Update: Missing wife of Police Officer

Police are still searching for Sarah Townsend, wife of Bernard Townsend, head of community relations for Glamorgan police force.

The 42 year old went missing after a domestic disturbance at their home which led their daughter calling the emergency services. The call was made at 23:25, but by the time the police arrived at 23:30, Mrs. Townsend had already fled her home, believed to be in a ‘vulnerable state of mind’ and possibly suicidal after consuming an unknown quantity of medication.

In a statement to the press, Inspector John Jones, said the search has so far included police dogs and helicopters, with the public press conferences in the hope that someone will come forward with information. He also gave a message to the missing Mrs. Townsend saying,

“Your daughter misses you, please report to the police.”

Mr. Townsend has not yet been interviewed by police, and they are regarding any information regarding the domestic disturbance as private. Inspector Jones said it was standard practice to handle incidents of missing persons this way, especially due to the vulnerability of Mrs. Townsend.

Sarah Townsend was wearing black leggings, a red jumper with a long black coat and had a black handbag but no money or mobile phone. She is 5ft 7, medium build with collar length black hair and was last seen heading towards St. David’s walk.

Again, Glamorgan Police force are urging anyone with information on the missing Sarah Townsend to report to the police, phone 01443 456128, or visit their website.

Or alternatively, contact the charity for missing people in the UK:

http://www.missingpeople.org.uk/

Daughter makes emergency call after mother goes missing

South Wales Police have appealed for help in finding the missing Sarah Townsend, 42 year old wife of Glamorgan Police Officer, Bernard Townsend.

It is believed that The 12 year old daughter of the couple phoned the emergency services at 23:25, after a domestic incident in the couple’s home, which led to Mrs. Townsend fleeing after a large dose of medication.

Mrs. Townsend is 5ft 7 tall, has collar length black hair and believed to have left the family home wearing a red sweater, black leggings, black knee length coat and a black handbag and was seen heading towards St. David’s Walk.

Police urge anyone who may have witnessed the incident, or have any information about the disappearance, to come forward as soon as possible or contact Glamorgan Police on 01443 546128.

BREAKING NEWS: POLICE SEARCH FOR MOTHER MISSING AFTER DOMESTIC INCIDENT

News of the World visits University

Paul Nicholas, Deputy Managing Editor of the News of the World, paid a visit to the University of Glamorgan on Monday.

Nicholas, a former reporter in the South Wales area, gave the talk to journalism students of the university, about what working in one of the world’s biggest and most controversial newspapers really entails.

Between insights into what journalists can expect to be paid at most levels of the paper, and quirky musings about the paper’s Fleet Street days, Nicholas gave an informing and entertaining talk to students and staff.

The mood was not all jovial however, and one of the first things mentioned, one of the paper’s more controversial ‘campaigns’, the naming and shaming of sex offenders, gave the audience a stark reminder of the very clear stance the News of the World takes on such matters.

Nicholas talked about the inevitability of legal issues working for such a controversial publication, how this affects the ever-slim timeline between printing and the paper arriving at our local newsagents.

The paper has bucked the trend of the shrinking print industry by a healthily increasing circulation year on year where other sunday papers have fallen in readership, and a website which boasts up to 1.9 million users a week, with the help of such clips as the disgraced formula one boss Max Mosley’s meeting with prostitutes. The paper is the biggest Sunday in the world, and in the top three biggest papers globally. Trends which only seem to continue as the News of the World, along with other titles belonging to Rupert Murdoch’s News International, will move to the world’s largest printing plant in Broxbourne, just off the M25.

The new £187 million plant is capable of printing 86,000 papers an hour, compared the 30,000 of their old presses in Wapping.

Media Guardian’s take on the new printing plant

Faster printing presses means the paper can wait on later news and sports results and still be able to get enough papers printed to meet demand, ensuring the News of the World remains one of the leaders in exclusive and controversial stories every week.

Wales’ tallest building

Cardiff Bay looks set to become the home of Wales’ tallest building soon, with the planned development of ‘Bay Pointe’, an ultra modern, 33 storey apartment block, standing at an impressive 403ft.

The ten buildings of Bay Pointe will between them add 1,800 new flats to the City’s waterfront, which has seen unprecedented development from its former days as Tiger Bay, to a very modern looking area of Cardiff, housing restaurants, hotels, shopping and since devolution, the Welsh Assembly Government building, the ‘senedd’ too.

Whilst being big for Cardiff, Bay Pointe doesn’t measure up to skyscraper competition nationally, with the UK’s tallest building, Canary Wharf in London, standing at 771ft tall.

Some have been very critical of the colossal development, and claim that there is simply not enough demand for so many new flats in Cardiff Bay. By taking a walk around the area, it soon becomes very clear that there are hundreds of flats and apartments, but no-one around. People bought in Cardiff Bay with the hope of letting, but have been let down by low demand.

Some claim prices are down by as much as 10% over the last year. Planners need to exercise extreme caution when granting permission for such developments,

because without doing so, they are in danger of undoing all the work put into turning around a tired and dilapidated part of Cardiff. Houses empty for too long are going to create a knock-on effect and eventually lead to decline again.

The Bay Pointe development:

BBC News – Wales’ tallest building

Too many flats?

BBC News – Cities building too many flats

On a lighter, and more University of Glamorgan related note, students who live in Ty Pont Haern can sleep sound in the knowledge that they live in the 5th tallest bulding in Cardiff. The kind people at skyscrapercity.com have ranked the top ten for us, along with a lot of planned developments:

10 Tallest buildings in Cardiff