Latest news with #SouthWestLondon
The Sun
15-07-2025
- The Sun
Mum nails DNA faker who tried to help her child's dad dodge maintenance payments of up to £94k
A MUM nailed a DNA examiner who helped her child's father evade maintenance payments. Lab worker Robert Patel provided a saliva sample, forged a doctor's signature and used an official stamp. 2 2 He was asked to nobble the test by Sheldon Brown's aunt. The HGV driver left Chelsea Millar three days after their son Louie was born in March 2022 and denied being his father. A court heard he stood to save £94,000 in maintenance. When the Child Maintenance Service told Chelsea the test supposedly taken by Brown was negative, she persuaded Brown's mother Katie to provide DNA at a private lab. It proved Louie was her grandson. The fake DNA swab matched Patel, 38, who had a conviction in 2017 for stealing £1,600 from a disabled person. There was no evidence he received payment for the scam. He and Brown, 26, both admitted conspiracy to defraud at Guildford crown court. Brown, of Hampton, South West London, was jailed for 50 weeks and Patel, of Feltham, West London, got 33 weeks. Chelsea, 31, said: 'I always knew who the father of my child was, but I was left questioning everything.'
Daily Mail
12-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
We're still on a roll - thanks to Britain's builders, says Screwfix boss
There is great excitement on a sweltering hot day on my local high street in East Sheen, South-West London, where the staff at Screwfix await a visit from Thierry Garnier, the chief executive of its owner, Kingfisher. The bold Screwfix fascia is a newcomer to the city centres and suburbs of Britain. A supplier to the smaller tradesman, it is at the cutting edge of shopping innovation. Under Garnier's leadership, Screwfix has transformed turnaround times for local builders, enabling them to spend more time on the job. The concept of smaller Screwfix outlets occurred 'by accident' during the pandemic, Garnier explains. He said Kingfisher had experimented with a 'very tiny' store at London's Victoria station and was 'amazed by the result'. The French boss, who lives in Marylebone, central London ('I don't like to commute,' he says), dresses for the shop floor, not the boardroom. Slim and lithe, he wears a blue polo shirt and a blouson. We don't tend to think of Kingfisher as a clothing retailer. But among its best sellers in the blazing summer heat are hard-wearing shorts for construction workers and durable fans on stands. I wonder if the arrival of a Screwfix on my high street risks putting the local hardware shop out of business? The store manager argues that they do different things. When someone comes in looking for a couple of brass screws, he sends them to the DIY shop. Builders want bulk - a box of a hundred or more. The building trade, Garnier tells me, now say 'I'll Screwfix it' when going online, like when people say 'I'll Google it'. Store assistant Steve, who shows me around a 'City' format shop with 12,000 items, demonstrates a screen that can identify a broken part, such as an electric socket or an obscure tool, and source it immediately. The IT system then locates an exact replacement that can be clicked and collected within a minute or couriered locally within 20 minutes. There are now 952 Screwfix stores in the UK, with 30 in city centres, and another 30 planned for this year. Aside from Screwfix, Kingfisher is best known for B&Q. Bringing more technology and speed to Kingfisher is among the ideas learned in China that Garnier, 59, has brought to the group since taking the helm in September 2019. A Sino-enthusiast, he tries to keep up with his Chinese language skills, having spent a great deal of time in the country. As a result, he says the antipathy to Beijing in the US and the West is 'very sad'. The company's expansion plans include rolling out more Screwfix stores and extending Tradepoint, the membership scheme for tradesmen at larger B&Q stores, by adding builders' entrances. It is also experimenting with smaller high street and suburban B&Qs, with the collapse of rival Homebase having created a chance to snap up useful locations. Garnier buys into Britain as a nation of gardeners, with B&Q now claiming to be the biggest horticultural retailer in the UK. Kingfisher is also focused on expanding its online operation, and is devoting a third of its spending to technology. However, there are clouds on the horizon. Kingfisher, which also owns brands such as Castorama in France, expects to take a multi-million-pound hit from Labour's decision to raise employers' national insurance contributions. But Garnier strikes a philosophical, almost conciliatory, tone to the tax raid. 'It is an obviously difficult situation [for the Government],' he says. Yet it will take a toll on the firm, which expects a £145 million hit to profits as a result of tax rises in the UK as well as a similar payroll and packaging tax in France. Garnier also vents his frustration at Whitehall's failure to recognise what he says is the imbalance between online and brick-and-mortar retailers. 'If you describe yourself as an online company, you don't pay tax at all in the UK,' Garnier says. 'Even in the EU, they don't pay tax anywhere. That's unfair, because retailers must compete with them.' That causes companies to 'invest less' and 'over time you lose competitive edge'. He adds: 'We need a level playing field with online companies, such as Amazon and Google.' I suggest that all of this works against Chancellor Rachel Reeves's growth agenda. 'Yeah, exactly,' he retorts. The Frenchman's biggest corporate challenge is Kingfisher's French arm, sparking speculation that it might be separated from the rest of the business or sold. But he is adamant that it is a core business and that shareholders have bought into a recovery plan. 'Discounter Brico Dépôt [in France and Spain] is doing very well. We gained market share in 2024,' Garnier says, although he admits that France is still 'tough and more difficult than the UK'. ' Inflation is lower in France than in the UK, but unemployment is higher. In France, it is all about consumer sentiment. The British consumer is very resilient, there is an energy in the UK,' he says. By contrast, the French are more cautious. In uncertain times, they save rather than spend. Turning Castorama around has required some changes, including talks with France's trade unions to push through job cuts. And some of its shops are being moved to franchise models. 'That's delivered so far,' he says. In Britain, Kingfisher isn't worried about the unions. But does he fear the changes in Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner's Employment Rights Bill? Garnier is sanguine, believing the company is in a 'good place' to weather the changes. But he concedes that the firm might have to adjust some part-time contracts. As a keen sailor, Garnier is used to moving with the prevailing winds, which may explain his somewhat relaxed attitude to the storms buffeting the UK economy. That doesn't mean he is happy with the country's direction, and is unimpressed by Labour's failure to build relationships 'through engagement, trust and stability'. 'That's what we need,' he says.
Daily Mail
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Katherine Jenkins is hand-in-hand with husband Andrew Levitas as they join Mark Rylance among the early arrivals on day eight of Wimbledon
A notoriously unpredictable British summer appeared to favour south-west London on Tuesday as a host of famous faces gathered for another day of Centre Court action at Wimbledon. Following a weekend of intermittent rain and occasional sun, the weather showed mercy on the latest crop of celebrity fans to attend the venue, among them mezzo-soprano Katherine Jenkins and actor Mark Rylance. Accompanied by filmmaker husband Andrew Levitas, Welsh singer Jenkins, 45, looked radiant in a pastel pink summer dress with a distinctive cinched waistline. With a floral print and short-sleeve detail, the floor-length outfit ensured she stood out while mingling with fellow guests at SW19 on Tuesday. Joining his wife, Levitas, 47, looked appropriately dapper in a three-piece single-breasted suit and polished black dress shoes. MORE TO FOLLOW
New York Times
08-07-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Wimbledon 2025 live updates: Quarterfinals latest with Alcaraz, Fritz and Sabalenka in action today
Max Mathews/The Athletic Hello everyone and welcome along to south-west London for the ninth day of the 2025 Wimbledon Championships. Today, the men's and women's singles quarterfinals begin, firmly into the second week of action of the fortnight. Plenty at stake, and plenty of big stars in action here at SW19. So why would you want to be anywhere else? Settle down with The Athletic and let us take you through the day.
The Sun
06-07-2025
- The Sun
Mum's heartbreaking call for answers 2 years after girls, 8, were killed when Land Rover ploughed into Wimbledon school
THE PARENTS of two eight-year-old girls who were killed when a Land Rover crashed into their school have vowed to "uncover the truth" of what happened that day two years on from the tragic incident. Nuria Sajjad and Selena Lau both died after the tragedy at The Study Prep School, in Wimbledon, South West London on July 6, 2023. The horror unfolded as a Land Rover Defender smashed through a fence while school children and staff were having a tea-party outside on the last day of term. More than fifteen others were injured in the crash, including a seven-month-old baby girl. Speaking at a remembrance event on Sunday, Nuria's mother Smera Chohan said: "We have had to fight very hard - harder than any victim should ever have had to - but we remain committed to uncovering the truth about what happened." In January, the Metropolitan Police rearrested arrested driver Claire Freemantle 48, on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving. She remains in custody while investigations continue. The 48-year-old was originally released after an initial investigation by the Roads and Transport Policing Command, and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), concluded she should face no further action. Freemantle claimed she had an epileptic seizure behind the wheel and faced no charges. They added that there was no evidence Ms Freemantle had ever suffered a similar seizure before and she had no previously diagnosed medical condition. A review was carried out by the Specialist Crime Review Group (SCRG). It highlighted issues with how officers carried out the initial investigation. Family, friends & Liverpool teammates gather for Diogo Jota & brother Andre's funeral in Portugal after tragic car crash It was revealed there was a key problem with establishing the evidence of an epileptic seizure, and diagnosis without brain scans. "Our main priority is to ensure the lines of inquiry identified by the review are progressed. I would urge people to avoid speculation," Det Supt Lewis Basford said. At the memorial on Sunday, hundreds of people from the local area joined Nuria's mother Smera Chohan, her father Sajjad Butt and Selena's parents Franky Lau and Jessie Deng. Two benches dedicated to the victims' memories were decorated with flowers and messages and a two minutes' silence was observed. Following a two minutes' silence - one minute for each girl - Ms Chohan delivered an emotional speech. "We still await answers for what happened on that fateful day... and with all your support, we will continue our fight until we have the answers we deserve," Ms Chohan said. "Nothing is going to make our lives the same again... we were parents. "I sometimes don't know if I'm a mother, I need to know why I'm not a mother and Nuria deserved a thorough investigation." Selena's father added: "We are still waiting, we want a version of events that adds up." Helen Lowe, who was the school's headteacher at the time of the crash, said: "There are still no answers to what happened on that day, and in that two-year period, there have been a number of events which involved awful tragedy for children. "But the people who perpetrated those events have had to be answerable, and we don't have that, which makes it - for the parents and for us - impossible to move on." To provide information you can contact the major incident room on 0207 175 0793, call 101 quoting CAD 6528/27Jan, or message @MetCC on X providing the CAD reference. Alternatively, contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online. 4 4
