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Daily Mirror
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Wildest Loose Women moments amid ITV's ‘bloodbath' from C-bombs to celeb wars
As ITV axes jobs and trims Loose Women to 30 weeks a year, we look back at the show's wildest moments from C-bomb chaos to celebrity feuds—that made headlines and shook daytime TV As ITV's daytime lineup faces a shake-up, with sweeping job cuts dubbed a 'bloodbath' threatening nearly half of its staff, it's hard not to reflect on the rollercoaster year Loose Women has delivered on screen. Whilst the show's future is uncertain, it is known for its lively debates and candid revelations, which have created some of the most bizarre, emotional, and headline-grabbing moments. Many are in shock at the news that nearly 220 staff members could lose their jobs across ITV 's daytime schedule, affecting flagship shows like Loose Women, Good Morning Britain, Lorraine, and This Morning. Loose Women itself is being cut back to a 'seasonal' schedule of 30 weeks a year in cost-saving measures. But before the dust settles on these dramatic changes, there have been some truly unforgettable moments that made Loose Women a must-watch, from shocking confessions to celebrity clashes. Loose Women is no stranger to controversy, with many moments that have made headlines across the country. Here's a look at the bizarre and unforgettable moments that kept viewers glued to their screens: 'Rapist sympathising' storm Judy Finnigan made a controversial debut in 2014 when she spoke about footballer Ched Evans' rape conviction appeal, saying: 'The rape was not violent, he didn't cause any bodily harm to the person.' Outraged viewers accused her of sympathising with a rapist. She later clarified: 'I absolutely wasn't suggesting that rape was anything other than an horrendous crime... I was in no way attempting to minimise the terrible ordeal that any woman suffers as a result.' Earlier in 2006, the Irish Independent reported that Loose Women conducted a poll asking viewers whether they believed rape could ever be a woman's fault. The poll was met with widespread criticism from viewers and organizations such as Rape Crisis, leading ITV to issue an apology, acknowledging the poll as "misjudged". The C-bomb scandal In 2016, Katie Price 's son Harvey shocked viewers when he joined the show to talk about online bullying. Asked how he'd respond to trolls, he said: 'Hello, you c***.' Katie quickly reacted with, 'Erm, Harvey!', as Andrea McLean stepped in to apologise for the language. Gay rights row In 2015, Coleen Nolan sparked fury by defending a bakery that refused to decorate a cake supporting same-sex marriage. She compared it to being asked to make a cake with an ISIS message, saying: 'Would they have to make that?' The comments prompted outrage, with viewers demanding she be sacked, though no action was taken. Joan Rivers' swear-filled red carpet rant Comedy legend Joan Rivers didn't hold back in 2008 when asked about her Hollywood encounters: 'You get someone like Russell Crowe, and you want to say to the camera, ' He is a piece – get ready to bleep this – of f****** s***!'' Her panellist pals had to scramble to apologise, with Jane McDonald quipping: 'We haven't got a bleeper. We're live!' Fat-shaming fury Janet Street-Porter faced backlash in 2022 after saying Wayne Rooney looked like he was 'about to explode' out of his suit during the Wagatha Christie trial. Angry viewers branded her 'vile', with one asking: 'Imagine if she was saying that about a woman?' Continuing with the theme of fat-shaming, in 2015, the BBC reported Jamelia faced criticism after stating that high street stores shouldn't stock clothes for individuals above a certain size, suggesting that it encourages unhealthy lifestyles. She later apologised, clarifying that her comments were taken out of context. Katie Price's bum flash Viewers were left open-mouthed in 2016 when Katie Price modelled a high-slit dress during a fashion segment and accidentally flashed her bum on live TV. Some called it 'awkward viewing' – others hailed her figure as 'amazing". Kim Woodburn walks out Tensions erupted in 2018 when Kim Woodburn stormed off set, branding Coleen Nolan 'lying trash' and calling her a 'piece of filth' after a brutal on-air clash. The explosive row prompted over 3,000 Ofcom complaints, with Kim later claiming she'd been ambushed. Coleen and the panel said they had "genuinely hoped for a reconciliation". Charlotte Crosby's nose job clash Charlotte Crosby vowed never to return after feeling 'bullied' over her nose job in 2016. In an awkward grilling, Janet Street-Porter asked: 'What message does that send to teenage girls who… might think, 'My nose has a lump in it but I haven't got four grand to spend'?' Charlotte told new! Magazine: 'It was a horrible experience. I cried before and afterwards. I was bullied. I'm never going on again in my life.' Josie Cunningham's abortion for nose job confession In 2015, there was outrage and a public backlash after Josie Cunninham revealed that she had an abortion so that she could get nose job to further her porn career. Jane Moore heavily criticised her being on the show, stating: "I was very uncomfortable with you coming on the show today. I don't like the fact that you are on the show. It's not because I don't like you. "You need help as far as I'm concerned, to actually look at yourself and say, 'Why do I have such a low opinion of myself that I think that porn and all of this'…you don't have any self-esteem and when you look in the mirror I feel that you will never like what you see."
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Chemical castration for sex offenders may horrify the masses but I'm delighted
Chemical castration. State I first read the headlines I thought it must surely be a metaphor for Trump's erratic (definitely not erotic) foreign policy. Or perhaps a particularly unpleasant news story from Kazakhstan where they still play blood-drenched polo with a decapitated goat. But no. It's happening here in Britain – a pilot scheme to use chemical castration on sex offenders has been operational in prisons in the south-west of England since 2022. And it will be rolled out to 20 new prisons if Shabana Mahmood, our Justice Secretary, has her way. Hang on, Labour? I should have thought it was more on-brand as a Reform policy, but hey, this Government is performing so many U-turns it's hard to know which direction it's facing at any given time. Other than Brussels. Anyway, when the truth dawned about chemical castration on this sceptred isle (talk about cognitive dissonance), I'm not going to lie: I was torn between horror and elation and a palpable sense of relief that Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, who died the same year the trial started, probably wasn't briefed on the particulars. Horror because are we not civilised people who invented warm beer and, um, Empire? A nation of cricket grounds and old maids bicycling to Holy Communion? Elation because those rain-coated pervs will never again flash our beloved spinsters once they're singing falsetto in the schola cantorum. (Yes, I know castrati were operated on pre-puberty to preserve their treble pitch but I just wanted to mention they were typically dosed with opium, laid in a hot bath and had their tiny little testes either crushed by hand, twisted or snipped to sever the blood supply.) So in light of that procedure, how could anyone possibly object to sexual-suppression chemicals being given to convicted sex offenders? These would be administered by injection, implant or orally. Believe me, there are worse ways. I grew up among Irish farming folk and I can't unsee the things I witnessed. Back in the late 1970s, 'Burdizzos' were the thing; essentially a pair of large metal pliers that were clamped round a young bullock's scrotum to crushing point as the farmer counted to 20. On each side. You were supposed to hear a discernible crunch but it was hard to hear anything over the distraught creature's anguished bellow. After release, it went back to amiably eating grass. All sorted. Forever. Chemical castration for prisoners? A breeze! It's not even permanent. Unfortunately. Now, I am quite sure there are Dear Readers out there crossing their legs who are also really very cross at my upbeat tone. I will, of course, be accused by various chaps of sexism for my attitude towards emasculation. To them I say this: any woman, which is to say the vast majority, who has been sexually assaulted will have a very different perspective on the sanctity of a man's genitalia. Figures from Rape Crisis show that in England and Wales 71,227 rapes were reported to police in 2024. The same year, charges were brought in just 2.7 per cent of those cases – that's fewer than three of every 100 rapes recorded. It is a deeply depressing fact of modern life that rape is so commonplace and the treatment of victims by our justice system so demeaning that five out of six women who are raped don't report it – that's an additional 356,135 women every year. Sisters, mothers, daughters. Every one of my girlfriends will openly say they know someone who has been raped (for a troubling number that 'someone' is themselves), so how can it be that not a single one of their husbands and partners knows anyone who has committed rape? Sarah Everard, a talented, shining 33-year-old, was kidnapped, raped and murdered by serving Met officer Wayne Couzens in 2021. Long before he committed this heinous crime he was nicknamed 'the rapist' by colleagues. Because they thought it was funny. A shocking number of men joke about sexual depravity. In 2022, the Met had to deny the force was plagued by misogyny after an official report revealed shocking details of police officers sharing 'banter' about hitting and raping women. And these are just the men tasked with protecting us. So forgive me – or don't, I'm honestly not that bothered – for applauding the prospect of chemical castration for sex offenders and paedophiles. The pilot scheme currently under way is voluntary but, looking ahead, Mahmood will apparently consider overhauling medical laws in order to compel sex offenders to take libido-supressing drugs. I do have concerns, primarily about the way this treatment has been linked to the early release of prisoners in order to free up spaces in our overcrowded jails. The idea that simply taking medication would allow serious sex offenders to walk free early and spend less time behind bars is absolutely unacceptable. The Justice for Victims campaign group has already voiced its concern that proper efforts have not been made to place the needs of victims and families at the heart of sentencing policy. Another complicating factor is that rape can be a crime of anger and control; any sexual gratification is purely secondary, something that must be taken into account on a case by case basis. This then is a policy we will need to keep a close eye on. But in the meantime, in the public spirit of London 2012 Games Makers who happily herded the crowds or indeed the lockdown snitches who dobbed in their friends and neighbours during Covid, I'd be more than happy to volunteer for chemical castration duties. Just pass me the pills, the syringe or implants and I'll do the rest. And just in case there's trouble, I'll bring along a Burdizzo. A bit rusty, admittedly, but I'm sure I'm not the only one who would like to hear the crunch… Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
The Sun
15-05-2025
- The Sun
‘I felt numb, in shock and froze' – shocking rise in sex assaults on trains revealed… check how safe your local line is
MARTA Vasyuta was was taking the Tube with her friend to London Bridge when a man sat next to her. The 23-year-old digital manager tells The Sun: 'At first he started looking at me weirdly and I smelled the alcohol on him. 4 'He kept creeping at us so I started filming him, that was the moment he started touching me. 'I got frozen for a moment, not knowing what to do, no one around me reacted in any way too.' Fearful to say anything to her attacker over what he might do, Marta and her friend quickly left the carriage at the next stop. Cases like Marta's are becoming increasingly common, with sexual assaults on train networks up seven per cent from last year, a Sun probe can reveal. Figures from the British Transport Police showed that recorded sexual assaults on public transport increased from 1,676 cases in 2023/24 to 1,799 cases in 2024/25. Ciara Bergman, CEO of Rape Crisis England & Wales, a charity that seeks to end sexual violence, told us: 'Every day, millions of people use UK railways to get to work, take their children to school, and go about their daily lives. 'It should go without saying that anyone doing so should not experience or witness sexual assault or harassment, or be in fear of this. 'And yet what these statistics illustrate, is just how prevalent sexual violence, abuse and harassment are on public transport, and that women and girls are particularly at risk.' What is even more worrying is that these offenders will often physically attack their victims in violent outbursts. This happened to Scarlett Owens, a 24-year-old partnerships coordinator, who was riding on the Northern Line in London. Mum knifed to death at train station 4 4 She told us: 'I was sat on the Tube near the door on a quiet carriage with my head down and a man got on and started kicking and shouting at me. 'I made eye contact with someone opposite me after the incident and they simply shrugged.' The wider picture Data shows that there were just under 700 recorded sexual assaults on the London Underground alone, accounting for 40 per cent of all cases in 2024/25. But this is far from a London problem, with Network Rail being the worst offender overall with a shocking 148 recorded sexual assaults in 2024/25. Nikita Do Espírito Santo, a student at Loughborough University, was on a quiet first class carriage on an Avanti West Coach Train on her way to watch Aston Villa with her boyfriend. As her boyfriend went to the toilet a man sat close to her and started staring at her as she did her make-up. She told The Sun: 'I messaged my boyfriend how long he would be and moved seats as I didn't feel comfortable. 'My boyfriend stared him down and he stopped looking at me through the crack of the seats. 'Had he not been there, I was the only female left in that carriage and I have no idea what would have happened.' Now, Nikita no longer feels safe walking around without a male companion. Worryingly, the request also revealed that there were 21 assaults by penetration in 2024/25, up 20 per cent from 2021, although rapes are counted separately. This comes as the British Transport Police continued an appeal for information regarding the sexual assault and rape of a 14-year-old-girl in the toilets of Harlow Town Railway Station in Essex. The offence took place in the early hours of Sunday February 18 2024 between 2:30am and 4.40am. The appeal includes a CCTV image of a man who officers believe may have information which could help their investigation. What needs to be done A spokesperson from the Survivors Trust, a charity supporting victims of rape and sexual abuse throughout the UK, said: 'There is no surprise to hear of the increase in the number of sexual assaults on the public transport system given the level of violence against women and girls has reached epidemic levels in England and Wales. 'The British Transport Police have introduced some positive measures to combat crime, such as the successful 'See it. Say it. Sorted' campaign. 'However, police resources to tackle these crimes are stretched which only serves to benefit the perpetrators of these offences.' Both Nikita and Marta say they were left frustrated by the response from the British Transport Police. Nikita said she received no follow-up to her calls and emails, and Marta suggested that if victims were confident justice would be served they would be more likely to contact the police. Both are adamant that what is needed is an increased staff presence in carriages and a more effective justice system. Detective Chief Inspector of the British Transport Police, Nia Mellor, told The Sun: "Tackling sexual offences is our top priority, and we take every report of sexual harassment or violence extremely seriously. "We know that these crimes commonly go under reported, which is why we relentlessly campaign to encourage witnesses and victims to report these offences to us. 'We view this increase as a positive sign that our efforts are paying off, and that women and girls are feeling more confident to report all forms of sexual harassment and violence on the rail network to us.'
Irish Examiner
14-05-2025
- Irish Examiner
Prevalence of rape myths is bad news for justice system
Recent years have seen significant developments in social and, consequently, legal and policy responses to sexual violence. Education and awareness initiatives about consent and the availability of victim support services, coupled with legislative reforms which have improved criminal justice system responses to victim-survivors have contributed to Irish society becoming both more aware of the realities of sexual violence and supportive of victim-survivors. However, while progress has been made, recent research commissioned by the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC) shows that there are still challenges with societal understandings of sexual violence and that further legislative and policy interventions are required to ensure that victim-survivors are encouraged to seek justice in the form of criminal prosecutions. The survey which was conducted by Ipsos on a nationally representative sample of 1,042 people demonstrated some heartening findings. For example, seven in 10 respondents understood the reality that perpetrators of sexual violence are more likely to be known to the survivor than to be a stranger. Further, six in 10 respondents stated that they would advise someone who disclosed sexual violence to contact support services like Rape Crisis Centres. While these findings are positive, there are also some more troubling findings which suggest that prejudicial stereotypes or 'rape myths' persist in Irish society. 'Rape myths' and trials One in five of the survey respondents believed that false allegations of rape are common and one in six said that someone who is raped while under the influence of alcohol or drugs is partly responsible for what occurred. Quite rightly, DRCC states that these findings indicate the need for further awareness and education initiatives about consent in Ireland. However, the persistence of such attitudes in Irish society must also be addressed within the criminal justice system. While these attitudes persist in society, they will also manifest in trials, where jurors will ultimately deliberate on guilt or innocence against a backdrop of their own beliefs and attitudes about sexual violence. While to date there have not been any studies on juror deliberations in Irish rape trials, in other jurisdictions such as England and Wales and Scotland, mock jury research (i.e. research studies which analyse the deliberations of research participants who have observed a mock trial), repeatedly demonstrate that jurors assess evidence not only in accordance with legal rules such as statutory definitions of consent but also against a backdrop of their own (often stereotypical) beliefs of what constitutes a 'real rape' or a 'real victim' of sexual violence. (Left to right) Rachel Morrogh, Chief Executive of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC) and Charlene Masterson (survivor of sexual violence) at the launch last month of national research by DRCC shedding light on public attitudes towards and personal experiences of sexual violence in Ireland. File picture: Shane O'Neill, Coalesce. If a juror believes, for example, that false allegations are common or that someone who had consumed alcohol is in some way blameworthy, this will necessarily (and ultimately prejudicially) colour their interpretation of evidence in a trial. In light of the continuing persistence of stereotypes about sexual violence in Irish society, the legal system must respond and recognise the potential impact on the trial process. Juror guidance A legislative definition of consent which was introduced in the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2017 goes some way to ensuring that jurors understand the requirements for a legally valid consent to sexual activity. However, the legislative definition in itself is not enough to ensure comprehension and counteract the impact of stereotypes on juror deliberations. In other jurisdictions, judges are issued with specific guidance on consent and avoiding reliance on stereotypes in their deliberations. Judges can use such guidance to instruct jurors in a straightforward and neutral manner during the trial process. Research which I conducted with legal professionals and court accompaniment workers who work in Irish rape trials suggested that such guidance would be useful in Irish trials and that judges could issue such instructions either at the outset of the trial or when they are summing up the evidence for jurors before they proceed to their deliberations. Such guidance would provide a direct response to the stereotypical attitudes about sexual offences which the DRCC research indicates continue to linger in Irish societal consciousness. Perception of sex offence trials Key findings from the DRCC research which require a direct response from the criminal justice system are the public perception of the trial process as particularly gruelling in sexual offence cases, victim-survivor fears about being believed and knowledge about the availability of support services. Eight in 10 respondents identified the fear of not being believed as the primary barrier to accessing support. Over four in 10 indicated a lack of knowledge about available support services. There is no doubt that the criminal justice process is a very challenging one for victim-survivors of sexual violence. No matter how well the system operates, they are still required to discuss highly personal and traumatic experiences throughout the investigation and trial process, a process which is entirely alien to most of those who come into contact with it. However, all victims of crime now have legal rights to information, support and protection throughout their engagement with the criminal justice system. Indeed, these rights apply even where victims do not make a formal complaint and simply wish to access relevant support services. Susan Leahy: 'The DRCC's research is an important reminder that there is no room for complacency in our society's response to sexual violence.' It is vital that more is done to make sure that victim-survivors are aware of what they are entitled to and, most importantly, have access to these legal rights as they journey through the criminal justice system. While sexual offence trials are incredibly difficult for complainants, everything possible should be done to ensure that the potential for secondary victimisation by the process is minimised and that they are encouraged to come forward, safe in the knowledge that they will be believed and supported. No room for complacency The DRCC's research is an important reminder that there is no room for complacency in our society's response to sexual violence. Significantly, it also reminds us that law and policy must be continually attuned to the society within which it operates and respond effectively to make sure that victim-survivors receive the justice they deserve and are supported effectively in their pursuit of it. Dr Susan Leahy is Associate Professor in the School of Law and Director of the Centre for Crime, Justice and Victim Studies at University of Limerick
The Guardian
05-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Here's a radical way to save England's collapsing justice system: get rid of juries
Are the middle ages about to end? We all know Magna Cartaset the principle that justice delayed is justice denied. These days, outmoded British judicial systems amount to precisely such a denial of justice, playthings of a legal profession supremely confident of its perfection. No aspect of these systems is more superfluous than juries. There is no conclusive evidence they are more 'just' than systems based on judges in the rest of Europe – or in non-jury courts in Britain. As of September 2024, a record 73,000 trials in England and Wales are, like A&E patients, waiting their turn in a bureaucratic corridor. In March, a trial of a man alleged to have been threatening members of the public with a machete was postponed for three and a half years to 2028. According to a 2023 report by the charity Rape Crisis, on average adult survivors of rape in England and Wales face a wait of 787 days from reporting to case completion in court – with many victims and survivors waiting much longer. They note that the picture has significantly worsened since their report, with the latest available criminal court statistics from the Ministry of Justice revealing that the number of sexual offences waiting to go to the crown court is now 11,981 – a record high and an increase by 41% in two years. A consequence is that the number of rape victims in England and Wales withdrawing prosecutions before trial has more than doubled in the past five years. Sexual crime has therefore become like shoplifting, in effect de-criminalised. Meanwhile, 20% of people in prison in England and Wales are as yet untried and on remand, a third of them for over six months. This is totally unjust. Nobody cares. Britons love their prisons. To the present government's credit, it has asked a retired senior judge, Sir Brian Leveson, to find answers to the delay, and he is due to do so. One expected reform is that Britain should join the rest of Europe and end, or drastically curtail, the jury system. Already only 1% of criminal cases in England and Wales culminate in trial by jury. We could conclude that we need not bother. But the cost and delay of jury trials are enormous, and assembling 12 jurors (15 in Scotland) and countless officials day after day often results in trials being postponed. I have served as a juror three times and it was the most maddening waste of time and money in public service. None of it was really about justice, more about participating in an archaic legal ritual. The United States is equally devoted to juries – thanks to its British colonial past. There the result has been twofold. One has been accusations of racial bias and savage punishments, the other is a soaring number of settlements negotiated by prosecutors out of court as defendants aim to avoid the uncertainty of juries. The latter now embraces an astonishing 98% of US criminal cases. Such justice is secret, which raises different issues of personal freedom. The 'right to a jury' is a hangover from a medieval entitlement to judgment by one's 'peers' over the whim of an unelected manorial lord or other authority. Today, a criminal trial tends to depend overwhelmingly on scientific analysis or, in fraud cases, on technicalities of finance. Leaving this to groups of amateur strangers is absurd, their reasons for ever secret. Anyway, if they make a mistake, the judge can overrule them. Last year's intriguing Channel 4 docudrama The Jury: Murder Trial had two juries emotionally but plausibly debating the same real-life case and reaching different conclusions. It should have led to the death of juries on the spot. Courtroom drama is undeniably exciting, but inevitably distorting. I can see that to a barrister, it is their professional showcase, a theatre. The Old Bailey is its West End. Like all good drama it has hovering over it the climax of retribution, here in the form of prison. In other civilised countries, where experts administer justice, the purpose of denying the guilty their freedom is their rehabilitation. In Britain it is merely punishment, which is why reoffending is so rife. The ever increasing criminalisation of public activity merely adds to the problem. Politicians can hardly let a month pass without creating another criminal offence. Hate and offence crimes are current favourites, along with causing 'nuisance' and committing strenuous protest. Almost anything done in the driving seat of a car is potentially criminal. Water bosses are apparently now to be imprisoned – I can hear the cheer. As for online crime, the law has barely begun. Defenders of the jury system are almost exclusively barristers, which unfortunately means a disproportionate number of MPs. They rank with doctors and academics as fierce defenders of their traditional modes of work – more powerful than any trade union. The profession embraces fine people, but their purpose was defunct centuries ago. Juries are supported by a few middle-class philanthropists who enjoy jury service as a version of 'doing good among the poor'. We do not let them dissect bodies in an operating theatre or decide how to design a building. Perhaps a minority of cases may depend on public taste, but that must be truly tiny. Leveson was a radical – or tried to be – in reforming the press. If he has the guts to do the same to his own profession he will have a tough job with his fellow lawyers. But at least this time he has two potent allies: a system that is clearly collapsing and a chancellor desperate to curb public spending. All strength to his arm. Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist
