Selasa, 07 Desember 2021

Arthur 'must have had this sense of impending doom' says grandmother - ITV News

Arthur knew he was in danger, he have felt a 'sense of impending doom' his grandmother has said, as Chloe Keedy reports.


Arthur Labinjo-Hughes' grandmother has shared how the six-year-old "must have had this sense of impending doom that something was going to happen to him," saying he knew he was in danger.

Speaking to ITV's Good Morning Britain, Madeleine Halcrow said her grandson was an "intuitive child" who knew his father was putting him at risk.

"For a child to say to his own dad 'I'm in danger with you daddy...you're going to kill me'. There's something wrong there," Ms Halcrow said as she spoke movingly about young Arthur.

"Arthur's very intuitive. He must have had this sense of impending doom that something was going to happen to him".

Six-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes died in June 2020. Credit: PA

Six-year-old Arthur, from Solihull, was left with an unsurvivable brain injury while in the care of his stepmother, Emma Tustin. Arthur, whose body was covered in 130 bruises, died in hospital the next day.

Tustin was jailed for life on Friday after being convicted of murder, and will serve a minimum of 29 years.

Arthur's father, Thomas Hughes was given a 21 year sentence for manslaughter.

The pair showed "no remorse, no sympathy", Ms Halcrow said, as she branded them "depraved, sadistic, torturous, evil, calculating people".

She said the sentences given to Arthur's stepmother and father aren't long enough - with the attorney general set to review the terms.


'Life should mean life' for Hughes and Tustin


"Life should mean life", she said. "They took Arthur’s life, he’s not going to get his life back, he’s not going to have children of his own."

On Monday, Arthur's maternal grandfather, Peter Halcrow, said Tustin and Hughes "must never see the light of day again".

Ms Halcrow told presenters Susanna Reid and Martin Lewis (both visibly moved by the interview) that she had met with Arthur's paternal grandparents who had noticed bruises on the child.

Social services and the police were called, but Ms Halcrow said not enough action was taken.

An independent review is under way into the actions of the social workers involved in Arthur's particular case, while Ofsted is starting work on their investigation into services involved with child protection in Solihull more generally.

Arthur's paternal grandmother photographed the bruising on him in April 2020, two months before his death. Credit: PA

"I saw new bruises on top of old which tells me this has been going on," Ms Halcrow, who is a nurse, said.

"Seeing them I first imagined the pain Arthur would’ve been in receiving these bruises", she said, overwhelmed with emotion.

Ms Halcrow - who described her grandson as "the happiest child" - said "something is broken" with the system which should have ensured the safety of her grandson.


'Something is broken in this system and something needs fixing'


She said more should have been done by police and social services to recognise and act on the dangers Arthur faced, adding she feels anger towards the authorities.

"I am angry with the inter agencies because somewhere along the line communication hasn’t been passed along," she said - citing other case of child abuse, including Baby P.

After the interview, Susanna Reid - who said the story had "broken her" - asked justice secretary Dominic Raab about the prospects of the sentences for Tustin and Hughes being extended.

Mr Raab said he finds the situation "piercingly heartbreaking" as a father himself and added he fully supports the attorney general's decision to review the sentences.

"I want the maximum protections and the highest sentences to protect the most vulnerable," he said.

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2021-12-07 14:30:01Z
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Afghanistan: Foreign Office chaotic during Kabul evacuation - whistleblower - BBC News

Crowds queue at the airport near a plane surrounded by troops.
MOD via PA Media

The UK Foreign Office's handling of the Afghan evacuation after the Taliban seized Kabul was dysfunctional and chaotic, a whistleblower has said.

Raphael Marshall said the process of choosing who could get a flight out was arbitrary and thousands of emails with pleas for help went unread.

The then Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab was slow to make decisions, he added.

Mr Raab told the BBC lessons would be learned but the UK did a good job compared to other countries.

After the Taliban took control of Afghanistan's capital, Kabul, the UK airlifted 15,000 people out of the country, including 5,000 British nationals, 8,000 Afghans and 2,000 children.

In written evidence to the Foreign Affairs Committee, Mr Marshall said up to 150,000 Afghans who were at risk because of their links to Britain applied to be evacuated - but fewer than 5% received any assistance.

"It is clear that some of those left behind have since been murdered by the Taliban," he added.

Mr Raab said the two-week evacuation was "the biggest operation in living memory" of its kind and the UK had helped a larger number of people than any nation except the US.

The foreign secretary said the criticism of his decision-making was from a "relatively junior desk officer" but the main challenges were in verifying the identities of applicants on the ground and safely escorting them to the airport in Kabul, not in making decisions from Whitehall.

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Other criticisms were "rather dislocated from the operational pressures and conditions", he said.

"I don't doubt there were challenges, I don't doubt there will be lessons to be learned but if you look at the facts, I think we did a good job by recent standards of evacuations and by international comparisons," he told BBC Breakfast.

Mr Marshall, who was a senior desk officer at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) until he resigned in September, said there was inadequate staffing at the department's crisis centre, and staff would not normally be expected to work at weekends or overnight.

Raphael Marshall

There was also a lack of expertise and a lack of co-ordination between the department and the Ministry of Defence, he added.

Mr Marshall also said Mr Raab took hours to answer emails and "did not fully understand the situation".

And he said an instruction from Prime Minister Boris Johnson to evacuate dogs looked after by an animal charity went against Foreign Office criteria and meant people at risk of being murdered were left behind.

Mr Johnson said the allegation that he intervened on this issue was "complete nonsense" and that the rescue operation was "one of the outstanding military achievements of the last 50 years or more", under "pretty harrowing circumstances".

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What are the allegations?

The key issues flagged by Foreign Office whistleblower Raphael Marshall include:

  • Only 5% of the 150,000 people who requested help received any
  • Nobody in the team dealing with requests had studied, had any detailed knowledge of Afghanistan, or had ever worked there
  • No one spoke any Afghan languages, with calls to people asking for help conducted in English
  • Decisions about who to rescue were arbitrary, and thousands of emails pleading for assistance were not even read
  • The IT system was dysfunctional, with eight soldiers drafted in to help left sharing one computer
  • Dominic Raab was slow to make decisions on difficult cases and did not fully understand the situation
  • Animals from the Nowzad charity run by a former Marine were not in danger and evacuating them was at the direct expense of people at risk of death
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As the Taliban approached Kabul in August, there was one government scheme to evacuate those Afghans who had worked directly for the British government, and another to identify and help those who were at risk because of their broader links to the UK.

Mr Marshall worked for the team of officials handling a group known as Afghan Special Cases.

These included Afghan soldiers, politicians, journalists, civil servants, activists, aid workers, judges - and guards who had worked indirectly for the UK government via subcontractors.

In the desperate days at the end of August as the Taliban advanced on Kabul, many of these people were emailing the FCDO to get permission for a flight out of the country.

Mr Marshall said there were "usually 5,000 unread emails in the inbox at any given moment" and "in thousands of cases emails were not even read", including cases from MPs.

He said the process of prioritising the applicants was "arbitrary and dysfunctional". The criteria used by the government were unhelpful and ambiguous, leading to confusion, he added.

Evacuated dogs 'not at risk'

The decision to transport dogs from Pen Farthing's Nowzad shelter used up considerable capacity, so there was less space at the airport and fewer soldiers available to escort evacuees, Mr Marshall said.

He said the UK government ended up transporting animals "which were not at risk of harm at the direct expense of evacuating British nationals and people at risk of imminent murder, including interpreters who had served with the British Army".

Staff in the crisis centre who previously worked for the Department for International Development could not access FCDO computers because "the DFID and FCO IT systems are not yet integrated. They were visibly appalled by our chaotic system".

Mr Marshall described how soldiers were brought in to help but many had not used the computer systems before and so mistakes were made.

The computers had to be shared because FCDO IT had not issued passwords to unlock them. At one point eight soldiers shared one computer.

People crowded outside Kabul airport
EPA

Telephone calls to Afghans were made only in English, Mr Marshall said. There was no one who spoke Dari or Pashto.

Mr Marshall said: "I believe no member of the Afghan Special Cases team had studied Afghanistan, worked on Afghanistan previously, or had a detailed knowledge of Afghanistan.

He added: "One was clearly scared of being asked to make hundreds of life and death decisions about which they knew nothing."

He said: "Most people in the FCDO crisis centre had a poor understanding of the actual situation at Kabul airport and the consequent urgency of calling people up as soon as possible."

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Mr Marshall's report states the FCDO crisis centre sent notes up to Mr Raab's office to get decisions on difficult cases.

But "it took several hours for the foreign secretary to engage on any of these notes" and when he did "he could not decide on individual cases" without seeing all the cases "in a well-presented table".

Mr Marshall concluded: "For the foreign secretary to make this request suggests he did not fully understand the situation."

He said, on another occasion, "the foreign secretary declined to make a decision on whether to admit these people without a properly formatted submission with a table setting out multiple cases".

A source close to Mr Raab said: "We evacuated over 500 special cases, including journalists, women's rights activists and extremely vulnerable individuals.

"The major practical challenge to evacuation was verifying identity and securing safe passage to the airport, not the speed of decision making. At all times, the team's focus was on saving lives."

'Leadership questions'

Chair of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, Tom Tugendhat, said: "The real question that needs answering is, where was everybody?"

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that Mr Marshall's evidence depicts a 25-year-old, at times completely on his own, dealing with a huge volume of requests for help, "in a Foreign Office that was effectively a Mary Celeste at a time of national emergency".

Asked if it showed that the Foreign Office's work-from-home arrangements had failed, Mr Tugendhat said "all hands needed to be on deck" and "whatever the working arrangements, they weren't working".

A UK government spokesperson said more than 1,000 FCDO staff worked tirelessly in challenging circumstances, and decisions on prioritisation had to be made quickly to help as many people as possible.

It said the government was still working to help others leave and since the end of the operation had helped more than 3,000 people leave Afghanistan.

"Regrettably we were not able to evacuate all those we wanted to, but our commitment to them is enduring," they added.

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Afghan exit: A timeline

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11 August: Afghan forces begin to surrender to the Taliban as US officials are quoted as saying Afghanistan could fall within 90 days.

15 August: An estimated 17,600 people fleeing the Taliban arrive in Kabul, with thousands more arriving all the time, according to the UN.

16 August: There are chaotic scenes at Kabul airport, where a number of people die and large crowds on the runway lead all flights to be halted for several hours

18 August: Kabul airport appears to be secured by US and Nato troops but the scramble to leave Afghanistan leads to chaotic scenes outside the airport's perimeter

22 August: Sir Laurie Bristow, the UK's ambassador to Afghanistan, describes the evacuation as "gathering pace" - confirming 6,000 Britons and eligible Afghans flown out since 13 August

23 August: UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace says the final UK evacuation flights are "hours not weeks" away

25 August: The UK Foreign Office issues new guidance for Britons and eligible Afghans to move away from Kabul airport "to a safe location and await further advice"

26 August: At least 95 people are killed - including 13 US service personnel - and 150 others wounded after an explosion near the Abbey Gate entrance to the airfield

27 August: The Ministry of Defence confirms animal shelter founder Paul "Pen" Farthing and his animals have made it through Kabul airport's checkpoints - the department said members of the UK Armed Forces assisted

Speaking later that day, Mr Johnson says he feels a "great sense of regret" about those left behind in Afghanistan

28 August: The UK Ministry of Defence says the UK's final evacuation flight purely for civilians has left Kabul

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2021-12-07 14:12:04Z
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Senin, 06 Desember 2021

Arthur Labinjo-Hughes’ evil father agrees to finally release son’s body for funeral - Scottish Daily Record

The body of little Arthur Labinjo-Hughes will finally be laid to rest after his twisted killer dad finally agreed to release his remains.

Thomas Hughes, 29, was sentenced to 21 years for manslaughter at Coventry Crown Court on Friday, along with the six-year-old’s stepmother Emma Tustin, 32, who was caged for life and will serve a minimum term of 29 years, after being found guilty murder.

The cruel father had been “passive” on the issue until now but hoped the decision would provide a “tiny scrap of peace” to Arthur’s mum Olivia Labinjo-Halcrow, his lawyer said.

Since the sentencing last week the UK Government has announced a major review into the circumstances which led to the murder, aiming to determine what improvements are needed by the agencies that came into contact with Arthur before his death.

Arthur Labinjo-Hughes with his father Thomas Hughes and Thomas' partner Emma Tustin
Arthur Labinjo-Hughes with his father Thomas Hughes and Thomas' partner Emma Tustin

The National Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel will lead the review and will provide additional support to Solihull Children’s Safeguarding Partnership.

It emerged in court the boy had been seen by social workers just two months before his death, but they concluded there were “no safeguarding concerns”.

When the pair were sentenced on Friday, it was confirmed Arthur had yet to be laid to rest.

Arthur's grandmother, Madeleine Halcrow, wants to finally lay the little boy to rest
Arthur's grandmother, Madeleine Halcrow, wants to finally lay the little boy to rest

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Arthur’s natural mother Olivia Labinjo-Halcrow was jailed for killing her then partner in 2019, leaving Hughes in sole custody of their son.

It was her arrest and remand into custody in February 2019 that led to Arthur falling into the care of Hughes, according to Bristol Live.

In an emotional statement, read by her mother Madeleine Halcrow, Arthur’s grandmother, she said her life had been “destroyed” by her son’s death.

She added: “Now over a year on my beautiful boy has still not been laid to rest. He is still alone and cold; the people who took him refuse to show compassion and allow his little body to be released to me, his mother; to finally let him rest peacefully and warm.

“Burying my beloved son is the final thing I will ever be able to do for him. The waiting is torture and even though I try to stop myself every night when I get into a warm bed, my heart breaks all over again at the thought of my Arthur alone in the cold.”

Bernard Richmond QC, barrister for Hughes, said a “degree of passivity” was part of his client’s character and he had not been “standing up” for the things he should have.

Arthur Labinjo-Hughes with his biological mother Olivia Labinjo-Halcrow
Arthur Labinjo-Hughes with his biological mother Olivia Labinjo-Halcrow

He told the court Hughes had left the issue of Arthur’s remains to his family and Ms Labinjo-Halcrow’s family to resolve but they had not been able to agree.

Mr Richmond added: “I have spoke to him and said this can’t go on. He has instructed me to say that Arthur’s remains, after a service with his family, must go to his mother’s family for her to have a funeral and she must have control of his ashes.

“He does hope he can give Olivia a tiny scrap of peace.”

Arthur’s grandmother Madeleine Halcrow was among a large crowd of people who on Sunday afternoon gathered outside the house in Cranmore Road, Solihull, where the six-year-old was killed, to pay tribute.

She could be seen wiping away tears at the vigil while wearing a T-shirt bearing his face.

The crowd lined the road before letting go of the balloons, some bearing messages, and applauding.

Top news stories today

Residents, some with tears in their eyes, could be heard saying “bye Arthur” and “fly high always”.

They then formed a line outside the house before balloons, posters and flowers were placed around the property.

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2021-12-06 21:56:35Z
1120944325

Plan B ‘won’t be used before Christmas’ even if Omicron cases continue to rise – unles - iNews

Ministers will not trigger the Covid-19 “plan B” before Christmas solely in response to rising UK cases of the Omicron variant, i has been told, despite confirmation that the new strain is now spreading in the community.

Sajid Javid told MPs on Monday that some of the 336 people infected with Omicron in Britain caught it in this country, rather than importing it from abroad. Another 90 cases have been detected, covering nearly all parts of the UK.

None of the 336 Omicron cases has been hospitalised, the minister said.

Mr Javid said: “The Omicron variant is continuing to spread here and around the world… This includes cases with no links to international travel, so we can conclude there is now community transmission across multiple regions of England.”

Outlining the latest measures against the variant including pre-departure tests and placing Nigeria on the red list, Mr Javid added: “We can’t say for certain at this point whether Omicron has the potential to knock us off our road to recovery. We are leaving nothing to chance…

“But we can say we are doing everything in our power to strengthen our national defences. We will be as prepared as possible for whatever this virus brings.”

The number of Delta cases is also increasing with 51,459 new infections confirmed across the UK, a rise of nearly 9,000 on the previous Monday, while daily deaths appear to have stopped falling.

Despite the growing presence of the variant, which is forecast to become dominant next month, the Government will not impose new restrictions unless laboratory data and evidence from South Africa prove it is significantly more dangerous to the British population.

However, if hospital admissions rise significantly as a result of soaring admissions, it will increase the chances of extra measures.

A No 10 spokesman said: “There is no set threshold, that is not the approach we have taken throughout. What is important is that we put in the steps necessary to buy us time while scientists both here in places like Porton Down and around the world get more hard data on the characteristics of this variant.”

A Government insider told i that a rise in cases is almost inevitable and would not be enough to convince ministers they should crack down before Christmas, for example by telling people to work from home or imposing vaccine passports on crowded venues.

Asked whether the current restrictions were tough enough, Boris Johnson said: “I don’t think we need to change the overall guidance and advice we’re giving about Omicron in this country. We’re still waiting to see exactly how dangerous it is, what sort of effect it has in terms of deaths and hospitalisations.”

Although he refused to guarantee that no further measures would come into effect over the next three weeks, the Prime Minister added: “I’ve said I think many times now that I think this Christmas will be considerably better than last Christmas.”

Mr Johnson is likely to confirm next Thursday what rules will apply over Christmas, because that is the last day Parliament is sitting before it breaks up for the festive recess.

One leading scientist suggested that Christmas would help reduce transmission because the absence of people from schools and offices will cut the number of close contacts each individual has, outweighing the effect of increased travel around the country due to family reunions.

But others fear that if new rules do prove to be needed at some point, deliberately delaying them until the New Year would only require tougher measures which would be in place for longer.

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2021-12-06 17:38:00Z
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Dame Sarah Gilbert: Next pandemic could be more lethal than Covid - ITV News

Another pandemic will threaten human lives and could be “more contagious” and “more lethal”, one of the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid vaccine inventors has warned.

Professor Dame Sarah Gilbert, delivering the 44th prestigious Richard Dimbleby Lecture, said the scientific advances made in research against fighting deadly viruses “must not be lost”.

She also addressed the rise in the Omicron variant across the UK, with at least 246 cases, saying the variant may have mutations on the spike protein "that may mean antibodies induced by the vaccines, or by infection with other variants, may be less effective at preventing infection".


Coronavirus: What you need to know


The Oxford professor is credited with saving millions of lives through her role in designing the coronavirus vaccine.

Speaking of the threat of another pandemic, she said: “This will not be the last time a virus threatens our lives and our livelihoods. The truth is, the next one could be worse. It could be more contagious, or more lethal, or both.

“We cannot allow a situation where we have gone through all we have gone through, and then find that the enormous economic losses we have sustained mean that there is still no funding for pandemic preparedness.

“The advances we have made, and the knowledge we have gained, must not be lost.”

Dame Sarah has been making and testing vaccines for more than 10 years, mainly using antigens from malaria and influenza, and initiated the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine project in early 2020 when Covid first emerged in China.

The vaccine developed by her team is used in more than 170 countries around the world.

The vaccinologist received a damehood earlier this year for services to science and public health in Covid vaccine development.

Ralph Evans, 88, receives the Oxford University/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. Credit: PA

Speaking about the Omicron variant, Dame Sarah added: “The spike protein of this variant contains mutations already known to increase transmissibility of the virus.

“But there are additional changes that may mean antibodies induced by the vaccines, or by infection with other variants, may be less effective at preventing infection with Omicron.

“Until we know more, we should be cautious, and take steps to slow down the spread of this new variant.

“But as we have seen before, reduced protection against infection and mild disease does not necessarily mean reduced protection against severe disease and death.”

On Sunday, the UK Health Security Agency said a further 86 cases of Omicron had been confirmed in the UK, 68 in England and 18 in Scotland, bringing the total to 246.

Boris Johnson insisted on Monday that the government's response to Omicron has been swift and proportionate, citing new, stricter travel restrictions.


Boris Johnson says the government was the first country in the world to take 'decisive measures' in response to the Omicron variant


"I don't think we need to change the overall guidance and advice we're giving about Omicron in this country. We're still waiting to see exactly how dangerous it is - what sort of effect it has in terms of deaths and hospitalisation," he said during a media round after visiting police.

But Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the government had been "behind the curve" in its reaction to the new variant.

He said: "As soon as we saw the evidence that there would be pre-departure tests, we called on the government to do this last week - the government delayed as they always do".


Sir Keir Starmer: 'The government needs to get ahead instead of being behind'


Alongside travel restrictions, the booster vaccine programme in the UK has been accelerated in response to the spread of the variant.

But there are warnings GPs who delivered the first and second jabs to the housebound are now dropping out as they do not have the time or staff.

In response, a NHS spokesman said: “Local NHS and GP teams are contacting their eligible housebound patients, and we are working closely with St John Ambulance to give local areas additional support.

“We are also providing additional funding to help local teams secure additional staff so that all eligible housebound patients are offered a booster as quickly and safely as possible.”

England has also brought back tougher regulations on the wearing of face coverings in shops and public transport.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid will update MPs on the current Covid situation, on Monday afternoon in Parliament.

The Richard Dimbleby lecture, named in honour of the late broadcaster, features influential speakers from academia, arts and business and the royal family - it will air on BBC on Monday night.

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2021-12-06 13:16:46Z
CBMiZGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lml0di5jb20vbmV3cy8yMDIxLTEyLTA1L2RhbWUtc2FyYWgtZ2lsYmVydC1uZXh0LXBhbmRlbWljLWNvdWxkLWJlLW1vcmUtbGV0aGFsLXRoYW4tY292aWTSAQA

Arthur Labinjo-Hughes: Review of his death 'owes it to him' - BBC News

Arthur Labinjo-Hughes
Family handout

Authorities owe it to Arthur Labinjo-Hughes and all children to review events leading up to his killing, the crime and policing minister Kit Malthouse has said.

The stepmother and father of the tortured, poisoned schoolboy were jailed on Friday for murder and manslaughter respectively.

The government has confirmed a national review into Arthur's death.

Mr Malthouse urged public patience amid "understandable" anger.

The National Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel will lead the investigation and will provide additional support to Solihull Children's Safeguarding Partnership to "upgrade" the existing local review launched shortly after Arthur's death in June 2020.

It emerged during the trial he had been seen by social workers just two months before he died, but they concluded there were "no safeguarding concerns".

Mr Malthouse told the BBC: "There are broadly two inquiries, the first inquiry will look very carefully at what actually happened in this truly appalling case."

He said the second would be a "wider review" looking at systems across the whole of the country "to try and examine whether there are lessons that can be learned for the system more generally to try and prevent these type of awful cases in the future".

He added he "found it hard to read about what actually happened".

Crime and Policing Minister, Kit Malthouse

Emma Tustin was jailed for 29 years and Arthur's father, Thomas Hughes, for 21. The pair were also convicted of various child cruelty offences.

Their sentences are set to be reviewed by the Attorney General's Office.

The trial heard Arthur had been poisoned with salt by Tustin and subjected to regular beatings by both adults. He was also given punishments such as being denied food and drink and being made to stand for hours alone in a hallway.

Tustin delivered a fatal head injury to Arthur while in her sole care.

Mr Malthouse said it was so far unclear "whether there were just individual failings by human beings, or whether there was a systemic fail".

He said: "This was an incredibly horrible case we must examine it in detail - we have to learn."

Emma Tustin and Thomas Hughes
West Midlands Police

"I understand people's anger about this case and I understand their demand for answers quickly," the minister said, adding: "But we owe it to him actually, and to all those children out there, to carefully piece together the lessons that we can learn from this and then put them into action as swiftly as we can after we've learned the lessons."

Education secretary Nadhim Zahawi is due to make a statement to the Commons on Monday afternoon regarding the case.

On Sunday, hundreds of people gathered on Cranmore Road, Solihull - the home of Tustin, and where Arthur was fatally injured - to pay their respects to him.

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2021-12-06 10:45:35Z
1120944325

Minggu, 05 Desember 2021

‘Significant’ Covid outbreak linked to Scots music event with number of Omicron cases confirmed - Scottish Daily Record

Health officials have identified a 'significant' outbreak of Covid-19 - including a small number of Omicron variant cases - in the Highlands.

A statement from NHS Highland, published on Sunday night, said the cases were linked to a music event being held at the Royal British Legion in Nairn on Saturday November 27.

The health board also revealed tonight that ward 5A in Raigmore Hospital, Inverness, has been closed to new admissions and visiting following the detection of a small number of Covid cases.

It comes after the Scottish Government confirmed earlier on Sunday that another 18 cases of the Omicron variant were detected in Scotland - the highest daily total so far.

A NHS Highland statement read: “NHS Highland’s Health Protection Team has identified a significant outbreak of COVID-19 linked to a music event held at the Royal British Legion in Nairn on Saturday 27th November 2021.

“A small number of those cases have now been identified as cases of the newly identified Omicron variant.”

The health board urged anyone who attended this event and have not yet been contacted by their health protection of contact tracing team, to self-isolate immediately and call 01463 704886.

The statement continued: “Enhanced contact tracing has been carried out in keeping with guidance for the management of a new variant.

“The Omicron variant is a new Covid variant which we are still learning about. Until more is known about it we need to be cautious and do everything we can to prevent spread. As such, the current isolation advice does not apply and close contacts will be asked to isolate for ten days irrespective of their vaccination status and PCR test result.

“Their households will also be asked to take additional action in order to try to reduce transmission within our communities.

“We are working very closely with the staff at the Royal British Legion who have been supporting the outbreak investigation.”

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A separate statement published tonight from the health board read: "Ward 5a at Raigmore hospital is closed to new admissions and visiting following the detection of a small number of cases of Covid-19. Patients are being clinically assessed and monitored with normal in-patient care continuing.

"All appropriate infection prevention and control measures have been put in place. Close contacts have been identified and given appropriate advice and support."

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https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiYWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmRhaWx5cmVjb3JkLmNvLnVrL25ld3Mvc2NvdHRpc2gtbmV3cy9zaWduaWZpY2FudC1jb3ZpZC1vdXRicmVhay1saW5rZWQtc2NvdHMtMjU2MjM2ODnSAWVodHRwczovL3d3dy5kYWlseXJlY29yZC5jby51ay9uZXdzL3Njb3R0aXNoLW5ld3Mvc2lnbmlmaWNhbnQtY292aWQtb3V0YnJlYWstbGlua2VkLXNjb3RzLTI1NjIzNjg5LmFtcA?oc=5

2021-12-05 22:39:58Z
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