THE parents of the baby who died say "there are no winners" following the suspension of Penny Lavis.

Tomorrow (June 8) it will be three years since the Chelmsford couple, who the Chronicle has chosen not to name, lost their son Jacob.

"The loss of our first child is devastating, it's something we'll never ever get over, and the circumstances of how it happened were very traumatic," said the woman, a 31-year-old former HR administrator.

The couple say their grief has been building for the past few months as the anniversary approaches.

"We miss him every day and when we look at other children of that age, we think 'Jacob should be doing this for the first time as well'," said the woman.

"We've got friends whose children were born around the same time and it's still difficult for us.

"We have family and friends that have supported us every step of the way, but it has taken a very long time to come to terms with what happened."

The Chelmsford woman travelled up to London with her husband, a 34-year-old contract manager in Canary Wharf, every day of the hearing, which lasted for 20 days over an eight-month period.

"As parents, we felt it was the only thing we could do for our son," he said. "What happened, happened, it was completely out of our hands, but we wanted to know we had done everything we could to make sure it doesn't happen again – there are no winners from this."

They made a complaint to the Nursing and Midwifery Council, after dissatisfaction with Mid Essex Hospitals Trust's investigations into the incident, which they say has not issued any formal apology for what happened.

More than anything, they just wanted to know the truth of what happened that night, something they feel denied to them by Lavis' dishonesty.

"This will affect us for the rest of our lives," continued the 34-year-old. "We lost our son."

A DISHONEST midwife who lied to cover up her failings after a baby died has been suspended from practising.

Penny Lavis, a nurse of more than 30 years, was described as "evasive and dishonest" by the Nursing and Midwifery Council, at the end of an eight-month hearing.

Panel chair Paula Burton told Sarah Christie-Brown, who represented Lavis: "Your failings in connection with the care you delivered to Ms A fell seriously short of the standards to be expected of a registered midwife.

"Though there is no evidence that your actions were causative of the unfortunate outcome of Ms A's labour, they did present a risk of patient harm.

"You have compounded your failures by dishonest record-keeping which the panel considers was undertaken in order to conceal those failings.

"All these matters are sufficiently serious to constitute misconduct."

On Sunday, June 12, 2011, the patient, who can only be identified as Ms A, was pregnant with her first child and was admitted to the midwife-led unit for low-risk cases at Broomfield Hospital at 12.15am, where Lavis cared for her.

Having seen she was in labour, she broke the woman's waters at around 2am. But Lavis of Chelmer Village wrongly noted that the woman asked for the procedure when she had not, and incorrectly recorded that she had explained its risks, the panel ruled.

At 3.45am, the woman's concerned husband noticed the umbilical cord was visible, a medical emergency, although Lavis claimed she spotted it first.

An emergency caesarean was performed 30 minutes later.

Despite being rushed to the Neonatal Unit at Addenbrooke's Hospital, the baby died three days later.

At the conclusion of the hearing on Thursday May 22, Lavis was found guilty of nine charges.

They also included leaving the woman on one or more occasions when in established labour, failing to start a pregnancy vital signs record on her admission and claiming to have changed her sanitary pad, when she did not.

Lavis herself admitted failing to monitor the fetal heart rate from 12.15am until 2am – nearly two hours after the woman's admission into the hospital.

But the panel said they could not prove seven other charges, such as failing to see that the patient was in established labour and one that she did not explain why she was left unattended on one or more occasions.

Her midwifery team leader for the past two years told the panel: "I have seen and heard Penny interacting with clients in a kind, compassionate and professional manner. I have never had to address any concerns about her nor have I any reason to doubt her honesty or integrity."

Lavis, who did not respond to an opportunity to comment from the Chronicle, was given a four-month suspension order, with restrictions on how she can practise for 18 months.

A Mid Essex Hospital Trust spokesman said: "Penny Lavis is appealing the outcome of the hearing and until such point as this appeal has been heard it would not be appropriate to comment, except to state the hospital will support and comply with the final outcome and recommendations to ensure high quality care is provided for those using our maternity services."

A POLICE officer sacked for pushing a boy in a bush says he is "moving on" after the appeal against his dismissal failed.

Mark Jones, who as a former servant of the Crown cannot challenge the verdict on legal grounds, will instead concentrate on new work in railway safety and lorry driving.

The 40-year-old ex-Chelmsford and Braintree constable has not truly waved goodbye to his old trade without attacking the culture at Essex Police first.

Mr Jones said: "I'm drawing a line under it now because too much of my time has been spent worrying about it, waiting and putting my fate in other people's hands.

"I'm quite happy. If I got my job back I would not have stayed, I would have left. I would have stayed for as long as it took to have grounds to take legal action on the grounds for constructive dismissal.

"It was not about getting my job back, it was about clearing my name."

The father-of-four says he is earning about £2,000 a month, £150 more than he did with the force, working self-employed for logistics firms during the week and maintaining railways at the weekend.

"Even though I have to work hard for it there is no stress and no hierarchy of individuals making ridiculous decisions to get themselves promoted.

"The lack of stress is showing, and my wife has commented as to how different I am."

The Sible Hedingham resident, an Essex Police constable of nearly 12 years, was accused of grabbing a 14-year-old by the neck and pushing him in a bush in Chelmer Village on Tuesday, October 23, 2012.

Mr Jones however claims the boy and friends were obstructing their hunt for a wanted man, and in the altercation that followed he in fact rescued the boy from tripping back into the hedge.

A year later he was found not guilty of common assault at Ipswich Magistrates' Court but an internal investigation continued.

Astounded, he emailed Chief Constable Stephen Kavanagh for help while placed on restricted duties, only to be met with disciplinary action from his managers.

"I told him 'you have a front line officer answering calls, surely there is a better use for me'," said Mr Jones, who met Mr Kavanagh once and said he was "a nice bloke".

"But I got a warning, to the effect of 'you do not email Mr Kavanagh and complain about how you are being treated'.

"My federation rep thought it was hilarious. I think his words were 'you have some balls'."

He was given his marching orders following a two-day hearing in January for using excessive and unnecessary force, discreditable conduct and for failing to act with honesty and integrity.

At the end of last month the Police Arbitration Tribunal announced his appeal was unsuccessful.

Mr Jones has since lambasted the culture of people "wishing to be promoted" at the force and its centralisation of specialised units.

Serious Collision Investigation Unit officers must commute to the rest of the county from Boreham, while last year the dog unit was reduced from 52 to 40 canines and all are based in Sandon.

"I think it's ridiculous," said Mr Jones. "You should look at exactly what you're getting yourself into when joining the police now."

As a servant of the Crown, Mr Jones has no employment rights to take the force to court.

Essex Police Federation chair Mark Smith, who says officers can only sue on the grounds of discrimination, said: "Unfortunately for Mark Jones, it is not an option for him to sue the police."

 CASES heard by Chelmsford and Colchester magistrates from Tuesday April 15 to Tuesday April 22.

Sent to prison

ROBERT JAMES WALTON, 49, of Queen Street, Maldon, was sent to prison for eight weeks for stealing items of food valued at £92.27 from Tesco in Braintree on April 14.

The defendant had a number of previous convictions for similar offences.

ROBERT LEE BROWN, 39, of no fixed address, was given a 16 week prison sentence.

He was given six weeks for stealing alcohol to the value of £197.92 from J. Sainsbury in Braintree on January 29 and assaulting a security officer.

He was given two weeks consecutive for failing to surrender to Colchester Magistrates’ Court on February 18, having been released on bail on January 29.

The defendant was also given eight weeks concurrent for assaulting Alex Northcott by beating him on March 4 at Colchester, and eight weeks consecutive for stealing a tablet valued at £119 from Tesco in Colchester on March 4.

SHANE BROWN, 27, of Jeffreys Road, Cressing, was sent to prison for eight weeks for the original offence of assault. He had not complied with a community order made by Colchester Magistrates’ Court on April 29, 2013 by failing to attend two appointments in March. 23 and 30.

Suspended sentences

DAREN BRYAN HARKER, 44, of Mariners Way, Maldon, was given a six week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, for driving a vehicle at Sandon on February 14 whilst unfit to drive through drugs.

It was a serious incident which the defendant had no recall of, and having been followed for a distance there was evidence of a high level of impairment.

He was given an 18 month disqualification and ordered to pay an £80 victim surcharge and £85 costs to the CPS.

He also pleaded guilty to driving the vehicle without a test certificate or insurance and driving without due care and attention.

He was also given six weeks concurrent for being involved in an accident with a telegraph pole, phone lines and power lines, and failing to stop.

ROBERT PETER JAMES DAVANZO, 20, of Crix Green, Felsted, was given 16 weeks’ detention, suspended for 12 months, for driving along the B1053, Braintree Road in Shalford on March 26 while disqualified.

He had shown a complete disregard for court orders and was involved in a police chase.

The defendant must carry out 100 hours of unpaid, supervised work within the next 12 months, pay a victim surcharge of £80 and £85 costs to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

He was disqualified from driving for 18 months. The defendant also pleaded guilty to failing to stop when requested by a Police Constable, driving without due care and attention and driving without insurance.

Assault

LIAM JAMES ELLIS, 24, of Bronte Road, Witham, was fined £80 for assaulting Steven Marshall by beating him at Witham on March 9.

He was also fined £80 for assaulting Simon Welham and £80 for assaulting Philip Jarvis. He was ordered to pay £50 compensation, a £20 victim surcharge and £85 costs to the CPS.

PAUL THOMAS GILBERT, 27, of Perry Hill, Chelmsford, was fined £100 for assaulting Hisham Abougrad by beating him at Chelmsford on March 28. He was fined £100 and must pay a £20 victim surcharge and £85 costs to the CPS.

ABRAHAM JOHN BOSWELL, 24, of Ranks Green, Fairstead, was given a community order for assaulting Rachael Scott by beating her at Braintree on March 10.

He must participate in Medium Alcohol Requirement Intervention (MARI) for 12 days, participate in Building Better Relationships Programme for 60 days, attend appointments with a responsible officer, pay a £60 victim surcharge and £85 costs to the CPS.

He was also given a three year driving ban for driving along Bradford Street on March 10 after he had been drinking. His breath contained 95 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, more than two and a half times the limit.

He was driving while disqualified and without insurance and also pleaded guilty to taking the vehicle without the owner’s consent and committing the offences while subject to a 12 month conditional discharge imposed on November 11 for criminal damage.

JOSHUA FORTESCUE, 21, of Francis Road, Braintree, was given a community order for assaulting Jordan Gillingham by beating her at Braintree on May 23 this year and September 16 last year.

The defendant must participate in MARI for 12 days, participate in Building Better Relationships for 19 days, attend appointments with a responsible officer and carry out 150 hours of unpaid, supervised work within the next 12 months.

He was also given a restraining order not to contact her, or attend St Johns Avenue in Braintree. He must pay £80 compensation, a £60 victim surcharge and £105 costs to the CPS.

Breach of order

CARL ANDREW STEIN, 37, of Widford Park Place, Chelmsford, was placed under a curfew for three months, in addition to the original requirements of a community order made on August 29, for failing to attend two appointments on February 26 and March 19. He must also pay £50 costs.

JULIAN ANDREWS, 43, of Auckland Close, Chelmsford, was given a new community order for the original offence of shoplifting, having failed to comply with the requirements made by Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court on October 2 by failing to attend two appointments in March.

He was placed under a curfew for two months, with electronic monitoring and must pay £50 costs.

Drugs - possession

PETER CRAIG MARTIN, 44, of Auckland Close, Chelmsford, was fined £50 for possessing 1.5g of cannabis, a controlled class B drug, at Chelmsford on April 1.

He must pay a £20 victim surcharge and £85 costs to the CPS in addition to forfeiting the drugs and having them destroyed.

SHANE CHARLES CAVANAGH, 25, of The Chase, Boreham, was given a 12 month conditional discharge for being in possession of a quantity of cannabis a controlled class B drug, at Chelmsford on April 1.

He must forfeit the drugs and have them destroyed, pay a £15 victim surcharge and £85 costs to the CPS.

PAUL PICKERING, 26, of Vicarage Avenue, White Notley, was fined £333 for possessing a quantity of cannabis a controlled class B drug, on the A131 near Great Leighs on April 6.

He must pay a £33 victim surcharge and £85 costs to the CPS in addition to forfeiting the drugs and having them destroyed.

ANTONY THOMAS PRICE, 26, of Burghley Close, Great Notley, was fined £300 for possessing a quantity of cocaine, a class A drug, on the A131 near Great Leighs on April 6.

He must pay a £30 victim surcharge, £85 costs to the CPS and forfeit the drugs and have them destroyed.

Fraud

BARRY STEVEN BRIMFIELD, 32, of Calamint Road, Witham, for five counts of dishonestly making false representations by filling up with fuel with the intention of making a gain.

He filled up with £30 at Witham on November 11, 2011; £30 at Witham on January 19, 2013; £57.50 at Witham on March 29, 2013; £64 at Bradwell on May 17, 2013 at Bradwell; and £40 at Colchester on July 12, 2013.

He was ordered to pay compensation of £30, £30, £57.50, £64, and £40 respectively in addition to £85 costs to the CPS.

He must also carry out 80 hours of supervised, unpaid work within the next 12 months.

Theft – shoplifting

PETER BEHUN, 38, of no fixed address, was fined £50 for stealing goods to the value of £86.68 from Tesco at Marks Farm, Braintree, on April 14.

He must also pay a £20 victim surcharge.

Threatening behaviour

STEVEN ELLIS, 51, of Hazel Close, Witham, was fined £150 for causing harassment, alarm or distress towards Steven Marshall by using threatening, abusive or insulting words or disorderly behaviour at Witham on March 9.

He must pay a £20 victim surcharge and £85 costs to the CPS.

DEAN GERHARTZ, 18, of Colchester Road, Maldon, was given a community order for using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour that was racially aggravated towards Derrick Syce, likely to provoke unlawful violence being used at Maldon on March 28.

The defendant must carry out 60 hours of unpaid, supervised work within the next 12 months, pay a victim surcharge of £60 and £85 costs to the CPS.

LOGAN NEPOLEON GERHARTZ, 19, of Colchester Road, Maldon, was given a community order for using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour towards a Police Sergeant at Maldon on March 29 that was likely to provoke the immediate use of unlawful violence.

The defendant must carry out 60 hours of unpaid, supervised work within the next 12 months, pay a £60 victim surcharge and £85 costs to the CPS.

DRIVING OFFENCES - Drink-driving

MARTIN WILLIAM PETRIE, 51, of Basin Road, Heybridge Basin, was banned from driving for 18 months. He was fined £120 for driving along Colchester Road at Great Totham on March 30 after he had been drinking.

The proportion of alcohol measured 68 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, more than one and a half times the limit.

He was also fined £50 for driving without a valid driving licence and £200 for driving without insurance. He must pay a £20 victim surcharge and £85 costs to the CPS.

ANDREA PROVAN, 50, of Waltham Cross Cottages, Great Bardfield, was given a community order for driving along The Broadway at Duck End, Great Dunmow on February 19 after she had been drinking.

The alcohol measured 284 milligrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood, more than three and a half times the limit.

She must have treatment for alcohol dependency for six months and was banned from driving for 30 months. She must pay a £75 fine, a £60 surcharge and £85 costs to the CPS.

Careless driving

JACK MEALING, 23, of George Street, Chelmsford, was banned from driving for three months for driving along the A131 Essex Regiment Way at Chelmsford on September 11 without due care and attention.

The defendant overtook a line of vehicles while straddling the centre white line, into the path of oncoming vehicles at excess speed. He was fined £600 plus a £60 victim surcharge and £90 costs.

He was also fined a further £55 for driving a vehicle that could be deemed dangerous as all four wheels had a missing wheel nut.

THE woman behind a team of five council officers dedicated to keeping the streets clean says her team is upping patrols to 600 hours a year.

Joanne Grimley, Chelmsford City Council's public health protection lead officer, also says the pan-Essex campaign will "raise awareness".

She said: "It raises awareness for people who think of littering as something they see people do walking down the street, but they do not necessarily make the same link in parks where they end up littering."

Within Joanne's first year as lead officer the staff went out on 146 patrols accumulating about 500 hours between April 2013 and April 2014.

The team however, who aim to have upped the patrols to 600 hours by next April, only handed out 153 penalty notices in that period, much of them for offences in High Chelmer, outside Superdrug in the High Street and outside McDonald's.

Joanne said: "We don't go out to do patrols to catch people, we don't hide around street corners and follow people, it's more about a presence.

"Last month when I went out on the patrols in the city centre people did recognise us and made a point of putting litter they had in their hand in the bin.

"But if they see people littering, and walking away, they will always approach the person and will always give them a fixed penalty notice.

"We have to be confident. While some people think it's unfair and want a warning or a first notice, this is a first notice considering this is an offence in magistrates' court and can land you with a £2,000 fine."

Joanne, whose team also go into schools and speak to student groups in the parks to educate them, say they face abusive responses.

"Some of them I've heard is 'you should go and get a proper job' but at the time of issuing most people accept it," she said.

"You do get people who call me up after accusing the officers of being rude and aggressive but they all wear body cameras and I can check the video footage."

A ROYAL Air Force veteran who was evicted from wartime Poland before settling in Chelmsford has died aged 87.

Ex-Marconi engineer Edmund Wergiliusz Woloszczuk died in Broomfield Hospital after a long battle with dementia.

His wife Vera has paid tribute to the "talented man", whose stories of escaping gunfire and surviving starvation in Eastern Europe will live long in his family's memories.

"He was Polish through and through," said the 82-year-old, of Gordon Road, Moulsham Lodge, whose husband never obtained a UK passport.

"His proudest achievement would have been having children and his work. He did like it and while it was stressful, he enjoyed it and his family were very proud of that."

Edmund was born in Lutsk, now a Ukrainian city, in August 1926 into a farming family.

In 1939, however, as the German army invaded, Russian soldiers gave them 20 minutes to leave home and ordered them onto a train to Siberia. In the months that followed, refugees stole food from passing farms, would go to the toilet in a hole in the corner of a carriage and the dead were thrown on to the tracks.

After settling in Siberia, Corporal Woloszczuk enlisted with the Polish army, being shipped to Iran, Iraq and Palestine, before enlisting in the allied RAF.

When he was finally demobbed in 1953 he looked for work outside the force, joining Marconi in New Street, Chelmsford, as an instrument maker.

He went on to help design 31 British patents for antennae on land, sea and air.

While lodging at a hostel for ex-servicemen in Springfield Road, he met Vera, of Wickford, at what used to be the Odeon Dance Hall.

"He came over and asked me to dance and that was it," she said.

Vera, however, had to move her husband into Manor Lodge care home in 2010 after he left the bedroom one night and bizarrely opened all the home's internal doors.

He died on Wednesday, April 23, from advanced Parkinson's disease and dementia.

One of Edmund's two sons Wieslaw, 58, a contractor for BAE Systems, will always remember playing with tools with his dad.

"He put in double glazing and I would be their basically helping and passing things.

"Whether I was much use to him at age 10 or 12 I don't really know."

While there are more than 700 Polish people now living in Chelmsford with two Polish shops in the city, Wieslaw can only imagine there being a handful when Edmund arrived.

"He would have been proud of what is happening now, but he was most interested in his family and work," he said.

Edmund is also survived by son Julian, 53, and eight grandchildren.

A GRANDMOTHER has been reunited with the off-duty nurse who ran to her aid when she lay bleeding heavily in Chelmsford.

Julie Sanderson, 48, of Peel Road, Springfield, visited Sheila Osborne on Monday, a little over a month after the pensioner fell and hit her face on a wall outside the Tesco supermarket in Springfield Road.

Quick-thinking Julie stemmed Sheila's bleeding with her 21-year-old daughter's scarf and comforted her at the scene.

"I'm really glad to know she's ok. It's a relief as it was horrible to see," said Julie.

"I didn't know if the accident resulted in a head injury. She fell on her face really but it could have been quite nasty and she could have had a brain injury or something a lot worse."

Sheila, 77, of Weymouth Road Springfield, was walking from Marks & Spencer in Chelmsford High Street, to the Chelmsford Social Club car park, on Good Friday, when at about 12.30pm she tripped crossing Bond Street towards the Tesco entrance.

Her face struck the brick wall surrounding the supermarket, fracturing her eye socket and necessitating stitches and a five-day hospital stay.

An appeal to help find the off-duty nurse she vaguely remembered was published in the Chronicle two weeks ago.

Julie, whose husband contacted this paper on the day the appeal went out, said she and daughter Rachel Finch were posting a letter when they spotted the fall.

"She was then lying on the floor and there was quite a lot of blood and my daughter took off her scarf and put it under her eye as it was gaping quite badly," said the Broomfield Hospital surgical nurse. "I got my daughter to phone for the ambulance and I spoke to her, just trying to calm her down.

"I remember, bless her, she had a pound coin still in her hand for a trolley."

After helping Sheila into the ambulance she asked colleagues around the hospital wards for an update on her condition, but to no avail.

Sheila said: "I'm glad she's come forward actually because I didn't quite know what to do.

"When I asked at the hospital they said they didn't know how they could find her. They said they have lots of staff called Julie."