These are the latest Liverpool ECHO headlines this morning.
Driver in 90mph chase was 'scared because of man who got shot by police'
A university student led officers on a 90mph car chase then said he was "scared because of the man that got shot and killed by police".
Victory Ozoemena was already banned from driving after a previous 140mph pursuit, which ended when he smashed into a lamppost. The care worker then got behind the wheel again, but was caught after crashing into a hedge.
Liverpool Crown Court heard yesterday, Wednesday, that the 24-year-old drove across the path of a police car "quite quickly" in a friend's Skoda Fabia on Queens Drive shortly before 2am on September 12 this year. Paul Blasbery, prosecuting, said that the vehicle was pulled over and an officer began to approach.
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But Ozoemena then sped off, performing a U-turn and mounting the pavement - driving along the footpath for a period before returning to the road. He accelerated to 90mph in a 40mph zone, passing through red lights without braking before travelling onto Mill Lane and Deysbrook Lane in West Derby.
The motorist drove through another red light at the junction with Croxteth Hall Lane at 70mph in a 30mph zone. Ozoemena, of no fixed address, continued down the road until the area where it becomes a footpath - still driving at high speeds.
He then collided with a hedge and came to a stop in a field. The driver ran away, but was caught by the PC. Read more here.
Police officer accidently recorded himself hurling racist abuse at TV
A Merseyside Police officer quit in disgrace after mistakenly recording himself hurling "appalling" racist abuse at his TV during a news report featuring a black person.
The officer, PC James Ennis, sealed his fate by accidentally forwarding the voice note to a fellow police officer on WhatsApp, who raised the alarm. The officer was placed under investigation by the force's Professional Standards Department and misconduct proceedings were launched.
Ennis resigned before he could be hauled before a disciplinary panel, but the proceedings went ahead and concluded he would have been sacked for gross misconduct had he remained in the police. The ruling means he will be placed on the College of Policing barred list preventing him from holding any policing job in the UK.
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A two day disciplinary hearing took place was month before an independent chair, which found Ennis guilty of breaching the force's standard of professional behaviour, to the level of gross misconduct. Merseyside Police said the incident took place on November 15 last year at Ennis's home.
Ennis was having a text conversation with a fellow officer when he recorded the vile voice note, which was sent to the another officer's phone. A spokeswoman for the force said: "The officer had been watching the news and was heard to be shouting racist language at a black person featured in the news item." Read the full story here.
Cash strapped council's chandeliers worth more than £1m
Cash strapped Liverpool Council holds assets such as historic books and cut glass chandeliers worth millions of pounds.
As the local authority reels from the impact of covid-19 on its financial outlook, its draft statement of accounts has revealed that the 19th century chandeliers that hang from the ceiling where members debate issues such as the cost of living in Liverpool Town Hall are worth around £1.3m. In addition, in the council’s possession is a £7.5m book by John James Audubon first published between 1827 and 1838, called The Birds of America.
The book contains illustrations of a wide variety of birds of the United States and is one of the council’s £35m worth of heritage assets. Several of the heritage assets managed by the city council are on long term loan from National Museums Liverpool.
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The draft statement of accounts for the local authority for 2021/22 said it estimated losses of almost £10m with additional coronavirus costs totalling £76m. Not all of these have been compensated for by UK Government support grants.
Almost £90m will need to be found in savings by Liverpool Council by 2026 according to its own estimates. The report said during 2020/21, additional expenditure related to covid-19 reached £89m while income was £25m lower than anticipated. Read more here.
