A man has been jailed for abusing his former partner in Stony Stratford.

Lloyd Cole, 29, of no fixed abode, was jailed for two years and seven months after a hearing at Aylesbury Crown Court on Friday (14/11). Cole has also been given an indefinite restraining order.

At a previous hearing on 22 August this year, Cole pleaded guilty to two counts of assault by beating, three counts of criminal damage, one count of assault causing actual bodily harm, one count of intentional strangulation and one count of intentional suffocation.

The victim, a woman in her forties, and Cole were in a relationship for around five to six months. Cole quickly became controlling, preventing the victim from socialising, cutting her off from family and friends by restricting her access. Cole moved himself into his victim’s home and refused to leave despite being asked multiple times.

On 13 February this year, Cole picked up the victim’s phone and threw it at the wall damaging it beyond repair before throwing it at the victim and injuring her wrist.

On 7 March, Cole broke the victim’s laptop and snapped her new phone in half. The victim tried to escape through a window in her own home, but she was dragged back inside by Cole. She managed to flee the address and seek help at a nearby pub.

A day later, Cole broke into his victim’s house by smashing a window. He then pulled the victim out of her bed, dragging her by her hair, subjecting her to hours of physical violence, causing her face to swell and a black eye. A neighbour heard the altercation and called the police, who forced entry to the property and caught Cole standing over the victim.

The victim suffered a black eye after being bitten, a large lump under her eye as well as other injuries to her arms, legs and knees.

Cole was arrested at the scene and charged with the offences the following day (9/3).

Investigating officer, Detective Constable Leah Bowyer, said, “The incidents on 8 March not only left the victim fearing for her life but left her with physical and mental scars that she is still recovering from.

“I am so immensely proud of her courage and bravery throughout this investigation which has helped us secure this conviction against Lloyd Cole, who is a violent individual and a danger towards women.

“I hope that the victim can begin to move forward with her life following today’s sentencing.

“If you are a victim of domestic abuse, Thames Valley Police is here to support you.

“I would also like to highlight the importance of Clare’s Law, a scheme designed to allow the police to disclose a person’s history of abusive behaviour to those who may be at risk. You can find more information on our website or by calling 101.” 

Karl Robinson strongly criticised the officials as his Salford City side lost 2-0 away at his former club MK Dons.

Robinson, who managed the Dons between 2010 and 2016, was particularly aggrieved at two penalty calls that went against his side.

The first of the calls in question saw a foul given against Salford’s Dan Udoh on Jack Sanders, which saw the home side given a penalty in first half stoppage time that Nathaniel Mendez-Laing converted to make it 1-0.

The second then came in second half stoppage time, when Kadeem Harris went down under a challenge by the Dons’ Aaron Nemane that was not given moments before Callum Paterson scored the goal that made it 2-0 to the home side.

Defeat at Stadium MK saw Salford fall out of League 2’s play-off spots, with the Ammies now down in 9th place, though they sit outside of the play-offs only on goal difference in a tight and congested League 2 table.

Speaking after the game in his press conference, Robinson voiced strong frustration with the refereeing decisions by match referee Ross Joyce.

He said, “I think anybody in this stadium watching this game will say we were the better team.

“This referee shouldn’t referee for a long time. We speak at the top level about how bad refereeing is with VAR, so imagine what we have to deal with lower down because they’re not good enough. Somebody at some stage has to look at this.

“Today, he gave a penalty, and these were his words – we pulled him outside the box and then my number 22 (Adebola Oluwo) fouled him. It wasn’t my 22, he was nowhere near – Dan Udoh was the nearest player. He’s got the wrong player. So how can you tell me he’s got the decision right when he doesn’t even know what player committed the foul? That just shows you how bad he was in that decision.

“Then Kadeem Harris goes in and as he runs past, you can clearly see his right heel is clipped and he goes down. I’m not saying the contact for our penalty was really aggressive, but when you’re going to give minimal contact for a penalty against, that has to stay consistent.

“I’m telling my players to stay on their feet. We’re a club that try and be honest, we’re hard working, we don’t want to go down and seek to gain and we want to do the right things, but if we now have to play the game where we’re going to have go down and scream to get decisions, we might have to do things we don’t believe in. We want to be honest and hardworking – that’s what Salford’s all about. Today, we’ve been done by a refereeing decision.”

Reflecting on the game as a whole, Robinson felt his single biggest gripe was that his team couldn’t take a few chances that they had created along the way.

He said, “I said to my players afterwards that I can back you with the refereeing decisions but I think we missed some good opportunities to take our chances. That’s my only gripe with my team, same as last week in some ways that we were very strong in our shape and probably the best we’ve been out of possession in the last 2 games, but haven’t capitalised on them moments when I really need them too. From that perspective, I’m proud of them getting there. We need to take them that come along.”

Stations in the Luton area have been the latest to have contactless technology rolled out to enable tap-in tap-out travel for train services.

Luton, Leagrave and Harlington stations on the Thameslink route between London St Pancras and Bedford are among 50 stations on routes with train services to London that will have the technology enabled next month.

From 14 December, the service will be enabled at these three stations. Luton Airport Parkway station has previously had this service enabled.

Other routes that will have this enabled from the mid-December starting date include stations on the Chiltern lines from Aylesbury to London, Southern services to Dorking, Reigate and East Grinstead, Greater Anglia routes to Stansted and Southend, and stations on the Great Northern Thameslink line to Stevenage, Letchworth and Baldock.

The project is supported by £18.7 million in government funding, with support from Transport for London, as part of a project to roll out further contactless ticketing on the UK railways network, and the larger Great British Railways project enacted by the national government.

The government’s Rail Minister Lord Peter Hendy said, “Rail ticketing is far too complicated and long overdue an upgrade to bring it into the 21st century. Through the expansion of tap in tap out technology, and shortly through GBR, we’re doing just that and making buying tickets more convenient, more accessible and more flexible – and ensuring passengers can get the best fares.

“As part of our Plan for Change, we’re delivering straightforward, stress-free train travel across the south-east, supporting passengers and boosting economic growth, jobs and homes.”

Tap-in tap-out ticketing allows passengers to use a bank card or contactless enabled device to enter any train station, instead of manually buying individual or return tickets. The government has already rolled out this technology at 53 additional stations across the south-east, with 5.6 million journeys taken since June 2024, and more stations to follow from 2026.

Alex Williams, Chief Customer and Strategy Officer at Transport for London (TfL), said, “For more than ten years, the popularity of convenient travel via pay as you go with contactless has grown and become increasingly popular across London and the surrounding areas. We are delighted to be extending pay as you go with contactless to a further 50 stations from the 14 December, including Stansted Airport, making it easier for those arriving at the airport to travel to London and experience all the city has to offer.

“Expanding pay as you go with contactless will further help those travelling by rail outside London do so more flexibly and conveniently, avoid the need to pre-purchase tickets or paper Travelcards when heading into the capital, and support the wider UK economic recovery through easier access to rail travel.

Jacqueline Starr, Executive Chair and CEO of the Rail Delivery Group, added, “This is another important step in making it easier for customers to travel by train. Extending tap-in-tap-out to a further 50 stations will mean even more rail customers can benefit from this technology, knowing they will always pay the right fare at the right price. The rail industry is committed to working with government to improve and enhance the overall experience for our customers.”

Louis Rambaud, Chief Customer Officer for Govia Thameslink Railway which runs Southern, Great Northern and Thameslink services, also said, “We’re pleased to be supporting this Government initiative to give our customers simple, easier journeys.”

Paul Warne was pleased to mark his 450th game as a manager with victory against Salford but the MK Dons boss looked for better performances.

Warne spoke after the Dons managed to grind out a win over a Salford side that had also started brightly in the early stages of the League 2 season, with Nathaniel Mendez-Laing and Callum Paterson scoring the goals that did the honours.

Despite the win, Warne felt his MK Dons side didn’t play at their best, and while he praised the opposition for causing them bother, he said it gave him things to think about.

He said, “In 10-15 minutes time, it’ll probably feel great. When you’re not at your best and can win, it’s a really good sign. I just think there’s a few more gears in our team. Fair play to Salford, they made it difficult for us, got a lot of second balls, put a lot of balls in our box. I never felt massively threatened in our penalty area but they did seem to have more control in the second half than we did.

“When you’ve got a 1-0 lead, you feel a bit edgy, they have nothing to lose and have to keep attacking. It’s disappointing then we got the ball back, we never took the sting out of it or took an extra pass or anything like that.”

Warne also revealed that both Rushian Hepburn-Murphy and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing went off early with injuries, but praised the impact of his squad as a whole for getting things over the line.

He said, “We took Rush off as he felt his hamstring, which doesn’t sound good, we took Mendez-Laing off as he’s done his groin or his groin was tightening up, so we had to take him off, but in fairness, the subs went on, done well and got us 3 points. I’m really pleased with the points and they’ll feel better in about 20 minutes and great tomorrow, but that level of performance, we need to improve. It’s on me.”

Warne said he felt it was a curious game where the two sides were closely matched and accepted his side could’ve easily come away with a different result.

He said, “Weirdly, I was buzzing after the Barnet game as I thought the second half looked like my team. I just didn’t think we looked enough like my team today. I didn’t think we had enough energy and character about us. Prior to the last couple of games, I think we’d started to go in the right direction.

“Maybe the opposition have just done a really good job on us as it felt at times like both shapes just quietened each other off, if you know what I mean. There wasn’t much in either goal area. That’s probably what happens when two good teams play each other.

“I’ve seen many a Premier League game where both teams end up with nothing. Today, we were fortunate to come off with a win.”