Stoke Newington: Family in tribute to mother killed before blast
The family of a woman found fatally stabbed after a gas explosion at her home have described her as a "beautiful daughter, sister, friend and mother".Annabel Rook, 46, was found fatally injured at a house in Dumont Road, Stoke Newington, north London, just before 05:00 BST on Tuesday.In a statement issued through the Metropolitan Police, her family said they were "struggling to come to terms with this terrible tragedy".A 44-year-old man was arrested at the address on suspicion of murder. He was taken to hospital but later discharged and released into police custody, a Met spokesperson said.
Two children, aged seven and nine, were also taken to hospital as a precaution but were not thought to have been inside the home when the explosion happened.Ms Rook worked for a social enterprise she co-founded called MamaSuze, which supports refugee and migrant women, some who have fled domestic violence, with art and drama activities.Her family said: "Annabel was a truly wonderful woman. She touched the hearts of so many."She gave her life to helping the vulnerable and the disadvantaged, whether it was in refugee camps in Africa or setting up MamaSuze in London, to enhance the lives of survivors of forced displacement and gender-based violence."
The Met spokesperson said detectives were continuing with their murder investigation into Ms Rook's death.Det Ch Supt Brittany Clarke previously described the incident as "extremely tragic".
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The Review Geek
13 minutes ago
- The Review Geek
Our Unwritten Seoul – K-drama Episode 10 Recap & Review
Reading You Episode 10 of Our Unwritten Seoul begins with a flashback involving Ro-sa. She's chased by some kids that are bullying her, but she's going by the name of Sang-wol. We'll see more of these later on, given the show is book-ended by this story! For now, the Ro-sa article spreads like wildwife online. She's branded a murderer and even worse, her shop windows are smashed up by local thugs (off-screen, mind you). Tae-gwan is concerned when he finds out what Chung-gu has done, but the latter explains he's using this as a way of rocking the boat and passing guardian ownership to her son's uncle. An official investigation will begin soon, as there's due to be TV coverage too, which includes her brother-in-law giving a statement. Ro-sa receives a call from Inspector Im, who wants her to come in for questioning regarding a 'criminal allegation'. This stems from a false death report being filed to seize assets. Just like Mi-rae did when things got too hard, Ro-sa decides to hang up the call and turn her phone off, running from the problem. Meanwhile, Sang-yeong packs up his things and leaves the branch, turning the entire workforce against her. They all shoot daggers at her but Mi-rae, this time, actually scoffs at them. She's not going to take paid leave or shy away from this either, which throws doubts for some of the workers. When Tae-i finds out about her pressing charges, he offers to help her. She confirms that she's going to fight back but do so on her terms and at her pace. She's not going to lose this time, so she needs to be thorough. As for Wol-sun, she's not eating given Mi-ji isn't around as much. Ok-hui puts her foot down and doesn't want to bring Mi-ji back, given it's not her responsibility. Over in Seoul, Mi-rae and Se-jin start to spend more time together. As business partners, they visit a whole bunch of different establishments with owners that know Se-jin. He admits they've become friends over time and he wanted her to see some nice people in Seoul. When they arrive at the observatory, Se-jin has made his mind up and he's heading off to the States after all. Mi-rae thinks this is the right call and he even offers her the chance to come join him when she finishes up with her current cases. Meanwhile, Mi-ji heads over to see Ho-su. She does some digging into the Ro-sa situation and finds a letter from the prosecution office, and decides to jump in and help no matter what. Ho-su isn't sure this is a good idea, until he finds out Chung-gu was the one filing the lawsuit against Ro-sa. Ho-su is shocked when he hears Chung-gu so flippant and blasé about the whole ordeal. Chung-gu shrugs it off, arrogantly claiming he sees each client the same and they should all be treated accordingly. When Chung-gu keeps calling Ro-sa by the name of Sang-wol, Ho-su eventually leaves. Ho-su rings Mi-ji next and explains that KFMC are the ones behind this, alongside Chung-gu. Outside, Mi-ji convinces Ro-sa to come clean about what happened and not give up. She eventually does, and we learn the truth about the past. Ro-sa is Sang-wol and she grew up alongside her friend at the orphanage. She couldn't read after high school so she ended up doing various jobs but found herself constantly berated and assaulted by the staff and management due to her poor education. Only Ro-sa was there for her and read to Sang-wol whenever she could. Ro-sa wrote numerous poems during this time and even called Sang-wol her twin. The pair have an inseparable bond and lived together when they left the orphanage. When others moved in with them, Sang-wol started to feel how different she really was to everyone else, ostracised for being uneducated, while Ro-sa started to flourish. Realizing this, Sang-wol decided to leave the house and run away, not telling Ro-sa the real reason. She ended up working in a restaurant and after some time, rang Ro-sa only to find out she's married to a guy called Jong-du. Years passed and Sang-wol ran into Ro-sa by chance in Seoul. However, she's got a small child and she's been badly beaten by her husband. Ro-sa has blamed herself, thinking her child's condition was her fault, but it was never reported and all of their friends took his side. Sang-wol took Ro-sa and the child and fled. Things were okay for a while but Jong-du caught up to them and looked set to kill Ro-sa… until Sang-wol smacks him in the back of the head and kills him. Sang-wol took the fall for the man's death, but while she was in prison, people judged Ro-sa even worse. Ro-sa sold her poems for next to nothing to try and get by but with word out that Sang-wol is a murderer, very few people would take her on to work. She decided to use Ro-sa's name to try and hide her own past. After a few years of scraping by, they bought the house together. Ro-sa came up with the name of Rosa Restaurant but unfortunately, Ro-sa passed away from cancer after admitting her son to psychiatric care. Ro-sa also hands over the death report and pleads with Sang-wol to adopt her name and pretend Sang-wol is dead. Now, if ownership passes to Jong-du's family, Sang-wol is well aware that they would just seize the money and leave the poor kid to rot. This also explains why the house is so important and why she hasn't sold up yet. When Ho-su checks over the official documents that Sang-wol has, there's a letter in here from Ro-sa. She willingly hands everything over to Sang-wol and has the official documents to confirm this. Ho-su excitedly tells Sang-wol what he's found, explaining that they need to admit to the identity theft charges but the Will confirms that everything is legit, and all money has been passed to her son too, which gets her completely off the hook. As a result of all this, Chung-gu is left with egg on his face, while Mi-ji hands over a whole ton of petitions from students that received the Kim Ro-sa Scholarship. Sang-wol gets off with a suspended indictment, which is good news and it means that the case is effectively kept on hold and then later dismissed if she complies with what the court ask of her. For now, we don't actually know what those terms are. However, there's a bigger problem. Ho-su loses his hearing completely, cutting short any celebrations. He turns and walks away, with Mi-ji and Sang-wol unaware. The Episode Review This episode is by far the most emotional in the entire run of Our Unwritten Seoul. It's hard not to shed a tear when Sang-wol is reflecting on Ro-sa's words about meeting good people. Everything that's happened to her, and how she's been acting toward the redevelopment plan now makes a lot more sense with context around the past. It really is so sad to see how badly Ro-sa and Sang-wol had it growing up. It feels a little similar to Pachinko in the sense of having to deal with sexism, domestic violence and overwhelming prejudice, and it's amazing that the pair survived as long as they did. However, the big twist here comes from Ho-su losing his hearing completely, which has been foreshadowed but it's another bitter blow for our characters to handle. Just when we think things are turning a corner, our boy gets levelled with another low blow! We do get some nice moments though, like Mi-rae smirking at her manager, her ties with Se-jin and the development for Ok-hui too which are all nice inclusions. With two episodes left, this emotionally charged K-drama has left everything wide open and it's anyone's guess what will happen next. Previous Episode Next Episode Expect A Full Season Write-Up When This Season Concludes!
Daily Mail
20 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Life on the once respectable middle-class street now ravaged by crime and drugs... where house prices have plunged by SEVENTY PER CENT
It was once the jewel in Stockton-on-Tees' crown - an aspirational address where the well-heeled middle classes built their lives in proud red-brick Victorian homes. But today, Hartington Street stands as a haunting shadow of its former self and a sobering symbol of Britain's urban decline. Crippled by crime, ravaged by drug abuse, and hollowed out by absentee landlords, the street is now a grim patchwork of HMOs, halfway houses and temporary accommodation. Nowhere is that downfall more visible than at No. 15. Once a grand, three-storey family home, it sold for £300,000 in 2014. Just eight years later, it was snapped up for just £90,000 - a 70% drop in value. The property's windows and front door are now boarded up with metal sheets, paint peels from the crumbling sills, and vegetation grows through an upstairs window. The only tenants left are the pigeons roosting inside. This pattern repeats across the street. Of around 80 homes, the vast majority have been carved up into HMOs and let out by out-of-town landlords, often with little concern for upkeep or who moves in. House values have plummeted with properties that once commanded six-figure sums changing hands for as little as £55,000. Isma Choudhary, 58, whose 85-year-old mother Sagira has lived on Hartington Street for five decades, said the decline has been devastating for long-standing residents. She said: 'It's a shame. It used to be a beautiful road. 'My mum has lived here for 54 years, since she came from Kenya. It was the first house she ever bought. 'They're big houses and they'd get a good price if they were anywhere else. If this was London, it'd probably go for a million. 'But I can't imagine they're going for very much now and when the house does come to be sold, there's going to be a big loss. 'We keep trying to encourage my mum to move out of the area, into a better place, but she says no. 'She knows she'll never get a house this size anywhere else if she sells. She won't be able to afford it. 'Really, she should have sold up years ago.' Pointing to former family homes turned into HMOs, Ms Choudhary added: 'There's been a lot of change. There are only about four families down here now. 'A lot of people don't want to stay here anymore. Some of them have young kids and there are people outside using drugs. 'Next door was an Asian family who sold up about six months ago. That's empty at the moment. 'At No. 57, God knows how many people they've put in there. There must be 20-odd people in there. 'On an evening, there's ten cars and two vans parked up. I came home at half-eight last night and couldn't park anywhere near the house. 'Before, I could always park outside.' According to official sales data, boarded-up No. 15 had sold for £300,000 in 2014. But in 2021, it was listed for auction with a guide price of just £65,000 with sales blurb detailing its partial conversion 'with a view to providing 9 self-contained studios'. Its owners, based in Ayr, Scotland, secured the house for £90,000. A 1975 covenant on the house prohibiting actions that might 'lessen or depreciate' neighbouring property values appears to read with bitter irony. Dani Keith, 37, who lives on the street with her husband Tim, 38, and four children, knows a woman who grew up in the former family home. Ms Keith said: 'We actually went to church with a lady that lived here as a kid. 'She's in her 70s or 80s now. She's visited us and she'll walk up and down the street. 'She gets sad because the house means something to her. 'It's been like that for five years now.' Rightmove data, based on official government house sales logs, paints a bleak picture for Hartington Road. No. 28, a seven-bed house, was sold for £137,000 in 2007 - but plunged in price by 45% when it sold in October last year for £76,000. Eight-bed No. 16, sold for £125,000 in 2006. When it was purchased in 2023, its value had fallen 40% to £75,000. And a flat which sold for £51,000 in 2007 fell 22% to £39,000 when it was bought in 2022. Nadia Mahsood, 42, has lived on the street for 18 years with her husband, and admitted she was worried by falling property prices. She said: 'I want to move but I can't afford to.' 'Everybody's moved. My neighbour, who's my best friend, moved last year because it's a very rough, druggie area. 'There's lots of drug dealing in public. 'The property prices have gone down because it's a rough area. There are many flats here now. 'Many families have moved out. People don't like raising their families here but I have no choice.' Hartington Road has become a hotspot for crime and antisocial behaviour. According to police figures, 2,226 crimes were recorded in Stockton's town centre, in which the street lies, in six months to April. Web forums refer to it as 'vagabond street,' where 'residents are usually off their faces on drugs or booze, and that's at breakfast time'. 'Honestly, if they moved everyone out, the town centre would improve massively', one wrote. 'The amount of times I've been asked for booze money at 8am is ridiculous.' One resident, who gave his name only as Stephen, told Mail Online that he paid £475 a month to live in a ground-floor room, with a tiny kitchenette and WC. He said: 'The houses round here used to be worth a fortune but because of the street, no-one wants to live here. It's one of the worst places to live. 'There's a lot of druggies and smack heads. It's better than watching TV sometimes. There's always something going on. 'There's a Christian family from America living on here, with four kids. 'I asked them, 'why the hell are you living down here? It's a horrible place'. 'And they said 'God made us do it'. 'If God asked me to live down here, I would tell him where to go. 'I was living in a tent before I lived here. Then I ended up in this s***hole. 'But if I'd known what it was like I would have stayed in the tent. 'The police are up and down here like yo-yos.' Nearby, the family referenced by Stephen told how their missionary work had taken them from North Colorado to Teesside, where they live in a six-bed house bought for just £82,000. Tim Keith, a team leader with Global Mission Europe, said: 'The investment we've made here in buying the house is less about finance and more in a belief for better things for this community. 'It's a different community but it is a community with its own rhythm and rules. 'Doorbells don't get used. There's a lot of shouting, which takes some getting used to. 'I've worked around this estate and from this location for three years, so my sense of what 'bad' is a little different. 'You reach a point where you can see the beauty of the place and don't see the rubbish that has blended in.' Mr Keith added: 'We lived in a community called Denver, North Carolina. 'Of the top 30 earners of NASCAR, 20 of them had houses within 10 miles of ours. Donald Trump had a home on the lake nearby. 'It was a very different community. But I actually feel more comfortable here in this community.' The rise in HMOs has led to concerns from Cleveland Police. The force recently objected to retrospective planning application for a nine bedsit property, describing it as a 'modern day doss-house'. Crime prevention officer Gerry McBride said of the plan for no. 25: 'It appears to be an attempt by the developer to squeeze as many people into a building as possible. 'The lack of en-suite facilities for the occupants will result in this operating as a modern day doss-house. There is already a high incidence of HMOs in the nearby area, with which, comes a transient community, bringing with it a host of local additional demands for police and partners.' Leanne Dixon, 37, moved from the east Yorkshire coast to Hartington Road last year when a house came up for rent suitable for her seven children. After securing the property sight unseen, she discovered the remnants of a cannabis farm in her attic which had been connected across four neighbouring homes. Leanne said: 'People told us not to move here - they said it was full of druggies and alcoholics. 'But honestly, we've had no problems. We don't mind it at all. 'It's not easy finding somewhere big enough and affordable. You can't rent these kinds of houses anymore unless you've got a million quid. They just don't exist.' Ms Dixon pays £1,500 per month to rent the property, which initially had been advertised for let as a HMO by a Hong Kong-based landlord. She said: 'There aren't many families on the street. It's a shame because the houses are big and more suitable for families. 'When we first moved in last August, every five seconds you could hear sirens going, but now it's just become background noise. 'You just get used to it.'
BBC News
22 minutes ago
- BBC News
Man arrested after motorcyclist dies in Warter crash
A man has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving following a crash involving a car and a motorcycle, police have Police said emergency crews were called to reports of a collision involving a Ford Mondeo and a BMW R1250 on the B1246 at Warter, East Yorkshire, shortly before 16:00 BST on Sunday, the motorcyclist was named by his family as 37-year-old Darren Stringer. Officers said Mr Stringer died at the scene and added his family was being arrested man, aged 48, was later released on police bail pending further inquiries, said the force. Witnesses or anyone with relevant dashcam footage is asked to contact to highlights from Hull and East Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.
