Man charged after attempted rape in Doncaster city centre
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Sky News
21 minutes ago
- Sky News
'Disturbing' rise in abusive teen relationships - as experts warn of signs to look out for
Marnie's first serious relationship came when she was 16-years-old. Warning: This article contains references to strangulation, coercive control and domestic abuse. She was naturally excited when a former friend became her first boyfriend. But after a whirlwind few months, everything changed with a slow, determined peeling away of her personality. "There was isolation, then it was the phone checking," says Marnie. As a survivor of abuse, we are not using her real name. "When I would go out with my friends or do something, I'd get constant phone calls and messages," she says. "I wouldn't be left alone to sort of enjoy my time with my friends. Sometimes he might turn up there, because I just wasn't trusted to just go and even do something minor like get my nails done." He eventually stopped her from seeing friends, shouted at her unnecessarily, and accused her of looking at other men when they would go out. If she ever had any alone time, he would bombard her with calls and texts; she wasn't allowed to do anything without him knowing where she was. He monitored her phone constantly. "Sometimes I didn't even know someone had messaged me. "My mum maybe messaged to ask me where I was. He would delete the message and put my phone away, so then I wouldn't even have a clue my mum had tried to reach me." The toll of what Marnie experienced was only realised 10 years later when she sought help for frequent panic attacks. She struggled to comprehend the damage her abuser had inflicted when she was diagnosed with PTSD. This is what psychological abuse and coercive control looks like. 2:56 Young women and girls in the UK are increasingly falling victim, with incidents of domestic abuse spiralling among under-25s. Exclusive data shared with Sky News, gathered by domestic abuse charity Refuge, reveals a disturbing rise in incidents between April 2024 and March 2025. Psychological abuse was the most commonly reported form of harm, affecting 73% of young women and girls. Of those experiencing this form of manipulation, 49% said their perpetrator had threatened to harm them and a further 35% said their abuser had threatened to kill them. Among the 62% of 16-25 year olds surveyed who had reported suffering from physical violence, half of them said they had been strangled or suffocated. Earlier this year, Sky News reported that school children were asking for advice on strangulation, but Kate Lexen, director of services at charity Tender, says children as young as nine are asking about violent pornography and displaying misogynistic behaviour. "What we're doing is preventing what those misogynistic behaviours can then escalate onto," Ms Lexen says. Tender has been running workshops and lessons on healthy relationships in primary and secondary schools and colleges for over 20 years. Children as young as nine 'talking about strangulation' Speaking to Sky News, Ms Lexen says new topics are being brought up in sessions, which practitioners and teachers are adapting to. "We're finding those Year 5 and Year 6 students, so ages 9, 10 and 11, are talking about strangulation, they're talking about attitudes that they've read online and starting to bring in some of those attitudes from some of those misogynistic influencers. "There are ways that they're talking about and to their female teachers. "We're finding that from talking to teachers as well that they are really struggling to work out how to broach these topics with the students that they are working with and how to make that a really safe space and open space to have those conversations in an age-appropriate way, which can be very challenging." 4:58 Charities like Tender exist to prevent domestic abuse and sexual violence. Ms Lexen says without tackling misogynistic behaviours "early on with effective prevention education" then the repercussions, as the data for under 25s proves, will be "astronomical". At Refuge, it is already evident. Elaha Walizadeh, senior programme manager for children and young people, says the charity has seen a rise in referrals since last year. "We have also seen the dynamics of abuse changing," she adds. "So with psychological abuse being reported, we've seen a rise in that and non-fatal strangulation cases, we've seen a rise in as well. "Our frontline workers are telling us that the young people are telling them usually abuse starts from smaller signs. So things like coercive control, where the perpetrators are stopping them from seeing friends and family. It then builds." Misogyny to violent behaviour might seem like a leap.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
UK police should consider revealing ethnicity of suspects, says new guidance
Police forces should consider disclosing the ethnicity and migration status of suspects when they are charged in high-profile and sensitive investigations, according to new official guidance. After a row over claims that police 'covered up' the backgrounds of two men charged in connection with the alleged rape of a child, the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) and the College of Policing have backed plans to release details of nationality when there is a 'policing purpose' for doing so. This could be to reduce the risk to public safety, 'where there are high levels of mis- or disinformation about a particular incident', or in cases of significant public interest, senior police said. The decision to release new guidance has been praised by a former senior prosecutor, who said it could help counter rumours and disinformation which spread on social media. But it will also anger some anti-racist campaigners, who have expressed concern that such proposals could risk framing violence against women and girls as an issue of ethnicity instead of misogyny. The decision comes after Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, urged police to release the details of ethnicity last week. Forces are already encouraged to publicise charging decisions in serious cases, the NPCC said. Decisions on whether to release this information will remain with forces, an NPCC statement said, with wider legal and ethical considerations. The Home Office will decide if it is 'appropriate in all the circumstances' to confirm immigration status of a suspect, the guidance said. Failure to share basic facts about the Southport killer last summer led to 'dangerous fictions' which helped spark rioting, an independent watchdog found. Jonathan Hall KC, the UK's independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, said it would have been 'far better' for the authorities to share more accurate detail about the arrest of Axel Rudakubana on 29 July last year. Far-right agitators wrongly claimed that the killer was a Muslim asylum seeker. Deputy chief constable Sam de Reya, the NPCC lead for communications and media, said: 'We saw during last summer's disorder, as well as in several recent high-profile cases, what the major, real-world consequences can be from what information police release into the public domain. 'We have to make sure our processes are fit for purpose in an age of social media speculation and where information can travel incredibly quickly across a wide range of channels. 'Disinformation and incorrect narratives can take hold in a vacuum. It is good police work for us to fill this vacuum with the facts about issues of wider public interest.' Nazir Afzal, the former chief crown prosecutor for North West England, cautiously welcomed the decision. 'Trust is so low that more transparency is a good thing, as recent experience has shown. It has to be on a case by case basis though,' he said. The Warwickshire police and crime commissioner, Philip Seccombe, called for fresh national guidance after police were accused by Reform UK of failing to confirm that two Afghan men being prosecuted for an alleged attack on a 12-year-old girl were asylum seekers. The alleged rape, said to have happened on 22 July, was at the centre of a political storm after the Reform leader, Nigel Farage, amplified claims of a police cover-up. Ahmad Mulakhil has been charged with rape and Mohammad Kabir has been charged with kidnap and strangulation.
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Funeral director to enter pleas to 63 charges after remains found at premises
A funeral director is due to enter pleas to 63 charges spanning more than 10 years after a major investigation into human remains found at his premises. Robert Bush, 47, faces 30 counts of preventing a lawful burial and 30 counts of fraud by false representation over bodies found at one of Legacy Independent Funeral Directors' sites in Hull. He is also charged with one count of fraud by false representation in relation to human ashes between August 2017 and March 2024, and one count of fraudulent trading in relation to funeral plans between May 2012 and March 2024. Bush is also accused of theft from 12 charities including the Salvation Army, Macmillan Cancer Support, Help for Heroes and the RNLI. The defendant, formerly of Kirk Ella, East Yorkshire, but now of Otley, West Yorkshire, is due to appear at Hull Crown Court for a plea hearing on Wednesday. Humberside Police launched a probe into the funeral home after a report of 'concern for care of the deceased' in March last year. A month after the investigation started the force said it had received more than 2,000 calls on a dedicated phone line from families concerned about their loved ones' ashes. Bush was charged in April, after what officers said was a 'complex, protracted and highly sensitive 10-month investigation' into the firm's three sites in Hull and the East Riding of Yorkshire.
