Author: Darren Smith

The 16-year-old girl killed after being struck by a car in Gateshead has been named as Jessica Metters, as her devastated family described her as “the most loving, precious innocent little girl” and said their hearts were “broken into a million pieces.” Jessica, from Consett, County Durham, was hit by a silver Ford Fiesta on Lobley Hill Road at around 10.40pm on Friday. She was rushed to hospital with serious injuries but died a short time after her arrival. In a heartbreaking tribute, her family said: “She lit up every room she walked in and always made a good situation…

A four-year-old British boy has died after falling into a swimming pool at a holiday home on the Costa del Sol, just a day after arriving in Spain with his family. Emergency services were alerted at around 8.30am this morning after the toddler fell into the pool at a rural property in the region. Police, paramedics and a medical helicopter all rushed to the scene in a desperate attempt to save the child, but he could not be saved. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has been contacted for comment.

An Amazon delivery driver with a PhD who ran what is believed to be the most lucrative exam cheating operation ever uncovered in Britain has been jailed for three years after secretly earning up to £2.4 million completing university coursework and sitting online exams for more than 100 students across the country. Shahid Adnan, 43, operated from his home in Everton, Liverpool, where police found bundles of cash and uncovered more than £2.4 million spread across multiple bank and trading accounts when they raided the property. A Barclays account alone held £1,505,156, with a further £600,590 in a personal Lloyds…

A mother has been arrested for allegedly stabbing her 28-year-old daughter to death with a butcher’s knife in Argentina, after sending a cryptic audio message that authorities are now racing to decipher for clues about what prompted the killing. The shocking crime came to light on the evening of 12 June when a 40-year-old man approached police claiming his sister had admitted to him that she had attacked her daughter. Officers rushed to a residence in Tres Isletas, in Argentina’s Chaco province, where they found Pamela Magalí Gauna lying in a pool of blood. She showed no signs of life.…

Britain is heading for another burst of scorching heat this weekend, with temperatures expected to climb into the low 30s across parts of the south east and the government issuing a five-day health alert warning of a “greater risk of death to the vulnerable.” The Met Office has said the heatwave threshold — defined as three consecutive days at or above set temperature thresholds — may be reached in the south by Saturday, as high pressure builds across Europe and funnels warm air northwards. London is forecast to reach 29C tomorrow, with the heat expected to hold until at least…

A millionaire property tycoon is suing Britain’s biggest water company for more than £1 million at the High Court, claiming United Utilities stood by and protected its own land while a catastrophic moorland fire engulfed his neighbouring estate, destroying hundreds of acres of conservation work and prized red grouse breeding grounds. David Livesey, the former chief executive of estate agency giant Connells Group, alleges the utility company had the manpower and specialist equipment needed to stop the blaze from spreading to his 300-acre Lords Hall Estate in Lancashire but chose to focus its firefighting resources on its own property, leaving…

A Syrian man has pleaded not guilty to raping and sexually assaulting a woman on Brighton beach in the early hours of the morning and will face trial later this year. Bilal Alkadour, 35, of Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, appeared at Hove Crown Court on Wednesday, where he denied four charges: rape, two counts of sexual assault and one count of assault by penetration of a woman aged 16 or over. Speaking through an Arabic interpreter, he entered not guilty pleas to all counts and was told he would stand trial in November. Judge Jeremy Gold KC told Alkadour it was important…

Wayne Rooney has been hailed for a striking transformation by football fans watching his BBC punditry at the World Cup, with viewers praising the Manchester United legend for appearing noticeably slimmer and fresh-faced after shaving off his beard. The 40-year-old appeared alongside Gael Clichy and Olivier Giroud as part of the BBC’s team for France’s 3-1 victory over Senegal in New Jersey on Tuesday night, and his new look quickly became a talking point online. “Is it me or has Rooney lost weight? Good on ya fella,” one viewer wrote. “Is it me or does Rooney look noticeably thinner? Looks…

Google has been ordered by the UK’s competition regulator to make its search results fairer and more transparent, in the latest set of legally binding requirements imposed on the technology giant since it was designated as having strategic market status last year. The Competition and Markets Authority confirmed on Wednesday that Google must rank “organic” search results using objective and non-discriminatory criteria and provide greater transparency to businesses about how its rankings work. A second requirement makes legally binding a data-sharing process that was previously voluntary, through Google’s UK Data Portability Application Programming Interface. The CMA said businesses had complained…

Stanley Johnson, father of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, has revealed he has undergone surgery for colon cancer at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London, sharing a cheerful photograph from his hospital bed as he recovers. The 85-year-old former Tory MEP posted the image on social media following a successful operation last Friday to remove half of his colon, captioning it with characteristic wit: “I am enjoying a brief summer break at the Royal Marsden, destination of choice.” Speaking to the Daily Mail, Stanley revealed the cancer was discovered almost by chance during a routine chest scan late last year.…