Category Archives: England

Colleagues of soldier, 19, found dead criticise response to sexual assault claims

Posted on by

Jaysley Beck’s friends tell inquest she did not report her boss because her previous complaint was ‘squashed’

Colleagues of a 19-year-old soldier found dead in her barracks room after allegedly being sexually assaulted by an officer twice her age have strongly criticised how her complaint about the incident was dealt with.

One colleague of Gnr Jaysley Beck confirmed at her inquest he was “incensed” that WOI Michael Webber was only subject to a “minor sanction” after he allegedly pinned the teenager down and tried to kiss her during an adventure training exercise.

In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org.

Continue reading...

Sacking of Christian school worker over posts about LGBTQ+ lessons unlawful, court rules

Posted on by

Kristie Higgs was dismissed after sharing posts on plans to teach equalities programme at her son’s C of E school

A Christian school worker who was sacked after she shared Facebook posts raising concerns about lessons in LGBTQ+ relationships for primary schoolchildren has won her battle in the court of appeal.

Kristie Higgs was dismissed from her role as a pastoral administrator and work experience manager at Farmor’s, a secondary school in Fairford, Gloucestershire, in 2019 after an anonymous complaint from a parent at the school.

Continue reading...

Nottingham attacks public inquiry to begin within weeks, Starmer says

Posted on by

Judge-led statutory inquiry announced into killings of three people by Valdo Calocane in June 2023

A judge-led public inquiry into the Nottingham attacks will start in “a matter of weeks”, Keir Starmer has told the families of the three people killed and the injured survivors.

At a meeting at No 10 on Wednesday, the prime minister said the inquiry would scrutinise a “number of different agencies” and a retired judge would soon be appointed to lead the process.

Continue reading...

Philippines storm survivors join climate protest outside Shell HQ in London

Posted on by

Greenpeace protest draws attention to worsening typhoons and demands accountability from major polluters

For two days and two nights, Ronalyn Carbonel and her four children clung to the roof of their home as a huge storm raged around them. With the wind battering her village of Rizal, about 10 miles east of Manila in the Philippines, and water swirling through the rooms below them, they had no choice but to wait, hoping that someone would come to rescue them and hundreds of their neighbours.

“We did not have shelter, we did not have food … we just had to wait for the government for two days,” Carbonel said. “It is not easy, no electricity, no light, we just wait for the sun to rise. The children were scared, we had never experienced anything like this.”

Continue reading...

Life satisfaction among over-50s in England higher than before pandemic, study finds

Posted on by

Research shows happiness levels have bounced back post-Covid, although depression also remains more common

People 50 and over in England have greater life satisfaction and sense life is more worthwhile than before the Covid pandemic, although depression is more common, researchers have found.

Prof Paola Zaninotto, first author of the research from University College London, said the study showed wellbeing and mental health worsened between the early stages of the pandemic and later in 2020, contrary to some reports. However, this situation subsequently improved.

Continue reading...

Court rules against Metropolitan police crackdown on officers

Posted on by

Force faces having to reinstate officers and staff removed under scheme launched in wake of Sarah Everard case

The Metropolitan police have lost a high court case over whether they can oust officers and staff deemed unsuitable through enhanced vetting procedures.

Scotland Yard had used the scheme, which effectively dismisses officers by removing their vetting clearance, to get rid of scores of staff, some of whom had faced allegations of sexual assault.

Continue reading...

Burnley MP Oliver Ryan suspended by Labour over messages on WhatsApp group

Posted on by

Ryan is second MP to face sanctions after emergence of details of Trigger Me Timbers group

The Labour MP Oliver Ryan has been suspended by the party over his membership and comments on a WhatsApp group that featured offensive messages, including alleged racism and sexism.

The party took action against the Burnley MP after the emergence of details about the Trigger Me Timbers group, mainly involving a group of councillors and party activists in Greater Manchester.

Continue reading...

GB Energy faces ‘challenging’ task to find CEO for Aberdeen HQ, sources say

Posted on by

Industry insiders say it will be ‘tricky’ to find suitable candidate who would agree to location and civil service pay

Britain’s state-owned energy company faces a “challenging” task to find a chief executive for its Aberdeen HQ when it begins recruiting this month, senior industry sources have said.

Great British Energy is poised to begin the hunt, but sources claim there are still no obvious frontrunners for the top job almost six months after the £8.3bn publicly owned clean energy company was formed.

Continue reading...

Children still being sent far from home for mental health care in England

Posted on by

Figures show practice continues eight years after pledge to end it, potentially impeding young people’s recovery

Children and young people in England with serious mental health problems are still being sent for treatment many miles away from their homes because bed shortages in some areas remain so severe, despite a pledge to end such practices eight years ago.

NHS England promised in 2017 to stop forcing highly troubled under-18s to leave family and friends after some received care more than 300 miles from where they lived.

Continue reading...

‘Repeated failures’ at Nottinghamshire prison where three inmates took their lives

Posted on by

Inquest into deaths of three prisoners within three weeks at HMP Lowdham Grange in 2023 criticises ‘poor leadership’

There were several failings and missed opportunities at an overwhelmed prison where three inmates took their lives in the space of three weeks, an inquest jury has found.

Anthony Binfield, 30, Rolandas Karbauskas, 49, and David Richards, 42, were found in their cells at HMP Lowdham Grange in Nottinghamshire between 6-25 March 2023.

In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org

Continue reading...

‘Strong reasonable doubt’ over Lucy Letby insulin convictions, experts say

Posted on by

Exclusive: ‘No scientific justification’ to say former nurse definitely poisoned babies with insulin, according to study authors

The claim that Lucy Letby definitely poisoned babies with insulin has “no scientific justification whatsoever” and there is a “very strong level of reasonable doubt” about the convictions, according to the authors of a 100-page study on the case.

Prof Geoff Chase, one of the world’s foremost experts on the effect of insulin on pre-term babies, told the Guardian it was “very unlikely” anyone had administered potentially lethal doses to two of the infants.

Continue reading...

Grenfell Tower demolition would risk fire being forgotten, some survivors say

Posted on by

Grenfell United says voices of bereaved have been ignored and they fear disaster could be ‘put out of mind’

The demolition of Grenfell Tower could mean that the injustice of the fatal fire is “put out of sight and out of mind” and forgotten, some survivors have said.

The deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, told a meeting on Wednesday that the 24-storey block in which 72 people were killed in June 2017 would be dismantled to ground level. The decision has prompted anger and claims that the government has failed to listen to the views of the bereaved and survivors.

Continue reading...

‘Watershed moment’ as three-year time limit on child rape claims scrapped in England and Wales

Posted on by

Under current rules, civil child sexual abuse cases must be brought within three years of turning 18

Hundreds of child rape survivors, including those targeted by grooming gangs, are expected to pursue their abusers in the courts after ministers scrapped a three-year time limit on compensation claims.

Under reforms hailed by campaigners as a “watershed moment”, ministers said civil claims will no longer have to be brought within three years of a child abuse survivor’s 18th birthday.

Continue reading...

‘No medical evidence’ to support Lucy Letby’s conviction, expert panel finds

Posted on by

Babies former nurse was convicted of killing were victims of ‘bad medical care’ or died of natural causes, panel says

Babies the former nurse Lucy Letby was convicted of murdering were in fact the victims of “bad medical care” or deteriorated as a result of natural causes, an expert panel has concluded.

Outlining what the senior Conservative MP David Davis described as “one of worst injustices of recent times”, the international team told a press conference there was “no medical evidence” to support claims of deliberate harm.

Continue reading...

Ofsted’s new school report card worse than old system, say headteachers

Posted on by

Unions as well as school leaders say proposed changes to replace four-grade approach in England are ‘demoralising’

Moves to overhaul the way schools are inspected in England have been criticised by headteachers and teaching unions as “demoralising” and worse than the system they are aiming to replace.

The changes by the Ofsted schools inspectorate would replace single judgments such as “outstanding” with a new report card for parents. They will be unveiled by Ofsted’s chief inspector, Martyn Oliver, on Monday alongside the launch of a public consultation.

Continue reading...

Tributes paid to two children killed in car collision in Essex

Posted on by

Police say man and woman arrested over alleged hit-and-run in Pitsea remain in custody

Tributes have been paid to two children who died after an alleged hit-and-run in Essex.

Police said officers received reports that a girl and a boy had been involved in a collision with a car on Ashlyns, in Pitsea, near Basildon, at about 6.25pm on Saturday, and that the car had failed to stop at the scene.

Continue reading...

Small UK businesses complain of being caught unawares by EU ‘red tape’

Posted on by

New safety regulations have led SMEs to stop sales to bloc and Northern Ireland while they work out how to comply

Small businesses are warning they have had to pause selling their products in the European Union and Northern Ireland since mid-December while they work out how to comply with new EU product safety regulations that caught many of them unawares.

Skye Weavers, a small family business on the Isle of Skye, says it has missed out on sales of its scarves, shawls and blankets to customers in both markets after halting internet orders from those locations because of the rule change.

Continue reading...

Campaigners hail ‘important victory’ in protection of England’s national parks

Posted on by

Minister says there was error when Manningtree station car park extension was approved under last government

Campaigners have celebrated an “important victory” in a closely watched case that will determine whether the government will enforce new legislation aimed at protecting national parks and landscapes in England.

Dedham Vale is a designated “national landscape” on the border of Essex and Suffolk, home to increasingly rare species including hazel dormice and hedgehogs. Within it is Manningtree station, where the train operator Greater Anglia built an extension to the car park to cope with increased traffic.

Continue reading...

Just Stop Oil protester, 78, released to home detention after fitting tag found

Posted on by

Gaie Delap had prison term extended because contractors could not find wrist strap of right size

A 78-year-old climate protester has been released on home detention curfew just a week after her prison term was extended because government contractors were unable to find the right-sized tag for her wrist.

Gaie Delap, 78, a retired teacher and Just Stop Oil protester, was sentenced to 20 months in prison for her participation in a climate protest on the M25 in 2022 and was released last November under the home detention curfew (HDC) scheme.

Continue reading...

Ofsted overhaul for English schools to be put out for public consultation

Posted on by

Five-step rating from ‘exemplary’ to ‘causing concern’ set to replace single-word judgments

Schools in England are likely to be judged on a new five-step scale, under proposals by the Ofsted inspectorate to be put out for public consultation as soon as next week.

The consultation is the culmination of plans by the government to overhaul the way schools are rated, with Labour having pledged to scrap inspection reports using single headline grades such as “outstanding” or “inadequate” after a coroner’s report said an Ofsted inspection had contributed to the death of Ruth Perry, a headteacher, in 2023.

In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org

Continue reading...