Latest news with #HMCourts&TribunalsService
Yahoo
17 hours ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Abuse was normalised in our home
"I had a pristine frontage of a middle-class home - no one thought it could happen behind those doors, but it did." David Challen successfully campaigned to free his mother, Sally Challen, from prison in 2019, almost nine years after she had killed his father, Richard, with a hammer. She had suffered decades of coercive control at the hands of her husband, which David said had become "normalised" within the family home in the wealthy suburban village of Claygate in Surrey. David, now a domestic abuse campaigner, has now written a book, called The Unthinkable, about the family's experiences, and said more needs to be done to protect victims. Speaking to Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg on BBC One, he said: "She'd done the worst act anyone possibly could do. [She] took away my father. "I couldn't understand it, but I knew something had been rolling... something was happening and I just didn't have the words." A law passed in 2015, which recognises psychological manipulation as a form of domestic abuse, helped secure Mrs Challen's release from prison after she had been jailed for life for murder in 2011. Coercive control describes a pattern of behaviour by an abuser to harm, punish or frighten their victim and became a criminal offence in England and Wales in December 2015. David said this description had set him and his mother "free". "It gave us a language to describe what was going on in that home, to describe the insidious nature that is mostly non-physical violence," he said. Not having a name for the abuse had "robbed us of our right to have an ability to protect ourselves," he added. He now uses his experience of "intergenerational trauma" to help others, with a book telling the family's story being released on Thursday. "I buried my childhood with my father, so I had to dig up the past to find the child I had left behind," he said. "It was the child that I always hid because I didn't know how he experienced that world. "But I knew I was born into this world with a gut feeling that [there was] something inherently bad about my father, and I never knew why. "I normalised the coercion and control in my home, this life of servitude that my mother lived under... sexual violence was routine." If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, help and support is available via the BBC Action Line. He said he wrote the book to "give voice to what it's like to grow up in a home where domestic abuse wasn't the word - it was coercive control and it didn't appear on my TV screens". But, a decade on, "we're not tackling it enough", he added. "I continue to speak out because I don't want these events to happen again." Wife's murder conviction quashed 'My mum killed my dad but I want her freed' HM Courts & Tribunals Service
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Man jailed after 80mph police chase in 30mph zone
A drink-driver who led police on a high-speed chase through North and East Yorkshire has been jailed. Anthony Proctor, of West Lutton near Sledmere, was driving a white Vauxhall Astra van on 17 February, when police suspected he had been drinking. The 44-year-old was first spotted speeding off from Norton, before he headed towards Driffield and sped through 30mph zones at 80mph. He was stopped and a breath test in custody found him to be two-and-a-half times the legal limit. On Wednesday at York Crown Court, he was sentenced to nine months in prison, followed by a 15-month disqualification from driving. North Yorkshire Police said Proctor had led the chase for about 20 miles (32km) and only stopped when the road ran out. He was immediately arrested and returned a breath test reading of 93 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit in England is 35 micrograms. The driver was also found to have an expired provisional licence. The force said Proctor was asked if he would describe his driving as dangerous, to which he replied, "Yes, complete stupidity". On 6 March, he pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, drink driving and driving without a licence or insurance at Scarborough Magistrates' Court. Traffic Sergeant Ryan Lyth, who led the pursuit, said: "Proctor made the dreadful decision to drive his vehicle while drunk – then compounded that by failing to stop when police tried to pull him over. "Instead, he drove dangerously for more than 20 minutes before being caught and arrested." Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North. HM Courts & Tribunals Service
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Man admits death of cyclist and setting car on fire
A man has admitted causing the death of a cyclist by dangerous driving, and then setting his car on fire to destroy evidence. Keiran Hunt, 37, appeared at Leeds Crown Court for his first hearing on Friday, where he entered a guilty plea to causing death by dangerous driving and perverting the course of justice. John Shelton, 48, from Astley, Greater Manchester, died at the scene on Ridge Road in Micklefield, after he was struck by a white Volkswagen Golf on 28 April last year. Mr Hunt, of Field View, Micklefield, was remanded in custody until sentencing on 2 July. Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North. Man in court charged with causing death of cyclist HM Courts & Tribunals Service
Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Man stopped attack when he saw blood, court told
A man accused of trying to kill a fellow care home resident has told a jury he stopped when he "could see a pool of blood on the floor". At Bradford Crown Court, Graham Dowling is accused of the attempted murder of Kevin Ryan, 61, at Burger Court residential care home in the city last December. He has denied intending to kill the victim, but previously admitted causing grievous bodily harm with intent. Giving evidence on Thursday, Mr Dowling, 36, of Barkerend Road, said he was acting in self-defence as a fight escalated when he discovered his girlfriend, another resident, had kissed Mr Ryan. Mr Dowling said he stopped punching and kicking when "I realised I could see a pool of blood". He said: "It was self-defence as he flipped my glasses off. I was upset, but not angry. "I had gone to his room and Kev was on his bed. I stamped on his face five times but wasn't trying to kill him. "He was lying on the floor facing the ceiling and I kicked him while he was on the floor and punched him in the face, then I left his room and put my shoes in a bucket of water as they had blood on them." He was asked by the prosecution whether he realised part of the victim's ear had been ripped off, but the defendant said "his ear got cut". He was also asked whether he intended to kill the victim, whom he had known for about a year, and he replied: "No." The court heard Mr Ryan was not able to give evidence during the trial as he was not in a fit state. Prosecutor Gerald Hendron told the jury they were there to work out if Mr Dowling had intended to kill his victim during the fight. He said: "It was a substantial attack as he had a fracture across his face after getting five blows to his head. "The only injuries Mr Dowling got was a scratch to his hand, he didn't have any injuries, and even asked, 'are you dead yet?'" Mr Hendron said that the fact he stamped on Mr Ryan's head showed he had intent to kill. But he added that the stamping on his body was not evidence there had been an attempt to kill. Josh Normanton, defending Mr Dowling, argued he had admitted what he did and called for medical attention, adding there was no evidence he had prepared to kill the victim. He told the jury: "A serious assault occurred, of that there can be no doubt, and Mr Dowling was sadly the cause of those injuries. "But did he have intent to kill or to cause serious harm? "If he wanted to kill him, why when he was crawling on the floor, didn't he finish him off or call immediate medical attention?" The trial continues. Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North. Care home man denies trying to kill fellow resident Man suffered 'five blows' in care home attack HM Courts & Tribunals Service
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Yahoo
Man killed brother in drunken fight at motocross
A man has admitted killing his brother with a single punch during a drunken fight. Ben Starr, 34, of Woodside Avenue in Derbyshire, admitted the manslaughter of his brother Lee Starr during a hearing at Bristol Crown Court earlier. The fatal fight, witnessed by the men's father, broke out when the brothers were at the Foxhill motocross event in Swindon in August last year. Lee, who was in his 30s, suffered a fatal head injury and later died in hospital. The court was told the men's father witnessed Lee punch Starr twice before both men ended up on the ground, with Starr restraining his brother. The pair were separated and Lee directed a "kick and a punch" towards Starr, their father told police. Sam Jones, defending, said Starr told police the kick and punch "connected with him" but witnesses at the scene said the blows "did not connect". Starr was initially charged with grievous bodily harm with intent but was later charged with murder and manslaughter. Mr Jones said Starr admitted manslaughter on the basis he threw a single punch after being separated from his brother, and after his brother's attempt to kick and punch him. "Both the defendant and his brother were intoxicated at the relevant time," he added. Medical experts were not able to determine the level of force Starr used when he punched his brother, the court heard. Mr Jones said: "It is a tragic case, not least because those who have attended in support of the defendant today are those who have been so affected by the consequence of the alleged incident." More news stories for Wiltshire Listen to the latest news for Wiltshire Robin Shellard, prosecuting, said the guilty plea to manslaughter was "acceptable" to the Crown Prosecution Service. "We accept of course this was a fight between two brothers," he said. "Lee certainly called his brother out, they wrestled on the floor and there were blows made by Lee towards Ben and vice versa. "The two independent witnesses say that the fight had finished by that stage, so self-defence didn't arise. "It was in the context of that - that it was a blow out of anger or indeed another reason, but certainly not self-defence." Follow BBC Wiltshire on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630. Man dies after assault at Foxhill motocross event Arrest after life-threatening assault at motocross event HM Courts & Tribunals Service
