Coleraine Woman Convicted Of £11k Benefit Fraud

A Coleraine woman has been convicted of benefit fraud after she claimed over £11,000 she was not entitled to.

Yvonne Holmes, aged 50, of The Crescent, Coleraine was found to have claimed Employment and Support Allowance and Housing Benefit totalling £11,163, while failing to declare employment.

She was sentenced to three months imprisonment suspended for two years at Coleraine Magistrates court on Friday 09 August. The fraud was uncovered following an investigation by the Department for Communities.

Ms Holmes is also required to repay any outstanding money wrongfully obtained to the Department.

Alliance Slam 'Unacceptable' Newry Bonfire

The Alliance Party has hit out at a republican bonfire in Newry that displayed signs naming local victims.

The anti-internment bonfire, erected in the Carnagat area of the town, was branded with the names of victims' campaigner Willie Frazer, murdered prison officer David Black, and soldiers murdered at the 1979 Narrow Water attack, amongst others.

Local representative Helena Young said there is no place for the kind of hatred in society that saw the victims named.

In a statement released on Friday, she said: "Like many across Northern Ireland, I was extremely sickened to see the images from within the Newry, Mourne and Down Council area aimed purely at causing hurt and offence to others.

"This kind of hatred has no place in our society and is not supported by the majority of people locally, who want to see an end to this kind of revolting behaviour.

"It is completely unacceptable to mock the dead and my thoughts are with all those affected by the scenes that unfolded last night.  I hope colleagues across the political divide can join me in condemning this disgusting behaviour."

£1.4m Armagh Sewer Works Underway

A £1.4 million project has been launched to upgrade the sewer network in Armagh city.

The scheme will see several improvements delivered along the network, including a new WasteWater Pumping Station (WwPS) at Killylea Road and sewer upgrades in the west of the city.

Contractor BSG Civil Engineering have commenced work on the first phase of the scheme, which will see sewer upgrades completed on Irish Street. A road closure will be in place from the Irish Street slip road opposite St Malachy's Church to the Navan St / Ogle Street junction until Thursday 15 August.

Following the completion of these works, phase 2 will see a lane closure in place on Irish Street (city bound) and two-way traffic maintained with temporary traffic signals. A lane closure will also be in place on the Irish Street slip road, with access available from the Irish street end only. This will be in place for four days.

The final phase of the project will include the reconstruction of a 5m deep manhole in Irish Street at the entrance to St Malachy's Church. For safety reasons, a road closure will be in place for up to two weeks.

Access for local businesses and residents will be maintained at every stage of the work.

During the programme, work will be carried out between 8am and 7pm Monday-Saturday.

When complete, this project will provide a new modern reliable pumping station and increase the capacity of the sewerage network in the area, which will significantly reduce the likelihood of out-of-sewer flooding and environmental pollution to the Callan River.



(JG/CM)