Video appeal as Darlaston crash leaves biker in hospital for more than a week
"We're asking any witnesses or local people with Ring doorbells, who we've not yet spoken with, to get in touch," he added."We'd also ask drivers who were in the area around the time of the collision to check dashcam for footage which may assist enquiries."
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The Independent
5 minutes ago
- The Independent
Why Lionesses will no longer take the knee following Jess Carter abuse
England's Lionesses will stand, rather than take the knee, before their Euro 2025 semi-final against Italy. The decision follows "vile" racist abuse received by England defender Jess Carter on social media during the tournament. Lucy Bronze stated the team felt the anti-racism message of taking the knee was no longer as effective, leading to 'anger' and 'sadness' within the squad about abuse directed at Carter. The Lionesses believe football needs to find new ways to combat racism, a sentiment supported by anti-discrimination group Kick It Out, who urged social media companies to do more. Bronze highlighted that online abuse in women's football is escalating with the sport's growth, particularly targeting female players, and called for social media platforms to implement solutions.
The Independent
5 minutes ago
- The Independent
Lucy Bronze explains England's decision to stop taking the knee after Jess Carter abuse
Lucy Bronze said the Lionesses have decided against taking the knee before their Euro 2025 semi-final against Italy because there is a clear argument the anti-racism message is not 'as strong as it used to be' following the abuse of England defender Jess Carter. Bronze revealed there is 'anger' and 'sadness' in the England camp after Carter spoke out against the 'vile' and 'abhorrent' social media abuse she has received while playing for England at Euro 2025. The Lionesses have taken the knee before games since the murder of George Floyd in 2020 but will stand before kick-off against Italy on Tuesday. In a statement, the Lionesses said 'we and football need to find another way to tackle racism' while the anti-discrimination group Kick It Out backed the players' decision and called on social media companies to do more to combat racist abuse. 'It was driven by the group - obviously certain individuals more than others,' Bronze explained. 'I think it was just the fact that we feel as a collective, is the message as strong as it used to be? Is the message really hitting hard? Because to us it feels like it's not if these things are still happening to our players in the biggest tournaments of their lives. 'It's about putting another statement out there to say, it's something that still is a problem, it's something that still needs to be put right. More needs to be done in football, more needs to be done in society. What that is right now as an individual, I don't exactly know.' The Football Association (FA) are in contact with the UK police while Bronze also praised Carter's bravery in speaking out against the abuse. The 27-year-old Carter, who has won 49 caps for her country and has played in all four of England's games at Euro 2025, said she would be taking a step back from social media for the rest of the tournament. Bronze, 33, is appearing at her seventh major tournament for England said online abuse in women' football is getting 'worse and worse' as the game receives more attention. Bronze accepted that the growth of women's football since the Lionesses won Euro 2022 is a 'double-edged sword' as it also leaves players open to more abuse. 'I think it's something that I've spoken about before and a lot of other members of the team have spoken about the fact that the bigger the game gets, the bigger the noise becomes, the more fans there are but the more critics there are,' Bronze said. 'We're obviously open to critics, that's why we love the sport, but we're not open to abuse. 'And I think bigger the sport's got, it seems to be that more abuse has come as well and especially in women's football, the online abuse seems to be getting worse and worse. 'We see it more in the stadiums in men's football and online, but I think with women's football there seems to be a real target online. It's something that we're very aware of and I think with online platforms it's something that we can, we can make a change too. I think it's something in the women's game especially. 'I think with online platforms it's something that we can make a change too. I think it's something in the women's game especially. There is a way to make a change. There is a solution. I don't have the answer to that solution because I'm not head of the social media platform, but I'm sure that there is one.' Bronze said she would be supporting the three other Black players in the England team - Lauren James, Michelle Agyemang and Khiara Kheating - after they were forced to see a team-mate suffer racist abuse while playing for the Lionesses at a major tournament. 'I think we all know that any player of colour that's played for England has probably gone through racist abuse,' Bronze said. 'That's a sad fact in this day and age. In terms of emotions yesterday, I think there was a lot of anger, to be honest, because we're having to go through this, because as players we want to stand up and we want to make a change. 'It's anger and sadness that our teammates have gone through this. We don't want it to happen. We want to be focused on the football. We want to be making changes. We want Jess and anybody else who puts on an England shirt to be brave, to be happy when they play for England, to have the fans support through it all. I think there was a lot of sadness, but definitely a lot of anger as well.' A statement from Kick It Out said: 'We send our support to Jess Carter and back her decision to look after her own well-being. It shouldn't come to a point where players feel the need to take this action; they should feel safe while doing their jobs. They should not be exposed to this sickening behaviour, and those responsible should face the strongest possible consequences. 'But responsibility also lies with social media companies. We support players in whatever actions they choose to take to signify their support in the fight against racism, but the focus should be on the reason behind those actions rather than the actions themselves. 'Social media companies have failed to prevent exposure to this toxicity, and football must continue to use its collective power to hold them to account. We have been working with the government and the regulator, but we know that more urgency is needed from everyone involved.'
The Sun
6 minutes ago
- The Sun
My brother was knifed to death at home by his pal…court ‘loophole' meant we never got justice & killer struck AGAIN
WAYNE Keenan's body was draped over a breakfast bar in his Blackpool flat, where he'd been stabbed multiple times. His pal Mark Oldfield had fled the scene, just yards from a police station, but two days later would hand himself in before being charged with murder. 8 8 8 But in the middle of his trial the judge gave the jury the option to try him for the now defunct charge of manslaughter by provocation instead. They took up the offer and Oldfield, from Leeds, was sentenced to just seven years in prison, and after early release would go on to viciously attack his next door neighbour with a pizza cutter - as well as at least one other offence with a bladed article. Heartbroken sister Beverley Keenan told The Sun: 'I've spent more than two decades fighting this, trying to understand why it suddenly wasn't considered murder. He'd been stabbed in the back. 'There was no justice for my brother. I want an apology from the government, because it was their laws that failed to protect him and others in a similar boat.' She added: 'As soon as Mark was released he attacked again.' Beverley says she's never had a clear answer as to what led to her brother's death - and the weapon used was never found. Dad-of-three Wayne - known to friends and family as Joey Evans, having adopted his stepdad's surname and his own middle name - had been allowing Oldfield to stay in his flat on and off when the deadly row erupted on June 4 2000. Joey, 34, had, on a whim, moved to the Lancashire city from Leeds months earlier, after his mum Alison Evans and sisters Beverley and Julie had done the same. His relationship with the mother of his youngest son had broken down and he wanted a fresh start. Beverley explained: 'He turned up on New Years Eve 1999 and it was a right shock, because we weren't expecting to see him. 'I'd just moved into a new house, and he came and stayed with us all over New Year. 'We had a lovely time, it was the first time that all the family had been together since we were kids. 'He was gutted because he had three kids in Leeds but needed a fresh start. He planned to move to Blackpool permanently and fight for custody of his youngest, and we were going to help.' Joey signed up to a local job agency and soon found regular work in factories, often working two jobs at once, days and nights. 'He was earning good money and then his mate from Leeds turned up,' explained Beverley. Joey and Oldfield, then 36, stayed at Alison's home in Central Drive before her son found himself a flat on Chapel Street just half a mile away. But by June, Joey and Oldfield's relationship appeared to have soured somewhat, and Beverley believes her brother had not seen his eventual killer much for some time when he arrived suddenly at his flat in the early hours of Sunday, June 4 2000. 'He turned up early Sunday morning, and stabbed Joey at nine o'clock on Sunday night,' she said. 8 8 8 'Joey had had a bath that night, he'd ironed his clothes ready to go to work the next day, before being killed.' Beverley recalls how half an hour after stabbing her brother, Oldfield 'casually' walked past her and sister Julie as they drove back to their mum's home after bingo. 'He was stood looking at me in the car, and because of my arthritis I couldn't wind the window down to ask him where Joey was. 'He was with a girl. We drove round to the back of my mum's old house, and we suddenly couldn't see him anywhere.' What exactly happened during the tragedy is unclear. In her campaign to have the conviction upgraded, Beverley says she was told the court transcripts were destroyed after five years. Reports in the Blackpool Gazette from December 2000, during the trial, say Oldfield alleged his victim had first gone for him with a knife. He claimed Joey had also punched one of several women who were also in the flat at the time and had stepped in. However, Julie Taylor, described as Joey's girlfriend, is reported to have told the court she saw Oldfield raise an arm and stab his victim four times. While giving evidence, Oldfield had told the court how he and Joey had spent the day drinking and watching Formula One on the TV. One article adds the defendant said he must have later fallen asleep and that on waking he heard screaming and crying. 8 8 It says: 'Oldfield told the court he saw Joey punching someone called Mandy. The defendant said he took hold of him and dragged him into the hallway.' However, Joey allegedly broke loose and headed back to the living room. Oldfield said: 'Joey came back into the room. I saw a knife in the right hand. I thought he had run on to the knife [sic]. 'From listening to the forensic pathologist I now believe I must have lunged at him and stabbed him in the chest, thinking he was going to stab me.' In another article, the court is reported to have heard Oldfield claimed he was acting in self defence and had actually grabbed a knife from the coffee table after fearing Joey was going to arm himself, and used it to kill his friend. In an article from December 23 2000, the day after Oldfield was sentenced for manslaughter by provocation, Beverley was reported as saying: 'Oldfield was known as Rampton in Leeds and butchered my brother. 'I am considering appealing to the Home Secretary about the leniency of the sentence.' Mum Alison - who passed away in 2010 - had said: 'How in God's name could the judge sentence him to only seven years? 'He could be out walking the streets again in three years.' Referring to the police, she added: 'We feel so let down by them.' Early prison release and subsequent attack Oldfield was released early from prison and in May 2009 was sentenced to eight years in custody for assault occasioning actual bodily harm, having attacked his neighbour with a pizza cutter. Then in May 2011, while still on licence, Oldfield reportedly committed another offence with a bladed article and was given a 10-month prison term. Beverley said: 'How many more times will he escape justice? Does he really have to take another life before someone listens?' She has been campaigning ever since Oldfield was jailed for her brother's killing, for a tougher sentence. 'I started more or less immediately,' she explained. She said she was protesting outside Parliament and several Labour ministers at the time 'all walked past', and she appeared on TV. 'I wrote to everyone in Parliament and got a lot of letters back from a lot of MPs that agreed with me but they said you've got to go through your own. 'My MP tried his best but it's proving it. No solicitor would ever touch it because there'd been a trial. Even though the trial's gone wrong.' The partial defence of provocation in English law, which could reduce a murder charge to manslaughter, was abolished in October 2010. In April 2005 the double jeopardy rule came into effect in the UK, allowing for retrials in cases of very serious offences where new and compelling evidence had emerged after an acquittal or conviction. Beverley said it wasn't until the new law came in that police came to see her, in part because she'd been collecting paperwork from the case, and asked for the court transcripts, which she didn't have. What is manslaughter by provocation and double jeopardy? The partial defence of manslaughter by provocation in English law, which could reduce a murder charge to manslaughter, was abolished in October 2010. In April 2005 the double jeopardy rule came into effect in the UK, allowing for retrials in cases of very serious offences where new and compelling evidence had emerged after an acquittal or conviction. 'They said 'we're going to try him on double jeopardy'. Beverley continued: 'They knew he'd murdered Joey, they knew it. I tried to get the transcripts but they said we've destroyed them after five years. 'You can find transcripts online from decades ago but Joey's have been destroyed after five years.' Despite being on benefits at the time, she managed to save up the £5,000 needed to receive the transcripts before finding out they'd been destroyed. She said police said, in the end, the potential for a new trial fell through on the basis of this. 'Really you'd think they'd do a new inquiry again,' she continued. 'The police said they were underfunded and couldn't keep going back and forth to Leeds. And that was that.' She went on to say: 'I seem to have missed out every which way but loose. Every which way I go I hit a brick wall.' She added: 'At the end of the day, it's us who are the victims, us who serve the life sentence, not them who do it.' Having suffered a number of health setbacks, Beverley said her campaign has now been reinvigorated. I seem to have missed out every which way but loose. Every which way I go I hit a brick wall. At the end of the day, it's us who are the victims, us who serve the life sentence, not them who do it. Beverley Keenansister of tragic Joey Evans Mum Alison died from brain cancer in 2010, while Beverley herself has struggled with rheumatoid arthritis since she was a baby. 'In the last 10 years I've had my two new hips and two new knees, I've had a lot going on in my life,' she explained. 'But the other day I just thought I should really get an apology off the government. 'That manslaughter with provocation was a mess, they knew it was a mess, they've admitted it was a mess, and that's the reason they abolished it because they knew murderers were getting away with murder.' She added: 'I would like other victims in this situation to come forward. 'I'd love to get a group of us together like the Post Office crew, because someone needs holding accountable for this farce. It should never have happened.' Attorney General In an email from MP Chris Webb to Beverley in January, seen by The Sun, he told her: 'Provocation law, as it stood, was widely criticised for being outdated and susceptible to misuse. 'While its intent was to address specific circumstances, its application in other cases, including the ones you've described, led to unjust outcomes that failed to reflect the gravity of the crimes committed. 'I agree that the government must not acknowledge the failures of the past without fully examining their consequences and offering both accountability and redress.' As a result, he wrote to the Attorney General on her behalf to 'highlight the importance of this issue'. In April, Mr Webb then forwarded his response from Sarah Sackman KC, Minister for Courts and Legal Services, who said the correspondence had been transferred to the Ministry of Justice. She said: 'You and your constituents may be interested to learn about the 'Unduly Lenient Sentence (ULS) Scheme' where the Attorney General can refer certain serious offences sentenced in the Crown Court to the Court of Appeal if they believe they might be unduly lenient. 'The Court of Appeal will then review the sentence and may decide to dismiss and replace it with a sentence that it considers more appropriate.' However, she warned: 'The bar to increasing a sentence is a very high one. 'The Court of Appeal will only grant permission to refer a sentence in exceptional circumstances: for example, if the judge has made some gross error, or has passed a sentence that falls outside the range of available and reasonably appropriate sentences.' She added the independent Law Commission are also 'undertaking a review of criminal appeals' and in June launched a public consultation in relation to reforms to the ULS. Lancashire Police declined to comment when approached by The Sun.
