Curried Pies

A woman was left shocked after ordering a £700 laptop from a high street retailer only to find she was the recipient of three mouldy pies instead. 

Gemma Worley, 39, from Cornwall, thought she had bagged a bargain after deciding to treat herself to a new Lenovo Yoga laptop bought online from Currys over the weekend, but her excitement soon waned after the sizeable package was delivered on Tuesday.

The charger cable, accessories, stylus and even instruction booklet were all there – but so were a trio of baked goodies from Yorkshire Handmade Pies stuffed into the space where her new computer should have been.

Despite reporting the incident to customer services straight away, Mrs Worley said she has been left waiting to hear whether she will receive a refund or a replacement laptop.

After MailOnline approached Currys, she was told this process could take up to 14 days.

The circumstances suggest that Mrs Worley could have fallen victim to a scam known as refund or return fraud.

In some cases, the fraudster will buy something, take it out of the box, and then swap it out for something of comparable weight but lower worth.

After that, they’ll try to return the item and get their money back.

The returned shipment may then inadvertently be shipped to a legitimate consumer while the lower-value products are still inside.

Speaking to MailOnline, Mrs Worley expressed her surprise at seeing the decomposing pies inside the box instead of the new laptop she had paid for.

‘When I opened it there was like a really weird sensation. I opened it and the charger cable was there and the accessories were there, including the stylus and the instructions. 

‘But in the space where the laptop should have been there was a box of pies. It was originally a selection box of six pies. They had taken out three and squished the box into the gap where the laptop was.’

Disturbed by the discovery, she said she contacted Currys customer services almost immediately after opening the box, but claims that she was not given a clear timeframe for how long it might take to resolve the situation. 

‘I’m not an unreasonable person. I know things like this happen, but they just seemed to fob me off. I was very surprised because I’ve used Currys a lot in my life buying various laptops and other electronic things and have never had a problem.

‘They said they have referred it to a back office and that I’ll receive an email, but they didn’t say when. I’ve called them every working day since, just to get an update. 

‘At the end of the day, £700 is a lot of money just to hear them say, “We’ve launched an investigation. You’ll hear at some undefined point in the future”.’

Mrs Worley said she has also not been told whether or not she should dispose of the unwanted pies which are meant to be kept frozen.

She claims the pies are ‘beginning to smell’ as well as ‘sweat and weep’ as they slowly decompose in the box.

‘I’m £700 out of pocket, no laptop and no idea of the resolution,’ she said, adding that she felt ‘sick’ at the thought of having been impacted by scammers.

‘I’ve been looking up the slang definition of “pied” and I do feel abandoned. Like, I say, £700 is a lot of money just to say, “Oh, we’ll be in touch”.

‘I do feel aggrieved by being a victim of the scam in the first place and by the service they have provided.

‘I am a reasonable person, I just want my laptop or a refund – but I’d prefer to have a laptop. I spent a long time choosing the type of laptop, and I would just like that one.’

A Currys spokesperson said: ‘We are urgently investigating this case to get it resolved for the customer. 

‘We understand the customer’s frustration and apologise for the time it’s taken to reach a conclusion. 

‘Our teams have been in touch with the customer to provide the latest update. 

‘Rest assured, we hope to resolve the case as quickly as possible.’ 

We learn three things from this story:

  1. That Currys don’t check their returns. They simply shove them back into stock along with brand-new items yet to be sold.
  2. They sell returned items as new. This is dishonest. If I buy something as new I expect it to be new, not something that has been returned, and if I wanted to purchase graded products I’d expect it to be at a lower price, and also that the item has been thoroughly checked.
  3. Currys customer service is useless and does not communicate or act in the interest of the customer.

Companies like Currys are extremely quick to take your money, but very slow to return it.

Currys should just apologise and send out a new laptop. This is Currys fault, they should check all returning boxes.

The BBC SACKS The Man Who Wrote The Anti-Starmer Song Freezing This Christmas

A BBC freelance newsreader has been sacked by the broadcaster after creating an anti-Keir Starmer charity Christmas song. 

Chris Middleton, 33, unmasked himself as the brainchild behind Freezing This Christmas, which was released under the fake band name Sir Starmer and the Granny Harmers.

The parody song of Mud’s 1974 hit Lonely This Christmas is about the government’s slashing of winter fuel payments for pensioners and the resulting ‘hardship’ and has raised more than £50,000 for Age UK. 

Mr Middleton, who was a freelance newsreader for BBC Newcastle, revealed that he had been ‘let go’ by the corporation because of a ‘conflict of interest’. 

He had intended to release the tune anonymously but said he had ‘no choice’ but to go public when it started gaining media attention.

Mr Middleton told GB News: ‘Do I stay anonymous and maybe the song won’t do as well? 

‘Or do I put my face out there, put my name out there, and try to push the song as much as possible and raise awareness, knowing that potentially it would cost me my freelance job with the BBC?’

He told bosses that he was going to appear on Martin Daubney’s GB News programme to chat about his song to which Mr Middleton said they replied: ‘OK, basically you can’t work here any more.’

‘I was told, because it was a conflict of interest, it would be against the BBC’s impartiality rules to allow me to continue my job as a newsreader while also putting out a song which of course was political, but the main goal of it was to raise money and raise awareness for pensioners,’ he said.

Mr Middleton had freelanced at the BBC for six years and said he ‘mulled over’ the decision as ‘it’s quite a big thing in my life’.

With the BBC income only being a small part of what he earns, he said he made the ‘right decision’ to go public knowing what would happen in order to raise as much cash as possible for Age UK. 

‘Had the BBC been my full income, as it is for a lot of freelancers, then I would have probably been in a position where I wouldn’t have been able to do it, because I wouldn’t have had money to pay rent or for food or for heating,’ he said. 

‘That goes to show the position that some people are in – if your whole livelihood is reliant upon your job, you’re not going to speak out.’

The BBC has been approached by MailOnline for comment.

The track, which reached number 37 in the Christmas charts, was sung by Frank Sinatra impersonator Dean Ager, 51, from Worthing, who recorded it in just 15 minutes. 

The song features the lyrics: ‘It’ll be freezing this Christmas, without fuel at home, it’ll be freezing this Christmas, while Keir Starmer is warm. It’ll be cold, so cold, without fuel at home, this Christmas.’

Mr Middleton said he was inspired by ‘something on Twitter a couple of months ago about trying to do a Christmas song for pensioners’ and that the hook of the chorus then ‘just came’ to him.

Speaking to the Telegraph in December, Ager said that Mr Middleton had stumbled across him online when he was looking for a singer for the record and offered just £50 for him to perform the track.

Ager explained: ‘Chris contacted me and said ”I’ve got this song – can you do it?” He paid me £50 and I recorded it in about 15 minutes. I already knew the tune, well-ish, and so I sent it and scurried off on my way. I thought that would be the end of it.

‘When Chris asked me if I wanted recognition I looked at the lyrics again and thought ”Wow, that’s something”, but when he told me we were number one on the iTunes download charts, I was jumping around in excitement like a little kid.’

Mr Middleton was raised by his grandparents for several years and says he has seen first-hand how damaging Labour’s fuel payment policy had been.

He said: ‘Older people do feel the cold more.

‘My gran had a heart attack and her medication makes her blood vessels constrict so she is always freezing. Even in summer, she’s bundled up by the fire. 

‘After 14 years of the Tories we were all fed up, and we thought things would be different under Labour, but it’s way worse than anyone thought.’

This guy should get a knighthood ‘for services to the elderly’ as he did this off his own back. He has helped others and has sacrificed his income as a consequence, and clearly, the BBC are Labour supporters, and run by champagne socialists!

Comes to something when you’re sacked for telling the truth and raising money for a worthwhile charity. I’m surprised he’s not yet been arrested for some far-right lame reason, that’s what usually happens – watch this space!

Elderly people are freezing this winter, but I bet it’s been lovely and warm in the Commons.

I was really hoping that the song would reach number one, and it appears that if you show any conflict in Starmer’s Britain you will be cancelled. Commit a crime or worse, then you’ll be okay.

We believed that things would be different under Labour, but they’re far more sinister than anyone thought, and they will continue to get worse.

An Escalating Crisis In Britain’s A&E Departments

Britain’s intensifying winter flu situation is crippling hospitals with patients encountering 50-hour waits as more trusts could declare critical incidents over the coming days.

At least 11 hospitals including in Birmingham, Liverpool, Hampshire and Cornwall have already raised the alarm amid unbearable pressure on their services as the flu outbreak deteriorates and health chiefs warn the NHS is facing ‘exceptionally high demand’.

Patients have been advised to attend A&E alone while some hospitals have restricted visitors amid calls for people to wear surgical masks to limit the spread of viruses amid the ‘quad-demic’ of flu, norovirus, respiratory illness and Covid affecting Brits.

The number of cases is already around double last year’s peak with about 5,000 beds a day taken up by patients contaminated with the virus – and officials expect the situation to worsen as children return to school after the Christmas break.

Patients have endured lengthy waits in A&E before eventually being admitted to wards, while lines of ambulances up to 18 deep have formed outside hospitals as they wait hours to drop off arrivals, leaving them unable to respond to other 999 calls.

Critical incidents have been reported due to ‘exceptionally high demands’ in A&E units, with about 5,000 hospital beds in England occupied by patients with flu.

People have shared stories of long waits, with one woman tweeting a photo of beds at Royal Blackburn Hospital, saying: ‘Patients left out in cold corridors to be gawped at like exhibits in a zoo. No patient dignity and poor patient care. Shameful at best.’ 

Another wrote: ‘Currently in West Mid. Horrible place to be. My sister went into A&E last week and is now staying on a ward awaiting surgery. Took seven hours to get a bed whilst she was in severe agony. The noise on the ward, even at night, people playing music etc. Pure lack of consideration.’

And a third tweeted: ‘I spent 12 hours at Barnet UTC yesterday to not get any results, kept being pushed to the back of the queue…. can’t get into my doctor’s to get a prescription so I’ll just let my pneumonia get worse and worse until I need to take up a bed in a hospital shall I?

A father called Derek told how his ill daughter had to endure a ‘horrible 30-hour wait in a chair’ in A&E at Warrington Hospital in Cheshire. She arrived at 9 pm last Friday and finally got a bed at about 3 am on Sunday.

It appears that Britain and all of its citizens are at the bottom of the list of priorities our government has set for expenditure. Our administration doesn’t seem to care that the absence of heating payments would undoubtedly lead to more people becoming sick.

The focus of our prime minister and members of parliament is on themselves, not Britain.

Starmer might have taken over from the Tories, but he has lied to the people. Perhaps he thought it was better to be thought a fool, and now he has opened his mouth and removed any doubt!

Japan Is On Course For ‘Extinction’

A Japanese professor has predicted the year Japan will become extinct if the country doesn’t grapple with its rapidly ageing population.

The year is 2720 and away from science-fiction fantasies of flying cars, robots and intergalactic travel to far-away stars one Tokyo visionary has made a damning projection.

Hiroshi Yoshida, a professor at Tohoku University’s Research Centre for Aged Economy and Society, claims that after centuries of population decline Japan will be left with just one child under the age of 14 by 2720.

Mr Yoshida has conducted demographic simulations since 2012 and his latest finding is that, according to his current projection, his home will probably cease to exist 695 years from now, according to The Times.

Incredible data, released by Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, prompted Mr Yoshida to bring his estimate forward by 100 years after it revealed a steep decline of 2.3 per cent in the number of children.

The number of births in Japan has steadily decreased since the 1970s until in 2005 the number of deaths surpassed births.

In 2022 there were nearly one million more deaths than births in Japan and the percentage of people over 65 now stands at 29.9 per cent of the population – that is an increase of 24.1 per cent since 1960.

Mr Yoshida told Japanese media the country’s long-term slump means that young people cannot get married or have children due to low earnings.

He said: ‘Unless the decline in the number of births stops, the hand of the “clock” will go back.

‘Japan may become the first country to become extinct due to a low birthrate. We should create an environment where women and the elderly can work, and aim for a society where everyone is actively involved.’ 

Japanese politicians have been trying to find answers to the country’s demographic problem with some policymakers warning it only has until 2030 to reverse the trend.

The problems that arise from having more old people to care for but fewer younger people in the workforce pose a greater threat to Japan than extinction.

To tackle this Newsweek said that Japan is planning to relax its tough immigration policies to allow more foreign workers to enter the country.

The government hopes to triple the number of workers from abroad by 2040.

It is even planning to hand out more cash incentives with 5.3 trillion yen (or £27 billion) dedicated to helping couples start families. 

Officials believe that couples may be more inclined to have children if they see more money in their pockets.

The Japanese people are extremely happy and extremely well-mannered. Of course, they have no foreign religion to contend with.

A lot can happen in a century, and I’m sure that the people of Japan will have sorted it out by then. At the moment they might have a population problem and it is extremely distressing for them, but not as disturbing as the issues we have here in the UK. Too many people and the population is increasing at an unsettling pace.

Visit Japan and you will probably discover that it is still Japan. The people are still Japanese and they are enjoying Japanese culture. Visit Britain and you will find much of it unrecognisable, and that its people are being replaced, and there is disquiet stemming from mutually conflicting cultural expectations. One could easily be excused for thinking that it’s the British and not the Japanese who are facing looming extinction.

Due To Pension Rule, DWP Pays £500 Million To Dead People

More than £500 million of taxpayers’ money has been handed out to dead people in just five years because of a pension rule – and families do not have to give it back.

In response to requests for an immediate systemic change, a government minister acknowledged the magnitude of incorrect payouts in previous years.

The Department for Work and Pensions has doled out £511.8 million in state pensions and pension credits since 2019, Parliament has been told in a written answer.

DWP minister Andrew Western was responding to a question from Reform MP Rupert Lowe, who is now demanding changes.

Less than half of the money has been recouped by the government, with only £255 million returned and £257 million still owing – losses which would be enough to cover scrapped winter fuel payments for up to 1.3 million pensioners. 

Mr Lowe, who has been praised his week by X-owning billionaire Elon Musk in contrast to party leader Nigel Farage, described the payouts as ‘a shocking waste’. 

A record-high figure of £159 million was sent out last year to dead people – and there is no legal obligation on families to return wrongly awarded money. 

Although it is still voluntary, the DWP may write to recipients requesting the return of state pension or pension credit distributions.

Mr Lowe’s question submitted for Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall to answer asked if she would ‘make an estimate of the cost to the public purse of pension payments made to deceased recipients in each of the last ten years’.

Mr Western, parliamentary under-secretary for transformation in the DWP, issued the response in which he said only data from the past five financial years could be given.

He insisted that direct payments into the accounts of people who have died represent ‘only around 0.1 per cent of total annual expenditure on pensions’.

Mr Western added: ‘Although these are treated as non-recoverable and are not enforceable by law, we can request the money back as a voluntary payment.

‘So far, we have recovered around half of the overpayments, to avoid this becoming a long-term cost to the taxpayer.’

A total of £458 million was overpaid in state pension, with only £233 million claimed back to leave a net loss of £225 million.

And a further £54 million was mistakenly doled out in pension credit, with just £22 million voluntarily returned and £32 million overall missed out on.

People must register loved ones’ deaths within five days of them passing away or a body being found, or else eight days in Scotland – yet a final state pension payment can often include payments for further days afterwards.

While the state pension is always paid in arrears, people on the old state pension get pension credit in advance, while it is paid in arrears to those on the new version.

Responding to the newly revealed figures, Mr Lowe told the Telegraph: ‘This is a shocking waste that underlines the contempt with which the Government treats taxpayers’ money. Why is it tolerated? Why is the return of this money not enforceable?

‘This is wide open to fraud and abuse. It needs to be clamped down on as part of a wider Government effort to slash down on misspending. We must keep pushing for transparent data to uncover the true extent of the waste.’

Former Liberal Democrats pensions minister Steve Webb, who now works for investment consultancy LCP, said: ‘With pensions routinely paid four-weekly in arrears, it is common that part of any final payment will cover a period after the person has died, even if the family contact DWP promptly.

‘With everything else that the family is dealing with, letters from DWP trying to recover overpayments are unwelcome and should only be sent out if there is a legal basis for them.’

“Voluntary repayables.” A letter that was sent to me years ago did not say that. I seem to recall that I was instructed to repay the excess amount. These letters that the DWP send out make it sound as if you’ll end up in court if you don’t pay.

If one of my family members who had worked hard all their lives had been paid too much. Would I pay it back willingly? No, I would not! Would I care, no! And the reason being, it is the fault of the DWP who obviously couldn’t organise a piss-up in a brewery, and since when did the tallyman work for the DWP?

Within weeks of a loved one’s death, they want their money returned. While some individuals would have little trouble repaying the debt, the DWP lacks humanity; at the very least, they should allow the bereaved family time to grieve.

Prince Andrew Reported To The POLICE

Prince Andrew has been accused of registering a corporation under a fictitious identity and has been referred to the police.

The Duke of York, 64, used the alias ‘Andrew Inverness’ when in 2002 he set up the business Naples Gold Limited with sports retail mogul Johan Eliasch. 

The chief executive of Republic, a campaign organisation opposed to the monarchy, Graham Smith, has now complained to Scotland Yard, accusing the prince of using misleading information in paperwork submitted to Companies House.

To decide whether any more action is necessary, the Metropolitan Police are now reviewing the report.

Mr Smith told The Telegraph that Andrew ‘must be held to the highest standards’ and ‘the royals appear to believe they can act with impunity’.

Andrew has used the alias for four companies registered at Companies House.

It is believed to have emanated from one of his less well-known titles, the Earl of Inverness, which was given to him by Elizabeth II in 1986 when he married Sarah Ferguson.

Mr Smith said: ‘The apparent filing of false information with Companies House may seem trivial, but the UK faces serious issues of fraud committed in this way. While no such fraud is alleged here, surely Andrew must be held to the highest standards.’

The Duke of York has been approached by MailOnline for comment.

On Sunday it appeared that the firm managing Andrew’s private investments had closed down.

Urramoor Limited, which Andrew had ‘significant control over’, has applied to be struck off and dissolved, documents filed to Companies House last week show.

Only a year has passed since a mysterious donor saved the investment firm.

Urramoor somehow secured £210,000 worth of funding in the form of non-redeemable shares in December 2023, documents filed at the time revealed.

The company was £208,000 in the red before it received the money from an unknown source.

Prince Andrew originally set up the investment fund under the name HRH Andrew Inverness in 2013.

It was established about 18 months after his trade envoy role was taken off him due to his association with Jeffrey Epstein.

However, the company failed to make any returns in the nine sets of accounts it filed since its creation.

The decision to close Urramoor down was signed by the company’s director Arthur Lancaster on January 3. 

The announcement comes just days after it was revealed that more than £230,000 had been pulled from Prince Andrew’s Dragon’s Den-style initiative Pitch@Palace – which is also run by Mr Lancaster.

I can’t stand the man, but then I can’t abide anybody in the Royal Family, but saying that, he did file his name as HRH Andrew Inverness, under his title HRH Earl of Inverness, so it’s a bit of a stretch to say that it’s a crime.

Companies House should perhaps instead concentrate on requesting actual documentation of people setting up companies and their current addresses because at present people set up bogus companies all the time and nothing is done about it.

Of course, one of the ways the wealthy stay wealthy is to evade taxes. Of course, it’s all a fiddle, but seemingly legal. All this has done is waste money and given a bitter man a little press – like Andrew or not, there’s no case here, and the police are now using resources that could be used elsewhere.

Millions Signed A Petition Calling For A Fresh Election

More than three million people have signed a petition calling for a new general election, which MPs will discuss.

The petition, which accuses Labour of having ‘gone back on the promises’ the party made before July’s election, will be debated in Westminster Hall.

From 4.30 pm, MPs will gather in the secondary debating chamber to discuss the e-petition that drew enormous support.

Michael Westwood, who owns three pubs in the Black Country, set up the online petition on Parliament’s website on 20 November.

Elon Musk, who is said to be the richest man in the world and is an ally of US President-elect Donald Trump, pushed it on social media and it swiftly went viral.

The billionaire businessman shared the petition on X, the social media site he owns, claiming ‘the people of Britain have had enough of a tyrannical police state’.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch used Prime Minister’s Questions in late November to ridicule Sir Keir Starmer over the millions of people who were asking him ‘to go’.

But the Prime Minister shot back that there was a ‘massive petition on 4 July in this country’ that saw millions of voters support Labour at the voting box.

Mr Westwood voted for the Conservatives at last summer’s general election and predicted ‘tough times’ ahead following Labour’s Budget in October.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves used her first fiscal package to hike national insurance for employers, which sparked a massive backlash among businesses.

In their manifesto ahead of July’s general election, Labour vowed to ‘not increase taxes on working people’ – including national insurance, income tax or VAT.

Explaining why he set up the petition, Mr Westwood told the BBC: ‘The people that are currently in charge of the country, in my opinion, lied to get there.’

He added: ‘To have my opinion and my thoughts put out there and to find out actually, quite a lot of people agree, I think it’s fantastic. It just shows that you’re not on your own.’

Previously questioned about the petition, Sir Keir ruled out calling another general election but said he was ‘not surprised’ some people who did not support Labour in July might want a second poll.

The PM told ITV: ‘Look, I remind myself that very many people didn’t vote Labour at the last election.

‘I’m not surprised that many of them want a re-run. That isn’t how our system works. There will be plenty of people who didn’t want us in the first place.

‘So, what my focus is on is the decisions that I have to make every day.’

In its official response to the petition, the Government said: ‘This Government was elected on a mandate of change at the July 2024 general election.

‘Our full focus is on fixing the foundations, rebuilding Britain, and restoring public confidence in government.’

If a prime minister goes back on what he promised in his mandate, then he/she has lied to the people and there should be an immediate general election because you can’t pledge something and then take it back, it’s a contract, saying that you will do something.

And of course, people are now more conscious of politics and comprehend things a lot better than they ever did before, and we the people deserve to be heard. Not only that by going back on a pledge, our prime minister is hurting the people that voted him in.

Keir Starmer gets away with these ridiculous answers because no one, not even the Opposition seems to be allowed to question him.

However, after 14 years of Tory rule, the damage is done and it will take a lot of stamina to fix it, but it doesn’t seem like anybody is good enough to look after this country. It is a mess and will continue to be so until someone with a spine comes along. There is no doubt, we are in a recession, and it will take a very special person to fix it!

Violent Thug Who Is On His ‘Final Chance’

A violent hooligan on a ‘last and final chance’ after leaving a student with brain damage in a vicious onslaught has been spared jail – again.

Michael Murray, 22, was three years ago given a last chance to change his ways after being part of a gang that savagely beat German exchange student Daniel Ezzedine in Canterbury, Kent, with a sack of bricks.

But he has dodged a prison term again despite being hauled before a crown court judge for glassing a man in a pub.

He was even given back his XL Bully dog at his sentencing hearing on Tuesday when his barrister successfully claimed that Murray was ‘a fit and proper person to own one.

The lenient punishment has enraged shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick who has urged Attorney General Richard Hermer to intervene as he declared: ‘Career criminals must be locked up.’ 

Murray, from Canterbury, was part of a gang of nine people who in June 2019 brutally beat then-17-year-old Mr Ezzedine. 

He requires round-the-clock care and had to have part of his brain removed and metal plates inserted into his skull. 

His brother said doctors initially gave him a 30 per cent chance of survival after he was beaten in the city centre. 

Murray appeared at Canterbury Crown Court just before Christmas for the pub attack, as well as threatening a neighbour and damaging the home he shared with his grandparents. 

Despite his 13 previous convictions and his own grandfather raising fears about what his grandson might do when high on drugs and carrying knives, a judge gave him another chance to become ‘a useful member of the community’. 

Prosecutor Lucy McGarr described how on April 6 last year, Murray had glassed a man at the Seven Stars bar in Canterbury, reported Kent Online.

His home was raided by police ten days for an unrelated matter where officers discovered he did not have an exemption certificate for his pet dog.

On April 19 Murray appeared before magistrates for six offences relating to drugs, violence and driving matters. He was given a suspended sentence order. 

But within a matter of weeks, the yob threatened to ‘smash in’ his neighbour’s face while wielding two knives and broke two doors and a window at his grandparents’ home in St Gregory’s Road. 

On May 29 he tossed a five-litre can of paint across his grandparents’ garden, damaging tiles, with his grandfather saying he appeared to be on drugs. 

Murray was arrested and pleaded guilty to two offences of affray, one of criminal damage, one of possessing a fighting dog and breach of an SSO.

In a victim impact statement, his grandfather, Michael Murray Snr, said: ‘We do not want him to live here. He needs to leave home. We don’t want to put up with his behaviour.’ 

But his barrister James Burke recommended for Murray to be given a community-based punishment, claiming that he had matured while on remand in jail serving what was the equivalent of a 14-month sentence.

Mr Burke said Murray was now drug-free, had ‘some understanding’ of his problems with ‘positive future goals’, and was in a stable two-year relationship.

Judge Sarah Counsell agreed to spare Murray jail saying there was a realistic chance of rehabilitation ‘if you reduce your drug use and acquire problem-thinking skills’.

Setting a 12-month jail term suspended for 18 months, Judge Counsell said: ‘It is perhaps a tougher sentence for you to suspend the sentence and give you the opportunity of developing into the young man you are capable of developing into.’ 

Former Tory leader candidate Mr Jenrick, though, didn’t agree and said Murray should have been jailed.

He told The Telegraph: ‘He had 13 prior convictions, including causing brain damage. Three years ago he was given a “last and final chance” by a judge. Yet he’s spared jail, again. Career criminals must be locked up.’

When the public acts on its own initiative, we shouldn’t be shocked or offended since this is what will happen if the police and courts are unable to safeguard the people.

This man should have been jailed for life with no parole. After all, people have been banged up for less!

UK law is anarchic and we have far too many kangaroo courts with jaded, irresponsible judges who just see it as a 9-5 office job. They need sacking and replacing with competent, diligent professionals who are invested in upholding the law and ensuring that crime is punished appropriately.

To be fair I am speechless. Leaving someone requiring around-the-clock care is the same or worse than killing them, and 24-hour care requires so much manpower and is expensive. This man should have been condemned to life in jail, and the dog should not have been returned to him because it will just be used to intimidate people, yet this person who is a criminal has been rewarded.

Wes Streeting Set To Unveil ‘Revolutionary’ NHS App

Patients will be able to choose where and when they get treatment using a ‘revolutionised’ NHS app as part of Labour’s plans to cut waiting lists.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting will publish proposals to change how people choose health providers – including in the private sector as an NHS patient – book appointments and receive test results. 

And he bragged that bringing the analogue NHS into the digital age would give ‘working-class patients’ the same treatment options as the wealthy.

Sir Keir Starmer and Mr Streeting will disclose the most recent announcement in the government’s NHS Elective Reform Plan.

As revealed by the Daily Mail, there will also be plans to tell GPs to refer patients directly for scans and treatment to speed up access to care.

There is mounting concern among senior Labour figures that they must start delivering improvements to the health service – including cutting waiting lists.

And last night Tory health spokesman Ed Argar said: ‘Labour promised reform, now patients are clear, it’s time they actually delivered it.’

The impact of winter viruses and the flu is also putting a lot of strain on the NHS. According to NHS officials, the app will provide patients more control over when and how they receive non-emergency care when combined with other innovations.

The NHS app upgrades will allow patients to:

  • View and manage appointments at a time and place that is convenient to them, reducing missed appointments. 
  • Choose from a wide range of providers, including in the independent sector. 
  • Book diagnostic tests at convenient locations, such as Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs) in a local shopping centre. 
  • Receive test results quickly through the app before choosing the next step – whether that is a remote consultation or surgery – at a convenient time and location.

As a first step, in March, patients at more than 85 percent of acute trusts can view appointment details through the NHS app.

Government sources said that patients would be offered five treatment ‘providers’ or hospitals to choose from, including an independent sector provider where capacity allows.

Mr Streeting said last night: ‘If the wealthy can choose where and when they are treated, then working-class patients should be able to, and this Government will give them that choice.

‘Our plan will reform the NHS so patients are fully informed every step of the way through their care, are given a proper choice to go to a different provider for a shorter wait and put in control of their own healthcare.

‘This Government’s reform agenda will take the NHS from a one-size-fits-all, top-down, like-it-or-lump-it service, to a modern service that puts patients in the driving seat and treats them on time – delivering on our Plan for Change to drive a decade of national renewal.’

But last night, the Health Secretary was condemned by the Tories for his reference to giving ‘working-class patients’ the same treatment choices as well-off people.

Tory MP Greg Stafford, a member of the Commons health and social care committee, told the Mail on Sunday: ‘Wes Streeting should be improving the NHS for all those who need it rather than using class war rhetoric to sow division or put ideology at the heart of yet another Labour policy.’

Right now, people are lying in a hospital bed after spending 20 hours on a trolley in A&E waiting for a hospital bed to become available. The wards are completely full, and the weary staff are run off their feet because there are not enough beds to accommodate patients admitted from A&E, and also A&E is rammed because people cannot get a GP appointment.

And why is this? Could it be that the population has increased, and no new NHS app can hide the fact that the UK’s population is growing beyond its capacity and the NHS can’t cope? It’s not apps that we need, it’s sensible immigration control.

The Winter Of 1963

After many weeks of milder-than-normal weather, winter is finally arriving in Britain.

Across the nation, temperatures have dropped and snow has caused chaos.

But, whatever happens, it is doubtful that there will be a repeat of the Big Freeze of 1963 when Britons weathered the most brutal winter in living memory.

In what was the coldest winter for 200 years, even the Thames froze over in places – evoking memories of frost fairs that were held on the river in previous centuries.

During unusually cold weather that began on Boxing Day in 1962 and persisted until March, snow was non-stop in numerous areas, to the point where telephone wires were weighed down until they touched the ground.

Temperatures were an average of -2C (28F) for more than two months, whilst in Braemar, Aberdeenshire, they dropped as low as -22C (-7.6F).

Numerous schools were also closed. Power cuts hit thousands of homes, and football matches stopped for months.

The United States and the Soviet Union were on the verge of a full-scale nuclear conflict at the time, and Britain had just recovered from the horrific Cuban Missile Crisis.

At the time, the Beatles were a little-known Liverpool band that still made their living by touring northern ballrooms, but many were unable to attend their shows due to the persistent snowfall.

When two trains collided in a snowdrift on the first day of the Big Freeze, the dangers of winter were brought home to everyone.

The Mid-Day Scot crashed into the Liverpool to Birmingham Express on Boxing Day in 1962, leaving 18 people dead. 

Among those who perished were young children aged between two and 12.  

January of 1963 was the coldest month since 1814.

The following month, a massive snowstorm struck Northern Ireland, south-west England and Wales.

About 5ft of snow descended in Tredegar in Monmouthshire.

In Leigh-on-Sea, in Essex, the sea froze and dozens of lakes and rivers received a cover of ice. 

Mini icebergs even formed in the River Mersey, blocking vessels as they sailed towards the Irish Sea, and a few birds were stuck in the ice as the Solent iced over.

The Daily Mail sent a helicopter – after the RAF’s own aircraft had been beaten back by the bad weather – to drop food for 33 orphans living at a Church of England care home in the village of East Knoyle, Wiltshire.

It was also a terrible period for animals. Farmers were unable to reach their cattle in certain fields due to the heavy snow, causing the animals to starve to death.

People who encountered freezing winters back in the day, talk about small coal fires and ice on the inside of the windows. Most didn’t have warm garments that are available now and went to bed freezing. The milk that the milkman delivered was so cold the milk would expand and stick out above the glass bottles.

Winter garments were Wellington boots, trousers, cotton vests, a school shirt, a wool jumper and a duffle coat. No trendy apparel because it hadn’t been invented yet. Leather boots were out of most people’s price range and sash windows were extremely drafty so people would fill the gaps with newspaper. Most toilets were outdoors and freezing on the derriere.

The clothes were warm because the materials that they were made out of were mainly man-made and people wore layers and no one went out without a coat, hat and gloves just because it was fashionable!

People had layers of blankets on their beds because it was freezing, and children of larger families slept together to transfer the heat to each other.

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