Salford: New DNA evidence discovered in Baby Ava investigation
New DNA evidence has been found in the investigation to identify the remains of a baby girl that were found in a field near a motorway.Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said a profile had been secured from testing a piece of fabric recovered from near Ashtons Field in the Little Hulton area of Salford.Remains of the infant, who was given the name "Ava" by GMP, were found by a dog walker on 20 November 2024. The discovery caused an outpouring of grief in the community, with residents describing it as a "desperate situation".Det Ch Insp Charlotte Whalley said police were more determined than ever to find out about Ava's parents, and appealed to the little girl's mother: "You are not alone."
Police said they were continuing to work closely with a range of experts to find out how baby Ava came to be left alone in the field, close to a bridge over the M61. Detectives said a botanist was helping to determine how long Ava may have been at the discovery site.Meanwhile, an anthropologist, archaeologist, and specialists in dental and bone analysis are continuing to try to establish Ava's age and ethnicity.
Det Ch Insp Whalley said: "I know how heart-breaking this case has been for the communities of Greater Manchester and beyond. "The support and compassion we've received has been unwavering, and we share the sadness felt for Ava as we continue our search for answers so that we can lay her to rest."We will never forget Baby Ava, and despite the challenges in the investigation, we're committed to uncovering the truth."GMP said it had received "hundreds of public tips" in the investigation, with information leading officers to speak with potential witnesses across the UK. While those leads have not yet helped identify Ava or better understand the circumstances of her death, GMP said they had "allowed us to safeguard several vulnerable individuals and ensure they receive the care and support they need".Anyone with any information about the case is urged to contact the force.
Listen to the best of BBC Radio Manchester on Sounds and follow BBC Manchester on Facebook, X, and Instagram and watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
16 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
The public sector sicknote epidemic: They're 60% more likely to be off than staff who work for private firms
Public sector workers are 60 per cent more likely to be off work due to illness than employees in the private sector. The extent of Britain's sick note epidemic is exposed in Office for National Statistics figures that reveal 148.9 million working days were lost last year, equivalent to 4.4 days for each worker. And the share of such absences among public sector employees was 2.9 per cent, significantly higher than the private sector's 1.8 per cent. The ONS claimed it could be explained by differences in types of jobs in the sectors and that workers in state-funded jobs were more likely to be paid for being off than those in private employment. But John O'Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: 'Taxpayers are fed up with footing the bill for a public sector that's far more likely to be off sick. 'It reflects poor management and weak accountability. In the private sector, this would raise serious questions – in the public sector, it's too often ignored. Ministers must set clearer expectations, better oversight and ensure taxpayers aren't left footing the bill for unchecked absenteeism.' Sick rates have been higher in the public sector for every year on record, the ONS said. But in both cases, rates were lower last year than in 2023. The overall number of working days lost last year was 14.9 million down from 2023 but still 9.9 million higher than pre-pandemic levels in 2019. The sickness absence rate of 2.5 per cent for women was higher than for men, at 1.6 per cent. James Cockett, from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, said some public sector roles – healthcare, education, social care and policing – could increase exposure to illness and also often be 'physically and emotionally demanding'. He said this could lead to greater rates of stress-related absence He added more public sector employers offer occupational sick pay compared with private sector employers.' Len Shackleton, of the Institute of Economic Affairs think-tank, said: 'Private sector workers are more likely to be employed in small workplaces where absence is more noticeable and they may feel obliged not to let colleagues down. 'Their jobs may also be less secure than those in the public sector, again a motive for 'presenteeism' [where employees go to work despite being sick] which public sector workers don't feel to the same extent.'
Daily Mail
22 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
H&M systems are down in the UK
By Customers at H&M stores across the UK have been unable to purchase products for several hours today, following an apparent failure in the company's payments system. A worker at one store in London told MailOnline that their location had been unable sell items for around two hours. It is not currently known if online customers have been affected by the issue, and the cause of the outage has not yet been revealed. A spokesperson for H&M told MailOnline: 'We are aware of the problem and are looking into resolving it as quickly as possible. 'We apologise to our customers for the inconvenience.' The incident comes after British retail institutions like M&S and Co-op were hit with severe cyber attacks that crippled them. In late April, Co-op was forced to shut down parts of its IT systems after hackers tried to illegally access them, and that it only had a 'small impact' on its operations. The firm later admitted that despite this, hackers 'accessed data relating to a significant number of our current and past members. Meanwhile, M&S stores up and down the country were left with empty shelves after it faced an Easter weekend cyber attack. The company admitted that personal information of customers, which could include telephone numbers, home addresses and dates of birth, were taken. M&S said that the data thieves did not take usable payment or card information from their servers. Luxury jewelry firm Cartier and outdoor retailer The North Face then became the latest retailers to report customer data being stolen in cyber attacks . Watchmaker Cartier told customers in an email that 'an unauthorised party gained temporary access' to its system and 'obtained limited client information'. The firm - whose items have been worn by Taylor Swift , Angelina Jolie and Michelle Obama - revealed names, email addresses and countries had been obtained. But Cartier, which is owned by Swiss-based Richemont, said the 'affected information did not include any passwords, credit card details or other banking information'. The company said it further enhanced the protection of its systems and data, told the relevant authorities and was working with 'leading external cyber security experts'. Separately, fashion brand The North Face, owned by VF Corporation, emailed some of its customers to tell them it discovered a 'small scale' attack in April this year. The brand said names and email addresses were taken, but financial details were not - with the company revealing hackers used 'credential stuffing', reported BBC News. This involves trying usernames and passwords stolen from another data breach in the hope customers have reused the credentials across multiple accounts. North Face said attackers may have got hold of some customers' postal addresses and purchase histories. A North Face spokeswoman told MailOnline: 'The cyber incident you are referring to is a small-scale cyber incident occurred on April 23, 2025, affecting our The North Face e-commerce website in the US only. 'The incident was contained very quickly on the same day it occurred. There was no impact on our systems and/or our consumer data in Europe whatsoever, including in the UK.' Cyber security expert Julius Cerniauskas, chief executive of web intelligence firm Oxylabs, told MailOnline that the latest breaches 'send a clear message that no brand is safe from cybercrime, not even the biggest names with the deepest pockets'. He added: 'Attackers are becoming more opportunistic and sophisticated, targeting brands that hold valuable customer data, not just credit card numbers. 'In the case of The North Face, credential stuffing shows how recycled passwords from past breaches continue to fuel new attacks. 'Cartier's incident demonstrates how even well-defended systems can be compromised. Whether it's luxury retail or everyday consumer brands, hackers are finding weak spots and exploiting them fast.' Mr Cerniauskas urged retailers to 'respond with more than apologies', encouraging them to enforce multi-factor authentication, tighten access controls and constantly monitor for threats. Speaking further about 'credential stuffing', Joe Jones, chief executive and founder of Pistachio, a cybersecurity attack simulation company, said consumers reusing passwords across multiple sites were a 'sitting duck' for breaches of this type. He told MailOnline: 'Credential stuffing, the method used here, only works because people reuse the same login details. 'If you've been caught in this breach, change your passwords immediately - especially if they match accounts like email or banking. 'Enable app-based two-factor authentication, not SMS, and remain hyper alert to scam emails, texts or even fake calls.'
Reuters
28 minutes ago
- Reuters
Quarter of UK mental ill health benefit claimants expect to lose out from planned reforms, charity says
LONDON, June 5 (Reuters) - Around one in four British people with poor mental health who claim welfare benefits expect to lose their entitlement under proposed government reforms, according to research published by a charity on Thursday. Britain's government aims to save 4 billion pounds ($5.4 billion) a year by 2029-30 through tightening the rules for claiming a benefit known as personal independence payment (PIP) designed to cover disability-related costs, whether a claimant is in work or not. The Money and Mental Health Policy Institute said it interviewed 227 people with mental health conditions who receive PIP, which can be worth nearly 6,000 pounds a year. Some 24% of those surveyed said they expected to lose the benefit, while 39% were unsure if they would be affected. About one in five of those surveyed were in work, and nearly two thirds of them said reducing the benefit would make them work less, rather than more, due to difficulty affording transport costs or private mental health support. "Our analysis shows that these changes would actually result in many people with mental health problems who have a job cutting their hours or leaving the workplace altogether," the charity's chief executive, Helen Undy, said. PIP is paid to 3.7 million people in England and Wales, 6% of the population, and new claims have risen by two thirds in recent years. The government hopes that tighter eligibility rules will encourage more claimants to seek work. Under the government plans, claimants would need to have a severe difficulty in at least one area of daily life to qualify for the benefit, rather than a range of less severe problems. Britain's budget watchdog in March estimated that a third of claimants would be affected by the change, of whom around half would lose benefits after being reassessed. The new plans are subject to consultation until the end of the month. Finance minister Rachel Reeves has been under pressure from campaigners to reconsider, following a U-turn over a decision to scrap heating subsidies for most pensioners. ($1 = 0.7372 pounds)
