A coroner has formally opened inquests into the deaths of five newborn babies Lucy Letby was convicted of murdering. In a 20-minute hearing at Cheshire coroner's court, the senior coroner Jacqueline Devonish heard brief details of the deaths before adjourning proceedings until September. DI Darren Reid of the coroner's office, said an inquest was requested into the deaths of babies known as C, E, I, O and P as there was reason to suspect an unnatural death at the Countess of Chester hospital.
The European boss of Fujitsu, the company behind the Horizon software at the heart of the Post Office IT scandal, is to step down from his role in March. Paul Patterson, who is the chief executive of the European division of the company, will become non-executive chair of Fujitsu's UK business, where he will continue managing the company's response to the inquiry into the scandal.
The Scottish Labour leader was speaking alongside families of children and adults who died after contracting infections while undergoing cancer treatment at the Queen Elizabeth university hospital (QEUH) campus in Glasgow. Friday is the final day of hearings in the six-year public inquiry ordered by the former health secretary Jeane Freeman into the design and construction of the hospitals launched after deaths linked to infections in the water supply and ventilation system.
The prime minister announced the inquiry for England and Wales in June, accepting the recommendation of Baroness Louise Casey's audit into the evidence on the scale of group-based child sexual abuse. Baroness Longfield will be joined by panellists Zoe Billingham CBE, a former inspector at HM Constabulary, and Eleanor Kelly CBE, former chief executive of Southwark Council, to lead the inquiry.
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.
The attorney general, Judith Collins, said on Thursday the decision to establish a public inquiry was due to the significant public interest in the case, and concern with the children's welfare. The inquiry will look into whether government agencies took all practicable steps to protect the safety and welfare of the Phillips children, Collins said in a statement.
Our clients are still waiting for answers as to how this was allowed to happen and accountability for the significant harm they suffered. We represent highly vulnerable individuals, including children, families and victims of trafficking and torture, who were deeply affected by their experiences at Manston. They are the victims of the inhuman and degrading treatment that occurred, and it is therefore the responsibility of the Home Office to ensure that this public inquiry is allowed to take place without any further delays.
Ministers have ruled out establishing a public inquiry into the IRA's 1974 Birmingham pub bombings. On 21 November 1974, 21 people were killed and 220 injured when bombs were detonated at the Mulberry Bush and Tavern in the Town pubs in Birmingham, in an attack widely believed to have been orchestrated by the Provisional IRA. No one has been convicted over the attacks.
All victims of the Post Office Horizon IT scandal seeking compensation will now be entitled to free legal advice, the government has announced. The change could potentially have a major effect on the size of the payouts some victims are able to achieve. It is one of a number of improvements to the compensation schemes available to victims, made in response to the first report from the public inquiry into the scandal, widely described as one of the UK's worst ever miscarriages of justice.
"It's difficult to say how traumatising that is for families when they sit in at an inquest and then see legal representatives try and effectively stop a coroner from making a Prevention of Future Deaths report, which is ultimately about trying to safeguard lives in the future - and I find that reprehensible."
