Latest news with #Dreamboys
The Independent
14-02-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Prison accused of lack of candour in probe into three self-inflicted deaths in 19 days – including ex Dreamboys boss
A coroner has accused prison bosses of 'failing to act with candour' as she investigated three self-inflicted deaths in just 19 days at a scandal-hit prison, including that of the former head of the Dreamboys stripper group. A jury concluded multiple failings helped lead to the deaths of Anthony Binfield, Rolandas Karbauskas and David Richards in a matter of weeks inside HMP Lowdham Grange, a category B men's prison in Nottinghamshire. In a scathing Prevention of Future Deaths report, coroner Laurinda Bower hit out prison bosses and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) for a lack of transparency during her investigation into the deaths in March 2023, noting a 'marked discrepancy' between oral testimony in the face of 'irrefutable evidence' and written submissions to the court. 'I am troubled that unless there is a radical change in culture, and reflective learning from deaths is prioritised, prisoners will continue to die in custody,' she said, having taken the unusual step of fining the MoJ £500 for failing to disclose evidence. It comes after damning new figures uncovered by The Independent revealed the scale of neglect inside Britain's overcrowded prisons, with four in ten prisoners denied adequate healthcare before they took their own lives in custody between 2020 and 2023. The chairman of the justice committee Andy Slaughter said 'we are failing people in custody' after the figures came to light, while the chief inspector of prisons Charlie Taylor warned 'without any doubt' there will be more potentially preventable deaths without action to drive up standards. The inquest found Binfield, 30, had asked to see mental health staff as he was feeling very low a week before his death on 6 March 2023. An email from the prison to mental health staff about this was never received, because it was sent to the new email address for private operator Sodexo, who had taken over from Serco a month earlier in the first-ever private-to-private prison transfer. On the day of his death he was supposed to be monitored every half hour, but CCTV showed that checks recorded on prison logs were in fact never completed. There was an 11-minute day in entering his cell after he was found unresponsive at 9.23pm, during which time prison officers used two pens like 'chopsticks' to try to move paper obscuring the observation panel. An expert told the inquest if they had entered promptly he would likely have survived. The inquest was told a note found in Binfield's waistband said he 'felt unheard and let down by the system and prison staff' and 'had no one to turn to for help'. A week later, Richards was also found unresponsive having recently been transferred from another prison. Richards, whose status as a vulnerable prisoner was 'not taken into consideration' when he was moved, said he 'felt petrified and unsafe' in prison during a mental health assessment before his death. The 42-year-old former leader the Dreamboys male stripping group, who had been jailed for attempting to murder his wife, had not taken his medication in at least five to six days after the prison allowed him to take it unsupervised. Just 12 days later, on 25 March, Lithuanian national Karbauskas took his own life five days after arriving at the prison. Despite speaking no English and telling a nurse on arrival he was depressed, no plan was put in place to address his isolation. 'There is a clear risk of future self-inflicted deaths if language barriers and isolation are not adequately addressed,' the coroner warned. Binfield and Karbauskas's deaths were recorded as suicide and Richards's death was recorded as an accident. In the report, sent to the prisons minister, Sodexo, Serco and the local NHS Trust, she said 'multiple failings and missed opportunities' contributed to the deaths. These include issues with recruitment, retention and training of staff who were often 'overwhelmed, over-burdened and under-supported' and a 'complete failure' to identify and share risk information between prison and healthcare teams. She also called prison transfer system 'disorganised and unsafe' and said there was a 'persistent failure to learn from deaths over many years'. The running of the prison was taken over by the Ministry of Justice in December 2023 to improve safety and security. A Sodexo spokesperson said: 'We deeply regret that Anthony Binfield, David Richards and Rolandas Karbauskas died while they were in our custody, shortly after we took over management of the prison. Our thoughts at this time are with their families and friends, we apologise to them and understand how difficult this process must have been. 'HMP Lowdham Grange – at the time we assumed responsibility in February 2023 – was a prison with a unique set of challenges, both old and new. These challenges have been fully considered during the course of this inquest and we are grateful to the Coroner for her thorough approach. Whilst we have since transferred the management and operation of the prison to HMPPS, we will fully take on board any learnings". A Ministry of Justice spokesperson added: 'Our thoughts remain with the families of Anthony Binfield, David Richards and Rolandas Karbauskas, and we offer our sincere apologies for the failings in these cases. 'Since 2024, we have boosted staffing levels to better support vulnerable prisoners, reopened education and workshops to provide greater opportunities for offenders and teamed up with Nottinghamshire Police to clamp down on the flow of contraband into the jail – resulting in several arrests.' If you are experiencing feelings of distress, or are struggling to cope, you can speak to the Samaritans, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@ or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch.
The Independent
14-02-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Watch: Male stripper's shock performance causes ‘wild reaction' at care home
Residents of a care home were delighted when a member of the Dreamboys male stripper group put on a show. Max Hunter, who was a manager at a retirement village before he became a stripper, put on a performance at Astune Rise care home in Eston, Middlesbrough. And the residents, who usually enjoy a Knit and Natter morning on Thursdays, loved it. Home manager Caroline Bowstead said: 'We were offered a Dreamboy to come and visit. 'I spoke to the gang here and the ladies said a resounding 'yes please'.' Anne Hodgson, 87, said: 'He has a nice body, nice and athletic and everything he did was lovely. 'Everybody was smiling and that's beautiful.' Betty Hughes added: 'I loved his backside.'
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Male stripper causes ‘wild reaction' at care home
Residents of a care home were delighted when a member of the Dreamboys male stripper group put on a show for them. Max Hunter, who was a manager at a retirement village before he became a male stripper, put on a performance at Astune Rise care home in Eston, Middlesbrough. And the elderly residents, who usually enjoy a Knit and Natter morning on Thursdays, loved it. Home manager Caroline Bowstead said: 'We were offered a Dreamboy to come and visit. 'I spoke to the gang here and the ladies said a resounding 'yes please'. 'I've never seen a reaction like it at any event we've done, and there's been a lot of them at Astune Rise. 'The laughter, the giggles, the tears – they've loved every minute of it. 'I'm just not sure how we're going to top that, they've already asked him to come back next week for Knit and Natter.' Mr Hunter, who used to work with older people in St Helens, Merseyside, said: 'It's been a pleasure to join the residents here. 'I used to run entertainment at retirement villages so it's an absolute privilege to be back in a care home again putting a smile on residents' faces.' Anne Hodgson, 87, said: 'He has a nice body, nice and athletic and everything he did was lovely. 'Everybody was smiling and that's beautiful.' Betty Hughes added: 'I loved his backside.' Alice Woods, Dreamboys managing director, said: 'The ladies loved it, it was an incredible day. 'The reaction was absolutely wild, we had a bit of underwear thrown and a lot of laughs. 'Max did us proud and the ladies absolutely loved him.'
The Independent
14-02-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Stripper's shock performance causes ‘wild reaction' at care home
Residents of a care home were delighted when a member of the Dreamboys male stripper group put on a show for them. Max Hunter, who was a manager at a retirement village before he became a male stripper, put on a performance at Astune Rise care home in Eston, Middlesbrough. And the elderly residents, who usually enjoy a Knit and Natter morning on Thursdays, loved it. Home manager Caroline Bowstead said: 'We were offered a Dreamboy to come and visit. 'I spoke to the gang here and the ladies said a resounding 'yes please'. 'I've never seen a reaction like it at any event we've done, and there's been a lot of them at Astune Rise. 'The laughter, the giggles, the tears – they've loved every minute of it. 'I'm just not sure how we're going to top that, they've already asked him to come back next week for Knit and Natter.' Mr Hunter, who used to work with older people in St Helens, Merseyside, said: 'It's been a pleasure to join the residents here. 'I used to run entertainment at retirement villages so it's an absolute privilege to be back in a care home again putting a smile on residents' faces.' Anne Hodgson, 87, said: 'He has a nice body, nice and athletic and everything he did was lovely. 'Everybody was smiling and that's beautiful.' Betty Hughes added: 'I loved his backside.' Alice Woods, Dreamboys managing director, said: 'The ladies loved it, it was an incredible day. 'The reaction was absolutely wild, we had a bit of underwear thrown and a lot of laughs. 'Max did us proud and the ladies absolutely loved him.'
Yahoo
26-01-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
UK's oldest stripper rubbishes claims hen dos don't want men doing Full Monty
Britain's oldest male stripper says claims hen dos don't want men doing the Full Monty are nonsense, insisting "there's no way it's going to die out". Mike Stratton, 56, has been wowing crowds with his striptease routine since he was a teenager and says he's 'never been so busy' as he has in recent years. His comments come after it was reported that brides-to-be have turned away from raunchy hen dos in favour of more more wholesome activities, such as escape rooms and axe throwing. READ MORE: Met Office issues more warnings as Storm Herminia set to batter UK with 75mph winds READ MORE: 'No human being should have to go through what we've been through' But Mike, of Wigan, says even though options are widening, there will always be a place for the male stripper. He said: "Things are just developing - people who run agencies are coming up with more ideas to make money with life drawing models and things like that, but stripping is still popular. It's just people trying to think of the next thing. "I'm quieting down a little bit – I'm getting too old for it to be honest - but there's no way it's going to die out. People have been saying it will since the 90s - it's just not true. "Back in the day before the Full Monty came out, we never used to strip fully naked, but once that came out, if you didn't you would get booed." Mike began taking his kit off for money as a jobless teenager in 1986. Over the years, he's performed a Full Monty dance routine at a woman's funeral, had to have a tetanus jab after being bitten on the bum and was even once booked by the Russian Mafia. Mike, who now runs his own stripper agency, added: 'You can't beat going on stage. The adrenaline buzz you get is incredible. I think that's kept me young. 'I call adrenaline a 'youth drug'. If you met and talked to me, you wouldn't think I was a 55-year-old man. In my head, I'm still 25 and I'll do my best to act it. 'These days, when my agent phones me up and says 'Do you want to do this birthday gram?' I'll ask 'How old is she?' "If they're under 25, I'll say 'Listen, that's a bit young for me.' But I'm all over the pensioners. They love me. To anybody over 50, I'm like catnip.' Mike said he'd got into stripping while searching for work just after leaving school after coming across an advert asking for male 'kiss-o-gram' models. And he bagged the role after impressing his 'seedy looking' first boss when he was just 18. He then spent nine months as an Ibiza party rep in the late 1980s before returning to the UK and going on to join the legendary Dreamboys troupe in London. During the late 1990s, he founded his own group called The X-men, with frenzied women going wild for the lads as they toured the UK and Europe. Besides his career in stripping, Mike has also incredibly managed to make £70,000 by going on dozens of TV game shows – from The Weakest Link to Bullseye.
