Ipswich murder arrest of man and teen over alleged assault
A Home Office post-mortem examination on the body is planned for Wednesday.
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The Independent
19 minutes ago
- The Independent
Death of girl left alone by fake ID worker was unlawful, jury inquest concludes
The death of a teenage girl, who was left alone at a children's mental health ward by an inexperienced agency worker using fake ID, has been ruled as an unlawful killing by an inquest jury. Ruth Szymankiewicz was being treated for an eating disorder at Huntercombe Hospital in Berkshire and had been placed under strict one-to-one observation when on February 12 2022, she was left on her own by the member of staff responsible for watching her. The 14-year-old was able to shut herself in her bedroom at the hospital's psychiatric intensive care unit – also known as Thames ward – where she self-harmed. She died two days later at John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. On Thursday, an inquest jury sitting at Buckinghamshire Coroner's Court in Beaconsfield returned a conclusion of unlawful killing. 'Ruth was not prevented from accessing the harmful material which could be used to self-harm,' the jury foreman told the hearing. 'Ruth's care was insufficient to allow for discharge.' The foreman added Ms Szymankiewicz's parents were not given 'adequate information' about her care on the ward. Jurors could be seen crying as they recorded their conclusion, as well as the coroner and members of the family. The agency worker responsible for watching Ms Szymankiewicz – a man then known as Ebo Acheampong – had never worked in a psychiatric hospital environment before coming to Huntercombe on February 12 2022 for his first shift. A police investigation later found he was hired by the Platinum agency – which supplied staff for Huntercombe Hospital – under a false name. Mr Acheampong never returned to work at the hospital following the incident and fled the UK for Ghana. The court heard the ward was missing at least half of its staff on the day Ms Szymankiewicz, who had self harmed several times in the past, was left unsupervised. Mr Acheampong was originally working on a different ward, but was asked to join the team on Thames ward because they were so short-staffed nurses could not go on breaks, jurors were previously told. A risk management form known as a 'Datix incident' had been filed on the day by Michelle Hancey – a support worker with 18 years' experience at Huntercombe – who raised concerns the Thames ward team would 'fail to monitor patients on prescribed special observation because of staff shortage'. During the inquest, jurors were shown CCTV footage of the moment Mr Acheampong left Ms Szymankiewicz unsupervised while she sat in the ward's lounge watching TV, enabling her to leave the room. She had been placed on the 'level three observation' plan following earlier incidents of self-harm – meaning she had to be kept within eyesight at all times. In the footage, Mr Acheampong can be seen leaving the room repeatedly – at first only for seconds at a time, then for two minutes – prompting the teenager to walk up to the door and look into the lobby, seemingly waiting for the opportunity to leave the room. She was last captured on CCTV walking out of the ward's day room 'completely on her own' before going straight to her bedroom and closing the door behind her, coroner Ian Wade KC told the inquest. Around 15 minutes passed before a nurse discovered the teenage girl and raised the alarm. Huntercombe Hospital had been inspected twice by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) prior to the incident, the inquest previously heard. It was rated as 'overall inadequate' in a CQC report dated February 2021. Active Care Group, which owned Huntercombe at the time of Ms Szymankiewicz's death, has since closed the facility.
The Independent
19 minutes ago
- The Independent
Woman thought volunteer officer could ‘kill' her during alleged sexual assault
A young woman who alleges she was sexually assaulted by a volunteer Metropolitan Police officer told a court she thought he could 'kill' her. Amersham Law Courts heard that James Bubb, who now identifies as a woman named Gwyn Samuels, assaulted the alleged victim multiple times while she was between the ages of 12 and 18. The trial heard they met on video chat site Omegle in 2018, when the complainant was 12 years old and the defendant was about 21, before meeting in person for the first time at a Christian festival a few months later. On Thursday, the complainant said she was 18 when Bubb assaulted her at the defendant's studio flat in Chesham. The defendant is charged with assault by penetration in relation to the complainant, relating to the alleged assault in 2024. Of this alleged assault, prosecutor Richard Milne asked: 'You said the word that he had 'raped' you, can you explain what aspects of the sexual activity between you were in your mind rape and why?' The complainant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, replied: 'The fact that I didn't consent, I couldn't consent with the gag in my mouth, I didn't feel there was any way to consent that.' She went on to say that she froze during the alleged attack which she thought could 'ruin my chance of fertility for life, and potentially kill me'. The complainant said she had told the defendant she was five years older when they first started speaking online, had sent them photos of herself wearing her school uniform but was 'scared' they would reject her if she revealed her true age. The alleged victim's mother told the court that she could often hear a 'male voice' coming from her child's bedroom at night when the complainant was about 11 to 12. She clarified that she thought this voice belonged to 'a man'. The trial previously heard that Bubb allegedly sexually assaulted the complainant on Shepherd's Bush Green while she was visiting London with her parents to celebrate her forthcoming 13th birthday. Of this trip, her mother told jurors that her child had 'disappeared' for a period while the family were in a shopping centre buying her birthday presents, and that the complainant's father said he thought she had 'gone to meet a friend'. 'She didn't come back, we were meant to board the train to go home and I'd waited, we'd waited for half an hour, maybe an hour, and I began to get really panicked,' she said. After the child returned, her mother said she seemed 'very subdued' on their journey home and did not tell her about the alleged assault until 'much later on'. The defendant, wearing a white shirt and black cardigan, dabbed their eyes and appeared to be crying at points during the hearing. The 27-year-old has denied one count of rape in relation to one complainant, and two counts of rape, two counts of sexual activity with a child, one count of assault of a child under 13 by penetration, one count of rape of a child under 13 and one count of assault by penetration in relation to the other complainant. A not guilty verdict on one of the rape charges in relation to the second complainant was returned on Wednesday after the prosecution offered no evidence. All charges are alleged to have taken place between January 1 2018 and April 2 2024. The defendant, of High Street, Chesham, Buckinghamshire, denies all charges. The trial continues.
The Independent
19 minutes ago
- The Independent
Teacher charged with killing of hikers at Arkansas park pleads not guilty to murder
The teacher who authorities say admitted to fatally stabbing two hikers at Devil's Den State Park in Arkansas last month pleaded not guilty Monday to murder charges. Andrew James McGann entered the plea during a brief hearing before a state judge at Washington County 's jail Monday morning. Circuit Judge Joanna Taylor scheduled McGann's next hearing for Nov. 14. He's being held without bond. McGann has been charged with two counts of capital murder in the July 26 killing of Clinton David Brink, 43, and Cristen Amanda Brink, 41. The two were hiking with their daughters — ages 7 and 9 years old — and the girls were not injured in the attack. Authorities have not publicly identified a motive for the attack at Devil's Den, a 2,500-acre (1,000-hectare) state park about 140 miles (220 kilometers) northwest of Little Rock. McGann was arrested on July 30 at a barbershop in Springdale, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of the park. McGann had not yet started his new job at Springdale Public Schools and had previously worked in Texas and Oklahoma. Authorities have said he did not have a prior criminal record. State Police have said McGann admitted to the killings shortly after his arrest and that investigators matched his DNA to blood found at the crime scene.
