UK

The rat man from the council has just turned up. He is back at James and Oscar’s home laying more poison that the rats keep eating. “I woke up the other night at three in the morning and one was biting my nose,” James says. It’s the stuff of nightmares but it has become James and

Two young women who claim to have been repeatedly raped as part of an organised child sexual abuse ring have complained to Humberside Police after being told officers from their investigation have been diverted to deal with cases from the summer riots. ‘Anna’ and ‘Sarah’ – not their real names – were teenagers when Sky

Huw Edwards has been given a six-month jail sentence suspended for two years for accessing indecent images of children as young as seven. The former BBC presenter had pleaded guilty to three counts of “making” indecent images of children. While the judge called his crimes “extremely serious offences,” he concluded that Edwards didn’t present a

In a photo her sister treasures, Paula Parretti smiles brightly. It was taken soon after she had decided to colour half of her hair bright pink. “She was an amazing auntie, like the fun aunt,” Sam Cook recalls. “She’d always be there for my children. Laughing, joking, buying them the noisiest toys, all that fun

A man has been charged with murdering a wife and two daughters in a crossbow attack at their home in Hertfordshire. Kyle Clifford, 26, from Enfield, will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court today, Bedfordshire Police said. He is also charged with false imprisonment and two counts of possession of offensive weapons. Clifford is suspected of

At least eight migrants have died off the coast of France while attempting to cross the English Channel as new data reveals 801 people arrived on the UK’s shores yesterday. The latest government figures show those who arrived made their journey on Saturday in 14 boats. The current record for the highest number of arrivals

The number of second homes being put up for sale in one part of Wales has increased by more than 250% – as homeowners and businesses criticise the Welsh government’s council tax premium. Many councils in Wales now charge an inflated tax rate for second homes, up to 300%, with the aim of freeing up

A man allegedly sexually assaulted a woman on the same day he was released from prison under the government’s early release scheme. He allegedly reoffended in Sittingbourne in Kent and was later arrested at an address in south London. He was among more than 1,700 inmates released from prison last week in a bid to

Families of more than 300 victims of the infected blood scandal are calling on the government to make changes to the compensation scheme, claiming they are being “excluded” from the current guidelines. Thousands became infected with HIV and hepatitis C through contaminated blood products in the 1970s and 1980s, with more than 3,000 known to

BBC presenter Jay Blades – who appears on The Repair Shop – has been charged with engaging in controlling and coercive behaviour against his estranged wife, police have said. The 54-year-old appeared at Kidderminster Magistrates’ Court earlier today and was bailed to appear again at Worcester Crown Court on 11 October. The alleged coercive behaviour

Sir Keir Starmer has said that Russia started the Ukraine war and “could end the conflict straight away”. The prime minister is heading to Washington DC for talks with President Joe Biden at the White House on Friday over the ongoing conflict. Sir Keir has backed Kyiv’s right to defend itself after Russian leader Vladimir

A 17-year-old male has been arrested as part of the investigation into a cyber security incident affecting Transport for London (TfL). The teenager was detained in Walsall on suspicion of Computer Misuse Act offences in relation to the attack, which was launched on TfL on 1 September. He has been questioned by officers from the

Sir Keir Starmer will warn the NHS must “reform or die”, as the government publishes an independent investigation into the state of the health service. The report – ordered by Health Secretary Wes Streeting days after he took on the role – was carried out by peer and surgeon Lord Darzi. Politics live: Starmer and

If you want a sense of the “change” government, Sir Keir Starmer becoming the first prime minister in 15 years to address the Trade Union Congress is it. The Tories out and Labour in is what the trade union movement has yearned for. This has been a patient base, waiting for a new deal. But

A mum who decided to go to Ibiza rather than attend the sentencing of her 12-year-old son involved in the summer’s riots has been ordered to pay compensation amounting to the cost of her holiday. The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons because of his age, was previously due to be sentenced on

MPs have voted to cut the winter fuel payment for all but the country’s poorest pensioners. A Tory move to block the measure was defeated by 348 to 228 votes – a majority of 120. Labour has a working majority in the Commons of 167. The division list showed Labour MP Jon Trickett supported the

The chief inspector of prisons for England and Wales has warned that today’s early release of around 1,750 offenders is going to be “risky”. It is being done to create space in the country’s overcrowded prisons and the government insists the alternative was “unthinkable” and would have led to a “total collapse of the criminal

A man who admitted the rape and murder of a woman he stabbed 60 times during sex 27 years ago should be freed from prison, the Parole Board has said. Steven Ling was jailed for life in December 1998 after admitting an attack on Joanne Tulip, 29, in Stamfordham, Northumberland. He has been recommended for

A loud crash jolts Paul Wheeler into waking up in the middle of the night. As he peers out of his bedroom window, which overlooks the park at the back of his home in a quiet, suburban part of Kent, he sees a shadowy figure setting fire to something. It’s a warm summer night, Labour

The health secretary has said he is “not remotely happy” about having to vote to cut the winter fuel allowance for some pensioners. Wes Streeting said he has apologised to his elderly constituents who it will affect, but said cutting the payment from those not on pension credit is essential to balance public finances. He

The deaths of around 2,000 mental health patients will be investigated as a long-awaited new public inquiry begins on Monday. Warning: The following article contains details some readers may find distressing Families of the patients who died in Essex have been campaigning for years, claiming they have not been told the truth about what happened

Police searching for a British man in a mountainous area of Majorca where a British woman was found dead earlier this week have found a body. Both are believed to have been swept away in a flash flood. Spain’s Civil Guard said both people were on a trail that leads through a small canyon to

England interim manager Lee Carsley has said he will not be singing the British national anthem before his side take on the Republic of Ireland on Saturday. The 50-year-old was born in Birmingham in the UK but represented Ireland during his playing career through his grandmother, who is from County Cork. Speaking in a news

An arsonist who stoked a fire outside a Rotherham hotel hosting asylum seekers during last month’s riots has been jailed for nine years. It is the longest sentence handed down so far over last month’s violence, which erupted across the UK following the killing of three children in a stabbing at a dance class in

More than 300 bodies have been discovered in a mass grave in Oldham, with the majority belonging to babies and children. The 12x12ft grave in Royton Cemetery was found by a woman looking for her brothers, with one stillborn and the other dying within five hours in 1962. According to councillors Maggie Hurley and Jade

A member of the Royal Navy has died after a helicopter ditched while conducting night-flying exercises with HMS Queen Elizabeth. In a statement the Navy said: “It is with great sadness that we must report a member of the Royal Navy has died following a training incident last night. “Our thoughts are with the family

A banking boss and his wife, who died when a superyacht sank off the coast of Sicily, suffocated to death in an air bubble as oxygen ran out, according to Italian media. Jonathan Bloomer and his wife Judy Bloomer were two of the seven people who died when the Bayesian superyacht sank last month. The

The government was “well aware” of the deadly risks posed by combustible cladding and insulation a year before the Grenfell Tower fire, but “failed to act on what it knew”, a landmark report has found. The report also said “systemic dishonesty” from cladding and insulation companies and a “toxic” relationship between the tower’s residents and

Baby P’s mother is back in prison after breaching her licence conditions. Tracey Connelly was freed from jail in July 2022 after the Parole Board ruled she was suitable for release. But she has now been recalled to prison in a move authorised by Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood. Connelly was jailed in 2009 for causing

Three children and two teenagers have been arrested over the murder of an 80-year-old man. The victim, who was walking his dog in a park in Braunstone Town, Leicestershire, was seriously assaulted on Sunday and died in hospital last night. A boy and a girl, both 14, and one boy and two girls, all aged

The UK has experienced its coolest summer since 2015, according to provisional data from the Met Office. Despite recent years seeing persistently hot and dry summers – edging into extreme weather at times – 2024 has somewhat bucked that trend. While a handful of days were hot, they were not close to the heat we’ve

Singer Danielle Moore – who fronted the electronic band Crazy P – has died aged 52 in “sudden and tragic circumstances”, the group has confirmed. While her bandmates did not share her cause of death, they said they were “devastated” and would now “need time to process that this has happened”. Sharing a black and

A court has adjourned the sentencing of a 12-year-old involved in the riots and disorder in August after his mother went to Ibiza on holiday. Towns and cities across the UK saw violence break out after the three girls were stabbed to death at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport on 29 July. The