#leicestershire

#leicestershire

A police constable from Leicestershire has appeared in court to deny raping a woman. Stephen Reynolds, 28, who was charged with two counts of rape and one count of assault by penetration, appeared at Northampton Crown Court on Wednesday afternoon. He denied two counts of rape and one count of assault by penetration during a short hearing in front of Judge David Herbert KC. The force previously said the charges relate to an offence reported in 2019 by one adult female victim who is known to the defendant. Reynolds is suspended from Leicestershire Police and currently remains on bail.

David Darke, 66, sustained a serious head injury after an assault outside the Crown Inn in Appleby Magna on the evening of Sunday 21 December. Leicestershire Police said the grandfather-of-three died at the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham almost a week later, on Saturday. Nathan Gothard, 36, of Church Street in Appleby Magna is due to appear at Leicester Magistrates' Court on Monday, accused of Mr Darke's murder.

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground.

Harrison described the eight-minute cabinet meeting, which had only the flag-flying policy on the agenda, as 'historic'. He said: 'People will rightly ask why are we changing this protocol... celebrate British values [which] is what unites us all.'