Following meetings between EU defence and foreign affairs ministers in early September, an EU naval operation against people smugglers in the Mediterranean will signal the second phase of the EU initiative to prevent human trafficking at sea. Read more...
Chester Crown Court has sentenced four men from Merseyside convicted of possessing firearms for a total of more than 25 years in jail. Read more...
A man who appealed his sentence for a conviction for revenge porn has lost his appeal. Read more...
The owners of a Nottingham takeaway have been fined more than £50,000, after an outbreak of E.coli affected 142 customers, including children. Read more...
A Bristol shopkeeper has been prosecuted for selling rotten fruit and vegetables with obvious signs of mould on them, as well as labelling offences. Read more...
Researchers at University College London (UCL) have found that children brought up in families with less controlling parents lead happier lives. Read more...
Border Force officers at London Gateway have discovered 1.1 tonnes of the Class B drug cannabis, following the search of a container which arrived at the port from Ghana. Read more...
Severn Trent Water has been fined more than £480,000 after repeated pollution incidents where raw sewage leaked into a farmer’s field and a pond in a private fishery. Read more...
Thanet District Council has prosecuted a private landlord for failing to comply with three Improvement Notices. Read more...
A maintenance company which provides services to council homes in Barnsley has been prosecuted, after a joiner received an electric shock while replacing a wooden garden fence around a domestic property. Read more...
Hart District Council in Hampshire has announced that the first two homes for victims of domestic abuse have been secured through a new countywide scheme. Read more...
A new survey by Public Health England (PHE) has found that children in special schools are slightly less likely to have severe tooth decay compared with children educated in mainstream schools – but are more likely to have teeth extracted. Read more...
Families and others who have been bereaved by suicide have used their experiences to lead the revision of a support guide – Help is at Hand – to help others affected by someone taking their own life. Read more...
A chemical company has been fined £160,000 after an explosion at a factory blew a vessel lid through the roof and injured a worker. Read more...
Business Secretary Sajid Javid has announced that Trading Standards teams are to carry out spot checks on children’s fancy dress costumes for sale across the UK. Read more...
A 48-year-old man convicted of grooming young girls has been jailed for more than three years at Isleworth Crown Court in Middlesex. Read more...
A company director convicted of selling carbon credits as an investment when they had no genuine secondary resale market – and of failing to keep adequate records – has been disqualified as a director for 15 years. Read more...
The Department for Business Innovation & Skills says a new report shows that measures to tackle intellectual property (IP) crime have been successful in reducing IP crime. Read more...
Prime Minister David Cameron has announced that the UK will provide nearly £115 million in additional emergency funding, in response to the migration crisis sweeping the EU. Read more...
A benefit claimant who falsified multiple benefit claims against Barnet and Haringey Councils has been jailed for more than three years. Read more...
A London shopkeeper has been fined £2,300, after he was convicted of selling wines and spirits with fake labels on the bottles. Read more...
Research by the government’s Defence, Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) shows that using blood products to treat severely injured patients before they reach hospital improves chances of survival. Read more...
Minister for the Digital Economy Ed Vaizey has warned UK businesses to protect themselves against cyber crime and hacking by taking up the government’s Cyber Essentials scheme. Read more...
Police officers have arrested nine people in London on suspicion of drugs offences, following a three-month intelligence operation. Read more...
Kent County Council’s internal audit team and Dover District Council’s Civil Enforcement Team have held a Blue Badge anti-fraud day in Dover and Deal – and found that out of 41 drivers stopped, four were not using a Blue Badge correctly. Read more...
Police forces in England and Wales have been issued with new guidance to enable the police to prosecute cases of domestic violence without the need for a victim to testify. Read more...
A woman who abandoned her newborn baby at the front door of a block of flats in County Durham has been given a suspended sentence at Peterlee Magistrates’ Court. Read more...
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) – an international economic organisation comprising 34 countries – has said countries who are members are facing “an unprecedented refugee crisis”. Read more...
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has successfully prosecuted a Cheshire-based builder over multiple health and safety failings on a building site in Altrincham. Read more...
Mental health charity Mind has called for a review of the government’s “flawed” Work Capability Assessment (WCA), after a man with severe mental health issues took his own life after being found “fit to work” by a DWP doctor. Read more...
Swansea Council has announced plans to build the first council homes in Swansea “for a generation”. Read more...
A woman who passed herself off as an experienced immigration adviser has been given a suspended sentence, after being found guilty of two counts of providing immigration advice when not qualified to do so. Read more...
Duncan Lewis Solicitors are pleased to announce that Legal 500 2015 has recognised the firm as a Leading Law Firm for their East Midlands Immigration practice in Leicester with Kaajal Chandrasingh recommended as Leading Lawyer. Read more...
Housing Enforcement at Enfield Council has been working with Trading Standards and the Citizens Advice Bureau in a crack down on rogue letting agents. Read more...
Birmingham City Council is reminding letting agents and property managers that they need to register with a Redress Scheme – which protects tenants’ deposits – or they may incur a fine of up to £5,000. Read more...
A 40-year-old man convicted of revenge porn charges has been given a four-month prison sentence suspended for 18 months at St Albans Magistrates^ Court. Read more...
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has prosecuted a Stockport-based laundry firm, after a 34-year-old employee sustained third-degree burns after falling through a mezzanine floor and landing on an industrial steam iron. Read more...
The Minister for Preventing Abuse and Exploitation, Karen Bradley, has told the Domestic Abuse Summit in London that the whole government “has a key role to play in ending violence against women”. Read more...
An 18-year-old found guilty of murder and robbery after a 15-year-old was stabbed while riding his bicycle in North London has been sentenced to life imprisonment at the Old Bailey. Read more...
New government figures show that Right to Buy has created nearly 40,000 new homeowners in the last three years, after discounts were increased under the coalition government. Read more...
The government has announced that the new Immigration Bill will contain even tougher measures to crack down on people illegally entering the UK – including a new offence of driving while unlawfully in Britain. Read more...
The Welsh government has announced a £6.7 million investment in 35 new emergency ambulances and six patient transport vehicles to replace older vehicles and upgrade its fleet. Read more...
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has successfully prosecuted an Aberdeenshire freight trailer manufacturer, after an employer was injured in a fall from height. Read more...
An Environment Agency investigation into illegal tipping on a flood plain near the River Medway in Kent has resulted in two waste companies being prosecuted. Read more...
New research by Public Health England (PHE) shows that the number of cancer cases diagnosed as a result of patients attending A&E or GP surgeries as an emergency has decreased. Read more...
A new study by researchers at Oxford University has found that a class of antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) may be linked to a higher risk of young adults who take them committing violent crimes. Read more...
A man from Smethwick in Birmingham has been found guilty of one charge of fishing without a rod licence at the Ripple Fishery on the River Severn in Gloucestershire. Read more...
The Home Office has announced the appointment of a Second Permanent Secretary who will have responsibility for immigration and free movement policy – as well as oversight of the borders, immigration and citizenship system. Read more...
A housing company and its contractor have been prosecuted after the builder capped chimneys used as flues for working gas boilers and fires. Read more...
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that EU member states may exclude EU citizens who go to another EU country to find work from certain non-contributory social security benefits. Read more...
Police in Kingston-upon-Thames have warned that drug dealers in the area will face criminal charges if found. Read more...
Bromley Council has successfully prosecuted two benefit claimants for fraud – in separate cases brought to the attention of the council by a tip-off and information received from HMRC’s Real Time Information (RTI) data matching exercise. Read more...
The government has announced that local planning processes are to be streamlined using a panel of eight experts. Read more...
Nottinghamshire County Council’s youth justice programme is calling for new volunteers. Read more...
The Department of Health (DoH) has announced that by 2020, NHS patients with suspected cancer with receive a diagnosis within 28 days of being referred to a specialist by a GP. Read more...
A new report by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) has found that inconsistencies in firearms licensing may pose a risk to public safety. Read more...
A former company director convicted of charges relating to a criminal cartel has been sentenced at Southwark Crown Court. Read more...
Norfolk County Council’s Children’s Services Committee is to meet on Tuesday (15/09/15), to discuss how services for vulnerable children and families can be improved – as well as measures to reduce the high cost of intervention and help plug the council’s funding gap. Read more...
President of the Family Division Sir James Munby has recommended that consent forms issued by fertility clinics to prospective parents using a sperm donor should be double-checked before treatment starts, to prevent issues of compliance, consent and parentage arising after a child is born. Read more...
The initial meeting of the government’s new Syrian Refugees Ministerial Committee was held on Friday (11/09/15), to lead cross-government work to house and support the 20,000 Syrian refugees who will be resettled in the UK over the next five years. Read more...
A new report which examines freedom of movement in four EU cities has concluded that the sudden arrival of high numbers of new workers in the cities has posed “some challenges”. Read more...
The NHS has published a new set of guidelines on post-surgical safety procedures to improve patient care. Read more...
Bristol Crown Court has sentenced seven men to more than 107 years in jail for child sex abuse. Read more...
The findings of a study by researchers at University College London (UCL) show that people with learning disabilities who have not been diagnosed with a mental health condition are being prescribed anti-psychotic drugs used to treat conditions such as schizophrenia. Read more...
The Welsh Assembly has launched a consultation on smoke-free prisons across Wales. Read more...
A court has sentence two teachers at an Islamic school to 12 months in jail for inflicting corporal punishment and physical abuse on a pupil. Read more...
The UK regulator for dental practice, the General Dental Council (GDC), has successfully prosecuted an unqualified practitioner who carried out tooth whitening procedures on members of the public. Read more...
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has prosecuted North Lincolnshire Council, after a man was killed when his car drove towards a horizontal swing barrier gate leading to a car park at a sports ground. Read more...
Cumbria County Council’s Fire and Rescue Service is offering local landlords advice on the government’s new fire safety regulations at a series of events beginning today (14/09/15). Read more...
Nottinghamshire County Council has revised its counter-fraud strategy, encouraging employees to be on the lookout for fraud. Read more...
Manchester Magistrates’ Court has sentence a 29-year-old man to 13 weeks in jail, after he launched a tirade of homophobic abuse at two men on a tram in Manchester city centre. Read more...
MEPs have said they are ready to work on draft laws to establish a solid migration and asylum policy in the EU. Read more...
Wales office Minister Alun Cairns – MP for Vale of Glamorgan in South Wales – has said that the government’s Help to Buy scheme is providing “crucial help” to homebuyers in Wales hoping to get on the property ladder. Read more...
A joint project by Tameside Council, Derbyshire County Council and local NHS organisations is seeking feedback on the future of mental health and emotional wellbeing services for children and young people in the region. Read more...
A new resource to help local authorities and other organisations prevent suicide clusters in their area has been published to coincide with this year’s annual World Suicide Prevention Day – which is held every year on 10 September. Read more...
A polythene manufacturer based in Cheshire has been prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), after an employee suffered life changing injuries when he became trapped in machinery. Read more...
The President of the Family Division, Sir James Munby, has ruled that a British father who paid an American surrogate mother to deliver a child for him cannot be awarded sole parental responsibility for his child in the British courts. Read more...
A shopkeeper from Nottingham has been given a six-month suspended sentence, after pleading guilty to selling illegal cigarettes at his shop. Read more...
The director of a Leicester-based clothing company has been disqualified as a director for six years, after an investigation by the Insolvency Service and the Home Office found that workers not eligible to work in the UK had been employed at the company during her period of directorship. Read more...
The UK is to accept up to 20,000 refugees from camps on the Syrian border by 2020, with orphaned children taking priority. Read more...
A London landlord who rented out a property which had no hot water and poor heating has been prosecuted by Brent Council. Read more...
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has prosecuted a private sector landlord, after a woman and her son were put at risk of carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning in their home for seven years. Read more...
Police officers from London Regional Organised Crime Unit and the National Crime Agency have arrested two people in connection with a Nottingham-based manufacturing unit producing new psychoactive substances (NPS) – also called “legal highs”. Read more...
Taxi drivers in the West Midlands have joined the fight against child sexual exploitation (CSE), as part of the regional See Me, Hear Me campaign. Read more...
The Department of Health (DoH) has announced that Natasha Devon MBE has been appointed the Department for Education’s first ever mental health champion, to raise awareness and reduce the stigma around young people’s mental health. Read more...
Border officers at Tilbury docks in Essex have seized a consignment of cocaine with an estimated street value of £6 million. Read more...
A former employee of Halifax and Lloyds Bank has been convicted of a £300,000 fraud and jailed at Plymouth Crown Court. Read more...
The director of a company shut down in 2014 on the directions of the court has been disqualified as a director for 11 years. Read more...
The High Court has ordered the liquidation of a successor lettings company and a further successor – or “phoenix” – company, after the Insolvency Service found serious failings in the original company, which were also repeated in the successor company. Read more...
A SmartWater solution is being applied to cables being laid along a 17-mile stretch of motorway between Junction 8 of the M60 near Sale and Junction 20 of the M62 near Rochdale as part of the smart motorway scheme, in order to reduce cable thefts from the UK’s road system. Read more...
The Director of NHS Commissioning, Ros Roughton, has told a conference in Manchester that technology, the NHS workforce and development support will all be key to introducing seven-day GP services operating from 8am to 8pm. Read more...
The Health and Safety Executive has prosecuted a wiring manufacturer, after a worker sustained serious injuries after being caught in machinery. Read more...
A supermarket in Birmingham has pleaded guilty to nine offences under the Cosmetic Products Enforcement Regulations 2013, after council offers seized products which were not labelled correctly or contained banned substances. Read more...
A Nottinghamshire-based international engineering firm has been prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), after failing to manage the risk to the public and employees of potentially lethal Legionella bacteria. Read more...
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has successfully prosecuted a recycling firm for safety failings, following the death of an employee. Read more...
Ipswich Crown Court has convicted two men on charges relating to an acid attack on the ex-girlfriend of one of the men. Read more...
The High Court has ordered the liquidation of a successor lettings company and a further successor – or “phoenix” – company, after the Insolvency Service found serious failings in the original company, which were also repeated in the successor company. Read more...
Bury Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) in Greater Manchester has responded to claims by the Labour party that funding for mental health in the area is being cut, by saying that they are spending more on mental health than ever. Read more...
A 33-year-old solicitor from Wembley in north London was hours from death after she developed a severe reaction to L’Oreal hair dye 24 hours after using the product. Read more...
A conman who cheated women out of £120,000 in a romance fraud scam has been jailed at Birmingham Crown Court. Read more...
A mother from Waltham Forest in east London who went missing with her four children and sparked an international manhunt has been arrested on her arrival back in the UK. Read more...
A childminder from Hampshire has pleaded guilty to claiming more than £34,000 in benefits fraudulently – by not declaring that she held £48,000 in saving accounts. Benefits claimants are not allowed to have more than £16,000 in savings. Read more...
Austria and Germany have condemned David Cameron’s refusal to take any more Syrian refugees – a move which may damage the Prime Minister’s attempts to renegotiate the terms of the UK’s membership of the EU. Read more...
Research by housing charity Shelter has revealed that more tenants in the private sector are being subjected to abuse by landlords or letting agents. Read more...
A 64-year-old benefits fraudster who claimed £68,000 by saying that he suffered panic attacks and was unable to work has been jailed for two years. Read more...
The first woman to be convicted of revenge porn has been spared jail and received a six-week suspended sentence instead. Read more...
London Mayor Boris Johnson has unveiled further plans to prevent cycle deaths on London’s roads. Read more...
Tooting MP and Mayoral hopeful Sadiq Khan has said that if he is elected to City Hall, he will drive down the use of stop and search by the police in London. Read more...
A man suffering from Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) has been forced to live apart from his wife because of council delays in adapting his home to meet his needs. Read more...
The government has said that travellers and gypsies will have to prove they travel permanently before they can set up a camp at a council-run site. Read more...
A court in Manchester has jailed two men who bought firearms online for a total of nearly ten years. Read more...
The government’s Schools Minister Nick Gibb is proposing changes in schools allocation, which would mean siblings would be given places at the same school to prevent parents having to make more than one journey on the school run. Read more...
The EU has given France £3.6 million to build a new camp to improve conditions for around 1,500 of the estimated 5,000 migrants living at Calais who are hoping to cross the Channel and enter the UK illegally. Read more...
The James Paget Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (JPH) in Gorleston, Norfolk, has paid £1,250 in compensation to a patient’s family for misdiagnosis of cancer in a patient known only as Mr G. Read more...
A judge has branded a “baby faced” burglar as one of the country’s most dangerous criminals. Read more...
Home Secretary Theresa May has said that only migrants with a job to come to should be allowed into the UK. Read more...
A new study presented to a conference in Amsterdam on Sunday (30/08/15) has found that those with depression who also display risky behaviour, agitation and impulsivity are 50% more likely to commit suicide. Read more...
A party of British holidaymakers who fell ill while on a package holiday to the Dominican Republic is to take legal action against tour operator Thomson Holidays. Read more...
A father has spoken out abut how his young daughter nearly choked when a fish finger he had served was found to contain a piece of cardboard. Read more...
A Freedom of Information (FoI) request made by the Labour Party has revealed that £1.5 million could be cut from Manchester’s mental health budget next year. Read more...
The Department of Health (DoH) has said that the Crisis Care Concordat – a programme to improve standards in mental health crisis care across the country – reduces use of police cells as a “place of safety” by more than 50% for people experiencing a mental health crisis. Read more...
Anti-poverty charity Z2K has said that affluent London boroughs are using deprived boroughs in the east end of London as a “dumping ground” for homeless families. Read more...
A court has jailed two men who robbed a pawnbroker’s shop, while wearing burkas to conceal their identity. Read more...
A 51-year-old IT consultant from Islington has been jailed for eight years at the Old Bailey, after pleading guilty to inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and other charges. Read more...