Some Crown Court Cases Won’t Have Jury Trials

In certain Crown Court cases, the Justice Secretary has alluded to the elimination of jury trials.

Shabana Mahmood suggested an announcement will be made ‘imminently’ as the government scrambles to hear a tremendous backlog. 

Some 70,000 cases are facing waits of up to five years, with senior legal figures advocating an extreme overhaul. 

Criminals facing charges that attract punishments of up to two years – such as assault of a police officer or racially aggravated criminal damage – could go to an ‘intermediate’ court.

Hearings could be presided over by a judge accompanied by two magistrates.

Murder, manslaughter, and rape are among the more serious offences that would still go to trial before a jury.

The concept of an ‘intermediate’ court was first presented in a report commissioned under Tony Blair. 

Ms Mahmood told LBC this morning: ‘We do have a Crown Court backlog that is very high and likely to rise because the sheer number of cases that are coming into the system is so big, that even if we were sitting at maximum capacity across the whole of the Crown Court, we still wouldn’t be able to touch the sides of that backlog.

‘That does say that we need to think about doing things differently, and the announcements that we will be making will set out the Government’s proposals in this space.’

Ms Mahmood added: ‘I do believe that justice delayed is justice denied. So, we are going to have to think about a different way of managing our Crown Courts so that we can crack down on that backlog properly.’

A trial by a jury is a fundamental right in the UK, but our hopeless government believe they can change a basic right within the Justice system because they have a backlog. After all, there is so much criminality in the UK now, and we all know why but they don’t have the guts to admit it, or they don’t want to upset their prospective voting base.

Everyone is entitled to a jury trial, which is quite alarming and maybe a step towards communism, or maybe it’s more authoritarian than communism, but communist regimes are authoritarian. The thing is there are no prison places for these people at the moment, and if they speed the sentencing up, then where do they put these people?

The only other alternative is to have reduced sentences for them, but then you will have criminals being set free, so this is an extremely flawed concept.

A cornerstone of our legal system that has existed since the signing of the Magna Carta in 1215 is the right to a trial by peers.

Clause 39 of the Magna Carta stated that no free man could be imprisoned without a lawful judgment by his peers, or by the law of the land. This was the first time that the legal rights of the crown’s subjects were acknowledged.

Habeas Corpus Act 1679 – this act extended the right of an incarcerated person to go before a judge to determine if their confinement was legal.

The English Bill of Rights 1689 – this bill limited the powers of the monarch and set out the rights of Parliament. It included the freedom from cruel and unusual punishments and the freedom from being fined without trial.

Fair Trial – the right to a fair trial, which underpins criminal law in the United Kingdom, the USA, and numerous other countries, which can be traced back to the Magna Carta.

There should be no way after 800 years that one person can now arbitrarily remove that right, just to relieve the backlog from the system.

British MP Opposes First Cousin Marriage Ban

An independent member of parliament voiced opposition to a planned British restriction on first-cousin marriages.

Iqbal Mohamed, MP for Dewsbury and Batley, told the House of Commons that many people view family intermarriage as ‘very positive’.

He said it was seen as something that could help ‘build family bonds’ and put families on a more secure financial foothold’.

Mr Mohamed admitted there were ‘health risks’ for the children of such marriages.

But he said a ‘more positive approach’ would be to ‘facilitate advanced genetic test screening’ for couples wishing to marry.

He also called for ‘education programmes’ to be targeted at those communities where family intermarriage is most common, as he told MPs to reject an outright ban.

Mr Mohamed voiced his opposition to Richard Holden, a Tory MP, who was trying to introduce new laws forbidding first-cousin marriages.

The former Conservative Party chairman introduced his Marriage (Prohibited Degrees of Relationship) Bill to the Commons via a ten-minute rule motion.

Mr Holden told MPs: ‘Members across the House may wonder why first-cousin marriage is not already illegal.

‘In fact, many in this House and in the country may already think it is. And that is understandable.’

The MP for Basildon and Billericay added that laws on first-cousin marriage had been left ‘unchanged’ since the reign of Henry VIII.

He warned there had been a ‘worrying trend’ of an increased rate of cousins marrying among some communities in Britain – although he noted there were reports of rates falling in the last decade as ‘young people push back against this system’.

Mr Holden outlined ‘health, freedom and our national values’ as three areas of concern over family intermarriage in the UK.

He urged the Labour Government to look at his Bill as a ‘vehicle for positive change in our country’, adding: ‘Because, in the end, it’s about more than one marriage – it’s about the values and foundations of our society and our democracy.’

Mr Mohamed, who is part of the Independent Alliance of MPs – including ex-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, agreed there were ‘documented health risks with first-cousin marriage’.

He also spoke of the need to prevent so-called ‘virginity testing’ and forced marriages, adding the ‘freedom of women must be protected at all times’.

But, speaking against Mr Holden’s Bill, Mr Mohamed said ‘The way to redress this is not to empower the state to ban adults from marrying each other, not least because I don’t think it would be effective or enforceable’.

‘Instead, the matter needs to be approached as a health awareness issue, a cultural issue where women are being forced against their will to undergo marriage,’ he told MPs.

‘In doing so it is important to recognise for many people that this is a highly sensitive issue and in discussing it we should try to step into the shoes of those who perhaps are not from the same culture as ours, to better understand why the practice continues to be so widespread.

‘An estimated 35-50 per cent of all sub-Saharan African populations either prefer or accept cousin marriages and it is extremely common in the Middle East and in South Asia.

‘The reason the practice is so common is that ordinary people see family intermarriage overall as something that is very positive, something that helps build family bonds, and helps put families on a more secure financial foothold.

‘However, as is well documented, it is not without health risks for the children of those relationships.’

Urging MPs to oppose Mr Holden’s proposed ban, Mr Mohamed added: ‘Instead of stigmatising those who are in cousin marriages or those inclined to be, a much more positive approach would be to facilitate advanced genetic test screening for prospective married couples, as is the case in all Arab countries in the Persian Gulf.

‘And, more generally, to run health education programmes targeting those communities where the practice is most common.’

Mr. Holden requested that his bill be taken up for a second reading on January 17 of the following year.

However, the amount of legislative time allocated to such private members’ bills to pass the required stages makes it difficult for it to become law.

If the government supports it, it might advance more quickly.

According to current law, relationships with a parent, sibling, or child are barred from marriage, however, first-cousin weddings are not.

Despite the health dangers, Downing Street stated that the government had no intention of outlawing first-cousin weddings.

A No 10 spokesman said: ‘I think the expert advice on the risks of first-cousin marriage are clear.

‘But in terms of legislation, the Government has set out its priorities.’

For millennia, this interbreeding has been taking place. Although I believe that genetic testing should be done before having children, two of my family members married their first cousins, therefore there was nothing wrong with them when they decided to have children.

People were forced to marry their blood relations around the turn of the century and even earlier because of the high rate of sickness, which left bereaved husbands and wives with children with no other option.

Queen Victoria married her first cousin and George V married his second cousin. It even occurred in some other walks of life. However, haemophilia was a sickness that was carried through the royal families for three generations after Queen Victoria but has since vanished. Today, none of Queen Victoria’s living descendants have haemophilia.

There are undoubtedly many more important laws or measures that need to be passed or changed in Parliament than this one that is now occupying the House. However, considering that many of his voters are originating from nations where intimate inter-family marriage is quite popular, it is not surprising who this MP represents or why he does not want the Bill to pass.

Labour Voters Hate Starmer More Than Thatcher

According to a poll, even Labour’s own supporters believe that Keir Starmer is proving to be a worse prime minister than Margaret Thatcher.

More in Common’s research provided more proof that Sir Keir’s start in No. 10 has left the British people utterly disappointed.

Questioned who has been the best premier in the past 40 years, only 4 percent said the Labour leader.

That was the same percentage that supported Theresa May, two points less than the support for John Major and one point more than Rishi Sunak.

Baroness Thatcher came top with 33 per cent, with Tony Blair ranking second at 20 percent and Boris Johnson tied for third with Gordon Brown at 10 percent.

Voters who supported Labour at the election five months ago had a considerably worse image.

They put three-time election winner Sir Tony at the head of the list at 37 percent, with Gordon Brown next best at 15 percent.

Lady Thatcher was the third most popular option with 14 percent.

But that was well ahead of Sir Keir, who was supported by a mere 9 percent and barely edged out Lord Cameron by 8 percent.

Despite having one of the lowest winning vote percentages ever, Sir Keir has had a turbulent first five months after winning a massive election landslide.

Outrage has been mounting over the incredible £40 billion tax raid in Rachel Reeves’ first Budget at the end of October, with farmers protesting at inheritance duties and pensioners angry about losing winter fuel allowance.

He announced further ‘milestones’ in a ‘reset’ speech last week attempting to get his stumbling premiership back on track.

His first months in No 10 also saw Sue Gray sacked as No 10 chief of staff amid Downing Street infighting.

When it was revealed that Louise Haigh had a criminal past, she resigned as transport secretary, dealing Sir Keir yet another setback in recent days.

Fears were raised that the UK economy is falling into the red as a survey showed business confidence was crashing after the Budget. 

According to research by the consulting company BDO, optimism has fallen to its lowest point in two years.

An activity tracker also fell by 3.2 points to 94.7 last month – the weakest in more than a year, with anything below 95 indicating contraction.

The darkening picture comes after GDP scarcely scraped into positive territory in the third quarter, recording 0.1 per cent growth.

The single month of September witnessed a 0.1 percent fall in output, with revision of the data still possible. 

A recession is technically characterised as two consecutive quarters of shrinkage.

Margaret Thatcher was a catastrophe for the United Kingdom, and her choices as prime minister are to blame for many of the problems we currently confront.

She destroyed businesses, particularly in Wales and the north of England, leaving people without other options for employment, resulting in a generation of people living on the dole.

We now have foreign government-owned firms controlling our energy, communication, and train systems at exorbitant costs after she sold them off.

She sold off social housing stock at ridiculously low prices, leaving the taxpayer to pay over the odds to build more, and something we never actually replaced leaving a considerable shortfall for almost three decades.

Although she did have some positive traits as prime minister, her legacy generated a lot of issues for this nation.

What she should have done is work with her government to improve those industries, especially in telecoms, energy and rail, but she made a major mistake, which we are all still paying the price for.

Thatcher began selling everything, even if it was profitable, which is why we are in a mess, and not a single person complained when they were able to purchase their own council home at a knockdown price.

The first of Keir Starmer’s issues is that he lacks any personal magnetism. In addition to being as boring as dishwater, it’s difficult to understand his values and beliefs.

While he seemed enthused in 2019, he later came clean about saying things he didn’t intend.

His seeming indifference to freebies has earned him no followers, and he has created a variety of missions, goals, and aims only to abandon the majority of them.

Regarding his acolytes, he surrounded himself with a group of inexperienced lightweights and worthless idiots.

Perception in politics counts for a lot, but there’s no one in the cabinet you’d describe as a serious national leadership figure.

Labour prevailed in July because the Tories were just so dreadful, and Nigel Farage wasn’t ready for it.

Being in government is much more difficult than being in opposition, and Starmer seems to lack the vision, moral fibre, and character traits necessary to be a viable prime minister.

Patients Who Call 999 For Heart Attacks Or Strokes Are Told To Get To A&E

Due to increased demand, people who contact 999 because they are experiencing a heart attack or stroke are being urged to travel to the hospital on their own.

The West Midlands Ambulance Service, which said last week that it was under ‘severe pressure’, confirmed a change to the script used by its 999 call handlers to suggest patients get themselves to hospital at peak times.

A leaked staff memo on November 29 said the change was needed due to patients’ long waits.

It said category three and four 999 calls patients with urgent abdominal pain or who have fallen or are vomiting will be told: ‘The ambulance service is under significant pressure and we don’t have an ambulance available to respond to you. It may be a number of hours before one is available.

‘Is there any way you can arrange to safely make your own way to a hospital emergency department?’

The memo, seen by the Sunday Times, says that when the ambulance service is under the highest pressure, as it was last week, the request will also apply to category two calls.

These are patients who may be having a stroke or heart attack or have suffered severe burns and who should be seen within 18 minutes.

All ambulance services have altered their scripts for periods of surging demand, with some replicating the West Midlands message while others warn of the prolonged waits patients will encounter.

Last week, six of England’s 10 ambulance services were operating at maximum alert.

This means they were facing ‘extreme pressure’ with a risk of ‘service failure’. The remaining four were all at ‘severe pressure’.

Across the Midlands last week, some patients who should have been seen within 18 minutes were waiting nearly an hour on average.

At one point there were 150 emergency calls in the region without an ambulance available.

The West Midlands Ambulance Service said: ‘When ambulances are delayed handing their patient over at hospital, they are unable to respond to the next call.

‘There is a direct correlation between hospital handover delays and our ability to get to patients in the community quickly.’

There have been regurgitated warnings about the failure in NHS emergency care since the end of COVID-19. Thousands are harmed by lengthy ambulance waits.

This year coroners have sent 33 warnings to ambulance trusts after deaths linked to delays.

How on earth does one make their own way to the hospital when they’re having a stroke or heart attack – this is utter madness and it’s a disgrace.

If our government doesn’t intervene and make any kind of reform in the healthcare system, people will undoubtedly perish as a result of this terrible service, and yet they’re pushing stroke adverts on TV which tell us to act FAST and ends with ‘your NHS is there for you.’

Both the House of Commons and the House of Lords should bow their heads in shame at the way they are treating UK citizens. If they were a company people could take them to court for the way we are being treated, but as it stands, there appears to be nothing that we can do.

However, the Ambulance Services aren’t always at fault. After transporting a patient to the hospital, an ambulance is essentially rendered inoperable for the hours it must wait to release the patient to A&E.

The UK used to be the envy of other nations, but today we are a disgrace and have been reduced to services that are almost third-world, but I guess we should be thankful because our NHS health care is free and we are not faced with having to pay for our treatment before we are admitted. In most nations, they would just let a person die right in front of their eyes.

It’s not free, though, as other people are unaware. We should be provided with a mediocre level of service because we pay for it through taxes. If he could see what was happening, Aneurin Bevan would be rolling in his grave.

Hands On The Shoulder And Other Signs That Might Go Unnoticed

After the year they have had, it was probably as close to the ‘new normal’ for the Royal Family that we are going to get, for the time being at least.

Naturally, all eyes were on the Princess of Wales as she returned to the public eye in her most significant official role since she effectively retreated from royal life at the beginning of the year following her shock cancer diagnosis.

Her amiable smile and dazzling sense of style made us all realise how much Kate had been missed, even if this particular princess wasn’t quite up to going to ‘the ball’ (aka the State Banquet).

MailOnline understands that this is all part of her ‘gradual’ and measured return to work, balancing her responsibilities generally, but also specifically this week between the State Visit and her own annual carol service on Friday.

Seeing her so content and healthy, though, was still a tonic. Prince William quietly put a reassuring hand on her shoulder once, but otherwise let his wife do what she does best—shine.

There were other ‘tweaks’ too throughout the day, most notably for Queen Camilla, who had been forced to pull out from the official ceremonial welcome on Horse Guards as she is still suffering from the side effects of what we now know to be a bad case of pneumonia.

Instead, she met the royal party inside Buckingham Palace – a sensible move for a 77-year-old suffering from such a debilitating viral infection in the circumstances – and announced an ever-so-slightly trimmed appearance at the evening’s glittering State Banquet.

Later, in the historic palace Picture Gallery, Old Masters looked down as the royal party studied a notably smaller collection of artefacts from the Royal Collection – including the late Queen Elizabeth’s speech from Qatar’s State Visit in 2010 – than in previous years.

There were only two tables, rather than a third of the room’s length as if the planners were subtly eager to keep things going a little faster.

All this might appear inconsequential to the untrained eye, but in royal terminology, it’s these little details that usually paint the bigger picture.

It is crucial to emphasise that this is by no means a picture of gloom and doom.

Think back to the beginning of the year, when King Charles and Kate were admitted to the hospital at the same time, she for major stomach surgery and he for a prostate ailment.

In a matter of weeks, we not only learnt that the monarch had been diagnosed with an unrelated type of cancer, but the princess also disclosed that she had been informed that cancer had been detected and that she would require preventative chemotherapy at the young age of 42.

Quickly following the death of Queen Elizabeth’s reassuring influence and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh’s doughty stoicism and supposedly endless longevity, the country was left in deep shock.

It is very astounding that nearly every member of our Royal Family is on duty at the same time for such a significant diplomatic occasion less than a year after these seismic—and perhaps disastrous—events.

But it does also go to emphasise that, for the time being at least, we may have to cut them a little slack.

Recovery from a life-threatening illness like this takes time because when the physical treatment ends, the mental recovery begins, and let’s face it, all cancer is life-threatening, if not caught in time – that’s a given.

It puts a strain on families, whether royal or not.

Kate looks stunning and we should not be scrutinising her every move and she should be left alone to recuperate at her own pace.

As a toxin, chemotherapy is extremely hard on the body, causing widespread harm and a protracted healing period, but people will always gossip, looking over their fences and gossiping about other people because they have nothing better to do with their lives.

The most terrifying thing a person can have is cancer. That individual has no clue how the treatment will proceed or whether it will be effective at all. You either win or you lose, just as in a lottery game, and I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy!

Martin Roberts Finds A Dead Body In Bed On Homes Under The Hammer

Martin Roberts has recalled the terrifying moment he ‘found a dead body’ hidden in a bed upstairs in a sold property on Homes Under The Hammer.

The TV presenter and property expert, 61, revealed that during one visit to the Lake District, he experienced one of the most shocking moments of his career – which ended with a heart-wrenching twist.

He exclusively told MailOnline that while filming an episode in Cumbria, his producer came down from viewing the upstairs of the house looking ‘ashen in the face’ and revealed to the crew that there ‘was a dead body in the bed’.

Confused and shaken, Martin and his BBC crew ‘tiptoed’ upstairs to the bedroom where they saw the ‘body under the sheets’.

But as they stood shaken at the door, Martin explained that the ‘dead body’ started snoring and they soon found out ‘someone forgot their grandad’ and it was the previous owner’s relative.

Martin told MailOnline: ‘We went to this one house, which had clearly been lived in until very recently. Almost like the kettle was still hot kind of thing and we went in and then the director went and had a look around.

‘And she came out absolutely ashen in the face. And she said, ‘There is a dead body! There’s a dead body in the bed’.

‘And we were like, ‘well, that’s a first, we didn’t see that on the risk assessment’.

‘He said no, no, no. There is a dead body.’

‘So we all sort of tiptoed into the bedroom and sure enough, there’s this body underneath the sheet and we’re like, ‘we really don’t know how to deal with this’.

‘And then it started snoring and so we kind of nudged it.

‘And then this old man sat bolt upright, no teeth and said, ‘Where’s my family?’ and the people had left in such a rush that they forgot grandad.

‘Grandad was still sleeping in the bed. The family had left. The house had been sold. He’s suddenly faced with a film crew from homes under.’

Thankfully Martin, who was speaking to MailOnline on behalf of 10bet. revealed that their family had not moved too far away from the original house and once they ‘gave him a cup of tea and calmed him down’ the grandad was reunited with his family.

Since its debut in 2003, Homes Under the Hammer has followed both novice and seasoned purchasers as they bid on often dilapidated residences at auction.

It then tracks their remodelling endeavours to determine the profit or loss from rental or sales.

Martin has appeared on the show since it debuted in the early 2000s and has appeared in over 724 episodes.

The body wasn’t dead, and Martin wasn’t the one who discovered it, and this guy always looks like he’s just climbed out of a skip after a wild night out.

He used to be clean-shaven, but it appears that he opted to grow a beard to make up for his hair loss. Now, his thinning combed hair and beard give him a rather scruffy appearance.

To be honest, none of this makes any sense. So, the house was sold, but the grandfather was still in bed – that must have been some quick property sale – perhaps it should be in the Guinness Book of Records.

I believe it’s more likely that the poor man had some form of dementia and he probably wandered back to his old home and went back to somewhere familiar, but at least he was okay, that’s all that matters. This is the only explanation that makes any sense, and it’s been a bit exaggerated or perhaps they arrived at the wrong house and instead, they entered the House of Lords.

Abortion Pills Force Woman To Miscarry

A guy was shown on camera receiving abortion drugs, which he then used to covertly tamper with a pregnant woman’s drink to induce a miscarriage.

Stuart Worby, 40, secretly added an abortion-inducing substance to the victim’s orange juice.

He was sentenced to 12 years in prison after being found guilty of sexual assault and using an instrument or poison to induce a miscarriage.

Worby, of Dereham, Norfolk, crushed a tablet of mifepristone into the drink of his victim then inserted another abortion drug inside her, after sexually assaulting her while she was blindfolded.

Within a few hours, she experienced a serious bodily reaction that included bleeding, vomiting, diarrhoea, and a high fever.

Portuguese national Nueza Cepeda was seen on CCTV giving Worby the drugs that he used to spike the victim.

The duo were seen meeting in a pub garden, where Cepeda gives a bag containing the drugs to Worby. 

The victim of a sexual offence, who is entitled to lifetime confidentiality, miscarried at 15 weeks of pregnancy.

A team of detectives who investigated the crime described it as one of the most shocking cases they had ever seen.

Cepeda had obtained the drugs by calling a London clinic posing as a pregnant woman who already had a family and wanted to end her pregnancy. 

Cepeda, 39, of Dereham, was sentenced to 22 months in prison with a two-year suspension after entering a guilty plea to providing an instrument to induce a miscarriage.

The police-released video also shows authorities at Worby’s residence, where he was taken into custody.

Worby acknowledged that he had illegally gotten the drug, but he denied ever giving it to the woman. After a post-mortem assessment, one of the medications was discovered in foetal tissue.

Initially, the victim thought she had miscarried spontaneously but contacted police when she saw messages on Worby’s phone to his friend Wayne Finney saying ‘It’s working’ and ‘There is a lot of blood’.

Following today’s sentencing Det Insp Duncan Woodhams who led the investigation described it as one of the most shocking cases he and his team of detectives had seen.

He said: ‘Our thoughts remain with the victim who has suffered greatly as a result of Worby’s merciless actions and the subsequent trial.

‘It is difficult to imagine a more despicable crime. This took detailed planning and manipulation of the victim to inflict such lethal violence on her unborn child.

‘Worby has shown no remorse and there is no mitigation. He wanted to exert control in the most heinous manner and has now deservedly been punished for it.’

The woman miscarried her healthy baby the next day when Worby finally agreed to take her to Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, despite his first refusal.

As she lost her baby, Worby texted a friend saying, ‘It’s working’ and, ‘There is lots of blood’.

In a victim impact statement read to the court, the victim said she felt she had ‘failed to protect my baby’. She said she had ‘gone from fertility clinic to fertility clinic’ and ‘being a mother was a dream to me’.

She added: ‘This pain will never leave me knowing that this baby could have been my only chance to be a mother in this lifetime. I haven’t been able to conceive and have another baby.’

Worby acquired two types of abortion drugs by convincing a friend’s partner to pretend she was pregnant so she could get prescribed them privately, and then give them to him.

He crushed a tablet of mifepristone into the drink of his victim – who was about 15 weeks pregnant – without her knowledge in what was described by prosecutors as ‘deliberate, well planned and callous’.

Worby, of Dereham, Norfolk, used deceit to have intercourse with the lady before inserting many pills of misoprostol, another abortion medication, into her.

Mr Justice Joel Bennathan jailed him for 12 years for administering poison or using an instrument with intent to procure a miscarriage, and a concurrent eight years for sexual assault by penetration.

At Norwich Crown Court Worby was also ordered to pay £10,000 compensation to his victim. He had denied both charges but was found guilty at an earlier trial.

Wayne Finney, 41, of Swaffham, Norfolk, the boyfriend of the mother-of-three, was found not guilty of purposefully inciting or aiding another person in committing a crime.

The woman who miscarried described her anguish at losing her baby in an emotional victim impact statement, saying she was now unable to have children after being diagnosed with an ovarian deficiency.

She said that her miscarriage had left her suffering ‘grief that will never heal’ knowing that she ‘had failed’ to protect her baby.

The woman said in her statement: ‘I keep thinking what I could have done to protect my baby, but I have the deep pain of knowing that I have failed.

‘This pain will never leave me, knowing that this baby could have been my only chance of being a mother in this lifetime.

‘Although I now have a wonderful partner, we have been unable to conceive. I have to face the knowledge that the only baby I could have had was lost.’

The victim described being cross-examined at Worby’s trial as ‘a horrible feeling’ which had made her ‘more upset’.

She added: ‘I had a healthy pregnancy and was looking forward to giving birth to a beautiful baby. Becoming a mother was a dream that I was always hoping for.’

The woman said she had been left suffering ‘relentless nightmares’ and sleepless nights and had been further traumatised by having to wait two years ‘to give my baby the right to have a funeral’.

The trial heard how the woman had found messages on Worby’s phone to Mr Finney which commented on the effect of the abortion drugs on her, saying ‘it’s working’ and ‘there is lots of blood’.

The woman realised then that she had not suffered a spontaneous miscarriage, but what was described by police as a ‘deceitful and planned termination’.

The court heard how Worby had convinced Cepeda to call a London gynaecology centre and inform them that she was expecting, had a family, and wished to abort the pregnancy.

His bank statement revealed he had paid her the £470 fee for the drugs and her consultation to have a medical consultation that resulted in the drugs being delivered to her home.

Despite being informed by the gynaecology facility that it was illegal to provide the medication to anybody else, CCTV captured her giving the packets to Worby on a table outside the George Hotel in Swaffham.

Prosecutor Edmund Vickers KC said it was ‘quite clear’ that the victim wanted to have her baby.

He said that a post-mortem found the abortion drugs in her baby’s body, and gave the cause of death as abortion drugs in the mother’s system.

Cepeda initially claimed that she did not believe the abortion drugs would be used with the consent of the victim.

The trial heard how she had made internet searches before getting her prescription for ‘abortion home remedies’ and ‘abortion home treatment’.

Andrew Oliver KC, defending Cepeda, who works as a cleaner, said she had only met Worby through Mr Finney and had acted ‘through a degree of pressure and panic’.

He added: ‘She has gone against her better judgement as a result of trying to help, although in a completely misguided way.

‘She knew the reasons why he was asking her to acquire medication. But she has been utterly conned by Mr Worby. He not only deceived (the victim) in the most cruel way, but she was also taken in by his lies.

‘She is devastated that she has played a part in the harm and suffering that this case has caused. She did not intend harm. She thought she was trying to help. It was misguided loyalty to someone who was a friend of her partner.

‘It has landed her in serious trouble and caused graphic misery for which she is truly sorry. She did not receive any financial or other benefit from the part she played. I accept she played a critical role.

‘She was a subordinate in this incident and did not think out the horrific consequences.’

Mr Justice Bennathan told Worby that he had been ‘anxious’ to terminate the woman’s pregnancy. He added: ‘You are a selfish man and you set about planning to abort the baby.

‘In the end, you used your friend’s partner to get abortion drugs. You must have known this was dangerous as the pills were designed for use in the early weeks of pregnancy.’

The judge added that ‘any normal person’ would be shocked to hear the victim’s impact statement.

But he told Worby, who has no previous convictions: ‘I am sure your thoughts are only about yourself as they always were.’

Worby asked if he could say something before being taken down, but the judge refused his request. Worby then added: ‘Thanks for your time.’

Mr Justice Bennathan told Cepeda: ‘Your actions have caused huge suffering and a great loss to another woman. I accept you only became involved due to the pressure or badgering of Stuart Worby.

‘I accept that you thought he might not go through with it, and that you feel remorse and pain about what happened.’

The judge also summoned her to do a rehabilitation activity requirement of 20 days and 40 hours of unpaid work.

Worby was given a concurrent 14-day jail sentence after he admitted having cannabis.

Twelve years is absolutely insufficient. This was a heinous and repulsive crime!

Her unborn child perished as a result of the poison he delivered. His sentencing ought to have been far harsher. This was not his choice to inflict a termination on her.

He put poison into her body without her knowledge and caused her and the foetus physical harm, which is not acceptable. He caused the termination of a baby, and potentially destroyed this woman’s likelihood of having another child. He should have been given a much harsher sentence.

Storm Darragh Strikes

Following Storm Darragh’s arrival in the UK yesterday night, millions of Britons have been advised to stay indoors and many have been left without electricity.

The Met Office issued a rare ‘danger to life’ red wind alert between 3 am and 11 am on Saturday, with ‘significant disruption’ anticipated across most of the coast of Wales and parts of south-west England.

Three million people in the red wind warning zones were issued an emergency alert on their phones – as part of the Government’s ‘risk to life’ warning system – urging them to avoid driving and to ‘stay indoors if you can’.

Gusts of up to 93mph were recorded overnight in Capel Curig in North Wales, while wind speeds of 72-78mph were recorded along the coasts of Wales and Northern Ireland.

Thousands of people across Northern Ireland, England and Wales were also left without power and some locals woke up to crushed cars caused by fallen trees.

The Energy Networks Association said 86,000 homes in England, Scotland and Wales are without power. About 385,000 customers have been reconnected overnight, with more than 1,000 engineers ready to be deployed, it added.

Darragh has also brought widespread travel disruption along the east coast, with the Prince of Wales Bridge, M4 and the Severn Bridge, M48, which connect South West England to Wales closed due to powerful winds.

A Premier League game between Liverpool and Everton has been cancelled owing to safety concerns, while other sporting events around the UK and Ireland have also been thrown into chaos.

On Friday, the Met Office issued the most severe weather warning, a red one, for wind. This means that dangerous weather is predicted and people should take precautions to protect themselves and others.

The warning, which has led to cancelling events including Christmas attractions, is in place from 3 am to 11 am on Saturday.

The Met Office warned of ‘damaging winds’ with gusts of 90mph likely over the coasts and hills of West and South Wales. Forecasters say the most powerful winds will start to ease from late morning.

Information on the red alert and instructions on how to keep safe until Saturday was given to all compatible mobile phones in the affected areas via the Cabinet Office’s Emergency Alert system.

Even while on mute, mobile phones vibrated and created a loud siren-like sound that lasted for almost ten seconds. However, others have asserted that they were not notified.

The UK’s west coast, which stretches from southern Scotland to Cornwall and Northern Ireland, is under a separate amber warning that is in effect from 1 am to 9 pm.

Flying debris and falling trees could pose a risk to life while large waves and beach material could be hurled onto coastal roads and seafronts.

There could also be damage to buildings and homes, with roofs blown off and power lines brought down, as well as power cuts impacting other services such as mobile phone coverage.

Fallen trees destroyed cars on Cardiff’s exclusive Cathedral Road, with one local describing a ‘superb effort’ from a council that removed a tree that fell during Storm Darragh, breaking windows and damaging the wall around a property.

Stuart Cox, 64, said that an approximately 50ft mature tree on Cathedral Road in the Welsh capital fell into his next-door neighbour’s garden in the early hours of Saturday.

‘It broke one window two doors down and destroyed next door’s gate. The only damage to ours was the front wall was forced sideways, making the wall unstable and unable to shut the gate,’ the accountant said.

In addition, Darragh has caused chaos at sporting events around the UK and Ireland, forcing several cancellations due to strong winds and unrelenting rain.

High-profile events like Chepstow’s Christmas Party race day and Aintree’s Boylesports Becher Chase were cancelled due to horse racing, another significant sporting casualty.

Additionally, Liverpool’s match against Everton has been cancelled. The match will be the final Premier League Merseyside derby played at Goodison Park, and authorities, not the two teams, have chosen to postpone it.

In Wales, Cardiff City’s Championship clash with Watford was called off due to the storm, alongside other local fixtures considered unsafe to proceed. Plymouth’s Championship match against Oxford has also been shelved. 

In League One, Bristol Rovers versus Bolton has also been called off, while in League Two Newport County’s clash with Carlisle has been postponed. 

Authorities on both sides of the border had made preparations ahead of the worst of the storm making landfall. 

The official Irish meteorological office Met Eireann’s highest level of alert covers counties Mayo, Clare, Galway, Donegal, Leitrim, Sligo and Wicklow.

The Irish Taoiseach Simon Harris urged those living in areas covered by red warnings to take them ‘extraordinarily seriously’. 

‘A red weather warning does mean do not travel during that period of time, and even though it is a Friday night and coming up to the Christmas season, I’d really encourage people to heed that advice and indeed to follow closely weather advice in the hours ahead,’ he said.

‘Of course, there’s an orange weather warning for the rest of the country as well. So, really, people in that area should avoid any unnecessary travel at all. It is important people take these warnings very, very seriously in terms of protecting life in the hours ahead.’

Dublin airport confirmed it had welcomed some flights bound for other airports and was diverted due to the fourth named storm of the season.

Northern Ireland Electricity Networks said it estimated approximately 46,000 customers are without power, but added this number could continue to rise across the morning. In the Republic of Ireland, almost 400,000 customers are without power.

The rest of the Republic of Ireland will be covered by a Met Eireann orange wind warning. In Munster and Connacht, that warning came into effect at 8 pm on Friday until 10 am on Saturday.

The orange alert for Leinster and counties Cavan, Donegal and Monaghan came into effect two hours later at 10 pm and will also lift at 10 am on Saturday.

A Met Eireann yellow wind warning covering the whole state came into place at 3 pm on Friday. It will remain in effect after the orange warnings lift and will be in place until 3 pm on Saturday.

A yellow rain warning for Connacht, and counties Clare, Donegal, Cavan, Monaghan, Longford, Louth, Meath and Westmeath came into place at 10 am on Friday and will lift at 10 am on Saturday.

In Northern Ireland, the Met Office has issued an amber wind warning surrounding the entire area from 1 am on Saturday to 9 pm.

A yellow rain warning came into effect in Northern Ireland at 3 pm on Friday and will lift at noon on Saturday. A yellow wind warning also came into place at 3 pm on Friday.

In England it is understood residents in Devon, Bath and North East Somerset, the City of Bristol, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Somerset, Isle of Anglesey, Gwynedd, Conwy, Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Bridgend, Vale of Glamorgan, Cardiff, Monmouthshire and Newport have been warned.

A Cabinet Office Spokesperson said: ‘The Met Office has issued a red warning for wind across parts of England and Wales from 0300 hrs until 1100 hrs on Saturday 7th December.

‘In light of the damaging winds and associated disruption, the Cabinet Office will issue an Emergency Alert at 1845 hrs on Friday 6th December to people in areas covered by the red warning in parts of Wales and the South West.

‘The Emergency Alert system will send a message to every compatible mobile phone in the impacted areas, containing information about the red warning and guidance on how to stay safe into Saturday. 

‘This will be the largest ever use of the system outside a test scenario. Mobile phones will make a loud siren-like sound even if they are set on silent. The sound and vibration will last for about 10 seconds.

‘The UK Government has well-rehearsed plans in place for severe winter weather and is working with teams from devolved governments, local authorities, the emergency services and other public bodies to coordinate the response to any disruption.’

National Highways said both the Prince of Wales Bridge, M4 and the Severn Bridge, M48, which connect South West England to Wales were closed due to strong winds.

Network Rail Wales said all train services west of Cardiff and on the North Wales Coast Line were suspended until further notice due to falling trees blocking the line.

In Scotland, the train line between Ayr and Girvan was closed after a large tree fell onto the tracks, while snow gates were closed on roads in the north-east of Scotland. 

National Highways advised the QEII Bridge at Dartford Crossing in England’s southeast had also been closed due to strong winds.

In the West Midlands, the A5 was closed between the B5070 at Gledrid and the A483 at Halton due to powerful winds.

National Rail said the storm was likely to affect services across the whole network, advising people to check their journey in full before travelling as it may mean the last services of the day are cancelled and passengers may not reach their destination. 

They have specifically advised those travelling in the city area of Liverpool and Cumbria to take additional care and urged them to plan their journeys in advance.

Chris Pye, Network Rail’s North West infrastructure director, said: ‘We are doing everything we can to prepare the railway for Storm Darragh.

‘I’d urge passengers to check before they travel as there may be some disruption to services during the extreme weather.

‘If you live near the railway, please can you secure any loose objects in your gardens such as trampolines and furniture.

‘It is a serious safety risk if they blow onto the tracks and creates more work for our teams who will be on hand around the clock to keep passengers safely on the move.’

Chiltern Railways advised customers to only travel if absolutely necessary on Saturday with significant disruption expected across the network.

A reduced timetable will be in operation with one train per hour on all routes. Chiltern said customers with tickets on Saturday can use them on Sunday, Monday or Tuesday instead.

Several British Airways flights to and from Heathrow, Paris, the United States and the Netherlands were also withdrawn. Air traffic control (ATC) provider Nats added that temporary air traffic restrictions are in place at Heathrow and Gatwick. 

Darragh is also expected to bring heavy rain over the weekend, with more than 120 flood warnings in place on Saturday morning.

An amber warning for rain is in place in Wales from 3 am to 6 pm on Saturday with heavy rain likely to lead to disruption to transport and infrastructure.

A yellow warning for rain is in place for Northern Ireland and Wales, both of which were badly impacted by flooding during Storm Bert, as well as parts of Scotland from 3 pm on Friday until noon on Saturday.

The Met Office said periods of heavy rain in south and mid-Wales through Saturday are likely to see 20-30mm fall in three to six hours, with totals of 80-90mm possible by the time it begins to ease in the evening.

Meteorologists said a period of ‘extremely strong winds’ will develop during the early hours of Saturday morning as the low-pressure system moves across the Irish Sea.

Forecasters told residents to ‘stay indoors if you can’ and ‘avoid travelling by road during potentially dangerous conditions – it is not safe to drive in these conditions’.

The deepening low-pressure system will bring a ‘risk to life and property’, with Christmas events such as light shows, trails and markets axed across the country. 

Christmas markets in towns such as Romsey, Hampshire; Taunton, Somerset; and Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire have all been cancelled due to the forecast. 

Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park has also announced it will be closing its display of fairground rides, an ice kingdom and a Christmas market on Saturday because of ‘high winds’.

Elsewhere, the start of Bolton’s ‘Put Big Light On’ lights festival was shelved, and an ice sculpture trail in Darlington was also put back by a week.

Longleat Safari Park in Wiltshire said it will not open on Saturday due to the storm for safety reasons, while Stonehenge is also closed due to high winds.

We’ve had extreme winter storms for as long as I can remember, with some causing a lot of damage and loss of life. However, they weren’t given names, nor was there a ‘red alert’ or panic-inducing headlines, but they will tell you that it’s all to do with ‘climate change’ – a bit of hysteria so that they can reinforce the agenda.

Label and connect is a traditional manipulation method. Give it a name, or label, and then associate it with danger, risk, terror, et cetera. The public should then be indoctrinated into identifying the message and altering their conduct by spreading it through the media. The fact that we get all of these things throughout the winter is nothing new.

It makes me question if the phone warning was a test run for something more sinister in the future. I wouldn’t rule it out because both our current and previous governments have committed some extremely heinous crimes.

However, this might be nothing more than a weather warning that furnishes people with a little ‘heads up’. This is required these days because some people lack the brains to take care. They park under enormous trees and stroll out by the sea. As a consequence, we have to name storms and issue constant weather alerts. It’s no big deal, and perhaps it’s not mass manipulation, or perhaps it is. I mean why would they not want you to go out? It would mean that you’re not spending money, filling up your vehicles with liquid gold that increases taxes and raises revenue – there is no motive there.

How we managed to exist without storm names fifty years ago is a mystery to me.

Technology, isn’t it fantastic? I’m not convinced about that since technology makes it possible for people to communicate paranoid beliefs online and act as media prophets.

While technology may be beneficial when utilised properly, some people just use it to spread fear and anxiety.

Once again, Mother Nature is demonstrating who is truly in charge of our planet.

The Reverse ‘Rwanda Effect’

Hundreds of migrants have been detained after attempting to get into the UK by crossing the border from Ireland – an apparent reversal of the trend that saw asylum make the opposite journey to evade deportation to Rwanda.

Officials claim that criminal gangs are charging up to €8,000 (£6,600) to transport migrants from Ireland into Northern Ireland, claiming that this is a safer option than travelling over the Channel in tiny boats.

They then have the option of remaining in Northern Ireland or travelling to mainland Great Britain on ferries or aircraft.

The interceptions are part of a Home Office campaign called Operation Comby, which was launched last April to tackle abuses of the Common Travel Area, which permits people to travel between Northern Ireland and the Republic without limitations.

It contrasts with the situation in spring, which saw an inpouring of migrants crossing into the Republic after arriving in Britain on small boats due to fears about the now-abandoned Rwanda scheme.

A three-day operation saw 35 arrests in Ireland and the UK and the seizure of £400,000 worth of criminal cash and 10 fraudulent identity documents.

Checks were conducted at major ports, airports, and road networks across the country to disrupt smuggling routes.

One Iranian man seemed to have travelled from Barcelona to Dublin posing as a Ukrainian.

At Belfast Airport, officers stopped the man on his way to the departure area after suspecting that his passport was fraudulent. He acknowledged being Iranian after an interview.

Minister for Border Security and Asylum, Dame Angela Eagle, said: ‘This government will not stand by as criminal gangs exploit vulnerable people, risking their lives and giving them false hopes of a better life in the UK.

‘Driven by greed, these gangs have no regard for human life or safety, charging outrageous fees, preying on those desperate to escape hardship, and forcing them into illegal and dangerous situations.

‘We are taking the fight to them on all fronts under the leadership of our new Border Security Commander. 

‘Dismantling the business models of these gangs does not just apply to the small boat trade – we are also stamping out other routes into the UK to bring them to justice and slash their profits.’

Earlier this year the movement of migrants from the UK to Ireland due to the so-called ‘Rwanda effect’ generated a significant diplomatic row. 

Hundreds ended up sleeping rough beside Dublin’s International Protection Office, which had no toilets or washing facilities – before the camp was cleared by the Irish authorities.

Taoiseach Simon Harris promised to pass new laws to facilitate the returns of migrants after the country’s courts said the UK cannot be classed as ‘safe’ due to the pact with the African state.

In response, Rishi Sunak said that he was ‘not interested’ in taking back migrants from Ireland given that the EU refuses to take back Channel migrants who arrived from France. 

Home Office Immigration Enforcement Inspector, Jonathan Evans, said: ‘This operation has been a huge success and sends a clear message that the smuggling gangs who break our laws will face serious consequences.

‘We are taking action day in, day out to ensure we stay a step ahead of these criminal groups, disrupting them at the earliest possible stage. 

‘We will continue working relentlessly to ensure no one abuses the Common Travel Area or the UK’s borders.

‘I’m incredibly proud of our teams across the country, as well as our partners from the police, the National Crime Agency, and international counterparts, for their hard work and collaboration in carrying out this important operation.’

We, the British taxpayers, are paying the price for the blunder of abandoning the Rwanda agreement.

Indeed, the time has come for some kind of enormous legal objection because none of our politicians are listening or even care. Illegal immigration is, without a doubt the number one concern in the UK right now, but all we seem to be able to do is express our concerns verbally.

Crime rates and illegal immigration are on the rise, yet little is being done about it, and criminals are being freely admitted to Britain and apparently exempted from punishment for their crimes.

NHS Left 95-Year-Old Woman On Freezing Pavement

The husband of an elderly woman left lying on the pavement for five hours with a broken hip because she was not considered a priority for an ambulance has slammed the way she was treated as a ‘disgrace’.

Winifred Soanes, 95, who as a child survived her home being bombed during the Blitz, is recovering in hospital from surgery after falling while out shopping in Christchurch, Dorset, last week.

When members of the public and her husband Arthur, 92, repeatedly called 999 for an ambulance, the dispatcher informed them that Winifred was not a priority case.

Furious Arthur has hit out at how Winifred was treated: ‘At her age, it is out of order. I can’t imagine that all the other ambulances were going to more important calls than a 95-year-old woman lying in pain and out on the bloody road for five hours.

‘How can that not be a priority? It’s disgraceful.’

He told how other shoppers rallied round to prop her head up with shoe boxes from market stallholders and a pillow from a nearby pub.

Staff at Mountain Warehouse supplied her with sleeping bags and charity shops gave blankets and hot water bottles to keep Winifred warm. At one point she cried out how she thought she was going to die there.

Others brought food and coffee to Arthur, a diabetic and war veteran who would not leave his wife’s side.

He developed a throat infection afterwards which meant he was unable to visit his wife of 61 years for the first few days.

“Winifred had surgery on her right hip and will be in the hospital for three or four weeks while she heals,” he stated.

Arthur went on: ‘When she fell down I held her head out of the gutter and shouted around for anyone with a phone to call for an ambulance.

‘I asked her if she was in pain because you don’t move someone with a broken leg or something and she said she had dreadful pain in her hip.

‘A man dialled 999 straight away and he said they were busy but it will be on its way. We waited 10, 20 and 30 minutes and it didn’t come.

‘He called again and had to go through the same rigmarole and answer the same questions again. They said they were extremely busy and this went on for four or five calls.’

David Lovell was the one who saw Winifred’s fall.

He said: ‘I was told that Winifred was not a priority having been given the information about her vital signs. The conversation became heated between myself and the operator.

‘We had a 95-year-old woman lying on the pavement in the freezing cold and her diabetic husband sat in a chair in the cold. There were five or six 999 calls that were made over five hours from different people.

‘They said every time they were very busy and she wasn’t a priority.’

Arthur said it wasn’t until a man ‘with a medical background’ pulled over and then phoned 999 that the ambulance came.

He said: ‘I don’t know who he was but I think he was a medical chap. He got his phone out and really gave them a talking to. He said if this woman dies then who is going to be responsible? He said that she is 95 and that he couldn’t be sure he could keep her awake much longer.

‘People really put themselves out for us, I can’t thank them enough. They had homes to go to yet they stayed for five hours with us.

‘Someone gave me a wheelchair and a blanket and sleeping bag because I was shivering. She is being well looked after in hospital and at least I can see her now.

‘She is a very resilient person and has been through worse. She was bombed in the Second World War. Her father was away in the army and her mother took her to visit her gran and that same day a bomb hit their house and there was nothing left of it.

‘You soon realise how lonely you can get. Win and I are soul mates and we do things like watch The Chase on TV together and try to answer as many questions as we can between us. I can’t wait until she comes home. I will be able to look after her.’

Arthur did his two years of National Service with the King’s Royal Rifles and was stationed in Germany in the 1950s and after his time with the army, he became an engineer working in timber preservation.

Seventeen years ago, he and Winifred relocated to Christchurch from west London.

A spokesperson for the South Western Ambulance Service, said: ‘We are sorry that we were not able to provide a timely response to this patient. Any occasion where the care we provide falls below the high standards our patients deserve and rightly expect is unacceptable.

‘Handover delays at emergency departments remain one of our biggest challenges. To ensure our ambulances are available to attend the next emergency call within the community, we need to be able to hand patients over within the 15-minute national target.

‘We continue to work hard with our partners in the NHS and social care, to do all we can to improve the service that patients receive.’

Jane Chandler, executive director of quality patient care at the South Western Ambulance Service, said: ‘We would like to offer our sincere apologies to Mrs Soanes for the delay in our response. The delay was unacceptable and falls below the high standards of care we aim to provide.

‘Delays in our care is not something we want any of our patients to experience, and when a delay does occur, it’s taken very seriously. Our response to Mrs Soanes will be reviewed and any learnings will be implemented, to help improve our service to patients.

‘At the time of Mrs Soanes’ fall, our service was under extreme pressure, and our response time was impacted by this. This demand was further compounded by hospital handover delays and system pressures within the wider NHS and social care.

‘We continue to work incredibly hard with our partners in the NHS and social care, to do all we can to improve the service that patients receive.’

At 95 years of age, with a broken hip, laying outdoors in the freezing cold weather, feeling tremendous pain, I would say she was indeed a ‘priority.’ The ambulance service could have at the very least sent out a responder who could have assessed this lady and given her some pain relief. The ambulance service is sadly failing in its responsibilities, and I’m sure a degree of ageism enters into the decision to respond quicker or not.

It appears that the NHS does not consider older people to be a priority.

Triage at a call centre is read off a card and that’s how they assess priority. Unless someone is not breathing or has sustained a head injury, then you are not a priority, age is irrelevant, but age is not irrelevant, especially when you are 95 years of age. It was bitterly cold out, and had this woman fallen asleep she would have certainly died, therefore she was a priority.

I hope that anyone at the end of the phone at a triage call centre is never in the same position, and if they ever are, then I hope that they can reflect on how cold and uncaring they had been to this lady.

Unfortunately, it’s our government, not the call handlers fault. They are given a job to do and they just do it like a robot. However, common sense tells a person if it’s a priority, as this was. I understand that other things are going on like cardiac arrests, people bleeding out et cetera, but being 95 years old and in the freezing cold with a broken hip should take priority as well. I definitely wouldn’t have wanted to be the person making that decision – the system is broken.

Sadly there are too many calls and not enough ambulances, and it must be extremely stressful for call handlers. Day in and day out the ambulance service let people down. Some people have to wait four hours after having a stroke or heart attack for an ambulance – it’s basically like playing God, potentially being forced to determine who lives and who dies.

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