A pensioner has been arrested on suspicion of murder following the death of a woman, police have said.
Emergency services were called after reports of a woman who had been seriously injured at a property on Fairfield Road in Cheltenham at around 3.30am on Saturday.
Gloucestershire Police said a 66-year-old woman was declared dead at the scene.
A 77-year-old man from Cheltenham has been arrested and remains in police custody while inquiries continue.
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A police spokesman said: “There is currently a scene guard in place at a property while police remain at the address.
“Officers from the major crime investigation team are in the early stages of an investigation and are appealing for anyone who has any information to come forward.”
A pensioner who faces a fuel payment cut says he worries about whether he will make it through the winter when energy prices go up.
Roy William Roots, 90, is among the estimated 10 million pensioners who are facing a cut to their £200 or £300 winter fuel payment, which will now only go to those who receive pension credit or other means-tested benefits.
It comes as industry regulator Ofgem said the energy price cap per household is set to rise by 10% in October to an annual average of £1,717.
The hike will see typical households spend £12 a month more, or £149 a year, on gas and electricity bills when using direct debit.
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Mr Roots, from Maidstone in Kent, said the news of energy bills going up further was “terrible”.
The pensioner is already taking drastic measures to avoid being slapped with bills he can’t afford, like cooking in batches for a few meals, doing the washing at 10pm and only putting the heating on in November.
He told Sky News: “Before I had a shower, I had a bath, and I used to have it up to my neck and lie in it for hours. But now I might shower every two to three days – I just can’t afford to have it on.”
Mr Roots, who has struggled with his mental health in the past, added: “It depresses me.”
He added he is already starting to think about saving for the winter to make sure he will be able to plug the gap left by the government’s decision to cut the winter fuel benefit.
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Mr Roots said he will likely have to shower once a week or cook food for three or four days instead of two.
“It makes me feel horrible,” Mr Roots said, adding he worries about whether he will be able to get through the winter when faced with choices like “do I cook or do I have my heating on?”
Addressing the Labour government, he said: “I’d want them to help us still. To be fair and help us out.”
Read more: What is the energy price cap?
Ofgem chief executive Jonathan Brearley said: “We know that this rise in the price cap is going to be extremely difficult for many households.
“Anyone who is struggling to pay their bill should make sure they have access to all the benefits they are entitled to, particularly pension credit, and contact their energy company for further help and support.”
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband admitted the rise in the cap was “deeply worrying” but defended the cuts to winter fuel payments.
He said: “The truth is that the mess that was left to us in the public finances is what necessitated that decision around winter fuel payment and us focusing it on those who need it the very most.”
A man has been convicted of murdering a woman nearly half a century ago following a DNA breakthrough.
John Apelgren hit sex worker Eileen Cotter in the face, strangled her and threw her body out of his car in Islington, north London, in 1974.
After interviewing 92 potential suspects at the time, the case went cold until DNA was found on Ms Cotter’s body in 2012.
Then, in 2019, there was a breakthrough when police took Apelgren’s DNA after he attacked his third wife – the sample was a match.
His ex-wife Anne also revealed she had been mistreated and that Apelgren had once grabbed her neck with both hands.
She told police she believed he was cheating just months after their 1972 marriage and later found out he was sleeping with her brother’s wife.
Ex-cab driver Apelgren, from Sydenham in south London, declined to give evidence at his Old Bailey trial.
However, after 11 hours of deliberations the jury found him guilty of manslaughter and indecent assault – but not guilty of murder.
Image: Apelgren strangled and beat Eileen Cotter and pushed her body out of his car
The court heard he was seen on the night of the killing at a Finsbury Park hotdog stall where Ms Cotter would often go.
The 22-year-old woman was later found near some garages, semi-naked with a black eye and bruising, and her underwear and tights had been pulled down.
A post-mortem examination found she died of strangulation.
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Prosecutor Alexandra Healy KC told the Old Bailey that Apelgren had sex with Ms Cotter before attacking and strangling her.
“Having killed her, he pushed her out of his car. Her body was discovered in the position it fell, without shoes, and with her tights and underwear still around her right leg.”
The trial also heard that the killing came two years after Apelgren allegedly indecently assaulted an 18-year-old guest at his own wedding.
An 82-year-old man has suffered severe burns after being set on fire outside a mosque.
The pensioner was seen having a conversation with a male as they both left the West London Islamic Centre in Ealing, west London, around 8pm on 27 January.
They spoke for around five minutes before the man doused the victim in liquid, believed to be petrol, and set him alight using a lighter.
He then walked away from the scene, in Singapore Road, police said.
The victim, who has not been identified, was rushed to hospital and received treatment for severe burns to his face and arms, police said.
The force has launched an investigation and released pictures of a man detectives want to speak to after the “incredibly shocking” incident.
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Detective Sergeant Stephen Constable said: “Understandably, there is a great deal of local concern in the wake of this incident and local officers have been carrying out reassurance patrols daily at the mosque.
“We are continuing to work alongside the West London Islamic Centre who have been very supportive of our investigation and have been assisting us with our enquiries.
“A key part of that is identifying the man in the image we have released.”
Anyone who recognises the man pictured, witnessed the incident or has information that can help the investigation is urged to get in touch with police.
A man who pestered emergency services with more than 7,000 nuisance calls has been jailed.
Roger Jackson, 77, made the abusive calls to Sussex Police and the South East Coast Ambulance Service from September 2020.
He has been sentenced to 39 months in prison after pleading guilty at a hearing at Lewes Crown Court on 27 January.
He is estimated to have wasted more than 400 hours of emergency service time while speaking to contact officers.
Jackson, from Horsham, West Sussex, will also receive a criminal behaviour order for 10 years.
Force persistent caller lead for Sussex Police, Sarah-Louise Gliddon, said: “For every genuine caller waiting to speak to us, there may be one of these callers in front of them such as Roger Jackson.
“Jackson has been a persistent caller for a number of years and as such has been given multiple warnings up to his arrest last year owing to the volume of calls he was making to both police and ambulance.”
“The volume and the frequency of Jackson’s calls impacted the contact centre’s ability to provide a service to the public, who genuinely needed police assistance or attendance while he was blocking the line.”
The force has dealt with more than 700 individuals making nuisance calls since its work started in 2014.
‘Vile verbal abuse’
South East Coast ambulance service frequent caller lead and paramedic, Nathan Daxner, said: “Jackson subjected our call centre staff to repeated vile verbal abuse on a daily basis, and the impact his actions should not be underestimated.
“Just one malicious and false call puts lives at risk by diverting our attention and resources away from people in our communities who genuinely need our help.”
An 84-year-old care home resident is returning to school after 66 years with the hope of fulfilling a lifelong wish of completing his secondary education.
After five failed attempts at passing his GCSE physics exam while at school, Ernie Puffett, from Chichester, West Sussex, is now hoping to succeed on his sixth try next summer.
“I wanted to retake my GCSE as I failed it so many times when I was in school”, said Mr Puffett.
“I really think I can pass it this time with all the help I am getting and I would be elated if I did.
“I am amazed that youngsters today can take it all in because physics is such a vast subject.”
Mr Puffett takes weekly physics classes at his local school, Chichester College.
His course fees have been waived, with the help of his care home, Care UK’s Chichester Grange, to help him achieve his wish.
Image: Young Ernie Puffett pictured third from the left, in the middle row, when he was in school. Pic: Care UK/PA
Chichester College principal Helen Loftus said: “We’ve been absolutely delighted to welcome Ernie to the college.
“As soon as we heard Ernie would like to study physics with us, we didn’t hesitate in saying yes.
“We all have ambitions and aims and we’re proud to be supporting Ernie to achieve his.”
‘No age limit on studying’
Ryan Harris, home manager at Chichester Grange, said the care home are “so proud” of Mr Puffett for the effort he is putting in to reach his goal.
“Most people would have given up after the second attempt, but this never stopped Ernie in completing his dream.”
Ms Loftus added that there are “so many benefits of having people of different age groups and backgrounds learning together”, since “they bring a range of experience and knowledge to the classroom which can add to their learning development.”
“We often say there is no age limit on studying, and it has been fantastic to see that in action.”
A pensioner accused of causing the death of a baby boy by careless driving will say she had undiagnosed Alzheimer’s disease at the time and will mount a defence of insanity, a court has heard.
Shelagh Robertson, 75, was driving home from shopping at Tesco when she turned into the path of an oncoming van on the A10 at Waterbeach in Cambridgeshire on 22 January last year, forcing the van on to the pavement, Cambridge Crown Court heard.
The van hit five-month-old Louis Thorold and his mother Rachael Thorold, killing him and throwing Mrs Thorold into the air and causing her serious injuries.
Another driver who witnessed the crash, Kaye Lewis, said in a statement read in court that the van driver was “fighting the steering wheel but the van just kept going towards the pavement”.
She said she remembered seeing the “absolute terror” on Mrs Thorold’s face when she saw the van before she was “thrown 15ft in the air then landed”.
“I saw the pram just disintegrate into pieces and go under the van,” she added.
Robertson, of Stables Yard, Waterbeach, denies causing the baby boy’s death by careless driving.
James Leonard, defending, told the court it was “agreed by any reasonable objective test the way Mrs Robertson drove on the day of the accident fell below the standard to be expected from a reasonable, competent driver”.
“The issue in this case is whether or not Mrs Robertson was suffering from insanity as it’s recognised by law,” he said.
“The defence case is that Mrs Robertson had undiagnosed atypical Alzheimer’s disease both before the accident and on the day, and that’s what will lead to the conclusion that the defence of insanity is made out.”
Image: Robertson arrives at Cambridge Crown Court
Mark Bishop, the judge, told the jury of nine women and three men that for a defence of insanity to succeed they must be persuaded Robertson was suffering from atypical Alzheimer’s disease at the time of the crash and that “as a result of that disease she experienced disrupted thinking”.
He said the disrupted thinking could either be that as she drove the car she “didn’t know what she was doing” or that she “didn’t know that what she was doing was wrong by the standards of reasonable people”.
David Matthew, for the prosecution, said Robertson had turned right and driven her Mazda 2 car into the path of an oncoming Renault van that was travelling south along the A10 at the junction with Car Dyke Road.
“The impact forced the van on to the pavement,” he said.
“Walking along the pavement towards the van were Rachael Thorold and pushing in front of her five-month-old son Louis in a pushchair.
“The van went over them.”
Image: Chris and Rachael Thorold, parents of baby Louis, arrive at court
Mr Matthew said the van was driven by delivery driver Andrew Freestone, whom he described as a “careful and professional driver”.
He said the incident was captured by dashcam footage and Mr Freestone was driving “properly, sensibly and within the speed limit”, which at the time was 50mph.
Mr Matthew said Mr Freestone “tried to steer to his right” to avoid a collision.
“He saw the pushchair, heard thumps, saw the woman with the pushchair go up in the air,” he said.
He said of Robertson: “Obviously a competent and careful driver doesn’t drive into the path of oncoming traffic which has the right of way without looking.”
Mr Matthew said a witness had spoken to Robertson after the crash as she sat in the back of another car and that she told them: “I just didn’t see him coming.”
Another witness described Robertson as “alert, agile” and “able to scoot across the Mazda and leave by the passenger door” after the crash.
Louis was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital, Mr Matthew said.
PC Matthew Bill, of Cambridgeshire Police, said Mr Freestone had “less than half a second” to react to the car pulling out of a filter lane and across his path.
The trial, which is due to last less than a week, continues.
A pensioner slit the throat of his wife of more than 40 years in a suicide pact went wrong, a court was told.
Police were greeted with the “extraordinary scene” of Dyanne Mansfield, 71, slumped dead in a chair at the bottom of the couple’s garden backing on to open fields in Hale, Greater Manchester.
Mrs Mansfield had bled heavily from a 16cm “gaping incised wound” and her windpipe had been severed.
Three knives and a lump hammer were found near her body.
They had responded to a 999 call on the morning of 24 March last year from her husband, Graham Mansfield, 73, who was discovered lying seriously injured in the kitchen.
He told officers he killed his wife at about 9pm the day before and then tried to take his own life but it had “all gone wrong”, Manchester Crown Court heard.
Together forever
Mrs Mansfield had been suffering from cancer and the court was told the pair “had a perfect relationship and wanted to remain together for the rest of their lives”.
Opening the case, prosecutor David Temkin QC said: “He explained what he had done was in pursuance of a ‘pact’ made with his wife.”
He said Mansfield, who denies murder and manslaughter, does not dispute he intended to kill his wife but claims his reason for doing so provides him with a defence.
Also discovered at the scene nearby were two bricks on top of a plastic wallet containing a note written by Mansfield for the police.
“We have decided to take our own lives,” it said, giving instructions on where to find his house keys and how to contact his sister, the court heard.
‘Don’t get upset’
Another note written by Manfield, addressed to his family, was found in an envelope on the dining room table.
It read: “We are sorry to burden you with this but there is no other way.
“When Dyanne was diagnosed with cancer, we made a pact. I couldn’t bear to live without Dyanne and as the months progressed and as things got worse, it only reinforced our decision that the time has arrived.
“We hope you all understand.
“Don’t get too upset. We have had a wonderful and happy life together.”
Mansfield was arrested on suspicion of murder at the scene and was captured on police body-worn cameras explaining how he killed his wife and then tried to kill himself in the garden and then in the house.
Mr Temkin said: “He repeatedly expressed frustration at having failed to kill himself. He said that he just wanted to die.”
Mansfield was taken for surgery at Manchester Royal Infirmary, where he said he and his wife made the suicide pact on the first day of her diagnosis in September 2020.
Devoted to his wife
When interviewed by police, Mansfield said life had been “turned upside down” in the preceding six months. Mrs Mansfield’s disease had spread rapidly and quickly reached stage four.
Mansfield searched the internet for ways to end life, Mr Temkin told the jury, with the pair settling on the garden as the “venue” at the suggestion of Mrs Mansfield.
Police spoke to the couple’s family, their friends and neighbours.
Mr Temkin said: “All of them spoke about the defendant’s unswerving devotion to her.”
No record of her wishes
However, he added an “important feature” of the case was there was no record of Mrs Mansfield’s wishes.
“The defence has to satisfy you on the balance of probabilities that a genuine suicide pact existed,” he said.
He said Mansfield had also pleaded not guilty to the alternative count of manslaughter because he maintained “his actions were lovingly undertaken through duress of circumstances or necessity for the purpose of avoiding any further severe pain and suffering”.
