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Fatal shooting - Alderwood Avenue, Speke
MERSEYSIDE
Police are appealing for witnesses to come forward following the
fatal shooting of a man on Alderwood Avenue, Speke, on the evening
of Tuesday, 13 November 2007.
Merseyside Police said that:- "Police officers were called to
the scene by a member of the public shortly after 8pm and when they
arrived they found the body of a man, believed to be in his forties,
who had suffered a fatal wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene
and a Home Office post mortem will be carried out tomorrow by a
forensic pathologist.
We can confirmed the identity of the man as Colin Bernard Smith,
aged 40 years."
Merseyside Police are now appealing for anyone who was in the area
at the time of the incident, who may have information which could
help them with their inquiries, to contact them. The shooting
occurred outside shops near to the Millhouse public house and
officers are particularly interested in talking to anyone who may
have seen anything suspicious prior to the incident taking place.
Detective Superintendent Steve Naylor, said:- "This was a
particularly callous and cold-blooded crime, which resulted in the
death of Colin Smith, a 40-year-old father who has five children
aged between six and 16 years of age.
At this moment in time we believe that Mr Smith had visited Nels Gym
and was going back to his car when the attack took place.
Mr Smith was well-known locally and we are trying to establish the
motive for this attack. Speke is a very close-knit community and
there may be somebody in the area who may have information which
could help us with our investigation. Also I would urge anyone who
was in the area at the time who could have information which could
prove vital to our inquiry to come forward." Merseyside Police added that:- "Although a number of shops in
the area were closed, a local newsagents and a gym were believed to
be open at the time, and officers would like to speak to any
customers who may have been in the area around the time of the
incident.
House-to-house inquiries have taken place and high visibility
patrols have been stepped up in the area to reassure the local
community.
Anyone who can help the police with their inquiries can contact the
Merseyside Police Guncrime Hotline on 0800 458 1211, or
Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111."
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Blitz
on Vacant Property
A CAMPAIGN to rid Liverpool of
thousands of empty and derelict buildings is to be stepped up.
Enforcement action is to be taken against owners of more than 1,000
vacant buildings a year in a drive to improve the look of the city.
Liverpool has about 19,000 empty properties, about 9% of its total
stock, compared with a national average of 3%. Currently the
city council is able to deal with about 400 a year, either by
bringing them back into use or demolition, but is taking action to
almost double that number next year and to more than 1,100 a year
from 2008/9.
It has recently doubled the size of its Vacant Initiative team from
2 to 4 and taken on extra staff to deal with vacant premises under
the Look of the City initiative. And it is intended to take on
additional staff to:-
·Target gateway routes into the city.
· Take forward the ‘Look of the City’
project including dealing with the top 100 grot spots in the city.
· Give attention to vacant and derelict
pubs · Deal
with long term vacant property.
The team has successfully tackled properties which are blighting
their neighbourhood by using Section 215 of the Town and Country
Planning Act, which enables the City Council to tackle blight and
amenity issues. From April 1 to date a total of 124 of these notices
have been served, all requiring extensive work to be carried out in
vacant properties and on vacant land. A further 190 notices
using other powers have also been served on vacant premises to
tackle building and drainage defects, statutory nuisance and rodent
infestation.
Some of the noticeable achievements of the team include:-
· The demolition of the King Edward pub at the junction of Leeds
Street and Great Howard Street which had been vacant for many years
and had fallen into a state of severe disrepair and suffered some
fire damage. The place was attracting drug addicts who were
squatting in the building.
· The ongoing refurbishment of 24 properties in Westminster Road
through the use of enforcement action.
· The demolition of the Crown pub - “Dickie Lewis’s” - a large
building at the junction of Stopgate Lane and East Lancashire Road
which had suffered extensive fire damage and attracted a high level
of anti-social behaviour.
Cllr Mike Storey, Executive Member for Regeneration, said:-
“We have made great strides in dealing with vacant and derelict
property through the Look of the City and other initiatives but we
need to step up our campaign to have an even greater impact.
We are absolutely determined to do more to remove the blight of
vacant and dilapidated properties and ensure that the owners of
these properties are made to face up to their responsibilities.
The properties we will be targeting not only blight neighbourhoods
but deter investment in the city. We are determined to improve
the way the city looks not just for the Capital of Culture year but
for many years beyond and bring back empty properties back into
productive use or, where that is not possible, demolishing them and
removing eyesores.” |
