Hero Martial Artist

This is the scene as a champion martial artist bundles a suspected sex attacker who reportedly targeted a teenage girl to the ground.

Brazilian jiu-jitsu expert Ivan Skoko, 29, used a leg sweep before using his knees to restrain the man in busy Moorgate, central London.

Just moments before, the suspect – heard screaming in a foreign language – allegedly grabbed his victim’s behind as she travelled home.

Two teenage boys courageously challenged the man before he tried to swing a punch and chase them at about 9 pm on Friday.

The incident was swiftly brought to a close by quick-thinking Ivan, a 6ft 3in black belt who coaches clients in specialist self-defence.

The suspect, who was wearing a black hooded jacket, was captured on camera attempting to escape while being taken into custody by the City of London Police.

Ivan told the Daily Mail: ‘I had just finished training at the gym in Moorgate. There was a seminar with our head coach there.

‘I was walking towards the station, and I could see there was a big commotion. I could see young people screaming around a guy.

‘I could see something serious was happening, so I crossed the street and realised the girl, she was only 14, was saying “this man grabbed my ass”.

‘I decided to wait and see if I could help – and the guy started swinging at two young boys.

‘When I saw that, I took my headphones off and thought”, Let’s just take this guy down.”

The Croatian-born champion asked one of the onlookers to record him as he leapt into action and incapacitated the assailant.

He said, ‘I took him down with a leg sweep. It was very effective. He stopped resisting.

‘The police arrived very quickly, and they restrained him. He was resisting the arrest. I gave my details to them and left the scene.

‘The man had grabbed the behind of the young girl and had tried to punch another two kids. This is not the way people should be acting.’

Ivan, who runs Brazilian jiu-jitsu classes at Fight City Gym in Elephant and Castle, south London, added: ‘Things are getting terrible here. I don’t know how to sort this problem. I can’t deal with this every day.

‘I am starting an online course called Primitive Jiu-Jitsu. It will give people of any ability the methods of how to defend themselves safely.

‘Regular people will be able to defend themselves in the same way that I did. I’m launching it in seven days.’

Another clip shows the distressed victim discussing what occurred with the police, where she is heard saying: ‘He grabbed my ass. He then turned around and looked at me.’

It has been just over a month since Ivan tackled a suspected pickpocket armed with a hammer at a busy tube station, as revealed by the Daily Mail.

The 15-stone fighter grabbed the suspect and waited for police to arrest him after he targeted a woman at Borough Station, south London.

Police found two phones and a rusty hammer in shocking footage on the platform.

This year alone, Ivan has won the British Open 2025, NAGA London 2025 and IBJJF London Fall Open 2025 in the black belt adult division.

Nothing was actually said about the two lads who attempted to help, so well done to them as well. We all need an Ivan, so respect to him and the two lads who attempted to intervene – we need more courageous men like these. It’s also nice to see that there are men out there who are able to protect women.

Unfortunately, our police force lacks the necessary training and resources to effectively combat crime.

Since our streets are no longer safe, females should be taught self-defence in schools, and I dread to think what would have happened to the girl if the two lads and Ivan hadn’t stepped in to protect her.

Home Office Acknowledges 170 ‘Dangerous’ Foreign Nationals Living In Britain Under Restrictions

Dozens of ‘dangerous’ foreign nationals are being allowed to keep living in the UK as the Home Office cannot deport them due to human rights laws.

Some 170 people who pose a threat to public safety are currently being housed under restrictions across the country, according to government documents.

And more than half of these people are said to ‘have been involved in terrorism or extremism-related activities’. 

It is understood that some of the restrictions imposed on foreign nationals may include 24-hour surveillance and the wearing of an ankle monitor. 

However, it is not clear precisely what measures are in force and how many of the security threats cannot be booted out. 

Foreign criminals and unsuccessful asylum applicants are currently escaping deportation back to their native countries by claiming the right to a family life.

This right is set out under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, of which the UK remains a member. 

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has pledged stricter immigration regulations and a revision of human rights legislation.

But in light of the most recent findings in a Government Equality Impact Assessment on the Border Security, Asylum, and Immigration Bill, there are demands for Labour to go further.

The document reads: ‘Provisions for imposing conditions on immigration leave where a foreign national poses a threat to the public but cannot be removed from the UK may be more likely to affect certain age groups. 

‘The conditions provided for by the measures will only be used in a very low number of cases involving conduct such as war crimes, crimes against humanity, extremism, serious crime or where the person poses a threat to national security or public safety.

‘At the time of this EIA, around 170 people are currently on restricted leave, with over half having been involved in terrorism or extremism-related activities.’ 

A Home Office minister told the Sunday Express that it was ‘disgraceful’ that dangerous foreign nationals have been allowed to stay in the UK. 

Border Security and Asylum Minister Alex Norris said: ‘It is disgraceful that terrorists have been able to stay in the UK under previous rules. Our new laws will place strict restrictions on foreign nationals who pose a threat, tracking their every move.

‘These laws will also enable us to get terrorists rapidly deported from British soil and keep our country safe.’

However, the discoveries have rekindled demands for the UK to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights and for human rights legislation to be revised.

Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick said: ‘Our broken borders are a national security emergency. We have to leave the ECHR and deport every single one of these terrorists and extremists.

‘This government is clueless as to how bad the problem is and how to fix it.’

Meanwhile, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage added that the Labour government is ‘filled to the brim with woke human rights lawyers’. 

He said Sir Keir Starmer’s administration is ‘prioritising’ a court in Strasbourg over the British people. 

This comes as it was revealed this week that ministers are unaware of the number of undocumented immigrants in Britain or the number who use human rights legislation to evade deportation.

When foreign terrorists enjoy more human rights than the nation’s own residents, and politicians have been doing nothing for years while ignoring all the warnings, something is seriously wrong.

How much does all this monitoring cost on top of this security risk?

So, it is said that there are 170 that they actually know of, so how many more are free to plot crimes against our country? The UK is beyond a joke, and it’s going to get a lot worse if Labour are allowed to remain in power.

If you are a migrant in the UK and you break the law, you should immediately lose any rights you may have to stay in the country, regardless of your circumstances.

They talk about the human rights of migrants, but what about the human rights of the people who were born in the UK? They’re in danger too? We all have a right to be safe, but not in the UK, it seems – the perpetrators always have more rights than their victims.

Major DIY Chain Accused Of Banning Workers From Decorating The Shop Floor For Christmas

Major DIY chain Screwfix has banned staff from putting up Christmas decorations on shop floors, according to reports. 

Workers are said to have been told this week they can only put up tinsel and baubles where they won’t be visible to customers, such as in staff rooms.

A source told The Sun: ‘It was a decision taken by head office. We don’t understand why. It feels a bit like Scrooge.

‘Staff aren’t happy. We’ve put up decorations in the past.

‘We can have them up in staff areas as long as customers can’t see them.’

Screwfix has insisted, however, that it is still getting in the festive spirit this December. 

A spokesperson for the company said: ‘Our colleagues are wearing Christmas jumpers and we have the Screwfix Christmas jumper and socks for our customers to buy.’

They added: ‘As with previous years, our teams are able to decorate their staff rooms.’

It comes after HSBC took a similar action, prohibiting employees from donning Christmas jumpers for fear of upsetting struggling bank clients over the holiday season.

After concerns were voiced by those who believed that employees wearing Christmas attire did not live up to professional standards, managers issued guidelines.

Situations such as when customers were in a branch to discuss financial matters or report a bereavement were mentioned among those in which sensitive and smart wear was considered more suitable.

However, managers at HSBC continue to urge employees to decorate branches since they believe there is less chance of insensitivity than jumpers.

A spokesperson said: ‘We are encouraging colleagues to celebrate Christmas in branches in lots of different ways, including decorating branches, team celebrations and festive lunches. 

‘However, it’s important to also remember that branches are spaces where customers receive a range of specialist services that require professionalism and sensitivity.

‘This year, we have asked colleagues in customer-facing roles not to wear Christmas jumpers to reflect this.’

When it was revealed last month that Tesco had renamed Christmas trees “evergreen trees,” there was even more indignation.

The supermarket giant is selling the 6.5ft ‘Luxury Evergreen Tree’ at £60 on its website and in-store.

The move caused numerous Brits to vent their outrage on social media, with the move being branded as ‘woke nonsense’.

Susan Hall, leader of the Conservatives in the London Assembly, was vocal about her thoughts, writing on X: ‘Wretched ridiculous nonsense, call it what it is, it’s a Christmas tree. 

‘There, I said it out loud. I’m fed up with all this woke stupidity.’

Olympic medalist, Sharron Davies, called it ‘a bit silly’, saying on the social media platform: ‘It’s a Christmas tree that people put up at Christmas to celebrate Christmas!’

Tesco told the Daily Mail: ‘We are at Tesco and have a range of real and artificial Christmas trees in store as part of a wide selection of Christmas products to help our customers celebrate Christmas this year.’

It said it is called an ‘evergreen tree’ to make it clear the type of Christmas tree inside the box.

Is this only one more act of surrender on the clear path to total cultural collapse?

We know why it’s done, but the reasoning to me is vague. Who determined that it was time to transform our country forever and eradicate our culture and history?

The dinghy invaders are officially taking over the UK, and without firing a single shot, they would like to express their gratitude to our government and DWP for providing them with a warm welcome package that included free food, clothing, lodging, and money. They also treated them like kings, and our government complied with their request.

Sounds like Screwfix has a Screwloose. Oh well, another shop to boycott.

Keir Starmer Shouldn’t Fear Wes Streeting – It’s Angela Rayner He Needs To Worry About

Former Tory cabinet minister Michael Gove said that Angela Rayner would never play “the role of political girlfriend to Wes Streeting” to assist him win a leadership challenge because she is more likely to succeed than he is.

With rumours rife of a potential Streeting-Rayner pact to take on the Prime Minister in a leadership challenge, Lord Gove said he believed the former Deputy Prime Minister was ‘in a better position’ than Streeting to take down Sir Keir Starmer.

He also said he believed that leadership frontrunner Ed Miliband was ‘unlikely to run for leadership again’, although he is a favourite with Labour Party members in any battle for a replacement for Starmer.

The Telegraph reported that MPs close to Mr Streeting had approached Ms Rayner about the prospect of a pact.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Lord Gove, now Editor of the Spectator magazine, said recent political ‘over manoeuvring’ was ‘a sure sign of decline for the Prime Minister’ and was ‘déjà vu for me when I was a Tory cabinet minister’.

Lord Gove, who served in cabinet roles across the governments of David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak, witnessing multiple leadership challenges, said the Health Minister had ‘done very well at the Labour Party conference by invoking Angela Rayner and praising her and also on issues like Gaza tacked a little bit to the left in order to maximise his appeal’.

But he warned: ‘I think that Wes Streeting is mistaken if he thinks that Angela Rayner is going to play essentially the role of political girlfriend to his ambitions because I actually think that Angela Rayner is in a better position than Wes Streeting to win any leadership election.

‘The idea that just because she’s had the difficulties she did over tax that she is going to meekly accept Wes Streeting as her route back to respectability – I don’t think she will accept.’

And ruling out Miliband as a leadership contender, he agreed he was way ahead in the polls but said: ‘I don’t think he would want to go for the leadership again, although he is undoubtedly very popular because he has a clear sense of mission in the role in which he occupies as Energy Secretary.’

Meanwhile, the Editor of the left-leaning New Statesman magazine, Tom McTague, said he did not think that Wes Streeting was expecting ‘Angela Rayner to lie down or let him take the crown without something of a battle’.

He said: ‘I think they are all eyeing each other quite carefully at the moment and they are not taking each other’s side.’

But he warned that it was now ‘the standard conventional wisdom of Labour MPs and Labour cabinet members’ that a leadership challenge was imminent.

He said: ‘There is a certain sense of a breakdown of order and direction in this government, so we are seeing people freelance and saying what their ideas are, and we are starting to see positioning ahead of what looks increasingly like an inevitable leadership challenge and election next year.

Angela Rayner would be a complete disaster for our nation and the end of the road for Labour; therefore, I really hope that she is not anyone’s dream candidate.

How can someone as ignorant and crass as Angela Rayner be the leader of the UK – it’s mindbending.

What a choice: Wes Streeting or Angela Rayner! They are all equally intellectually inept, and I have never detested a Prime Minister as much as this lifeless biscuit, appeasing, cowardly traitor to the UK. Someone please get him out.

Angela Rayner should never be Prime Minister; come to that, she shouldn’t even be a Member of Parliament, and the thought of her in No 10 Downing Street would provoke chaos in the streets.

Should Facial Recognition Be Used Countrywide In Britain?

With plans to install cameras in UK cities, towns, and even villages, the government is looking to increase police use of face recognition technology to combat crime.

Ministers are looking into new laws about the use of the technology to pave the way for a major expansion, putting cameras in every police force area.

A ten-week consultation is being launched that will ask for the public’s thoughts on how the technology should be regulated and how to protect people’s privacy.

The Government also wants a regulator to control police use of facial recognition, biometrics and other tools and is gathering ideas on what powers it should have.

But critics have hit out at the ‘dystopian’ plan, noting concern at the ‘erosion of civil liberties’ after a string of controversial reforms by Labour.

Now, you can vote in the Daily Mail’s latest poll on whether you back a UK-wide rollout of the technology.

I can’t believe that so many people think this is a good idea.

Look at what’s happening – ID cards, facial recognition in every town, and denied trial by jury. This is dictatorial communism – You will be watched, and bank accounts will ultimately be frozen for petty offences – You should be frightened.

If it were just used to capture criminals, then I would not mind, but we all know that the system will be linked to the ID cards and every other service – health, tax, pensions, et cetera. We also know that the present government are gradually taking away more and more personal choices and ultimately wants full control of the population, so no, I would not want this additional surveillance rolled out. I find it rather ominous the way things are going.

Some might say that facial recognition is nothing to fret about if you haven’t done anything bad, then you’ve got nothing to worry about, but then there are the implications of them using your image that people might be worried about, but if you spin the coin you have to think about the number of people who have social media accounts that could be hacked for your information.

One by one, our freedoms are being stripped away by the state, and you can’t treat everyone as though they’re guilty until proven innocent. And for facial recognition to work, our government would have to ban all face coverings, or it won’t work.

Torture By Sadistic Wife

A ‘sadistic’ wife forced her husband to live in squalor with sixty chihuahuas, making him clean up their faeces barefoot and locking him in their kennel during a year-long campaign of torture, a Belgian court has heard.

Anna VDV, 47, emerged in the dock at Turnhout courthouse on Wednesday, crying as prosecutors laid out an extraordinary chronicle of barbarity allegedly foisted on the man she married in 2024.

The court was shown shocking photographs demonstrating what the prosecutor conveyed as the husband’s descent from ‘a healthy partner at the beginning of the relationship to a burned skeleton’.

The abuse only ended on March 18, when the victim managed to escape the home and desperately bashed on neighbours’ doors for help.

They found him hypothermic, confused and covered in injuries – prompting an urgent call to police, De Telegraaf reports.

Prosecutors said VDV attempted immediately to control the narrative, climbing into the ambulance and claiming her husband was depressed and had harmed himself.

Paramedics noticed the man tense up in her presence and ordered her to leave, the court heard. 

During the journey, the frightened victim initially said he had been beaten for a month – but later revealed the abuse had lasted a full year.

He told investigators he was assaulted daily with fists or objects until he collapsed. 

The couple’s home was reportedly overrun with sixty chihuahuas. The husband was expected to groom the dogs, clean their faeces barefoot and use caustic chemicals, the court heard.

VDV allegedly hid his shoes and installed cameras to watch him at all times. If he paused his cleaning, she would yell at him remotely to continue. He was not permitted to leave the house unless supervised.

‘That’s not work, it’s slavery,’ the prosecutor said.

The court heard VDV repeatedly locked her husband in a garden shed, dog run, kennel and even a pitch-black cellar without food or water.

Two weeks before his escape, she allegedly poured boiling water over him because two of the dogs had died, and she blamed him.

The victim was totally alone, jobless, in debt, and illiterate.

Prosecutors said VDV confiscated his mobile phone and cut off contact with his children. Neighbours noticed his injuries, but were told he was self-harming due to depression.

But VDV’s own phone reportedly told a different story – storing pictures of injuries, audio recordings of verbal abuse, video clips of her laughing as he struggled to dress himself, and messages barring him from contacting his daughters.

A medical report confirmed extensive wounds, burns, hypothermia and damage to subcutaneous tissue.

Long-term maltreatment is consistent with the fact that many injuries were older than five days.

Prosecutors have requested an eight-year prison term. The victim’s lawyer is seeking €10,000 in provisional damages.

VDV’s own lawyer, Romy Geysen, called it ‘the least sympathetic case of my entire career’, but argued her client recognises her wrongdoing and is ashamed. 

She blamed financial chaos, an exploding dog population and ‘relationship context’ for the abuse.

Geysen urged the court not to impose a long prison sentence, saying her client complied with all conditions following her release after three months in custody.

The verdict is due on January 7.

This man couldn’t read or write, so his wife had clearly been manipulating him because of his learning difficulties – not even animals do that to other animals. However, the female of the species can be deadlier than the male, though not as often.

I understand that this offence did not occur in the UK or any other country, other than Belgium, but first, the dogs should be neutered and adopted out. Secondly, this man needs someone to be assigned to him as his guardian, and third, he needs to divorce this psychopath.

She needs to go to prison for at least 15 years, no early release, no probation, nothing. Lastly, he should get everything she owns to do what he wants with it. Sell it, keep it, donate it or burn it. This woman is a dreadful human being.

She is just a terrible, deranged person, and what she did to this man is abhorrent.

Sadly, there is a lot of Domestic Violence against men, but men have nowhere to go – women are encouraged to fight back, but how does a man do that?

All I can really say to this is, be careful who you marry!

Labour Minister Defends Plans To Scrap Juries

A Labour minister has justified proposals to eliminate juries in some situations by arguing that judges who have received diversity training will perform “well.”

Following claims by Labour MPs that judges could be prejudiced, Baroness Levitt said she had ‘confidence in a professional judiciary’.

The Lord’s justice minister told peers that the ‘judiciary is becoming more diverse’ in response to concerns about the lack of diversity among judges.

‘It is not where we want it to be, but it is getting there,’ she said.

‘What it does have is extensive training in matters to do with issues of diversity, fairness and disproportionate impacts on particular sectors of the population.’

Her words came amid a huge outcry over measures suggested by Justice Secretary David Lammy to remove jury trials for some offences.

On Tuesday, Labour figures warned that the lack of diversity among judges could lead to those from minority or poorer backgrounds being discriminated against.

Former Labour grandee Dianne Abbott said the ‘entire House’ was concerned that members of the public ‘will undoubtedly suffer miscarriages of justice if the right to trial is curtailed’.

Labour MP Clive Efford told the Commons that he feared that restricting trial by jury ‘would put a certain class of people in judgment over the rest of us.’

His fellow Labour MP Stella Creasy added: ‘It is difficult to see how this measure – with all the challenges it may bring for justice and fairness, particularly for some of our minority communities – will address that backlog.’

Speaking in the Lords on Tuesday night, Baroness Levitt, a barrister who previously worked under Sir Keir Starmer, defended the plans.

She told peers: ‘I have been a criminal barrister for many decades.

‘When I practised as a criminal barrister, I too felt that any attempt to touch what happens with jury trials was fundamentally wrong.

‘However, I then became a judge in the Crown Court and saw what was actually happening.

‘Every judge in the crown court up and down this country will have experienced sitting with other judges at lunchtime and saying “I cannot believe that this case I am trying here and now is actually in the Crown Court. It shouldn’t be here.”

‘We are not sacrificing jury trials – of course, we are not.

‘It has never been that every criminal case was tried by a jury – 90 per cent are currently tried in the magistrates’ courts. The question is, where do we draw the line?’

She was responding to former Labour minister Lord Boateng, who said that juries were the best safeguard against an ‘overmighty and oppressive state’.

He told peers: ‘At the end of the day, are not random and conscientious people taken off the street the best safeguards of our civil liberties against an overmighty and oppressive state?

‘If any one of us here were to be charged with a criminal offence, would we not rather put our trust and confidence in a jury rather than in a state appointee? Are not juries the best way of linking ordinary people to our criminal justice system?’

Under the proposed amendments, jury trials will be discontinued for offences that carry a likely penalty of less than three years.

The most severe crimes, such as murder and rape, will continue to be dealt with by juries, along with lesser ‘either-way’ offences that carry more extended jail times.

Baroness Levitt was chief legal adviser to Sir Keir while he was director of public prosecutions, and she supervised the Crown Prosecution Service’s examination of its handling of the Jimmy Savile case.

Earlier this year, the PM put her up for a peerage.

There it is! The real truth behind Lammy’s plan. Judges with their ‘diversity training.’ Does this mean they will go easy on migrants, and is it a protection scam? What they don’t have is any common sense training.

How the hell is diversity training going to help? At the moment, they are letting more criminals out of prison than they are putting in. It’s a complete farce.

It’s pretty evident from where I’m sitting that judges can’t be entrusted with such important decisions – this is the reason we have juries, and even that’s not foolproof.

If judges have undergone diversity training, does it also suggest that they have been brainwashed? But then they would require a brain to start with.

There is nothing diverse about criminality. Either a person has committed a crime, or they haven’t.

When convicting somebody of a crime, the proof needs to be irrefutable (beyond doubt – the act of crime – something that has been seen with one’s own eyes – caught in the act of the crime – not just a reason to believe), because at the end of the day, justice is blind.

Denmark Scraps Letters

Denmark will end all national letter delivery at the end of December, marking a significant transformation in the country’s postal services.

The Danish postal service is stopping mail delivery due to a surprising drop in demand, with letter volume plunging by more than 90 per cent since the start of the century.

The decision also affects Denmark’s distinctive red mailboxes, with the government poised to remove them and exhibit them in museums.

In the future, only parcels will be delivered as the postal operator adjusts its business strategy to focus on parcel logistics.

The need for quicker package delivery has increased due to the dramatic growth in online shopping.

PostNord says the change is designed to ensure the company’s long-term viability.

‘We want to become the preferred parcel service for Danes,’ the company told Bild. This change in strategy is intended to make the company future-proof.

If someone wants to keep mailing letters, they will need to use branches of other private providers.

PostNord also confirmed that any postage stamps bought this year or in 2024 can be refunded for a limited period in 2026.

Pelle Dragsted, a Danish MP, has previously blamed the shift on privatisation and claimed that it will harm the elderly and those who live in distant locations.

The introduction of a new Postal Act in 2024 opened up the letter market to competition from private firms, and mail is no longer exempt from VAT, resulting in higher postage costs.

‘When a letter costs 29 Danish krone (£3.35) there will be fewer letters,’ PostNord Denmark’s Managing Director, Kim Pedersen, told local media in March.

Denmark’s action echoes a bigger global trend, with postal services globally experiencing financial strain as digital alternatives replace conventional letters.

The shift is evident elsewhere in Europe. According to the Federal Network Agency letter report, the number of letters sent is steadily declining.

The vast majority, about 95 per cent, comes from business customers such as companies and government agencies.

Private correspondence now represents only a slim amount of mail.

However, German postal authorities stress that there is no direct comparison.

Alexander Edenhofer, spokesman for the German DHL Group, told Bild: ‘The Danish postal service is not the German postal service. 

‘The two mail markets are only comparable to a limited extent. Despite declining volumes, letters remain important in Germany, and we expect to process and deliver letters for many years to come.’

Still, he acknowledges the challenges. ‘The news from Denmark shows how challenging the mail business has become,’ he added.

‘Digitisation is progressing rapidly, and mail volumes in Europe are shrinking quickly. This is putting a strain on all European postal service providers.’

In March, Germany’s Deutsche Post said it was axing 8,000 jobs, in what it called a ‘socially responsible manner.’

It’s not just postal workers who will lose their jobs, but card shops will be put out of business as well – eventually, everything will be done online, and there will be no high street retail shops; they will be a thing of the past in a dystopian world.

Simply put, we are being forced into a digital prison.

Royal Mail in the UK has now enforced policies to handle mail delivery, including not delivering or holding back letters when particular conditions are met.

If an item cannot fit through a letterbox or requires a signature, Royal Mail may attempt to redeliver it the following working day.

If no one is available to receive an item, Royal Mail will leave a ‘Something for you’ card and take the item back to the Customer Service Point. Items that cannot be delivered may be held at the Customer Service Point for a limited time before being sent back to the sender.

There are also instances where Royal Mail may prioritise parcels over letters, particularly during peak times like Christmas.

These practices reflect Royal Mail’s steps to manage mail delivery effectively, despite the challenges posed by a declining volume of letters.

As fewer and fewer letters are posted out, the unit costs go up, making it prohibitively more costly compared to electronic communication – this is a death spiral which has been on the wall for some time now.

Baby Dies In Hospital Due To Neglect, Underfed And In Damp Bedding

A four-week-old baby died after being left malnourished and dehydrated by overworked nurses on an understaffed neonatal intensive care unit, an inquest heard.

Lakshith Guptha Nalla died at the University Hospital of Wales in the early hours of May 11, 2024. Pontypridd Coroners’ Court heard the “vulnerable baby” was under-fed and left for hours lying on cold and damp bed sheets before he died.

Coroner Rachel Knight underlined a string of failures by medical staff in the previous days, and said the “persistent and gross understaffing” of the unit left the baby without food for four hours, meaning no one noticed he developed an infection or that he was lying on cold, wet bedding.

It was not until after it had been removed that they noticed that there were no new feeding lines on the ward at the time. This was due to their “chaotic” stocking systems and because a delivery had not turned up.

Ms Knight said: “I find it surprising that feeding tubes were not available on the biggest neonatal ward in Wales,” adding that they are a basic essential.

Nurse Mollo had to call Island Ward, which is around five minutes away, and take six from there. It was not until an hour and a half later that they actually got the tubes, which is when Nurse Mollo fitted the new one on baby Nalla.

But as she was “in a rush” to go and help deliver another baby, she mistakenly did not fit his feeding tube properly. She also did not inform anybody of the hours of feed he missed or conduct blood tests to ensure the hours without food had not affected his condition.

It was heard that “the staff on the ward were asked to do too many jobs during their shift” and they were made to look after twice the number of patients they should be looking after in the NICU.

As well as no food, baby Nalla’s paperwork was also missing in parts, including, most crucially, any observations between 4 pm and 5 pm on May 9, reported WalesOnline.

At around 4 pm, another nurse realised that baby Nalla “seemed different.” Blood samples were taken, and the results were described as “worrying” as he was found to be hypoglycaemic and to be suffering from metabolic and respiratory acidosis. He was also found to be cold.

At 6 pm, staff noticed baby Nalla was not connected to his feed properly and hadn’t been for the past four hours. They saw his feeding tube was leaking and that “he was lying on cold, wet bed sheets”.

The court heard that the impact of this period with no feed would have impeded the baby’s ability to fight off any infection, as he was using his own reserves, which were extremely limited due to his vulnerability and his size.

The survival rate of sepsis in premature babies is around 25-30 per cent, and so even less for baby Nalla, who was trying to fight it alongside two other conditions – all while being hypoglycaemic, malnourished, dehydrated, and cold.

Ms Knight described baby Nalla’s care as “wholly inadequate” due to the failures and missed opportunities, most notably where he went four hours with no feed. She said his lack of care in the days before his death was an “unfortunate coincidence” and added the issue of neglect could not be legally made out by a very narrow margin.

The child’s cause of death was given as sepsis, peritonitis, and necrotising enterocolitis. No evidence being fed as prescribed could have saved baby Nalla.

Ms Knight came to a narrative conclusion for baby Nalla’s death. The conclusion stated: “Baby Nalla was born at 30 weeks and four days gestation with a congenital condition that required surgery. This surgery was undertaken the day after he was born, and he was making a full recovery.

“Baby Nalla should have been nursed at a one-to-one ratio as per the guidelines. Due to staffing levels on the ward and missing equipment, he was not nursed to the standard he should have been and was not fed at all for four hours.

“He was showing signs of necrotising enterocolitis, which is likely his cause of death. There is insufficient evidence that the complications surrounding baby Nalla’s feed contributed to his death.”

With regard to the prevention of future deaths, Ms Knight said she was satisfied with the health board’s changes to stocking and staffing at the NICU. The health board is expected to be sending Ms Knight a letter further outlining these changes.

Baby Nalla’s father said in a statement read to the court earlier in the hearing that he and his family had dreamed of a life in the UK, which is why they moved to Cardiff, but after losing their son, they have moved back to India. He asked for his son’s body to be donated to science in the hope it may prevent the same thing from happening to other babies.

This poor baby was at such high risk and should have been given the highest care.

Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) nurses do not deliver babies. 
Their primary function is to deliver specialised care to babies who are premature, sick, or need intensive medical attention. While they may assist in emergencies or during scheduled cesarean sections. The emphasis is on the newborns. Why was this nurse needed at a delivery, and why wasn’t another nurse sent?

These were undoubtedly understaffed nurses, but aren’t babies in such critical condition meant to be monitored 24 hours a day, just like an adult in the ICU? Something seems off here.

In this case, the baby may not have made it anyway, but his parents will always wonder, and it’s bad enough to have the heartbreak of losing a child, but to also know that not everything was done to help this child, and also to find out that your baby spent his last hours cold, wet and hungry is simply appalling.

Wales Village Faces Backlash After Plaid Cymru Proposes English Ban

A picturesque Welsh beach community is at the centre of an anti-English tempest amid claims Plaid Cymru councillors want to prevent English families from moving into its houses.

Councillors on the island of Anglesey have claimed people living in council houses in England have swapped homes via Facebook so they can move to picturesque Aberffraw. 

They also said it has led to empty homes in the tourist village, known for its long sandy beach, and could have a devastating effect on the Welsh language.

The claims have shocked numerous residents who have criticised the councillors for whipping up anti-English feeling and insist the claims are ‘nonsense’.

However, others have admitted there is resentment towards the English in the area.

Dog walker Emlyn Jones, 58, said: ‘There is anti-English feeling because there are too many second homes here.

‘It doesn’t feel like you’re in Wales anymore as there are so many English here.

‘A lot of Welsh people can’t afford to buy houses where they’re from, as the English have come in with more money.

‘They have pushed up the prices. I agree with what the councillors have said, but I don’t think anything will change.

‘We don’t want more English people here.’

Other residents rubbished the councillors’ claims that council houses have been swapped between England and Wales, but admit there are anti-English feelings.

Mother-of-one Jean Owen, 64, said: ‘You do get people in the village complaining about there being too many English here.

‘They say things like: “The English are taking over”.

‘People grumble about them, but it’s generally just the nationalists.

‘I don’t agree with what these councillors are saying.

‘I think it’s disgusting they are trying to cause divisions with the English.

‘It’s all a load of rubbish – they’re taking nonsense.

‘I know a lady who swapped her house for someone living here, but she was from a different part of Wales.

‘She was living in an isolated area, was lonely – now she’s come here, she goes to coffee mornings and things and is a lot happier.

‘I don’t know of any English who have come here after swapping council houses with locals.

‘These councillors don’t have any common sense.’

Councillor Arfon Wyn told a recent meeting of Anglesey County Council: ‘There are a lot of homes still empty in Aberffraw, that are meant to be rented out to people who really need homes.

‘One thing that concerns me is that people in the nice areas on the coast, so to speak, can swap homes with people in towns in England on Facebook.

‘I know it is something to do with the government, unfortunately, but there are also homes that have been empty for quite a while in Aberffraw.

‘We have had a few enquiries about this from the public and people in the area.

‘These two things concern me, especially in my area, where there are nice places to retire to, and so on; the impact on the Welsh language can be significant.’

A council house or housing association tenant can exchange homes with other social tenants through the mutual exchange scheme.

If Aberffraw has vacant council houses, why aren’t the locals offered them?

Anywhere else, and this would be labelled racist. Imagine if English councillors argued that a Welsh family should be prevented from residing in England, and just because the Welsh were born there, it doesn’t mean they own the island.

There are, unfortunately, too many people who like to cause trouble. Enough is going on in this world without a silly little squabble like this. They need to give their heads a little wobble.

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