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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2014 WESTERN MAIL
NEWS
NEWS
IN BRIEF
Prison probes
death of inmate
AN inquest will be opened today
for a Somali immigrant who died
at HMP Parc in Bridgend.
Prison chiefs have launched an
investigation into the death of
Mohamoud Ali, 36, who was
allegedly being detained on
immigration charges when he
died on Saturday.
The Ministry of Justice are
investigating and an inquest will
be opened today in Aberdare.
A Prison Service spokesperson
said: “Mohamoud Ali was found
unresponsive in his cell by prison
staff at approximately 7am on
Saturday.
“Prison staff attempted CPR
and paramedics attended but he
was pronounced dead at 7.49am.
“As with all deaths in custody,
the Independent Prisons and
Probation Ombudsman will
conduct an investigation.”
A spokeswoman for G4S, who
runs the private prison, said they
were unable to the comment on
the death while an investigation
was ongoing.
Grave found
under carpet
A MEDIEVAL tombstone has
been unearthed in a small
Welsh church – discovered
hidden under the carpet.
The rare stone was found
at St David’s Church in
Laleston, Bridgend, while
research was being carried
out to set up an historical
interactive walking trail.
The stone set in the floor at
St David’s is believed to date
to the late 14th to early 15th
century. It’s one of three
triple cross slabs in the area
which may be linked.
It will now form one of the
focal points of interest on the
Laleston Stone Trail.
Murder jury
considers verdict
The jury in the trial of a man who
denies murdering his girlfriend at
her Tenby flat will resume its
deliberations today.
Steven Williams, 30, of Newell
Hill, Tenby, is alleged to have
repeatedly stabbed 35-year-old
Joanna Hall at her home last
March following an argument.
Williams, a former chef, claims
an unknown intruder entered the
flat early on March 16 last year
while he was out at a shop and
when he returned he found her
with devastating injuries.
Miss Hall died from her injuries
19 days later in hospital.
The jury retired to consider a
verdict just after midday
yesterday at Swansea Crown
Court.
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‘It’s so rewarding watching
sport empower people...’
>> Mark Hutton shares a joke with the Wattstown under-18 girls rugby team after a training session
I
F someone had told a 14-year-old
Mark Hutton that rugby would
change his life, he would never
have believed it.
He was one of the boys in school
who would forge his parents’ signature to get out of doing PE, he never
exercised and, combined with a
weight problem which meant he had
ballooned to 18st, would never have
contemplated running on a rugby
field, let alone helping to establish a
youth rugby club that is positively
thriving.
His vision to get young people
from one of the country’s most
deprived areas to play sports means
Wattstown Young People Rugby now
offers coaching and competitive
opportunities for boys and girls to
play, while encouraging fun, enjoyment and developing skills in rugby
union.
Thanks to a grant from Comic
Relief, Mark has been able to encourage 28 young men, aged 16-19, who
commit to training twice per week as
well as 36 young girls, aged 13-16, to
actively take part in sport.
Project co-ordinator for The People and Work Unit, 40-year-old Mark
is re-energising the area, where three
times as many people are on benefits
as the national average and only a
quarter of pupils at the local secondary school get the national standard
of five GCSEs at A* to C grades.
“Having spent most of my teenage
years shying away from any type of
physical activity, it’s hard to believe I
now make a living from sport, but it’s
so rewarding watching people
empowered by sport, as that’s what
happened to me,” he says.
“I had weight control issues which
meant I always avoided any type of
sport.
“My parents owned a grocery story
so I was surrounded by cakes, pastries and pies and, by the time I was
Mark Hutton never contemplated doing any exercise as an
overweight teenager until he discovered rugby. He tells
Rachel Mainwaring how his life has turned full circle and
how he’s helping one of Wales’ most deprived areas come
together as a community for everybody’s benefit...
14 years old, I was 18st and wore 42in
trousers.
“I was bullied, I was depressed and
did very little physical activity at all
until a friend of mine invited me to a
rugby training session. I took part
and found I really enjoyed it. I got
more and more into it and found the
weight just started dropping off me
and I felt much better about myself.
“I look back and think that my life
has gone full circle. The People and
Work Unit has used cash raised
through Sport Relief to offer rugby to
young people after school hours. To
see these youngsters transforming
their confidence is amazing.
“Wattstown rugby is a great example of how young people are discovering sport. There has not been a
youth team at Wattstown RFC for
some 12 years, so this is a massive
and welcomed activity to the community of both Ynyshir and Wattstown.
“There are 28 young people who
come two or three times a week and
they all show incredible commitment – the impact of rugby in this
area has been incredible. It has
brought the community together,
with people volunteering to help on
the gate – we even had a crowd of 250
people watching a match.”
Mark, who also works a personal
trainer, said he has seen people
empowered by the sport in just a
short space of time, while some have
gone on to gain employment after
gaining vital confidence from participating in the training sessions.
“In my day no-one really knew
how to deal with issues like obesity,”
he said. “I never did PE and when I
go to schools now I can see there are
those who have forged their parents’
signatures so they don’t have to take
part. But when I started playing
rugby I saw all sorts of results immediately.
“The first was team-building and
boosting my confidence and then
the weight fell off. It was all positive
and made a huge difference and it’s
how to get involved
Sport Relief is looking for your
community group in Wales to
apply for grants and it couldn’t be
easier.
All you need to do to register is go
to www.cfiw.org.uk and complete
your application
Fundraisers are also being asked
to swim, run or cycle at an organised
event and all the money raise
through Sport Relief will be
distributed through Comic Relief,
helping transform lives in Wales,
across the UK and the world’s
poorest countries
■■ Sign up at sportrelief.com
great to see the youngsters gaining
the same benefits that I did.”
The project has helped re-energise
the area through sport and volunteering and through the use of Time
Bank – people exchange volunteering hours for free sports classes or
free entry to swimming pools and
thereby makes more use of sports
facilities that are not being used.
The Western Mail has teamed up
with Sport Relief to offer £100,000 of
cash to community groups like The
People and Work Unit across Wales.
The grants of between £500 and
£1,000 are available to small organisations which are doing great work
to help local people living tough
lives. The guaranteed £100,000 pot
will come from Sainsbury’s Sports
Relief Games being held across Britain over the weekend of March 21-23.
Hundreds of celebrities, including
Alex Jones and Colin Jackson, will be
taking part in the giant fundraiser
which will pour money back into
community projects.
Mark added: “In 18 months, Wattstown Young People Rugby has gone
from strength to strength and there is
so much interest. We realised the
girls should benefit too and we have
38 who have registered with the
WRU, and two who recently played
for Cardiff Blues against Ospreys.
“I can’t quite believe I’ve gone
from not participating to delivering
this for young people. It’s extremely
rewarding.”