Banbury Stoppage

[Jennifer McM]

Sadly a woman's body was found on the towpath yesterday. Obviously the police are conducting whatever they have to do.

Banbury Towpath and Navigation Between Bridge164 & Bridge 166, including lock 29

 

https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/notices/15418-banbury-towpath-and-navigation-between-bridge164-and-bridge-166-including-lock-29

 

Edited to add link:

 

https://www.banburyguardian.co.uk/news/people/woman-found-dead-in-banbury-1-8948240

 

 

Edited June 2, 2019 by Jennifer McM

[Tumshie]

Oh how sad...... I hope she is identified soon. 

 

And so awful for who ever found her too. ?

[Jennifer McM]

2 minutes ago, Tumshie said:

Oh how sad...... I hope she is identified soon. 

 

And so awful for who ever found her too. ?

Absolutely,

 

I guess the police will be interviewing all boaters in the area, not letting them move on until they're eliminated from their enquiries.

[billS]

That's 24 hours now that the canal has been closed. I presume there must be suspicion of foul play.

[Tumshie]

I can't find anything in the news other than the links Jen posted, which just says her death is as of yet unexplained, so it would seem the police have asked the papers to hold off reporting till they have some more information. 

[mrsmelly]

1 minute ago, Tumshie said:

I can't find anything in the news other than the links Jen posted, which just says her death is as of yet unexplained, so it would seem the police have asked the papers to hold off reporting till they have some more information. 

It is standard practice today for police to give as little info as possible at first. The media in any case will make up a story as they feel fit, the actual facts being not in the remote bit being part of their story. If the police say anything without clarification at the offset then they will be open to ridicule  from the same media further down the line. I have first hand knowledge of this and its a fact, always has been.

[Tumshie]

1 minute ago, mrsmelly said:

It is standard practice today for police to give as little info as possible at first.

I think in this day and age with so many people running rampant on social media no chances with misinformation can be taken. I know some here don't like it but I have no problem with the police not releasing all and everything, they have a job to do and we just need to trust them and let them get on with it. 

 

 

[mrsmelly]

1 minute ago, Tumshie said:

I think in this day and age with so many people running rampant on social media no chances with misinformation can be taken. I know some here don't like it but I have no problem with the police not releasing all and everything, they have a job to do and we just need to trust them and let them get on with it. 

 

 

Yes I agree. The dreadful incident I had the life changing misfortune of dealing with was bad enough then,  It was before even mobile phones but within a very few minutes we had representatives from every major newspaper at the cul de sac in question. The story next day on front page of the dailys and the later such as the News of the World bore no resemblance to any of the initial facts. By the next weeks papers it had been rectified by facts released by us who attended the scene. I have said it before and will reiterate its why I never ever buy a so called newspaper as I absolutely know they will print anything whatsoever and claim later its " Freedom of the press"

[Jennifer McM]

12 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

Yes I agree. The dreadful incident I had the life changing misfortune of dealing with was bad enough then,  It was before even mobile phones but within a very few minutes we had representatives from every major newspaper at the cul de sac in question. The story next day on front page of the dailys and the later such as the News of the World bore no resemblance to any of the initial facts. By the next weeks papers it had been rectified by facts released by us who attended the scene. I have said it before and will reiterate its why I never ever buy a so called newspaper as I absolutely know they will print anything whatsoever and claim later its " Freedom of the press"

Which is why I think body cameras on policemen is necessary. Anyone who speaks to the press these days should automatically record the conversation.

 

Changing tack quite a bit.....

 

Reminds me of funny story during WW1, Captain gave message to a squaddy to pass down the line to the radio operator, "Send reinforcements we're going to advance", when it got to the radio operator the message was "Send three and fourpence we're going to a dance". Don't know if that's a true story or not, it just makes me smile. 

[Tumshie]

4 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

Yes I agree. The dreadful incident I had the life changing misfortune of dealing with was bad enough then,  It was before even mobile phones but within a very few minutes we had representatives from every major newspaper at the cul de sac in question. The story next day on front page of the dailys and the later such as the News of the World bore no resemblance to any of the initial facts. By the next weeks papers it had been rectified by facts released by us who attended the scene. I have said it before and will reiterate its why I never ever buy a so called newspaper as I absolutely know they will print anything whatsoever and claim later its " Freedom of the press"

I would go as far as to say the in this day and age the papers are the least of our worries. It's seems a little disrespectful to the woman found yesterday to take this thread off topic so I'll only do so briefly. The Boston Marathon bombings is a prime example of social media running rampant and causing more harm than good. Keyboard vigilantes ganged together (and not just a few but millions of them) to solve the crime - what they actually did was start a witch hunt, get the wrong guy and force the hand of the FBI, it's also believed that because the FBI were forced to release information that they hadn't wanted to that another terror attack was allowed to happen the might have other wise been prevented. Reddit might have learnt its lesson but people don't change. 

 

https://www.boston.com/culture/movies/2015/04/11/reddits-find-boston-bombers-thread-moderator-is-full-of-regrets#comments

 

https://www.businessinsider.com/reddit-falsely-accuses-sunil-tripathi-of-boston-bombing-2013-7?r=US&IR=T

 

 

 

 

[Tonka]

It wasn't Eileen Dover by any chance

[roland elsdon]

Yep

1 hour ago, mrsmelly said:

Yes I agree. The dreadful incident I had the life changing misfortune of dealing with was bad enough then,  It was before even mobile phones but within a very few minutes we had representatives from every major newspaper at the cul de sac in question. The story next day on front page of the dailys and the later such as the News of the World bore no resemblance to any of the initial facts. By the next weeks papers it had been rectified by facts released by us who attended the scene. I have said it before and will reiterate its why I never ever buy a so called newspaper as I absolutely know they will print anything whatsoever and claim later its " Freedom of the press"

Yep I had the misfortune to suffer from press  besiegement  at work.

then the lies  in print when I said no comment repeatedly, then the misinformation.

my staff were in tears, the next morning we had a lynch mob outside.

The hospital managers were set to do a number on me, until they found out the truth, and that was that I had already moved the patient into secure police custody, whilst they were enjoying their weekend off duty.

 

[Athy]

What is odd is that the body is reported as being ON the towpath; more often, such sad cases involve one being fished out of the water.

[Jennifer McM]

5 minutes ago, Athy said:

What is odd is that the body is reported as being ON the towpath; more often, such sad cases involve one being fished out of the water.

The police are appealing for witnesses.

 

On the right of the pic, at the bottom of this lock, there's a sani station. When we went through here last year, we stopped to use the services. Just beyond the sani is another bridge, and loitering under the bridge were several people from quite young teens to grown ups which looked to be dealing drugs. Some were spaced out on the ground. We didn't delve too much, avoiding eye contract really. When we moored by Tooleys I contacted the police, and just as I suspected a policewoman told me they knew about the area and were keeping an eye on it. 

 

 

https://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/news/17679255.womans-body-found-on-canal-towpath-in-banbury/

[Athy]

Yes, it's an area which we know well, being Cropredy moorers. The section below the lock is a bit on the sleazy side. But if, for example, this was simply the body of someone who had taken an overdose of drugs, then there would likely be no one else involved, so the canal would surely not need to be closed. 

[matty40s]

23 minutes ago, Athy said:

Yes, it's an area which we know well, being Cropredy moorers. The section below the lock is a bit on the sleazy side. But if, for example, this was simply the body of someone who had taken an overdose of drugs, then there would likely be no one else involved, so the canal would surely not need to be closed. 

Absolutely  , cruise past , stuff upper lip and all that.....

[Athy]

I never stuff my upper lip, but apart from that I agree with you - closing the canal seems quite unnecessary unless there are suspicious circumstances.

[Ray T]

Not trying to be flippant in any way shape or form but news like this is all too common on the cut and has been for years.

 

 

"My" historic narrow boat captain has told me many a tale and has said "It's all part of being on the cut." 

Edited June 2, 2019 by Ray T

[cuthound]

12 minutes ago, matty40s said:

Absolutely  , cruise past , stuff upper lip and all that.....

 

Never had you down as a Hamsters fan Matty ? 

 

 

 

Edited June 2, 2019 by cuthound
Wrong link ?

[Jennifer McM]

41 minutes ago, Athy said:

I never stuff my upper lip, but apart from that I agree with you - closing the canal seems quite unnecessary unless there are suspicious circumstances.

Unless every boater is a suspect, and every one I guess, would have to be ruled out. The police would have a heck of job finding the boater (especially if he's the murderer) again. 

[mark99]

Did a big project there last year. Client cleared the scrub in the advanced works and found a body. 

[matty40s]

9 minutes ago, mark99 said:

Did a big project there last year. Client cleared the scrub in the advanced works and found a body. 

Perhaps you should have reported it then....

[mark99]

Newts ........

[Tumshie]

The Beeb have a bit on it now too.

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-48489986

 

 

[roland elsdon]

Banbury has always been rough in places. We looked at a boat there  in 1986 once where castle quay is now. The owner moved it there to meet us from the station, and wanted to get away before dark...

there had been a murder there only the week before.

 

having said that its better now and we have overnighted twice there in the last 10 days and survived.

 

the gloss of castle quays and urban regeneration is pretty superficial . Designer crap in the shopping centre and designer drugs round the bus station. Last year there were unfortunates sheltering in the toilets and crt rubbish compound. Very sad.