Latest news with #AmyStevenson
Times
18-07-2025
- Times
No poetry, please — ‘OOO' does not stand for overly odious odes
The sounds of summer used to consist of the thwack of leather on willow and the call of 'new balls, please'. To those, we must now add the ping of an out of office message, or 'OOO', the noise you possibly make after eating too much moussaka in a Greek taverna. The acronym — and its unpronounceability — is such a feature of the summer holidays that many Microsoft employees choose to call it 'Oof', which supposedly stands for Out of Facility, a hangover from when early computer programmers were recruited from academia. Though Amy Stevenson, a Microsoft corporate archivist, points out that this is probably a 'backronym' — there is no evidence that anyone actually said 'out of facility'; it's just easier to say Oof, than Ooo. Either way, we are entering peak OOO season and with that comes tortuous attempts by workers to sound either terribly important or be the office wit. The default for execs is the brusque: 'I am away on annual leave until July 28. Please contact my EA in my absence.' Do not do this, unless you are in the Coldstream Guards and believe a two-week jaunt to Tuscany should be treated as a military exercise. 'Annual leave' has crept into office parlance, but is insufferably pompous. What's wrong with: 'I'm away on holiday'? 'Annual leave' has legalistic overtones. It groups your time off with the kids around a swimming pool with sick leave, or compassionate leave, as if your summer break is something you are reluctantly taking under contractual obligation. It's OK to be on holiday. At the other end of the scale is one I saw recently: 'Knock knock. Who's there? Not me. Knock again on 21 July.' This was from a copywriter, so it was just about acceptable. But using an OOO as a vehicle to express your personality has become a dangerous trend. I've seen people post poetry, the itinerary of their road trip across America and their summer reading list in their OOOs. • This week I attended the Google journalist summer party and was shown by a Googler their boss's OOO, which started: 'Thanks for your note. Long story short, I'm currently in my bride era and out of the office. The planets and fates and all the stars aligned — and I'm saying I do, because it's a love story, baby.' There were a few more paragraphs of this, before we got to the little footnote: 'This out of office was inspired by Taylor Swift lyrics and partially composed with the help of Gemini.' Welcome to the future. Not only do you have to wade through OOOs that are long, comedic homages to pop stars, but ones that have been crafted by the very machines about to steal your job. I've seen another this week, which explained that the person was away at an Oasis concert in Manchester — made up of the band's song titles ('I'm on a Supersonic journey to Heaton Park', etc). I thought it was moderately droll. But now that I know the person may have resorted to AI, I am thinking it was a warning sign that civilisation is collapsing. An OOO should not be an attempt from consultants to prove they could have enjoyed an alternative career as a Funky Pigeon joke card writer. It should be a vehicle to ensure you enjoy some undisturbed time away from your responsibilities, while providing a substitute person to contact. • Academics urged to end 'con' of jargon-filled writing In our always-on culture, too many people focus on the first part of this, rather than the second. John Oxley, a political strategist, on the Bluesky social media platform, cited a particularly egregious example. The individual set up an OOO that listed various people to contact in his absence before, as a final option, an email address he would be monitoring: MyProblemIsMoreImportantThanYourFamilyTime@[company].com. Ouch. Many people have adopted a less hostile approach, which is to tell people they are not reading emails, but they are returning on Aug 18 and if it's important they should re-email them then. You will be surprised how many people bother to email again. Mercedes-Benz workers in Germany are able to sign up to what it calls the 'Mail on Holiday' deletion service. People messaging the car company are given an alternative person to contact and then promptly told their email will be automatically deleted. You come back to the office not only with a suntan but with a wonderful clean, empty inbox. This, of course, only works because it has the full backing of the management. The problem is that remote and flexible working has blurred the boundaries between work and home life so much that a small number of people expect a reply at all times, an attitude which only encourages the baroque, comedic or aggressive OOOs in order to scotch this. • IBM registered at the Intellectual Property Office a bit of software that would ensure that if you started to email someone from whom you had already received an out of office message then you would get a pop-up notification reminding you they were unavailable. It was a clever solution, but I don't believe any email provider adopted it. And however perfectly crafted the OOO is, too many people use WhatsApp as a form of business communication, circumnavigating your elaborate attempts to get some peace poolside. I find the following message remarkably effective: 'I am away on holiday and trying to look at my emails just once a day, apologies in advance for the slow reply.' In this era no one is truly uncontactable and all attempts to thwart the inevitable are akin to Canute proving to his courtiers he could not stem the tide. The best we can hope for is a few hours of peace. Unless you have used AI to write your OOO — in which case I hope your holiday is ruined with people continually harassing you.
Daily Mail
17-07-2025
- Daily Mail
Dad's shocking act after allegedly throwing his baby in a pond
A father charged over the death of his son allegedly woke from a drunken nap 'laughing' and tried to flee the campsite after realising the baby had died. Jaye Lee Walton, 42, faced Ipswich Magistrates Court on Thursday for a bail application five days after the death of his son Reef Hunter Walton on July 12. The fisherman was camping with Reef and his partner Amy Stevenson in Chatsworth Park, near Gympie in southeast Queensland, when the tragedy occurred. Police allegations surrounding the case were heard by Magistrate Robert Walker, with Walton appearing via audiovisual link dressed in prison greens. The trio were driving home to Innisfail, in Far North Queensland, but stopped to rest at the campsite, where Walton was noted to have drunk a four-litre cask of wine while caring for his teething son during the night. When Reef became unsettled on Saturday morning, Walton offered to take him for a walk to the nearby toilet block, the court heard. 'After about 30 minutes, you failed to return so she (Ms Stevenson) went to check,' Mr Walker read from Ms Stevenson's police statement. Ms Stevenson allegedly found Walton asleep near the edge of a pond and Reef 'facedown' in the water, 10metres from the shore. '(She) started screaming at you but realised you were asleep. She entered the water, recovered the child, returned to the bank and commenced CPR,' Mr Walker read. Witnesses at the campsite observed Walton 'smiling or laughing' when he woke up and appeared 'oblivious' to his son's drowning. 'You then fled on foot, but returned due to the actions of bystanders,' Mr Walker said. The magistrate also noted allegations from one witness who claimed to have seen Walton threw his son into the pond. In her statement, Ms Stevenson claimed she was told by a woman: 'The guys were saying they saw him throw him into the water'. Walton's lawyer, Mark Butler, said these were 'hearsay comments' as the alleged witnesses had not given statements to police. He argued his client's actions fell under manslaughter by criminal negligence. Mr Butler added the family had no history with Child Safety and that Walton had an 'amazing' relationship with Reef and was heavily involved in his care. 'There is no allegation than my client has been anything other than a loving father,' he said. The court heard Walton is a 'high-functioning alcoholic' and at serious risk of harming himself if released on bail. While Walton does not have a significant criminal history, he has multiple alcohol-related traffic violations. He initially agreed to undergo an alcohol breath test following his son's death, but failed to complete it. Magistrate Walker refused Walton bail, finding his release would likely be 'endangering the safety or welfare' of others due to his alcoholism. Walton will return to court on August 4. Police inquiries into the incident are ongoing and officers are still looking to speak to some alleged witnesses. 'There is still a question mark from the officer's perspective, at least, as to the veracity of the statement of someone saying they saw him (Mr Walton) throw (Reef) in,' police prosecutor Senior Sergeant Michael Read said.
News.com.au
17-07-2025
- News.com.au
‘Saw him throw him into the water': Witness claim at bail application for manslaughter-accused dad
A father charged with the manslaughter of his seven-month-old son following a drowning at a campsite woke up 'laughing' and attempted to flee when he realised the child had died, a court has been told. Police allegations surrounding Jaye Lee Walton's case were revealed during a bail application before Ipswich Magistrates Court on Thursday. Dressed in prison greens, Mr Walton did not react beyond acknowledging his name to Magistrate Robert Walker when he was beamed into court via audiovisual link. The 42-year-old fisherman is charged with the manslaughter of his baby son, Reef Hunter Walton, on July 12. The court was told Mr Walton, his partner Amy Stevenson and Reef camped overnight at Chatsworth Park, near Gympie, while travelling home to Innisfail in Far North Queensland. Reading from material filed for the bail affidavit, Magistrate Walker said Mr Walton was alleged to have consumed all of a 4 litre cask of wine the night before and still cared for his son – who was teething – through the night. The next morning, at breakfast, Reef became unsettled and Mr Walton said he would take the child for a walk to the toilet block and clean him up, Mr Walker said. 'After about 30 minutes, you failed to return, so she (Ms Stevenson) went to check,' Mr Walker read from the material. It is alleged Mr Walton was found asleep, 'lying down' at the edge of a pond and Reef was 'face down', 10m out in the water. '(She) started screaming at you, but realised you were asleep,' Mr Walker said. 'She entered the water, recovered the child, returned to the bank and commenced CPR.' Mr Walker read from Ms Stevenson's statement filed to the court, saying Mr Walton was observed to be 'smiling or laughing' when he woke up and appeared 'oblivious' to what had occurred. 'You then fled on foot, but returned due to the actions of bystanders,' Mr Walker said. The court was told Mr Walton – who was described as a 'high-functioning alcoholic' – agreed to provide a breath sample to police but then 'failed to do so'. Defence lawyer Mark Butler said his client's case fell into the category of manslaughter by criminal negligence, telling the court Child Safety had never been involved with the family. 'There is no allegation than my client has been anything than a loving father,' Mr Butler said. He pointed to Ms Stevenson's statement, which outlined how Mr Walton was heavily involved in caring for Reef, letting his partner sleep and describing the father's relationship with his son as 'amazing'. Magistrate Walker questioned how the alleged offence could be categorised as criminal negligence due to witnesses claiming Mr Walton was seen throwing his son into the water. He said Ms Stevenson claimed in her statement one woman told her: 'The guys were saying they saw him throw him into the water.' Mr Butler said these were 'hearsay comments' as those alleged witnesses had not given statements. The court was told police inquiries were still ongoing and officers were yet to speak to some alleged witnesses who may have been at the park. 'There is still a question mark from the officer's perspective, at least, as to the veracity of the statement of someone saying they saw him (Mr Walton) throw (Reef) in,' police prosecutor Senior Sergeant Michael Read said. The court was told Mr Walton had a traffic history containing multiple alcohol-related incidents but did not have a significant criminal history. Magistrate Walker refused bail, finding there was a risk of Mr Walton 'endangering the safety or welfare' of persons as a high-functioning alcoholic. He also pointed to alleged statements Mr Walton made after Reef's death, including: 'Well there's nothing else left'. The court was told Mr Walton allegedly put his head through the wall of the watch house interview room and had expressed thoughts of suicide and self-harm. 'There is good evidence that if released on bail, you would be a danger to yourself,' Mr Walker said. Mr Walton will return to court on August 4.
ABC News
17-07-2025
- ABC News
Jaye Lee Walton denied bail after being charged with manslaughter of seventh-month-old baby
A father charged over the alleged domestic violence-related death of his seven-month-old son has been remanded in custody. It is alleged 42-year-old Jaye Lee Walton committed the manslaughter of his infant son, Reef Hunter Walton, while they were staying at a campsite at Chatsworth, on the Sunshine Coast, on Saturday morning. Mr Walton appeared via video link in the Ipswich Magistrates Court on Thursday morning. The court heard that a witness had told Mr Walton's partner, Amy Stevenson, that they "saw him throw him in" to a pond at the campsite, north of Gympie. Ms Stevenson also told police a woman at the campsite had approached her and said "the guys are saying they saw him throw him into the water", the court heard. Prosecutor Senior Sergeant Michael Read said police were yet to identify the people who made those claims and were actively searching for more witnesses. The court heard Ms Stevenson found Mr Walton lying asleep near the pond and saw the seven-month-old floating face down about ten metres out in the water. Mr Walton had taken the child to the toilet block half an hour earlier, the court heard. Ms Stevenson jumped into the pond and began performing CPR on her son while paramedics were called. The court heard, Ms Stevenson told police Mr Walton then woke up and was "smiling" and "oblivious" before allegedly fleeing on foot, only returning due to the actions of bystanders. The court was told Mr Walton didn't answer questions from police and consented to a breath test but then failed to take the test. The court also heard that Mr Walton was an alcoholic and had consumed "about four litres" of cask wine on the night before the incident. Ms Stevenson told police Mr Walton had slept in the car with their son, who was teething, so she could get a better night's sleep as she was to be the driver the next day, the prosecutor said. In her statement Ms Stevenson described Mr Walton as a "loving father" who was the child's primary carer. Due to the serious nature of the charges, Mr Walton was required to show cause in order to receive bail, and argue why detention was not justified. Mr Walton's lawyer, Mark Butler, argued the case was one of criminal negligence, but Magistrate Robert Walker said there was a "clear suggestion" more serious charges would follow. In rejecting the bail application, Magistrate Walker said Mr Walton's multiple alcohol-related traffic charges showed he was a danger to the public. Magistrate Walker said Mr Walton was also a danger to himself, and he was remanded in custody. The matter is expected to be heard in the Gympie Magistrates Court on August 4.
