Innovation

A former police station that has lain empty for years is set to be redeveloped.

Cleveland Police has confirmed a buyer has been found for its former station on Millbank Lane in Thornaby, although plans for the building's future use have yet to be announced.

The site was put up for sale for £235,000 after a decision was made in 2017 to move the force's neighbourhood policing team to a new base, about half a mile away, with Cleveland Fire Brigade.

Cleveland Police said the proceeds from selling the 1970s building would help it meet its capital expenditure commitments.

About £35,000 a year had been saved in maintenance costs as a result of the 2017 move, the Local Democracy Reporting service said.

A Cleveland Police spokesman added: "The old building needed major investment to bring it up to standard.

"However, the plan was always to move the neighbourhood policing team to partner accommodation in the area following the station's closure."

Because the building's sale had yet to be completed, he said "no details of its final value or future use" were yet known.

Two men with paranoid schizophrenia stabbed members of the public in separate attacks weeks before Valdo Calocane's killings in Nottingham – and all were under the care of the same NHS trust, the BBC has found.

Josef Easom-Cooper and Junior Dietlin injured six men in the stabbings in Nottinghamshire in 2023.

Within weeks, Calocane – who also has paranoid schizophrenia – stabbed to death Barnaby Webber, Grace O'Malley-Kumar and Ian Coates on 13 June 2023.

Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust has been criticised over its care of Calocane, and in response to the BBC's findings, apologised to those "affected for any aspects of our care that were not of the high standard our patients deserve".

On 9 April 2023, Easom-Cooper stabbed a worshipper who was leaving an Easter Sunday service at St Stephen's Church in Sneinton.

The BBC has spoken to his victim, a man in his 40s, who survived. He did not wish to be interviewed.

Easom-Cooper's mother, Shelly Easom, said that as a teenager, her son was under the care of child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) in Nottingham.

"I started to routinely go into his room and I would find knives… I found an axe, my kitchen knives would quite often be in his room," she said.

Shelly said she would take photos of the weapons, and inform police and mental health services whenever she came across them.

According to Shelly, things massively deteriorated when Easom-Cooper turned 18.

During the grips of a psychotic episode, he left Highbury Hospital – where he was due to be sectioned – to kill a friend before he was stopped.

In July 2022, he was sectioned by the hospital – run by Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust – for three months, but Shelly says she told staff he was not ready to be discharged.

"He was not OK when he was released," she said. "There was no way he was going to take his medication and I told them that… it was literally just a time bomb waiting to happen."

Easom-Cooper was placed in accommodation managed by a housing association, but Shelly said he was "unravelling" in the seven months he was there, and not taking his medication while under the care of the trust's community team.

Shelly remembers her shock and frustration when she learned about her son's knife attack.

"I just bloody knew this was going to happen," she said.

"I'm so sorry it happened. I really am. And as a mother, he's my son and he did that and that makes me feel quite ashamed."

She said the stabbing could have been prevented if her son's paranoid schizophrenia had been taken more seriously.

"It's disgusting that it takes someone to either lose their life or be stabbed before somebody thinks 'oh, hang on a minute, maybe we need to do something here'.

"The mental health services in Nottingham have routinely and systematically let him down and also the victim," she added.

Easom-Cooper was sentenced to a hospital order in December 2023.

Nine weeks before Easom-Cooper's attack, Junior Dietlin stabbed five "complete strangers" over a weekend in Nottingham and Mansfield in February 2023.

In what a prosecutor described as "a most odd and extraordinary case", Dietlin stabbed five men once in the right bicep and then ran away in separate attacks.

One of the men stabbed was former police officer Keith Grafton, who was walking home from a pub in Mansfield.

"Suddenly, [there was] a quick thump on my right arm… I know I've been stabbed straight away because I felt the knife going into my skin," the 71-year-old said.

Keith says his attacker then ran off before he could "get anywhere near him".

He said although the attack had not left any lasting injuries, he was now "very wary" about going out late at night.

Dietlin was sentenced to a hospital order, but Keith says he was "disappointed" Dietlin had not received a prison sentence.

The BBC has seen a report conducted by the trust into its contact with Dietlin.

It said during a four-week stay at Highbury Hospital in June 2022, Dietlin had been involved in violent incidents with staff and diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.

The report said his family "could not express the wish that he remain in hospital a while longer".

It added that, after his discharge, he had taken his medication "very irregularly".

The family, the report added, "felt they were in a good position to observe subtle changes" in Dietlin's behaviour "that indicated he was unwell", but when community staff visited, they concluded there were "no signs of psychosis".

Dietlin stabbed his first victim on 8 February 2023, and the report said he had been visited by staff for a medication drop the next day.

On 11 and 12 February, he stabbed four more people.

Two weeks afterwards, the trust conducted an "initial management review", from which they "did not identify any learning", according to the report.

In a statement, the trust said these reviews were "completed straight away to establish if there is any immediate learning while the full investigation is being completed".

Earlier this year, a review commissioned by NHS England into Calocane's care found major failings by the trust.

Dietlin's incident was highlighted among 15 in that report of patients "either under the current care of the trust or who had been discharged from the trust, perpetrating serious violence towards members of the community" between 2019 and 2023.

The independent review concluded the trust had an "absence of a robust approach to risk management".

Mr Grafton said he had not known Dietlin's history of mental health issues, nor that he had been previously sectioned.

He believes the decision to discharge his attacker into the community was "a big failing" by the trust, whom he blames for what happened to him.

"If they'd done their job properly, then it wouldn't have happened," he added.

Nottingham was brought to a standstill on 13 June 2023 in the wake of the attacks carried out by Calocane, who was sentenced to a hospital order in January 2024.

He had been sectioned four times in under two years before his attacks, but was discharged by the trust because he had "disengaged" from its community mental health team in September 2022.

It meant there was no contact between Calocane and mental health services, or his GP, for about nine months before the killings.

Details of Calocane's medical records were revealed in a BBC Panorama documentary and the NHS-commissioned report, which also stated that "the system got it wrong" with the triple killer.

Shelly said she felt the missed opportunities in Calocane's care mirrored her son's experience.

She added: "When I became aware of the facts, I thought that could have so easily have been Josef… I just remember thinking 'you know what? I'm glad he's in hospital'.

"Those poor people had their lives cut short in such hideous ways for no reason, just because we're not putting proper time and effort into making sure that people are well enough to walk the streets."

Marjorie Wallace, chief executive of mental health charity Sane, said the BBC's findings show that had the trust learned lessons from Dietlin and Easom-Cooper, then Calocane's killings could have been prevented.

"Their failings were failure to listen to the families, failure to watch the person… and the failures to protect both the patient and then the public by discharging them far too early when they are too ill," she said.

'Apologise to those affected'

Neil Hudgell, a solicitor representing the families of Calocane's victims, said the BBC's findings showed "that very little ever resonates as it should with mental health trusts, and potentially had they learned effectively enough over the years, the events of 13 June 2023 would not have happened".

"The families continue to rage at the incredibly sad and needless loss of the lives of their much-missed loved ones," he added.

In a statement, Dr Sue Elcock, deputy chief executive and executive medical director at the NHS trust, said: "I want to reassure people that following any serious incident, we carry out an investigation in order to identify any areas for learning and improvement.

"We apologise to those affected for any aspects of our care that were not of the high standard our patients deserve."

The statement added the trust had "a more robust patient discharge policy and a sharper focus on assessing and managing any risks patients may pose to others".

Dr Elcock added: "We have made significant changes to improve family engagement, and the involvement of patients and their families and our family liaison team is included in all considerations."

On Thursday, the government confirmed the public inquiry into the attacks was under way, and would report back within two years with recommendations to prevent similar incidents.

Police are investigating a Leicestershire NHS trust over three patients who died during the Covid pandemic.

Leicestershire Police has said it is looking into Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust (LPT) for offences relating to corporate manslaughter and gross negligence manslaughter regarding the deaths, which took place between September 2020 and July 2021.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said one of the deaths was believed to relate to a patient absconding from Bradgate mental health unit at Glenfield Hospital.

LPT told the LDRS it would be "inappropriate" to comment on "an ongoing police investigation".

A recent employment tribunal heard the patient, named only as Patient One in proceedings, was a new arrival on the Beaumont Ward of the unit in September 2020.

He was able to escape from the ward's garden, before taking his own life, the tribunal was told.

Safety concerns on the ward during Covid were at the heart of the case, with former consultant, Dr Mariam Benaris, claiming she was forced out of her role after blowing the whistle over her fears around patient safety.

The tribunal heard Dr Benaris and others working on Beaumont were concerned about the number of new admissions – who would have been at the start of the recovery and often had more complex needs – being concentrated in one ward, and the increased pressure they said this put on employees.

The trust told the tribunal the admissions ward was set up in response to NHS England's guidance in the early stages of the pandemic, adding it had conversations around controls to reduce risks relating to the new structure with mitigations being put in place.

It also denies its actions were intended as a detriment for the whistleblowing, saying Dr Benaris moved "voluntarily".

None of the three patients who lost their lives have been named by Leicestershire Police.

Confirming an investigation into "offences relating to corporate manslaughter and gross negligence manslaughter", a spokesman said: "The investigation remains ongoing. No charges have been brought at this time."

People living in Brighton housing estates say illegal parking is disrupting their lives as ambulances, wheelchairs and pushchairs are being blocked by parked cars.

Representatives from the Bates Estate, Coldean, North Moulsecoomb and Hollingdean have urged Brighton and Hove City Council to take action at a council housing management panel meeting on 10 June.

They called for better enforcement and councillor Trevor Muten, cabinet member for transport and parking, to be present at their next meeting, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The council has asked residents to share dates and locations of times they believed there was no enforcement for investigation.

Hollingdean Residents' Association secretary Ian Beck said: "With the aid of the council, we got double yellow lines put around each of these closes.

"But an ambulance tried to get into my street a few days ago for an emergency with a 92-year-old woman but could not get in because a van was parked on the double yellow lines."

The meeting was told that vehicles blocking Southmount, off Davey Drive, also delayed another ambulance which took 25 minutes to leave the road due to parked cars.

Cars parked across dropped kerbs, restricting access for people in wheelchairs and parents with children in pushchairs, were also said to have affected people living on the Bates Estate and in North Moulsecoomb and Coldean.

Parking issues 'massively increasing'

On football match days at Brighton and Hove Albion, parking issues were described as "massively increasing" by residents despite parking restrictions being in place on estates closest to the Amex stadium.

However, almost a quarter of the council's parking enforcement team were deployed in Coldean and Moulsecoomb on those days.

Earlier this year, two separate parking consultations were carried out for north and south Hollingdean to measure demand for a resident parking scheme.

With the results not yet published, the council said that, generally, people living south of Hollingbury Place were in favour.

Since September, 2024, Coldean had received 528 visits with 450 penalty charge notices (PCNs) being issued.

In the same period, Moulsecoomb – a larger area – received 528 visits with 715 PCNs being issued.

Twelve of the parking tickets on the north Brighton estates were issued because vehicles were blocking a dropped kerb.

Teachers at a secondary school have gone on strike over poor student behaviour, their union representatives said.

Some teachers at Westbourne Academy in Ipswich refused to work on Tuesday and said they would carry on their action on Wednesday, with further strike days planned for next week.

The National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT) cited "untenable levels of classroom disruption" including pupils refusing to attend lessons and "roaming the school".

A spokesperson for Academy Transformation Trust, which runs the school, said it "recognised the challenges" and was working with union representatives "to understand concerns and to support all colleagues".

The school, which has about 1,000 pupils, said that learning would be moved online for Years 7, 8 and 9 on Tuesday and Wednesday.

'Teach safely'

"A large group of pupils at Westbourne Academy are refusing to attend lessons and instead choose to roam the school, disrupting other lessons and engaging in threatening behaviour towards staff and other pupils," the NASUWT said in a statement.

"Teachers have sought help from school leadership but no plan has worked in practice, with teachers often waiting for most or all of their lessons for urgent assistance."

It said its members at the school "just want to conduct their lessons in safety and peace".

"They feel abandoned by school leaders and desperate for effective support."

Members of the National Education Union (NEU) have also taken strike action.

Speaking from the picket line, science teacher and NEU representative at the school, Sophie Walker, said the teachers were striking to "make a stand against the behaviours of students… to make a point that enough is enough".

She said issues faced by the staff were affecting their well-being and mental health "as well as the students who come in day-in, day-out, do the right thing and want to have an education".

Ms Walker said: "You come in every day and don't know what you're going to expect – that's the nature of being a teacher."

She said pupils would swear at teachers and some students would just walk out of lessons.

There have been physical assaults as well, with staff having had chairs and scissors thrown at them.

"It grinds you down every day," she added.

She said although action had been taken, the route to expelling a pupil involved a number of steps and it was "not an option we want to do, as a school".

The Academy Transformation Trust said in a statement: "Following Ofsted's visit in June 2024, which rated Westbourne as a good school overall, we have acted with pace and purpose to respond to their feedback regarding the behaviour of a minority of pupils.

"This includes providing additional staffing and strengthening leadership.

"We are currently planning out a new approach to manage pupil conduct and how pupils are organised within the school, which will start after half term.

"This is all aimed at creating a calmer, more focused environment for learning for all."

It added the school was "committed to achieving lasting improvement while minimising any disruption to pupils".

Nicky Hood, the academy trust's executive principal, said: "It's right and proper that every child has a right to an education – not every child finds that easy and it's right and proper that there are checks and balances to ensure that everything is done to help those young people engage in their education.

"Where parents really engage with the academy we've seen some really strong improvement in some of our young people.

"We recognise that the improvement journey continues… and the well-being of our staff is really important."

Anyone arrested for anti-social behaviour on Epsom Derby Day will face a £100 fixed penalty notice, a council says.

The Derby Festival begins on 6 June, with the Derby itself being run on 7 June.

Epsom & Ewell Borough Council is to impose a public space protection order (PSPO), which could be in force for up to three years across the district, in time for the festival.

The order applies to anyone harassing or threatening others, or continuing to drink alcohol after being ordered to stop by a police officer, community support officer or council officer.

The council voted through the order on Tuesday.

Shanice Goldman, chair of the crime and disorder committee, said: "The PSPO is a new tool specifically for the Epsom & Ewell area which will allow police and appropriate council staff to address anti-social behaviour effectively, without immediately resorting to arrests.

"I hope this order will ensure a more enjoyable experience for everyone on the day, as well as a safer environment in the borough."

Some residents of a group of villages in Telford have vowed to fight boundary reorganisation plans which could mean they pay more in council tax.

Dawley Hamlets brings together a number of villages, whose residents pay less council tax than residents in neighbouring areas.

However, a proposal has been made to abolish Dawley Hamlets Parish Council and divide villages into neighbouring towns and parishes in time for the 2027 local elections.

Telford and Wrekin Council said its boundary review was in the consultation stage, meaning residents could still influence the final outcome, and that decisions on future tax levels would be for newly formed councils.

"Splitting us up will hit people in their pockets," said Cllr Bob Wennington, chairman of Dawley Hamlets Parish Council.

"We're individual communities but we gel together and residents are happy with what we do for them.

"All of Little Dawley and Aqueduct could be part of Great Dawley Town Council, but we feel like we don't have much in common with the town, although we do rely on them for some services," he added.

The fee added on to council tax bills for 2025/26 by Dawley Hamlets Parish Council, known as the precept, is around £29 for a Band D property.

It is spent on local services, such as litter picking and the management of two nature reserves, and also organising annual events like remembrance services and summer parties.

However in the Great Dawley area to the north, residents paid £317 in town council precept, which contributes towards the running of the town hall, library, weekly market and Christmas lights switch on, to name a few of the services it provides.

The boundary change would increase the council tax of more than 6,300 voters.

'We could lose our identity'

The proposals also include moving the Small Hill area of Dawley Hamlets into Lawley & Overdale Parish Council, and Horsehay and Doseley into The Gorge Parish Council.

Lawley and Overdale Parish Council's precept fee was £108 this financial year, while The Gorge Parish Council added about £64.

"My fear is that we'll become part of the Ironbridge Gorge and lose some of our identity," said Angela Porteous from Horsehay in Dawley Hamlets.

"Ironbridge is a World Heritage Site, which is fantastic, but how much focus will be put on an area like Horsehay?"

Telford and Wrekin Council did not answer the BBC's specific questions on why it is proposing to abolish Dawley Hamlets Parish Council.

However, in a statement, it said its draft proposals were aimed at better reflecting community identities, addressing electoral imbalances, and ensuring effective local representation.

"The final outcomes of the Community Governance Review may yet change, depending on the feedback we receive," said Cllr Giles Luter, Chair of Telford and Wrekin Council's Boundary Review Committee.

"We would remind residents of Dawley Hamlets, and across the Borough, to make the most of our drop-in information sessions and complete the online survey," he added.

It challenged claims that council tax would necessarily rise, saying: "It would be the responsibility of any new parish council to set their council tax precept, so speculating around levels of precept in parish councils which do not yet exist is unhelpful and potentially misleading."

A woman who looks after both her father and son says she believes she is not "valued as a carer".

Speaking during Carers Week, Becky Pain-Tolin, from Gloucestershire, said the care system was "diabolical" and "incredibly underfunded".

Ms Pain-Tolin, whose 11-year-old son has complex disabilities and whose father has advanced vascular dementia said: "Unpaid carers deserve more, my father deserves more and my son deserves more."

A spokesperson for The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) said they understood "the huge difference carers make, as well as the struggles so many face".

They said the government increased the Carer's Allowance earnings threshold by £45 a week to £196, which would benefit more than 60,000 carers by 2029/30.

Ms Pain-Tolin's son needs two-to-one care at all times and three-to-one care when in the community.

Seven more people have appeared in court charged over an acid attack which left a man seriously injured.

The victim was at home with his daughter in Lipson Road on 21 February, Plymouth Magistrates Court heard.

Ria Park, prosecuting, said two men broke in and threw acid at him, "causing significant injuries to him".

The defendants, six men from London and a woman from Plymouth, were all charged with conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to kidnap.

Ramarnee Bakas, 22, of Bethune Road, London, Abdulrasheed Adedoja, 22, of North Circular, London, Arrone Mukuna, 24, of Werrington Street, London, Jean Mukuna, 23, of Werrington Street, London, Brian Kalemba, 22, of Estbury Square, London, Jenna O'Grady, 38, Ernesettle Green, Plymouth, and Isanah Sungum, 22, of Stirling Way, Edmonton, London, were charged with conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to kidnap.

Mr Bakas, Arrone Mukuna, Jean Makuna and Mr Adedoja were also charged with laundering the proceeds of crime.

The defendants spoke only to confirm their names, addresses and dates of birth and were all remanded in custody to appear at Plymouth Crown Court on 12 May.

Israel Augustus, 25, of Pulford Road, north London, who appeared at Plymouth Magistrates' Court earlier, was charged with applying a corrosive fluid with intent to burn, maim, disfigure or do grievous bodily harm.

Mr Augustus, who was also charged with aggravated burglary, possession of an offensive weapon, and drug offences, was due to appear before Plymouth Crown Court on 16 June.

Measures to protect swans in a town centre after two were attacked last year have been reintroduced.

Fencing and CCTV were put in place in April 2024 following a number of incidents where bottles were thrown at two birds.

The safety measures have again been put in by Cleethorpes Wildlife Rescue (CWR) to protect two nesting birds on the River Freshney in Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire.

The swans, in the same spot as last year, have laid two eggs and CWR is monitoring the video footage to ensure their safety.

CWR volunteers were granted a licence by North East Lincolnshire Council to put in the fencing and CCTV.

The rescue group said the safety measures were considered a success last year, with disturbance of the nest dropping from an average of four a day to fewer than four over the entire incubation period.

They have asked people not to feed the swans on or near the nest as it attracts predators, which puts the birds at risk.

Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds latest episode of Look North here.