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Police say they are keeping an open mind about whether a young woman’s murder is linked to two assaults on women in the area in the past month. Ffion Wyn Roberts, 22, was found strangled in an old drainage canal in Porthmadog, Gwynedd, on Saturday. In Pwllheli, around 14 miles (22.5km) away, police are investigating two attacks a week apart last month. North Wales Police said: “At the present time we have got an open mind in respect of this investigation.” The body of the nursing home worker was found in a stretch of water in Porthmadog town centre known as Y Cyt. She had been on a night out in nearby Tremadog with friends. Police have said she was in the Union pub until about 0330 BST on Saturday, then is believed to have walked towards her home along Church Street. The two towns are only a mile apart. Detectives are also investigating two apparently unrelated attacks on women in Pwllheli in the few weeks, both on a weekend. A 48-year-old woman was treated in hospital after being punched in the face by a suspect said to be in his late 20s. The man, who was wearing a dark hooded-type top, approached the woman as she was walking along Cardiff Road in Pwllheli at 9pm on Sunday 14 March. The previous week, Sunday 7 March, a 21-year-old woman was attacked just before midnight as the walked between Cardiff Road and Lon Cob Bach. Since the two attacks, taxi drivers in Pwllheli have begun giving a free personal attack alarm to vulnerable people when dropping them off, under an initiative by the local neighbourhood policing team. The personal attack alarms are also available at Pwllheli and Porthmadog police stations. Meanwhile, people in Porthmadog have been speaking of their shock following the murder of Ms Roberts. A retired minister who has been comforting her family said they were in “agony and tears”. Dewi Morris, who knows Ms Roberts’ parents and grandparents, said Ms Roberts was “kind and caring”. He said: “I must say that when I visited them, they were in real agony and tears. “And, of course, as you can imagine, nothing worse could happen to any family than what’s happened to them. ‘Caring’ “But I do know that they will be supported by the community because they do have so many very dear and near friends.” “I only hope that whoever is responsible has a conscience, and will come forward very soon.” In a statement issued via North Wales Police, Ms Roberts’ family appealed for people to help the police investigation. Her father, Idris, said: “Ffion was thoughtful and caring and always put others before herself. “She went into caring and had found her niche caring for others.” ‘Truth’ More than 100 police are involved in the investigation, which includes house-to-house inquiries. Det Supt Peter Chalinor, the senior investigating officer, has said: “At the present time no-one has been arrested. “We are following up all information and we will look at every avenue in search of the truth as to what happened to Ffion.” Anyone who was in the area of Tremadog or Porthmadog between the hours of 0330am and 0800 on Saturday is asked to call the police’s incident room on 01745 538 474. This article is from the BBC News website . © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
April 13, 2010 | Posted in
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By Paul Rincon Science reporter, BBC News, The Woodlands, Texas Deforestation has revealed what could be a giant impact crater in Central Africa, scientists say. The 36-46km-wide feature, identified in DR Congo, may be one of the largest such structures discovered in the last decade. Italian researchers considered other origins for the ring, but say these are unlikely. They presented their findings at the recent Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Texas, US. The ring shape is clearly visible in the satellite image by TerraMetrics Inc reproduced on this page. Only about terrestrial 25 impact craters are of comparable size or larger, according to the web-based Earth Impact Database. Giovanni Monegato, from the University of Padova, said the feature was revealed only after trees were cleared from the area over the last decade. The Unia River flows around the ring structure, underlining its round shape. The central part of the Wembo-Nyama feature is irregular and about 550m in elevation. This is about 50-60m higher than the depression where the river flows. Although this might sound counter-intuitive, experts say that impact craters can sometimes lift up dense rocks. The surrounding rocks may subsequently erode, leaving a dome. Confirmation needed The putative crater lacks a well-defined outer ridge, though the University of Padova team says this could be explained by deep weathering and erosion in the tropical climate. They add that the drainage pattern in the ring is very similar to those found in large impact craters in humid environments. LARGEST IMPACT CRATERS The Chicxulub crater is buried under Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula Vredefort: S Africa, 300km-wide, 2 billion years old Sudbury: Canada, 250km-wide, 1.8 billion years old Chicxulub: Mexico, 170km-wide, 65 million years old Popigai: Russia, 100km-wide, 35.7 million years old Manicouagan: Canada, 100km-wide, 214 million years old Mr Monegato said the team would now have to travel to the region to carry out field studies. Researchers would examine rocks from the site for tell-tale signs associated with space impacts. These might include shocked quartz – a form of the mineral which occurs where rocks have been hit suddenly by a massive force. It is found only at nuclear explosion sites and at asteroid impact sites. Finding such evidence will be crucial to confirm an impact origin over other processes which might explain the structure. The researchers have considered whether volcanism or salt diapirism (a process where evaporite minerals intrude vertically into surrounding rock, forming dome-like structures on the surface) could be responsible for the annulus. But Mr Monegato and his colleagues say the known geology of the region – along with other features of the structure (for example, no known salt diapirs reach such a great size) – appear to rule out such explanations. “I am quite optimistic about an impact crater origin for this ring,” Mr Monegato told BBC News. If it is an impact structure, the scientists estimate it could have been punched into the crust by a space rock measuring about 2km across. Further studies will be required to accurately determine an age for the ring, but it appears to post-date the Jurassic Period. Paul.Rincon-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk
March 10, 2010 | Posted in
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