January

♦ The old Groves school in Powell Road was deemed safe from demolition as Wrexham Council bosses decided not to pursue a further legal challenge to allow them to knock it down.

Describing the decision as a ‘hammer blow’ to the authority’s plans for the future of education in Wrexham, leader of the council Cllr Mark Pritchard said he and his executive board colleagues were bitterly disappointed at the outcome.

♦ A Freedom of Information request submitted by the Leader revealed almost £200,000 of taxpayers’ money had gone up in smoke because of idiotic firebugs.

A total of £181,974 had been forked out by North Wales Fire and Rescue Service dealing with arson attacks and malicious calls in Wrexham and Flintshire since 2013.

Crews had to deal with almost 1,700 deliberate fires across the two counties between 2013 and 2016.

♦ An act of true generosity from a then-Reds star left a war veteran overwhelmed with joy.

Wrexham AFC auctioned one-off Remembrance Day shirts and the family of Falklands veteran and Reds fan Alan Loose were unsuccessful in getting one.

But Reds captain at the time, Rob Evans, presented a signed limited edition shirt to Mr Loose’s granddaughter, Gabrielle Davies.

February

♦ Wrexham AFC director John Mills rubbished rumours the club had turned away wealthy benefactors.

He told the Leader the club was open to offers of investment.

And Mr Mills added club bosses had opened talks with two parties since the Wrexham Supporters Trust took ownership of the club in 2011, but both had amounted to nothing.

♦ Winds of up  to 80mph battered Wrexham as Storm Doris brought down trees on vehicles, closed roads and affected public transport.

Homes lost power and council staff worked tirelessly to clear trees in areas across the county.

The high winds also caused a van to overturn on the A5 near Chirk, though thankfully no-one was injured in the crash.

♦ Tributes were paid to ‘gentle giant’ business man, James de Koning, 54, of Stansty Park, Wrexham.

Mr de Koning was well known across North Wales as the owner of Grand Prix Dodgems.

His brother Jan said the former St Joseph’s pupil had a good sense of humour.

He is survived by wife Tamara, son James and daughters Ava and Scarlet.

March

♦ The Leader toured Wrexham’s new £212 million prison as the first men began to fill HMP Berwyn.

Governor Russ Trent hit back at claims from some quarters that the facility was not punitive enough.

He said he hoped it could be a “truly rehabilitative” prison which would give the men the opportunity to live law-abiding lives upon their release back to the community.

♦ The Henblas Square shopping centre, which had been opened by former Blue Peter presenter Tim Vincent in 1999, was put up for sale.

Only two tenants remained at the development after major retailers including BHS and TJ Hughes had pulled out.

♦ A Wrexham Maelor hospital insider told the Leader staff morale was at an all-time low.

Problems with the out-of-hours GP service meant nurses were being asked to take on extra responsibility despite not being properly trained.

The anonymous staff member said there had not been a proper out of hours service at the hospital for two months and it was having a huge knock-on effect on the A&E department, staff and patients.

♦ A manhunt was launched after the murder of popular Wrexham restaurateur, Nick Churton.

Police scoured the county looking for Jordan Davidson after Mr Churton was found dead at his home in Crescent Close.

Tributes poured in for Mr Churton, who was described as a ‘lovely, kind-hearted man’.

Davidson was eventually arrested in Flint and admitted Mr Churton’s murder, along with other separate charges.

April

♦ A group of tenants at Wrexham bus station wrote to First Minister Carwyn Jones after they had enough of excuses regarding drug issues blighting their businesses.

They called on Mr Jones to relax their business rates to help them.

The national spotlight had shone on drug abuse at the station in King Street after a series of pictures detailing the issue were picked up by media outlets across the country.

♦ Heartfelt tributes were paid after a man collapsed and died at Ty Mawr Country Park.

Ricky Williams, 31, a goalkeeper with Wrexham DSA FC, had been swimming in the River Dee with friends shortly before his death.

Mr Williams’ best friend, Wayne Greenshields, led the tributes and said Mr Williams’ death would leave a huge hole in his life.

♦ A YouGov poll released ahead of the General Election suggested Wrexham and Clwyd South could turn blue when voters cast their ballot.

The poll suggested Labour MPs Ian Lucas and Susan Elan Jones faced a tough task to hold on to their seats in June’s election.

But both vowed to fight to the end to prevent the Tories from gaining a foothold in the region.

May

♦ Council leader Cllr Mark Pritchard was returned to the Guildhall with a thumping majority in local government elections.

Cllr Pritchard easily retained his Esclusham seat and was once again chosen to head the authority as leader.

But elsewhere across the county borough there was a changing of the guard with a number of long-serving elder statesmen given the boot by the electorate.

Cllr Bob Dutton, who became a councillor after a stint as chief executive of the former Wrexham Maelor Borough Council, was among those to lose their seat.

♦ A key figure in Wrexham died after a heart attack at his home.

Norman Land died aged 70 and his son, Ian, daughter Sharon, and wife, Maralyn, led the tributes to a man they said gave everything he had for Wrexham.

Mr Land was chairman of the Wrexham Allotment and Leisure Gardeners’ Association and was also heavily involved with Marchwiel Photographic Club and Mount Pleasant Baptist Church in Ponciau.

He had a long career working at Wrexham Maelor Council, Clwyd Council and the North Wales Police Authority and also served as chairman of trustees for Nightingale House for 10 years.

♦ Hopes were raised of a brighter future for the Henblas Square development.

Having been put up for sale by commercial agents Allsop in March, it was confirmed that the site was under offer.

Then town centre forum chairman, Nigel Lewis, said restoring that part of town to its former glory would be key to continue rebuilding Wrexham’s image.

June

♦ Wrexham and Clwyd South stayed red as the county’s MPs retained their Parliamentary seats.

Labour representatives Ian Lucas and Susan Elan Jones were thought to be in danger of losing to Tory candidates but the voters backed them at the polls.

Mr Lucas increased his majority by one vote in defeating Conservative candidate Andrew Atkinson for a second time while Ms Jones beat Tory Simon Baynes and increased her majority by almost 2,000 from 2015.

♦ Police vowed to help people addicted to new psychoactive substances in Wrexham.

But Wrexham town centre inspector Paul Wycherley also warned that those who don’t accept the offer of help could expect to face tough action.

He said the increased proliferation of substances like Spice was causing consternation for members of the public in the town centre.

♦ The Groves school saga rumbled on as council leader Cllr Mark Pritchard said the authority had been left with a ‘white elephant’ on its hands.

Cllr Pritchard said the authority was considering spending £100,000 a year putting 24-hour security on site – though ultimately members decided not to do so.

He added the council had come up with a good plan to build new schools on the site and blasted Welsh Government officials who had put the kibosh on the proposals by granting listed building status.

July

♦ A Wrexham AFC shirt in memory of a man who helped keep the club alive was returned to his family.

Kenny Pemberton went as far as the High Court to help his team, spending £35,000 battling the club’s former chairman Mark Guterman

Following his death, the shirts of a number of Wrexham FC youth teams were inscribed with Kenny’s name in a fitting tribute.

One of the shirts was traced via social media and returned to his family.

♦ A nursery set up with Welsh Government money closed after being deemed financially unsustainable.

‘Sprouts’ on Rhosddu Road closed its doors after Wrexham Council was unable to offer the financial support needed to keep the facility open.

♦ He was one of Wrexham’s most notorious characters who it treated court appearances as an occupational hazard.

Then Mark Prandle, now 51, received a heartfelt letter from his estranged daughter and became completely clean of drugs, kept out of trouble, gained employment, accommodation, and was enjoying life as a grandfather.

He thanked his family for reaching out to him, town centre PC Dave Bates for his support, never giving up through his addiction problems, despite a lengthy criminal record racked up over more than a decade.

♦ Controversial ‘bubble’ restrictions for the cross-border derby between Wrexham AFC and Chester FC were lifted.

Since 2013, the measures had meant away fans had to travel to the fixture by coach and were unable to enter the stadium if travelling by any other means.

Police and clubs agreed to drop the measures on a trial basis.

August

♦ It was revealed hundreds of children across Wrexham would go hungry during school holidays if not for the generosity of others.

Town MP Ian Lucas praised the Holiday Hunger project as the Leader reported it provided 115 lunches per day in some of the county’s most deprived communities.

♦ Members of Wrexham’s homeless community spoke about their struggles after a camp was set up at the old Groves school.

The situation was tolerated by Wrexham Council as it allowed health and third sector outreach workers to engage with them.

People from the camp spoke about their day-to-day experiences of life on the streets.

♦ A taxi driver from Caia Park became a millionaire after striking it lucky and rich with a scratchcard.

Alan Phillips, 58, became a millionaire overnight but revealed he had no plans to give up work despite the windfall.

September

♦ A grandfather was gearing up to start university on the same day as his grandson.

Kerry Griffiths, 67, of Huntsman’s Corner, started a history course at Glyndwr University while 18-year-old Luke Statham embarked on his French, Spanish and management course at Leicester University.

Mr Griffiths, who worked for Halifax Bank in Wrexham for 40 years, said he was “excited” about them both starting university on September 25 and that Luke, of Holt Road, “could not believe it” when he heard.

♦ An ex-soldier who suffered years of problems with trying to find work made an unconventional bid for employment at Chester Business Park.

Former Sgt Major Wayne Taylor, 46, from Garden Village, Wrexham, stood at the entrance to the park – home to a whole host of businesses including MBNA and M&S Money – with a sign saying ‘job wanted’ in the hope of being noticed.

October

♦ A hero boat skipper compared himself to Britain’s Strongest Man after he plucked an eight-month-old baby girl from the River Dee with one hand.

Quick-thinking Paul Blessing, 44, pulled the baby on to the deck of the Lady Diana pleasure boat after seeing her pram roll along the path and into the river at The Groves in Chester.

Paul, who lives in Cefn-y-bedd, near Wrexham, with his wife and two sons, said that, as a father himself, the incident was terrifying.

♦ Wrexham AFC’s ‘King of the Kop’ died.

Ian ‘Jacko’ Roberts, the lead singer in the Kop for many years, and later the Glyndwr University Stand, died at the age of 55 after a long battle with cancer.

Jacko, from Acrefair, was a passionate Reds fan known among supporters for his voice and enthusiasm on the terraces.

♦ A Wrexham woman was honoured for her bravery during the Manchester Arena terror attack at an awards ceremony celebrating women from all walks of life.

Lea Vaughan, from Llay, was one of three paramedics of the Hazardous Area Response Team in the blast zone after a bomb was detonated by a suicide bomber as people left an Ariana Grande concert.

Twenty-two people were killed and 250 were injured following the blast on May 22.

November

♦ A mother and son celebrated after they graduated from university in the same week.

Thom Gordon, 30, and his mother Julia King, 58, both graduated from Glyndwr University just one day apart.

While Mr Gordon, of Chirk, graduated with a BSC (Hons) in architectural design and technology, he asked university staff if he could don his cap and gown once again to have a picture taken with his mother at her ceremony the next day.

Mrs King, of Cockshutt in Shropshire graduated with a BSC (Hons) in community health and wellbeing.

♦ Councillors offered a £200 pay rise blasted the panel which suggested it for being out of touch.

The draft Independent Remuneration Panel for Wales report has put forward proposals to give every councillor in Wrexham an additional £200 over the next financial year.

But members said in the current economic climate, with public sector pay freezes and many families struggling to make ends meet, it was a bitter pill to swallow.

December

♦ Murderer Jordan Davidson was jailed for a minimum of 23 years and four months.

The Wrexham man, 26, who called himself the Devil, murdered retired restaurateur Nick Churton.

♦ It was revealed thousands of people were issued fines for dropping cigarettes in Wrexham.

Figures showed 2,534 fixed penalty notices had been issued by Kingdom enforcement officers since the start of an agreement with Wrexham Council to crack down on littering in the county.

In monetary terms, the penalties issued added up to a staggering £190,050 for dropping cigarette butts alone between April and October.

♦ A mother paid a touching tribute to her “one of a kind” daughter, whose brave battle with illness touched the hearts of people across Wrexham and beyond.

Dakota Roberts died aged four at Wrexham Maelor Hospital.

She suffered from a number of illnesses, including a rare condition called West Syndrome, which could cause her to have up to 80 fits a day.

Little Dakota also suffered from epilepsy, a neurological condition called Dystonia, which affects muscle movement, and chronic lung disease.  

Her funeral was held at St Giles Church on December 22.