UK

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

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

Indecent assault charges in the UK against disgraced Hollywood movie mogul Harvey Weinstein have been discontinued. In June 2022 the Metropolitan Police force announced they had been authorised to charge Weinstein with two counts of indecent assault against a woman in London between July and August 1996. It followed a review of evidence into the

Bereaved and survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire have criticised the calling of an inquiry, describing it as a “seven-year delay to justice”. Their comments come on the day the report into the disaster was published. It delivered a damning verdict on the failures of government, building companies, contractors, fire safety experts and council staff

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

A massive rise in bag and phone “snatch thefts” has prompted the government to promise a crack down on street crime. An estimated 78,000 people, or more than 200 a day, had their phones or bags stolen in the year leading up to March 2024, according to Home Office analysis of data from the Crime

One-word Ofsted judgements for state schools are being scrapped with immediate effect in a move that has been hailed as a “landmark moment for children”. Previously, the education watchdog awarded one of four marks to schools it inspects: outstanding, good, requires improvement and inadequate. From this academic year, four grades will be awarded across the

The government is “not attacking the hospitality industry” with proposed plans to ban smoking in pub gardens, a cabinet minister has insisted. Lucy Powell told Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips that Labour wants to create a “smoke-free country” and measures to achieve this will be done “in consultation” with businesses that could be

Two people have died after being attacked in separate incidents at Notting Hill Carnival last weekend. Cher Maximen, 32, was at the event last Sunday with her child when she was stabbed. She died this morning. Police said officers gave emergency treatment to Ms Maximen until paramedics arrived. She was then taken to hospital in

“His room is still the same” and “there’s always a missing chair around the table”, says Pip, whose younger brother Sanjiv Kundi was 41 when he vanished in Paris 11 years ago. She has visited the French capital many times since he left the family home in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, for a week’s holiday –

Oasis have issued a warning against people reselling tickets for their reunion tour at higher prices. The band wrote on X: “We have noticed people attempting to sell tickets on the secondary market since the start of the pre-sale. Please note, tickets can ONLY be resold, at face value, via @Ticketmaster and @Twickets.” It added