreciating it – they did celebrate big time on Tuesday. Tell your friends to come and watch us!

Off the field we are planning a quiz night on Friday, October 12 to raise much needed funds for our Academy. Tickets are £7.50 per person for teams of six and food is included in the ticket price and it would be wonderful to see as many people from the local community as possible attend the night.

But before then there’s some football to be played starting with a trip to face Wembley tomorrow (Sat k.o. 3pm) at their Vale Farm ground.

Police are appealing for the public’s help to find a 14-year-old boy who is missing from Great Barford.

Rion McKnight has been missing since around 8pm yesterday (Wednesday).

He is believed to be wearing dark clothing and a grey hooded top.

Anyone with any information is asked to call 101 quoting reference number 178 of yesterday’s date

How do you stop knife crime? What are the consequences of carrying a knife? What do you say to a friend who wants to carry a knife?

These were just some of the questions asked by school pupils during a question-and-answer session at Bedfordshire Police headquarters yesterday.

Chaired by former Detective Inspector Phil McCarthy, the panel was comprised of Chief Constable Jon Boutcher, Channitta Lendore – the sister of murdered Isaac Stone who was stabbed to death in Bedford in 2014, as well as Kelly Panaghiston from charity Link to Change and Nicola Westbrook from the Central Bedfordshire Council school nursing team.

The session allowed over 60 young students from across the county to ask the panel questions, and air their views about why young people carry knives.

One student praised Channitta Lendore for joining the panel and asked how she manages to deal with the pain of losing her brother while working with young people who carry knives.

“It was a really positive day today,” said Channita. “It was nice to see young people engaged and having a different interaction with them was brilliant. I deal with my loss by knowing that by sharing Isaac’s story, it could save others from the same fate as my brother.”

One 14-year-old pupil from Stockwood Park Academy in Luton said: “Today was very interesting learning about how serious knife crime is and that it doesn’t keep you safe carrying as knife. I feel reassured by our discussion, but we still need to do more to help communities in Bedfordshire.

“I would like to see more youth clubs as I feel boredom can be part of the issue. I know of people who carry knives because they now think it’s a way of providing themselves with protection. It is one of the biggest worries we have now as you don’t know who might be carrying a knife.”

Chief Constable Jon Boutcher said it was the first time the force has invited students in for an open discussion on knife crime.

He said: “I am really pleased with how it went. It is important to me that we not only get our messages around knife crime across, but we listen and learn from the young people who are most affected by this issue. Reducing knife crime is the responsibility of everyone across society, policing alone cannot solve the problem.”

Phil McCarthy added: “I found it a very useful experience listening to young students asking the panel questions and also offering up some of their own thoughts around knife crime. I look forward to chairing these types of sessions again.”

As well as the panel, Bedfordshire Police has carried out activities as part of Operation Sceptre including weapons sweeps to look for discarded or hidden weapons, targeted patrols in knife crime hotspot areas and visits at various schools across the county.

A prize-winning ticket holder from Bedfordshire has come forward to claim £96,827 from EuroMillions.

The National Lottery operator Camelot UK Lotteries Ltd announced today that the £96,827.80 prize from the EuroMillions draw on August 10, 2018, has now been claimed by a winner from Central Bedfordshire after being outstanding for more than a month.

Unless the winner opts to take full publicity and signs an agreement to that effect, no further information can be released about their win.

Andy Carter, senior winners’ advisor at The National Lottery, said, “We’re delighted that the winner of this amazing prize has now come forward and we hope that they will enjoy their win.

“It would have been awful if the ticket-holder had missed out on this substantial and life-enhancing amount of money. We would like to remind all National Lottery players to check their tickets every time they play.”

A missing 14-year-old boy from Great Barford has been found.

Rion McKnight had been missing since around 8pm on Wednesday and has now been located.

Media and members of the public are thanked for sharing our appeal.

The family of a Biggleswade man have paid tribute to him after he died in a collision in Essex.

Robbie Trundley, aged 20, died in a collision on the A120 in Coggeshall shortly after 7am on September 18.

Police were called to a three vehicle collision at Salmons Corner.

It is believed that a white Fiesta travelling on the A120 towards Colchester was in collision with an HGV which had been travelling in the opposite direction towards Coggeshall.

A Transit flatbed van which had been travelling behind the Fiesta also then collided with the HGV.

In a tribute, Mr Trundley’s family have said: “He was much loved and is missed by everyone who knew him.”

The driver of the Transit flat bed remains in a serious but stable condition in hospital.

Both the driver of the HGV and a passenger in the white Fiesta were taken to hospital with minor injuries.

No arrests have been made.

Lesiure staff at Sandy Sports and Community Centre are facing losing their jobs after contractors for Central Bedfordshire Council admitted it had been operating at a loss for several years.

The staff at the Engayne Avenue centre, based in what is now Sandy Secondary School, were put under notice of possible redundancy last week.

In a letter to staff, seen by the Chronicle, contractors Stevenage Leisure Ltd (SLL) said: “CBC has given notice to Sandy Upper School [now secondary school] that the sports facilities will revert to school management at the proposed date of October 28, 2018 and that SLL’s management contract will be limited to management of the gym and the Jenkins Pavilion.

“Actions will be taken to physically cut off the school buildings from the gym area and SLL’s activities will reduce as a result.”

The letter also states the leisure operation at Sandy needs to reduce operational costs to make it affordable to CBC and SLL.

Local clubs has also been getting in touch with the Chronicle to say they have been told facilities will no longer be available at the end of next month.

One resident said: “I have been a resident of Sandy for the last 49 years and for most of that time, there has been a sports centre available to the community at Sandy Upper School which includes an indoor sports hall, squash courts and outdoor netball and tennis courts.

“All of these facilities have been well used by local groups.

“It has been bought to my attention this week, that these facilities will no longer be available for members of the local community to use as from the end of October. There are many clubs who use the sports hall for badminton, 5 a side football etc.”

A spokesman for CBC and SLL said: “The council operates six leisure centres, including Sandy Sports and Community Centre where there is a health and fitness facility, athletics track and community access to Sandy Secondary School’s leisure facilities. They are an important part of the council’s leisure provision across Central Bedfordshire and we remain committed to providing leisure activities in the area. However, the financial model at Sandy needs to be on a more sustainable footing, as it has been operating at a loss for several years. We have been exploring options to reduce the leisure operating costs but maintain leisure provision as much as possible.

“We are discussing with the school and our leisure contractors, Stevenage Leisure Limited, to see how best the leisure activities at Sandy can be continued, and to minimise any impact on customers and Stevenage Leisure staff as far as possible. Stevenage Leisure has been consulting with its staff, and we will be consulting with the public on what and how we provide leisure activities in that area in the future.”

SLL also runs several other leisure facilities in Bedfordshire including Houghton Regis Leisure Centre, Tiddenfoot Leisure Centre, The Grove Theatre in Dunstable and Silsoe Community Sports Centre.

>Have you been affected by the changes? Contact us at editorial@biggleswadechronicle.co,uk

A society with a proud history is set to celebrate its 70th anniversary next week.

The Shefford and District Amateur Radio Society (SADARS) was set up in 1948 by radio and radar military servicemen following their demobilisation after World War 2.

Organised by Claude Pettifar, early meetings were held in the Old Wharf Building by the River Flit in North Bridge Street but later moved to the more spacious Shefford Community Hall, Ampthill Road in Shefford.

The club is thought to be among the oldest leisure organisations in the Shefford area.

Every Thursday evening, talks, video presentations and demonstrations are given on subjects ranging from the historic spark transmitters to the latest developments in microwave communications. The design and construction of radio aerials for the back garden and DIY projects, including from the club’s own kits of parts kits, have always proved to be popular topics.

“Even in these days of instant public communications via satellite and the web, SADARS continues to train new Morse operators to ensure that members specialising in very long distance and reliable shortwave radio contacts by high speed telegraphy, are equipped to maximise their results.

Historically, the club membership has been privileged to include many eminent electronics engineers, including Ivan Howard who was a founder member of the British Amateur Television Club who it is thought gave the very first national ‘open to the public’ demonstration of Amateur TV at a club meeting as early as 1950. Clive Wallis, a prominent and especially active member, was awarded the G3AJJ Cup for services to Amateur Radio Satellites in 2001 by the British AMSAT organisation and the also the coveted Louis Varney Cup by the nation’s Radio Society of Great Britain as recently as 2013.

Outside speakers have always been warmly welcomed, including Prof. Colin Pillinger of space and satellite fame, Keith Skues the popular radio broadcaster and Jim Bacon the weather expert, BBC broadcaster and life-long radio amateur. The editors of the various popular ‘ham radio magazines’ down the years have been frequent guests of honour, as have leading specialists in the many technical aspects of the hobby.

In turn, organised outside visits by members have included trips to radio stations at BBC Rugby, Daventry, Sandy Heath, Brookmans Park and the nearby Baldock monitoring station.

Club members are most fortunate to have private access to local farming field areas for their annual outdoor operations involving activity in national and international radio communication contests, during which the SADARS special callsigns G3FJE and G3B are activated.

Ken Amos, chairman of SADARS, said: “Over the years here in Shefford, ourclub has fostered many a new licencee.

“We operate at a national competitive level in the world of amateur radio and our reputation as a warm and welcoming group is long established. It has been said that our hobby may be no longer attractive to the younger generation but, despite a reduction in membership over recent years, a factor affecting so many clubs, I see no diminution of enthusiasm and interest. Rather, our people remain keen to experiment with the very latest technology and its development and serious application to radio communications.”

‘A Brief History of SADARS’ by Brian Farey is due for publication in October at the planned celebration party next Thursday to which past and present members and wives are to be invited.

SADARS meet each Thursday at 7.30 for 8pm at the Community Hall in Ampthill Road, Shefford. For more information, see their web site www.sadars.co.uk.

The UK’s speeding hotspots and the locations of the country’s most active speed cameras have been revealed by new research - and Bedfordshire has the second highest number of drivers caught.

A freedom of information request to forces across the UK has uncovered where drivers are most likely to be caught and fined as well as revealing the shocking excess speeds of some drivers.

The data shows that the worst offender caught in Bedfordshire so far in 2018 was a driver on the M1, who was recorded doing 53mph above the posted speed limit. In 2017 a driver as clocked doing 125mph on Airport Way in Luton, 75mph above the speed limit and in 2016 the highest figure was a driver on the A505 bypass from Tilsworth, clocked doing 123moh in a 50mph limit.

The research, which allows users to view the data for their local force, was carried out by comparison site GoCompare. It found that Avon and Somerset police recorded by far the most speeding offences at 386,969 recorded offences. Bedfordshire Police recorded 143,052

Two cameras in Bedfordshire – on the M1 and A1081 are in the list of ten most active speed cameras in the country.

The top 10 speed cameras for 2016-18 are:

M1 Motorway 2016 10,339

A1081 Airport Way, South West bound 2017 10,024

A1081 Airport Way, North East bound 2017 7,243

M1 Motorway 2017 7,013

M1 Motorway 2018 4,675

M1 Motorway 2017 4,658

M1 Motorway 2016 4,370

M1 Motorway 2018 3,699

Drovers Way, towards Houghton Regis 2016 3,496

Drovers Way, towards West Street 2016 2,887

The A603 at Moggerhanger and Leighton Road in Woburn were also found to be expensive traps for speeding drivers.

To find out more go to https://www.gocompare.com/car-insurance/speed-offences/

Police crime figures for a spate of car thefts and damage in Kings Reach have revealed up to 25 incidents took place in just one night.

The latest crime figures for Biggleswade reveal the attacks, on August 27/28, were either classed as interference with a motor vehicle or theft from a motor vehicle.

Vehicles were targeted in roads including Buttercup Mead, Venus Avenue, Rutherford Way and Kennett Drive.

After the attacks police stepped up patrols in the
area.

The crime figures, presented to Bigglewade Town Council at its September meeting, show 147 crimes were reported in the Biggleswade area in August.

This compares to 142 reported crimes in June.

Among the reported crimes are nine cases of harrassment, two cases of GBH, two of sending letters with intent to cause distress and eight cases of assault,

Thefts from shops and stalls continue to dog the area, but there was also two cases of sending letters with intent to cause distress, a theft of mail, one case of arson, on August 7, which was not considered a threat to life, and an assault on a police officer, which happened on August 2.

There was also a case of allowing a dog to be dangerously out of control on August 15.

Two sexual offences wer reported on August 21 and August 27 but there is no date 
of when the offences took place.

>Bedfordshire Police are holding an Op Chain event at the Sainsbury’s superstore, Bells Brook, Biggleswade on October 4 between 1-5pm.

The aim of the event is to offer advice on how to keep vans safe and protect valuable tools from thieves.

New sport and leisure facilities are to be provided for Stondon residents as part of a development linked to a scheme which will provide 40 homes in the village.

The housing is to be built on land at the back of Stondon Lower School and playing fields in Upper Stondon.

Its other project involves the demolition of the village hall and sports pavilion on land next to 6 The Pastures at Upper Stondon.

A new village hall and sports pavilion will be built, along with a tennis court, school playground and an improved car parking area.

These proposals were also agreed by Central Bedfordshire Council’s development management committee.

“The redevelopment of Stondon Recreation Association facilities and the parish council-owned village hall in Stondon offer significant community gains,” said Nigel Benson, chairman of Stondon Parish Council.

“We are concerned the development schedule will delay these gains,” he told the meeting last Wednesday.

“The village hall is widely used so talks are required to ensure access to the facilities are maintained while the village hall is being rebuilt,” he said. “Ideally the new sports pavilion needs to be open before the old one is knocked down. This will provide an interim facility for village hall users while the new hall is being built,” he explained.

“We are pleased we finally have a vision of new community facilties in sight, albeit funded by 40 houses in a village beseiged by developers.”

See page 12.

The latest appeareances at Luton Magistrates Court

On August 21

> Jack Armond aged 31 of Strawberry Fields, Great Barford, was fined £334 and received three penalty points for speeding in Woburn on February 15.

> Stuart Bailey aged 44 of Hillary Rise, Arlesey, was fined a total of £484 and received four penalty points for speeding in Clifton on February 15.

> Mrs Laura Bernal aged 30 of High Street, Arlesey, was fined a total of £238 and received three penalty points for speeding in Shillington on February 15.

> Alan Harper aged 53 of Hawthorn Croft, Stotfold, was fined £100 and received three penalty points for speeding in Woburn on February 15.

> Desmond Kavanagh aged 53 of Kingsley Avenue, Stotfold, was fined a total of £335 and received three penalty points for speeding in Woburn on February 17.

> Adam Marchant aged 25 of Filland Court, Sandy, was fined a total of £335 and received three penalty points for speeding on the A603 at Moggerhanger on February 16.

On August 22

> Dr Olotu Ogonah aged 54 of Station Road, Sandy, was fined a total of £299 and banned from driving for six months for speeding on the A603 at Moggerhanger on October 15.

> Mark Peace aged 49 of Bilberry Road, Clifton, was fined a total of £811 and banned from driving for six months for failing to provide the name of the driver of his car believed to have committed an offence last year.

On August 23

> Thomas Hill aged 32 of Winston Crescent, Biggleswade, was fined a total of £1.086 and received 10 penalty points for drink driving in Shefford on July 22 and damaging property at a house in Shefford on the same day.

Staff at Sandy Sports and Community Centre who faced losing their jobs have been given a reprieve while a public consultation takes place.

The staff at the Engayne Avenue centre, based in what is now Sandy Secondary School, had been under notice of possible redundancy.

But Central Bedfordshire Council says the talks have been paused to allow a public consultation on leisure services in Sandy.

A spokesman said: “We are discussing with the school and our leisure contractors, Stevenage Leisure Limited, to see how best the leisure services at Sandy can be continued, and to minimise any impact on customers and Stevenage Leisure staff as far as possible.

“We will be consulting with the public on what and how we might provide leisure services in Sandy in the future. Stevenage Leisure had started consulting with its staff, but that is now paused until a public consultation process has been completed. All bookings at Sandy will go on as usual and no changes will take place before a consultation process has taken place.”

In a letter to staff, seen by the Chronicle, contractors Stevenage Leisure Ltd (SLL) said: “CBC has given notice to Sandy Upper School [now secondary school] that the sports facilities will revert to school management at the proposed date of October 28, 2018 and that SLL’s management contract will be limited to management of the gym and the Jenkins Pavilion.

“Actions will be taken to physically cut off the school buildings from the gym area and SLL’s activities will reduce as a result.”

The letter also states the leisure operation at Sandy needs to reduce operational costs to make it affordable to CBC and SLL.

Local clubs has also been getting in touch with the Chronicle to say they have been told facilities will no longer be available at the end of next month.

SLL also runs several other leisure facilities in Bedfordshire including Houghton Regis Leisure Centre, Tiddenfoot Leisure Centre, The Grove Theatre in Dunstable and Silsoe Community Sports Centre.

>Have you been affected by the changes? Contact us at editorial@biggleswadechronicle.co,uk

One man has been jailed, two others given suspended sentences and a 17-year-old given a detention order, after they were found guilty of a violent assault in a Shefford pub carpark last year.

Devon Zsentko, 19, of Kingsway, Hitchin, Herts, was found guilty of assault, causing grievous bodily harm, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and affray and was sentenced to two years and four months’ imprisonment, with Judge Tayton noting that he was the instigator of the violence.

Jack Medlock, 20, of Elm Farm Close, Clifton, was found guilty of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and affray and was jailed for ten months, suspended for 18 months. He was also ordered to undertake 200 hours of unpaid work and 20 days of Rehabilitation Activity Requirement.

Lachlan Brierly, 18, of Chase Close, Arlesey, was found guilty of inflicting grievous bodily harm and affray and jailed for nine months, suspended for 18 months, along with a requirement to undertake 200 hours of unpaid work.

A 17-year-old boy from Shefford, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was also found guilty of causing grievous bodily harm, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and affray, and sentenced to 18 months detention and a training order. He was also served with a Criminal Behaviour Order.

The incident took place in the early hours of 1 July 2017, when two victims were attacked by the group in the car park of The Cornerstone pub after they had tried to intervene as the group attacked another person.

The group then turned on them, violently assaulting both.

Detective Constable Kevin Howes, who investigated the incidents, said: “The group has been found guilty of this violent attack, which left two victims with (remove) injured purely for trying to help another person.

“I would like to recognise the bravery of the victims and thank them for their help and patience with our enquiries throughout this investigation.

“There is no doubt that these individuals have caused worry and upset within the local community and am happy that the courts have sent a clear message with their sentencing in this case, which will hopefully deter any such future offending.

“We would also like to reinforce our message that violence is unacceptable; we will track the offenders down and bring them to justice.”