In today's Gazette: A former City trader has admitted conning at least £3 million out of members of Frinton's golf, tennis and Rotary clubs.

Ian Dickinson, 49, was living in a £500,000 home in the town's leafy Fourth Avenue when he persuaded pals to invest in his get-rich-quick scheme. He admitted two fraud charges at Chelmsford Crown Court.

* The parents of a girl who met Paralympian Oscar Pistorius when she was fitted with running blades, say she will be devastated he has been charged with murder.

Ellie May Challis, eight, lost her hands and legs to meningitis when she was a toddler. She met Pistorius who competed using similar prosthetics. Pistorius is due to appear in court accused of killing girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp within the next hour.

* A woman who has suffered dramatic weight loss after contracting a mystery illness fears she will not live until her next hospital appointment.

Sharon Letch, 47, dropped from nine-and-a-half stone to six-and-a-half stone but doctors have no idea why.

* Plain clothes police officers will increase the number of stop checkys they carry out in Colchester in a bid to tackle knife crime.

For more on these and other great stories, see today's Gazette. There is always more in the paper than there is online.