Newborn received 10 times the correct amount of painkiller and could have died if colleagues had not spotted error
Lucy Letby gave a potentially fatal dose of morphine to a newborn baby two years before she murdered her first victim, an inquiry has heard.
The infant received 10 times the correct amount of the painkiller at the end of a night shift in July 2013 and could have died if colleagues at handover had not spotted the error an hour later.
Continue reading...Wolsingham school’s carbon-cutting event had been planned by pupils but parents raised concerns
A school has made a U-turn on a student-led plan to turn the heating off for a “blue nose” climate action day after parents raised concerns.
The heating was due to be turned off at Wolsingham school, County Durham, on Friday but the plan has now been postponed until the summer term of next year when it is likely to be warmer.
Continue reading...Summer riots were a consequence of relegating the subject to just one month, says Black Curriculum founder
Black history must be made mandatory in England to counter hatred and help prevent racist riots, a leading campaigner says.
Lavinya Stennett, who founded the Black Curriculum, warned of the real risks of black history and a diverse curriculum being relegated to just one month, or only being implemented in schools with diverse students and in metropolitan areas.
Continue reading...Building opened in 1904 and featured on Smiths album sleeve needs ‘urgent cash injection’ as grant income falls
Salford Lads Club, the youth centre immortalised by the Smiths on the sleeve of their third studio album The Queen Is Dead, is under threat of closure.
The rising costs of maintaining and running the Grade II-listed building, as well as a drop in grant funding, have left it with a shortfall of about £250,000.
Continue reading...Virginia McCullough, 36, kept bodies of her father and mother in house for four years after their deaths
A woman who murdered her parents and lived with their bodies for four years has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 36 years.
Virginia McCullough, 36, poisoned her father, John McCullough, 70, with prescription medication that she crushed and put into his alcoholic drinks, the prosecutor Lisa Wilding KC told Chelmsford crown court. She then murdered her mother, Lois McCullough, 71, the following day.
Continue reading...Hitachi digger tracked down to town of Pruchnik, with arrangements made to reunite it with its owner
A digger stolen from a development site in Dorset has been found five months later and 1,200 miles away in a rural town in south-eastern Poland.
Dorset police received a report on 1 April that a Hitachi digger and a JCB digger had been stolen in the small town of Ferndown, near Bournemouth.
Continue reading...English primary schools having to help infants catch up on speech and language to cope with lessons
Primary schools are having to teach infants how to communicate, as they struggle to make friends or cope with lessons because of speech and language difficulties, according to a report by Ofsted.
The research by Ofsted inspectors, based on visits to schools in England rated as good or outstanding, found that the Covid pandemic “is still having an impact on children’s behaviour and social skills”.
Continue reading...Lawyers return to court in dispute over amount of legal costs to be paid from ‘Wagatha Christie’ case
Coleen Rooney has claimed she ran up a legal bill totalling more than £1.8m from her high-profile libel battle with Rebekah Vardy, the high court has been told.
Vardy, the wife of the Leicester City footballer Jamie Vardy, lost the legal action in July 2022 after she sued Rooney for libel in what became known as the “Wagatha Christie” case.
Continue reading...Seized dog, named Bruno, euthanised while owners were applying for exemption to keep him
Lancashire police has apologised after putting down an XL bully dog while the owners were in the process of applying for an exemption to keep him.
The seized dog, named Bruno, was euthanised due to an “administration error”.
Continue reading...Stephen Cox, 65, to be sentenced on Monday for 12 offences between 1988 and 1997
A retired GP has been found guilty of indecently assaulting female patients on the pretext of carrying out routine procedures.
Stephen Cox, 65, denied 16 charges of indecent assault against seven women while practising in Bracknell, Berkshire, between 1988 and 1997. He was found guilty of 12 of those counts on Friday at Reading crown court after a four-week trial, Thames Valley police said. He will be sentenced on Monday.
Continue reading...Some senior ministers expected to vote against measure in free vote, while others are still undecided
MPs backing a new bill to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales hope to secure a Commons vote by Christmas, but cabinet ministers are set for a big split over support for the legislation.
The bill, due to be brought forward by the Labour backbencher Kim Leadbeater this month, is to be a free vote but some senior cabinet ministers are expected to vote against – and several, including the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, and the health and social care secretary, Wes Streeting – remain undecided.
Continue reading...From general election upsets to protests on the streets, the shockwaves from the Middle East have resonated in Britain
When Shockat Adam, the newly elected independent MP for Leicester South, addressed his supporters at the July election count, he brought his speech to an end with a dedication – not to the constituents of the East Midlands city he now represents, but to people more than 2,000 miles away.
“This is for the people of Gaza”, he said, holding a Palestinian keffiyeh aloft.
Continue reading...Business students at £9,250-a-year Regent College London raised series of complaints with Office for Students
Students at a private higher education college charging £9,250 a year were taught by staff reading out bullet points and showing videos, according to an investigation that found one tutor held an online class while appearing to be on public transport.
The students attending Regent College London told investigators from England’s higher education regulator that teaching staff changed frequently, including one cover tutor who “arrived almost half an hour late” to host an online class and “was clearly travelling or in a public place”.
Continue reading...Law Commission also suggests reopening cemeteries declared full as part of England and Wales consultation
Graves could be reused and closed burial grounds reopened under proposals aimed at tackling a lack of space for the dead.
The Law Commission has suggested that cemeteries that have been declared full could be reused for new burials. The proposal is part of a public consultation by the commission on updating 170-year-old burial laws in England and Wales.
Continue reading...Customer disputes over sewage spills, billing mistakes and water meters soar in past year
The number of customer complaints that were unable to be resolved by water companies in England and Wales has risen by almost a third to the highest level in nearly a decade.
There was a 29% increase in 2023-24 in cases escalated to the Consumer Council for Water (CCW) by households that failed to achieve a resolution from their supplier, the watchdog said.
Continue reading...Researchers say interventions could address key factors, such as smoking, but ‘structural changes’ also needed
Four key factors have been identified that together account for more than one-third of the inequalities in infant deaths between the most and least deprived areas of England.
Researchers say targeted interventions to address these factors – teenage pregnancy, maternal depression, preterm birth and smoking during pregnancy – could go a significant way to reduce inequalities, although higher-level structural changes to address socioeconomic inequality will also be necessary.
Continue reading...Joint review by chief of Ofsted and prisons chief inspector discovers children kept in cells to avoid conflict
Children in youth offender institutions (YOIs) are being denied access to education, with too many being kept in their cells as staff struggle to keep warring youngsters apart, a damning new report has found.
It documents a worrying decline in the quality and quantity of education provided to 15 to 18-year-olds in YOIs over the last decade despite a sharp drop in the number of children being held in custody.
Continue reading...Port of London authority to reopen scheme with waiting list, after surge in popularity of exploring riverbank for treasure
Whether fuelled by social media or prompted by the Covid lockdowns, the years between 2019 and 2022 saw a huge surge in interest in mudlarking on the foreshore of the River Thames in London.
The practice of exploring the riverbank for archaeology is permitted only with a permit from the Port of London authority (PLA), which owns much of the shoreline. But so dramatic was the growth in demand for permits – from 200 applications in 2018-19 to more than 5,000 three years later – that the port suspended the scheme in 2022 to “protect the integrity and archaeology of the foreshore”.
Continue reading...Businesses in England and Wales say they are paying for ‘historic errors’ by water suppliers
Small businesses have accused water suppliers of saddling them with the cost of “historic errors” made by bosses in the scandal-hit industry, as it emerged their bills will rise nearly 30% by 2030.
The water industry regulator, Ofwat, has told businesses that it expects average wholesale charges for non-household customers – which include small firms, charities and hospitals – to increase by about 27% before inflation over the next five years, outstripping the anticipated rise in household bills.
Continue reading...New figures show nearly 80% of businesses in some parts of England have been denied support
Ministers are being urged to overhaul the “nightmare” compensation scheme for flood victims after it emerged that nearly 80% of businesses in some parts of England had been denied support.
After heavy downpours caused chaos across much of England and Wales this week, new figures laid bare the “opaque” and inconsistent level of help available to those whose properties lay in ruin.
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