Nine people injured after boat fire on River Thames near Lechlade in Wiltshire
Nine people have been injured after a boat caught fire on the River Thames in Wiltshire, police have said.
Wiltshire Police said officers responded to "a reported fire on a residential boat in the River Thames near Lechlade just before midday on Saturday".
"Nine people sustained injuries and were transported to hospital. A section of the river was closed and enquiries into the cause of the fire are ongoing."
Pictures of the incident published online showed dark grey smoke pouring from a small white vessel engulfed in flames next to the riverbank amid reports the boat had "exploded".
An air ambulance was also pictured on the scene, along with police, firefighters and paramedics.
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The Independent
6 minutes ago
- The Independent
The real reason fewer men may be choosing to become vets
If you take your dog, cat or fish to see a vet in the UK, the person who treats them is likely to be a woman. According to the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, 61 per cent of current UK vets are female. University admissions are even more skewed. Among vets who had recently qualified, nearly 80 per cent were female. This wasn't always the case. In the 1930s, when James Herriot – author of books including All Creatures Great and Small and for many the iconic British vet – was practising, almost all vets were male. The women's liberation movement of the 60s and 70s saw an influx of female vet students. You might expect a levelling of the playing field to lead to a profession now equally split between genders, but that isn't so. I teach veterinary clinical communication skills to veterinary students. My research relates to developing communication strategies that are effective across a wide range of cultures and social groups. However, vets are not very culturally diverse: as well as the majority being female, nearly all are heterosexual and white. This can limit their experience and understanding of different perspectives. As part of a wider piece of research into student experience of communication, I have reviewed the history of veterinary demographics, with some surprising results. Historically, vets worked mainly on farms with large animals, for which clients perceived physical strength to be crucial. Increasing pet ownership means most vets now work with small animals. This change in focus has altered society's perception of veterinary work from 'practical' to 'caring', and it has been suggested that this has discouraged boys from considering the profession. Veterinary salaries have also stagnated for some time, which may make the job less attractive to men. There is very little research to support any of these theories, but the most relevant and largest study available comes from the US in 2010. When applications to vet schools across the country from the 1960s to early 2000s were reviewed, one factor predicted student choice: the more female students there were, the less likely males were to apply. This is an understudied sociological phenomenon called 'male flight' or 'gender flight'. It seems that, in some professions at least, men lose interest once the number of women rises above 60 per cent. Another study of UK workplaces found the same thing when modelling various reasons for gender disparities. Men not choosing professions such as pharmacy and accountancy due to the increased female presence was the best explanation. These findings are concerning when connected with a UK study from 2018 called Drawing the Future. Thirteen thousand UK school children aged between seven and 11 were asked to draw pictures of their dream job. Researchers found that – perhaps unsurprisingly – dream jobs were strongly gendered, and that this happens from a young age. 'Vet' was third overall, a very popular job choice. But when you split that by gender, it was the second most popular job for girls, but only ninth for boys. This very much matches the gender balance of vet school applicants, so we can hypothesise that attitudes to being a vet are set early in life. Need for diversity Most diversity initiatives aim to reduce barriers for underrepresented groups. The veterinary profession isn't nearly as diverse as it could be – only around 4 per cent of vets come from Black and ethnic minority backgrounds, compared to 18 per cent of people in the UK population overall. Various reasons for this have been suggested, including a lack of representation and financial barriers. But we actually don't know why this is; applications to veterinary medicine by non-white students are lower than for other degrees. But in the case of gender, boys can become vets. They simply don't want to. There's value in diversity in general within the veterinary profession. Vets don't just work in clinics with pets: they also play a key public health role, preventing disease in animal populations and ensuring the health and welfare of farm animals. There are many animal charities that rely on vets to help support the human-animal bond, such as rescuing and rehoming animals, working with pets belonging to homeless people, or caring for the pets of people fleeing domestic violence. This means working with people from all over the UK, from all backgrounds. Many studies of stress in the veterinary profession identify difficulties with communication as a key problem. Indeed, communication is highlighted as a key skill for veterinary students by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and many studies of veterinary education. But there lies a challenge common to homogeneous professions. Learning to communicate effectively with others is more difficult when there is less diversity. This issue of gender flight has broader social implications. When men leave a profession due to increased numbers of women, wages tend to stagnate, which is a serious issue for students who frequently leave their five-year vet degrees with substantial debt. One place to start might be looking at how young children view vets – and what might make it a profession to choose as a result of personal ability and preference, rather than social pressure.
Daily Mail
6 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Black schoolgirl, 15, was 'physically violated' by Met Police officers who strip-searched her on suspicion of carrying cannabis while on her period, misconduct hearing is told
A black schoolgirl was 'physically violated' by three Met Police officers who strip-searched her after wrongly suspecting she was carrying cannabis, a misconduct hearing was told. The 15-year-old girl, known as Child Q, had arrived at the school in Hackney, East London, for a mock exam when she was taken to the medical room to be strip-searched while teachers remained outside. The hearing was told the search involved having to undress herself, including her underwear, leading to the 'exposure of her intimate parts'. This is despite the schoolgirl telling officers she was menstruating, the hearing was told. Her bag and blazer were also searched, and after this did not lead to any drugs being found, she then had her hair combed, revealing no signs of cannabis. Breaches of the Met's standards of professional behaviour amount to gross misconduct and can lead to dismissal. Elliot Gold, representing the Independent Office for Police Conduct, which is bringing the case, said the search formed part of a 'no stone unturned' approach, despite it being an incident that, he argued, 'could never have justified such intrusion, namely the possible discovery of a small amount of cannabis'. Trainee Detective Constable Kristina Linge, PC Victoria Wray and PC Rafal Szmydynski all deny gross misconduct over their treatment of the girl. All three officers were PCs at the time of the search, which caused outrage over Child Q's treatment and led to protests outside Stoke Newington Police Station. Today, Mr Gold told the hearing the point where Child Q said she was on her period should have been the 'opportunity' for the 'officers to reconsider the necessity and proportionality of the search' but they instead told her 'we are all women here' and thereby treated Child Q as an adult rather than a child'. The incident happened in December 2020 when the school's safeguarding deputy alerted police, saying that Child Q smelled of cannabis, could potentially be bringing drugs into the school, and she might be at risk of exploitation in the community. The police went to the school after Child Q's teachers raised concerns about her smelling of cannabis that morning, just a few weeks after a similar incident. PCs Linge and Szmydynski carried out a search that exposed the girl's intimate areas, despite the act being described as 'disproportionate in all the circumstances,' according to the allegations. PCs Linge and Wray are also accused of carrying out, or allowing, the search in a manner seen as 'unjustified, inappropriate, disproportionate, humiliating and degrading.' All of this happened without authorisation, without an appropriate adult and no adequate concern being given to Child Q's age, sex, or the need to treat her as a child, it is also alleged. PCs Szmydynski and Linge are also accused of giving a misleading account of the incident afterwards. No formal record of the search was made at the time, neither in the officers' pocket notebooks nor on the standard stop-and-search form, which would typically be required for any street-level stop and search. The IOPC asked the panel to think of 'why the officers overreacted to such an extent and why their actions fell so far below what was required of them'. Mr Gold said that any suggestion by the officers that the safeguarding deputy was acting as the appropriate adult, even though she was not present during the search, should be rejected. He said: 'It was, or should have been, obvious to these officers that the safeguarding deputy could not act as the appropriate adult. 'On the officers' own accounts, the safeguarding deputy was the person who had summoned the police to the school, was Child Q's "accuser", was adamant that the officers would find cannabis on Child Q's person and, so, was not a person who could reasonably be expected to challenge the police in their actions.' Black people were more likely to be stopped and searched than white people, and discrimination is a 'contributing factor' in stop and search, it was suggested. Mr Gold also told the panel 'black schoolchildren are more likely to be treated as older and less vulnerable or in need of protection and support than their white peers'. He said: 'She was treated as being older than she was, more likely to be involved in criminality, and subjected to a more intrusive search, than she would have been had she been a white schoolgirl in the same situation, arriving at school, smelling of cannabis.' Mr Gold said that sacking the officers would be 'justified' if the allegations are proved, adding: 'Their actions and omissions have resulted in Child Q suffering harm to her mental health and feeling physically violated. 'They have caused Child Q and her mother to feel demeaned and disrespected. 'They have brought discredit on the Metropolitan Police and upset race-relations yet further between the police and minority communities.' The panel heard that this 'most intrusive' form of search of a child should only be used where 'necessary and reasonable', must have authorisation from a sergeant, and involve an appropriate adult if it concerns a child. It must be recorded, and two same sex officers are needed if intimate parts will be exposed. When no drugs were found after the strip search, Child Q's hair was also scoured. He told the panel: 'Child Q is black. It is the director general's case that this kind of gross overreaction by the police - to strip search a school pupil on suspicion of something relatively minor, possession of cannabis - would not have happened to a white pupil and is, regrettably, explained by Child Q's race, whether or not the officers were consciously aware of this at the time.'
BBC News
7 minutes ago
- BBC News
Runner was 'getting life back' before fatal Stretham crash
An associate of the tech billionaire Mike Lynch had been "enjoying getting his life back" when he was fatally struck by a car while out on a run, an inquest Chamberlain died in hospital three days after a collision involving a Vauxhall car on the A1123 at Stretham in Cambridgeshire on 17 August 52-year-old had previously faced fraud charges in the US alongside Mr Lynch, who died after his superyacht Bayesian sank off the coast of Sicily on 19 August last a statement read by lawyer Sally Hobson, Mr Chamberlain's widow Karen said he had taken up running after the fraud charge, and it had "helped him mentally stay calm and focus on what was ahead". Mr Chamberlain and Mr Lynch were found not guilty of the charge in June last year following a trial at a federal court in San Francisco. Mrs Chamberlain said her husband would "meticulously spend hours planning his routes" and competed in ultra-distance was "safety conscious", she said, and he would wear one earbud but leave the other ear told the inquest at New Shire Hall, Alconbury Weald, that he had been home from the US for two months and was "making up for lost time, enjoying getting his life back". 'A matter of seconds' The inquest heard the collision happened as Mr Chamberlain was crossing a road between two parts of a bridleway and he was struck by the car as it crested a humpback a statement summarised by area coroner Caroline Jones, the driver involved said that as she "approached the bridge she proceeded down the incline" and a man "suddenly emerged into the road".She said she saw Mr Chamberlain "looking to his left away from her and only looked to his right just before the collision".She said she had "braked hard and steered to the nearside", but "he was too close" and the front offside of the vehicle collided with said she had been driving within the 60mph speed limit, had been on her way to a shop in Newmarket, Suffolk and had "no time pressure", the coroner said.A witness statement said Mr Chamberlain was thrown "approximately 15 feet" in the air and "the entire incident must have been a matter of seconds".The coroner said the female driver of the car should not be named at the hearing. Police forensic collision investigator PC Ian Masters said it was "not an ideal crossing point by any stretch of the imagination".Asked by the coroner if it was his view that it was not an avoidable collision, Mr Masters replied: "Yes, that's correct".The coroner concluded that Mr Chamberlain died as the result of a road traffic shared the concerns of the family that the humpback bridge was an "irredeemable barrier" to visibility for pedestrians and other road said she would write to Cambridgeshire County Council as the highways authority for further information before deciding whether a report to help prevent future deaths was Chamberlain's daughter Ella said in a statement to the inquest that her father was the "perfect role model in every way".His son Teddy said in a statement: "He was the glue of our family, always ready with an answer."The mental and physical strength he showed was beyond anything I could imagine."He added that he was the "greatest dad I could ever have asked for and I'm so proud to be his son". Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
