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A RUGBY club can now focus on bringing through the game's new generation of players after it secured its home for the next 25 years.

Brentwood Rugby Club has agreed a new lease with Brentwood Borough Council to continue playing at its King George's Playing Fields in Ingrave Road, for the next quarter of a century.

The club will pay the authority a nominal rent and in return will ensure that the grounds are maintained.

Club chairman Richard King hailed the news as a "win, win" for the club, the council and park users alike.

Mr King said the club, founded in 1935, was now able to focus on securing the long term future of the game in the borough.

"We want to leave a legacy for the next 78 years," he said.

"We required the council to spend more time looking after the pitches than they are able to but now we get better pitches and they no longer have the cost of maintaining the fields.

"We have found a solution that works for both parties.

"We're a real community club and we can mobilise our membership.

"If we need help we can get people to help out in a way that the council probably couldn't."

The club has produced some capable players since being founded at the White Hart pub (now the Sugar Hut) in Brentwood High Street with recent players representing Essex and joining top professional academies at clubs such as Northampton and Saracens.

Youth chairman Mike Rose, who has two children within the club's development system, said the new lease will help to continue developing a "pool of talent" for the club.

"Quite a high percentage in our first XV came through the mini and youth schemes," he said.

"The best way to develop players is to bring them through the age groups as you know the players and their strengths and weaknesses.

"This arrangement is great as it will mean they can train all the way through the winter.

"The park we've got is great but a bad onslaught of rain and it causes problems."

The club is now investing in new equipment to keep the playing turf in top condition for teams ranging from under 7s to veterans.

Having purchased a new £11,000 tractor, treasurer Peter Watson now hopes the long term lease will help the club in its quest to build a new state-of-the-art clubhouse.

"We're a big club but our infrastructure and facilities don't match what we do on the pitch," he said.

"The money we've been paying the council we hope to reinvest in the pitches. Funding groups want to know you're going to be around for a good while.

"Hopefully, now that we have this stability, we can now apply for extra funding."

Cllr Keith Parker, Brentwood Borough Council's spokesman for environment and parking, said: "We are delighted to support this increasingly successful sporting facility which is a real asset to the community and plays such an important role in developing the next generation of sportsmen and women."

The first home match of the season will see Romford head to Brentwood on September 14 before the club holds an open weekend during the same weekend.

A TEENAGE girl had to be rescued from Hythe Quay when she knelt on a rusty knife hidden in the mud.

Natasha Layley, 14, had been cleaning barnacles from the bottom of a boat with some friends when the seven-inch knife pierced her leg.

She spent two and a half hours in the mud while paramedics gave her gas, air and morphine to relieve the pain. Six ambulance workers then hauled her up the steps without disturbing the embedded knife, which had to be surgically removed at Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford.

An RAF Sea King helicopter was also sent to the rescue and a man abseiled down to try to help Natasha.

Two fire crews from Maldon and one from Colchester also helped at the scene.

"It was pretty scary at the time but I'm OK now and although I had to miss V Festival and some of my school holiday I'm starting to feel better," said Natasha, after the dramatic rescue last Wednesday.

It is not clear where the knife came from but it could have been dropped at any time over the years in the area, which is used to work on boats.

Natasha said: "I just flew back instantly and I knew something had happened to me – when I looked down I saw the knife looking back at me, I could feel it wobbling –it was gross.

"I could hear the helicopter and I know it sounds funny but I didn't think that it was for me.

"A man came down the rope but it was better that I was lifted out, it was really tricky getting me out of there," said Natasha, who lives with sister Katie, brother Tom, dad Andy and mum Claire in Fambridge Road.

Katie, 18, who works at the nearby Queen's Head, was quickly on the scene to help her little sister.

"When my sister saw me she just said 'oh Tash, what have you done?'

"After she realised what had happened she was really good and so were all of my friends," said Natasha.

Mother Claire Layley, 48, who works as a therapy rehabilitation supervisor for people who suffer from strokes, said: "Natasha has been amazing, so brave and positive throughout the whole ordeal.

"I was working at St Peter's Hospital so I was there pretty soon.

"I did panic when Katie called to say that Natasha was stuck.

"I automatically thought about the tide coming in but by the time I got there everything was under control and I felt a little better.

"We would like to thank the barge club at Hythe Quay, the paramedics and the staff at Broomfield who were all fantastic," Mrs Layley added.

After three nights in hospital and numerous blood tests, Natasha was sent home to recover with her family.

However, her leg is still wrapped up in bandages and she has to use crutches to walk.

She has been told she will be able to walk unaided in around ten days but is not allowed to take part in any running for four weeks.

A FRENCH teacher who appeared in Channel 4's The Inbetweeners as his brother's doppelganger says he cannot watch Joe Thomas's new show - because he does not have Sky.

Adam Thomas and his family have previously told the Chronicle that they would not be buying a Sky package until "Rupert Murdoch died".

The six-strong family from Writtle have since stuck to their word, but while Adam watches Joe in his co-written sitcom Chickens tonight (Thursday) at a friend's, his parents will be flying off to Menorca.

"I guess we didn't get the Sky package because Rupert Murdoch isn't dead," joked Adam. "My dad just isn't keen on him. Anyway, it's only my brother."

But the family, who live in Mayfield Road, have had a sneak peak at an unedited first episode, set in the imaginary Rittle-on-Sea but filmed in Finchingfield.

Adam, who attended Writtle Junior School then Hylands School, is one of four brothers including 28-year-old Edinburgh University academic George and KEGS student Gregg, 17.

After five years at Leeds University studying French and Arabic, Adam has left teaching alongside his mother at Anglo European School in Ingatestone to work abroad.

He said it would be nice to see Joe, who made his TV debut on The Big Breakfast aged 11, in a show he first imagined during his time at Cambridge University with fellow actors Simon Bird and Jonny Sweet.

"When I first saw Joe in The Inbetweeners, I liked it but I didn't take it seriously because Joe was in it, so it wasn't proper telly," he said.

Adam, like his teacher parents, is bombarded by people asking after his brother, and says Joe gets crude Inbetweeners references shouted at him in the street.

"The Chickens episode I saw is fantastic. There is a nice dynamic between the three characters, which is how I imagine they were like living together in London. Joe is the one who does the cooking and cleaning while the others lounge about."

Adam recalls the moment he, Gregg and friends starred as extras in an episode of The Inbetweeners.

He was asked to be his brother's doppelganger as he drove away the show's infamous yellow Fiat Cinquecento in the final scene.

"They just thought 'who looks a bit like Joe?' but I stalled it twice as I was so nervous. What should have been a three- second take lasted ten minutes."

He added that Joe is nothing like his socially inept character Simon in The Inbetweeners.

Chickens premiers at 9.30pm tonight on Sky1 HD and follows the lives of three young men who for various reasons are not fighting in the First World War.

ESSEX head coach Paul Grayson has called on his side to move on from the disappointment of another T20 finals day failure and end the season on a high.

The Eagles were beaten by seven wickets when they came up against eventual champions Northamptonshire in the first semi-final at Edgbaston – the fourth time Essex have been beaten in a T20 semi-final.

But with a four-day game starting yesterday against the same opposition at Colchester and there still being a chance of reaching the YB40 semi-finals, Grayson insists his side can still enjoy success this season.

He said: "We've still got six matches to go in the County Championship, there's going to be twists and turns and all we can do is keep trying to win matches, keep taking points and hopefully come the end of September we are in a position to say we've either caught Lancashire or finished second.

"The County Championship is still the most important format of cricket for me – I still see that as the pinnacle, trying to play Division One cricket and that's what we're aiming to do in the next six or seven weeks.

"There is a determination and focus. It's down to us as a group to make sure we prepare properly. They are determined to finish the season on a real high note.

"Practice has been good, there's a lot of energy around the place and we've got to bring that to our game this week."

The Eagles posted 168-5 in their 20 overs at Edgbaston, and looked to be in with a shout of defending it until a brilliant late onslaught by Steven Crook and Cameron White saw Northamptonshire home.

The Steelbacks went on to win the final against Surrey by 102 runs making Essex's effort more impressive – though that was little consolation to Grayson.

"It was very disappointing because at the halfway stage I thought we'd got enough runs to be honest," he said. "The way we've bowled in the competition, I thought we would defend that.

"But all credit to Northants, they blew us away in the last five overs, Steven Crook played an outstanding innings and I think they showed everyone in the final what a good side they are.

"The best side won the competition, throughout the day on Saturday they were the best side – not only did they beat us, they annihilated Surrey as well, so they showed everyone they are a good side, and congratulations to them.

"Once we'd got knocked out I wasn't too fussed who went on and won it.

"We knew at finals day there would be four good sides there and we were part of that. Unfortunately for us we just fell away at the final hurdle, I thought we played ok, we didn't play badly, it was just one of those performances where maybe Northants were just destined to win that trophy on Saturday.

"Everything went their way. We did well to get the score we did, Napes played an outstanding knock with James Foster to get us up to that score, but I felt in control, even when Levi was still there, I thought we could get a couple of wickets and put them under pressure because they've not chased too well this year in Twenty20 cricket, they'd only won twice chasing.

"But it's a huge disappointment for everyone at the club, when you get to finals day you want to win it, but we've got to move on from that now.

"We've got a big County Championship match and we're still in contention in the YB40, so there's still lots to play for."

WITH five wins from six games, it was a positive weekend for Chelmsford Cricket Club. The week had seen hard work from the captains and David Goddard to raise sides, while holidays, celebration matches and the V Festival brought havoc with availability.

Those efforts were rewarded as the first four sides on Saturday and the Sunday side won, although the fifths were heavily beaten.

Nick Prowting was in fine form for the firsts and his unbeaten 75 led them to an eight-wicket win.

Early wickets for Aaron Beard (2-39) and Mark Drain (3-17) had Buckhurst Hill in trouble at 17-4. Buxton (82) did well to get the total up to 178 with Nisarg Patel (3-36) also claiming three wickets.

Prowting made light work of that target with Dan Hagen (68) also contributing a half-century.

Chelmsford's problems were rather put into context by Hornchurch. Their second team turned up with eight players and, despite the efforts of Anas (43no), they lost their seven wickets for 90, Paul Jones taking four wickets and Matt Poole two.

David Thrift and Nick Bailey knocked off the runs without loss for a very early finish, although not as early as it would have been had one of Hornchurch's team not insisted on going off for tea with a dozen needed to win.

A fantastic partnership between Tom Iliffe and Jack Moss enabled the third team to beat high-flying Ilford.

Given the teams the other winners played against were in the relegation zone, this was the most impressive win of the day.

Keith Goodman took four wickets and Vit Sapaetharan three in Ilford's 200-9, with number ten Aziz contributing an unbeaten half-century.

After two early wickets, Iliffe and Moss steadied things and then prospered, with Iliffe showing all his skill and experience on the way to a century. Moss saw things through to finish 83no.

David Goddard and Neal Abhyankar were the leading performers as the fourth team won at Hadleigh and Thundersley.

Ken Jones picked up three early wickets, although Hadleigh's batsmen stayed positive and kept the scoring rate high.

Abhyankar (5-41) was hit for a number of boundaries, but always came back well and picked up wickets regularly as the innings closed at 130.

David Goddard made a stylish half-century and John Hayto guided the team to a six-wicket win.

It was not a good day for the fifths as they continued Chelmsford's miserable run against Wanstead. Only Tahir Khan and Jamie Matthews reached double figures as Chelmsford were shot out for 81.

Aman Ali followed up his 4-18 with an undefeated 33 as Wanstead achieved the target without loss.

Chelmsford have won only one of eight games against Wanstead this season, with six defeats.

The best win of the weekend came for the Sunday firsts, who kept their hopes of a league title alive. Nisarg Patel's all-round skills were very much in evidence with 71 and three wickets.

Chris Prowting (83), Vit Sapaetharan (44) and Rob Hayto (3-38) also turned in fine performances as a strong Waltham side came up 34 runs short, despite a murderous 85 from Arshad Ali.

They will need a resounding win against South Woodford in the last match of the season to claim the title.

CHELMSFORD CITY manager Dean Holdsworth admitted Monday night's 2-2 draw with Concord Rangers was a "wake-up call" for his squad.

The newly-promoted visitors could probably count themselves unlucky not to have won the Essex derby at Melbourne Park, as they had by far the better of the second-half chances.

It was City's first game of the season after their scheduled game at Farnborough was postponed by the Football Conference less than 24 hours before kick-off.

And Holdsworth was pleased to get off and running – even if the performance left him frustrated.

"It's a wake-up call for everybody," he said. "The players needed this game to start the season.

"We were disappointed on Saturday with the shenanigans that have gone on down at Farnborough, but it's good to get this game out of the way and I've got to be pleased with some things and disappointed with other things."

Concord's front two of Sam Higgins and Jason Hallett – both former Clarets players – were a constant threat, and Holdsworth admitted that was a key factor for his side.

"One thing you must have is that desire," he added. "I thought we had it but I just didn't think we played very well in certain spells. "In certain areas I thought we got bullied a bit – I thought the players up front for them looked like two returning players, which always tell you they're going to try a bit harder.

"The reaction from going behind was fantastic. On the counter attack we got into some good areas.

"But as the game went on, I felt that the rivalry and the Concord endeavour showed – big hearts win games sometimes and if it's not happening for you, you've got to go back to trying your socks off. There's a few disappointed players in that dressing room so in that aspect we're pleased with a point."

Both Concord goals came from free-kicks swung into the box by Sam Collins.

Hallett headed in the first despite suspicions of offside, while the second somehow eluded the whole home defence and allowed John Easterford to score.

And Holdsworth added: "I wasn't happy with both the goals, because one of them is three yards offside.

"You've got to trust the officials and if you can't do that then it's difficult to comprehend.

"You ask them to defend well. If he does his job properly, then it's not a goal."

Holdsworth had a number of tough decisions to make in his selection, and he admitted there were some players disappointed to be left out.

He said: "Absolutely, and you expect that.

"We spoke about it before the game and they understand why I made the selection they did and it's down to those to force their way into the team now."

One player also headed for the exit door on Monday as midfielder Matt Lock departed in search of first-team football.

"I wish him well," Holdsworth said. "I understand where Locky is, he wants to go and play. I will now look to add to the squad."

RUGBY: After all their hard pre-season training, Chelmsford RFC start the season with three friendly matches.

After away games with Colchester on Saturday and Southend on August 31, the club have a home game on September 7 against Charlton Park, with a 3pm kick-off.

This third match is special, as there are three other fixtures at home, and, the clubhouse - damaged by an explosion in March, is to be officially reopened that afternoon by former England women's captain Catherine Spencer.

The first two league matches will both be away, to Saffron Walden on September 14, and to newly-promoted South Woodham Ferrers on September 21.

The first home league game will be against Rochford on September 28.

Both the ladies' and men's sections of the club are still on the look-out for players of all standards, especially good quality players and, for the men's section, particularly good prop forwards.

Training takes place on Tuesdays and Thursdays, at 7pm, at Coronation Park, Springfield.

Alternatively, get in touch with director of rugby Eddie Gooby, who can be reached on 07732 316687 (ladies' and men's rugby).

BILLERICAY Town's first half performance against Thamesmead was slammed as "abysmal" by manager Craig Edwards – but he was pleased with the way they fought back to win.

The Blues trailed 2-0 at the interval against the newly-promoted visitors, but goals from Dave Collis, Glenn Poole and Javlon Campbell turned it around to give Edwards' side their first win of the season.

And the Blues boss admitted that his side's performances so far this season have simply not been up to scratch – making their points haul of four from three games satisfactory.

Edwards said: "We were abysmal in the first half, absolutely shocking.

"I can't remember ever having a side play as badly as that.

"I still maintain we've got good players but for some reason there's a number of them that are not playing to their potential.

"I'm not going to make any bones about it – we've been poor in the three games.

"We were tremendous in the second half on Saturday, but overall we've been poor.

"We've taken four points from the three games though, so I do believe strongly in this side.

"I'm not panicking, I think we've got good players, there's one area I want to strengthen and I'm working on that, but other than that I think the squad's looking very strong."

Having started the season with a 1-1 draw at Thurrock, Edwards saw his side beaten 1-0 by East Thurrock United last week, and the Blues boss admitted confidence was low at the break against Thamesmead as they went in two-down.

He added: "It's the hardest thing in life to come back when you're really down – and we were as far down as you're ever going to be at half-time.

"It was a case of picking them up and also giving them a dressing down.

"We couldn't go in there and completely destroy them – while there are certain things that went on that weren't acceptable, you need to give a good performance in the second half.

"Fair play to the players, they responded magnificently."

ALEX LYNN fought back to take two point-scoring finishes in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship round at Nurburgring, after being hugely disappointed in qualifying.

On the heels of his best ever weekend in the European championship at the Norisring, which included a win and two further podium finishes, 19-year-old Lynn suffered one of his worst starts to a race event when he qualified narrowly outside the top 10 for each of the three Nurburgring races.

While his result in race one (14th) was disappointing, he showed better speed and this was reflected in the subsequent two races, where he improved vastly to finish in seventh and sixth places in his Prema Powerteam Dallara-Mercedes.

"We had a bad free practice and we were pretty uncompetitive there," he said. "I was struggling a lot with car performance problems all weekend. I just couldn't get it hooked up where I wanted and it took a while to get it right.

"It was really strange. I suffered a lot with under-steer all weekend and we had to work hard to get it set up the way I liked."

By the third race, where he ran in the train disputing third place, Lynn felt that, had he been in clear air, he could have matched pace-setting Prema team-mates Raffaele Marciello and Lucas Auer, who finished first and second.

"I'd like to think that in clear air I could post the same lap times as 'Lello' and Lucas", he said. "It was a fairly good recovery and I had some good pace by the end."

Lynn had made a good start to race one, but an error at turn seven cost him time and dropped him several positions to 14th. "I dropped off the back of Tom Blomqvist, who was in front of me, to see what the lap times would be like, and that was the first inkling we had that we were going the right way with the car", he said.

Entertaining action in race two featured passes on Harry Tincknell in the opening corners, on Michael Lewis at turn one on the second lap and on Felix Serralles around the outside of turn one with three laps remaining.

That allowed Lynn to finish seventh, hard on the heels of Sven Muller.

In race three, Lynn rose to sixth on the opening lap, but there was stalemate in the close-packed quintet disputing third place, with Lynn unable to chisel an opening to pass Felix Rosenqvist and Lewis hovering in his mirrors throughout.

"The second race was a lot better", said Lynn. "And I made a few good moves. Generally, my first laps have been really good over the weekend, but in this race it was possible to overtake throughout, because some people read the conditions wrong on set-up.

"It was impossible to do that in the third race though, and anyone would have had to have made a big mistake to be overtaken. Still, our pace was a lot better than at the start of the weekend."

A COMMUNITY of travellers have narrowly avoided legal action after taking up residence on a rural village's picturesque green.

Residents in Hatfield Heath, which has just 830 houses, were left dismayed when more than ten gypsy caravans and their owners pitched up, along with their animals, off the A1060 Chelmsford Road.

Lord of the Manor, Rupert Gosling, who owns the site, had considered taking the travellers to county court but on Tuesday evening it appeared they had bowed to pressure, and vacated the village for now.

The group of travelling families had arrived in the village, just past The Rodings, on the evening of August 15 with 11 caravans, horses and dogs.

As well as allegedly leaving rubbish and excrement on the communal area, the travellers have been blamed for the cancellation of cricket matches hosted by the local club after setting up home on the players' outfield.

"I tried to ask them politely to move on for our game on Saturday but they were demanding money and beer in order to do so," said cricket captain Mark Graves.

"When we arrived for the match at the weekend they just wouldn't move, although cricket has been played on that patch for over 100 years.

"We've had the travelling community coming here for a quite a few years, even though they're unwelcome they seem to show up again and again, but this is the first time that they've actually taken over the outfield – it was an absolute disgrace."

Five of the caravans had remained at the site until Tuesday evening risking a civil eviction order if the case had been taken to court, but they left before this could be taken further.

Police officers had been spotted overseeing the set-up on Monday afternoon but it appears they were powerless to intervene without the granting of the court order.

And after being contacted by Mr Graves, and other residents, on the issue, MP Alan Haselhurst has also pledged his support to help in whatever way he can.

"They've all gone now but it's a recurring problem in the village and local people understandably are getting sick and tired as there's always a mess left when they've gone," he said.

"The problem is that if the land concerned is land to which the public has a right of access, how can we discriminate against a particular group as that would raise questions of their human rights?

"But I will be looking at the possibility of an injunction against unauthorised encampments and to see if there is a loophole in the current law that can be closed."

CHELMSFORD golfers clubbed together to raise £6,500 for Little Havens Hospice.

Sandon Golf Club hosted its annual fundraiser at Channel's golf club for 75 golfers on Friday, August 9, before they were joined by 30 more people for a barbecue, stand-up comedy, a raffle and an auction.

The event has raised £47,000 for the charity over six years.

Gary Carlile, secretary of the society, said about a recent visit to the hospice in Thundersley: "It was very uplifting, and we could really see how important the support of the community was to ensure the hospice could continue to support local families. We declared our fundraising as unfinished business."

Derek Briggs, a Volunteer Speaker for Little Havens, brought his team along on the day.

He said: "It was clear to me how dedicated everybody was to supporting the charity. Little Havens does not charge a penny for its care and this simply wouldn't be possible without events like this one.

"I would like to thank everybody who helped to make the day a great success."

SCHOOL may be out for most, but for the newest students at Maltings Academy, the summer has been jam-packed with lessons.

Boys and girls due to start in Year 7 in September have been taking advantage of the Government-funded summer school.

The two-week scheme has seen the ten and 11-year-olds baking scones, making an app, creating a song and making a CD cover, trying new sports, giving Power-Point presentations as well as organising an awards evening and crafting the invitations for their parents.

Lu Craker, who liaises with partner primary schools to ease pupils' transition to the academy, in Spinks Lane, Witham, said: "The whole idea of summer school is to help our newest students to settle in and to build their confidence and give them the opportunity to make new friends before they start full-time.

"They are also getting to build their skills which they will need when they come here."

Harry Coombs, 11, has recently moved to the area from Dagenham and so did not go to primary school locally.

He said: "I didn't know anybody before summer school. Now I've made lots of new friends and so I'm not so nervous about starting at Maltings in September."

A SELF-CONFESSED nationalist with ties to the far-right English Defence League (EDL) was jailed this week for attacking a Braintree mosque in the wake of the Woolwich murder.

Geoffrey Ryan, 44, of Brick Kiln Way, Braintree, threw a smoke grenade through the window of the Al Falah mosque in Silks Way and threatened to kill Saruk Miah, who was going to start evening prayers but was forced to escape onto a flat roof.

Ryan, a builder, admitted at Chelmsford Crown Court on Monday two counts of possessing a knife, one count of affray and one count of threatening unlawful violence, and was jailed for nine months.

The court heard how Ryan, a father-of-two, had gone to the prayer centre armed with two knives and a yellow smoke grenade at 7pm on May 22, the same day that drummer Lee Rigby was murdered on the streets of Woolwich, sparking riots.

Mr Miah, 46, from Braintree, was the only person in the building at the time and was upstairs.

When he heard the explosion, followed by shouting from Ryan, he managed to climb out onto the flat roof of the mosque to call police.

Then Ryan shouted: "******* come out, I'm going to kill you. Let's see if Allah or God come to help you."

Whilst brandishing the knives, Ryan then shouted: "I'll kill you Muslims, I'll kill you before the police come, come downstairs, come out, I'm going to cut your throat."

Speaking to the Chronicle after the attack, Mr Miah said: "I was so scared I didn't know what was going on. When I got onto the roof I called the police and they came and arrested the guy."

When officers arrived Ryan refused to drop his weapons and police had to use batons to subdue him, something his defence lawyer said left him with a broken arm.

Steven Levy, defending, said: "He has been out of trouble since 2000 and these offences were committed a week to the day after his brother took his own life.

"The defendant was in care at 12 years old, he was a victim of abuse, and this abuse continued in care.

"Then his brother took the responsibility of looking after him, therefore his death had a devastating effect on him.

"The defendant had an argument with his brother shortly before committing this offence, about his time in care, and the defendant commented: 'if you're going to kill yourself, do it properly this time,' and he feels this has been the reason why his brother did do it properly as he described. As a result he wanted to put an end to himself and wasn't thinking clearly."

In a hearing at Colchester Magistrates' Court in May, Ryan was refused bail for fears over his current mental state.

The crown court heard about Ryan's previous convictions for assault in 1989, 1990 and 2000.

Detective Constable Andy Young, the investigating officer, said: "This incident at the Al Falah prayer centre caused unnecessary fear, not only for the people who witnessed it, but also local residents at a time when emotions were already running high due to the death of drummer Lee Rigby in London.

"Ryan's imprisonment should serve as a warning to others who intend to cause fear and unrest in the community for their own agendas, whether personal or not."

In e-mails to this newspaper dating back to 2011, Ryan described his patriotic views and desire to fight Sharia law in Britain with "militant moderation" as part of an EDL splinter group called UK Resistance.

He goes on to distance himself from the EDL and details a schism that formed in the organisation.

Sentencing, Judge Goldstaub QC said: "It was an attack that was both racial and religiously motivated and it's the kind of thing that won't be tolerated in this country, which is a tolerant country that deals with matters through the judicial process and not people taking the law into their own hands."

Ryan was sentenced to nine months for each offence, to be served concurrently, with time spent in custody deducted, which means he could be out in six weeks.

Kashif Ahmed, imam at the Al Falah prayer centre, told the Chronicle: "We were expecting a little bit more but really, as a community, we are not too bothered about what jail term he gets. We wouldn't have been too bothered if he'd got less – we have forgiven him and moved on."

ESSEX head coach Paul Grayson insists County Championship promotion has always been his side's main aim this season as they return to red-ball cricket after their T20 heartache.

A four-day game against their Friends Life t20 semi-final conquerors Northamptonshire began at Colchester on Tuesday, and with promotion still in their grasp, Grayson is keen for a strong finish.

Ultimately, the Eagles were beaten by seven wickets at Edgbaston, and although Grayson conceded it was a "huge disappointment" to lose to the Steelbacks, he is hoping to end the season with a promotion.

He said: "There's going to be twists and turns and all we can do is keep trying to win matches, keep taking points and hopefully come the end of September we are in a position to say we've either caught Lancashire or finished second.

"The County Championship is still the most important format of cricket for me – I still see that as the pinnacle, trying to play Division One cricket and that's what we're aiming to do in the next six or seven weeks."

Essex's cause has been boosted by the arrival of two new signings – both with international experience.

First came the arrival of India opener Gautam Gambhir to replace Hamish Rutherford as Essex's overseas player for the rest of the campaign.

And then the club also swooped to sign England spinner Monty Panesar, who has been allowed to leave Sussex on loan for the rest of the season before leaving the club after a tough season both on and off the field.

Both are in the side facing Northamptonshire and Grayson was thrilled to be able to bring in a man of Gambhir's quality.

"When he became available, we snapped him up," he said. "We knew that Tom Westley's finger was taking a bit longer than we liked to heal, Owais Shah has pulled a hamstring and will probably be out for a couple more weeks and Ravi [Bopara] will be joining up with England, so we just wanted to get someone in at the top of the order who's reliable and that's what he's been throughout his career.

"He's an outstanding player, Ryan ten Doeschate knows him well from the IPL and he's a super bloke, he's already fitted in well with the lads.

"He's here to enjoy his cricket – sometimes people are quite cynical when you bring overseas players in but Gautam wants to play county cricket, he's been short of a little bit of cricket and he wants to come here and enjoy himself."

Gambhir is available for the YB40 competition as well, with the group stage coming to a close on Monday.

Back-to-back wins over Derbyshire – again at Colchester on Sunday – and then Lancashire on Monday would see the Eagles finish second in their group, and should other results go that way, it could be enough for a semi-final spot.

And Grayson said: "If we can beat Derbyshire on Sunday and then beat Lancashire on Monday and a couple of other results go our way then we can progress.

"Hopefully people will come out and support us this week to get behind the boys.

"I know there's disappointment at not winning on Saturday but there's lots of positives to take from this season."

The Colchester festival has again proved popular with supporters, and Grayson hopes that the event is here to stay on the Essex calendar.

"I always enjoying coming to Colchester," he said. "As a player I enjoyed the ground and now as a coach too. There's always a nice atmosphere, it's always a good pitch.

"The ground looks in superb condition, everything's gone nicely and I think it's one of the nicest outgrounds in the country. Everyone makes us feel very welcome."

BRAINTREE TOWN manager Alan Devonshire is hoping a big crowd will come along to see his side take on Barnet on Monday.

The Iron, who have made a solid start to their third season in the Conference Premier, take on the Bees in their Bank Holiday Monday fixture at the Amlin Stadium.

Barnet, relegated from the Football League last season, have made a good start to life back in non-league with two wins and a draw from three matches.

They are managed by legend Edgar Davids, who can count Ajax, AC Milan, Juventus and Tottenham among his former clubs, and Devonshire is hoping the Bees game will attract a big attendance.

"I think it will," he said. "We had nearly a thousand on Tuesday [against Woking] and 900 on Saturday [against Kidderminster].

"The initiative with free tickets for youngsters has helped us and there's lot more noise around the place, and I'm sure on Monday it'll be a better atmosphere as I'm sure they'll bring a few.

"We've had two decent performances at home, we've beaten Woking and were unfortunate not to get a result against Kidderminster and now we've got another good side.

"Let's hopefully get a good result on Saturday to set us up for that.

"I don't think you would have expected Edgar Davids to be at this level, so it'll be another good game.

"Barnet are a decent side and they've started off really well, they're second in the league so another tough game, but all I'm looking at is Saturday's game."

Saturday sees Devonshire take his side to Dartford for a battle of the teams who last season were the best part-time clubs in the country.

The Darts finished just above the Iron, and although they have endured a trickier start this term, Devonshire is expecting a difficult afternoon.

"It'll be tough," he added. "We know the way they play, a great big physical side, so we know it'll be tough."

Devonshire, who does not expect to add any new faces to his squad before the transfer window closes, has seen his side take four points from their opening three games.

They started with a draw at Hereford, before beating Woking and suffering a late defeat to a very strong Kidderminster side on Saturday – and Devonshire believes the Harriers are the team to beat this season.

"On Saturday it was disappointing, we worked so hard to get the result, it didn't happen but they're a very good side, so we're not going to get too disheartened by it. I fancy them to win it."

A BRUTAL double shotgun murder of a mother and her baby daughter could have been prevented had authorities not missed opportunities to intervene, a new report reveals.

Christine Chambers and her toddler Shania were murdered in Braintree in June 2011 by former partner David Oakes, 51, who died last year of cancer while serving a lifetime prison sentence.

Two years after their death an investigation by the Essex Safeguarding Children Board, published on Monday, has revealed that if the case had been "handled differently", there may have been a different outcome for the victims.

David Oakes, from Maldon, committed the killing of his ex-partner and their two-year-old daughter in Bartram Avenue as a bitter custody battle over the child was due to begin

After shooting dead Shania at point-blank range and having tortured and shot Christine, Oakes then turned the shotgun on himself, but survived despite blasting the side of his face apart.

The Serious Case Review Overview Report, which gives pseudonyms for both victims, concludes that while the torture and murder by Oakes was not predictable there were a number of opportunities for police and social services to intervene, which if handled differently could have resulted in Shania and Christine being considered more at risk and therefore given greater assistance.

It recommends that domestic abuse prevention work should be increased across Essex to develop a multi-agency response; improved training and the Safeguarding Board should work closely with Cafcass – who support children during court proceedings.

Simon Hart, independent chairman of Essex Safeguarding Children Board, said: "Improvements to the way domestic abuse is tackled in Essex are already underway as a result of the Whole Essex Community Budget work.

"The creation of a Domestic Abuse Board tasked with providing leadership to address domestic abuse across the geographical county of Essex shows that agencies understand communication between partners is key if we are to avoid another tragic loss. However, there is need to acknowledge that there are no simple solutions to a problem with a significant national context."

The case report comes in the same week as a new year-long pilot scheme is launched in Braintree to cut the number of domestic abuse victims.

Detective Chief Supt Simon Coxall, head of CID and public protection at Essex Police headquarters in Chelmsford, said: "A lot has changed since those awful events, certainly in terms of Essex Police and the way we conduct assessment of risk.

"I am confident this is a step in the right direction in dealing with this very pernicious issue, but I couldn't be so arrogant as to say we are never going to have anyone suffer as a result of domestic abuse, it's a widespread problem that occurs behind closed doors.

"One of the advantages is that quite understandably victims of this sort of crime are reluctant to discuss what's been happening with the police.

"With this improved multi-agency teamwork approach and information shared we hope to reduce any unnecessary delay and immediately bring to attention anyone at risk making all the intelligence about the situation available to all partner agencies so will have the capability to constantly improve and update our risk assessments."

The new pilot, that will operate in Braintree and Basildon, is part of the Whole Essex Community Budget Programme, and will see public sector agencies join with Essex County Council to invest resources and provide extra support to domestic abuse victims in both districts with funding for two Domestic Abuse Support Officers to support victims of in those districts.

Essex county councillor Dick Madden, Cabinet Member for Children and Families, said: "Reducing domestic abuse and supporting victims is a clear priority across the county.

"I hope that by increasing the amount of targeted support that we see a reduction in incidents and start to demonstrate that domestic abuse will not be tolerated in Essex."

The pilot will be directed at those victims considered high risk but who do not yet engage with support services, while it will also offer the opportunity to increase services provided to victims considered medium risk.

Based at Essex Police HQ, the scheme will involve reviewing victims' safety plans and identifying services to assist them in improving their personal situations, specifically in reducing their reliance on other services such as health and housing.

The pilot aims to engage with 600 victims by April 2014 and will be judged on the reduction of domestic abuse incidents, the number of repeat offences, and a reduction of victims going to A&E.

STEPPING into the nuclear bunker at Kelvedon Hatch on Saturday night, I was not sure what I was expecting, writes the Gazette's Joe Sturdy.

When someone mentions 'finding spirits', my mind runs back to Derek Acorah and re-runs of Most Haunted, night-vision cameras and screams as creaks and odd sounds are heard.

But on my first ghost walk with Spooksavers, there was none of that – I was given a torch, a thermometer and an electromagnetic (EM) meter, and a healthy dose of belief by the rest of the group and Grant Colyer, a 'psychic medium'.

Encouraged to take pictures to see if any paranormal orbs were present, thus showing the existence of spirits and ghosts, and guided by the red flashing lights of the EM meter, we all went into the main computer room.

There were no orbs, not really.

The ones that were present, I am sure, were just a result of dirty lenses.

From there, we were guided into the sick bay where Mr Colyer got the impression that someone had passed away – a monumental prediction, made even more amazing by the fact that no-one has believed to have ever actually done so.

After this, we went into the tunnel in the dark, where supposedly a soldier had been made a runner – and we laid down our EM meters in a line to see if he would run through.

Despite coaxing, name calling and commands from members of the group for the spirit to come forward, there was nothing – not a flicker of red light in the blackness.

From there, we were guided into a circle and we waited until our arms were raised, or we were pushed forward.

Nothing happened – despite a supposed 'trance' from Mr Colyer who ran out screaming, embodied by his soldier companion.

It all seemed rather tenuous, which summed up our participation of the evening – at £35 a ticket, if nothing else, entertainment should be vital, and entertaining this was.

While a sceptic, I arrived with hope that perhaps, just this once, my beliefs about this sort of thing could be challenged – sadly, despite the best efforts of the 12-strong group, they weren't.

A TRIO of pensioners with a combined age of 210 will be taking on a gruelling 1,000-mile cycle from Alicante in southern Spain to Calais in northern France.

Tom Wood, 68, left his home in Bradwell, near Braintree, during the early hours of Monday morning, flying out to Alicante to begin the trek.

Once there he will be met by Bill Parry, also 68, who flew from Alberta in Canada to take part in the ride.

Jim MacTaggart, 74, of Sycamore Grove, Braintree, who has cycled in places as far-flung as Australia, America, the Swedish Arctic Circle and Scotland, will be meeting the pair on the French side of the Pyrenees to accompany them to Calais.

"It depends if our knees stand up to the Pyrenees, but we hope to complete the trek in eight weeks," said Mr Wood.

"Bill found this advert on a website called www.crazyguyonabike.com asking if anyone wanted to join him on the ride, so we accepted.

"I've always wanted to do this, but I had problems with my leg and had to see a specialist, but now I'm raring to go and have been getting lots of riding practice in so we aim to do about 50 miles a day.

The "Crazy Old Khaki" group as they have dubbed themselves, will be riding for four different armed services charities, and will split the money raised evenly between Help For Heroes, SSAFA, The Royal British Legion and the Royal Hospital Chelsea.

"I was in the armed forces myself, but I was in Northern Ireland so the worst thing that happened to me was when some kids spat at me," said Mr Wood.

"Nowadays these guys are getting awful injuries, like legs blown off, and I think the Government are not doing a good job at looking after them.

"I was going to do the ride anyway and thought, why not try and raise some money at the same time and help some servicemen and their families while I'm there?"

If you would like to contribute to their efforts visit http://uk.virginmoneygiv ing.com/team/CrazyOldKhaki to donate.

CHELMSFORD'S town crier has received an official letter of thanks from the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge for his part in the birth of the future King.

The 76-year-old from Great Baddow found himself the focus of international media attention last month when he stood on the steps of St Mary's Hospital in London to unofficially announce the birth of the third in line to the throne.

And this week the businessman, who at the time admitted gatecrashing the occasion, was given a royal blessing for his impromptu performance with a letter from Kate and Will's private secretary thanking him, and offering warm wishes from the couple.

"It was quite exciting when it came through on Saturday morning with the royal stamp," said Tony, who has received offers of work from across the globe since his announcement was televised.

"It obviously went down very well with the couple, and it's been absolutely manic ever since it happened. It's without a doubt the biggest thing I've ever done."