April

  • Doctors were left stumped by the "extremely rare" medical condition that has left a Wallington schoolgirl hiccupping constantly. Emily Marsh spoke about the sustained chronic hiccups that caused her to hiccup every two seconds and how she tried nearly every known home remedy. Despite numerous medical tests, doctors have not found a treatment to help Emily.

Your Local Guardian:

The four-by-four and speed camera were set alight

  • A ball of flame engulfed a stolen four-by-four and speed camera on St Helier Avenue in an arson attack. Police believe that the blue G-registration Daihatsu, which had been stolen from Peterborough road the day before, was deliberately parked and set alight below the £40,000 camera.

  • An investigation was launched following the death of a well known animal enthusiast in a fire at his flat on Benhill Wood Road. Gerald "Jed" Edge was known for supplying snakes and reptiles for the Steven Spielberg film Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark.

May

  • St Helier Hospital was severely criticised after a catalogue of errors in its care contributed to a patient's death. Jason Washington, 43, from Carshalton, died after lying undiscovered in a coma for at least 20 minutes outside a toilet entrance in the ward where he had been admitted, after his condition was deteriorating.

Your Local Guardian:

Andrew Iacovou was alone in the shop when attacked

  • A dad-of-three was bludgeoned to death in a hammer attack as he worked at a Ladbrokes bookmakers. Andrew Iacovou, from North Cheam, was alone in the shop when the attack happened at Ladbrokes in Aberconway Road, Morden. Shafique Ahmad Aarij was found guilty of murder and will be sentenced in January.

  • Doctors were surprised when a woman who went to St Helier Hospital with a suspected water infection turned out to have four kidneys. Student Jessica Curphey was then taken to St George’s Hospital in Tooting where one of the kidneys, which was swollen with almost two litres of fluid, was removed.

June

  • More than 60 crimes in Sutton involving children under 10 were committed over the last three years, a Freedom of Information request revealed in June. These included three children, one only three years old, accused of shoplifting and a gang including a 10-year-old boy attacking a man and stealing his phone.

  • A professionally filmed porn clip shot in broad daylight in Gibson Road car park and uploaded to a porn website triggered a police investigation and calls for tightened security. Other films of a similar nature circulating the internet have also been shot in the car park opposite the council offices.

Your Local Guardian:

A 4x4 ploughed into a house in Brandy Way, Sutton

  • A couple came home from work to find a 4x4 parked in their living room. The car ploughed into the wall of a house in Brandy Way, Sutton, when its driver lost control, lodging itself perfectly into Chris Simpson and his pregnant wife Laura's living room wall.