Author: Darren Smith

Karren Brady has ended her 16-year association with West Ham United, leaving her role as vice-chair at a turbulent moment for the club as supporters continue to voice their discontent with the board’s leadership. Brady, 57, confirmed her departure in a statement in which she reflected warmly on her time at the club, singling out the 2023 UEFA Europa Conference League triumph as the defining highlight of her tenure. “Lifting the UEFA Europa Conference League trophy — a moment that will stay with me forever,” she said, adding that she remained grateful for “the relationships, challenges and opportunities” that had…

A Bangladeshi national convicted of plotting to bomb the London Stock Exchange has been living in Britain on human rights grounds despite being refused asylum, it has emerged, after details of his immigration status were disclosed in a separate legal ruling concerning his wife. Shah Rahman was one of four al-Qaeda-inspired extremists jailed in 2012 for the plot against the stock exchange. When he applied for asylum in 2017 — the year of his first release on licence — his claim was rejected under Article 1F of the Refugee Convention, which bars those involved in terrorism or serious criminality from…

Emmerdale actor Frazer Hammill died by suicide at the age of 41, an inquest has heard, with his death occurring just one day after he was arrested and questioned by Lancashire Police. Hammill, who was described by those who knew him as “talented and kind-hearted,” was found dead at his home on 30 December last year. Custody officers told Doncaster Coroner’s Court that he had appeared to be in “good spirits” when he left the police station the previous day, and said they had held no concerns over his mental wellbeing or safety at the time of his release. Police…

A dentist who was struck off the professional register after sending a series of racially motivated emails disparaging Indian dentistry has successfully challenged her erasure in the High Court, with a judge ruling that her conduct, whilst seriously wrong, did not warrant a permanent ban from practising. Hanna Grzelczak, 48, a Polish-qualified dentist based in Southampton who has worked in the UK since 2009, sent four emails to staff at Damira Dental Studios in Fareham, Hampshire, in the summer of 2023, following her resignation from the practice. In the messages, she asked for her name to be removed from the…

A secondary school teacher suffocated a 13-month-old baby to death after subjecting him to a prolonged and “sinister” campaign of sexual abuse and physical violence while in the process of adopting him, a jury has heard. Preston Davey died at Blackpool Victoria Hospital on 27 July 2023, having been brought in unconscious and in cardiac arrest by the two men who were seeking to adopt him. He was pronounced dead 48 minutes after his arrival, despite the efforts of medical staff. Jamie Varley, 37, a secondary school teacher, is accused of murdering Preston and faces a further range of charges…

Mobile phone bans in England’s schools are set to be enshrined in law after the Government announced plans to make the restrictions statutory. The Department for Education said it intends to amend the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to give legal force to existing guidance, which currently advises schools to prohibit phones on site but stops short of compelling them to do so. Under the current arrangements, head teachers are free to disregard the guidance if they see fit. A DfE spokesperson said the move was intended to formalise what the majority of schools were already doing in practice. “We…

Ukraine is drawing up plans to open its borders to migrant workers from Africa in an attempt to address a deepening labour shortage, as the country grapples with the human cost of more than three years of war with Russia. Kyrylo Budanov, head of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Presidential Office, outlined the proposals at the CEO Club Ukraine, saying the government intended to introduce new legislation governing the legal entry and residency of foreign workers. A revised list of designated “migration-risk” countries would be established as part of the framework, with the stated aim of making it easier for migrant workers…

A powerful earthquake measuring 7.5 in magnitude has struck off the northeast coast of Japan, prompting tsunami warnings across multiple coastal prefectures and triggering the evacuation of thousands of residents as emergency services moved swiftly to respond. The tremor was detected at approximately 4.53pm local time, originating around 100 kilometres off the Sanriku coast at a shallow depth of ten kilometres. The Japan Meteorological Agency initially recorded a preliminary magnitude of 7.9 before revising the figure, and immediately issued warnings of waves of up to three metres expected to strike coastal areas across northern Japan. The shaking was felt as…

Benjamin Netanyahu has issued a sharp public condemnation of an Israeli soldier who was photographed apparently destroying a statue of Jesus Christ in southern Lebanon, as the Israeli Defence Forces launched a criminal investigation into the incident. The image, which is believed to show the vandalism taking place in the Christian town of Debel, was shared on social media on Sunday and rapidly spread across multiple platforms, accumulating more than 5.3 million views on X alone. The photograph was initially posted by Palestinian journalist Younis Tirawi, who captioned it as depicting an IDF soldier smashing the head of a Jesus…

The gunman who murdered eight children in a series of attacks across Shreveport, Louisiana on Sunday morning has been identified as Shamar Elkins, a 31-year-old Army veteran who had posted a photograph with one of his daughters just hours before carrying out the massacre. Elkins opened fire at three separate addresses shortly after 6am, killing children aged between one and 14. Seven of the eight victims were his own children. The revelation of the victims’ ages prompted audible gasps from those present as a police representative read them aloud at a Sunday press conference. Elkins was subsequently shot and killed…