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ThePress
Friday January 13, 2017
OBITUARY: Rugby prop forward Terry Dewhirst News In Brief Addict stole beauty products from stores DEWSBURY: A drug addict stole from two town centre stores to help fund his habit. Jay Gair, 34, pleaded guilty to stealing £85 worth of deodorant gift sets from B&M Bargains on Wilton Street on December 13 and 14. He then stole hair straighteners worth £90 from Superdrug on Longcauseway. Kirklees Magistrates’ Court heard he tested positive for cocaine and opiates when he was arrested. Gair, of Cemetery Road, Dewsbury, was sentenced to a community order as a direct alternative to custody which includes six months of drug treatment. He must also pay compensation for the items he stole.
Ossett’s past present OSSETT: A Facebook history group is set to have its posts archived in the British Library. Ossett Through The Ages currently has over 3,500 members and gives people the chance to share their memories of the town. The page has been running for less than 18 months, but has already been selected as a website which will be safeguarded by the British Library. Page founder Anne-Marie Fawcett said: “It’s a fantastic achievement, especially in such a short space of time. It is due to all the members and their contributions.”
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TD – larger than life By Danny Lockwood ONE OF local rugby league’s larger than life characters – in just about every which way you can measure it – has passed away after a long illness. Former publican and bookmaker Terry Dewhirst died aged 73 on Saturday in Asquith Hall, a specialist dementia care home in Todmorden. Even his closest friends described ‘TD’ as ‘occasionally difficult, somewhat abrupt’ – not something the former Halifax, Bramley and Dewsbury Celtic prop forward would necessarily have taken issue with. That’s if anyone had dared tell him. His fellow Celtic and Halifax teammate Paul O’Hara, who as a hooker packed down next to Terry for years, said diplomatically this week that “social graces” weren’t among TD’s strong points. As Paul quickly added, however, everyone had a hilarious tale or three to tell about a bloke who many people quietly referred to as ‘Twy’ in reference to his speech impediment. But again, rarely when he was within earshot. A big man and fierce rugby competitor, Terry began his amateur career playing in Mirfield alongside another great local product of the 1960s, Trevor Oldroyd. He graduated to the leading Celtic amateur side via Westtown Boys, before being recruited by Halifax, where he
Terry Dewhirst – liked his food!
played alongside one of the game’s great props ‘Big’ Jim Mills. Terry picked up a winners medal in the old Players No.6
Cup, beating Wakefield Trinity in the final. After a spell at Bramley, he was player-coach during some of Dewsbury Celtic’s greatest days, scoring a try in a winning Yorkshire Cup Final performance against the redoubtable Hull Dockers, and holding mighty Wigan to a 15-5 scoreline in the first round proper of the Challenge Cup at Batley’s Mount Pleasant. After that, Halifax coach Maurice Bamford took half the Celtic pack – Terry, Paul O’Hara and the rock-hard Allan Wood – to stiffen up his professional team at Thrum Hall, which they did to great effect. Terry Dewhirst ended his career there, to concentrate on
his business as a pub landlord. He was licensee at the Victoria in Carlinghow, Batley, and after running a pub with his ex-wife Anne in Halifax, returned to take The Scarborough – aka Luppy’s – in Westtown. After that came a further venture into bookmaking and he was a familiar site zipping round the district’s pubs on Sunday lunchtimes picking up rugby league tipping sheets for many years. Stephen, one of his three sons along with Paul and Peter, followed him into the trade and works as a racecourse bookmaker. His funeral will take place next Wednesday morning (9.30am) at St Mary’s RC Church in Batley, followed by a gathering at Batley Irish Nash. Donations in lieu of flowers will be for the RFL Benevolent Fund.
Public help needed to find missing Jerry AN ANIMAL centre in Heckmondwike is on the lookout after one of its residents escaped. The silver fox called Jerry disappeared from Ponderosa Rural Therapeutic Centre. He is seven months old and shares a cage with his brother, Bambi, although it remains unclear how Jerry managed to get out. He was last spotted in the Staincliffe area of Dewsbury last Wednesday. Farm manager Eve Fern said: “Jerry is not considered dangerous, having the temperament of a native fox; however please do not approach him. Instead, please call 07720 263537 or 07970 924297.”
Jerry the silver fox – last seen in the Staincliffe area
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‘Disabled’ woman did cafe work A BATLEY woman wrongly claimed £9,000 in disability benefit while working in a cafe. Deborah Barber, 49, of Bradford Road, told the DWP that she had problems walking and using her hands. She was caught working in a local cafe and admitted to benefit fraud. Magistrates heard that her original claim for various benefits was legitimate. She told officials her walking was severely restricted and that she fell on a daily basis. She suffered from anxiety in crowds and struggled with feeling in her hand. But her condition improved and she was found to be working in cafes. Andy Day, mitigating, said Barber was unwell and originally made her application in good faith. She received a community order with 100 hours of unpaid work.