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Viral Jellycat toys targeted in crimewave fuelled by popular demand

Viral Jellycat toys targeted in crimewave fuelled by popular demand

Independent02-07-2025
Jellycat toys, highly popular and expensive, have become a significant target for shoplifters, including organised criminal gangs, due to their high resale value.
Independent retailers, such as garden centres and bookshops, are facing a wave of thefts, resulting in substantial financial losses as stolen toys are resold on online marketplaces.
Numerous incidents have been reported across the UK, with thefts ranging from hundreds to thousands of pounds worth of toys, leading to police appeals, arrests, and charges.
Law enforcement and retail crime experts are actively addressing the issue, encouraging affected shops to report incidents and share information through initiatives like Project Pegasus.
The rise in Jellycat thefts is part of a broader national trend, with shoplifting offences reaching record highs and costing UK retailers billions.
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My ADHD made me sleep in sauna on work trip, says sacked female exec
My ADHD made me sleep in sauna on work trip, says sacked female exec

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  • Telegraph

My ADHD made me sleep in sauna on work trip, says sacked female exec

A drunk female executive who claimed she was sacked for spending the night in a hotel sauna during a work trip was discriminated against over her ADHD, a tribunal has ruled. Shannon Burns said her condition made her experience a 'great deal of forgetfulness' which resulted in her spending the night outside her suite when she misplaced her room key. The engineer, who was on £220,000 a year, was dismissed for her behaviour at the off-site event in Austria in April 2023 despite her claims that male colleagues were 'far more intoxicated' than her and faced no punishment. She was told her antics had 'eroded trust and confidence' in her and that she should 'lead the team by example' as a senior employee at the software company. Ms Burns, an American, is now in line for compensation after successfully suing for discrimination with a judge ruling that she experienced a 'great deal of forgetfulness' as a result of her ADHD. Employment Judge Rachel Wedderspoon said that while Ms Burns had been intoxicated, being 'disorganised' is a feature of the condition and contributed to her misplacing her keys that evening. The tribunal heard Ms Burns was headhunted for a senior role at Gitpod, which she took with the promise of a six-figure salary plus an equity package potentially worth more than £30 million. 'Tech bro' culture She claimed she was the victim of sex discrimination and complained of the rampant 'tech bro' culture at the 'male-dominated' firm that hired her. But the judge rejected this and said that her dismissal had nothing to do with her gender and was instead down to the fact that she displayed 'a lack of professionalism'. The employment tribunal, held in Birmingham, was told that Ms Burns, who has dyslexia, was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in 2015. It was heard that the condition caused her to experience a 'great deal of forgetfulness' and she would 'persistently' lose items such as her keys and phone. 'Disorganised and forgetful' Upholding her disability discrimination claims, Judge Wedderspoon said: '[Ms Burns] had consumed quite a lot of alcohol on one night of the offsite when she got locked out of her room. 'However, being disorganised and forgetful may be features of ADHD. 'The tribunal found that losing her keys on the first occasion and being locked out was likely to be something arising from her forgetfulness, a feature of [Ms Burns'] ADHD. 'However, drinking alcohol is likely to have played a part of being locked out later in the evening... 'Insofar as [Ms Burns] was criticised for being locked out in the evening the tribunal finds that this was likely in part to be as a result of the combination of her alcohol consumption and her forgetfulness which is something arising from her disability of ADHD.' Her claims of sex discrimination were dismissed and the judge said Ms Burns was not dismissed for being drunk and was instead sacked 'in part for her behaviours by reason of being drunk'. The judge added: 'She displayed a lack of professionalism namely lack of executive presence as a vice-president. That had nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that [Ms Burns] is a woman.'

Man tells court how he found out his date was transgender after she performed sex act on him
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Daily Mail​

time32 minutes ago

  • Daily Mail​

Man tells court how he found out his date was transgender after she performed sex act on him

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Jury discharged in trial of former Nine O'Clock Service priest
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The Independent

timean hour ago

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Jury discharged in trial of former Nine O'Clock Service priest

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