FIREFIGHTERS at the
Bishop8217s Stortford station
bid farewell to officer
Mario Stango, who has
retired after 30 years of
service.Around 70 family, friends
and colleagues said their
goodbyes at a party at the
Patmore Close station,
where he was presented
with gifts including an
inscribed pewter tankard, a
watch and a mounted axe.
Former amateur and pro-
fessional boxer Mario, 55,
joined Northamptonshire
fire service in 1977 and
served at Wellingborough
and Rushden, and Matlock
in Derbyshire before trans-
ferring to Stortford in 1984.
He has attended a huge
number offires 8211 including
the oil depot blast at
Buncefield in Hemel
Hempstead in December
2006 and the blaze that
caused thousands of
pounds8217 damage at Clement
Joscelyne in Market
Square, Stortford, in 1997 8211
and has gone to the aid of
hundreds ofaccident vic-
tims.
In the 1990s he was the
instigator ofa campaign to
get every home in the area
fitted with a smoke detec-
tor, an initiative which has
spread nationwide with
free home fire safety checks
and free fitting ofsmoke
alarms.
Mario 8211 who is the Fire
Services8217 National
Benevolent Fund represen-
tative 8211 and other firefight-
ers at Stortford have raised
thousands ofpounds for
charity through car washes
and other events. Bishop8217s
Stortford MENCAP at
Grove Cottage is just one
cause that has benefited
from their efforts.
A fire service charity
boxing evening in July
2005, organised by Mario
and held in memory oftwo
Herts firefighters who died
in a Stevenage tower block
blaze earlier that year,
raised about 1636,000 for the
Stevenage Firefighters8217
Fund.
In September, Mario will
referee a charity boxing
tournament in memory of
Stevenage sub-officer and
former Stortford firefighter
Paul Mallaghan, who was
killed as he tackled a motor-
way blaze in June last year.
Mario said: 8220I will miss
the fire service and the peo-
ple ofBishop8217s Stortford.
Over the years I have made
many friends here and have
always had the help and
support ofmy station col-
leagues and the Bishop8217s
Stortford community. It is
the end ofone chapter and
the opening ofanother.8221
Mario and wife Laura,
who were married at the
town8217s register office last
month, have moved to
Mundesley in Norfolk.NEWS
INBRIEFFirefighter Mario
hangs up his hoseLeak turns stretch of
street into a 8216hazard8217www.hertsandessexobserver.co.uk
Observer March 13, 2008 G21A LEAK which has made
the surface ofa Bishop8217s
Stortford road permanently
wet has prompted a flood of
complaints.
Town councillor Mike
Wood said numerous resi-
dents had complained to
him about the stretch of
Beldams Lane, between the
two junctions with
Dimsdale Crescent, but
Three Valleys Water has not
been able to fix the problem.
8220This issue is cause for
concern to both residents
living in Beldams Lane and
to anyone who regularly
drives along it,8221 said Cllr
Wood. 8220The road is always
wet, which is a hazard, and
ifit carries on like this I
fear that the road surface
could be undermined.
8220Three Valleys Water has
been called out several
times by residents, but on
each occasion they haven8217t
been able to stop the leak.8221
A Three Valleys spokes-
woman said that it was mak-
ing progress in pinpointing
the source ofthe escaping
water. 8220We are going to
apply for permission to dig
up the road,8221 she said.FAREWELL: Mario,
centre, surrounded by
colleagues past and
presentPhoto:
DF9PVK3Z-03inset top, Mario with
his family at the
retirement bashPhoto: DF9PVK3Z-01By
Elizabeth Reevereevee@hertsessexnews.co.uk Village teen accused
of murder of boy, 16A TEENAGER from Thaxted has been
charged with murdering a 16-year-old
boy in London.
Liam Palmer, 18, ofCutler8217s Green, was
remanded in custody at Enfield
Magistrates8217 Court last Friday to appear
at the Old Bailey for trial on June 13.
Victim Ofiyke Nmezu, ofReculver
Mews, Enfield,
pictured
, died two weeks
after allegedly being hit with a brick
during a street attack.
He did not seek medical
attention at the time or
inform police, but was
admitted to hospital on
February 29 and died
the same day from a
fractured skull.
It is alleged that the
victim was attacked
outside a grocery store in Ponders End,
Enfield, at about 7.30pm on February 15
by three men who got out ofa car. It is
claimed that he was struck by a brick.
Police made three arrests on Wednesday
last week. A 21-year-old and a 15-year-old,
from north London, were questioned and
released with no further action being
taken. A fourth man, who is believed to
have stayed in the car, was bailed on
Friday to return on March 31. He is from
north London.No charges after
drive-by shootingPOLICE said this week that they will
take no further action against a man
arrested after a drive-by shooting in
Rickling Green, in which a father and
his two-year-old son were injured.
The 51-year-old from Newmarket had
been questioned in connection with the
incident outside a bungalow in Brick
Kiln Lane at the end oflast July.
His bail had been extended until last
Thursday as police inquiries continued.
The victim, a farmer aged 41, was
standing by his Audi estate car, with
his toddler son inside, when two shots
were fired from the passenger side ofa
passing dark blue vehicle.
He was hit in the body and legs by
small-gauge birdshot. His son was hit
by two pellets.Escape from fatal crashA NEWPORT man escaped unhurt
after being involved in a fatal car crash
on Tuesday night.
The 52-year-old, who was driving a
green Ford Fiesta, was involved in a
collision at around 5.35pm with a green
MG and a blue Mercedes Sprinter van.
The driver ofthe Sprinter, a 47-year-old
man from Ely, was also unharmed, but
the MG driver was killed in the crash,
which happened on the A1301 at
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