Don Valley: Jessica Ennis' Track To Close

By Becky Johnson, North of England Correspondent

The athletics stadium where Olympic gold medallist Jessica Ennis trains is to close.

Sheffield City Council voted to go ahead with the closure of the Don Valley stadium as part of a package of cuts. The council has to save £50m in the next financial year.

Ennis reacted to news of the closure minutes after it was announced, tweeting: "So sad to lose Don Valley Stadium! Where it all started for me. Great memories."

She had called on councillors to rethink the plans, saying: "It would be a huge shame. I've got some amazing memories, starting my athletic career there and having that iconic stadium in my home city is incredible.

"To lose that would be such a shame for future athletes coming through, so I hope that the right decision's made and we can find a way to keep it."

Thousands cheered Ennis to London 2012 glory on a screen at Don Valley

The stadium will remain open until September 2013 so planned events over the summer, including the British Transplant Games, can still go ahead. Alternative uses for the stadium or site will be considered by the city council until then.

Ennis began her athletics career after attending a summer camp at the stadium in her home city. Thousands gathered at the stadium to watch on a big screen as she won Olympic gold in the heptathlon at London 2012.

Councillors have been accused of failing to build on the Olympic legacy by closing the venue. A smaller, currently mothballed, stadium will be refurbished for athletes in Sheffield.

Jessica's coach Toni Minichiello says he is not convinced sufficient investment will be made in the alternative site and says the loss of the Don Valley stadium is a blow to the sport.

Jessica Ennis did most of her Olympic training at her home town venue

He told Sky News: "It is an iconic stadium and it's a place that has inspired youngsters and none more so than Jessica Ennis.

"It is a fantastic facility and it is an incredible shame to lose something like this from the sporting map.

"Having taken the youngsters all the way through to Olympic gold you see that this actually can be done in Sheffield.

"Why, if you can have one Jessica Ennis, can you not have two or three?

"That opportunity all of a sudden looked to be there and now it's going to be taken away from a whole new generation of youngsters."

Sheffield City Council said in order to keep the Don Valley Stadium open and achieve the same level of saving it would have had to close up to five community sports facilities.

Cllr Isobel Blower says the stadium is too expensive to subsidise

The council says that would have resulted in a loss in sports participation of up to 10 times greater that shutting the athletics stadium.

Councillor Isobel Bowler, Cabinet Member for Culture, Sport and Leisure at Sheffield City Council said "No-one wants to close Don Valley but we can no longer afford to subsidise it by £700,000 a year.

"Over the next 10 years, the council will save over £6m - a huge amount of money."

"We will still provide a home for athletics at Woodbourn, which is less than a mile away and will cost less than £70,000 a year to run.

"This approach has been endorsed by the sport's governing body and the city's two main athletics clubs are already engaged in constructive discussions with the council about the transfer.

"Woodbourn will technically offer the same quality of track and field facilities and in fact will provide uninterrupted access for our local clubs."

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Middle-Aged Drinking Takes Toll on 'Ladettes'

By James Matthews, Sky Correspondent

The "ladette" culture of the 1980s and 90s is a key factor in the growing number of middle-aged women turning to drink, according to the founder of a support website.

Lucy Rocca says women between 30 and 50 are turning to alcohol as a natural choice, having grown up in an era when drinking to excess was encouraged. 

Ms Rocca set up the Soberistas website after developing - and overcoming - a dependency on alcohol. 

Within two months, more than 1,500 women had joined the forum to discuss problem drinking. The overwhelming majority are middle-aged and many are professional, career women.

Ms Rocca told Sky News: "I think the reason that women of that age are finding themselves in that position where they are drinking too much is that a lot of them grew up in a ladette culture and went on to get married and have children. 

"They had grown up in a culture where it was acceptable and encouraged, really, to drink excessively and, once they found themselves dealing with motherhood and stresses of work, they swapped the pints for the wine and they drank at home to try to deal with that stress."

Former 'ladette' poster girl Zoë Ball recently gave up alcohol

Figures for hospital admissions reflect a recent increase in problem-drinking among women between 30 and 50. 

According to the Department of Health, in England in 2010 there were 110,128 alcohol-related hospital admissions for women in their mid-30s to mid-50s. This was nearly double the number of admissions of women aged 15-34.

In Scotland, the number of alcohol-related deaths among women aged 30-44 has doubled in the past 20 years. 

In January, the Scottish Government launched a new photo app called Drinking Mirror as part of an initiative it dubbed Drop A Glass Size.

Its aim is to encourage women to curb excessive drinking by showing them a photo of how they will look in 10 years' time, depending how much they drink.

Sarah Turner, 57, who runs a centre for women with drink problems, was a millionaire property developer until she developed an addiction to wine and vodka.

Her business collapsed and her home was repossessed. Having now recovered, she helps middle-class, middle-aged women deal with drink problems. 

She believes their needs are too often ignored, while resources are channelled towards areas like teenage binge-drinking.

She told Sky News: "There is enough being done for the disassociated and the disadvantaged.

"The middle-class, middle-aged woman is so shameful, guilty and fearful of coming forward to talk about this problem and they become hidden, secret drinkers.

"This is happening in the home on an epic scale now."

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Pressure On First Buyers As House Prices Rise

By Nick Martin, Sky Correspondent

House prices edged up month-on-month in both January and February this year, bringing good news for homeowners but adding pressure on first-time buyers.

Building society Nationwide said it was cautiously optimistic that activity will pick up in the months ahead.

It comes after reports revealed more young people were living with their parents while trying to save for a deposit for a property. 

According to the Halifax, the average age of a first-time buyer is 30 years old - up from 29 in 2011.

There has been a significant increase in the proportion of first time buyers receiving financial help in recent years.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) estimate that 65% of first time buyers of had financial assistance in mid 2012 compared with 31% in mid-2005.

Kirsty Gilmore, 26, from Bristol, has been living at home for 18 months and has saved more than £30,000. But that is still not enough to buy a property. She says the market is so competitive it is hard to get a good price.

"I want to have my own place, I want to start a family and have a home to call my own, not just my mum and dad's.

"You feel a bit excluded from society - nobody cares and you're stuck in this rut really - and everyone else my age is," she told Sky News.

Mortgage approvals for home buyers have dipped for the first time since a Government scheme to boost lending was launched last August, Bank of England figures showed.

There were 54,719 approvals in January, showing a 2% decline compared with an 11-month high recorded the previous month and marking the first time that there has been a month-on-month decrease since July.

Mortgage approvals for house purchases had been on a steady upward path since the Government's Funding for Lending scheme, which aims to help borrowers by giving lenders access to cheap finance, was launched at the start of August.

The latest figures echo recent findings from the CML, with some analysts blaming the recent bad weather.

Housing minister Mark Prisk said the Government was trying to help first time buyers get onto the property ladder.

"Many people have to rely on the bank of mum and dad - so what we are trying to do with the builders and the Government by putting equity loans forward is make those deposit affordable for first time buyers. It's already helped 17,000 people. We hope it will help 27,000."

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Rape T-Shirt: Amazon Offered 'Hit Her' Tops

Amazon is continuing to offer T-shirts advocating domestic violence on its website - after withdrawing tops sloganed "Keep Calm And Rape".

The company withdrew the rape T-shirts - sold by the Solid Gold Bomb company - from its UK site and later pulled tops with the slogan "Keep Calm And Hit Her".

But the "Hit Her" top remains for sale on some international Amazon sites, including the version in Germany.

It offers the shirt for a price ranging between 16.90 euros and 18.90 euros and they are also available to non-German account holders.

A spokesman for Amazon UK had earlier told Sky News that all offensive garments had been pulled and said: "I can confirm that those items are not available for sale."

This top is being sold on the German website

Other offensive slogans discovered on the UK website - but now withdrawn - included "Keep Calm And Grope On" and "Keep Calm And Grope A Lot".

Critics of the T-shirts quickly let their feelings be known by posting hundreds of negative comments on the relevant Amazon pages and Twitter.

One said: "Do the decent thing and pull this disgusting item now. Remove all items by the same company to show them this will not be tolerated."

Another online customer, Jody, said: "Your on a roll now Amazon. So not content with supporting and encouraging rape your also advocating violence against women.

"Domestic violence is a crime. Real men don't beat there partners."

The firm posted an apology but later shut down Twitter and Facebook

Meanwhile, Labour deputy leader Lord Prescott, tweeted: "First Amazon avoids paying UK tax. Now they're make money from domestic violence."

An e-petition was set up titled "Amazon: Stop Encouraging Gropers", while Labour MP Roberta Blackman-Woods tweeted that "these amazon t shirts are terrible & we must speak out against them".

Amazon listed the manufacturing quality of the rape T-shirts as "Fine Jersey T-Shirt", saying the items were made by American Apparel prior to printing in the US.

When Solid Gold Bomb withdrew the 'rape' garment it also posted a statement on its website which said: "We have been informed of the fact that we were selling an offensive T-shirt primarily in the UK.

The Amazon UK site still offered "hit her" T-shirts on Saturday

"This has been immediately deleted as it was and had been automatically generated using a scripted computer process running against 100s of thousands of dictionary words."

Solid Gold Bomb said it received death threats and its Twitter account was bombarded with scores of angry messages - many of which said: "Rape is not a joke."

Solid Gold Bomb replied: "We're sorry for the ill-feeling this has caused! We're doing our best here to fix the problem."

Both its Facebook and Twitter accounts have since been shut down.

It said the scripted programming process that created the slogan was compiled by "only one member of our staff", but that it "accepted the responsibility of the error".

Solid Gold Bomb said it sends its T-shirts from Worcester in Massachusetts to throughout the US, UK, Germany, Canada and 79 other countries daily.

Amazon typically charges companies 7% of the price, postage and any taxes to list and sell items through its website.

Prior to withdrawal the 'Keep Calm' shirts retailed in Britain for between £14.99 to £16.99 - excluding postage - allowing Amazon to make more than £1.18 on each sale.

Last year Amazon came under fire from MPs and the public over tax avoidance, after it was claimed the company generated UK sales during three years of between £7.6bn and £10.3bn, but paid virtually no corporation tax.

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Defence Secretary: Cut Welfare Not Troops

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond has warned he will resist further cuts to the armed forces in Chancellor George Osborne's forthcoming spending review.

After Downing Street said publicly last month that the military would not be immune from further financial retrenchment, Mr Hammond has vowed to fight against anything more than modest "efficiency savings".

He said other Conservative Cabinet ministers believed that the greatest burden of any cuts should fall on the welfare budget.

A Whitehall source said Mr Hammond's comments were aimed particularly at the Lib Dems following remarks by senior Lib Dem ministers indicating that they believed welfare spending should be protected over defence.

In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Mr Hammond said there was a "body of opinion within Cabinet who believes that we have to look at the welfare budget again", and that "we should be seeing welfare spending falling" as a result of rising employment levels.

He later told the BBC: "We won't be able to make further cuts without eroding military capability.

Mr Hammond says the welfare budget should be curbed instead

"Of course I understand the Chancellor's challenge. He has to find additional savings in order to consolidate the public finances as we have to do but we need to look broadly across Government at how we are going to do that, not just narrowly at a few departments."

He said the "first priority" for the Government should be "defending the country and maintaining law and order" and that further defence cuts were not possible while meeting stated security objectives.

"I shall go into the spending review fighting the case for the defence budget on the basis that we have made very large cuts to defence, we've done that with the collaboration and co-operation of the military," he told the newspaper.

"Any further reduction in the defence budget would fall on the level of activity that we were able to carry out - the idea that expensively bought equipment may not be able to be used, expensively employed troops may not be able to be exercised and trained as regularly as they need to be.

"I am not going into the spending review offering any further reductions in personnel."

Mr Hammond's comments are likely to be welcomed by Tory backbenchers who have been calling for a return to core Conservative values in the wake of the party's trouncing in the Eastleigh by-election.

However they will also heighten tensions within the coalition, with the Liberal Democrats resisting a further squeeze on welfare spending.

Sky's Defence Correspondent Alistair Bunkall said: "Philip Hammond's words are significant for two reasons: he's clearly saying to the Lib Dems 'enough is enough' and by so blatantly suggesting that the British armed forces would be unacceptably weakened if subjected to further cuts, he's drawing a line that would be dangerous to cross."  

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Stuart Hall In Court Over Sex Charges

Veteran BBC broadcaster Stuart Hall has made his first Crown Court appearance accused of a string of historic sex offences.

Unsteady on his feet and wearing a dark blue suit, he entered the dock at Preston Crown Court and spoke only to confirm his name in an eight-minute preliminary hearing.

The case was adjourned by the Recorder of Preston, Judge Anthony Russell QC, until April 16 when the defendant is expected to enter formal pleas to the charges.

A provisional trial date of October 2 was set, estimated to last up to four weeks.

Hall, 83, is charged with one count of rape and 14 offences of indecent assault.

He is alleged to have raped a 22-year-old woman in 1976 and the 14 other alleged sexual assaults relate to 10 girls aged between nine and 16, between 1967 and 1986.

In addition, Hall had earlier been charged with three separate indecent assaults of young girls - aged nine, 13 and 16 - dating between 1974 and 1984, which he also denies.

Last month, the former It's A Knockout presenter said after leaving an earlier hearing at Preston Magistrates' Court that he might have considered suicide had it not been for his family.

He described the accusations as "pernicious, callous, cruel and, above all, spurious" and vowed to clear his name and restore his reputation.

Hall, of Wilmslow, Cheshire, has been a familiar face and voice in British broadcasting for half a century and was last year awarded an OBE in the New Year Honours.

His eccentric and erudite football match summaries made him a cult figure on BBC Radio 5 Live.

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HMS Ambush: New Nuclear Submarine For Navy

HMS Ambush, Britain's most advanced attack submarine has officially joined the Royal Navy fleet.

HMS Ambush is 97 metres-long and holds around 100 personnel

The 7,400-tonne sub was commissioned during a ceremony attended by Navy chief Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope at Faslane naval base on the Clyde in Scotland.

The second Astute-class attack submarine was launched in January 2011 at BAE Systems shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria.

The 97-metre Astute-class submarines are designed for coastal and deep sea tasks and are capable of destroying submarines and surface ships.

Since arriving at her home port of HM Naval Base Clyde in September last year the nuclear-powered submarine has undergone extensive sea trials.

HMS Ambush Commanding Officer Peter Green

Ambush holds around 100 personnel and travels at a speed of up to 30 knots.

HMS Ambush Commanding Officer Peter Green said: "The crew are immensely proud to mark the commissioning and to see the culmination of many months of hard work readying HMS Ambush for service with the Royal Navy.

"The crew are looking forward to the challenges ahead and to exploring the full range of the submarine's capabilities before she enters full operational service later this year."

HMS Ambush travels at a speed of up to 30 knots

All seven of the Navy's Astute-class vessels will eventually be based on the Clyde.

HMS Astute entered service in August 2010. The others are named Artful, Audacious and Anson, and two are as yet unnamed.

Admiral Stanhope, known as First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff, said: "These vessels represent the cutting edge of military technology and the future of UK submarine operations for many years to come. The Astute-class vessels will contribute significantly to our mission of protecting the UK's interests worldwide."

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Horsemeat: Four New Products Test Positive

Tests on four beef products sold by Birds Eye, Taco Bell and catering supplier Brakes have been found to contain horsemeat.

Checks revealed contamination of Birds Eye Traditional Spaghetti Bolognese and Beef Lasagne, Taco Bell's ground beef and Brakes' spicy minced beef skewer, the Food Standards Agency said.

Ten tests on the four products returned results of more than 1% horsemeat, the FSA said, and all four have been withdrawn from sale.

US-owned Tex-Mex restaurant chain Taco Bell said that it was "disappointed" to have discovered the horsemeat in tests it carried out on beef supplied to its UK restaurants by a sole European supplier.

"We immediately withdrew ground beef from sale in our restaurants, discontinued purchase of that meat, and contacted the Food Standards Agency with this information," it said in a statement.

"We would like to apologise to all of our customers, and we can reassure you that we are working hard to ensure that every precaution is being undertaken to guarantee that we are only supplied with products that meet the high standards we demand."

Birds Eye had already withdrawn the spaghetti bolognese, lasagne and a third ready meal, a shepherd's pie, from sale in Britain and the Republic of Ireland as a precaution after tests found 2% of horse DNA in a chilli con carne dish it sold in Belgium.

They are made by the same Belgian manufacturer, Frigilunch NV.

"No other Birds Eye products have tested positive for horse DNA, nor do they share the same supply chains as Frigilunch NV," the company said in a statement.

"Going forward we are introducing a new ongoing DNA testing programme that will ensure no minced beef meat product can leave our facilities without first having been cleared by DNA testing."

Brakes, which is based in Ashford, Kent, is the supplier for the House of Commons Catering Service and last month it withdrew its steak and kidney pie, beef and onion pie, steak and kidney suet pudding, and beef Italian meatballs as a precaution.

It also supplies pubs among 19,000 customers who buy around 48,000 cases of products containing beef every week.

It too said it was introducing new tests after the discovery, alongside 259 negative tests.

Brakes, which is based in Ashford, Kent, is the supplier for the House of Commons Catering Service and last month it withdrew its steak and kidney pie, beef and onion pie, steak and kidney suet pudding, and beef Italian meatballs as a precaution.

It also supplies pubs among 19,000 customers who buy around 48,000 cases of products containing beef every week.

It too said it was introducing new tests after the discovery, alongside 259 negative tests.

"Our testing programme represents a significant proportion of all results the FSA has obtained from across the food industry," it said.

"Our tests also confirmed one positive equine DNA finding at between 1% and 10% on a Brakes spicy minced beef skewer and one positive test reported by a customer of our subsidiary division Creative Foods, on a lasagne manufactured exclusively for them.

"Brakes have also segregated a frozen burger as a precaution after equine DNA at 1% was reported to the Food Standards Agency.

"Brakes and Creative Foods are very disappointed to have been let down by our respective suppliers and have sincerely apologised to our customers.

"As any responsible company, we have a duty of care to all our customers and the consumers they serve to guarantee the integrity of the products we purchase."

The discoveries were made in the third round of tests carried out since January.

A total of 19 products in total have now been confirmed to contain over 1% of horse DNA.

No tests to date on samples containing horse DNA have found the veterinary drug phenylbutazone, or bute, to be present.

Earlier, the British Retail Consortium said test results for horsemeat in all minced beef lines used by the UK's largest supermarkets had revealed no new cases of contamination.

Some 95% of products sold by retailers have now been checked,  it said, with the latest round of checks since February 22 including 361 tests on 103 products.

A total of 1,889 tests have been carried out by the trade organisation's members since January 20, with 0.3% of them finding contamination.

Across the industry, a first wave of tests found horse meat in products including Aldi's special frozen beef lasagne and special frozen spaghetti bolognese, Co-op frozen quarter-pounder burgers, Findus beef lasagne, Rangeland's catering burger products, and Tesco Value frozen burgers and Value spaghetti bolognese.

A second wave of tests revealed contamination of Asda's chilled beef bolognese sauce, beef burgers, minced beef and halal minced beef sold by Sodexo, which supplies food to schools, care homes and the armed forces, and a Whitbread Group lasagne and beef burger.

Meanwhile in Germany, authorities say they have found a carcinogenic substance in animal feed delivered to more than 3,500 farms - but stressed that any risk to humans was unlikely.

Aflatoxin B1 is a chemical produced by fungus that can grow on hay or grains and appear in the milk of animals that eat the mildewed feed.

The state agriculture ministry in Lower Saxony said the contamination originated from a shipment of corn from Serbia.

It said it did not believe there was any danger to consumers and there was no indication legal limits on aflatoxins in milk had been exceeded.

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Pound Falls As Triple Dip Fears Fuelled

Sterling has fallen to a two-and-a-half-year low against the dollar after manufacturing figures for February revealed a fall in output.

The closely watched Markit/CIPS purchasing managers' index showed a slump in activity to 47.9 - well below the 50 level which separates growth from contraction.

It was the first time since last November the sector's activity shrunk, and followed 50.2 in January.

The value of the pound slipped following the data, and fell below $1.50 on Friday afternoon - its lowest since the middle of 2010. 

Sterling has only been beneath the $1.50 mark for four of the 200 years since the US Declaration of Independence.

The last time it was at this level was briefly during the 2010 election and coalition-building process, and before that the 2008/09 recession.

Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit, said the manufacturing data increased the chance that Britain will slip back into recession. 

"The return to contraction of the manufacturing sector is a big surprise and represents a major set-back to hopes that the UK economy can return to growth in the first quarter and may avoid a triple-dip recession," he said.

"The data so far this year point to manufacturing output falling by as much as 0.5%, meaning a strong rebound is needed in March to prevent the sector from acting as a drag on the economy as a whole in the first quarter."

The struggling sector contributed to the UK's worse-than-expected 0.3% decline in output in the fourth quarter of last year, and a negative reading for the first quarter of 2013 would see the UK enter a triple-dip recession.

Nawaz Ali, a market analyst with Western Union, said the manufacturing data could increase pressure on the Bank of England (BoE) to launch a new round of asset purchasing - or quantitative easing - as early as next week.

"The data is a major setback for sterling and the size of the manufacturing decline indicates that there is still a chance the British economy may suffer an unprecedented triple-dip recession," he said.

"The data also adds to growing concerns that not only could the BoE re-start monetary printing in March, the central bank's new flexible inflation strategy puts it in a position to launch a prolonged period of asset purchases, similar to what the US have done and what the Bank of Japan is planning to do."

More quantitative easing is likely to hit sterling further because it increases its supply and drives the currency's exchange value lower.

So far this year, sterling - which was also hit by Moody's downgrade of the UK's credit rating - has lost 7.5% against the dollar.

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Philpott Trial Hears Secret Police Recordings

By David Crabtree, Midlands Correspondent

A man accused of starting a house fire which killed his six children is alleged to have whispered to his wife: "I didn't mean to do it. On my life."

Mick Philpott, 56, his wife Mairead, 31, and a third defendant Paul Mosley each deny six counts of manslaughter after the blaze in Derby last May.

In the days after the fire covert recordings were made of the Philpott's conversations in a police vehicle and a hotel bedroom. 

In the van on May 31, Philpott is heard asking his wife: "Are we sticking to the story?"

Mairead replies: "Hmmm." Mick whispers: "Good."

He then asks her: "Do you know something? Have they got any evidence on you? They've got nothing on me, nothing."

During another conversation he said to his wife: "I love you so much. Look at me. We will walk free and prove our innocence, right?

Paul Mosley is also on trial

"And then we will sort them out, promise you."

Mairead Philpott replied: "Yeah, like I said, we can't even bury the kids."

The Philpott's defence team disputes the contents of some of the recordings and called Martin Barry, a forensics speech analyst, who said he had listened to the disputed recording "several thousand times".

The prosecution allege Philpott can be heard to say: "You definitely sticking with the story? I didn't mean to do it, on my life."

Mr Barry agreed the comments "definitely sticking with the story" and "on my life" could be heard, but disputed the words "you" and "I didn't mean to do it".

The expert told the court the comments were "unclear" and "obscured" by the noise of the van.

The judge at Nottingham Crown Court has also decided to allow the release of a 999 call made on the night of the fire.

The Philpotts can be heard sobbing and pleading for help and telling the operator that the children were trapped in an upstairs bedroom.

Jade, 10, and brothers John, nine, Jack, eight, Jesse, six and Jayden, five, all perished in the blaze on Victory Road in Allenton.

Their brother Duwayne, 13, was taken to Derby Royal Hospital but died three days later after being transferred to a Birmingham hospital.

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Woman's Diamond Ring Stolen As She Lay Dying

A dying woman had a treasured diamond ring stolen from her finger in the final moments of her life at a hospice.

The gold band was taken from Wendy Dolton's hand as she lay powerless in her bed.

Hours later, the 65-year-old lost her battle with cancer.

The ring was given to Mrs Dolton by her husband to celebrate her 40th wedding anniversary. It was the last gift he gave her before he died nine years ago.

Her son Sean, 46, said: "It's a violation of morality that is just unbelievable. I'm speechless. Whoever did this is absolute scum.

"I saw her at about 6pm on the Wednesday and she had it on and she died at around 5pm on the Thursday. I feel sick to know that someone could do that in the last hours of her life.

"It's not just any ring. It was a 40th anniversary present from my father in the last months of his life, so the value is hugely sentimental.

"The fact that someone could do that to someone when they are at their most vulnerable is unbelievable. She would have been lying there and unable to do anything."

The theft took place at the Pilgrim's Hospice in Canterbury, Kent, between 6pm on February 13 and 6pm the following day.

The chief executive of Pilgrim's Hospice, Steve Auty, said: "Pilgrims Hospices is co-operating fully with the police and I am leading our own internal investigation.

"We are not aware of an incident like this occurring in our three hospices at any time in our 30-plus years history.

"Clearly it is not a situation that we want to occur in our hospices and especially not at such a difficult time for the family members concerned."

He said that there was no evidence to suggest any members of staff were implicated in the theft.

Pc Chris Poulter, of Kent Police, who is investigating the theft, said: "The theft of the ring has caused a great deal of upset for Wendy's family at a time when they are already trying to cope with her sad passing.

"Pilgrim's Hospice has been fully co-operative and our investigation continues. We have already visited some second-hand shops and will continue to make inquiries."

Anyone with information about the theft of the ring, described as a gold band with a large square diamond, is asked to call Kent Police on 101.

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Secret Baggage Searches For Air Passengers

Air passengers are having their bags secretly searched for alcohol and cigarettes in a practice that is "prohibited", an inspector's report has found.

Customs staff routinely searched travellers and holidaymakers bags without the owners being present, according to the report.

However, it raised concerns that "there were no assurances that this power was being used in a lawful, proportionate and controlled manner".

The report, by the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, John Vine, found that: "There had been an absence of any assurance being undertaken to ensure that the correct procedures were being followed to protect Human Rights obligations during these searches."

Covert searches of luggage are prohibited under the current Border Force Enforcement Handbook guidance.

According to the report into practices at Birmingham Airport, information from the Border Force indicated 1,147 seizures were made as a result of the secret searches between October 2011 and September 2012.

The searches were carried out to try to catch those bringing more than their allocated allowance of cigarettes and alcohol into the country.

However, despite the large number of successful seizures, there were no records to show occasions where bag searches were made and nothing was found.

Civil liberties campaigners say that the searches that could not be guaranteed to be either "lawful or proportionate" were an abuse of power.

Passengers' bags may have been rifled through without their knowledge

Nick Pickles, director of privacy and civil liberties campaign group Big Brother Watch, said: "Security on aircraft is clearly important, however people shouldn't be afraid that their luggage will be searched on spurious grounds or at random.

"People can't challenge these searches if they don't even know they're going on.

"The glaring absence of any detail about how these powers have been used leaves open a number of troubling questions, particularly how many people's luggage was searched without anything being found."

Senior managers at the airport had said that the searches were carried out in accordance with the 2008 HMRC consultation and the draft Code of Practice.

After the inspection, Mr Vine's team was told that the internet-based Border Force Enforcement Handbook had now been updated to reflect the HMRC consultation paper.

However, when the inspectors checked: "Our access to the web-based Border Force Enforcement Handbook established it had not been updated to include this guidance."

A Border Force spokesperson said: "Border Force protects the public and our economy by stopping the importation and exportation of illegal and restricted goods.

"Searching baggage, including when the owner is not present, is a legal and proportionate response to this issue. Any such searches must be authorised by a senior officer.

"We have already taken action on the recommendations the Chief Inspector made in his report."

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Tia Sharp: Neighbour Denies Time-Wasting

A neighbour of the grandmother of murdered schoolgirl Tia Sharp has denied wasting police time.

Paul Meehan, 40, is accused of causing wasteful employment of the police by making a false report saying he had information linked to an inquiry in August last year.

Meehan, from Croydon, south London, entered a not guilty plea at Croydon Magistrates' Court.

During the short hearing, he spoke only to confirm his name, date of birth and address and to deny the offence.

He was released on bail and will next appear at the same court on May 3 for a one-day trial.

Meehan is the neighbour of Tia's grandmother, Christine Sharp, whose boyfriend, Stuart Hazell, is due to stand trial for the 12-year-old's murder in May.

Christine Sharp's boyfriend Hazell is due to stand trial

Tia's body was found in the loft of her grandmother's house in New Addington, south London, in August last year, more than a week after she went missing.

Hazell, 37, from New Addington, is charged with murdering the schoolgirl between August 2 and 11.

Christine Sharp was arrested on suspicion of murder but in December she was told she would face no further action in relation to the case.

The disappearance of the schoolgirl sparked a huge search around the Croydon area with family members leading the campaign.

Police officers had previously visited Christine Sharp's home, but it was only days into the search that Tia's body was discovered hidden in the loft.

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Philpott Fire: Accused 'Bragged Of Bail'

By Lisa Dowd, Midlands Correspondent

A man accused of killing six children in a Derby house fire bragged about "being on bail for six counts of murder", a court hears.

Melissa John, the girlfriend of Paul Mosley's nephew, told Nottingham Crown Court that she saw the 45-year-old after he was released on police bail.

Ms John told the jury: "He was bragging... about being on bail for six counts of murder."

She claimed Mosley said he would wait for the charges to be dropped "then he'd go public and tell everyone".

Mosley and the parents of the six victims, Mick and Mairead Philpott, are on trial for killing the children. They each deny six counts of manslaughter.

Jade Philpott, 10, and brothers John, nine, Jack, eight, Jessie, six and Jayden, five, all died in the fire.

Their brother Duwayne, 13, died in hospital three days after the blaze on Victory Road in Allenton, Derby, in May last year.

Ms John said Mosley later asked her: "What if I was to tell you we actually rehearsed this six weeks ago?"

She said Mosley went on to claim that Mick and Mairead Philpott were to be inside the house when the fire was started, that he was to "kick the back door in" and then the couple were to run out front and scream for help.

But she claimed he said it "didn't go to plan".

Ms John said Mosley told her Mick had wanted a bigger house, and Mairead had written a suicide note saying "next time she'll take her children with her".

Mairead was to take the blame for the fire, Ms John told the court.

The prosecution allege that the trio started the fire to "frame" Mick Philpott's ex-mistress and regain access to their children.

Their trial continues.

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Man City Player Jailed Over Death Crash

A Manchester City youth player has been jailed for 16 months for causing the death of a brother and sister by careless driving.

Meppen-Walter was speeding when the car crashed

Courtney Meppen-Walter, 18, was driving his Mercedes car speeding at around 56mph in a 30mph zone when he ploughed into a Nissan Micra emerging from a side street.

The Nissan driver, Kulwant Singh, 32, from Salford, and his sister, front seat passenger Ravel Kaur, 37, from Cheetham Hill, were both killed.

Ms Kaur's two sons, aged 16 and 17, both backseat passengers, were also injured in the crash on September 1 last year in central Manchester.

Ms Kaur's two teenage sons are now making a good recovery.

Meppen-Walter, of Middleton Road, Blackley, Manchester, admitted two counts of causing death by careless driving earlier this month.

The Bury-born defender has been at the Premier League club since 2003.

The crash happened on this road in north Manchester

He has also been a regular in the England under-17 side.

More follows...

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Coronation Street's Michael Le Vell In Court

By Mike McCarthy, North Of England Correspondent

The Coronation Street actor Michael Le Vell has appeared in court for the first time to face six charges of raping a child.

Le Vell, who plays Kevin Webster in the ITV soap opera, is accused of 19 child sex offences.

The actor sat glum-faced in the dock as charges of raping a child were put to him.

During the eight-minute hearing, Le Vell - whose real name is Michael Turner - spoke only to confirm his name, address and date of birth.

Le Vell looked shaken as he arrived for the hearing

Four members of his family sat towards the back of the court.

The alleged offences relate to one complainant and all took place between 2001 and 2010, the court heard.

District Judge Khalid Qureshi asked Le Vell's solicitor, Richard Gowthorpe, if there was any indication of plea, to which he replied: "No indication of plea today other than the fact that the charges are contested, and will be fully contested in the Crown Court."

Le Vell was bailed on the condition he surrenders his passport, does not contact named witnesses or have unsupervised contact with any child under the age of 14.

Asked if he understood the conditions, Le Vell nodded.

Le Vell is one of television's most famous faces

As he left the court, he said to waiting photographers:  "You must have enough pictures of me by now."

When the charges were announced earlier this year, the 48-year-old father-of-two said he intends to fight them "vigorously".

"I would like to make it quite clear that following the serious allegations that have been brought against me on Thursday 14th February 2013, I am innocent of these charges and intend to fight them vigorously," he said.

"I will now put all my efforts into clearing my name and proving my innocence."

ITV dropped the actor from any further episodes of the show after the charges became public.

Minders clear the path for Le Vell outside the Manchester court

An ITV spokesman said: "Given the serious nature of these charges, Michael Le Vell will not be appearing in Coronation Street pending the outcome of legal proceedings. It would not be appropriate for us to comment further at this time."

Le Vell, who split from his wife Janette Beverley last year, is one of television's most famous faces after playing car mechanic Kevin Webster for the past 30 years in the TV show.

Originally from Manchester, he began his acting career in the Oldham Theatre Workshop after taking an interest in amateur dramatics while at school.

He first joined the soap in 1983 and quickly endeared himself to fans who have followed the trials and tribulations of Kevin, from Brian Tilsley's apprentice mechanic through to his stormy marriage to Sally, played by Sally Dynevor, and fathering two teenage girls as well as a love child from his affair with Molly Dobbs.

Le Vell is due to appear at Manchester Crown Court on March 20.

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Lord Rennard: Clegg Admits 'Serious Mistakes'

Nick Clegg has admitted his party made "very serious mistakes" in its handling of sexual harassment claims against its then chief executive Lord Rennard.

The Deputy Prime Minister continued to insist that he was personally unaware of any specific allegations by women in the party until they were broadcast last week.

But he said the issue was "in the background" when the peer - who strongly denies the claims - retired from his senior role on grounds of ill-health in 2009.

"There were some very serious mistakes and the women were not listened to and were let down," Mr Clegg said as he was questioned on the controversy during his weekly phone-in on LBC 97.3 radio.

Lord Rennard has strongly denied the allegations

"I so much believe that it is crucial that you treat people with respect and dignity in everything you do - and that is what I expect of people in the organisation I lead. That, clearly, did not happen here, to put it mildly."

Mr Clegg said an email sent to a senior aide by the Daily Telegraph shortly before the 2010 election setting out detailed allegations "was not passed on to me".

"He felt that four days before the general election, because he knew what the answer was - that I didn't know anything about the allegations - and he would just send an answer back to the Daily Telegraph.

"Clearly something went seriously wrong in the organisation as a whole that people were not talking to each other."

He also insisted that a face-to-face conversation with then MP Sandra Gidley after he became leader in 2007 had been "of a general nature".

"She raised it in general terms. She wasn't aware of any specific allegations and, as she has confirmed today, I didn't either," he said.

The programme's final caller - called Herbie - asked Mr Clegg: "How in God's name do you expect (people in Eastleigh) to vote for you with this scandal going on and uneasiness?"

Mr Clegg answered by outlining the party's record in the area, where voters will pick Chris Huhne's replacement on Thursday.

When pressed on details of what was said during various discussions, the party leader said he could not be expected to remember what was said in conversations six years ago.

"All I can tell you is the truth as I recollect it now," he added.

Lord Rennard issued a fresh denial of any wrongdoing on Wednesday and has said he is ready "co-operate with any properly-constituted inquiry".

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Woman Pleads Guilty To Facebook Harassment

A woman has pleaded guilty to using Facebook to harass the family of a girl who went missing from a British army base in Germany more than 30 years ago.

Donna Wright, 33, from Spennymoor, County Durham, admitted to sending messages to the family of Katrice Lee on the social networking site.

Wright claimed to be the girl, who went missing in November 1981, and then continued to harass the family even after a DNA test had proved she was not.

Outside court, Katrice's father Richard Lee, 63, said: "We want a conclusion because we have put up with this since September 2011 and my family has gone through hell.

"She wanted her 15 minutes of fame on the tragedy of my family."

Wright appeared by video link at Newton Aycliffe Magistrates' Court where District Judge Martin Walker said she would be sentenced next month.

Mr Lee, who was stationed with the 15th/19th The King's Royal Hussars in Germany, said he felt the system had not come down on his side.

"What I cannot understand is that it seems to me that the system is helping the perpetrator and what was said in court has nothing to do with the abuse that was sent to my family," he said.

"If you can use false names repeatedly it's not the mark of someone who is unwell. My family's feelings have not been taken into account."

He also described how he felt at the time when his daughter went missing from a food store near the military base, and how he continues to hold onto hope that she may still be found.

"She went missing from an unfenced barracks with one road in and one road out and just 20 yards away was a college," he said.

"The college had an open day and there was eight times the number of people and traffic than usual. It was absolutely horrendous, there were people going in and out trying to get away on Christmas leave.

"I have always believed that she was taken as a surrogate child or sold for profit to someone that could not have children.

"I have to hold onto hope otherwise I could not go on. It's the one thing they cannot take away from you, I have got to have hope.

"People are often coming forward in the news to try and find their family and those cases recharge my batteries."

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Tragic Ben Nevis Climber's Family Pay Tribute

A climber who died in a fall while scaling Ben Nevis has been hailed as a "loving father and husband" by his devastated wife.

Police named the victim as Mark Phillips, from Spean Bridge, a village in the Scottish highlands.

The 51-year-old was an environmental health officer with Highland Council.

He had been climbing with a friend on what is the UK's highest mountain on Monday when he fell around 50 metres (165ft).

Two helicopters flew to the scene with Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team, but Mr Phillips died during the rescue.

Mark Phillips had been climbing on Ben Nevis for several days

His wife Caroline said in a statement: "My beloved husband, Mark, was enjoying the superb conditions the Scottish Highlands were affording.

"He had spent the previous few days climbing and walking in the hills with friends. Tragically that day he sustained fatal injuries following an incident on Ben Nevis.

"Mark and I together with our son, Ruaridh, had moved to the Highlands about 12 years ago so as to live amongst the hills and community we had got to love.

"Mark was a loving father and husband and will be sorely missed by us and his many friends and work colleagues. Ruaridh and I thank them all for their support."

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Martha Lane Fox To Join The House Of Lords

The web tycoon Martha Lane Fox is joining the House of Lords, where she will be the youngest woman peer.

The co-founder of travel website lastminute.com, who is also David Cameron's "digital champion", will sit on the crossbenches as a non-political member.

The 40-year-old revealed on Twitter that she has taken the formal title of Baroness Lane-Fox of Soho in the City of Westminster.

Adding the hyphen is required under peerage rules.

However, she later tried to backtrack because the Soho element is not supposed to be announced until she is admitted on March 26.

"Ssshh ... Soho bit still a secret apparently," she wrote, adding: "Whoops, first mistake of newly appt peer - shouldnt have announced title til formally in house [sic]."

She also posted a picture of the formal letter from the Lords authorities confirming the ennoblement, before deleting it when it was picked up by the press.

The online entrepreneur told friends via the micro-blog site that the appointment was a "real privilege" and she "can't wait to make an impact".

"Will get robe on and get them moving," she told one.

The businesswoman co-founded website lastminute.com in 1998, before stepping down as managing director in 2003 - two years before the company was sold.

She went on to start the karaoke chain Lucky Voice and charity Go On UK, which aims to spread digital skills.

She also has her own grant giving foundation, Antigone, funding charities that target neglected causes.

Joining her in the Lords will be composer and broadcaster Michael Berkeley, who will also sit as a crossbencher.

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Tamara Ecclestone's Ex Jailed Over Plot

The former boyfriend of socialite and model Tamara Ecclestone has been jailed for four years after trying to blackmail her in a £200,000 plot.

Derek Rose, who dated the daughter of Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone in 2002, had threatened to reveal intimate details about their relationship.

An email sent to Ms Ecclestone's manager in November 2011 suggested the 33-year-old had been offered £200,000 to sell his story to the press.

It talked about the possibility of a "non-release fee" and a confidentiality contract - but no newspaper had actually made an offer.

Judge Andrew Goymer, at Southwark Crown Court, said: "It was nothing more than a cynical and greedy attempt to extract a large sum of money.

"No doubt you thought that £200,000, which is a large sum to most people, would be small change to somebody with the amount of money that she and her family are reputed to have.

"You also thought that for this reason they would readily part with it to buy your silence. She did not do this."

Rose, from Camden, north London, dated Ms Ecclestone when she was 17 before changing his name by deed poll from Jonathan Ketterman.

The email in 2011 was sent after the socialite had starred in Billion Dollar Girl, a reality TV show exploring her life as an heiress, and after she had featured in charity campaigns.

Southwark Crown Court heard the message had "pernicious" implications and was sent to elicit money from Ms Ecclestone, 28.

It claimed Rose had been asked by television shows, radio programmes and a major tabloid to talk about their relationship.

The judge said Rose's relationship with Ms Ecclestone had ended acrimoniously and left him feeling "extremely hurt".

The court heard during the trial how he sold a story about his ex to the Daily Mail for £10,000 in the year of the break-up.

But the former couple had not been in contact for almost a decade before the blackmail attempt.

Ms Ecclestone lawyer Charlotte Harris said: "Tamara Ecclestone is relieved that Judge Goymer has acknowledged, in his sentencing of Derek Rose, the serious nature of blackmail and the need to deter others from attempting to commit similar offences.

"Ms Ecclestone was content to waive her anonymity in giving evidence because she strongly believes that all people have a right to be protected from such cynical and vicious behaviour. The sentence of four years is welcomed."

The jury failed to reach a verdict on Rose's co-accused Jakir Uddin, 20, of Old Walsall Road, Birmingham, and the prosecution is considering whether to seek a retrial.

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Police Allowed 'Rapist' To Go Free And Kill

By Martin Brunt, Crime Correspondent

A maverick Scotland Yard rape squad allowed a rape suspect to go unquestioned and free to later kill his two children, it has emerged.

A woman who alleged Jean Say, 62, had raped her was persuaded to retract her complaint by untrained officers under pressure to hit crime targets, said the Independent Police Complaints Commission watchdog.

Say later slashed the throats of his two children, aged 10 and eight, when they went to stay with him for a weekend two years ago.

He was jailed at the Old Bailey for a minimum of 30 years.

The IPCC report has condemned the squad, a specialist Sapphire unit investigating rape and serious sexual crimes in Southwark, South London.

The rape allegation against Say was dismissed by a detective sergeant in the Sapphire unit who said the circumstances did not constitute rape because the woman "consented".

The IPCC said: "The findings of our investigation into the rape ... were also deeply disturbing. The victim was failed by the people from whom she sought help."

It added: "There is no doubt from the evidence that the woman made an allegation of rape at Walworth police station which should have been believed and thoroughly investigated."

Deputy chairwoman of the IPCC Deborah Glass said: "There's no doubt this was an incredibly serious, shocking incident. We know with all the cases that we've dealt with that the consequences of not dealing with allegations of rape can be extremely serious. This is yet another tragic illustration of that."

It has also emerged that three senior officers recommended by the IPCC for gross misconduct disciplinary hearings around failures in another case escaped serious sanctions. Two were promoted.

The IPCC has investigated the Met's sexual crime squads nine times in recent years, five probes involved the Southwark squad. Nineteen officers have been disciplined, three dismissed and one was jailed.

Ms Glass added: "Given the number of cases where the (Metropolitan Police Service's) response to victims has failed, either through individual officers' criminality or neglect or more systematic problems of training, priorities and resources, the response that 'lessons have been learned' begins to ring hollow."

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Litvinenko Killing: 'UK Tries To Block Truth'

By Mark White, Home Affairs Correspondent

Lawyers for the family of murdered former spy Alexander Litvenenko have accused the British Government of trying to block the truth over the killing in order to protect trade with Russia.

Ben Emmerson QC, representing Mr Litvinenko's widow Marina, warned the coroner he should not allow the inquest into the death to be "bogged down" by the "Government's attempt to keep a lid on the truth".

Mr Litvenenko, a former KGB spy who it is claimed was also working for MI6, died in 2006 after being poisoned with a radioactive substance in London.

The UK authorities believe the Russian state was behind the killing, but no one has so far been brought to justice.

The British Government is applying for a Public Interest Immunity certificate, preventing key details from being heard at the forthcoming inquest.

Mr Litvinenko's family believe the UK Government is trying to stop embarrassing revelations about the spy's links to MI6 from being aired in public.

Mr Litvinenko's widow Marina

Mr Emmerson also cited a recent trade visit Prime Minister David Cameron had made to Moscow - a trip which the QC said had secured £215m worth of business but no movement on the Litvinenko case.

Mr Emmerson said he believed the "UK and Russian Governments were trying to manipulate the inquest".

He told the coroner the case has "all the hallmarks of a situation which is shaping up to be a stain on British justice".

He said there should be no suggestion London and Moscow were conspiring together to close the inquest down.

Mr Emmerson also revealed the British Government had repeatedly refused to fund Mrs Litvinenko's legal costs for the inquest.

Coroner Sir Robert Owen intervened to say he believed it was of the utmost importance that Mrs Litvinenko be properly represented at the inquest.

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Blackpool Primary School Teachers Suspended

A head and five teachers have been suspended as a police investigation is launched into "pupil wellbeing" at their Blackpool school.

The suspensions at Revoe Community Primary School - including head teacher Cath Woodall - came after a member of council staff raised concerns following a routine visit.

Blackpool Council confirmed the allegations are not of a sexual nature.

Parents of children at the school were told the "professional judgement" of the six employees had been questioned when "isolating them during challenging behaviour".

The Blackpool Gazette newspaper reported the alarm was raised over claims a child was placed in a room said by one parent to be the size of a cupboard.

In a letter to parents, Charlotte Clarke, the council's head of universal services and school effectiveness, wrote: "Before half-term Blackpool Council became concerned about the professional judgment made by these staff in relation to the wellbeing of pupils when isolating them during challenging behaviour.

"This has led to six members of staff being suspended. The suspensions are a neutral act to allow a full investigation to take place as quickly as possible.

"I realise this will be concerning news and I am writing to reassure you that swift action has been taken and the priority of the council is always the wellbeing of pupils."

Cllr Sarah Riding, cabinet member for education and schools, said an experienced head and temporary staff had been drafted in and parents were being kept up to date.

She said: "Before half term we were made aware of an issue at Revoe Primary School that raised concerns to us about the professional judgement made by a number of staff in relation to pupil wellbeing.

"These concerns have led to the suspension of six members of staff while a full investigation is carried out.  It would not be appropriate to comment further on the nature of the investigation until it has been concluded.

"Although we have no reason to suspect any child has come to harm this is a serious situation that needed immediate action to be taken.

"In the meantime temporary staff have been recruited and there will be no disruption to children's learning. All parents will receive a letter explaining the current arrangements in place."

A spokeswoman for Lancashire Police said: "This allegation, like any allegation involving the wellbeing of young people, is being taken extremely seriously and will be thoroughly investigated as our priority is the safeguarding of young people.

"We are in the early stages of this inquiry and are working closely with the school and the local authority to establish the circumstances.

"No arrests have been made at this stage."

The school, on Grasmere Road, teaches children aged between two and 11 years old. It has more than 400 pupils and employs about 70 people, including teachers and support staff.

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Tom Maynard: Dead Cricketer Was On Drugs

By Jason Farrell, Sky News Correspondent

A promising young cricketer was high on a cocktail of drink and drugs before he was hit by a train and died, an inquest has heard.

Tom Maynard, 23, had taken cocaine, ecstasy and was almost four times over the drink drive limit, Westminster Coroner's Court was told.

The player died last June when he stepped on a live rail and was electrocuted before he was struck by a London Underground train.

He had earlier been stopped by police after he was spotted driving erratically but fled the scene, leaving his keys in the ignition of his Mercedes.

A post-mortem found he had been drinking and taken cocaine and ecstasy in the form of MDMA after a night out with his flatmates.

Mr Maynard had been drinking in Wandsworth, two miles from Wimbledon Park

Mr Maynard was the son of former England and Glamorgan batsman Matthew Maynard and had been tipped as a future England star.

Westminster Coroner's Court heard that tests indicated the cricketer may have been a regular drug user up to three and a half months before his death.

Dr Rosa Cordero said the results showed between 8.7 and 10 nanograms per milligram, which matched some daily users of the drug.

Toxicologist Fiona Perry added that the drugs would cause "significant impairment in coordination and judgement".

Mr Maynard's family have insisted the findings should not define the sportsman, who they described as a "very special person".

The player's girlfriend Carly Baker, a model, wept during the hearing as his last movements were recounted.

Mr Maynard had been on his way to see her on June 18 after going out drinking with friends in Wandsworth, south London, when he died.

Miss Baker said in a statement read in the court that he had phoned her at about 3.30am sounding "very down and depressed".

"For me to say 'what's wrong' is quite unusual," she said. "It was like he needed me. He said 'you're the only thing that makes me happy' and he said it three times."

She added: "I tried to persuade him not to come because I was so worried that he was getting into the car after drinking."

Tom Maynard's black Mercedes C250 is taken away

Police in an unmarked car then spotted his black Mercedes in Wimbledon at around 4.15am and pulled him over.

The sportsman ran off and was eventually discovered at 5.10am half a mile away on a London Underground line.

The court heard he had appeared to already be unconcious on the track when he was hit by a train. The train driver said Mr Maynard lay "perfectly still" and had not moved or flinched as he attempted to brake.

Forensic pathologist Simon Poole said the cricketer's injuries included "burns consistent with contact to a live train rail".

Mr Maynard's father Matthew described his son as a "consummate professional" who "did not suffer from depression".

In a statement issued through the Professional Cricketers' Association, his family said: "The results of the inquest do not define our son. The fact that so very many people thought the world of him is what defines him as a person.

"The only people who would judge Tom on the findings of the inquest are people who didn't know him.

"He made choices that night that tragically cost him his life but his devastated family and friends will love and miss him unconditionally, always. He was a very special person and his death leaves a huge hole in all our lives."

Born in Cardiff, Mr Maynard came through the ranks at Glamorgan Cricket Club before moving to Surrey. He had played a match for the club just 14 hours before he died.

He also earned himself a place on the England Lions tour to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka at the start of last year.

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Britain's Top Cardinal Keith O'Brien Resigns

The most senior priest in the Roman Catholic Church in Britain has resigned over allegations of inappropriate behaviour up to 30 years ago.

Cardinal Keith O'Brien's immediate resignation comes a day after claims by three priests and a former priest emerged in a newspaper.

The 74-year-old tendered his resignation as Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh in November to Pope Benedict XVI, but said in a statement today: "The Holy Father has now decided that my resignation will take effect today.

"Looking back over my years of ministry: For any good I have been able to do, I thank God. For any failures, I apologise to all whom I have offended."

Cardinal O'Brien missed mass at St Mary's on Sunday

The Cardinal should have been travelling to the Vatican this week to help choose the next Pope, but he said he would not be joining the conclave.

"I do not wish media attention in Rome to be focused on me - but rather on Pope Benedict XVI and on his successor," he said.

His absence from the conclave means Britain now has no-one able to vote in the forthcoming election of the next leader of the 1.2bn Roman Catholics worldwide.

The Cardinal missed traditional mass at his main cathedral, St Mary's in Edinburgh, on Sunday after the Observer newspaper published the allegations dating back to the 1980s.

The report said the three priests and former priest in Scotland reported the cardinal to the Vatican over allegations of "inappropriate behaviour".

The Observer said the four statements containing the claims were submitted to the Papal Nuncio Antonio Mennini's office the week before Benedict's resignation was announced on February 11.

It is understood that Cardinal O'Brien contests the claims.

In his resignation statement, Cardinal O'Brien said he had previously offered to step down but it has only been accepted now.

The cleric had been expected to quit on March 17 - the date of his 75th birthday.

Cardinals older than 75 are not allowed to vote in the conclave, which is expected to take place in the next three weeks.

Cardinal O'Brien is no stranger to making the news with his views.

Last week, he called for the Catholic Church to end its celibacy rule for the priesthood.

He had told the BBC: "I realise that many priests have found it very difficult to cope with celibacy as they lived out their priesthood, and felt the need of a companion, of a woman, to whom they could get married and raise a family of their own."

He has also been an outspoken opponent of plans to legalise same-sex marriage.

Last year his stance landed him the award, Bigot of the Year, from the gay rights group Stonewall.

In 2007 he caused controversy when speaking on the 40th anniversary of the Abortion Act.

He said the termination rate north of the border was equivalent to "two Dunblane massacres a day".

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Ikea Meatballs Withdrawn Over Horsemeat Find

A batch of meatballs has been taken off the menu at Ikea's UK stores after they were found to contain traces of horsemeat.

The Czech Republic's state veterinary administration - which made the discovery - said the 1kg packs of frozen meatballs were labelled as beef and pork.

Ikea, whose furniture stores feature restaurants and sell Swedish food, said it had taken the Czech result "seriously".

It has stopped a total of 760kg (1,675lb) of meatballs from the same batch reaching its shelves in 13 countries across Europe, including Britain.

The checks were carried out in response to a European-wide scandal that erupted last month when tests carried out in Ireland revealed some beef products also contained horsemeat.

Traces of horsemeat were found in meals sold by several British retailers.

An Ikea spokesman said: "Ikea takes the test result from the Czech Republic authorities showing indications of traces of horsemeat seriously.

"The concerned production batch of meatballs has been withdrawn from the Swedish Food Market in the Ikea stores.

"Already two weeks ago, Ikea Group initiated DNA analyses of all meat products in the range.

"Twelve tested samples of different batches of meatballs showed no traces of horsemeat."

The Swedish firm stressed that meatballs would still be available to buy in its stores and only one batch was being withdrawn as a precaution.

The European Union's agriculture ministers have gathered in Brussels to discuss the widening scandal's fallout, with some member states pressing for tougher rules to regain consumer confidence.

The 27-nation bloc must agree on binding origin disclosures for food product ingredients, starting with a better labelling of meat products, German agriculture minister Ilse Aigner said.

"Consumers have every right to the greatest-possible transparency," she said the consignment of meatballs that was tested had not been distributed to consumers, the statement said.

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Irish Vet Killer Jailed For At Least 37 Years

By Mike McCarthy, North Of England Correspondent

A man who murdered a vet in North Wales before cutting up and disposing of her body had a long-standing fantasy to imprison, rape and kill a woman, a court has heard.

Production manager Clive Sharp, 47, was jailed for a minimum of 37 years at Mold Crown Court after admitting murder.

Passing sentence, Mr Justice Griffith Williams told Sharp: "This is a horrific, cold hearted murder, carried out to gratify your perverted sexual desires."

The court had been told that Sharp had bought a Halloween mask, bleach, a hacksaw, bin bags and heavy duty tape before going to the home of Catherine Gowing, 37, in Flintshire.

Emma Gowing talks to the media after the sentencing

Sharp initially denied murdering Miss Gowing, originally from Ireland, but his DNA was found on her mattress and parts of her body subsequently found in police searches.

The court heard that the evidence suggested that the victim had been tied up and raped before being murdered.

A length of fabric was found tied to the leg of her bed. It matched material found at the factory where Sharp worked.

Miss Gowing's sister Emma said outside court: "In life she measured herself against the following quote by Albert Pine - 'What we do for ourselves dies with us, what we do for others and the world remains and is immortal'.

"She was a beautiful light, she shone very brightly, she enriched the lives of all she encountered, all God's creatures.

"Her light is gone from our mortal world. She now shines elsewhere."

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Pierce told reporters: "He (Sharp) now faces life imprisonment and I doubt a tear will be shed if he is never released from prison."

The judge Mr Justice Griffith Williams described the crime as "carefully pre-meditated and planned."

He told Sharp: "You are in my view a very serious danger to women."

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Tamara Ecclestone Blackmail: Ex Found Guilty

A former boyfriend of model and socialite Tamara Ecclestone has been found guilty of blackmailing her for £200,000.

Derek Rose, of Camden, north London, was in a relationship with the daughter of Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone when she was just 17.

The 33-year-old went out with Ms Ecclestone, 28, in 2002 before he changed his name by deed poll from Jonathan Ketterman.

Southwark Crown Court heard Rose and media studies student Jakir Uddin, 20 - whom the jury have yet to deliver a verdict on - plotted together to blackmail Ms Ecclestone.

They were accused of drafting an email together which they sent to her manager Dana Malmstrom.

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Philpott Fire: Dad 'Paranoid' Over Custody

A father accused of killing his six children in a house fire had become "paranoid" about losing them in a custody battle, a court has heard.

Mick Philpott was worried he would not be able to see his children after a legal hearing that was scheduled on the same day his children died in the blaze.

Philpott, 56, was locked in a vitriolic custody battle with his former mistress Lisa Willis, 29, after she left the home she shared with him and his wife three months earlier - taking her five children with her.

Philpott was father to four of Miss Willis's children and had another six with his 31-year-old wife, Mairead. The family all lived together in the same home in Allenton, Derby.

Philpott, his wife and a third defendant, 46-year-old Paul Mosley, have each denied six separate counts of manslaughter in relation to the deaths.

Giving evidence to Nottingham Crown Court, neighbour Adam Taylor, who was a close friend of Philpott, said Philpott was not confident about the outcome of the court hearing.

"He was more paranoid at not winning," he said.

Prosecutor Richard Latham QC asked him: "If he did not win, what did he think would happen?"

"That he would not get to see them," Mr Taylor said.

"He was adamant that he did not want access, like weekends, he wanted full custody."

Mr Taylor said the comments were made to him as the pair drove in Philpott's van to an address nearby to buy some cannabis for Mosley on the evening of May 10.

It is alleged by prosecutors that the fire was the result of a botched plan by the defendants to frame Miss Willis after she left her relationship with Philpott.

The six youngsters - Jayden, five, Jessie, six, Jack, eight, John, nine, Jade, 10, and Duwayne, 13 - all died in the fire on May 11 last year.

Mr Taylor, 34, who lived a few doors away from the family in Victory Road, said that in the aftermath of the fire he was surprised by Philpott's behaviour.

"I just thought it a bit weird that he did not have any emotion or anything like that," he told the court. The trial continues.

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Doctors From Abroad Must Take English Test

By Lisa Dowd, Sky News Correspondent

New checks will be introduced to make sure all NHS doctors can speak English well enough to treat patients, the Government has announced.

It comes five years after David Gray, 70, was killed by a German doctor on his first out-of-hours shift in the UK.

Daniel Ubani accidentally gave the pensioner 10 times the recommended dose of the painkiller diamorphine.

The locum was struck off the medical register in the UK, but still practises in Germany, despite admitting death by negligence in a German court.

Mr Gray's son Stuart, 53, himself a GP, said: "What Ubani had done was try to register with Leeds PCT (Primary Care Trust).

"They'd made him sit an English language test to see if he was proficient. He failed that, so he decided to apply to another PCT, this being Cornwall.

"They didn't bother to test his English language skills, put him on the list, once he was on the list he can practise anywhere in the country and he then went to practise in Cambridgeshire where he killed my father."

Daniel Ubani caused the death of 70-year-old David Gray (pictured)

Last year, research by Pulse magazine for GPs found that 792 EU doctors were on the so-called "performers lists" of 51 Primary Care Trusts, allowing them to work in the UK. Of those, 657 doctors, or 83%, hadn't had their English skills tested.

From April 1 there will be one national list which every GP will have to be on before treating patients. There will also be a legal duty to ensure those on it have good English.

Health minister Dr Dan Poulter said: "It's not something that should cause huge public alarm, but it's something that we do know from the case of Doctor Daniel Ubani, and other doctors, who are sometimes flown in to do short-term locums in the NHS from Europe, that it is something that has actually caused deaths in this country.

"That's completely unacceptable and that's why we're introducing language checking for all overseas doctors including those within the EU."

But Dr Gray, of Blakedown, Worcestershire, has his doubts. He said: "I'd like to know how they're going to police it.

"If they say it's going to be illegal for the doctor to work here if they can't communicate in English, well, it was illegal for Cornwall PCT to put Ubani on their list, and no one has been held to account for breaking the law there."

Niall Dickson, chief executive of the GMC, welcomed the Government's plans. "This is good news for patients," he said. "The Health Minister's announcement today will help strengthen patient safety across the UK.

"Our position is clear - patients must be confident that the doctor who treats them has the right communications skills to do the job.

"If doctors cannot speak English to a safe standard then the GMC must be able to protect patients by preventing them from practising in the UK."

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Cardinal Keith O'Brien Contests Accusations

Britain's most senior Roman Catholic clergyman has been reported to the Vatican over claims of inappropriate behaviour, a newspaper has claimed.

The Observer reports that three priests and a former priest have made the allegations against Cardinal Keith O'Brien, the leader of the Catholic Church in Scotland.

Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said: "'The Pope knows about the issue and the question is now in his hands.''

A spokesman for the Scottish Catholic Church told Sky News that Cardinal O'Brien "contests these claims and is taking legal advice".

According to the Observer, the four claimants reported to nuncio Antonio Mennini, the Vatican's ambassador to Britain, that Cardinal O'Brien had committed "inappropriate acts" going back 33 years.

The claimants, all from the diocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh, are also demanding the cleric's resignation, the paper said.

Cardinal O'Brien has a vote in the forthcoming papal conclave to choose Pope Benedict XVI's successor.

The claimants are said to be worried that their report will not be properly addressed if he is allowed to travel to Rome.

"It (the church) tends to cover up and protect the system at all costs," said one of the complainants, according to quotes published by the paper.

"The church is beautiful, but it has a dark side and that has to do with accountability. If the system is to be improved, maybe it needs to be dismantled a bit."

Cardinal O'Brien, who is due to retire next month, has angered the gay community with his conservative stance on homosexuality.

He recently said that same-sex marriages would be "harmful to the physical, mental and spiritual well-being of those involved" and has long voiced opposition to gay adoption.

When Pope Benedict announced his decision to resign on February 11, Cardinal O'Brien said: "Like many people throughout the world, I was shocked and saddened to hear of the decision by Pope Benedict XVI to resign.

"I know that his decision will have been considered most carefully and that it has come after much prayer and reflection."

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'Gas Poison' Deaths: Caravan Park Trio Named

By Tom Parmenter, Sky News Correspondent

The three people who died of suspected carbon monoxide in Cornwall have been named locally as John and Audrey Cook, and their daughter, Maureen.

Mr Cook, 90, his 86-year-old wife and their 46-year-old daughter were found dead along with a pet dog on Saturday in their static home near Camborne, Cornwall.

The alarm was raised when a neighbour tried to call in to help the elderly couple.

Devon and Cornwall Police are not treating the deaths as suspicious but it is thought a faulty appliance may be to blame.

Carbon monoxide is a colourless, odourless gas that claims around 50 lives a year and leaves some 200 people seriously ill.

Neighbour Julie Taylor told Sky News how, within hours of hearing of the tragedy, she went out and bought two carbon monoxide alarms: "It's just absolutely devastating.

"Having seen it in the neighbourhood and myself living on my own I went out straight away and bought them.

Audrey and John Cook

"It is frightening, you can't hear it, you can't see it, you can't smell it - it is the silent killer."

The Cook family had lived on the peaceful Tremarle Home Park for many years and were well known to neighbours.

Neighbour Andrew Stevenson said he was "very, very shocked".

Mr Stevenson was himself a victim of carbon monoxide poisoning in the 1990s when his chimney became blocked.

He told Sky News it was only his parents' decision to open a window that saved his life.

"I got out and we worked out eventually what caused it.

"It felt like someone had given me a head cold and then I got up in the early hours of the morning and it felt like somebody had rugby tackled me but there was nobody there."

He added: "You need to have a carbon monoxide tester even if it is a basic one."

Emergency services were called to the caravan park where they were living at lunchtime on Saturday after the couple's helper was unable to reach them.

Firefighters broke into their home and found the bodies inside.

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Three-Year-Old Dies In Blind Cord Tragedy

A three-year-old boy has died after becoming entangled in a blind cord in an accident described as being "felt by the entire community".

Police are investigating the death of the boy, on Saturday evening, in Mayobridge in County Down, Northern Ireland.

A police spokesman said there were no suspicious circumstances.

Sinn Fein MLA Caitriona Ruane expressed her sympathy to the victim's family.

She said: "This tragic accident has been felt by the entire community and I would like to extend my condolences to the family. Our thoughts are with them at this time."

According to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, at least 25 deaths across the UK since 1999 have been blamed on blind cords.

Shipping tycoon Morten Hoegh's daughter died in a blind cord accident

In October the daughter of one of the wealthiest men in Britain, the Norwegian shipping tycoon Morten Hoegh, died as the result of such an accident.

Alexandra Lucy Hoegh, two, was found suspended and unconscious by her nanny and mother Dana at their west London home.

The inquest into her death heard Alexandra was "very adept" at climbing in and out of her cot, using a table next to it.

The cot was by the window, which had a roller blind fitted.

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Clegg 'Knew Of Concerns About Lord Rennard'

By Sophy Ridge, Political Correspondent

Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg was "made aware of concerns and unease around Lord Rennard" more than three years ago, Sky sources say.

Several women have accused the party's chief executive of inappropriately touching and propositioning female party workers, which he strenuously denies.

According to Sky sources, Mr Clegg did not know any names or specific allegations.

Lord Rennard strenuously denies the claims

Mr Clegg has been on holiday on Spain since the story broke, but in a statement later this evening he is expected to outline what he did after concerns were raised with his office.

He is also set to acknowledge how serious the allegations are, and how critical the investigation is.

The women claim they reported Lord Rennard's alleged behaviour to senior party officials at the time, but no further action was taken.

The peer was a key party strategist and adviser to a succession of Liberal Democrat leaders before standing down due to ill health in 2009.

He said he was "deeply shocked" by the allegations, which he "strongly disputes" and regards as a "total distortion" of his character.

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Banksy Mural Withdrawn From Auction

By Liz Lane, Sky News Reporter

A Banksy work that was removed from the side of a north London Poundland shop under mysterious circumstances has been withdrawn from sale in the US.

The world's most famous street artist painted the mural on the side of Poundland in Wood Green last May, before the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

Called Slave Labour, it showed a boy hunched over a sewing machine making Union Flag bunting.

It was suddenly removed from the wall last weekend, to the anger of local people, and turned up at Fine Art Auctions in Miami where it was expected to fetch up to £460,000 ($700,000).

It looks like a week-long campaign by Haringey Council to stop the sale may have worked as, at the last-minute, the lot was pulled.

A spokesman for the Florida auction house said there were "no legal issues" regarding the sale but that it had decided to withdraw two Banksy lots. No further explanation was given.

Wood Green councillor Alan Strickland said: "To have the mural withdrawn from sale at the 11th hour is a wonderful surprise for the community here in Wood Green.

"It suggests the level of international media attention has had a real impact."

Mr Strickland emailed FAA owner Frederic Thut to ask why the sale had not gone ahead and if there were any plans to auction it in the future.

"Local people have already been in touch about the brilliant news, but we need to know what's going to happen now," he said.

A stencil of a rat holding a sign saying "Why?" has appeared on the wall

"It seems like we're half-way there. The next step is to get it returned."

It is still unclear who intended to sell the artwork via the auction house, but the Metropolitan Police had said there had not been any reports of theft.

A solicitor for Wood Green Investments, which owns the Poundland site, told Sky News: "My clients do not court publicity, but find themselves in the quite remarkable position that if they deny removing the mural then they will become embroiled in an international criminal investigation that has already involved the FBI.

"But if they admit to consenting to the removal of the mural then they will become the target of abuse."

The episode has started a debate about who, if anyone, owns street art.

Artist "Stik" is clear about who he paints for: "Street artists are putting their work on the street for people. It's for communities, and it's an artistic expression. It's a public gallery. It's open 24 hours a day and it's the biggest gallery in the world, because it is the world."

This isn't this first time murals have been removed to be sold for huge sums. French artist Thierry Noir contributed to the longest concrete painting in the world on the Berlin Wall.

He told Sky News that when the wall came down, his work was stripped by East German soldiers and sold in Monaco for £2m: "It was the soldiers so what can I do against soldiers? Nothing except look at those soldiers.

"It took them one week to take the complete pieces I paint in Berlin, but it was too strong for me so I had to accept it."

A rat holding up a sign saying "Why?" has been stencilled next to the empty space where the Banksy mural stood, with some speculating it could be another work by the elusive artist.

Whether Slave Labour will be returned to the community it was meant for, remains as mysterious as the artist.

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Doctors From Abroad Must Take English Test

By Lisa Dowd, Sky News Correspondent

New checks will be introduced to make sure all NHS doctors can speak English well enough to treat patients, the Government has announced.

It comes five years after David Gray, 70, was killed by a German doctor on his first out-of-hours shift in the UK.

Daniel Ubani accidentally gave the pensioner 10 times the recommended dose of the painkiller diamorphine.

The locum was struck off the medical register in the UK, but still practises in Germany, despite admitting death by negligence in a German court.

Mr Gray's son Stuart, 53, himself a GP, said: "What Ubani had done was try to register with Leeds PCT (Primary Care Trust).

"They'd made him sit an English language test to see if he was proficient. He failed that, so he decided to apply to another PCT, this being Cornwall.

"They didn't bother to test his English language skills, put him on the list, once he was on the list he can practise anywhere in the country and he then went to practise in Cambridgeshire where he killed my father."

Daniel Ubani caused the death of 70-year-old David Gray (pictured)

Last year, research by Pulse magazine for GPs found that 792 EU doctors were on the so-called "performers lists" of 51 Primary Care Trusts, allowing them to work in the UK. Of those, 657 doctors, or 83%, hadn't had their English skills tested.

From April 1 there will be one national list which every GP will have to be on before treating patients. There will also be a legal duty to ensure those on it have good English.

Health minister Dr Dan Poulter said: "It's not something that should cause huge public alarm, but it's something that we do know from the case of Doctor Daniel Ubani, and other doctors, who are sometimes flown in to do short-term locums in the NHS from Europe, that it is something that has actually caused deaths in this country.

"That's completely unacceptable and that's why we're introducing language checking for all overseas doctors including those within the EU."

But Dr Gray, of Blakedown, Worcestershire, has his doubts. He said: "I'd like to know how they're going to police it.

"If they say it's going to be illegal for the doctor to work here if they can't communicate in English, well, it was illegal for Cornwall PCT to put Ubani on their list, and no one has been held to account for breaking the law there."

Niall Dickson, chief executive of the GMC, welcomed the Government's plans. "This is good news for patients," he said. "The Health Minister's announcement today will help strengthen patient safety across the UK.

"Our position is clear - patients must be confident that the doctor who treats them has the right communications skills to do the job.

"If doctors cannot speak English to a safe standard then the GMC must be able to protect patients by preventing them from practising in the UK."

22.11 | 0 komentar | Read More

Cardinal Keith O'Brien Contests Accusations

Britain's most senior Roman Catholic clergyman has been reported to the Vatican over claims of inappropriate behaviour, a newspaper has claimed.

The Observer reports that three priests and a former priest have made the allegations against Cardinal Keith O'Brien, the leader of the Catholic Church in Scotland.

Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said: "'The Pope knows about the issue and the question is now in his hands.''

A spokesman for the Scottish Catholic Church told Sky News that Cardinal O'Brien "contests these claims and is taking legal advice".

According to the Observer, the four claimants reported to nuncio Antonio Mennini, the Vatican's ambassador to Britain, that Cardinal O'Brien had committed "inappropriate acts" going back 33 years.

The claimants, all from the diocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh, are also demanding the cleric's resignation, the paper said.

Cardinal O'Brien has a vote in the forthcoming papal conclave to choose Pope Benedict XVI's successor.

The claimants are said to be worried that their report will not be properly addressed if he is allowed to travel to Rome.

"It (the church) tends to cover up and protect the system at all costs," said one of the complainants, according to quotes published by the paper.

"The church is beautiful, but it has a dark side and that has to do with accountability. If the system is to be improved, maybe it needs to be dismantled a bit."

Cardinal O'Brien, who is due to retire next month, has angered the gay community with his conservative stance on homosexuality.

He recently said that same-sex marriages would be "harmful to the physical, mental and spiritual well-being of those involved" and has long voiced opposition to gay adoption.

When Pope Benedict announced his decision to resign on February 11, Cardinal O'Brien said: "Like many people throughout the world, I was shocked and saddened to hear of the decision by Pope Benedict XVI to resign.

"I know that his decision will have been considered most carefully and that it has come after much prayer and reflection."

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