TUESDAY JANUARY 26 2010 BIRLEY GAZETTE

Features 4
Three PCSOs, one ancient van,
92,000 homes. Desperate?
Victoria Hawkins joins officers on a Friday
night patrol in south-east Sheffield

T
he
temperature
is glacial
and Siberian
winds are
chilling my
skin.
As my teeth chatter in the cold,
PCSO Natalie Goodhead pours
two cans of lager down the
drain, splashing some on her
Police-issue trousers.
Four empty cans clatter as
they fall off the wall onto the
paving slabs.
This group of youths caught
drinking under age outside a
house will all have letters sent to
their parents.
Anti-social behaviour is a huge
problem in South East Sheffield,
move people on and send letters
home to parents of nuisance
youths. PCSOs deal much more
closely with the Community.
Beighton High Street is a
‘PACT priority’ and as we drove
down it, immediately a group of
youths were spotted on a corner,
one lad swinging on a sign.
PCSOs Natalie Goodhead and
Roger Shalome jumped out
and apprehended the boy and
he apologised. Normally this
wouldn’t be necessary according
to Roger, but because many
complaints had been made about
people breaking that particular
sign, action needed to be taken.
The PCSOs drive around the
hotspots unless a call comes in
on their radios about a particular
incident.
Next stop, to Frecheville
library where an arson attack
took place a few weeks ago, we
were off to another hotspot on
the Owelthorpe estate.
Alan flashed a land rover
which had no lights on and
Natalie noticed the driver looked
far too young to have passed his
test.
The ancient van creaked and
jerked a three-point-turn to
follow the vehicle which headed
down a cul-de-sac.
By the time we reached it, the
driver and passengers had fled
the car without a trace.
On closer inspection, three
large petrol canisters were found
in the boot, and ten aerosols in a
shopping bag on the back seat.
“This could be linked to those
arsons in Westfield” Roger says
STRUGGLING: Police Community Support Officers are hampered by staffing and funding shortages.
excitedly. Insurance details are

so I spent last Friday night on
a ride-along with Mosborough’s
Police Community Support
Officers to find out what really
goes on behind the scenes.
There are just three PCSOs
on duty this shift, to cover
92,000 homes, the largest SNA
(Safer Neighbourhood Area) in
where in previous weeks
residents reported condoms
filled with urine being thrown
at the windows, drunken youths
and off-road motorbikes.
But now the estate is silent.
Apart from a group of five
teenagers sitting in a park, the
radioed in from control centre
and Alan and Roger speed off
in the van to find the owners,
leaving Natalie and I by the car.
I’m standing in the biting
cold again. Whilst the PCSOs
wait for back up from the Police
Constable on duty, two anti-
social behaviour incidents in
hotspot areas are radioed in.
Natalie is frustrated they won’t
be able to attend as we must
wait by the abandoned car.
It seems whilst the aim of
PCSOs is to have more ‘bobbies on
the beat’, patrolling the ground,
their say, but now it’s up to the
government to pump in the
funding required to fulfil Police
promises.
Some progress is being made,
but problems with anti-social
behaviour are not going to leave
us any time soon. And certainly
PACT Meetings
Through PACT (police and
community together) your
Safer Neighbourhood Team
will identify the issues that af-
fect you most and determine
three priorities every month
for your neighbourhood.

Sheffield.
And in a van akin to a school
minibus from the 1950s, it’s easy
to sympathise with many South
East Sheffield residents who
have lost faith in the Police.
Alan Glaves, PCSO supervisor,
explained his team’s role. It
seems PCSOs do not have the
same powers as the Police: they
can’t arrest people, but they can
place is deserted.
Roger tells me sixteen days
have past without incident, after
letters were sent home to all the
youth’s parents.
“Some of the parents were
horrified about what their children
were doing. They thought their
kids were at sleepovers rather
than getting drunk in the park”
he said.
After a quick check behind the
‘’
Some of the parents
are horrified at what
they’re doing. They
think their kids are at
sleepovers, not getting
drunk in the park
dealing with nuisance youths,
these Safer Neighbourhood
Teams are hampered by limited
resources and powers.
With so few staff for such a
large area, it’s impossible to
ensure increased foot patrols.
And since the van has a roaring
diesel engine, teenagers get
an early heads up someone is
coming.
The community is having
not in South-East Sheffield.
BG birleygazette.co.uk
What are your thoughts
about anti-social behaviour
in South East Sheffield? Have
you lost faith in the Police?
Share your views and stories
at www.birleygazette.co.uk
A very important part of
PACT is reporting back to
communities about what ac-
tions have been taken to deal
with the three priorities that
have been identified for that
neighborhood.
This happens on a monthly
basis. All meetings will be held
at the Norton College Crystal
Peaks site, S20 8LY 6pm until
8pm. The next meeting is on
Thursday, February 4th.

Back to school for adults in Birley?

Victoria Hawkins went to Open Door job and I’ve got to do something
about it. 
adult learning centre and discovered “We get our best results

a disparate bunch, hard at work.

Trina’s the last person you’d
expect to see at a computer
class. Baseball cap, hooped
ear-rings and jogging bottoms.
So what’s Trina doing at ‘Open
Door’, an adult learning centre
tucked away in the heart of
Birley estate? Answer: the
recession.  windows, ringing with phrases such
“I lost my job due to the financial
climate,” she tells me in the drinks
break.
“I was a complimentary therapist, I
did holistic therapy, massages - it was
very strenuous work.
because we treat the learners as
adults- we see an increase in self
esteem and confidence. I can
think of one woman who came
adult education providers in the in here with very few skills, but
country, which you wouldn’t think from after coming to many classes
the outside. was able to write and publish a
It’s at the end of a parade of shops book of poems to raise money
including a newsagents and a Chinese for a local hospice.” 
takeaway. Its garish red sign reads: The main way Open Door
‘Open Door Adult Learning Centre’. helps is by subsidising costs - if
Testimonials in florescent star-shapes learners are in receipt of any
are blue-tacked to the inside of the form of benefits their fees are
waived and they pay only £1 a
as ‘Now I can help my kids with their session, including refreshments
homework’. and printing.
 And as I walk into the small room, So Trina will use these
it’s hard to believe 300 people come qualifications to help find work
here every week. Comfy royal blue- as a receptionist. It’s harder
upholstered seats are arranged in a as an adult to learn, she says,

‘’
Open Door is one of the
top ten adult education
providers in the country,
which you wouldn’t think
from the outside
 “When I started looking for work,
everywhere was asking for proficiency
in IT, particularly Microsoft Office.”  family for his 85th birthday and wants
‘Open Door’ is one of the top ten
horse shoe, and I see a computer room which is why she likes Open
on my left. I meet Bev Goodchild, a Door so much.
tutor at the centre who assures me the SURFING: Open Door cater for the unemployed, disabled, elderly, and more.  “I’m learning how to learn
class is normally much livelier. 
 “Coming to these classes has literacy, numeracy and IT classes. again and it’s so much easier in a
“Tracey over there is taking her relaxed environment.”
European Computer Driving Test so
definitely helped me,” he says  “The centre has grown”, says Terry
 Trina asks me politely if she can
“I’m on my laptop everyday now. Hale, the manager. 
we’re all being quiet. Usually there’s return to her class. They’re a keen
I’ve even got a friend in Australia who I “In 1993, there were 34 learners
much more of a buzz,” she says. 
stay in touch with at weekends online.” and now there are nearly ten times as bunch. 
The class is a disparate bunch,
 Open Door opened in the 1980s many.
varying widely in gender, age, social
background - and reasons for taking a
amid high unemployment rates and “In the last two years I’ve seen more BG birleygazette.co.uk
helped people gain vocational skills. people out of work or in low paid jobs
Wednesday afternoon IT class. Herbert
And now, with Britain in another than in the last ten,” he said  Find out more about Open Door at:
Barker, 86, was given a laptop by his
recession, the centre is once again “We’ve seen a substantial increase of www.birleygazette.co.uk
getting people back to work through people come here who have lost their
to learn how to use it.

‘We’re not
going to stop’
Frecheville-born Matthew Cryer was killed by bouncers in Greece
two years ago. Victoria Hawkins meets his Dad David who says
he will never give up campaigning for justice for his son.
P
erhaps there
is no pain
greater than
that of losing
a child.
When David Cryer
picked up the phone
on a Tuesday night in July
two years ago, his life would
never be the same again. He
was told his seventeen-year-old
son Matthew, who grew up in
Frecheville, had been found
dead in the street outside a bar
on the Greek Island of Zante.
It was his first night away on
holiday with his friends.
But what was initially branded
as the latest teenager to fall
foul of binge-drinking abroad,
soon turned into a campaign
to bring Matthew’s killers to
justice.
“I knew right from the start
he hadn’t died from drinking too
much. He had never got that
drunk in his life.” David said.
The coroner’s report from
the inquest in Greece stated
that Matthew had died from
a pulmonary oedema, where
fluid builds up around the lungs
MURDER SCENE: The Cocktails and
Dreams nightclub where Matthew died is being involved. Local
investigated for serving underage customerts
when the heart stops. The
Greek authorities put his death
down to excessive drinking.
But an autopsy that took
place when the body had been
returned to England, showed
July 2008
Seventeen-year-old Mat-
thew Cryer is found dead
outside a bar in Zante on
his first night on holiday
with friends. The Greek
authorities initially say he
died from a heart attack
caused by binge drinking.
Matthew’s body to have bruises
on his arms and all round his
neck.
His body had been
embalmed twice from the chest
to the head, making it harder
to see what actually happened.
The Greek authorities had also
kept his brain and heart, giving
no reason why- which meant
Matthew’s family had to bury his
heart and brain in a separate
funeral eight months later.
An inquest was held in
May last year in Chesterfield,
and many people who had
been at the bar in Zante the
night Matthew died attended.
Witnesses from all over the
country came to say they saw
Matthew being assaulted by
bouncers. One witness spoke
Greek and tried to alert the
Greek Police about it: but the
doorman of the bar set about
her aggressively so she backed
away.
The inquest returned a
verdict of unlawful killing, which
paved the way for the “Justice
4 Matthew” campaign to really
take off.
“There were
hundreds
of pages of
evidence, it
was obvious
my son had
been murdered.
We started a
campaign to
get the Greek
authorities
to prosecute
Matthew’s killers.
“We started a
petition online,
and we went
to Crystal Peak
shopping centre,
the Town Hall,
Morrisons, and
places in Redcar
where I live.
Matthew had lots
of friends, and
lots of people got
shops put posters
up in the windows
getting people to
sign the petition. We got 14,000
signatures.”
And information was even
sent by people on the Island
of Zante. David received a
letter from an English barman
May 2009 July 2009
UK Coroner’s The Greek Police
inquest finds ask for files to
Matthew had be translated
been unlawfully into Greek.
killed
TUESDAY JANUARY 26 2010 BIRLEY GAZETTE
Features 5
out there saying anything that
happens on the island seems to
stay on the island.
But the Greek embassy
refused to accept the petition
to prosecute the men who had
killed Matthew Cryer. A coach
load of friends, family and
supporters marched on London
in August last year, sporting
“Justice 4 Matthew” T Shirts.
“We stopped traffic there
were so many of us when we
went to London. It raised the
profile of the campaign a lot.
We went to the Greek embassy
but they wouldn’t take our
petition- it was as if by taking it
they would have to admit they
were in the wrong.” David said.
“We did hand the petition
over to 10 Downing Street
though, in the hope that they
would be able to put pressure
on the Greeks. It was the
youngsters who handed over
the petition- we wanted to show
we didn’t want this to happen
again. This is about the future.”
Derbyshire Constabulary
worked on the case, and
produced a file to be given to
MURDERED: The Greek authorities first thought Matthew had died from binge-drinking.
the Greek authorities so they
can prosecute Matthew’s killers.
It includes the many witness
statements from the night he abroad, and we are also telling Matthew’s not the first
died and the coroner’s report people to avoid travelling to
into his death. The file has been Greece until those responsible
In September 2008, British-born Gary Beard was
translated into Greek at great are caught.” found unconcious on the roadside outside his home
cost. Fundraising for the Matthew on the Greek Island of Zakynthos, and died later in
Now, after sitting on a Cryer Memorial Trust has helped hospital. The Police first thought he had been hit
Police desk in Chesterfield for David and Matthew’s mum Jo by a car or kicked by a mule- but in the weeks lead-
months, vital evidence has Froud, in their grief. ing up to his death he’d been assaulted and threat-
“We thought about what ened by the owners of a house he was about to
been hand delivered to the buy. The Police did nothing to help. A post mortem
Serious and Organised Crime Matthew would want, and
money from the trust fund examination since showed he was probably mur-
Agency in London by the officer dered. Gary’s family are battling with the Greek
in charge of the investigation. will go to helping local young authorities to prosecute those responsibe, which
And Sgt Steve Warren has people to achieve their goals in is made harder because the Police failed to gather
promised Matthew’s family he Sheffield and Lazenby, where he evidence at the time.
will personally ensure the files grew up.” David said.
are despatched to Athens from A sponsored walk is planned
to take place in April, from Robbie Hughes, professional footballer, was beat-
London as soon as possible. en into a coma in Malia, Crete, in 2008. His moth-
David Cryer said he is not Sheffield Wednesday FC to
Middlesbrough FC to raise er, Maggie Hughes, spent weeks in Greece dealing
going to give up seeking justice with administration issues, visiting Robbie and
for his son. money for the Trust, and for fighting for justice for her son. Six men accused
“We’re not going to go away Sheffield Children’s Hospital. It of attacking Robbie on June 17, 2008, appeared
until something’s done. We’re will also raise the profile of the in court last week and face extradition to Crete.
not going to stop. We will campaign.
march on London again if we “Our events get lots of
people involved, and it gives us Nineteen-year-old Richard Markunger died on Za-
have to. We can take more and kynthos in 2005 from severe head injuries. Initially,
more people.” he said something to focus on.” David
said. Greek police thought Richard had fallen from a bal-
“This is about the future- we cony, but a post mortem examination showed that
The next event is a
don’t want the same thing to he had been hit round the back of the head with a
fundraising day at The Birley sharp object. Police then received an anonymous
happen to someone else’s son,
Hotel on January 31st 2pm- letter naming four British boys who had been heard
brother or friend. We are urging
10pm. bragging about assaulting the boy that night. The
young people to stay together
four suspects left the island the following day and
when they go on holiday
have not been traced since.
Timeline of events
August 2009 September 2009 January 2010
Coachloads of Matthew Cryer’s Greek authorities Debyshire Police finally get the
friends and family march on agree to formally official nod from the Greek
London to hand over a petition, review all the evi- prosecution service for the
with 12,000 signatures on it, to dence gathered by evidence to be sent over. Sgt
the Greek embassy- it’s given to Derbyshire Police Steve Warren, in charge of the
10 Downing Street as the Greek about Matthew investigation, hand delivers the
embassy refuse to accept the Cryer’s death. files to the Serious and Organ-
petition. ised Crime Agency in London.