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A Swindon charity has opened a mobile cafe where young offenders can become baristas in an attempt to prevent reoffending.

SMASH youth project mentors children and young people and has partnered with Swindon Borough Council and the Wiltshire Police and Crime Commissioner's office to set up the scheme.

Those involved have been selected for "restorative interventions", which is an alternative to being formally sentenced.

The cafe, named Solid Ground, is on the council's Civic Campus and is open to the public every Wednesday and Thursday from 10am until 3pm.

'Gained confidence'

One of the young people involved in the project said it had made a major difference in their outlook.

"Since starting at the van, I have gained confidence in myself and become more confident and tolerant of others, as well as gaining customer service skills," they said.

"I feel I have more hope and plans for the future now and I am starting to learn how to budget and plan better with the money I earn. I am grateful for the training opportunities."

The opening of the mobile cafe was attended by the leader of Swindon Borough Council Jim Robbins and Wiltshire Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Wilkinson.

Mr Wilkinson pointed to the scheme as an example of what could be achieved by young people from difficult backgrounds.

"We are constantly looking for initiatives which give young people the opportunity to move out of the clutches of the organised crime groups which want to drag them down into the world of drugs and criminality," he said.

"Through funding the coffee van and working with an organisation like SMASH, we're able to provide them with the confidence and skills to give them the opportunity to find meaningful employment."

Lead for innovation and collaboration at SMASH, Rowan Kikke, said it was crucial for schemes like this to give young people an outlet.

"We're really keen to work with young people in a way that develops their employability skills and getting them into independence and we didn't have a way of doing that," she said.

"About two years ago the youth justice service approached us and said they had this old chip van and asked could we do anything with it that would create a space for young people.

"It takes time to garner trust, but they are ready to learn the skills to be a positive presence in the community."

An "obsessive" man who stalked women while wearing a trench coat and face mask has been sent to prison.

Travis Ward, 22, "pursued and intimidated" his victims as they walked home or took their children to school in Hull, before writing about them in a diary.

Four women reported Ward to the police and he pleaded guilty to four counts of stalking, sexual assault and possession of extreme animal pornography.

Ward, of Grange Lane, Londesborough, was jailed for three years and four months during a hearing at Grimsby Crown Court on Friday. He was also given a seven-year sexual harm prevention order.

Det Sgt Sam Cunnington, of Humberside Police, said "methodical" Ward made notes and plans to prey on the women and kept the diary for his "sexual gratification".

"Before he went out on his hunt, he donned a trench coat, red hoody and face covering to alter his persona and was seen multiple times on CCTV wearing the same clothing as he pursued and intimidated women, who were strangers to him, as he followed them home or as they took their children to school," he said.

Ward was caught after a woman called police while she was being followed by him in the Porter Street area of central Hull. He was arrested nearby later that day.

'Brave' victims

Det Sgt Cunnington said Ward's phones, computers and hard drives were seized and examined, which revealed videos of "extreme animal pornography, as well as a digital diary full of derogatory and offensive language highlighting who he was planning to target".

The detective praised the victims for coming forward.

"It is because of their bravery we were able to stack up the evidence against him, leading to Ward deciding to plead guilty," he added.

"The streets of Hull will be much safer without him."

Ward was placed on the sex offenders' register for seven years and given a 10-year restraining order.

Hull and East Yorkshire on BBC Soundslatest episode of Look North here.

Balls repeatedly kicked over a fence from a school into a neighbouring property's garden were a nuisance, a High Court judge has found.

Mohamed and Marie-Anne Bakhaty were awarded damages after bringing a legal claim against Hampshire County Council regarding the footballs from Westgate All Through School in Winchester.

Mrs Bakhaty told the court in a witness statement that about 170 balls came over the fence over a period of 11 months.

But High Court Judge Philip Glen, sitting in Southampton, did not grant an injunction stopping the use of the all-weather play area.

The play area, built in 2021, is parallel to, and about 2m (6.6ft) from the boundary of the Bakhaty's house, which has a large garden and swimming pool.

They are separated by a 1.8m (5.9ft) wooden fence.

In his written ruling Judge Glen said: "I recognise that they are extremely fond and proud of what is on any view a beautiful home.

"I fear, however, that they have become sensitised by the noise from the school in a way which has caused them to become over-invested in their belief that they are victims of a wrong. In short, they have lost perspective."

Judge Glen added that while use of the £36,000 all-weather play area did not give rise to "actionable nuisance", the "frequent projection of balls over the boundary" from the play area was a nuisance.

He ordered the council to pay the Bakhatys £1,000 in damages when there was "excess use" of the area, and when "significant numbers of balls were crossing the boundary fence".

He said he was satisfied that the noise from the school, with or without the play area, was "substantial, in the sense of not being trivial or transient", and that a substantial number of balls crossed the boundary fence before measures were put in place in 2022.

The headteacher of the school wrote to the couple to offer to fence off the area to create a buffer zone, put up a ball net, and restrict use of the area at certain times of the day.

The couple did not respond, but the school took action anyway.

Judge Glen added: "If a net was erected to prevent balls and other objects from crossing the boundary fence, I cannot necessarily see that there could be any real objection to opening this area up altogether."

He also said he did not consider that the defendant "threatens and intends" to "continue the nuisance".

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A driver travelling at 111mph (179kmh) with three children in the back of the vehicle told police he was in a hurry to get to the coast for a holiday.

The man, who was driving a Range Rover, was stopped on the A47 at Terrington St John, Norfolk, on Friday at about 21:05 BST.

He told officers from Norfolk and Suffolk Roads and Armed Policing Team he was heading to King's Lynn for a caravanning holiday.

Norfolk Police said he was issued with a traffic offence report while a decision was made on how to progress with the offence.

Speeding can result in a court hearing and a driving disqualification, the force added.