Asian Teens behaved like a pack of animals

FOUR teenagers who set upon an innocent window cleaner “like a pack of animals” have today been jailed for a total of 11 years.

Judge Norman Wright blasted the gang as he sent them to prison after being told they attacked Ian Dewhurst simply because he had the “misfortune to walk past them”.

Mr Dewhurst’s teeth were kicked out and he had several ribs broken.

After the yobs were sentenced, Mr Dewhurst said the punishment was “justice in some ways” but that he had been left in fear.

And a councillor who represents the area where the attack happened in Blackburn branded them “utter hooligans” who should be “ashamed of themselves”.

Preston Crown Court was told that Mr Dewhurst, 47, was attacked as he walked past the group, who were sat on a wall.
He had just bought some lager from an off licence in Granville Road, Blackburn.

The self-employed window cleaner, who lives off Preston New Road, had his teeth kicked out and several ribs broken during the incident on November 30, 2006.

Mr Dewhurst, who is also a full time carer for his disabled partner, was unable to work for several months and had to pay out over £700 to have his teeth replaced.

The four teenagers robbed him of just £10 which they spent in a takeaway after the attack.

The youths were caught by police following CCTV evidence. One of the youths was 14 at the time.

Two 16-year-old boys, who can’t be named for legal reasons, a 17-year-old boy, who also cannot be named, and Yasin Ali Khan, 18, of Preston New Road, Blackburn, pleaded guilty to robbery.

Ali Khan and the 17-year-old were sentenced to three years and two months.

One of the 16-year-olds was sentenced to two years and 11 months, while the other got two years and eight months.

All four were sent to youth detention after Judge Wright said that a community order or a detention and training order was not a suitable punishment for them.

The judge said: “On that evening Mr Dewhurst was going about his business.

“He bought some lager and outside the shop he had the misfortune of going past you and the other youths.

“He was attacked, punched to the ground and there were threats to kill him.

“All he had was £10. That was the fruits of your escapade.

“All of you were like a pack of animals, kicking a man on the ground.

“He suffered serious injuries but apart from the physical injuries there is also the psychological aspect.

“It is not surprising he is frightened to go out at night when he was attacked in this way.

“All of you should be thoroughly ashamed of your behaviour that night.”

Mr Dewhurst said: “The sentence the judge passed is justice in some ways.

“They have been shown this behaviour cannot carry on.

“This was the second time I was attacked in two weeks - who is to say there isn’t someone who will act in the same way as them?

“They have affected me in a psychological way but I am pleased with the sentence.”

Corporation Park ward councillor Abdul Rehman said: “This was an atrocious attack on an upstanding member of the community.

“What happened to this man was totally uncalled for and was nothing but utter hooliganism.

“The people responsible ought to be ashamed of themselves.

“I hope the sentences will give them time to reflect on their behaviour.”

Fylde's 'oldest' window cleaner's a glass act

ALAN Forrest could not be happier ... when he's cleaning windows.

And at almost 80 years old, this window cleaner can remember when the famous tune first came out in 1937 – although you won't hear him whistling it even when he's up at the windows of George Formby's former home in Poulton, part of his rounds for the last 40 years.

"The lads don't like me singing, they say I sound terrible.

"I was in the choir at school and they thought there was something wrong with the organ until they realised it was me singing," joked the grandfather from Blackpool Road in Carleton.

Having started his business 40 years ago, Alan has brought a shine to homes across the Fylde coast and a smile to the faces of his many customers.

And even with his 80th birthday approaching in April, he has no plans of quitting yet.

"I love the job. I get to go out meeting people from all walks of life, you are your own boss and I'm not bothered about going up the ladders.

"It's all changed from when I started. It was mop and bucket and a ladder, now it's squeegies and 40 ladderless brushes and health and safety.

"But I still do full time. I've no plans for retirement while I can still get about.

"I've never been afraid of hard work. The harder you work the more you get."

A former professional boxer, Alan also served as an able seaman in the operations room aboard HMS Implacable in the late 1940s.

In all his years up ladders, Alan has seen some sights but says discretion is the key and he remains tightlipped.

He s
aid: "I've seen plenty through the windows but I don't think I should disclose any of it.

"I've done Keith Harris's home and George Formby's place – well I still do it, but I don't sing the song."

Son Gordon Forrest has taken over the business, moving it on from a domestic round to a growing business, servicing shops, schools and hospitals, but there's no moving the old guard.

He said: "Dad's a remarkable man, I can't imagine there are too many 80-year- old's working, never mind going up and down ladders in all kinds of weather.

Engineering students to plan, build window-washing robot

By Lee Ann Marcel
Reporter

The Baylor American Society of Mechanical Engineering plans to design and build a window-washing robot, or the "winrobo," which will be designed to aid in window-washing for homeowners with mobility problems.

Students from nine different states, as well as the country of Mexico, will accept the challenge of the Student Design Competition, hosted by the national ASME

This year's challenge is to build and demonstrate an invention that is able to wash a residential window automatically without human interference.

The robots must be able to clean the dirty windows without falling off, as well as climb up to the upper panel of the window.

Meanwhile the robots will be judged on how fast they clean and how clean the window is.

Teams are stressed with a deadline between Jan. 25 and Feb. 1, Baylor ASME president Melanie Hawkins, a Forth Worth junior, said.

Some are approaching the deadline with confidence.

"Ours is going to be finished in like a week," San Juan, Wash., junior Thomas Guard said.

Baylor ASME has broken up into four teams to compete in the competition.

The teams are looking to design a simple robot with a microchip processor that will act as the "brain." The microchip will have specific commands written on it to instruct the winrobo to move back and forth on the window.

There will also be a sensor on each side to signal to the microchip processor when the robot has come to the end of the window frame, which then the microchip processor will then order the robot to move up and continue washing, Houston junior and treasurer of ASME Alex Keller said.

"We aren't going for flashy or elaborate, just something to get it don't quickly. The problem is deciding how to move the robot to the top pane," San Antonio sophomore Josh Kinnaird said,

Students will have to design a way for the robots to climb over the protruding bar that separates the two panes, without falling off.

"We are looking into gecko technology," Keller said, "We can design something to clean the window ... but the middle bar is the issue," Keller said.

Keller also said that teams hope to accomplish this with retractable arms and suction cups. The designed robot will look similar to a gecko.

Winners of the Student Design Competition will get $3,000 plus a trip to compete internationally.

"This is the first time that the involvement is this big." Dr. Kenneth Van Treuren, Professor and Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Professor of Mechanical Engineering, said.

Though they say judges are strict and the competition is tough, the Baylor teams believe they are more likely to win due to the amount of teams participating.

"We are trying to put Baylor engineering on the map," Keller said.

Competing in the SDC would not have been possible in previous years, and that money and interest has come recently, Stamford, Conn., senior Yasaman Shirazi said.

Window cleaner's escape as car rolls through shop front

A window cleaner narrowly avoided being crushed as a car rolled through a Northamptonshire shop front.

The man jumped to safety after a postman saw the car heading towards the window and shouted at him.

The Peugeot car had been parked at Palmers Quality Butchers in Gold Street, Kettering, but the handbrake was not on securely, meaning it rolled through the town centre and into Bay Trading's window.

Lucy Colman, manager of Bay Trading in High Street, said: "It is lucky that this happened before we opened because it could have been so much worse.

"The window cleaner was the only person around at the time and had to jump out of the way or would have been squashed.

"We have obviously had to be closed all morning while the window has been replaced.

"A lot of out shelves have been damaged and we have had to throw away all our shoes as they are covered in shards of glass."

One witness, who did not want to be named said: "I saw the car go past and thought it was going a bit fast but didn't realise there was no driver."

A spokesman for the police said: "This is a very unusual case that is classed as a accident as no crime was committed.

"The woman who owned the car was shaken up and it is lucky that no one was hurt.

"It could have been a lot worse but we will not be getting involved further."

Window Washer Who Fell 47-Stories Leaves Hospital

NEW YORK -- The window washer who survived a 47-story fall from an Upper East Side building last month has been moved from a Manhattan hospital to a rehabilitation center.New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center said that Alcides Moreno was discharged on Friday.Doctors call Moreno’s road to recovery “a miracle.” He and his brother, Edgar, both fell from the scaffolding of the building on Dec. 7. Edgar, 30, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Window washer killed, second hurt when scaffold falls 2-3 stories

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) - One window washer was killed Friday morning and a second injured when their scaffolding fell two to three stories from a building in Glendale.

Glendale Fire Department spokesman Daniel Valenzuela says police have identified the dead man as 51-year-old Victor Leija of Phoenix. His fellow worker remains hospitalized.

Investigators aren't sure what happened to cause the scaffolding to fall from the city-owned Bank of America building at Glenn Street and 59th Avenue in Glendale. The building houses city offices and the bank.

Valenzuela says the window washers were employed by a private company.

Cleaner in horror fall landed with a ticket

By GEMMA FRASER
A VAN belonging to a window cleaner who was seriously injured after falling 20ft from his ladder was hit with a parking ticket – despite displaying a note explaining what had happened.
Enforcers slapped the ticket on Raymond Hamilton's Renault Kangoo less than an hour after he had been rushed to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.

Mr Hamilton, who is in his 60s, fell yesterday morning while cleaning a first-floor window of a tenement block on Dalkeith Road. It is understood both his ankles were broken in the accident.

The city council said its parking attendants had no way of knowing what had happened to Mr Hamilton and said officials would be "happy" to cancel the ticket if someone contacted the authority on the window cleaner's behalf.

But a witness to the accident who placed a note on Mr Hamilton's van said it should not have happened in the first place.

Mr Hamilton's wife Marion, meanwhile, believes the accident will put an end to her husband's window-cleaning career, which he began decades ago.

She also thought he might have to undergo an operation, but did not yet know the full extent of his injuries. She was told about the fall by her son, who works in the operating theatre at the ERI. He only discovered his father was injured when he was rushed into hospital.

Mrs Hamilton, from Oxgangs, said: "It was a terrible shock when my son phoned me, and I imagine he must have got a shock too. He's been cleaning windows since he was a lad and this is the first time he's had a right bad fall.

"I told him that he should be stopping because we are both pensioners and it is a dangerous job, but he doesn't like letting customers down. I think it's time he stopped now and after what has happened I can't see him ever cleaning windows again."

The man who placed the note on the van, who is one of Mr Hamilton's customers, is furious that the parking attendant chose to ignore it. He said he phoned the city council to
explain the situation, but was told that launching an appeal against the ticket was the only option.

He added: "The ticket was stuck on about ten minutes after his time ran out (on the parking meter]. Whoever issued it had taken my note off the windscreen to have a look at it, and then put it back. When I phoned the council they said he would have to appeal the ticket. It's outrageous. "

Phil Wheeler, the city's transport leader, added: "This was a terrible accident and I hope that Mr Hamilton has a speedy recovery. However, parking attendants have no way of knowing the circumstances in these situations and are told to disregard handwritten notes placed on vehicles.

"Drivers are welcome to appeal and if they can show proof of a medical emergency, then we will cancel their ticket. If someone contacts the council on Mr Hamilton's behalf, then we will be happy to cancel this one."

Window cleaning platform left dangling

A skyscraper window cleaning platform is dangling above Auckland's central business district.

It is not known whether anyone was on board the pulley-operated unit at the corner of Queen Street and Wellesley Street when one side broke free.

A Fire Service spokesman says one person has been injured and an ambulance has been called. Two fire trucks have been working for about an hour trying to secure the platform.

A pedestrian passing by says a large sheet of glass smashed on the ground at the foot of the building.