Disturbing court cases, Ikea plan and MP calls time – How we brought you the year’s most memorable stories
Looking back on the events of 2014 – part one
APRIL
A shocking Sheffield court case heard a young woman was still alive when she was beheaded with a kitchen knife by her boyfriend.
Police had discovered the body of 18-year-old Reema Ramzan in a flat on Herries Road, Shirecliffe. Her head had been removed and she had been stabbed in the shoulder.
Her partner, 21-year-old Aras Hussein, had stabbed himself in the chest after the killing, stripped off his blood-stained clothes and walked naked onto the street.
Water fiasco – the Sheffield Half Marathon was plunged into chaos as the event was cancelled at the very last minute – with runners on the start line – due to insufficient water supplies.
The story hit national headlines as thousands of athletes set off on the 13.1-mile route anyway. People praised the ‘ordinary Sheffielders’ who lined the route as spectators and handed out bottles and cups of water to runners.
It was later revealed the water company had not been paid in advance as required.
On April 15, football fans across the country paused to remember the Hillsborough Disaster. It was 25 years to the day sincee the tragedy, which claimed the lives of 96 Liverpool football fans, who were crushed to death on the terraces of Sheffield Wednesday’s Hillsborough Stadium.
As well as those who perished, the heroes of the day were also remembered, including 19-year-old student nurse Tara Walker, who had gone to the game expecting to patch up the odd cut or bruise and ended up trying to give the kiss of life on the pitch to several badly injured fans.
Doncaster’s Lynsey Smith and Andrew Moore made history as they became the first couple to tie the knot in the landmark Mansion House in decades. The town’s grade I listed Mansion House has been a focus of civic pride for more than 250 years and has once again become one of the borough’s most desirable wedding venues.
Three generations of the same family died in a house fire in Sheffield.
Five members of the Kayani family perished as flames ripped through their family home in Nether Edge.
Grandmother Shabbina Begum, aged 54, died after going back into the house to try and save her grandchildren.
Further afield, the world was shocked after an estimated 276 girls and women were abducted and held hostage from a school in Nigeria by Islamic militants.
MAY
A female pimp who befriended vulnerable young girls in Sheffield – then prostituted them out to men in exchange for cash, drugs and drink – was found guilty of 16 child prostitution crimes. Amanda Spencer, aged 23, plied young victims for drugs and alcohol then sold them for sex.
One of the victims was forced to have sex one after another with several asylum seekers at a shared house in Sheffield. Another was paid just £20 to lose her virginity aged 13 to a ‘much older’ man.
Sheffielders united in grief after 14-year-old Jasmyn Chan was mowed down and killed by a hit-and-run driver. The teenager died a hero, sacrificing her life by pushing a friend out of the car’s path.
Hundreds of people from across the world attended the funeral of a Sheffield RAF war veteran after a Star appeal.
George Thompson died with no close family and few surviving friends, meaning a poor turnout was expected at his funeral.
However, after The Star joined calls from the Royal Air Force Association to give the 96-year-old Woodseats man a good send-off, the appeal quickly gained momentum and went viral.
One of George’s few remaining friends, Joan Hunter, said after the service: “I want to thank everyone personally, but there are so many people. I even had an email from China from someone sending their best wishes.
“George would have been overwhelmed.”
Overseas, the Royal Thai Army overthrew the country’s caretaker government after it failed to resolve national political unrest.
JUNE
Sheffield D-Day veterans returned to Normandy to mark 70 years since the seaborne invasion during World War Two.
Among the real life ‘Private Ryans’ was Charlie Hill, who was just 19 when he landed on Gold beach at 7.25am on June 6, 1944.
He said: “My main memory is shells raining down, the sand erupting all around, burning tanks and bodies everywhere. It was a bloody nightmare.”
One Direction heart-throb Louis Tomlinson announced he has planning to buy Doncaster Rovers alongside former club chairman John Ryan.
Buying the club would have the Bessacarr-born 22-year-old singing sensation’s journey from waiter at the Keepmoat Stadium to club owner, but it was to come to nothing.
Planners finally gave the go-ahead for a long-awaited Ikea in Sheffield.
The massive £60m store was earmarked for the old Tinsley Wire site in Carbrook. It is set to create 700 jobs and bring more visitors to the city.
Sheffield’s longest-serving MP David Blunkett announced he would quit politics and not stand in the 2015 general election.
The former Home Secretary said stepping down after 28 years in the House of Commons – and 45 years after becoming a Sheffield councillor – was ‘the most difficult political decision’ he had ever made and he would ‘miss it terribly’. Leading Labour figures including shadow Prime Minister and Doncaster North MP Ed Miliband praised Mr Blunkett for ‘serving with distinction’.
Mr Blunkett pledged he would continue to fight for his constituency and stay in public service after the election.
Later in June, ugly scenes broke out at Sheffield train station as protestors were grabbed, handcuffed and arrested over cuts to travel passes.
Protestors had been at the station after travelling without paying from Meadowhall to the city centre in their latest ‘Freedom Ride’ following months of other campaigning.
The Star’s reporter Alex Evans was even threatened with arrest under the Terrorism Act and made to delete videos of protestors on the platform.
Football fever hit South Yorkshire – and the rest of the world – as the World Cup kicked off in Brazil. It was eventually won by Germany, who beat Argentina.