Category Archives: Sunderland

‘Stranger than fiction’: Sunderland doctor Thomas Kwan’s plan for murder

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GP in inheritance row aimed to kill his mother’s partner by wearing disguise to administer a fake Covid booster jab

“Sometimes the truth really is stranger than fiction,” said the prosecuting barrister, Peter Makepeace KC, as he outlined a case which reads like the plot of an airport thriller. Think of an Agatha Christie-inspired Columbo episode with a splash of Breaking Bad.

The story of the outwardly respectable GP Thomas Kwan and his plot to kill a man he greedily saw as standing in the way of his inheritance is a wild one.

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‘Far-right racists’ will not win, Sunderland MP says after riots

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Lewis Atkinson says rioters do not represent city and praises residents gathering to clear up debris

• Police brace for more disorder – latest updates

“Far-right racists” who brought violent disorder to the streets of Sunderland will not be allowed to win, the city’s MP has said as residents gathered to help clean up.

About 500 people, including some parents and their children, came together in the city centre on Friday evening, responding to far-right social media posts to turn up and demonstrate.

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Football fan gets suspended sentence after mocking mascot Bradley Lowery

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Dale Houghton taunted Sunderland fans with picture on his phone of young supporter who died in 2017

A football fan who mocked mascot Bradley Lowery during a match against the youngster’s favourite team has been given a suspended sentence by a judge who said his actions were “utterly appalling” and “disgraceful”.

During a match at Hillsborough stadium in September, the Sheffield Wednesday fan Dale Houghton, 32, taunted Sunderland fans with a picture on his phone of Bradley, who died in 2017.

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Police investigate after football fans appear to mock death of Bradley Lowery

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  • Sheffield Wednesday condemn ‘deplorable’ behaviour
  • Sunderland and England mascot died aged six in 2017

Police are investigating after two Sheffield Wednesday fans appeared to mock the death of football mascot Bradley Lowery during a match against his favourite team.

The six-year-old Sunderland fan, who struck up a close friendship with the team’s striker Jermain Defoe after being diagnosed with neuroblastoma, died in 2017 having helped raise more than £1m for charity.

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Man jailed for life for murdering schoolgirl Nikki Allan in 1992

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David Boyd must serve at least 29 years for killing seven-year-old he stabbed 37 times

A child killer who brutally murdered a “bright and sparky” seven-year-old girl and managed to escape justice for more than 30 years has been sentenced to life in prison.

A judge on Tuesday ruled that David Boyd must serve a minimum term of 29 years for the murder of Nikki Allan.

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UK local elections: what is up for grabs, and what might we learn?

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The elections on 5 May will be a key test for Boris Johnson after ‘partgate’, but they are often difficult to predict. Here is our handy guide to the polls

Much of the UK will go the polls on 5 May for local and regional elections that will be seen as a key test for Boris Johnson after months of negative headlines over allegedly lockdown-breaking parties. Local elections can be hard to decode, so here is what is up for grabs, and what we might learn.

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Just Eat to create 1,500 jobs at new Sunderland customer service site

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Takeaway company says it will invest £100m in north-east as it brings staff in-house

The takeaway company Just Eat is planning to open a customer service site in north-east England, which will employ 1,500 people as it brings jobs back from India and Bulgaria.

The business said that it would invest £100m in the region over the next five years, with staff working partly from home and partly from its new Sunderland-based office.

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Nissan plans to shed 10,000 jobs worldwide, reports claim

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Cuts would be twice as many as the carmaker announced in May and will increase fears of UK losses

The carmaker Nissan plans to cut more than 10,000 jobs around the world as part of efforts to turn itself around, Japanese media have reported.

Nissan announced in May it would cut 4,800 jobs from its global workforce of around 139,000 as it grapples with a fall in profits to a near-decade low amid “a difficult business environment”.

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Child rapist who fooled judge into thinking he was disabled is jailed

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George Stephenson, 60, was initially deemed unfit to stand trial after ‘Oscar-winning’ act

A child rapist who almost escaped punishment after he tricked a judge and two psychiatrists into thinking he was severely disabled has been jailed for more than 26 years.

George Stephenson, 60, pretended he could not speak, made unintelligible noises during consultations, needed to be pushed in a wheelchair by his wife, was incontinent and appeared not to be able to follow proceedings.

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Knife crime victims: the 10 teenagers killed in 2019

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Five victims have died in London, three in Birmingham, one in Manchester and one in Sunderland

Ten teenagers have been killed in knife attacks in the first two months of 2019, according to a list compiled by the Guardian from media coverage and police press alerts.

Half the victims were in London, three died in Birmingham in just 12 days, and the other casualties were in Manchester and Sunderland.

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Sunderland: where the terraces are a refuge from the uncertainties of Brexit

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Nissan’s bombshell for the city has dented confidence, but citizens draw strength from their football team

Andrew Cammiss got up at four yesterday morning to set off on a 250-mile trip to Oxford for a third division football match. “I took my lad Niall who’s named after my favourite player,” he reveals. Along with other club legends Peter Reid and Kevin Phillips, an image of Niall Quinn is inked on the 39-year-old superfan’s body. “It takes my mind off things. Tattoos show my love for the lads.”

By “things” he means the latest kick in the teeth to his home city. Nissan has scrapped plans to manufacture the X-Trail sport-utility vehicle there. Despite reassurances that the cancellation does not imperil the plant, which employs about 7,000 people, Cammiss fears the worst. “I’ve a cousin and uncle who work there. Everyone knows someone who works there. If Nissan goes we’ll be gutted for a bit, but we’ll get used to it. There’s always the football.”

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