Edition 630

Page 1

Also distributed in Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote.

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THE INDEPENDENT ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWSPAPER WITH LOCAL, NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL NEWS

EDITION 630

FRIDAY 19th JULY TO THURSDAY 1st AUGUST 2019 MOVIES AT ...

EATING OUT & ABOUT

PAGES PA 25 - 27

Your dining experience aroundd our o restaurants

FORTNIGHTLY SUPPLEMENT NT

property

PAGES 39 -48

guide

UNIONS SLAM Shock as dangerous UK fugitive arrested in hotel “AMBULANCE T CEMETERY” HERE was a shock for tourists when a dangerous UK fugitive was arrested in an hotel in Tenerife! The man was a member of a criminal gang who robbed bank branches in Britain and vans armed with guns. Police said he had managed to flee to Spain using the passport of a relative with whom he had a significant physical resemblance. “On March 21st, 2007, he was caught during a robbery in the British town of Swinton,” said a spokesman for the Spanish police. “After a chase, he was arrested and taken to a police station but managed to hide a mobile phone between his clothes, which allowed him to maintain contact at all times with the members of his criminal group. That was how,

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IVES are being put at risk due to the “lamentable conditions” of the ambulance fleet in the Canary Islands, it is being claimed.

The union USO says patients, staff and the service in general are being jeopardised and urgent action has to be taken to reverse what they describe as an ambulance cemetery. The workers’ trade union has denounced the situation, saying it applies not just to the vehicles but the equipment and even the uniforms. They claim some of the ambulances leak and are flooded when it starts to rain, others have various mechanical breakdowns and repairs are not carried out, despite repeated warnings from the drivers which are not listened to. The unions say patients

need to be attended to “with dignity” and if they haven’t yet spotted the problems themselves, it is only down to the professionalism of the staff who have managed to hide them whilst they carry out their work. The USO has indicated that “the situation is almost untenable because the stress and responsibility of our work must be added to all these difficulties.” “Users, the staff and the service in general are being put at risk,” they reiterate. The issues are being blamed on constant budget cuts, with not enough money being allocated to resources.

The union wants the service to be controlled and managed directly by the Government of the Canar y Islands and a pettion with signatures has been presented to Parliament. Officials point to the Balearic Islands where there is already direct management of the ambulance service which has cut out-of-order resources by 50 per cent. The claims have been supported by the union, the UGT which says: “Loss of quality in the service for users, increase in waiting lists, cuts in resources and personnel, are the daily bread in this sector. So much so, that many municipalities have been deprived of this public service, leaving patients abandoned in respect of urgent and nonurgent transportation.”

the next day, the police officers who were carrying out their transfer were assaulted by members of their gang when they arrived at the doors of the Salford courthouse. Hooded and carr ying knives, they managed to free the detainee and flee.” Only six days after this, he took part in an assault on an armoured security van. He was arrested again and sentenced

to ten years in prison but, in November 2018, he managed to flee again and escape from the UK taking advantage of his probation. National Police arrested him in Tenerife during a largescale operation in and around the hotel. Its location was not disclosed but police released video footage of his arrest as they entered the room and handcuffed him.

Five hurt as hotdog stand canopy collapses

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IVE people were injured when the metal roof canopy of a refreshment stand collapsed in Puerto de la Cruz.

The accident happened just after 7.30pm on Sunday in calle Perdomo during the Virgen del Carmen fiesta. A man was the most seriously inured as he suffered a head wound. Those hurt also included a 41-yearold woman and a girl aged five. Both suffered slight cuts and bruises. All of the injured were taken to hospital. The 112 emergency control centre had received a call to

Photo by Moises Pérez say part of the open flap roof at a hotdog stand had fallen on several people. The Canar y Emergency Service attended, together with the local police. Red Cross workers who were already in the area also

helped. An investigation has opened into the cause of the accident.


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