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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
National
Ellen Kirwin

Man took loaded gun to hospital, town targeted by 'feral' yobs and hidden beauty inside church

Good morning, these are the latest ECHO headlines today.

'I'm sorry for trouble I caused' says man who held gun to head outside Royal Liverpool Hospital

A terminally ill man who held a gun to his head outside Royal Liverpool Hospital has apologised for the 12-hour stand off he caused.

Donald Coleman dialled 999 and said he wanted to kill himself with a Russian semi-automatic pistol at around 10.30pm on November 3 last year. Armed officers descended on Prescot Street, the front entrance of the Royal was closed, the road shut down and ambulances diverted to other hospitals during "severe disruption".

Liverpool Crown Court heard on Tuesday, April 5, how when Coleman dialled 999 he told the call handler he was very ill and wanted to end his life.

READ MORE: Man held loaded gun to his head outside Royal Liverpool Hospital

Christopher Taylor, prosecuting, said the 61-year-old told police he "didn't want to hurt anybody" but someone had asked him to "mind" a gun for them.

Mr Taylor said: "He told the call handler he didn't want the gun to go back on the streets. He described it as a black Russian World War 2 handgun... He said he was thinking of ways to kill himself and he wanted to kill himself with the gun."

Coleman was parked in a car on Prescot Street and was seen "pointing that firearm at his own head". Eighteen armed officers and 58 other officers attended the scene, along with family and friends of Coleman, who tried to try to talk him out of killing himself.

Read the full story here.

Merseyside town worried after 'feral' yobs target rail staff

A Merseyside town was shocked after a video of a vicious attack went viral overnight.

The video, that the ECHO shared on Tuesday, shows a group of thugs threatening and assaulting a train station security guard at Formby Train Station. The group of around six boys are seen to be kicking and chasing two members of staff through the train station.

British Transport Police confirmed it received reports of rail staff assault at the station at 7.37pm on Sunday, April 3. A spokesperson for BTP said that enquiries remain ongoing into this incident.

READ MORE: Gang scream 'do him now' and chase railway worker in vile station attack

A spokesperson for BTP told the ECHO: "British Transport Police received a report at 7.37pm on Sunday, April 3 of a rail staff assault at Formby railway station. We are aware of footage showing this incident being circulated on social media and enquiries remain ongoing.

"Any witnesses, or anyone with video footage of the incident, are urged to contact BTP by texting 61016 or calling 0800 40 50 40 quoting reference 531 of 3 April. Officers are conducting increased patrols in the area following the incident."

Read the full article here.

Hidden beauty inside the church you probably drive past daily

If you've ever walked through the Baltic Triangle towards the Royal Albert Dock you've probably glimpsed a building of deep red brick that looks like no other in the city.

That building is the Gustaf Adolfs Kyrka, or as it's better known, the Nordic Church. Though some call it the Scandinavian Seamen's Church.

It was originally owned by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Sweden, but after complications in the original contract forced them to give it up, it is now operated by Liverpool International Nordic Community (LINC). It still fulfils its original religious purpose as a church and chapel, though now it also acts as a community space, a hostel for Swedish LFC fans and a language school.

It was commissioned during a time when Scandinavian emigration to the city was unprecedented. The church was an ambition of a Swedish priest named Per Gustaf Tegner, who served the Scandinavian sailors stopping over in Liverpool.

Tegner would not live to see the construction of the church completed, even though it only took its architect, William Douglas Caröe, a year to build. It would also be the first project of Caröe's illustrious career as a church architect.

View images of the church here.

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