Motorcyclist dies in hospital after crash in Winterley
A motorcyclist has died in hospital shortly after being involved in a crash.The 32-year-old man was seriously hurt when his red Lexmoto Valiant motorbike crashed on Ashley Close in Winterley, Cheshire, just before 01:00 BST on Saturday.He was taken to Leighton Hospital in Crewe, but was pronounced dead a short time later, Cheshire Police confirmed.The force said it was in the early stages of the investigation and urged witnesses or people who might have video footage to get in touch.
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The Independent
33 minutes ago
- The Independent
Legal aid lawyers face chaos following cyber attack, says representative body
Legal aid lawyers are facing 'administrative chaos' in the aftermath of a cyber attack amid fears more providers will leave the sector, a representative body has said. The Legal Aid Agency's (LAA) digital services, which are used by legal aid providers to log their work and get paid by the Government, were taken offline following the data breach in April. Payments for the publicly funded work initially stopped and legal aid applications are not able to be formally granted at the moment. This has left legal aid law firms, often small businesses, to decide whether to take on the risk of cases and hope they will be approved and paid retrospectively. Chris Minnoch, chief executive of Legal Aid Practitioners Group (LAPG), said that lawyers have called the representative body 'in tears' having 'sleepless nights' waiting on news and payments coming through from legal aid because of the cyber attack. 'They've been on the verge of collapse because they hadn't had payments for one or two weeks,' he told the PA news agency. 'What a cyber attack like this brings to the front of your mind is that the legal aid scheme is teetering on the precipice of collapse. 'If it goes and if lawyers just say, 'I can't do this anymore', it has profound consequences for almost every aspect of society, because we are talking about the law of everyday life.' Those eligible to apply for legal aid include domestic violence and modern slavery victims, people involved in care proceedings or at risk of homelessness, as well as people accused of criminal offences. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) previously said a 'significant amount of personal data' of people who applied to the LAA since 2010, including criminal records, was accessed and downloaded in the cyber attack. The Government became aware of the hack on April 23, but realised on May 16 that it was more extensive than originally thought, and took the system offline. Mr Minnoch said it was 'unforgivable' for an organisation of that size to not have a business continuity plan that anticipated this sort of fallout. 'You'll have a number of providers that, by the end of this digital disaster we're dealing with, won't be there anymore because they just couldn't afford to, and a number of others that just say, 'I just I can't take this anymore',' he said. 'Every time there is some sort of crisis that befalls the legal aid scheme, you end up with fewer lawyers willing to do it at the end of it.' An MoJ source had put the breach down to the 'neglect and mismanagement' of the previous government, saying vulnerabilities in the LAA's systems have been known for many years. The attack happened as the MoJ was working on replacing the internal system with a new version hoped to be up and running in the coming weeks. At the end of May, the LAA brought in a scheme for civil legal aid providers to be able to receive payments based on their average billing until the system is back online, when lawyers will then submit specific bills and applications. On June 4, payments were sent to more than 1,700 solicitors and barristers who took up the offer. Payments for criminal legal aid cases separately have also resumed, the MoJ said. Mr Minnoch added that while the civil legal aid payments should have been done two weeks earlier, they were an important step forward, effectively loaning providers cash while they cannot claim money owed to them. 'I think one of the ways they need to mitigate this is by being as flexible as possible with providers, once the situation is restored to some sort of business as usual, because they're going to be punch drunk by the end of this, they're already punch drunk,' he said. There are also concerns the move will create a backlog of providers trying to push through all their cases that need to be claimed in a short period of time when the system is back up and running, to effectively gain the income to repay the loan as quickly as possible. Jenny Beck KC, co-chair of the LAPG, said: 'There's administrative chaos in an already beleaguered and fragile supplier base. 'Nobody does it because it's a very sensible business proposition. People do it because they genuinely care about vulnerable people and they want to help them.' Ms Beck, who runs a family law practice, said her firm's workload is 60% legal aid work helping extremely vulnerable people such as domestic abuse survivors who need protection orders. She told PA a 'good proportion' of clients are reliant on legal aid to access their rights which is a 'massive access to justice issue'. Of the legal aid work, Ms Beck, who is also a member of the Law Society's access to justice committee, added: 'We'll have to supplement it with private income sources, because it's anxiety provoking to be working at risk on cases that we haven't an absolute guarantee that we're going to be paid.' 'I am going to continue to work at risk because I cannot leave my clients vulnerable. 'But I know that many other firms are very concerned about taking that risk.' Nicola Jones-King, Law Society council member for legal aid, said that while taking the risk for certain types of cases is 'okay' when it is known legal aid will be granted, there is more concern for means and merit tested applications for legal aid such as in housing or cases against police action. 'If it's a slightly more challenging or unusual case, or it's a case where you need to assess merits and means, that's more problematic obviously for the solicitor to take that on that risk,' she said. The risk also applies in cases that already have legal aid granted, but then need further approval to continue the funding at different stages in the proceedings. Stuart Nolan, managing director at DPP Law Ltd and chairman of the Law Society's criminal law committee, said his firm's criminal law department is made up of about 95% of legal aid cases and could sustain the current situation 'at a cost' for a couple of months before feeling the pinch. 'The impact is so far reaching, clogged criminal justice system, this is prospect of more delays,' he said. 'The quicker it's sorted out, the better for everyone.' A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: 'We understand the challenges this situation presents for legal aid providers – we are working as fast as possible to restore our online systems and have put in place contingencies to allow legal aid work to continue safely with confidence. 'These measures include setting up an average payment scheme for civil legal aid cases, resuming payments on criminal legal aid cases, putting in place processes for urgent civil application approvals and confirming that criminal applications made in this time will be backdated.'
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS High school football star, 16, dead in New Jersey shooting as family mourn 'tragic accident'
A New Jersey community is in mourning after the shocking death of a 16-year-old high school football star who was shot in the head on Friday night. Xyere Brooks died in hospital two hours after being shot inside a Camden County house, in what his family have described as a tragic accident. Investigations are still ongoing into how the incident unfolded, but the victim's brother Manazh Tomkins told 6ABC: 'She put the gun to his head, and I guess she didn't expect it to go off. 'To make a long story short, the gun went off on my brother, and he's no longer here with us.' Brooks was a sophomore at Kipp High School in Camden, and was a star of the football academy with the likes of Rutgers and Syracuse already taking interest in him, according to his mother Antoinette Brooks. Speaking to local media, she added: 'These parents that are leaving their unsupervised teenage kids at home and not knowing what they may come into their homes with... there has to be a better way.' No criminal charges have currently been filed, and the identity of the girl mentioned by Brooks' brother has not been released by cops. Brooks' school also paid tribute to the 16-year-old in a post on Instagram, alongside which they posted a photo of him on the football field, and one of his first day at school. 'This week, our KCNA community is mourning and honoring the life of KHS Camden sophomore Xyere Brooks. 'Xyere began his journey with us at KIPP Lanning Square Middle as a fifth grader with a smile that could light up a room, a competitive spirit, and the kind of energy that brought joy to every hallway and dance battle. 'At @khscamden, Xyere was a committed student, a loyal and encouraging teammate and friend, and a standout football player whose talent and drive were evident to all who knew him. 'As a forever member of the LSM familia and a proud Titan, Xyere will be deeply missed by everyone who had the privilege of knowing him.'
Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
Missiles thrown at police as violence breaks out in NI
Missiles were hurled at police officers and houses set on fire following a protest over an alleged sexual assault case in Northern Ireland. The streets of Ballymena town centre, located about 30 miles from Belfast, turned into chaos on Monday night as masked youths attacked police vehicles and threw projectiles at officers, some setting buildings alight and smashing in windows. Footage of the violent scenes captured houses up in flames. In one video, a masked man was seen throwing an object at police vans as a crowd looked on. PSNI riot officers swarmed the streets near Clonavon Terrace to bring the disorder under control, blocking off the area. Local media reported that paint and masonry had been thrown at PSNI Land Rovers. 'A number of missiles have been thrown towards police with damage reported to a number of properties,' a PSNI spokesman said. 'Officers are in attendance to ensure the safety of everyone involved. They will remain in the area tonight to continue to monitor the situation.' The disorder comes after hundreds of protesters gathered in the town centre, following a case involving two teenage boys who appeared before Coleraine Magistrates' Court earlier in the day, accused of sexually assaulting a teenage girl in the County Antrim town. Irish media outlet RTE News reported that the teenagers, who are Romanian and spoke through an interpreter, cannot be identified because of their ages. A separate police statement from Sunday said two teenage boys had been charged with attempted rape in connection with a serious sexual assault on a teenage girl in Ballymena on Saturday evening. People have been told to avoid the Clonavon Road area until further notice. In a statement, Chief Superintendent Sue Steen urged for locals to 'remain calm and to act responsibly'. 'Violence and disorder will only place people at greater risk,' she said. 'Our priority is to keep the community safe, and I would appeal to everyone to work with us to bring calm to the area as quickly as possible.'
