These are the latest ECHO headlines this afternoon.
Woman spends days tracking missing iPhone before ten stolen phones found
A young woman spent three days tracking her missing iPhone before police discovered ten stolen phones.
Ellie Marie Whitby, from Runcorn, was out in Liverpool City Centre back in April when she realised her brand new phone had been taken. After searching on Find my iPhone the next day, she realised it had moved.
She told the ECHO she followed the phone as it moved from London Road to another address and then back to London Road before she got Merseyside Police involved.
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She said: "We called the police when it was at an exact address but they wouldn't come out then because the app isn't accurate enough and it could be anywhere in that area, but the next day it pinged again and was back on London Road. We went into a few of the shops selling phones and asked if they had an iPhone 12 in my colour and there was a shop selling one."
Ellie, who filmed the surreal experience for her YouTube channel, said at that point they got the police involved who "seized the phone", which unfortunately turned out not to be hers, leading her investigation to a sudden halt. But her three day journey was not wasted as a week later, she found out Merseyside Police had found ten stolen phones from a phone shop on London Road following a lengthy investigation.
Read the full story here.
We boarded a Merseyrail train to see the impact of new timetable on commuters
Political editor Liam Thorp wrote about his commute to work as Merseyrail customers get used to more disruption this week. Here's some of what he said:
"People might think I bang on about public transport - and specifically Merseyrail - a lot, and they would be right..
"I'm really interested in public transport and passionate about how we can improve services to encourage more people to leave their cars at home and hop on a bus, train or even a ferry when going about their business. That's my reasoning anyway, others (my wife included) may suggest I'm just turning into a boring old bloke with an obsession - also highly possible.
"I am a regular Merseyrail user and have been for years, and because of this the operator gets a lot of my journalistic attention. I have said many times before that despite its faults, I have generally regarded the service as reliable and solid in the years I have used it. But that cannot be said at the moment.
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"This week, the latest disruption on the network came into force, with reduced timetables in place meaning that trains will only run every 30 minutes on the Ormskirk, Kirkby, Hunts Cross, New Brighton, West Kirby, Chester and Ellesmere Port lines. This timetable has come into play just weeks after the standard 15-minute services returned following years of pandemic-fuelled disruption.
"The operator says this change is because of 'unexpected faults' on the ageing trains. They cannot give a timeline of when things may go back to normal.
"The new timetable is already having a big disruptive impact for many people around the city region. To highlight some of these issues I made a quick video of my journey to work this morning (I can only apologise for the extreme close ups of my face)."
To find out how the rest of Liam's trip went click to read the full story here.
Man stabbed in face and leg near shops
A man was stabbed in the face and legs near shops in Knotty Ash.
Police were called to reports of an assault, at around 1.15am near shops on Finch Lane on Tuesday, June 14. Officers were told that a man had been stabbed multiple times before going to a house on Altfinch Close.
Emergency services attended the property and took the victim to hospital with serious injuries. He's currently receiving treatment for stab wounds which are not believed to be life threatening.
READ MORE: Man repeatedly punched in face while enjoying night out with family
Detectives have been at the scene since the early hours while CCTV, witness and forensic enquiries are carried out. Anyone who witnessed the incident or with any information is being asked to contact police.
Detective Inspector Chris Saidi said: "We are in the extremely early stages of an investigation into an incident on this morning which left a man injured and we are working to find the person responsible and bring them to justice. If you were in the West Derby area in the early hours of this morning and saw anything or anyone suspicious then please let us know.
"Similarly, if you were driving in the area and have dashcam footage then please review it and come forward if you see anything. This would have been a shocking incident for anyone to witness but I’d like to assure people that we believe it was an isolated and targeted attack, and there is no wider threat to the community.
"Knife crime has no place whatsoever in Merseyside and we rely on members of the public coming forward with information about such incidents to keep our communities safer. Please tell us what you know and we will take action. Your information could be vital in tracking down those responsible and removing them from our streets."
For more detail read the full story here.
