Victim named following murder in Hamilton Drive, York – Police seek witnesses

York Police have named the man who died during the incident in Hamilton Drive, Acomb, York, on the evening of Monday 27 July 2015.

He is Liam Paul Miller, aged 20, from the village of Terrington near Malton.

Liam’s family have released the following statement:

“We are absolutely devastated by Liam’s untimely death. We cannot put into words the shock and disbelief we feel about what has happened. Liam was just 20 years old and had his whole life ahead of him. He had returned home for the summer from Liverpool University where he was studying graphic design and illustration. We will miss him more than words can say.”

Appeal for information

Detectives investigating the murder of 20-year-old Liam Miller on the night of Monday 27 July 2015, have issued new appeals for information.

As they continue their investigations into the events that led to Liam’s tragic death, they are appealing for the public’s help with the following lines of enquiry.

Officers have confirmed that they are treating the attack on the second victim – the man who went to Liam’s assistance and was also stabbed – as attempted murder.

Detective Inspector Mark Pearson of North Yorkshire Police’s Major Crime Unit, said: “We know from our enquiries that the second victim, a local man in his fifties, was chased along Hamilton Drive West where he was stabbed close to the junction with Lady Hamilton Gardens. We know that the man desperately tried to flag down passing motorists for assistance and we are appealing for those motorists to contact us.

“The vehicles we want to trace are described as a black car and a white saloon car. We are also keen to speak to any witnesses who were in this area at around 10pm on Monday evening 27 July 2015.”

DI Pearson added: “Liam played in a local band called Nocebo and we are seeking to identify Liam’s movements over the weekend of 25, 26 and Monday 27 July. We are keen to speak to anyone who has been with Liam, either in person or in contact through phone or social media.”

The 19-year-old man who was arrested at the scene, remains in hospital where he continues to receive medical treatment. On discharge from hospital he will be taken into police custody for questioning.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact North Yorkshire Police’s Major Crime Unit on 01423-539499.

If you do not want to give your name and wish to remain anonymous, you can pass information to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Multi-agency approach will help drive down re-offending

Integrated Offender Management (IOM) is a multi-agency response between the Police, the Probation services and other agencies, to the crime and re-offending threats faced by local communities.

IOM pro-actively targets those who have already come to the attention of the Criminal Justice Service and are likely to re-offend, with an aim of improving the quality of life for communities in North Yorkshire.

To ensure the opportunities to target and effectively manage those offenders who repeatedly commit crime are maximised, North Yorkshire Police and Partners are driving a re-focus on IOM.

IOM manages Offenders identified as being of most concern locally, whether subject to statutory supervision by the National Probation Service or Community Rehabilitation Company, or managed on a voluntary basis where not subject to these formal arrangements.

In addition to using set qualifying criteria Police, Probation or any of the other partnership agencies can refer Offenders for adoption onto the scheme at any time.

Offenders are engaged at different levels across the partner agencies, dependent upon the level of threat they pose and their vulnerability.

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Homeless young people enable older pair to make their first move in 40 years.

To help a mother and daughter move home for the first time in 40 years, City of York Council and SASH, a charity for homeless young people, will be decorating the pair’s new council flat.

City of York Council’s 60+ Housing Advice Service and SASH are delighted to announce their fifth Enable Project. Enable brings together young people who have experienced homelessness and are now part of the SASH supported lodgings scheme, and older people who are working with the 60+ housing service. The older people may be experiencing difficulties with decorating or gardening, and the young people may need to learn these skills for when they have their own home – as well as getting a taste of volunteering. The older people get to pass on their skills and knowledge while getting a much-needed job done, and both young and old enjoy gallons of tea and tonnes of biscuits!

The project is also supported by Homebase, with staff from the York store helping out on the makeover days and sharing their DIY expertise with the young people, along with donating much-appreciated decorating materials.

The council’s 60+ Housing Specialist has been working with Thelma Wright, aged 86, and her daughter Sally for over a year, as they made the difficult decision to move from the house where they have lived in for over 40 years, into a flat in council’s sheltered accommodation at Barstow House.

Thelma Wright said: “We’ve decided the flat will be much easier to manage and it is an exciting new start for us. The Enable team will be going to help with the decorating, giving the whole place a lick of paint ready for our move.”

Return of democratic debate in York?

Today sees the York Council take a faltering step back towards the kind of all party consideration of proposals not seen since 2008, when the Executive Advisory system was scrapped.

An all party meeting will consider whether to relax an agreement with the York Museums Trust (YMT) which gives Yorkcard holders free access to their galleries.

As we said, when the report was published, we believe that important background information has been omitted from the report. Not least this would include estimates of the numbers of customers who might be effected by any changed arrangements together with the business plan assumptions being made by the Trust.

However this may simply reflect the dangers of outsourcing public services to quasi independent trusts and social enterprise bodies. Such bodies are able to source additional funding streams but transparency suffers. These may be similar problems with the arrangements now in place for the management of the libraries and economic development in the City (Make it York).

At the moment, the YMT provides an annual report to the Council and is subject to public questioning about their performance and plans. The last session took place on 22^nd June

Today the proposal is that the Council clarify with the YMT that they can charge a discounted admission price to YorkCard holders. This would not require an amendment to the lease of the museum buildings (and consequently is not a “key” decision in Council terms). Any decision on charging levels would effectively be made by the YMT.

If the Council committee recommends that an estimated additional £400,000 subsidy be provided to “buy off” the charging plans (by reinstating historic levels of financial support) the Executive member does not have the powers to endorse such a proposal. It would become a “key” decision requiring a budget amendment and would have to be referred, via the Councils Executive, to the next full Council meeting (on 8^th October).

Whether the YMT could sustain its operations in the interim might be a matter of conjecture. The new Art Gallery is due to open at the weekend. They would no doubt point out that 9 months had elapsed between the (then Labour controlled) Council making a decision to cut the subsidy and the Council addressing the consequences of its actions.

NB. When the Art Gallery was under direct Council control (until the middle of the last decade) an entry charge was levied. Admission numbers were low.