In May, the former boyfriend of a Borehamwood woman was convicted of attacking her five-year-old son.

The child suffered injuries to his back, chest, buttocks, thighs, knees, pelvis, both arms and his penis.

The man, 26, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was found guilty of attacking the boy, while the mother, also aged 26, was found not guilty of child neglect.

Her son and her seven-year-old daughter were taken into foster care when the allegations were first made and with the trauma of the court case behind her, she is now fighting to get them back.

Also in May, campaigners who had been battling for ten years to have the traffic lights turned on at a “death trap” roundabout finally had their voices heard.

Transport for London agreed to turn on the lights at Stirling Corner on permanently for the next three to six months.

The transport body had been reluctant to switch their hours of operation from 3.30pm to 5.30pm – but campaigners won their battle after a spate of serious accidents in the area.

Later in the month, a dog belonging to a disabled man was savagely attacked by another dog.

Peter Franklin, of Farriers Way in Borehamwood, had to fend the bulldog off with his walking stick when it sank its teeth into his dog Gus’s neck.

There was so much blood that Mr Franklin, who has multiple sclerosis and struggles to walk, was convinced his beloved ten-year-old border terrier had been killed.

Gus was left with a black eye and puncture wounds in his neck.

Finally, the efforts of parents and teachers who spent three years campaigning for a new “ultra local” high school were rewarded.

Education Secretary Michael Gove gave the new Harperbury Free School in Radlett the green light after campaigners were invited to an “intense” interview about the new school earlier this year.

The academy will take pupils from Borehamwood, Shenley, Radlett, Aldenham, St Albans and some parts of Potters Bar.

The new school is set to be open in time for the September 2014 intake and will provide 120 places per year for 11 to 18-year-olds.