Track star Weir is planning to hit the road

sports reporter,wp/es::: David Weir will leave the track aside to focus on his road-racing ambitions following his world record time at the Olympic Stadium yesterday, writes Matt Majendie. Weir brought the curtain down on the three-day Sainsbury’s Anniversary Games with a dominant victory, crossing the line 10 seconds clear of his closest rival to win the T54 invitation mile. This week, he will head for a rare family holiday — two weeks in St Tropez, France — and will then turn his attention to the Great North Run on 15 September. If successful in the event, Weir will return to the New York Marathon for the first time since 2010, although he has yet to commit to organisers. “I’m definitely doing the Great North Run but I’m not sure about New York,” he said. “We will see. “I’ve missed a big block of winter training. If I do the Great North Run and training goes well then I will go to New York. If not, I will make other plans. I will talk to my coach Jenny [Archer].” Weir’s season has been far less high profile than last year when he won four Paralympic gold medals in the 800m, 1,500m, 5,000m and marathon. He has kept his competition to a minimum in 2012, opting to spend more time with his girlfriend, Emily, and his children, Ronie, Mason and Tillia. He raced the London Marathon but failed to add to his previous six wins and lost out to arch rival Marcel Hug at the event in Birmingham last month. As a result of being rooted in the UK for this year, it meant he missed last week’s IPC World Championships in Lyon, France, a decision he defended after his latest victory. “My plan to pull out came earlier this year,” he said. “But watching it I saw a lot, I was able to see more racing than ever before, including watching Marcel’s tactics. “But I was so happy for the team to do really well without me. I thought that was a weight off my shoulders. I didn’t want to go there with the thought that everyone was expecting me to win medals.” Weir and 100m sprinter Jonnie Peacock were the star attractions on a day of Paralympic action. Peacock, however, had to make do with third place behind Alan Oliveira and Richard Browne in the 100m. Browne argued after the event that amputee runners could get below the 10-second mark for the race but Peacock dismissed the suggestion. “No, never,” he said, when asked if it was possible. “He’s got great talent but I think 10.5 would be a great time for an amputee to run.”

Record surge in lending to small firms boosts recovery

evening standard report:::: A record rise in small business loans gave more cheer for the economy today as momentum builds behind efforts to unlock credit markets. Bank of England figures revealed a £238 million increase in lending to small businesses during June — the highest since the Bank began collecting the data two years ago, and bucking a £1.3 billion decline in business lending overall. June’s rise failed to reverse fully a £476 million fall in lending during the previous month, but comes after changes to the Bank’s Funding for Lending Scheme in April, which massively incentivised banks to lend to small businesses until the end of the year. The Bank defines small and medium sized businesses as those with a turnover of less than £25 million. The brighter news on politically sensitive small business lending marks more good news for the Chancellor after the wider economy managed to double the pace of growth to 0.6% between April and June. IHS Global Insight said: “The rise in bank lending may also be a sign that smaller companies are starting to step up their borrowing as recently improving economic activity lifts their confidence and need for capital.” The average cost of new loans for businesses also fell sharply by 0.23% to 2.41%, the cheapest overall rate since December 2010. A Federation of Small Business spokesman added: “This is encouraging news but there is still a way to go. Our most recent survey showed 50% of our members still being refused credit although the benefits of the FLS are slowly beginning to feed through.” Despite the boost for small businesses, mortgage approvals surprisingly dipped over the month to 57,667, nearly 2,000 short of City hopes. The FLS has had far more impact on mortgage lending so far and while the Government’s Help to Buy scheme gave the market a further kick. Shoppers are meanwhile still showing signs of caution after consumer credit rose by a net £489 million in June, well below May’s £781 million and the smallest rise since January. Berenberg chief economist Rob Wood said: “The mortgage data are likely to be a blip given how strong housing surveys are and how much stimulus is in the pipeline. “We are optimistic about the UK’s chances of continued recovery, but today’s data highlight the risks. Any reduction in household’s appetite for spending rather than saving would weigh heavily on the recovery.”

a person executive principal of a federation of five primary schools suspended!!!!

educational reporter(crime),London(wp/es)::: A superhead described by education secretary Michael Gove as “magnificent” has been suspended after it emerged that his boyfriend heads a company that provides IT services to his schools. Greg Wallace was suspended as executive principal of a federation of five primary schools in Hackney, east London, last week. IT services were supplied to the schools, which were poised to become a chain of academies, by C2 Technology, a firm headed by Tony Zangoura, Wallace’s boyfriend. The governors of the federation — who include Henry de Zoete, one of Gove’s special advisers — also had their powers suspended. The news of the suspensions, following an investigation by Hackney council, is a blow to Gove and his flagship academy programme. In a recent speech Gove lauded Wallace as one of seven “magnificent” head teachers. He said Wallace’s pupils, who come from the poorest parts of the borough, had benefited “from a rigorous approach to reading in the early years that makes them enthusiastic devourers of every book they can get their hands on”. The schools have appealed to Gove to step in amid claims that Wallace’s suspension may be an attempt by the council to prevent the schools becoming academies. In an email to school staff Zangoura accuses the Hackney Learning Trust, responsible for the day-to-day running of the borough’s schools, of “going on a fishing expedition within the schools to find dirt”. He insists he and Wallace were not together in 2009 when the IT contract was awarded. He said: “They identified that my company, C2 Technology, was given the vast majority of ICT work and, given the well-known fact that I have a close relationship with Greg, thought there might be a vulnerability there.” The National Union of Teachers, which went on strike at one of the five schools last year, has warned that allowing the federation to become academies could disadvantage the other 48 primary schools in Hackney. All five schools, which have 2,000 pupils between them, have improved during Wallace’s five years in charge. One of them, Whitmore Primary School, was ranked outstanding this year by Ofsted, the school regulator. Peter Passam, acting chair of the federation governing body, said: “Greg Wallace was always open with me about his connection with C2 Technology. “The contract was judged on its value and its quality. We have been very satisfied with the work that has given the children access to modern technology at a competitive price.” The Department for Education said it could not comment while the investigation was going on. It noted that any decision to intervene would be taken by a minister other than Gove.

3 punished 44 years in prison for Upton acid attack

crime reporter,east London(wp/es)::: Three men have been jailed after being found guilty of an acid plot which left a mother suffering horrendous burns to her face and body. Yannick Ntesa, 25, Abdul Motin, 28, and Ahad Miah, 31, have been sentenced to a total of 44 years in prison for the attack in March 2011. The victim, who does not wish to be named, was walking home from Upton Cross Primary School with her six-year-old twin sons when she saw a man approach her “with something in a bottle”. She told her local paper: “I saw a man approach me who was carrying something in a bottle. “He threw it over me and after a few seconds it started burning. I was crying: ‘Please help me! Please help me! Everyone was shocked.” Her attacker, who had been driven to the scene with the other two men, poured acid over her head burning her face, scalp, chest and back. Witnesses on the busy street described seeing the man laugh as he carried out the attack. The desperate woman fled to a neighbour’s house where she was assisted by friends and police officers before being taken to the Royal London Hospital and later transferred to a specialist burns hospital in Essex. She suffered 16 per cent full depth chemical burns for which she still receives treatment and describes living every day in discomfort. Following a six week trial at Blackfriars Crown Court, a jury found all three defendants guilty of conspiracy to cause grevious bodily harm and throwing corrosive fluid on another with intent to cause grevious bodily harm. Ntsea and Miah have been jailed for 14 years and Motin for 16 years. Detective Inspector John Reynolds, of Newham CID, said: “This was a truly shocking attack on a mother who had her two very young children with her at the time. It was only by chance that those children were not seriously injured. They did however suffer terrible shock from seeing their own mother so horrifically assaulted. “The victim in this case is entirely innocent but will now spend the rest of her life having to adjust to the severe disfigurement inflicted on her.” In April a 28-year-old woman, named as Tara, answered the door of her home in Romford, east London, to a stranger who returned half an hour after she told him she could not help him and squirted acid in her face. Another woman, Naomi Oni, 21, had acid thrown in her face after getting off a bus in Lodge Avenue, Dagenham, in the early hours of December 30 last year.