Latest news with #StokeNewington
BBC News
18-07-2025
- BBC News
'Merciless' killer jailed for murdering ex-partner's father
Derek Thomas would have turned 56 this week. But instead of a celebration, his family held a small gathering in his much-loved grandfather and bus driver was murdered last had been walking home from his late shift in Stoke Newington, north-east London, when he was repeatedly killer was Kamar Williams, the ex-boyfriend of Mr Thomas's daughter 34, has now been jailed for life with a minimum term of 29 years. In sentencing, Judge Angela Rafferty KC said Williams, who had 13 previous convictions, had been "simmering with rage" after arguing with his ex partner and Mr Thomas had been unarmed and completely told him: "You alone are responsible for this killing. This was a merciless and determined attack."You killed him even though at one time you saw him as a father figure."You knew that targeting him would hurt them all. " In a victim impact statement, Carron said she lived every day with "overwhelming guilt"."I once loved and trusted this person. I welcomed him into my life and my family's home, never imagining he would do something so heartless and cruel."Mr Thomas's sister read out her victim impact statement, which said her brother had been "cruelly and brutally ripped away"."I will never hear his words, 'I love you, sis,' again."The judge told her she had "done her brother proud." Ms Thomas described her brother as "a kind-hearted, dedicated, committed family man. He took his role as a parent absolutely seriously."She said she'd been very close to Derek, who was the youngest of 19 siblings, an avid Arsenal fan who loved his job as a bus driver for Go-Ahead London."He loved serving people, working with the elderly, disabled people, women getting on the bus with buggies. He was so committed, even during Covid."She said a number of his colleagues had also paid tribute to him on Wednesday, marking what would have been his birthday. The Old Bailey heard that on the evening of 30 July, Carron had received threatening and abusive texts from Williams, one of which warned her to "watch this space." She called police twice before her father was attacked, but when officers went to look for him Williams had had gone on the run after the attack, before being caught at Notting Hill Carnival where he was arrested after crashing a hired BMW and attempting to flee on from the Isle of Dogs in east London, claimed he had acted in self-defence after Mr Thomas produced a jury did not believe him and unanimously found him guilty of murder, and guilty of having a bladed article by an 11-to-one majority. 'Manipulative and cruel' "He spouted a pack of lies," Ms Thomas was "quite manipulative, and sometimes very cruel to my niece"."My whole family are angry with him. We've had the court case, but we haven't really had any answers. "It leaves me with a bitter taste in my mouth that my brother's life was taken, and what for?"She said she has not been able to sleep properly since her brother's death. "I sometimes have nightmares, wondering what it would have been like if I was there? Could I have prevented it from happening?" The Thomas family hope Derek would be remembered for his community spirit, and how, even after ill health had prevented him from playing football, he had continued to coach young people in Stoke Newington. "I think society has gone downhill," Ms Thomas said. "They're not being the village that should raise a child, instead people are left to their own devices. But there are people, like my brother, like myself, who take an interest in younger lives, who want the best for them."If we could do it as a brother and sister, we could do it as a community."He was a special person, I miss him immensely. "Life will never be the same."
The Independent
18-07-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Diane Abbott says Keir Starmer ‘wants me out' after second suspension over race row
Diane Abbott has said Sir Keir Starmer 'wants me out' after she was suspended as a Labour MP for a second time. The Labour veteran lost the whip again after repeating comments about racism for which she had previously apologised. The Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP said the Labour leadership is targeting her and defended her comments about race as 'factually correct'. She has also been one of Sir Keir's harshest critics on the Labour benches since the general election, with involvement in a series of rebellion. Ms Abbott, the longest-serving female MP in the Commons, lost the whip and was forced to sit as an independent after she suggested in 2023 that Jewish, Irish and Traveller people experience prejudice, but not racism. She apologised for those remarks at the time and was eventually readmitted to the party just in time to stand as a Labour candidate in the 2024 general election. But in a BBC interview released this week, she said she did not regret the incident. 'Diane Abbott has been administratively suspended from the Labour Party, pending an investigation. We cannot comment further while this investigation is ongoing,' a Labour spokesperson said. Ms Abbott posted a clip of her BBC interview after news of her suspension emerged. She did not respond to a request for comment, but gave a statement to BBC Newsnight. 'It is obvious this Labour leadership wants me out. 'My comments in the interview with James Naughtie were factually correct, as any fair-minded person would accept,' she said. The original comments in 2023 were in a letter to The Observer newspaper, and she withdrew the remarks the same day and apologised 'for any anguish caused'. In the interview with BBC Radio 4's Reflections programme, she was asked whether she looked back on the incident with regret. 'No, not at all,' she said. 'Clearly, there must be a difference between racism which is about colour and other types of racism, because you can see a Traveller or a Jewish person walking down the street, you don't know. 'You don't know unless you stop to speak to them or you're in a meeting with them. 'But if you see a black person walking down the street, you see straight away that they're black. There are different types of racism.' She added: 'I just think that it's silly to try and claim that racism which is about skin colour is the same as other types of racism.' Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner was asked if she was disappointed by the comments. 'I was. There's no place for antisemitism in the Labour Party, and obviously the Labour Party has processes for that,' she told The Guardian newspaper. 'Diane had reflected on how she'd put that article together, and said that 'was not supposed to be the version', and now to double down and say 'Well, actually I didn't mean that. I actually meant what I originally said', I think is a real challenge.' Ms Abbott entered Parliament in 1987 and holds the honorary title of Mother of the House. Her suspension comes in the same week that Sir Keir carried out a purge of troublesome backbenchers in a bid to assert authority over the party. Rachael Maskell, who spearheaded plans to halt the government's welfare reforms, had the whip suspended alongside Neil Duncan-Jordan, Brian Leishman and Chris Hinchliff. Party sources said the decision to suspend the whip was taken as a result of persistent breaches of discipline rather than a single rebellion.
BBC News
18-07-2025
- General
- BBC News
Stoke Newington school dating back to 1500s to close
A London primary school which was established in 1563 during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I is closing due to falling pupil numbers. Tucked away behind Church Street in Stoke Newington, behind the bustling cafes and boutique clothing stores, St Mary's CofE Primary School has occupied the street in some shape or form since the 16th Century. One of the oldest schools in London, it started out life as a pew in St Mary's Church - now an arts venue called Old Church - which was rebuilt by landowner William Patten, who added a School House in the western end of the school opened its current location in 1831 with areas of the old part of the building still in use. Head teacher Breda McKelvey took over as head two years ago, having served as deputy head at the Hackney school since 2010. In that time, she says she's seen many different changes, from the staff, to the curriculum and the pupils, but the school has kept the same ethos, which she says is about "being the best we can be".At the start of the year, she received the news her school was earmarked for closure. She told BBC London her initial reaction was sadness, and then "thinking what can we do about it, but our numbers have been shrinking for a few years now."We started the year on about 70 pupils - deep down I knew I couldn't manage another year with the budgets and paying the wages - so for me it was inevitable." She added: "I think it's a loss for the local community, to local businesses - we bring trade - but also to the church, to the people who have lived here all their lives and attended the school and the local families who do want a church school or a small school."A lot of parents want that tight-knit community." 'It's heart-breaking' Gloria Rose, who has worked at the north-east London school for 24 years, says she's seen many first, there were lots of "challenging behaviours" but she says this has improved over the years, and "we like to put the children first with love and community".Jay Kennedy has been the receptionist for just over 20 had four grandchildren attend the school, with her youngest in year 6 and about to spoke to Ms Kennedy as the pupils were doing their leavers' assembly. "It's a bit of an emotional day today because they're doing their end of primary school life today," she says."I'm absolutely devastated, I understand the reasons why it's closing but it's just awful. "It's such a small village school, it's heart-breaking." In her time at the school, she's seen many pupils come and go who remember her. "I'll have someone come in and say, 'Miss can you sign my passport?' I won't know necessarily who they are and it'll be someone from 15 years ago." As we walked around the school we could see boxes piled high with textbooks and teaching materials. Mrs McKelvey is working with three schools in the borough and another in Haringey to pass on the resources. "This is what's left, schools are taking everything. We've got pens, pencils, any equipment that will help other schools. "It's nice to see everything repurposed and used." Packing up the school has taken months, especially given its rich history. The team have been pouring through the archive, which includes references to the Domesday Book. For former pupils, one of the most significant finds may be the punishment book, which dates from 1931 to 1971."It's all for persistent lying, disobedience, not following the school values, using a catapult, deliberately spoiling test papers and interestingly enough it was always boys, you rarely see a girl in there," Mrs McKelvey says. When I asked what the punishments were, I was told: "Mostly a stroke to the hand, just the one stroke."Every now and then you see three and four strokes - that was for deliberate disobedience." There are also school inspection records which detail World War Two 26 June 1944 one stated: "The school was visited after a night of continuous alert and at 05:00 there was a severe incident two streets away."A large number of children were there... prayers were said and the chief inspector saw the children in four groups."The response the children gave was remarkable considering the conditions." 'I hoped my children would come here' Other records found in the school show that it came close to closure back in the 1880s but was saved in 1882 thanks to a financial contribution. "It's quite pertinent, given what's going on now," Mrs McKelvey says."It's lovely to see the history and know it's always been for the community and the deprived community as well."With just 21 children now left at the school, on Tuesday St Mary's held a party where they invited former pupils and their parents playground was packed with people enjoying food, music and Caoimhe Adade-Marfo, a former pupil, describes it as "really fun, a really tight-knit community, all the pupils knew each other, it was really nice here."I feel really sad about it. I always had dreams of my children coming here or me showing them this is where I went to school." Carrie Ferrigi is one of many members of the same family who attended the school - all her brothers and sisters and their children were pupils at St Mary's."Everyone was welcoming and warm, no matter how bad your day was and you'd see friends, not just teachers," she son was one of the last to leave, moving to another school two weeks ago. She is not sure how much longer she will stay in Stoke Newington. "I was born and bred here but it's changing - it's not the community I grew up with."Our neighbours don't say hello any more. It's been my home for 45 years but it's different, completely different." Since April BBC London has contacted every London council to ask how many schools are being closed or merged. Hackney, Islington, Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea, Southwark, Lambeth and Tower Hamlets will see closures or amalgamations. At least 14 primary schools will be Councils, the body that represents all of London's local authorities, said there had been more than 40 closures or mergers of primary schools across London since 2020, due to falling school numbers.
Yahoo
18-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Diane Abbott: Labour ‘wants me out' after second suspension
Diane Abbott has been suspended from the Labour Party for a second time after repeating comments about racism for which she had previously apologised. The Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP said the Labour leadership 'wants me out' and that her comments in a BBC interview released this week were 'factually correct'. It comes a day after Sir Keir Starmer stripped the whip from four Labour MPs for persistent breaches of discipline. Ms Abbott, the longest-serving female MP in the Commons, lost the whip and had a lengthy stint sitting as an independent after she suggested in 2023 that Jewish, Irish and Traveller people experience prejudice, but not racism.
The Independent
18-07-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Diane Abbott: Labour ‘wants me out' after second suspension
Diane Abbott has been suspended from the Labour Party for a second time after repeating comments about racism for which she had previously apologised. The Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP said the Labour leadership 'wants me out' and that her comments in a BBC interview released this week were 'factually correct'. It comes a day after Sir Keir Starmer stripped the whip from four Labour MPs for persistent breaches of discipline. Ms Abbott, the longest-serving female MP in the Commons, lost the whip and had a lengthy stint sitting as an independent after she suggested in 2023 that Jewish, Irish and Traveller people experience prejudice, but not racism. She apologised for those remarks at the time and was eventually readmitted to the party just in time to stand as a Labour candidate in the 2024 general election. But in a BBC interview released this week, she said she did not regret the incident. 'Diane Abbott has been administratively suspended from the Labour Party, pending an investigation. We cannot comment further while this investigation is ongoing,' a Labour spokesperson said. Ms Abbott posted a clip of her BBC interview after news of her suspension emerged. She did not respond to a request for comment, but gave a statement to BBC Newsnight. 'It is obvious this Labour leadership wants me out. 'My comments in the interview with James Naughtie were factually correct, as any fair-minded person would accept,' she said. The original comments in 2023 were in a letter to The Observer newspaper, and she withdrew the remarks the same day and apologised 'for any anguish caused'. In the interview with BBC Radio 4's Reflections programme, she was asked whether she looked back on the incident with regret. 'No, not at all,' she said. 'Clearly, there must be a difference between racism which is about colour and other types of racism, because you can see a Traveller or a Jewish person walking down the street, you don't know. 'You don't know unless you stop to speak to them or you're in a meeting with them. 'But if you see a black person walking down the street, you see straight away that they're black. There are different types of racism.' She added: 'I just think that it's silly to try and claim that racism which is about skin colour is the same as other types of racism.' Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner was asked if she was disappointed by the comments. 'I was. There's no place for antisemitism in the Labour Party, and obviously the Labour Party has processes for that,' she told The Guardian newspaper. 'Diane had reflected on how she'd put that article together, and said that 'was not supposed to be the version', and now to double down and say 'Well, actually I didn't mean that. I actually meant what I originally said', I think is a real challenge.' Ms Abbott entered Parliament in 1987 and holds the honorary title of Mother of the House. Her suspension comes in the same week that Sir Keir carried out a purge of troublesome backbenchers in a bid to assert authority over the party. Rachael Maskell, who spearheaded plans to halt the Government's welfare reforms, had the whip suspended alongside Neil Duncan-Jordan, Brian Leishman and Chris Hinchliff. Party sources said the decision to suspend the whip was taken as a result of persistent breaches of discipline rather than a single rebellion.
