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THURSDAY, 24th JUNE, 2010.

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World cup call-u

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Two jailed for torching bar in town centre Two men are in jail after breaking into the DV8 Congleton town centre bar and setting it alight during an “amateurish burglary that went wrong”.

drank spirits from bottles behind the bar and set fire to the grade two listed building. It caused damage and loss of business worth £120,000.

DV8 in August, and attempted to steal money from the safe. When they were unsuccessful, they drank spirits, smashed bottles and overturned tables and chairs.

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One of the men had initially denied the crime ecause he did not want his mother to find out the truth about his drunken rampage.

Barry Riley, (18), from Edinburgh Road, Congleton and Neal Stockton, (22), of Summerhill Drive in Waterhayes, Staffordshire,but who lived in Congleton at the time,

roke into the Little Street ar in the early hours of 25th August last year. They

Both have since pleaded guilty to charges of burglary of a non-dwelling and arson, and were sentenced at Chester Crown Court on Tuesday.

Riley had initially denied the charges, but changed his plea shortly before his trial in May. He was sentenced to 16 months in prison and Stockton to 18 months.

The court heard that the bar reopened three months after the fire following £66,689-worth of repairs, having lost £60,000 worth of business. Damages were reclaimed through the bar’s insurance policy.

Riley and Stockton broke into

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At around 5am, two hours after breaking in, they started a fire in an upstairs office before fleeing the building.

Police identified the men from DNA samples they had left on cans of Red Bull and a footprint Riley left in the debris.

An impact statement from DV8 co-owner Chris Carsons was read out. It said he was “devastated” when he found out what had happened to the bar, which he and business partner James Kennedy had “put everything into”. Mr Carsons wrote that he had suf-

• —Turn to back page.

Boozing report makes for sobering reading Almost a third of the borough’s population is “increasing or high risk” drinkers who cost taxpayers £31.5m a year, according to a new report.

And the problem is not limited to any particular social group or age range.

The document, which will go before the Full Council next month, says: “There are 112,000 increasing and high risk drinkers across the Central and Eastern Primary Care Trust area, approximately 30% of the population.

The report, by Cheshire East Council, also claims heavy drinking is a bigger cause of youth crime in the area than illegal drugs, while heavy drinking plays a part in more than half of all domestic abuse cases.

Although the borough’s pubs have been packed for the World Cup, the report shows that a large number of people do not save heavy drinking for special occasions.

Out of 324 local authorities, Cheshire East ranks 156th in the country for binge-drinking and 216th for harmful drinking.

The report appears in the council’s sustainable communities strategy, setting out priorities for the borough over the next 15 years which also flags up existing problems facing the area.

“This issue cuts across social and economic boundaries and is an issue for our whole community.

“Alcohol harm is a significant issue for Cheshire East, costing the trust £31.5m per annum, and this is expected to increase in the future.”

It adds: “One consequence of high alcohol consumption is higher than average admissions to hospital for alcohol related illness and accidents.

“In the area of children’s social care, alcohol was an issue in almost 25% of all cases. In 55% of incidents where domestic abuse is reported alcohol is involved.

“Young people’s alcohol consumption has a strong association with offending, violence and anti-social behaviour.

• —Turn to back page.

Thirteen-year-old Connor Leese makes a big noise to keep England’s World Cup dream going.To find out what happened when Congleton High School linked up with a South African school for a vuvuzela lesson turn to page 21. (“Chronicle” photo. 2522a/10).

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