We bring you this week's Antrim Guardian headlines with some breaking news, after a Glenavy man was today remanded in custody accused of allegedly murdering the retired Antrim Grammar teacher Robert Flowerday (64) at his home in Crumlin. Michael Owens (33) of Lisburn Road appeared on Wednesday morning at Ballymena Magistrates Court. Owens was charged on Tuesday night, hours after a candlelit vigil was held in Crumlin, attended by hundreds of local people who gathered to pay tribute to the much-loved private tutor. We will have full coverage and reaction to a crime that has shocked the borough, in the Antrim Guardian next week. In other news: - Residents have hit out at the alarming number of potholes in the Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough. At least six cars reportedly suffered damage on Saturday night (January 27), when drivers were diverted along a minor route off the Lisnevenagh Road between Antrim and Ballymena. A number of people took to social media to complain of burst tyres after driving along the Thornhill Road. And another reader has sent us footage of a precarious journey along the pockmarked Blackrock Road in Randalstown. - And a man who admitted to his then-partner that he 'sliced' a dog will be sentenced at Antrim Magistrate's Court next month. He pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to a Rottweiler type dog and a Rottweiler/Doberman cross type dog in April last year. Meanwhile another man has been given a suspended sentence after he admitted causing unnecessary suffering to a Staffordshire Bull Terrier type dog. - In sport, since his recent success in the Masters, Antrim snooker ace Mark Allen has been championing a string of causes close to his heart. And less than 24 hours after claiming top prize in one of the game's triple crown events, Mark was back on Ulster soil to take part in an exhibition match in aid of a struggling snooker hall - and delighted fans when he completed a magnificent 147 break. He has also taken time out to visit a young fan for whom he has raised thousands for life-saving treatment. - Last year's champions Gary Surgenor and Lee Kirkpatrick made it a double when they lifted the Antrim and District Darts League Pairs title for the second year in a row. Thirty-four players competed in Friday's event at Chimney Corner Football Club, with all ADDL league teams represented. - And Chimney Corner have found themselves on the receiving end of a devastating drubbing. The Antrim side were thumped 8-0 in the McReynolds Cup by local rivals Ballynure Old Boys, only a week after beating the same team in the league - the Antrim side's first league win of the season. Coach Sean Hanna admitted this week that he would need to add 'some quality' to the squad. PLUS court and council coverage, interesting features, school open nights, and much more!

Look who's the cover star on both our front and back pages this week! There's not only plenty of news on Antrim's 'man of the moment', snooker Masters champion Mark Allen - also in your Guardian: - The local community has rallied round a brave local pensioner who was brutally assaulted with a spade at his own home this week. The 78-year-old, who lives alone on the Glenavy Road, admitted that he thought he was going to die when he opened his door to be confronted by a man wearing a balaclava. The elderly man managed to slam the door shut in the face of the masked intruder but his assailant used the spade to smash a window and force his way inside the house. - We tell of how the 'sickening mockery' of one of the worst massacres of the Troubles has compounded the hurt for local victims of terror. Former MP Barry McElduff sparked a storm when he posted a picture of himself with a loaf of Kingsmill bread on his head on the 42nd anniversary of the outrage that left 10 dead. South Antrim MLA Trevor Clarke this week slammed what he described as Mr McElduff's 'open contempt' for the victims of terrorist atrocities. His brother-in-law Nigel McKee was one of the men who perished at Teebane 26 years ago. - And one of the oldest residents in the Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough has just celebrated her 104th birthday - with the Mayor and the BBC by her side! Eileen Dawson, who resides in Castle Lodge care home in Antrim, received a visit from first citizen Paul Hamill, a TV crew and several members of her extended family to mark the memorable milestone. - In sport, there's finally some good news for Chimney Corner after months of dismal draws and demoralising defeats, winning their first match of the season when they defeated local rivals Ballynure OB. Goals from Johnny Love and Michael McGoldrick either side of Ricky Higgins' leveller spirited Corner to all three points. - And Antrim and District Darts League's annual pairs event will be held this Friday night (January 26) at Chimney Corner Football Club. Entry fee is £5 per pair and registration runs from 7.30-8pm for an 8.15pm start. The competition is only open to registered league players, PLUS court and council coverage, wedding and motoring supplements, interesting features on the League of Friends and a new Somme historical society, a focus on school open nights, historic snaps of 'old Antrim' - and pictures of some local rescue Akitas enjoying a dander around Castle Gardens!

Start your engines this week, with our action-packed, 16-page 'In Gear' special! https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=N3gHuKbH-7U

In the Antrim Guardian this week: - The PSNI has issued a strongly worded warning to vigilante groups after a gang of 'paedophile hunters' appeared to target the wrong house in Antrim last Friday night. Springfarm community activist Seamus Davis claims that he was forced to stop a number of people from outside the area from trying to gain access to a house in the estate. According to Mr Davis, the house is occupied by a woman and children, who are new to the area. He said that the occupants have been left 'badly shaken' by the ordeal. The unsavoury incident was filmed and viewed by over 1,000 people through the Facebook Live facility but was later deleted. - Antrim's historic Thursday market could be driven out of business by the town's traffic wardens, a campaigning Alliance councillor has claimed. The hardy band of traders have been warned that from this week eagle-eyed wardens will be clamping down hard on shoppers who bring their cars to market. It has been a long-established 'understanding' that a blind eye would be turned to vehicles which pulled up temporarily to load up - but not any more. And Councillor Neil Kelly fears that any such move could sound the death knell for a market which first started at the current site back in 1665 - And a local councillor has condemned the continuing anti-social behaviour at Tardree Forest and on the Parkgate Road. According to Jordan Greer, residents have reported an increase in scrambler racing along the forest tracks and main road. The Antrim Guardian has highlighted the issue in the past, citing residents' concerns, while scrambler enthusiasts have also been in contact to defend their hobby. Councillor Greer said that the forest paths have been badly damaged in places by the use of scramblers, but added that his primary concern is public safety. - In sport, Mark Allen has booked his place in the last eight of The Masters with a dominant display at Alexandra Palace. The Antrim ace's opponent was the 'Belgian Bullet' Luca Brecel, and his hopes of notching up a first career win against Allen were quickly dashed by a withering display of precision potting. With the score at 3-3, Brecel could only sit back and watch as 'The Pistol' took the final two frames - sealing the win with a fantastic 120 break. Already one of the fastest players on the circuit, Allen displayed a clinical confidence during his lightning demolition of the talented 22-year-old - marking the World number eight as a force to be reckoned with in the tournament. Which is just as well, as next up for Allen on Thursday will be the winner of the first round match between Marco Fu and defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan. The Masters runs until this Sunday (January 21) with the winner pocketing £200,000. - With their first matches finally under their belt, Chimney Corner players are determined to make 2018 the year that they revisit the halcyon days of their early decades. A firm fixture in the town - and its fringes - over the last 65 years, Corner broke the mould, starting out with a committee who - rather than a manager - selected the team. Three score years and five on and it is now boss Sean Hanna’s charge to propel the team back up through the rankings. Diehard fans will be all too well aware of the club’s earlier successes and will be among those who know the origin of what many feel is a peculiar name for the local club. We take a look back at 65 years of highs and lows in a special feature. - And the Rallysport Association Winter Championship will return to Nutts Corner Motorsport Centre this Sunday (January 21). Things will continue in style at this third round extravaganza for another sprint event which promises to be an absolute cracker. The action will be electric as spectators will see a diverse range of fantastic machinery including the popular superbike engined race buggies and race cars, some superb Escorts and Corollas, turbocharged Subarus, Mitsubishis and Fiestas, 106 Peugeots, Saxos, Honda Civics and the ever popular Vauxhall Novas and Corsas. PLUS: court and council coverage, historical features about Hall's Hotel and more wartime memories of Dunadry, plus much, much more!

In the Antrim Guardian this week: - A loss that 'will never go away' - a coroner has promised that he will press for road safety improvements on the outskirts of Randalstown after the families of two care workers who died in a horror crash in 2016 warned that more fatalities will occur unless action is taken at the spot where they died. Lorraine Clyde and colleague Michelle McStravick died on the morning of Monday July 25 2016 when their work vehicle, a Citroen C1 was in collision with a Ford Focus at the junction of Church Road and Moneyrod Road. At the inquest into their deaths, emotional family members heard coroner Joe McCrisken pledge that he would write to the permanent secretary of the Department for Infrastructure outlining his 'concerns' about the junction. - A new era officially dawned for Parkhall Integrated College this week when the students finally flooded into their brand new £16.5 million school. The new build was first mooted a decade ago, but principal George Beattie and his team held their nerve, despite endless delays. After all, when it comes to extracting funding for a new build patience is not a virtue - it's a pre-requisite. After countless false starts the cheque was finally written and work began in earnest on the first post-primary school in the former North Eastern Board area for seven years. And it was certainly worth the wait. It's vast. It's hugely impressive. And, at long last, it's ready. - And an Antrim councillor has condemned the 'cold-hearted crook' who broke into an elderly man's home in the Steeple this week. The house at Birchill Road South was entered at some point between Friday afternoon and Saturday evening after the back door was forced. The householder was not home when the intruder called - as he had been visiting his sick wife in hospital and was staying with relatives. Ulster Unionist Jim Montgomery has branded the break-in 'callous in the extreme'. - In sport, an Antrim schoolgirl has won the Trampoline Gymnast of the Year award. Katie Woods will officially receive the accolade at the Gymnastics Northern Ireland Awards Ceremony in February, in agreement with the Trampoline Technical Committee and Gymnastics Northern Ireland Management Committee. The award will be presented in recognition of Katie's 'dedication, hard work and outstanding achievements to gymnastics throughout Northern Ireland in 2017'. Parkhall Integrated College pupil Katie is a member of the Antrim Phoenix Trampoline Gymnastics Club. This week it emerged that she and fellow Phoenix member Jordan Hunter have made the British Gymnastics Foundation Squad. - There was disappointment for Antrim darts ace Chris Gilliland when he made his BDO World Championship debut on Saturday. Chris, who had been the first qualifier for the event at the Lakeside, took on fellow first timer Justin Thompson - the Australian National Singles champ. But Chris was undaunted - after all, why should he be? He had fought through seven matches at the qualifier at Bridlington in September taking some significant scalps along the way, including a win over 2016 quarter-finalist Dennis Harbour. His first match in the main event was evenly contested, but Thompson edged it 3-2 to advance to the first round proper. - And Muckamore Cricket Club's wicket-keeper Jamie Magowan has been congratulated on his selection to the Northern Cricket Union's Andrew White Academy Squad to tour South Africa from March 21 until April 5. After a winter of indoor cricket practice and sessions embracing other sports that has widened their skill set the culmination of the Academy's year will be a tour to Cape Town which will mix a match programme with the rigours of a high performance camp. PLUS court coverage, the latest business and education news and we catch up with the local women who received New Year honours from the Queen!

Happy New Year to all our readers and followers! In your first Antrim Guardian of 2018: - It may have created a financial black hole in Antrim and Newtownabbey Council's finances, but it has been claimed that the £1 million rates rebate to Belfast International Airport could ultimately boost the local economy. Graham Keddie, the Managing Director, knows a thing or two about flying high after a record breaking year - and he insists that this cloud will ultimately have a silver lining for local ratepayers. Christmas dinners not withstanding, confirmation that BIA had been paying too much in rates over a period of years has sparked frantic belt tightening along the corridors of Mossley Mill. Spending commitments have been slashed and come February, locals will be hit in the pocket when rates rocket. But council's loss will not be the shareholders' gain at Belfast International. Quite the contrary, insists Mr Keddie. This week he has told the Antrim Guardian that the cash, which totals £1.8 million, will be ploughed straight back into Aldergrove where it will it stimulate hundreds of new jobs - and millions in wages. - Royal Wedding fans have been coo-ing over the official photographs to mark the engagement of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, but a Toome primary school has gone one better by making their own video message. The couple are set to get married at Windsor Castle on May 19 this year. But it is the children from Duneane Primary School who have been in the limelight locally with their own home movie congratulating the couple. Every pupil at the school - which has just over 30 students - was involved in the production, which has now been viewed by thousands of people on Facebook and Twitter, utilising their computer, art and drama skills. Principal Kerrie Wilson, who joined the rural school in April, said that the school's ICT co-ordinator Gail Cuthbertson came up with the idea of sending a message to congratulate Harry and Meghan. - And a film made by a former Parkhall student is making waves all over the world and is expected to premiere in the UK later this year following glowing reviews. The Antrim Guardian last caught up with Colin McIvor about his movie 'Zoo' this time last year and since then it has received its world premiere at the Chicago International Film Festival. Made with funding from the Northern Ireland Screen Fund supported by Invest NI, the film had an eventful journey over seven years from its first reading as one of three scripts chosen for a BAFTA Rocliffe New Writing Forum in Belfast in November 2010 to its first international festival outing in Chicago in October. Zoo, based on a true story during the Belfast Blitz, tells the tale of young Tom, played by Art Parkinson of Game of Thrones fame, and his gang of friends' fight to save Buster the baby elephant during the German air raid bombings on the city in 1941. The film was shot in Northern Ireland in August and September 2016 and stars Penelope Wilton from Downton Abbey, Toby Jones of Dad's Army and The Hunger Games, Art Parkinson, Damian O'Hare, Irish actress Amy Huberman and Stephen Hagan. - In sport, Moneyglass champion jockey-turned-racing pundit Sir Tony McCoy has paid an emotional tribute to his mother Claire who died on Boxing Day, McCoy, who was knighted last year, confirmed the sad news on Twitter. He wrote: "My beautiful mother Claire passed away peacefully this evening with all her family around. “The most incredible wife to my Dad and mother to myself, Annemarie, Roisin, Jane, Colm and Kelly." While proud of her son's sporting achievements, McCoy's mother often spoke about her fears for his safety and said she found it hard to watch him in action. Known as AP in racing circles, and Sir Tony since 2016, to his mother, the Freeman of the Borough was always 'Anthony'. - Chimney Corner start 2018 with just one simple resolution - to start winning games and putting some much-needed points. It has been a torrid few months for manager Sean Hanna and his squad, with a disastrous run of defeats leaving them firmly anchored to the bottom of the table. It has been a morale-sapping spell for the squad - the once feared local side reduced to whipping boys for teams they would have once taken in their stride. Luck, it seems, has simply not been on their side. Club PRO and veteran supporter John Robinson is confident that things can only get better for Corner. “This has been a difficult period for our manager Sean and his back room staff with so many players unable to take the field but I have no doubt whatsoever we will bounce back and start moving up the league," he said. And he has urged the people of Antrim to play their part by cheering them on. - And the Boxing Day darts competition at the Chimney Corner Football Club saw players from Antrim, Ballyclare, Ballymena, Crumlin and entries of all ages, the youngest being Lewis Harbinson at just nine-years-old! A round robin was played with 12 180s, 21 140s and 100s galore, equally spread, across the boards. These games were played to the last four with Trevor Harbinson, Darnell McCorry, Geoff Wylie getting ahead on points but a joint fourth had to be played off between Neil Duff and Jacko Cowan. It all culminated in a dramatic final which did not disappoint. PLUS! A focus on the success of local schools in 2017, interesting wartime features and photographs and a look back to Antrim's punk scene! And if you missed them, you can also catch up with our Boxing Day headlines at this link: http://www.antrimguardian.co.uk/

In your Antrim Guardian this week: - The PSNI has responded to a shocking surge in violence behind closed doors by launching its annual domestic abuse Christmas campaign - almost 19 years to the day after an Antrim woman was battered to death in her home. The message of the campaign is 'If you feel like you're walking on eggshells that's domestic abuse'. It has already been the worst year since records began in Northern Ireland - and local police are bracing themselves for another spike over the festive season. Shocking new statistics have revealed that January 1 is the 'blackest day' for people trapped within a toxic relationship. On New Year's Day 1999 Virginia Adamson was punched, kicked and stamped to death by her abusive partner hours after the pair had returned home from a boozy party with friends. Just weeks prior to her death, she had sought sanctuary in a women's refuge in Ballymena, but had decided to return home for Christmas. She believed the violence was a thing of the past. Tragically she was wrong. - Negotiation between Antrim's Castle Mall and four major retailers have stalled because of new development plans at The Junction, it has been claimed. The news was revealed at a meeting of Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council's Planning Committee, where outline planning permission was granted for a £23.5m 'masterplan' at the giant out-of-town shopping and entertainment mecca, creating almost 400 jobs. A Castle Mall spokesman said that the company had been in the late stages of discussions with four retailers interested in occupying taking up floorspace in excess of 1,400 square metres. But he told councillors that the £6.25m plans were now in jeopardy as both existing and potential new entrant retailers adopt a 'wait and see' approach to rival plans. - Motorists have been warned to take extra care on the roads in the run-up to Christmas after the recent spell of cold weather caused a number of crashes and road closures. Last Saturday, the Lisnevenagh Road between Antrim and Ballymena was closed for a time due to icy conditions after a lorry skidded and required recovery. The A8 between Larne and Ballynure was also closed because of black ice and at Neillsbrook in Randalstown, householders had a lucky escape after a lorry skidded and crashed into a garden, narrowly missing nearby houses. A gritter truck also overturned on the Church Road in Ballynure as it was salting roads, and crashed into an adjacent field. - In sport, he is not a man used to losing, but running 10,000m legend Mo Farah so close in Sunday night's Sports Personality of the Year Awards must have felt like a win for local race ace, Jonathan Rea. What a year it has been for the unassuming Ballyclare man. He won his third successive World Superbike title, in the process breaking American Colin Edwards' 15-year record for the number of points scored in a single season. That achievement was recognised by the Queen when she awarded the local man an MBE in the Birthday Honours. Despite this, he did not expect to be tearing past some of the biggest names in sport - including boxing world champ Anthony Joshua, F1 kingpin Lewis Hamilton and four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome - as he went to the stage to collect his runners-up prize. “It was incredibly strange. A big surprise. I was just happy to be there," he said. - Race action returns to Nutts Corner Raceway on Boxing Day for the traditional festive meeting - and this year there will be no less than six formulas on display. The Micro F2s, Brisca F2s, 1300 Stock Cars, Stock Rods and Junior Rods will contest the now annual Derek Mason memorial King of the Corner title. The Group 2 Lightning Rods will complete the race card as they battle it out for the 2017 Stadium Championship. “With 15 races on the busy schedule, it is sure to be a meeting not to be missed," said a spokesman. - The Crow's Nest have taken the honours in the Antrim and District Darts League's three-a-side tournament. The Crow's team of Trevor Harbinson, Johnny Wallace and Jim Kennedy beat Moe's Grill in a fast and furious final. With high scores the order of the day, the eventual winners proved quicker off the mark when it came to the deciding doubles. PLUS wartime memories of Dunadry, another bid to save Christmas in Crumlin fails, a feature on festive financials, court and council coverage, and much, much more!

In the Antrim Guardian this week: - The Northern Ireland Fire Brigade Union have sparked a blazing row with their Chief, warning that his plans to downgrade Antrim's busy station will inevitably put lives on the line. Chief Fire and Rescue Officer Gary Thompson started his career in Antrim back in 1994 - but an economy drive to balance the books has left the town's full-time cover in the firing line. Stephen Boyd, Regional Secretary of the Northern Ireland Fire Brigade Union, highlighted what he called the 'catastrophic impact' of slashing full-time cover by 40 per cent - and axing the weekend teams altogether. The union boss fears that the people of Antrim could pay a terrible price for the money men putting hard cash over public safety. - Chronic staff shortages at Muckamore Abbey Hospital are leaving some residents at the mercy of other deeply disturbed patients, the mother of a young woman entrusted to their care has claimed. Catherine Fox decided to speak out after the Antrim Guardian revealed that staff morale was nearing 'breaking point' following an exodus of skilled workers. Trust chiefs hastily convened a meeting to address the darkening mood on the wards, but to little effect sources suggest. “Morale has hit rock bottom. The atmosphere is terrible. I've never seen it so bad," said one insider. Another suggested that simmering frustration at the growing workload was boiling over into anger. “Yes, I'm angry at the lack of respect shown to the staff working in these facilities under occasionally dangerous circumstances and the position management puts them into." - And a Templepatrick woman tragically drowned after falling into the water during a boating holiday on the River Thames, an inquest has heard. Lesley McGrath (48) and her husband Kevin, from Rickamore Brae, regularly travelled to England for summer holidays on a houseboat moored in a marina in the shadow of Windsor Castle. - In sport, wintry weather caused major disruption to a raft of fixtures across the Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough over the weekend. In the Ballymena Saturday Morning League all games involving the league's 35 teams were postponed. Antrim Hockey Club and Randalstown Hockey Club also experienced a wipeout of their fixture lists. And in rugby, matches involving Randalstown RFC and Ballyclare RFC were postponed. A spokesman for the BSML said: "The cancellation of Saturday's game has caused a major backlog." - Antrim Borough Special Olympics Club is fundraising to send 12 of its athletes and three volunteers to the All Ireland Games in Dublin next June. The club, based at Stiles Community Centre, is open to children and adults in the community with an intellectual disability. Members need to raise £400 each, or £6,000 in total, to fund the trip. A number of fundraising events, including quiz nights, will be held in the run-up to the event. To support the team, log on to their fundraising page at www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/absoc and help them reach their target. - And it might not even be Christmas just yet, but the draw for the opening rounds of next summer's Northern Cricket Union's top knockout competitions have already been made. And Muckamore's men's and ladies' teams have had mixed fortunes. The men's Premiership side will face opposition from a lower league at Holywood in the first round of the Arthur J Gallagher Challenge Cup. But the women face the tough proposition of a home tie in the opening round of the Arthur J Gallagher Women's Challenge Cup against last year's runners-up, North Down. PLUS Christmas lights switch on ceremonies from Randalstown, Crumlin and Toome, as pictured by Dave Pettard, interesting features, court and council coverage, and much more!

In the Antrim Guardian this week: - Civic leaders have been branded 'scrooges' after they voted to dig themselves out of debt by cancelling Christmas for thousands of ratepayers. This year Antrim and Newtownabbey Council is paying for 22 seasonal switch-on ceremonies across the Borough, but this week it decided to slash that to just four in 2018. Antrim, Randalstown, Ballyclare and Glengormley will continue to trip the light fantastic but others, including Crumlin, Templepatrick, Toome, Parkgate and Doagh, will be left in the dark - without either a Council-funded tree or illuminations. The Council has blamed a £1 million rates rebate it has to pay Belfast International Airport for the drastic festive pruning - though in truth it has been the gift that keeps on giving for council chiefs, who have used the hefty bill to justify a number of deeply unpopular cuts. The decision is now in the hands of lawyers after a breakaway group of councillors launched a 'call-in request', demanding equitable funding. - A mum of three from Antrim believes it was 'a miracle' she wasn't killed when black ice on an ungritted road sent her car careering over a hedge and into a field. Claire McIntyre, from Springfarm, had intended to take her two-year-old with her when she went to collect her son from pre-school last Wednesday morning but at the last minute decided to leave the youngster with her aunt. It proved to be a fateful decision, for as the 27-year-old pulled out on to the Niblock Road she hit a sheet of black ice and lost control of her Vauxhall car. “I wasn't even doing 30mph when the car went into a skid. It was utterly terrifying because I couldn't stop it," she said. “I wrestled with the wheel, but it was out of control. I eventually hit the verge and it flipped me right over the hedge and into the field. “I was so grateful that I was wearing my seat belt because I would have been out the windscreen. I dread to think what could have happened. - And a former Mayor of Antrim and Newtownabbey has sensationally resigned his council seat. John Scott sent shockwaves through the chamber at Antrim Civic Centre on Monday night when he announced that he was quitting politics for good. Speaking to the Antrim Guardian hours before throwing in the towel after 14 years, Mr Scott stressed that the move was not sparked by the public spat surrounding former councillor, Ben Kelso. Mr Kelso walked from council days after his erstwhile colleague questioned his ability to represent local ratepayers since he worked and lived in Dublin. Clearly unhappy with the manner in which Ulster Unionist group leader Mark Cosgrove dealt with the furore, Mr Scott resigned from the party - and last week got a standing ovation at the DUP Party Conference. However he told the Operations Committee on Monday night that due to worries over his own health and that of his wife Audrey, he was going to step down from local politics altogether at the end of January 2018. - In sport, World Superbike Champion Jonathan Rea has been nominated for this year's BBC Sports Personality Of The Year. The Ballyclare rider has enjoyed spectacular success over the past 12 months, not only winning his third WorldSBK title, but becoming the first ever rider to win three Superbike titles in a row. He also broke the all-time points record for a season in WorldSBK; secured Kawasaki's 100th win in Superbike racing at world level; notched up his 50th personal win in WorldSBK; and helped Kawasaki secure a third Superbike manufacturer's title in a row. Jonathan joins some exalted sporting stars as a nominee for the title and is the first motorcyclist on the list in a decade. The winner will be announced at the annual awards event in the Echo Arena in Liverpool on Sunday, December 17. - Three members from the Antrim Tae-kwon-do Club have won medals at the British TKD Championships. William and Dylan Downey took silver and Ewan Hood bronze at the event which attracted more than 1,500 competitors to the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham. The event saw competitors from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales as well as teams from Poland and Holland. - And Castle Mall Shopping Centre in Antrim has launched its sponsorship of local running club, PACE. PACE is a community orientated running club based at Antrim Forum, with over 90 members. Castle Mall has generously provided all members with a brand new running vest. PLUS court and council coverage, pictures from Antrim's Christmas market from Dave Pettard and much, much more!

In your Antrim Guardian this week: - Staff morale at Muckamore Abbey Hospital in Antrim is nearing 'breaking point', insiders have claimed. The hospital has been offering specialist care for adults with a range of complex behavioural and mental problems for almost 70 years, but it now stands at a crossroads. As recently as the 1980s there were over 1,000 residents, but with the growing focus on community care instead of old-style institutions the numbers have plummeted to almost double figures. Staffing levels have fallen too. Too far, according to whistleblowers, who fear that there are now too few to contend with the demanding workload placed on their shoulders. And the mood has darkened in recent days after it emerged that four members of staff have been suspended while police conduct an investigation into the alleged ill-treatment of a small number of patients. “Morale has hit rock bottom. The atmosphere is terrible. I've never seen it so bad," one insider told the Antrim Guardian. - A specialist sexual assault referral centre based in Antrim has experienced an upsurge in calls following the recent sex scandals to hit the House of Commons and Hollywood. The Rowan is the regional Sexual Assault Referral Centre for Northern Ireland and is jointly funded by the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety and the Police Service for Northern Ireland. The team there delivers a range of support and services to children, young people, women and men who have been sexually abused, assaulted or raped. This week manager Karen Douglas said that the Antrim facility has seen a rise in calls, which is being attributed to the global media storm in the wake of the publicity surrounding scandals at Westminster and in the film industry. - And there has been a stampede for tickets to the 2017 Enchanted Winter Garden after locals clocked the impressive 'Antrim Eye' rise above the canopy of the Castle Gardens. The big wheel will be the centrepiece of this year's seasonal showcase and it has been turning heads as it took shape over four days on the site of the old castle. Excitement has been mounting, to the relief of the council who agreed to stump up over £8,000 per day for its short stay. But the controversial decision to charge local people to visit the Enchanted Garden has not pleased everyone. However, the council insists that a modest charge will allow it to make the festive fun bigger and better - and it certainly does not get any bigger than this! Already 24,000 tickets have been sold, with many bookings coming from outside the Borough and even some from as far afield as England. - In sport, Mark Allen will be back in action in York at the UK Championship this week after crashing out of the Northern Ireland Open. Last week the Antrim Guardian revealed that the world number six had deliberately eschewed big money sponsorship during his home tournament, deciding instead to wear the logos of The Welcome Organisation, which works with homeless people, and childhood cancer charity cure4cam. And he then donated his £2500 prize money that he earned in what was otherwise a disappointing campaign at the Waterfront. Allen will play German Lukas Kleckers on Wednesday. - Tír na nÓg's proved their worth in the Antrim U21 B football final at Portglenone when a late final quarter surge during which they scored two goals and three points gave them a five-point victory over Dunloy at Portglenone. The late goals turned the game on its head and while tearing the heart out of their opponents, victory certainly was a moment to savour for the Randalstown club. - And an Antrim student is looking forward to having a field day at the world-famous Murrayfield stadium in Edinburgh - quite literally! Michael Dundee is a member of the all-conquering Greenmount team, which has won the prestigious Saltex Cup for the last two years on the bounce. The cup is awarded to the very best sports turf students across the UK - and the prize is a real 'busman's holiday'. For included is the honour of painstakingly preparing the Murrayfield pitch for the Calcutta Cup game against old rivals England in February. PLUS court and council coverage, a special feature on the new A6 road project and pictures from the Randalstown Christmas lights switch-on from Dave Pettard!

In the Antrim Guardian this week: - Four members of staff at Muckamore Abbey Hospital in Antrim have been suspended while police conduct an investigation into the alleged ill treatment of patients. A spokesperson for the Trust which runs the hospital where acute inpatient care is provided to adults with an intellectual disability, behavioural or mental health problems, said that an incident had come to light several months ago. “Belfast Trust has placed four members of staff on precautionary exclusion from work while a full internal investigation is undertaken," the spokesperson said. The Trust says it has introduced additional measures and is assured of the ongoing safety and care of the community of patients in the hospital. The concerns about staff relate to a small number of patients and families of patients are being kept informed. - An Antrim man who has become one of the biggest players in Hollywood was unable to pick up a top award on home soil this week after he became inadvertently embroiled in the spiralling sex scandal surrounding fallen star Kevin Spacey. Movie producer Mark Huffam had hoped to be in Belfast to accept a special Royal Television Society Judges Award in recognition of his outstanding contribution to local television and film production but instead found himself having to erase scenes involving the disgraced actor from his latest film. Huffam had just completed work on kidnap drama 'All the Money in the World' but facing the prospect of taking a huge financial hit at the box office, he and his fellow producers decided to reassemble cast and crew and shoot Spacey's scenes again, causing him to miss the RTS bash. - And an Antrim man has urged teenage tearaways to follow his example by turning their backs on their lives of crime. By the end of his troubled teens, Shane Geoghegan was on a downwards spiral, and his booze soaked antics had attracted the attention of police. When he was approached by the Youth Justice Agency he knew he stood at a crossroads and the choice was stark - address the problems that fuelled his offending or brace himself for long spells behind bars. “In my early teenage years I was a bit of a tearaway, drinking, fighting, getting into all sorts of trouble. It landed me in court - a few times - and that's when the Youth Justice Agency got involved," he said. The 21-year-old has been out of trouble for three years and now holds a full-time job with a local manufacturing firm. Youth Justice Agency Practitioner Greg Walker has said there are many other people like Shane - and he has pledged to work with them so they too can 'come out the other side of the process a better person'. - In sport, local snooker ace Mark Allen is out of the Northern Ireland Open after losing a final frame decider to China's Tian Pengfei. Allen led three times but Pengfei's century break of 109 earned him a 4-3 win in Belfast on Wednesday night and a place in the third round. Allen won a sum of £2500 prize money from the snooker event on Wednesday at the Waterfront Hall and divided the money between two charities, Welcome Belfast - a charity which provides lifesaving services to vulnerable people, and Cure4Cam - a charity set up for a 12-year-old boy who has a brain tumour. Allen took to Facebook to thank everyone for supporting him. He tweeted: "Gutted I couldn't go further in this years NI Open but credit to Tian...Thanks to everyone who supported me as always. - A Liverpool FC fan from Antrim has received a scholarship for changing lives through football. Business and Economics student Mark Turner has been recognised with an Edge Hill University Excellence Scholarship for his voluntary work in both Northern Ireland and Ethiopia, where - with generous assistance from his favourite club - he has helped build schools and improve children's lives through football. Mark volunteers for local charity Hope and a Future, which provides education and healthcare for vulnerable children in Ethiopia. As well as working in the charity's shop and fundraising, he has travelled to Ethiopia twice to take part in projects and see first-hand the impact of the charity's work. “As a football fan, I am especially committed to the school's football team," said Mark. “We created it to give the kids a focus and keep them off the streets - an ideology I believe strongly in." - And Erin's Own GAC Cargin have launched their 2020 Vision to build a new clubhouse at their grounds in Toome. The plans were put on show to the local community at a meeting attended by politicians, clergy, club members and parishioners. One of the highlights of the event was the launch of a promotional video, which is now available to view on the club's Facebook and twitter pages. PLUS court and council coverage, pictures from Antrim's Christmas lights switch on and snaps from the Links2Pink fashion show by Dave Pettard!

In the Antrim Guardian this week: - An Antrim man who has been told that he may only have months to live has warned local people that they may be playing 'Russian roulette' by mixing booze and prescription medicine. Mark Smyth has suffered from depression and anxiety stemming from a traumatic experience in his youth and has been taking hardcore medication ever since. Unbeknownst to him, one of the tablets was dubbed 'the liver eater' - a name it earned when mixed with alcohol. The 42-year-old father of four thought he was in excellent health before his world came crashing down last Christmas. Doctors pulled him back from the brink, but life could never be the same again. Mark requires a liver transplant or he will die. - An estimated £150,000 worth of suspected cocaine has been seized by police in Antrim. The find came after a 41-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of possession of Class A drugs in Londonderry last Thursday (November 9). He was the driver of a grey Volvo which was stopped by police in the Clooney Road area of the city. Police seized the suspected cocaine during a follow-up search at a house in the Birch Hill Meadows area of Antrim and the examination of the Volvo car. - And the mystery surrounding the disappearance of a unique link to Antrim's military past has been solved. Last week eagle-eyed locals noticed that a cannon known locally as 'the gun' was missing from the town's Fountain Street. The name was well earned - dating back to the local sacrifice at the killing fields of Thiepval, Messines and Ypres during the Great War. The disappearance did not go unnoticed - particularly in the run-up to Remembrance Day. Local people were initially puzzled, but enquiries soon revealed that nothing was amiss. The cannon had been removed for essential maintenance and was returned within a couple of days. - In sport, entries are now open for the Antrim International Cross Country at Greenmount on January 6. The event started at Mallusk back in 1977, but this is will be its ninth year at the challenging Greenmount course. The meeting is now recognised as one of the highlights of the World Cross Country calendar, forming part of the IAAF's World Cross Country series. Supported by Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council, the event has one of only 10 IAAF permits, so can rightly claim to be one of the top cross country races in the world each year. - Crumlin United created history on Saturday when booked their place in the last four of the prestigious Steel and Sons Cup. A goal midway through the second-half proved enough to give the local lads a slender 1-0 victory over the former Irish League side. United will play their semi-final game at Seaview on Friday, November 24. - And St Joseph's GAC in Glenavy has been recognised as one of the first official 'healthy clubs' in Ireland. The local club can now proudly fly an endorsed flag above their grounds, letting their members and the community know that they value health and wellbeing as much as leagues and championships. St Joseph's is now one of only two clubs in County Antrim to receive national recognition and made history earlier in the year when they launched their complete smoke free policy. PLUS full coverage of Antrim's Remembrance Service, a special feature on anti-bullying week, court and council reports, and much, much more!