1. News
26 Wednesday April 17, 2013
Police news
Borough commander’s column Det Supt Rob Jones
Fat and oil from restaurants
which clogg up our drains
will soon be powering the
world’s biggest grease-
fuelled power station.
The grease will feed a pow-
erstationexpectedtoproduce
130 gigawatt hours (GWh) a
year of renewable electricity
– enough to run 39,000 homes
– when it opens in Armada
Way, Beckton, in 2015.
The plant will help
Thames Water tackle the on-
going problem of so-called
fatbergs. The water firm will
also be the main customer
for buying back the renew-
able power thus generated.
A fatberg is a build-up of
congealed fat and cooking
oil mixed with everything
else that goes down sewers.
Thames Water regularly
sends teams down London
sewers to chip the fatbergs
away, especially beneath
the West End, where there
is a high concentration of
restaurants. Every year,
sewage blockages costs the
company £1million.
‘Win-win situation’
Thames Water commercial
director Piers Clark said:
“This project is a win-win
situation – renewable power,
hedged from the price fluctu-
ations of the non-renewable
mainstream power markets,
and helping tackle the ongo-
ing operational problem of
fatbergs in sewers.”
The water firm has also
committed to providing
at least half of the fuel re-
quired to run the generator
in the form of 30 tonnes a
day of fat, oil and grease
– enough to fill a six metre-
long shipping container.
The rest of the power
plant’s fuel will come from
waste vegetable oils and tal-
low (animal fat).
The power plant will be
built around a two-stroke
marine diesel engine the
size of a large house.
The plant’s output will
serve 3.5 million people and
a nearby desalination plant
used in times of drought.
Thames Water has agreed
to buy 75GWh of its output
and the remaining power
will be sold on to the nation-
al energy supply grid.
It is the water firm’s sus-
tainable fuel commitments,
worth more than £200 mil-
lion in the long term, which
have enabled the £70million
project to go ahead.
The plant will be devel-
oped and run by utility com-
pany 20C, and will produce
enough renewable heat to
supply any new housing
schemes nearby.
Power plant runs
onsewer‘fatbergs’
Old grease and oil to be burnt for fuel, and to keep sewers free of blockages
by Else Kvist
else.kvist@archant.co.uk
Thames Water sewerman Danny Brackley clearing a
build-up of fat under Leicester Square
A mugger who left a pen-
sioner terrified to walk the
streets has been jailed.
Anthony Radford, 70, was
on his way home after col-
lecting his newspaper when
Mohammed Abby grabbed
him by the throat, pulled a
blade and demanded cash.
Abby, 27, shoved him
against a wall before rifling
through his bags for valu-
ables in Bethnal Green Road
in September. He gave up af-
ter not finding anything.
In a statement to Snares-
brook Crown Court, Mr
Radford said: “I have spent
45 years in the Navy, but this
was very scary. Since the
incident I’m always looking
over my shoulder when I’m
out on the street.”
Abby had just stolen ciga-
rettes and beer after threat-
ening a shopkeeper. He went
on to another store and stole
two bottles of gin, threaten-
ing to stab the owner.
Abby, of Heneage Street,
Mile End, was given five
years behind bars after ad-
mitting two counts of theft
and one of attempted theft.
Muggerin
prisonafter
OAPattack
As part of my continuing
focus on some of Newham
police’s specialised units,
I would like to tell you this
week about our missing
persons unit.
The Metropolitan Police
Service understands that
when a loved one goes
missing, it can be a time of
great worry and concern for
family and friends.
When a member of the
public reports someone
missing, the first step is for
officers to visit the missing
person’s home address.
This is to check to see if
the person is there (plenty of
young ‘missing’ children have
been found hiding under the
bed by officers!) and to take
details about the person and
their disappearance.
It is important that officers
gain insight into the person
who has been reported
missing, their last movements
and also their life in general,
to try to understand where
the person might be and why
they may have gone missing.
Officers at this point will
talk to the last person to
see them. They also take a
sample of their DNA from a
toothbrush or hairbrush, for
elimination purposes.
The officers then
complete a detailed report
on our MERLIN computer
system and continue their
investigation.
This could involve looking
at the person’s Facebook or
Twitter accounts, contacting
their workplace and any
friends who may have seen
them, and checking CCTV
cameras.
The investigation is then
risk assessed by an inspector
and any further action is
based on that decision. For
example, a missing child will
usually be a high-risk case,
in which case we may call in
police dogs, the helicopter
I99 and other units.
It is also important that we
respect people’s decisions
to live a private life; on some
occasions people want to
move away from family and
friends and cut off all contact.
In this case, we will always
ensure that as long as the
person is seen to be safe
and well by police, we will
keep their whereabouts
confidential.
The missing persons unit
takes on longer-term and
unsolved missing persons
cases, including reopening
cold cases from as far back
as the 1950s.
Newham police achieve
fantastic results in missing
persons work. Every week
officers bring dementia
patients back to their care
homes, find teenagers who
have stayed out past their
curfews, and toddlers who
have wandered off from their
parents.
Everyweekwegetgreatresultsonmissingpersons
The Met’s helicopters can sometimes be used to help with a search
Thieves broke open a van
in a supermarket car park
and stole more than £700 of
power tools last Monday.
A 59-year-old man left his
white Mercedes-Benz Vito
outside Asda in Beckton
for just 15 minutes while he
went shopping for food.
When he returned to his
vehicle at about 3.15pm, the
sliding door had been forced
open and a number of power
tools worth about £760 in to-
tal were missing.
The items included two
Dewalt power drills, a De-
walt jigsaw, a Dewalt circu-
lar saw, and a Bosch grinder.
Pc Andy Whitfield, crime
prevention design adviser
for Newham police, said: “I
want to ‘hammer’ the mes-
sage home to tradesmen to
take their tool security seri-
ously. After all, tools are ex-
tremely valuable assets and
their loss can hugely affect a
small business.”
Police recommend that
owners register valuable
items free of charge at www.
immobilise.com, remove
tools from vehicles left unat-
tended for long periods, and
display a notice saying tools
are not kept in the vehicle.
Powertools
worth£760
arestolen
Crowded public places such
as shopping areas and busy
pubs can attract pickpock-
ets because they can steal
personal items without you
even knowing about it.
Deny them the opportu-
nity by taking care of your
money and possessions:
Use a handbag that can be
closed properly, preferably
with a zip.
If you use a handbag with
a strap, wear it across your
body, not just over one shoul-
der, so it is more secure.
You can use a purse lan-
yard which attaches your
phone or purse/wallet to
your bag or clothes.
If you do keep your purse
in a shopping bag, put it at
the bottom and, if possible,
use a bag that can be closed.
Be as careful with your
mobile phone or iPod as you
would with your purse or
wallet and ensure it is put
away safely if you use it in
the street. You can also reg-
ister your valuables on the
free online property data-
base www.immobilise.com.
Men should keep their
wallet in a front pocket rath-
er than in their back pocket.
Don’tleave
anopening
forthieves
Crime tip