In today's Gazette: A grief stricken mum has called for police to treat her son's death as a hate crime.

Shy Keenan believes Ayden Olson, 14, took an overdose after being bullied at Philip Morant School in Colchester. She was police to launch a criminal investigation.

* Colchester is fighting to keep the title of Britain's oldest recorded town.

Tourism bosses in Ipswich have launched a campaign claiming it is the oldest English town - a claim described by Colchester MP Sir Bob Russell as ludicrous.

* The X Factor has lost its wow factor - if auditions in Colchester are anything to go by.

Only about 20 people attended the auditions all day - compared to hundreds who turned up last year.

* A former City trader has been jailed for five years for conning friends and family out of a total of £3 million.

Ian Dickinson, 50, a former president of Frinton Rotary Club, told members of Frinton Golf Club, Frinton Lawn Tennis Club and Frinton Rotary Club he could guarantee handsome returns on their investments - but only two out of 113 investors made a profit.

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