The second month of 2024 was dominated by major fires, horrific crashes, and disturbing court cases.

One of the worst crashes claimed the life of "much loved" Michal Kaminski, whose lorry was involved in a collision with two other vehicles on the M27 motorway near Eastleigh.

Mr Kaminski, 36, of Salisbury, was employed by flooring supplier Salesmark West Limited.

Ross Neiland, 38, of Littlehampton, has pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving and is due to be sentenced at Southampton Crown Court on January 21.

Another crash resulted in a Southampton student losing her third car in two years.

Amy Watson could hardly believe her eyes when she discovered her parked Audi had been wrecked by a BMW in Spring Road. Two previous cars owned by the 21-year-old were written off in the same street in 2022.

Elsewhere in the city, a schoolboy had a brush with death when his heart stopped beating while he was in the playground.

Six-year-old Shaun Dalley ended up in hospital after collapsing at Holy Family Catholic Primary School in Mansel Road West. Shaun, from Maybush, needed two emergency operations.

One of Hampshire's biggest fires of 2024 saw the destruction of a popular pub overlooking the Solent.

More than 60 firefighters were called to Hill Head after a blaze broke out at the Osborne View Hotel. A thermal camera recorded temperatures of 300c, with flames soaring 100ft into the night sky.

Fire also swept through a country mansion at Curdridge, where 14 crews worked through the night to extinguish the blaze.

The courts had another busy month. 

Southampton magistrates heard that a dog was left to die a slow and painful death after its owner, Carrie Hansford, 43, moved in with her new partner and was unable to take the animal with her.

Rocky, a Staffordshire Bull Terrier, starved to death in a filthy, faeces-ridden house in Junction Road, Totton.

Hansford pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to an animal. She was handed a suspended prison sentence, banned from keeping animals for five years, and told to complete 100 hours of unpaid work.

Southampton Crown Court sentenced a chainsaw-wielding man who burst into a property after hearing his stepdaughter had been "bullied" by her housemates.

Mark Hunter, 45, was jailed for two years, suspended for two years.

In the New Forest, Fawley Waterside said it was "reviewing" its £1bn plan to transform the old Fawley power station site.

The consortium later scrapped proposals to build 1,500 homes on the site, plus a raft of commercial and community facilities.