Oxford Mail Review of the Year: January to March

JANUARY

RACE TO BE THE NEW CHIEF

JANUARY 2018 in Oxford started with the news that, after a decade in the top job, Oxford City Council leader Bob Price would be stepping down from his post a month later.

Mr Price, who had been a Labour councillor in Oxford since 1983, had announced his retirement from politics in the autumn, but was not expected to leave so soon.

He told the Oxford Mail: "After 35 years representing my local community in Grandpont, New Hinksey and St Ebbes, and 12 years as the leader of the Labour group, it feels like a good moment for a change of pace."

By the end of the month, the Labour group had announced that deputy leader Susan Brown would take on the top job.

BATTLE TO SAVE TEEN

ON January 3, a 16-year-old boy from Birmingham, Harun Jama, was stabbed to death next to a children’s play area in Friars Wharf on the banks of the Thames.

A group of runners desperately tried to save his life but the boy was later to die in prison.

A police appeal to find his killers was relaunched in June but was again unsuccessful. They are yet to face justice.

POLICE SNARE KINGPIN

THE ringleader behind a drug supply line that flooded Oxford with heroin and cocaine admitted two counts of conspiracy to possess Class A drugs with intent to supply at Oxford Crown Court on January 12.

Marlon Thompson, 22, of Earlon House, Islington, and was known as ‘Gucci’ and came to Oxford because of less competition than London.

WHAT NOW?

A POOR run leading into the new year lead to Pep Clotet’s run as boss of Oxford United coming to an end in January.

The Spaniard only led the U’s for 205 days before being dismissed, with caretaker manager Derek Fazackerley taking his place.

FEBRUARY

MOST DANGEROUS ROAD

IN early February the A420 was named the most dangerous road in the south east, after figures published by the Oxford Mail revealed 595 crashes on the county stretch in the past five years.

The road was labelled a ‘cause for concern’ by Wantage MP Ed Vaizey but ‘unacceptable’ by local residents who felt problems were only increasing with the worsening congestion along the road between Oxford and Swindon.

BUS-TED:

AN Oxford Bus Company employee who scammed the firm out of almost £750,000 to fuel his ‘out-of-control’ gambling addiction was jailed on February 16.

Colin Smart, 47, of Crundel Rise, Witney, seemed emotionless as he was sentenced at Oxford Crown Court, even though the money he stole could have been used to solve a dispute with employees which led to them striking and his actions put a tight squeeze on other employees.

I’LL DO IT MY WAY

NEW owner of Oxford United Sumrith Thanakarnjanasuth took the reigns of the club at the end of February in the midst of uncertainty and clashes with Kassam Stadium owner Firoz Kassam.

'Tiger' pledged to sort things out at the club and make promotion to the championship his priority.

MARCH

BEAST FROM THE EAST

MARCH saw the arrival of a bitter cold snap hailed ‘The Beast from the East’ which sunk its claws into Oxfordshire with blankets of snow and plummeting temperatures.

The weather front caused havoc for drivers and rail passengers, shut hundreds of schools and led to emergency measures being taken for the homeless.

SIR ROGER BANNISTER

WORLD-FAMOUS athlete, neurologist, husband and father Sir Roger Bannister passed away on March 3, 2018, aged 88.

An Oxford hero, Sir Roger was the first man to ever break the four-minute mile, a feat said to be impossible until, on Iffley Road running track, ‘Mr Oxford’ did it on May 6, 1954.

A monumental feat in sport, still lauded today as one of its greatest moments, he goes down in history as one of Oxford’s finest athletes.

OXFORD 2050

A VISION of the future of Oxford was revealed by Oxford City Council on March 12, providing a framework against which all major planning decisions could be taken for decades to come.

While aimed at cutting polluting transport and protecting the city’s heritage, it could see homes built on five per cent of the Green Belt.

It aims for a ‘virtually car-free’ city and prioritised youngsters in this ambitious vision of the city’s future.