These are the latest ECHO headlines this morning.
Mum who was 'light in so many lives' dies day after her wedding
A mum who was the "light in so many people's lives" died the day after her wedding.
Gemeila Howard, also known as Gemma, lost her battle with cancer on Saturday 23 April at Willowbrook Hospice. The 39-year-old, from Huyton, spoke to the ECHO back in 2019 after she was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer and was set to undergo a major operation to help prolong her life.
She was later diagnosed with a Krukenberg tumour - a rare and specific type of tumour that grows in the ovaries - and told she had three months left to live. After she was given the devastating news, Gemeila decided to get married to her long term partner Antony Howard straight away.
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Their friend Sean Brien told the ECHO: "They got married on the Friday and she died on Saturday night. It was an amazing day it really was."
Sean and friend David McAleny walked Gemeila down the aisle and gave her away on her wedding day - in a moment which he described as "the biggest honour of my life." A fundraising page has now been set up to support Gemeila's husband Antony and their daughter Freya, aged nine, and help to give her "the best send off."
Read the full story here.
Armed dealer claimed drug money was cash to 'buy a puppy'
An armed cannabis dealer caught with drug money told police he had wanted the cash to buy a puppy.
Troy Aindow was found to have cannabis wraps and a lock knife. Aindow said he had no plans to use the knife but the judge described this as “nonsense” and told him not to waste his time.
Liverpool Crown Court heard that when arrested Aindow, now 20, said he had the knife in his pocket because “you just never know”.
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Judge Brian Cummings, QC told him: “Any time I hear the excuse ‘I would never have actually used the knife’ I dismiss it as nonsense.
“The whole purpose of carrying a knife is to have it available to use in case and even if only produced with intent to brandish, immediately there is a risk of very serious consequences because you cannot be confident how the other person will react.
“Stop wasting my time. Having a knife out and about in public is a serious matter and particularly when carried for the purpose of protecting drug dealing activity and that is what it is about to protect your drugs and your money.”
Read the full story here.
Huge ‘Central Park’ could be one of Liverpool’s largest green spaces
A new park the size of Anfield and Goodison's pitches combined could be built in the city’s north docks and form the next stage of the Liverpool Waters development.
Developers Peel L&P hope to build the almost five acre ‘Central Park’ south of Collingwood Dock near to the Tobacco Warehouse and Titanic Hotel, with Everton’s new stadium at Bramley Moore situated just north of the proposed site. If approved the new park would be one of the city’s largest and a significant addition of green space to Kirkdale and the adjoining city centre area.
According to Peel L&P, Central Park would bring direct access to parts of the Leeds Liverpool Canal for the first time in a number of years, with a section running from Canning Dock toward Waterloo Dock, Princes Dock and the Three Graces. The plans would also open up the central dockland area to the public - somewhere that has remained largely derelict since the city’s historic docks closed.
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Central Park would form one of the main parts of public realm space throughout the whole Liverpool Waters project. Peel L&P were granted outline planning permission for the £5bn project in 2012 and aim to redevelop a large stretch of Liverpool’s docklands from Princes Dock to where the new Bramley Moore Stadium will one day stand.
So far a number of major residential developments have been delivered within Liverpool Waters at Princes Dock and Jesse Hartley Way, with Central Park seen as a catalyst for attracting more people into the area. The new Isle of Man Ferry terminal is also under construction at the south of the Liverpool Waters site.
Read more here.
