ONE YEAR AGO

August 8, 2007

Bogus callers claiming to be police have stole cash from seven elderly women in one afternoon.

The same group of four men are thought to have targeted homes in Cressing, Witham, Marks Tey and Danbury, escaping with money from each home.

At one address, in Marks Tey, an 81-year-old woman was held down while they stole £160. The men were all smartly dressed in shirts and ties, but were not wearing uniforms.

* Theft is the most common crime carried out against businesses in Braintree, Dunmow and Witham, according to a countrywide survey.

The Federation of Small Businesses has published the results of a survey to assess how crime and disorder affect businesses in Essex.

Its north-east Essex region, which includes Braintree, recorded the highest figures in the county for theft, with 56 per cent of respondents having been victims of theft.

The north-west region, which includes Dunmow, returned figures revealing that 53 per cent of businesses had been victims of a theft, while in the mid-Essex region, which includes Witham, 48 per cent had been hit by theft.

TEN YEARS AGO

August 6, 1998

A reward is being offered after a pensioner was robbed of her entire jewellery collection.

The 72-year-old was enjoying a fish and chip lunch with about 30 fellow residents at The Mulberries wardened flats in South Street, Braintree, when the theft occurred.

When the pensioner returned to her flat, she discovered items of jewellery missing that her husband, who had been in the Army, had brought back from all over the world.

A reward is being offered for the full recovery of the jewellery.

* Children from Chernobyl will again be spending a month-long recuperative holiday in Braintree, thanks to the kindness of residents.

The local branch of charity Medicine for Chernobyl has once again raised enough money to bring a group of children, aged seven to ten, from Belorussia to Braintree for a holiday.

40 YEARS AGO

August 9, 1968

Police who kept watch on a furniture shop in High Street, Dunmow, found three bottles of spirits hidden in the seat of a chair at the back of the store.

This led to the conviction of an American sergeant for fraudulently evading duty, by selling goods which he had bought at duty-free prices at the Wethersfield airbase.

* As two fire crews raced to answer an emergency call at Rose Hill, Braintree, a man was heard to remark in a nearby fish and chip shop: “It’s a false alarm.”

The unemployed 31-year-old man, of Rifle Hill, Braintree, pleaded guilty to giving a false fire alarm and maliciously using a quantity of electricity.

He was put on probation for two years, with the condition that he received medical treatment.

50 YEARS AGO

August 7, 1958

A mother who is almost blind, her ten-month-old son and her husband, who is recovering from a serious attack of pneumonia and pleurisy, were evicted from their house in John Ray Street, Braintree.

The couple and their son watched silently as two officials carried out their furniture, which they had saved for two years to buy, and placed it by the side of the road under a small tree.

A couple heard of the plight of the family and offered them accommodation in their house, which they had moved into just the week before and were in the middle of decorating.