Rebecca Adlington has welcomed the lifting of restrictions on baby loss certificates, saying her own has helped “bring home that [her baby] is part of the family”.
The Olympic swimmer lost her baby daughter,who she and her husband named Harper,at 20-weeks pregnant in October 2023.
It was Adlington’s second miscarriage in as many years, and she has since become an ambassador for baby loss counselling charity Petals.
Speaking on The UK Tonight with Sarah-Jane Mee, Adlington welcomed a recent change which means anyone who has suffered a miscarriage in the UK can apply for a baby loss certificate.
Until this week, the service was only available to parents who had experienced a loss since September 2018 but this restriction has now been lifted.
Image: Rebecca Adlington. Pic: PA
“We’ve got one, it’s actually framed,” Adlington told The UK Tonight With Sarah-Jayne Mee. “As soon as we found out about the certificates, we applied.
“It was something we absolutely wanted to have because we don’t have many things around the house that make her feel part of the family, and she is part of the family.
“It really kind of brings it home that she is part of the family. My kids know, they always say ‘Harper’s my sister’.”
While the certificates “are not going to take away the pain… they’re so fundamental to make [the loss] part of your life”, she continued.
“With miscarriage, there aren’t many things you can hold on to.”
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Image: Adlington and Andy Parsons married in 2021. Pic: PA
As the one-year anniversary of her miscarriage approaches, Adlington said she and her husband Andy Parsons are planning to check in with their counsellor.
“Both times, it was incredibly difficult to go through so I’m so, so grateful I had support,” she said. “I’ve had thousands of messages from people who didn’t have the best support or kept it to themselves.”
The change in rules surrounding the certificates coincides with baby loss awareness week.
All parents who have experienced a loss can now apply for one, for free, via a government website.
Two teenagers suffered “instant severe blood loss” after being fatally stabbed in a case of mistaken identity, a jury has been told.
Mason Rist, 15, and Max Dixon, 16, died on the night of Saturday 27 January in the Knowle West area of Bristol.
Five defendants, including Riley Tolliver, 18, and Anthony Snook, 45, and three teenagers aged 15, 16 and 17, are on trial for murder at Bristol Crown Court.
Image: Mason and Max were stabbed in January this year. Pic: Family handout via Avon and Somerset Police/PA
Prosecutor Ray Tully KC told the jury the friends were set upon by the group travelling in Snook’s Audi Q2 while they were out seeking revenge on those responsible for throwing bricks at a house in the Hartcliffe area an hour earlier.
The 33-second attack on the two boys was captured by a CCTV camera on Mason’s house.
It showed the vehicle stopping before four people ran out and attacked the two friends.
Mr Tully told the jury on Wednesday that Max and Mason “had absolutely nothing to do with any earlier incident”.
On Thursday, the court was shown CCTV footage of three others throwing bricks at the property in Hartcliffe – some armed with knives.
The jury was also shown computer-generated images of the victims’ injuries and details of the initial police response.
Describing pathologist Dr Russell Delaney’s evidence, Mr Tully said Mason suffered two stab wounds to his back and chest which were described as “unsurvivable injuries”.
Max was stabbed in his abdomen. Both boys suffered “instant severe blood loss”.
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Image: Flowers left for Max and Mason in Knowle West
Boy was ‘covered in blood’
Mr Tully told the jury PC Luke Douglas was one of the first officers on the scene, adding: “He found Mason lying in the road covered in blood. He described the scene around him as chaos.”
“PC Ben Tucker also went to Ilminster Avenue. He was pointed towards a male lying on the floor, that person was Max. Max was struggling to breathe and there was a pool of blood around his body,” he added.
The court was shown images of two machetes Mr Tully said had been recovered following the fatal attack.
Prosecution says defendants acted jointly in murders
The jury heard the youngest defendant, who was 14 at the time of the attack and is now 15, has pleaded guilty to the murder of Mason but not guilty to the murder of Max.
The 17-year-old has pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Max but denies both counts of murder.
The 16-year-old, Tolliver and Snook all deny two counts of murder.
The prosecution says all five acted jointly in killing the two boys.
The trial, expected to last around eight weeks, continues.
A care worker has been jailed for sexually abusing a young severely disabled woman in Kent.
Naguib Lootfun, 69, from Maidstone, abused the vulnerable patient while working for an assisted living facility.
Colleagues found an empty condom wrapper in a bedroom at the facility on 8 May, after Lootfun had worked a night shift.
He claimed the wrapper had fallen out of his pocket as he worked, but was suspended while an investigation was carried out.
Searches of the rubbish bins at the care home revealed two used condoms with DNA matching both Lootfun and the victim.
Semen stains were also found in her room that matched his DNA profile and Lootfun was arrested on suspicion of rape.
Lootfun initially denied allegations of sexual abuse but later admitted to having sex with the victim, who was unable to consent.
He was convicted at Maidstone Crown Court on 9 July. Lootfun was then sentenced to 11 years and ordered to serve an extra four years on licence on Wednesday.
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Daniel Harrison from the Crown Prosecution Service South East said: “This was an utterly sickening and horrendous case involving someone that the victim trusted, who abused that trust in the most appalling way.
“The victim was unable to consent to sexual activity in any way because of her disabilities. Lootfun was fully aware of this, having worked at the home for some time and looked after her.
“Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of this case is the significant planning that went into it and the way that Lootfun attempted to cover up his crime, carefully disposing of the used condom within plastic gloves in the waste.
“Confronted by the weight of evidence in this case, Lootfun was left with no option but to plead guilty to the charges against him.”
The Chancellor will need to raise taxes by £25bn if she wants to keep spending in line with a key indicator – the nation’s economic health – according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
In its annual ‘Green Budget’ analysis, the IFS warned that the government would have to dramatically increase the £9bn of tax rises outlined in its manifesto to meet the pressures on public services.
The chancellor is likely to stick to her fiscal rule, which requires day-to-day spending to be met by tax revenues. This means she cannot increase borrowing to fill the gap.
Rachel Reeves will present her first budget in the Commons on 30 October. Paul Johnson, director of the IFS, said this budget could be “the most consequential since at least 2010”.
The new Labour government has already pledged in its manifesto to increase government budgets by £5bn and is spending £9bn to settle public sector pay disputes.
If Labour makes no further changes to the spending envelope, which was outlined by the previous government in 2021, it would register a surplus of £17bn.
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Will Rachel Reeves U-turn on her budget promise?
However, those spending plans are considered wildly unrealistic and would involve real term cuts to unprotected budgets.
There is very little appetite for further cuts to public spending, so the chancellor could protect those budgets from inflation. That would leave her with a surplus of £1bn.
However, if she opted to protect spending as a share of national income* – which better reflects population increase – she would record a deficit of £16bn.
(*National income is the total value of goods produced and services provided by a country in one year, equal to Gross Domestic Product plus the net income from foreign investments)
That £16bn combined with the £9bn of tax rises already promised would see taxes increase by £25bn, further adding to a tax burden which is at a generational high.
Over-zealous borrowing plans could risk a UK buyer’s strike
The UK risks a buyer’s strike in the bond markets if the chancellor is over-zealous with her borrowing plans.
Rachel Reeves is expected to outline plans to increase borrowing for investment purposes in her Budget on 30 October.
Although she has a debt rule that requires debt to be falling as a share of GDP in five years time, she could change her definition of debt to give herself extra headroom.
In doing so, she could find up to £50bn in additional headroom. However, the IFS warned the government against borrowing this much money.
Economists said the chancellor should be slow and steady with any increases in borrowing, with full oversight of institutions such as the National Audit Office.
They note that the UK has greater liquidity risk than its neighbours, including the EU so it is more exposed to changes in investor sentiment.
It would be bigger than the net tax rises recorded in July 1997 and October 2010, which were both around £13-£14bn.
The government has also penned itself in by promising not to raise income tax and corporation tax or to increase National Insurance or VAT.
The IFS said that, even if Labour’s planned £9bn tax rise is implemented, trying to balance the current budget while avoiding cuts to public service spending would put the budget “on a knife edge” and highly sensitive to Office for Budget Responsibility judgments.
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It said the chancellor has inherited an “unenviable” public finance situation as taxes are already at an historic high and debt is rising, while public services such as prisons, police and local councils are under strain.
The chancellor and Sir Keir Starmer have said the Labour government inherited a £22bn “black hole” in the public finances from its predecessors.
Mr Johnson, said: “The first budget of this new administration could be the most consequential since at least 2010… Taxes are at an all-time high, and she is tightly constrained by her pledges not to raise the main rates of income tax or corporation tax, or to increase National Insurance or VAT at all.
“The temptation then is to borrow more, perhaps changing the definition of debt targeted by the fiscal rules. But, given her pledge to balance the current budget, that would not free up additional resource for day-to-day spending.”
Former Premier League footballer George Baldock has died at the age of 31.
The Greek defender was found on Wednesday in a swimming pool at his home in the southern Athens suburb of Glyfada, police sources told the Reuters news agency.
His cause of death remains unknown.
Baldock spent seven years at Sheffield United, having arrived from MK Dons in 2017.
He amassed over 200 appearances for the club before joining Greek side Panathinaikos earlier this year.
In a post on X, Sheffield United said the club is “shocked and extremely saddened” to learn of his death.
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It said he was “extremely popular with supporters, staff and teammates” during his time at Bramall Lane.
Both Panathinaikos and the Greece national team blackened their profile pictures on social media on Wednesday evening.
The full-back, who was not named in the Greece squad to face England on Thursday, featured in Sunday’s 0-0 draw with Olympiacos.
Image: Baldock before a Euro 2024 qualifier in March. Pic: AP
The Greek Super League said in a post: “The entire Super League football family expresses its deep sorrow for the untimely loss of Panathinaikos and our National Team footballer, George Baldock, and extends its deepest condolences to his family and loved ones.”
England international and former Sheffield United player Harry Maguire posted “RIP” and a heartbreak emoji alongside an image of Baldock on Instagram.
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Northampton Town, where Baldock had a loan spell in 2011, said it was “deeply saddened”.
“George made five appearances in 2011 before playing for Oxford United and Sheffield United. Sending our sincerest condolences to George’s family and friends,” the club’s statement read.
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Born in England, but with Greek ancestry in his family, Baldock was convinced by then-Greece head coach Gus Poyet to play for the national team and went on to earn 12 caps, last playing for his country earlier this year.
He also previously played for Oxford United and Tamworth.
A huge fire that tore through a multi-storey car park at Luton Airport could have been put out faster if a sprinkler system had been installed, a report has found.
Four firefighters were injured in the blaze which destroyed 1,352 vehicles on 10 October 2023 and led to flights in and out of the airport being temporarily grounded.
The fire began in a red Range Rover, which already had “light smoke” coming out of it as it entered through the barriers shortly before 9pm, according to an incident report by Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service.
The driver of the diesel vehicle did not notice the issue until they had reached the third floor of the Terminal 2 car park, when flames appeared from the front of the car, the report said.
Image: A red Range Rover on fire at Luton Airport Terminal 2 car park.
Pic: Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue/PA
Image: Burnt-out vehicles in the car park. Pic: Reuters
While the owner did try to stop the fire, it spread to other parked vehicles.
The report concluded that while a sprinkler system was not mandatory in the car park, it would have helped tackle the fire.
“If a suitable sprinkler system had been installed, it may have changed and delayed the pattern of fire spread, increasing the chances of a successful outcome once firefighting operations had begun,” the report said.
It added: “A combination of the wind spreading the fire through the open-sided car park, the impact of running fuel fires, and the early onset of signs of structural collapse all prevented internal offensive firefighting from continuing and contributed to the significant scale of the fire and subsequent financial loss.”
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Shocking footage from last year as the fire engulfed the car park
A previous report found that the fire started by accident, most likely caused by an “electrical fault or component failure” in the car’s engine bay.
When fire crews first arrived at the scene there were multiple vehicles on fire and by 9.37pm about 80% of the third floor was ablaze and a major incident was declared.
One agency worker had to be rescued at about 10pm after they used their “status as an airport worker” to enter the building in a desperate attempt to save their car, the report said.
The employee was safely removed but treated for smoke inhalation.
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Image: The Terminal 2 car park was later fully demolished. Pic: Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service
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The event was described as “one of the more significant” fires within the area for many years.
More than 100 firefighters battled the blaze at its height.
The car park partially collapsed during the incident and was later fully demolished.
Police have released a photo of a man they want to speak to after an 18-year-old girl was raped on a night out in Newcastle.
Northumbria Police said the 18-year-old met a man while on a night out in Newcastle city centre on 27 April this year.
“Between 1am and 1.30am the following morning, while still in the city centre, the man is reported to have raped the woman,” the force added in a social media post.
The man in the picture “was in the area at the time the rape is reported to have taken place”, officers said.
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The force added officers believe “he may be able to assist with our enquiries”.
Police also said the victim was being “supported by specially-trained officers”, and that “extensive enquiries have been carried out since the report was first made”.
Anyone with information can call police on 101 quoting the reference number 048467B/24
Parliament Road in Middlesbrough feels a world away from the establishment it shares a name with, but for one Sunday in August, the terraced streets of central Middlesbrough were at the centre of national attention.
That afternoon, what was advertised as a peaceful protest, turned into a riot, with hundreds of people, many of them wearing masks, targeting livelihoods and businesses in one of the city’s most diverse areas.
They lit fires, smashed windows and clashed with the police.
Hundreds of arrests have been made and dozens of those people sentenced, but months on, the impact of that day can still be felt.
Not just in the cracked windows and debris still on the street, but in the deeper fabric of a community who are concerned about not just those events, but bigger issues they feel have blighted the area for far longer.
One of those people is Pervaz Akhtar, who has lived in Middlesbrough for more than three decades and runs a phone shop on Parliament Road.
After having his stock burgled on more than half a dozen occasions in two years, he decided to take matters into his own hands.
Image: Mr Akhtar protects his shop with razor wire
Every evening he spends more than half an hour unrolling a ring of razor wire, to cover both the shop floor and the counters.
“I’ve got the police alarm, I’ve got the CCTV cameras, I’ve got the shutters, everything.”
“But I think this is the best thing to do,” he says, gesturing to the razor wire, which he has to fold into wooden crates every morning while wearing protective gloves.
That process, which has become a daily routine, takes him around 40 minutes.
‘I’m depressed’
Image: Rioters jumping on Mr Akhtar’s car
Even with a deterrent in place however, he still feels unsafe and is now considering leaving the business altogether.
“I just put the shop up for sale now,” he says.
“I think, before I’m not giving up, but (now) I’m depressed, because all the time I never know when somebody will come and show me a knife and take the phones away.”
Mr Akhtar’s discontent only deepened this summer when his home and car were damaged by rioters.
In footage he shared with Sky News, a group of young men climbed on top of the vehicle, smashing the windscreen.
The shop owner says his whole family were impacted by what happened.
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His wife, who is a carer, needed to find another vehicle to get to work, while one of his two young sons has been left fearful about the prospect of more disorder.
“About one week later, he saw about 10, 12 people playing in the park, he ran back and said, ‘Dad, they’re coming again’,” recalls Mr Akhtar.
Another person living in the area and impacted by the disorder that day is John, who moved to Middlesbrough from Ghana and shares a house with three others from the West African country.
Image: John’s window is still boarded up
More than two months on, the front window of the property was still boarded up.
“I was quite surprised to see that there could be damage, because I was expecting a peaceful demonstration,” he says before sighing and looking at the front of the house.
“Whilst that is not in the original state, for sure that will frustrate me, but I have hope in the police department that once they said it is going to be fixed, it will be fixed,” he adds.
Once the damage is repaired, there are deeper community issues that will linger.
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Streets Ahead For Information are a charity who describe themselves as a “one stop shop” for people who live in the area, offering vital services for residents in one of Middlesbrough’s most diverse communities.
Twice a week, they organise a low-cost food shop, which is always in high demand.
Residents line up outside, before filling their baskets with items like eggs, fruit and vegetables, largely costing under £1 each.
The people the charity support are from a range of backgrounds. Some are asylum seekers, others have lived in the area for years.
Many of them still have concerns about the disorder that spilled onto Parliament Road.
One woman from Romania, called Diana, says she was away on holiday at the time, but watched the scenes on TikTok.
Now she has concerns about the place she and her children call home. “I look all the time on my back,” she says.
For Streets Ahead and the operations manager Kim May, the work in the coming weeks and months will be twofold.
The charity is still advising people who had their homes and livelihoods impacted by the riots, but she is hoping the uncomfortable spotlight placed on Middlesbrough will encourage more people to support a voluntary sector working to solve people’s day to day problems, many of which she sees first hand.
“It’s the community issues that are more important. We can fix windows, we can fix cars, we can do that. But fixing people’s state of mind is a completely different thing,” she says.
“We have a lot of mental health issues in our area. We need to get the hospital sorted out. We need to take care of poverty in these areas, we need to take care of health in these areas.
“It’s a much wider range of things than people actually imagined it could ever be. And for some people, it’s about having somebody to see them, to listen to them.”
Coleen Rooney’s lawyers did not commit misconduct or knowingly mislead over their legal costs for the “Wagatha Christie” case, a judge has ruled.
Barristers have been arguing over how much Rebekah Vardy should pay towards Mrs Rooney’s costs after she lost their 2022 libel battle.
Mrs Vardy’s team claimed the other side had initially “deliberately understated” their bill so the apparent gap could be used to attack her costs.
They said it was “serious misconduct” that justified a reduction in the amount she should pay.
Mrs Rooney‘s lawyers denied the allegation, and on Tuesday a judge agreed.
Senior costs judge Andrew Gordon-Saker said that “on balance and, I have to say, only just”, Mrs Rooney’s team did not commit wrongdoing, and it was “not an appropriate case” to reduce Mrs Vardy‘s eventual bill.
He identified a “failure to be transparent” but it was not “sufficiently unreasonable or improper” to be classed as misconduct.
The details of the “Wagatha Christie” case made headlines in 2022 after Mrs Rooney – the wife of ex-England footballer Wayne Rooney – claimed stories about her private life were being leaked to the press via the social media account of Mrs Vardy – the wife of Leicester player Jamie Vardy.
Mrs Rooney launched an investigation to find the mole, posting fake stories on her private Instagram and limiting them so only Mrs Vardy’s account could see them.
After the fake stories appeared in the tabloid press, Mrs Rooney shared her findings on social media, finishing with the line: “It’s… Rebekah Vardy’s account”.
Mrs Vardy sued Mrs Rooney for libel. But a judge decided Mrs Rooney’s claims were “substantially true” and ordered Mrs Vardy to pay 90% of her costs in defending herself.
The starting point in such cases is the loser pays the other side’s reasonable costs.
However, the judge has the discretion to decide the amount based on multiple factors, including the parties’ conduct.
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The pair did not attend the latest hearings in London.
Mrs Vardy’s barrister, Jamie Carpenter KC, argued Mrs Rooney’s claimed bill of £1,833,906.89 was “disproportionate” and more than three times her agreed budget of nearly £541,000.
He continued that the earlier “understatement” of some costs was “improper and unreasonable” and “involved knowingly misleading Mrs Vardy and the court”.
In written submissions on Monday, he told the court some of Mrs Rooney’s costs were “extraordinary” and included a five-star hotel for a lawyer – with “substantial dinner and drinks charges as well as mini bar charges”.
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Mrs Rooney’s barrister, Robin Dunne, said the idea Mrs Vardy’s bill should be reduced was “misconceived” and their initial budget was “not designed to be an accurate or binding representation” of all her costs.
The hearing, which ends on Wednesday, is dealing with points of principle and a line-by-line assessment of costs will take place at a later date.
Tom Tugendhat has been knocked out of the Tory leadership race after receiving the least votes from MPs.
It narrows the field down to three, with James Cleverly, Kemi Badenoch, and Robert Jenrick still in the running to replace Rishi Sunak.
Follow reaction to the Tory leadership race
Mr Cleverly overtook Mr Jenrick to come out on top with 39 of his colleagues backing him in today’s vote.
Mr Jenrick followed with 31 votes, then 30 for Ms Badenoch, and 20 for Mr Tugendhat.
A further vote by MPs on Wednesday will reduce the field to a final two, who will then go to a ballot of Tory members next month.
Mr Tugendhat thanked those who backed him in a post on X, adding: “Your energy, your ideas and your support have shown a vision of what our party could become.
“Our campaign has ended but our commitment to our country continues.”
Image: Left to right: Tory leadership candidates Tom Tugendhat, James Cleverly, Robert Jenrick and Kemi Badenoch
Mr Tugendhat served as security minister under Mr Sunak’s premiership and before becoming an MP was a member of the armed forces – a fact he has honed in on to pitch himself as the candidate of public service.
Seen as being from the moderate, centrist wing of the party, he was equal third with former home secretary Mr Cleverly in the last round of voting, when Mel Stride was knocked out.
Mr Cleverly saw a surge in support after the Conservative Party conference last week, when he gave a well-received speech urging party members to be “more normal” and “sell Conservatism with a smile”.
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In a post on social media after the vote, he said he was “grateful” to his colleagues who backed him and “pleased to be through to the next round”.
He added: “The job’s not finished. I’m excited to keep spreading our positive Conservative message.”
Mr Cleverly is likely to make the final round as the “One Nation” wing’s candidate, while Mr Jenrick and Ms Badenoch are seen as battling for the support of the right of the party.
Image: Conservative Party leadership candidate Tom Tugendhat. Pic:PA
They were previously considered to be the frontrunners, coming in first and second place respectively in the earlier two rounds of voting.
They both faced criticism for comments they made during the party conference – Mr Jenrick for claiming the SAS is being forced to kill rather than capture terrorists because the “European Court will set them free”, something many of his colleagues disputed.
Meanwhile, former business secretary Ms Badenoch was forced to backtrack over comments she made about “excessive” maternity pay and civil servants being jailed.
A spokesperson for her campaign said the party’s right-wing “needs to coalesce around Kemi” given the fall in Mr Jenrick’s support, adding she “can reach across and unify the party, has the star quality to cut through in opposition, and is indisputably the members’ choice for leader”.
Mr Jenrick’s campaign said the former immigration minister, who wants to leave the European Convention on Human Rights, was “in prime position to make the final two”.
A source said: “MPs want seriousness and competence. That’s why he’s won support from across the party so far – from Danny Kruger on the right to Vicky Atkins on the left.”
Polling suggests the Conservative membership favours Ms Badenoch over Mr Jenrick and Mr Cleverly, but that the gap has narrowed since the party conference.
Whoever wins on 2 November, when the final result is declared, they face the task of rebuilding the party after their worst-ever general election defeat put them in opposition for the first time in 14 years.
