Snettisham murder trial, new mayor and review of health centre - Downham in the news (May 18 - May 26)

It has been another busy week for Downham Market with plenty of stories making not only local and regional news but also grabbing national headlines.

The biggest story of the last couple of weeks has been the murder trial of Mike Tucker who has now been found guilty of murdering his partner Becky Thorpe.

Miss Thorpe used to work in Downham Market as a dental nurse and lived in the town. She also worked at the Dray & Horses pub in Tottenhill and was schooled at Shouldham Primary and Downham Market High.

I have collected all the stories the EDP published about the murder trial and put them in order for you to browse (I'm nice like that..!)

May 24, 2011: Michael Tucker gets life for murder of former Downham Market resident Becky Thorpe
May 24, 2011: Murderer can “rot in hell”, his family say
May 24, 2011: Pub landlord who murdered his partner had mental health problems
May 24, 2011: Village pub dream brutally ended for “bubbly” former Downham Market resident
May 24, 2011: Murderer was “over protective” of girlfriend who he murdered
May 24, 2011: Guest house owner reveals how he ended hunt for murderer
May 24, 2011: Who owned the gun which killed former Downham dental nurse Becky Thorpe?
May 24, 2011: Family of Becky Thorpe celebrate conviction of her killer
May 23, 2011: Timeline to the Norfolk pub murder case
May 23, 2011: Pub landlord found guilty of murdering his girlfriend
May 23, 2011: Jury sent out in Norfolk pub murder trial
May 20, 2011: Norfolk body in freezer case - defence appeal for manslaughter
May 19, 2011: Prosecution completes case in Norfolk body in freezer murder trial
May 18, 2011: Accused sent texts telling of killing, murder jury told
May 18, 2011: Pub landlord charged with murder had ‘threatened to kill’ before, court hears
May 16, 2011: Pub landlord Michael Tucker shot his girlfriend Becky Thorpe in the bath, trial jury told

Moving on, the new mayor of Downham Market Val Starling was sworn in last week taking over the reins from John Fox and made one of her priorities the opening of a new skate park in the town.

There was also a nice little tale about Boughton resident Yvonne Hume who has released a book about her great-uncle who was a violinist on the doomed Titanic voyage in 1912.

Meanwhile, I told you in my last blog post that Downham Market borough councillor Colin Sampson was set to become the new mayor of West Norfolk and on Thursday, May 19, he was handed the chains by the previous mayor Zipha Christopher.

Earlier this week, there was also a great tale about how a deli, a butcher, a baker, a wholefood store and a farm shop have teamed up to launch Downham Fayre.

Finally, NHS Norfolk has announced that it is commissioning an independent review of how the health centre in Downham Market was managed prior to new management taking over in April. It will interesting to see how that review goes.

For the latest news from across West Norfolk and The Fens click here >>> Go on. You know you want to :)