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‘British Airways killer’: Man who killed wife Joanna Simpson with claw hammer loses bid for freedom | UK News

A man who killed his wife with a hammer more than 13 years ago has lost his bid for freedom.

British Airways captain Robert Brown bludgeoned 46-year-old Joanna Simpson to death in their family home in October 2010 as their two young children cowered in a playroom.

Brown then dumped the 46-year-old’s body in a makeshift coffin in Windsor Great Park.

The killing was the subject of a new ITV documentary The British Airways Killer.

Explained:
Who is the ‘British Airways killer’, Robert Brown, who killed Joanna Simpson?

Robert Brown. Pic: PA
Image:
Robert Brown. Pic: PA

Brown’s High Court challenge against a government move to block his automatic release from prison was dismissed by Mr Justice Ritchie today.

He had claimed “political motivation” amid a media campaign against his release improperly contributed to a decision to refer his case to the Parole Board.

His lawyers argued at a hearing in London earlier this month that Justice Secretary Alex Chalk’s referral was unlawful.

Brown was cleared of murder after a trial, but admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility, with a psychiatric report saying he suffered from an “adjustment disorder”.

Brown was sentenced to 24 years for manslaughter and a further two years for an offence of obstructing a coroner in the execution of his duty.

Aged 47 at sentencing in 2011, Brown believed he was “stitched up” by a prenuptial agreement and was affected by stress linked to his divorce, a judge was told.

He was due to be automatically freed on licence halfway through his sentence in November last year, but Ms Simpson’s friends and family urged Mr Chalk to intervene.

Read more from Sky News:
Family say police must answer ‘for betrayal’ after man found guilty of strangling sex worker
Two men suspected of ‘running flight smuggling ring’ arrested
One dead and two missing after small boat incident in Channel

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Brown ‘a danger to anybody he came in contact with’

Referral overrides automatic release

In October last year, Mr Chalk used new powers to have Brown’s case reviewed by the Parole Board.

Brown’s lawyers argued the referral was “an obvious attempt to seek to reverse engineer justification for a decision that was in reality prompted and obtained through conscious or unconscious political bias”.

The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) rejected his allegations, arguing the minister “in no way seeks to ‘go behind’ or ‘disapply’ or ‘fail to respect’ the sentencing court’s decision”.

Lawyers for the department said Mr Chalk believed Brown “would pose a significant risk of serious harm to the public if released on licence”, adding the offender had “persistently refused to engage in the rehabilitative elements of his sentence”.

Mr Chalk’s referral overrode Brown’s automatic release.

‘He must be kept in prison’

Ms Simpson’s mother Diana Parkes, who was made a CBE in December for services to vulnerable children suffering from domestic abuse and domestic homicide, said the decision was the “right one”.

She added: “Brown committed the most horrific crime against my loving and caring daughter, Jo. He must be kept in prison.”

SNP to seek Scottish independence talks even if party loses 20 MPs at next general election | Politics News

SNP leader Humza Yousaf has rejected suggestions it would be “ludicrous” for his party to open formal independence negotiations, even if he loses 20 seats at the next general election. 

Ahead of the SNP’s annual conference, Mr Yousaf also told Sky News it is difficult for his party to make progress “the longer” the major police investigation examining its funding and finances continues.

The SNP’s independence strategy has chopped and changed in the past 12 months as the party became engulfed in unprecedented scandal.

Nicola Sturgeon previously pledged to turn the next general election into a “de facto” referendum. She suggested winning more than 50% of the votes in Scotland would be the same as a result to begin talks over Scotland’s exit from the UK.

Ms Sturgeon quit as leader in February before being arrested as part of the police probe. She was released without charge and insists she is “certain” she has done nothing wrong.

Her replacement, Mr Yousaf, later proposed that winning “most” seats in 2024 would open the door to Downing Street negotiations.

It has now been suggested SNP activists could vote at their Aberdeen conference this weekend to switch the wording to a “majority” of seats.

Mr Yousaf told Sky News he is “open” to the tweak, which would set the bar at 29 seats. The SNP secured 48 MPs in 2019.

During an interview in Glasgow, Scotland’s first minister was questioned whether it was credible to suggest a scenario where the nationalists secure just one more seat than Labour at the 2024 election, and that equating to a clear mandate to trigger independence discussions.

He was asked about a hypothetical situation where Labour could get 23 seats and the SNP drops from 48 seats to 24.

The first minister replied: “If you win the most seats, you tend to be the winner of the general election.

“If you are denying the Scottish people the choice over their own future then the next election, we can test that proposition. In a general election, the rules are pretty simple – those that win most seats, win the general election.”

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Humza Yousaf’s mother-in-law ‘trapped’ in Gaza

Mr Yousaf said he would seriously consider a switch to the majority of seats when party members finalise the plan on Sunday.

He added: “Let’s remember before the referendum in 2014 we were at six seats so actually that number will undoubtedly fluctuate election to election.”

Read more:
Yousaf in tears over mother-in-law stuck in Gaza
Beth Rigby analysis: Yousaf feels powerless… and he’s angry – Beth Rigby analysis

Police Scotland told Sky News that the SNP finance investigation – dubbed Operation Branchform – is continuing.

The Crown Office, the body which will decide whether or not to charge individuals, said it has received no complaints about the probe so far.

Mr Yousaf agreed the police probe has “hurt” the SNP.

He said: “Of course it has… the longer the police investigation goes on, then the more difficult it is going to be for the party.

“I respect the police has to take whatever time it feels necessary.”

This Morning loses National Television Award after Phillip Schofield scandal | Ents & Arts News

ITV show This Morning lost the title of best daytime show at the National Television Awards on Tuesday night. 

It is the first time in 12 years the show has left empty-handed from the awards as the shadow of the Phillip Schofield scandal lingers.

This Morning was beaten by BBC‘s The Repair Shop with its host Jay Blades noting it was a “rarity” for them to take home the prize.

Holly Willoughby (left) and Phillip Schofield in 2019
Image:
Holly Willoughby (left) and Phillip Schofield in 2019

He praised his fellow nominees at This Morning, The Chase and Loose Women, saying: “We’re the new kids on the block and I’m glad we’ve won this time. I know it won’t be a regular thing so thank you.”

Meanwhile, BBC drama series Happy Valley and its star Sarah Lancashire also picked up three gongs at the annual awards ceremony held at The O2 in London.

It won the returning drama prize, while Lancashire won the best drama performance award and special recognition award.

Sarah Lancashire, winner of the Special Recognition award and the Drama Performance award for her work in "Happy Valley", with Sir Ian McKellen at the National Television Awards at the O2 Arena, London. Picture date: Tuesday September 5, 2023.
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Sarah Lancashire, winner of the Special Recognition award and the Drama Performance award, with Sir Ian McKellen

Lewis Capaldi’s Netflix hit How I’m Feeling Now, picked up the award for authored documentary – beating Rob Burrow: Living With MND, Matt Willis: Fighting Addiction and the documentary following the late Dame Deborah James, who set up the Bowelbabe cancer research fund and died last year aged 40.

The Scottish singer-songwriter, 26, was unable to collect the award in person as he is currently in the US but sent a video message in which he said: “I have to say thank you so so so much if you voted or even if you just watched the documentary, it genuinely means the world and it never ceases to blow me away how much this documentary has connected with people and struck a chord.”

Reality TV series Gogglebox took home the Bruce Forsyth entertainment award, beating The Masked Singer and Ant and Dec, who were nominated for two of their shows, I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! and Saturday Night Takeaway.

But the Geordie duo further cemented their run as the kings of prime-time television after winning the best TV presenter prize for the 22nd consecutive time.

Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly winners of the TV Presenter award at the National Television Awards at the O2 Arena, London. Picture date: Tuesday September 5, 2023.
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Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly – winners of the TV Presenter award

As the pair collected their award, Donnelly admitted that his heart was beating in his chest, adding: “We are as humbled and grateful tonight as we were when we won it for the first time.”

McPartlin added that they will continue to present “as long as you want us to”.

BBC’s The Traitors won best reality competition while The Graham Norton Show won in the new TV interviews category, beating Piers Morgan Uncensored on Talk TV, Louis Theroux Interviews… and The Chris & Rosie Ramsey Show to claim the prize.

Alison Hammond arrives for the National Television Awards at the O2 Arena, London. Picture date: Tuesday September 5, 2023.
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Alison Hammond

Norton appeared via video to collect the award, saying: “I’m so sorry I can’t be there. Finally, I win a National Television Award and I’m not there.”

“This award, winning it means so much. Mostly it means that Ant and Dec don’t have a talk show… yet. Don’t do it to me, boys,” he added.

Strictly Come Dancing picked up the talent show prize, EastEnders claimed the serial drama gong while Netflix hit Wednesday, which stars Jenna Ortega as the Addams Family character Wednesday Addams, won the new drama award.

Joel Dommett and Hannah Cooper arrive for the National Television Awards at the O2 Arena, London. Picture date: Tuesday September 5, 2023.
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Host Joel Dommett and Hannah Cooper

The show also paid tribute to the late Paul O’Grady and played a montage of some of his career highlights, with host Joel Dommett remembering his “kindness” which was coupled with a “unique sense of fun that won over audiences in an instant”.

The TV star, who died “unexpectedly but peacefully” aged 67 in March, also won the factual entertainment prize for his TV show For The Love Of Dogs.

‘I can’t bear this bloody thing’: King loses patience with leaky pen as he signs visitors’ book in Northern Ireland | UK News

A pen faced the wrath of the King this afternoon as it began leaking when he signed a visitors’ book in Northern Ireland.

The monarch became frustrated and swore as the pen malfunctioned – and it appears it was not its first offence.

The King was at Hillsborough Castle to commemorate his mother, the Queen.

Queen’s coffin arrives at Buckingham Palace – royal news latest updates

As he signed the book he had to ask an aide what the date was, having originally inscribed the wrong one.

After finishing his note, the King passed the pen to Camilla, the Queen Consort.

At this point he lost his temper with the offending instrument.

“Oh god, I hate this,” he said.

His wife replied: “Oh look, it’s going everywhere” as the King wiped ink from his hand.

An aide went to intervene and take the pen from the Queen Consort.

“I can’t bear this bloody thing… every stinking time,” the King said as he walked away.

Read more:
King and Queen Consort meet crowds in Northern Ireland
Accompanying Queen on final journeys has been ‘an honour’ – Anne

The King had also needed assistance while signing a document earlier in the succession process.

During the Accession Council at St James’s Palace on Saturday, His Majesty flapped his hand repeatedly at an ink well on the table and waited for an aide to take it away.

One former aide told Reuters that, while the King could be fun, he was also short-tempered and demanding.

QUEEN DIES 9PM SPECIAL PROMO_100922-VER2
Wagatha Christie case: Rebekah Vardy loses libel trial against Coleen Rooney | Ents & Arts News

Rebekah Vardy has lost her Wagatha Christie case against Coleen Rooney.

Vardy attempted to sue her fellow WAG for defamation, but a High Court judge has ruled that Rooney’s Instagram post outing Vardy for leaking stories to The Sun newspaper was true.

Judge Justice Steyn described Vardy’s evidence in the libel trial as “manifestly inconsistent… evasive or implausible” – while Rooney’s evidence was “honest and reliable”.

The court found that the essence of Rooney’s social media post was “substantially true” – that’s to say Vardy was responsible for leaking Rooney’s private information to the press.

In her conclusion, the judge said: “I have found that Ms Vardy was party to the disclosure to The Sun… Ms Vardy knew of and condoned this behaviour, actively engaging in it by directing Ms Watt to the private Instagram account, sending her screenshots of Ms Rooney’s posts, drawing attention to items of potential interest to the press, and answering additional queries raised by the press via Ms Watt.”

Caroline Watt was Vardy’s agent and friend, and had been implicated in the leaking of the private posts during evidence heard in court. She did not give evidence during the hearing.

Coleen Rooney / Rebekah Vardy libel trial documents
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Some of Rooney’s fake posts, shown during the trial

Speaking after the judgment, Rooney said she was “pleased” the judge had found in her favour, adding: “It was not a case I ever sought or wanted”.

Alluding to what she called a “difficult and stressful time” throughout the trial, she concluded: “Although I bear Mrs Vardy no ill-will, today’s judgment makes clear that I was right in what I said in my posts of October 2019”.

Although the judge labelled the information within Rooney’s leaked posts as “trivial”, she said the content “does not need to be confidential or important to meet the sting of the libel.”

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Cundy tried to help Vardy and Rooney

Despite the court finding that Rooney’s reveal post “was on a matter of public interest”, the judge ruled that it couldn’t be used as part of her defence because she not take “steps to put the allegation to Ms Vardy and give her an opportunity to respond”.

Addressing what was referred to during the trial as “a series of unfortunate incidents” – which involved a broken laptop, forgotten passwords and lost data – Mrs Justice Steyn said: “In my judgment, it is likely that Ms Vardy deliberately deleted her WhatsApp chat with Ms Watt, and that Ms Watt deliberately dropped her phone in the sea”.

The court praised Rooney’s evidence as “honest and reliable”, but labelled Vardy’s evidence: “manifestly inconsistent… evasive or implausible”.

The judge said: “It was evident that Ms Vardy found the process of giving evidence stressful and, at times, distressing. I bear in mind when assessing her evidence the degree of stress she was naturally feeling, given the high-profile nature of the trial, the abuse that she has suffered since the reveal post was published, and the length of time she was in the witness box.”

She added: “Nevertheless, I find that it is, unfortunately, necessary to treat Ms Vardy’s evidence with very considerable caution.

“There were many occasions when her evidence was manifestly inconsistent with the contemporaneous documentary evidence, e.g. in relation to the World Cup 2018 and the photoshopped pictures, and others where she was evasive.”

Mrs Justice Steyn continued: “Ms Vardy was generally unwilling to make factual concessions, however implausible her evidence.

“This inevitably affects my overall view of her credibility, although I have borne in mind that untruthful evidence may be given to mask guilt or to fortify innocence.”

While the judge found that Vardy had disclosed private information, she said she believed Vardy had felt “genuinely offended” by Rooney’s accusation, employing “a degree of self-deception” to minimise her role in the leak.

Coleen Rooney entertains her kids during the UEFA European Championship 2016; Rebekah Vardy sits behind her. Pic: AP
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Vardy and Rooney at Euro 2016. Pic: AP

Rooney’s friend, former WAG, Lizzie Cundy told Sky News she “wasn’t surprised” by the outcome and knew Rooney – who she described as “an honest girl” – would only have made the original reveal post if she was “100% sure it was correct”.

She said when the spat first began she’d even suggested to Rooney and Vardy that they, “Come over and have some prosecco and nuts and sort this out”, adding, “Now Rebekah will be thinking, ‘I should have listened'”.

Cundy went on: “Sadly for Becky, the evidence wasn’t there, it was at the bottom of the North Sea.”

She went on: “It’s sad it’s come this far… But it was Rebekah who wanted it to come to court”.

Vardy had sued Rooney after being publicly accused of leaking “false stories” to the media in 2019, with the high-profile trial taking place at the High Court in London in May.

The wife of former England star Wayne Rooney was dubbed “Wagatha Christie” after claiming that three fake stories posted on her personal Instagram page – which unbeknown to Vardy at the time were shared only with her account – were passed on to The Sun newspaper.

Wayne and Coleen Rooney leave the Royal Courts Of Justice, London, as the high-profile libel battle between Rebekah Vardy and Coleen Rooney finally goes to trial. Picture date: Tuesday May 10, 2022.
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Rooney and husband Wayne at court in May

Vardy, who is married to Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy, denied leaking the stories and recalled to the court how she thought she might pass out when she first heard about Rooney’s allegations – which came when she was heavily pregnant.

Later in the trial, she became upset several times while answering questions in the witness box about the online trolling she and her family received as a result of the claims.

In her judgment, the judge referred to some of the ” vile abuse” Vardy had received online – which had included a message which someone said her baby should be incinerated – she said there was no “justification or excuse… for such vitriol.”

During the case, the court also heard details of text messages she exchanged with her agent Ms Watt, which appeared to show them discussing leaking stories about other celebrities and footballers to the press.

Wayne Rooney was among the witnesses who gave evidence and supported his wife in the courtroom every day. He told the court that he was asked during Euro 2016 to have a word with Jamie Vardy to ask his wife to “calm down” as publicity grew around the tournament.

Text messages sent between the Vardys during the tournament were also released, along with the fake Instagram posts that sparked the entire trial.

In written submissions to the court, Vardy’s barrister Hugh Tomlinson QC argued that while the case had been trivialised as “WAG Wars” it had had a “very profound” impact on his client’s life, leading to “high intensity abuse and vilification”.

The 40-year-old suffered “immense distress” as a result of Rooney’s allegations and “had no choice” but to take her to court “to establish her innocence and vindicate her reputation”, Mr Tomlinson said.

Undated handout screen grab issued by Kingsley Napley of one of two posts from Coleen Rooney's private instagram made on the day of her viral public post accusing "Rebekah Vardy's account". This content has been shown as evidence at the Royal Courts Of Justice, London, in the libel proceedings between Rebekah Vardy and Coleen Rooney. Issue date: Friday May 20, 2022.

However, in the written argument for Rooney, 36, barrister David Sherborne said his client felt “absolutely confident” in the investigation she conducted to find the source of the leaks and that her “authentication was as thorough as many newsrooms”.

Read more:
Coleen Rooney’s evidence
Peter Andre speaks out
Rebekah Vardy denies leaks

Giving evidence, Rooney told the judge she had tried three times “in vain” to avoid the matter going to court.

The fake stories included Rooney travelling to Mexico for a baby “gender selection” procedure, planning a return to TV, and the basement flooding at her home.

“I have saved and screenshotted all the original stories which clearly show just one person has viewed them,” Rooney wrote in the internet post that quickly went viral.

“It’s ………. Rebekah Vardy’s account.”

What were the key legal issues in the case?

Rebekah and Jamie Vardy at Leicester City's King Power Stadium
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Rebekah and Jamie Vardy pictured at Leicester City’s King Power Stadium in the days after the trial

A libel is a published statement which is defamatory – damaging to a person’s reputation.

Vardy said she had suffered “very serious harm to her reputation” as a result of Rooney’s allegations and therefore brought the case to court to defend herself.

Rooney defended the claim on the basis it was true and in the public interest for her to publish it. Under English defamation law it was Rooney who had to prove her post was “substantially true”.

As this was a civil case, not a criminal one, the standard of proof was “on the balance of probabilities”, or “more likely than not”, rather than “beyond reasonable doubt”.

There is an upper limit of damages in libel actions in the UK of about £300,000, with the amount awarded depending on a number of factors – including the level of reputational damage and the prevalence of the published libel. However, any damages are usually swallowed up by legal costs.

At a hearing in March 2022, it was revealed that Vardy had a costs budget of nearly £900,000, while Rooney’s costs were estimated to be about £400,000.

However, it is believed the case exceeded those budgets.