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Saltford Paedophile Received a 30-Month Jail Sentence, Having Been Found Guilty of 13 Sexual Offences with Young Girls

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Saltford Paedophile Received a 30-Month Jail Sentence, Having Been Found Guilty of 13 Sexual Offences with Young Girls The Week in East Bristol & North East Somerset FREE Issue no 369 30th April 2015 Read by over 30,000 people every week In this week’s issue ...... pages 6 & 7 Rock legend meets St Brendan's students . Brian May promotes Common Decency at elections page 3 30-month prison sentence for sex offender . But Saltford man walks free from court pages 18 - 21 May Day Bank Holiday Weekend . Plenty to do in our Out & About section in 2 The Week • Thursday 30th April 2015 30-month jail term for SaltfordA former teacher and church worker from Saltford paedophile received a 30-month jail sentence, having been found guilty of 13 sexual offences with young girls. Philip Barlow faced a total of 29 charges but was convicted on eight charges of sexual assault with a girl under 13 and five of sexual activity with a girl under 16. Barlow, of Raleigh Road, walked free from court however, having already served the requisite term in prison when found guilty of similar offences at Bristol Crown Court in 2011. He received a 4-year prison sentence then but was granted leave Saltford Community Church where Barlow was a to appeal in 2013. The High Court ordered a retrial which youth leader commenced at Bournemouth Crown Court in February. All media reference to the original trial had to be removed and The Week In was one of a number of publications forced to delete items from its website archives. Although the verdict was delivered in March, reporting restrictions were imposed by the judge which meant we were unable to publish the story until now. It has now emerged that in sentencing Barlow, a former youth worker at the Grace Bible Church in Saltford, Judge Peter Johnson branded him a "hypocrite, liar and a paedophile." He considered Barlow manipulative who showed "staggering arrogance and hypocrisy overlaid by false humility." The 33-year-old was married with a child at the time of the original trial in 2011. His father was the pastor at the Saltford church. In addition to the prison sentence Barlow's name was added to the sex offenders' register for life. Keep in touch, let us know what you think, send us your news www.facebook.com/theweekin in The Week • Thursday 30th April 2015 3 Bitton ResidentsVillagers are fighting plans to raze woodland oppose in the centre of plans to destroy village woodland Bitton to make way for possible development. Jim Hawtin, of Cheltenham-based JJH Building Development Ltd, has applied to South Gloucestershire Council to fell every tree on the Green Belt site to the east of Kings Square. One application is to take down every tree, except a beech and a hawthorn that are covered by preservation orders. A separate application to fell the two protected trees has also been lodged. The land, pictured, is bordered by the River Boyd, Bath Road and Kings Square, while at the rear is agricultural land used for grazing horses. A small development of homes, Harrington Close, was built on the opposite side of the river some 20 years ago but that was brownfield land. A previous application by JJH Building Development for two houses with garages on the woodland site was thrown out by the council at the end of 2013 on the grounds that the site is in the Green Belt and The Week in outside of any defined settlement boundary. The council said no very special circumstances had been demonstrated to allow development. Locals believe this latest application to remove the trees is a strategic move to open up the agricultural land at the rear for long- term future development. The application to fell the majority of the trees on the site says the client is “wanting to build on land at rear”. On the application form seeking permission to fell the preserved trees, the reason given is that the “client wants access into land behind to build”. Barrs Court, Bitton, Brislington, Cadbury Heath, Compton Dando, Corston, Downend, Emersons Green, Fishponds, Hanham, Hillfields, Keynsham, Kingswood, Longwell Green, Mangotsfield, Marksbury, North Common, Oldland Common, Pucklechurch, Saltford, Staple Hill, Stockwood, St George, Warmley, Whitchurch, Wick, Willsbridge. 15,000 copies are distributed through retail outlets, libraries, pubs, community centres each week. Verified pick-up rate of 97%. Publisher Keynsham & Saltford Times Ltd, 8 Temple Court, Keynsham. BS31 1HA 0117 986 0381 www.theweekin.co.uk ISSN: 2052-9767 Managing Editor Stephen Rodgers [email protected] Editorial Becky Feather 07973 839936 Christine Rogers Advertising Jodie Deason and Tracy Broderick 0117 986 0381 [email protected] @theweekineditor No material in this publication, nor its associated website (www.theweekin.co.uk) may be reproduced without the written permission of Keynsham & Saltford Times Ltd. All rights reserved. in 4 The Week • Thursday 30th April 2015 e plansLetters of objection to have been destroy coming in from local residents andvillage woodland Andrew Ward, the chairman of Bitton Village Residents' Association, has written, saying: “In our opinion the only purpose of felling these trees, which would be a huge loss to the village, is to pave the way for building development on this land, or as a first step to access the extensive field beyond, that we believe is in the same ownership as the land fronting Bath Road. “As far as we are aware, all this land is designated Green Belt and is also beyond the village boundary in planning terms.” He said Bitton had and was continuing to provide new housing stock by way of the relatively recent development at Baron Close, plus the current major application on the Golden Valley Mill site, which will provide more than 100 homes. He said all recent building development in Bitton had been on industrial/brownfield sites. Mr Ward continued: “The applications could lead to the loss of The copse fronting the A431 Green Belt and this is unacceptable. Bitton is not a 'picture postcard village' but it is a traditional working village with a good range of Chris Skidmore, the Conservative Parliamentary candidate for dwellings, surrounded by wonderful countryside enjoyed by Kingswood, who hopes to be returned as MP at the General residents and visitors alike, and its Green Belt and boundaries must Election, has also written to object to the loss of the trees. He be maintained at all costs. opposed the 2013 application for housing on the land and said the “We would also point out that there is no notice of these latest application to remove a valued part of the natural applications on the site.” environment in Bitton had “no reason behind it apart from to reopen Concerns have also been raised about the effect on the wildlife on the original rejected application for development”. the site and one neighbour has pointed out that the area is prone The planning reference for the application to fell all the trees apart to flooding. from the protected ones is PK15/1481/TCA while the reference for The whole of Bitton village is a designated conservation area. the trees covered by protection orders is PK15/1480/TRE. in The Week • Thursday 30th April 2015 5 Legendary rock guitarist Brian May inspires young voters Queen guitarist and political campaigner Dr Brian May rocked up at St Brendan's Sixth Form College in Brislington last week to tell students about his Common Decency campaign. Joined by Kerry McCarthy, who is hoping to be returned as Labour MP for East Bristol on 7th May, he spoke to sixth- formers as part of the college's religion, politics and ethics programme about the importance of exercising their right to vote - and his “colour blindness” with regards to political parties. St Brendan's is the region's largest sixth form college and over 1,000 of its students will be eligible to vote on 7th May - most for the first time. Dr May's Common Decency campaign urges people, especially those traditional non-voters, to vote “colour blind” in 6 The Week • Thursday 30th April 2015 t Brian May inspires young voters at the General Election so that there will be a multi-party system instead - a House of Commons filled with individuals who, regardless of their political affiliation will serve their constituents and their moral conscience first. He wants to see an end to the two-party system of politics, wants election funding to be capped, an end to the Whip system in Parliament and for the introduction of proportional representation. He said this election would be massively influenced by social media and wants to use that online community to Brian May and Kerry McCarthy encourage people disillusioned with politics to use their vote to improve democracy so that no Parliamentary seat is including about Labour's plans to lower the voting age to 16, considered “safe”. which he backed, as did many of the young people in the A long-time activist for animal rights, he spoke about his room. high-profile opposition to the badger cull, saying scientific The Week In asked Dr May whether he believed the Hunting evidence, morality and financial considerations were all on Act had been effective. He felt it had, although said it the side of those who opposed it - saying it cost £5,000 to needed to be reinforced and enforced. Raising the issue of kill a badger and £30 to vaccinate it. Vote-OK, the organisation which wants to see fox hunting Dr May, who has campaigned with Kerry McCarthy against made legal again, which is supporting some Conservative the badger cull, urged people in East Bristol to vote for her, Party candidates in this area, he said: “We are the antithesis calling her a “magnificent, caring woman”.
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