A review has been launched into serial killer Levi Bellfield's request for a prison wedding, a justice minister has announced.
The Ministry of Justice on Wednesday confirmed that Bellfield is engagedand has applied for permission to marry a woman while he is serving two whole-life orders for murdering schoolgirl Milly Dowler, Marsha McDonnell and Amelie Delagrange.
Probed on the matter on Sky News the following morning, Justice Minister Victoria Atkins said the situation is "absolutely appalling", adding: "I have ordered an immediate review into this."
She told Kay Burley: "Just to reassure people, I understand an application has been made that has not been decided yet and he most certainly has not yet married.
"If I may, he's got the right under Article Twelve of the European Convention and the Human Rights Act to get married or they have the right to have the application considered by prison governors.
"And I think I very much welcome the debate we're about to have about the Bill of Rights and looking at human rights for in the United Kingdom, the 21st century."
Former Justice Secretary Robert Buckland told the Sun newspaper, which first reported the news, the proposed prison nuptials "beggars belief".
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He added: "Milly never got to see her wedding day. It cannot be right that he gets to have his."
The Sun said he is engaged to a female visitor and got down on one knee to propose in front of prison staff at HMP Frankland in County Durham.
Image:Levi Bellfield is serving two whole-life terms
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: "An application has been received and is being considered in the usual way."
However, it is understood that Bellfield's application is still being processed and is not at any further advanced stage.
Snatched from the street
The 53-year-old killer would need the permission of the prison governor to marry at the category A men's prison.
Bellfield was given a whole-life term for murdering Ms McDonnell, 19, in 2003, murdering Ms Delagrange, 22, and attempting to murder Kate Sheedy, 18, in 2004.
He was already serving this sentence when he went on trial for killing schoolgirl Milly, who was snatched from the street walking from school to her home in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, in March 2002.
Bellfield was found guilty of abducting and killing the 13-year-old following a trial at the Old Bailey in 2011.
Police say they believe a missing 15-year-old girl has been abducted.
Madison Thomas, known as Maddie, has not been seen since she left her home in Southmead, Bristol, on 26 April, telling her family she was going to the shops.
Avon and Somerset Police began conducting house-to-house searches in the streets near her home on Tuesday.
"We are now treating this case as a child abduction," said Det Insp Laura Miller.
Maddie is a child in foster care and was last seen 15 days ago by her carers, with no confirmed sightings since.
Family photo
"When Maddie has previously gone missing she has been found in the company of adult men and it is mainly due to this history that we believe she is likely to currently be with someone," said Det Insp Miller.
"Maddie is a child in foster care, no-one has permission to keep her from her carers. She is vulnerable and at risk of being taken advantage of.
"We're really concerned about her safety and have a dedicated team working extremely hard to locate her."
Det Insp Miller said the "circumstances of her disappearance are deeply worrying for us, her family and her carers".
"Maddie - if you see this please contact us if you can to let us know you're safe. Everyone is worried about you," the officer added.
It is believed Maddie could be "anywhere in the country", may have changed her hair colour or may no longer be going by her name.
Officers have carried out CCTV inquiries in the Southmead area where she was last seen.
"If you have met someone online, at a shopping centre or fast-food restaurant that looks like Maddie, please contact police," said Det Insp Miller.
Anyone who sees the missing teen, who is described as being around 5ft (1.5m) tall, with shoulder-length brown hair, is asked to call 999.
Police say they believe a missing 15-year-old girl has been abducted.
Madison Thomas, known as Maddie, has not been seen since she left her home in Southmead, Bristol, on 26 April, telling her family she was going to the shops.
Avon and Somerset Police began conducting house-to-house searches in the streets near her home on Tuesday.
"We are now treating this case as a child abduction," said Det Insp Laura Miller.
Maddie is a child in foster care and was last seen 15 days ago by her carers, with no confirmed sightings since.
Family photo
"When Maddie has previously gone missing she has been found in the company of adult men and it is mainly due to this history that we believe she is likely to currently be with someone," said Det Insp Miller.
"Maddie is a child in foster care, no-one has permission to keep her from her carers. She is vulnerable and at risk of being taken advantage of.
"We're really concerned about her safety and have a dedicated team working extremely hard to locate her."
Det Insp Miller said the "circumstances of her disappearance are deeply worrying for us, her family and her carers".
"Maddie - if you see this please contact us if you can to let us know you're safe. Everyone is worried about you," the officer added.
It is believed Maddie could be "anywhere in the country", may have changed her hair colour or may no longer be going by her name.
Officers have carried out CCTV inquiries in the Southmead area where she was last seen.
"If you have met someone online, at a shopping centre or fast-food restaurant that looks like Maddie, please contact police," said Det Insp Miller.
Anyone who sees the missing teen, who is described as being around 5ft (1.5m) tall, with shoulder-length brown hair, is asked to call 999.
Boris Johnson warned today that Britain must take short-term pain to boost the economy in the longer term as he unveiled a Queen’s Speech to “create jobs and spread opportunity” around the country.
In a speech delivered for the first time by the Prince of Wales, the government said its priority was to take a “responsible approach to the public finances” and committed itself to continue bringing down debt despite the cost of living crisis.
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The speech has 38 bills including measures to implement the Conservative’s levelling-up strategy and remove swathes of EU law from the statute books as the government seeks to capitalise on new Brexit “freedoms”.
Rebekah Vardy has suffered "immense distress" as a result of Coleen Rooney's now infamous "Wagatha Christie" allegations and "had no choice" but to take her to court "to establish her innocence and vindicate her reputation", the High Court has been told.
The wife of former England star Wayne Rooney was dubbed "Wagatha Christie" after publicly claiming Vardy, who is married to Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy, shared three fake stories, which she posted on her personal Instagram account, with The Sun newspaper.
Image:Rooney, wife of Derby County manager Wayne Rooney, says she stands by her now infamous social media post
In written submissions to the court, Vardy's barrister Hugh Tomlinson QC said that while the case has been trivialised as "Wag Wars" it has had a "very profound" impact on her life, leading to "high intensity abuse and vilification".
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However, in the written argument for Rooney, 36, barrister David Sherborne said his client feels "absolutely confident" in the investigation she conducted to find the source of the leaks and that her "authentication was as thorough as many newsrooms".
Rooney considers Vardy, 40, "fame hungry" and said her husband had to speak to Jamie Vardy about his wife when both footballers were in the England squad in the Euro 2016 tournament in France, due to Rebekah Vardy's "excessive media activity", the written statement says.
Here are some of the key points from the opening day of the trial
• Rebekah Vardy's lawyer says Coleen Rooney was 'revelling in the attention and the Wagatha Christie story' after her social media post went viral • Rooney's lawyer says she told no one of her sleuthing, not even her husband Wayne Rooney - who is now listed as a witness • Rooney accuses Vardy of being The Sun newspaper's 'Secret WAG' • Details of Euro 2016 seat row revealed in court - when Vardy allegedly told Rooney to 'f*** off' • The court hears of vile abusive messages sent to Vardy after Rooney published her allegation • 'This is a detective story," Rooney's lawyer tells the court - but 'like any good detective story, you never find a person standing over the body with a smoking gun'
Under English defamation law, Rooney must prove her post was "substantially true". The full trial is set to last seven days and follows months of preliminary hearings, with her husband Wayne among those listed to give evidence.
Wayne Rooney appeared alongside his wife in court on Tuesday, but there was no sign of Jamie Vardy during the first day of the hearing.
Abusive messages sent to Vardy about her and her children
Image:Rebekah Vardy's husband Jamie Vardy plays for Premier League club Leicester City
Details of some of the abusive messages sent to Rebekah Vardy, who was seven months pregnant at the time Rooney made the allegation, were included in her legal team's written statement, with one saying: "I hope your baby gets put in a microwave." Another called Vardy a "dirty rotten sl*g" and an "evil wicked rat face b*tch", and described her children as "f****** gremlin kids".
Jamie Vardy was also subjected to chants about his wife during football matches, the court was told.
Vardy has "endured very high levels of continued public abuse and ridicule", her legal team said in the written submissions. "While this case has been presented as trivial 'Wag Wars', it has had, and continues to have, a very profound impact on Mrs Vardy's life.
"The allegation made against Mrs Vardy is plainly serious and has been circulated to extraordinary extent, leading to high intensity abuse and vilification... Mrs Vardy is entitled to very substantial award of damages to compensate her for the wrong that has been committed."
Rooney's allegation "was and remains false", Mr Tomlinson's written argument said. "Mrs Vardy had not leaked information about Mrs Rooney or her friends and family to the Sun newspaper from her private Instagram account.
"Mrs Rooney did not have the 'irrefutable' evidence that she claimed to have had: her so-called 'careful investigation' was nothing of the sort.
"If anyone had been leaking information from Mrs Rooney's private Instagram this was not done with Mrs Vardy's knowledge or approval."
He continued: "Mrs Vardy made strenuous but unsuccessful attempts to settle the case but the post was not taken down. As a result, Mrs Vardy had no choice but to bring this libel action to establish her innocence and vindicate her reputation."
'Uncovering the truth was imperative'
Image:Wayne Rooney and Jamie Vardy both played football for England. Pic: AP Photo/Matt Dunham
Rooney's post on Twitter has received more than 287,000 "likes", while on Instagram it has been liked almost 200,000 times.
She is defending the claim on the basis of truth and public interest. Her original allegation against Vardy "is not a very grave one, but it is an important one", her lawyers say. "The leaks had caused a great deal of upset to [Rooney] as well as others, and so uncovering the truth was imperative."
The case first went to court in November 2020, with a judge finding at that time that Rooney's post "clearly identified" Vardy - and not just her account - as being "guilty of the serious and consistent breach of trust".
Since then, several hearings have taken place to prepare for the trial, including one where texts between Vardy and her agent Caroline Watt emerged.
In the most recent hearing before the trial, the High Court was told by Rooney's barrister that Vardy now "appears to accept" that Ms Watt was the source of leaked stories.
'That must be concealment'
Image:Wayne Rooney is listed as a witness in the trial
In his written argument, Mr Sherborne said there are "numerous examples of the claimant and Ms (Caroline) Watt conspiring to pass private and personal information on to the press about other individuals".
He continued: "In short, the claimant is someone who has secretly provided, or sought to provide, to the press private information which she has been privy to in relation to a number of individuals in the footballing world or other celebrities, and not just the defendant, without their consent."
However, in April, the court was told that Ms Watt is not well enough to give evidence at the trial. She has also withdrawn a waiver that might have allowed journalists from The Sun to say whether or not she was the source of the leaks.
The court has also been told by Rooney's lawyer of "widespread and significant destruction or loss of evidence" in the case, which notably include the loss of Ms Watt's phone in the North Sea.
"The loss and destruction of evidence by [Vardy] and Ms Watt - which, alarmingly, continues to evolve even in recent days - has been flagrant and beyond belief," Mr Sherborne wrote.
Later in the written submission, he said: "To borrow from Wilde, to lose one significant set of documents may be regarded as a misfortune, to lose two, carelessness, but to lose 10? That must be concealment."
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The Rooneys and Rebekah Vardy at court
Vardy's lawyer has said his client "has no personal knowledge" of her agent's phone falling into the sea.
"It has not been suggested that Mrs Vardy had any involvement with this and it cannot possibly be relied on as evidence of wrongdoing by Mrs Vardy," he said.
Speaking to the court on Tuesday, Mr Tomlinson said that Vardy had "trusted her friend" Watt but following the recent developments she now "doesn't know what to think" and "accepts that it's possible" that Ms Watt could have been the source of some of the stories.
A case of 'betrayal'
Mr Sherborne, Rooney's barrister, said in his written arguments that there is a question the court needs to decide on - was Rooney "betrayed" by Vardy because she knew Ms Watt, "her PR and close confidante", was leaking Rooney's private information to The Sun "and condoned this, as well as directly leaking information herself"?
Or was Vardy "betrayed by Caroline Watt because she had leaked this information without Mrs Vardy knowing it and had lied to her by denying all along that she had leaked anything"?
In court, Mr Sherborne told the judge: "You do not have to be convinced beyond reasonable doubt, you just have to conclude that it is more likely than not that Mrs Vardy was responsible, either directly or through Ms Watt."
Wagatha Christie: The background
Image:Vardy sat behind Rooney, who can be seen entertaining one of her children, during a Euro 2016 match in France. Pic: AP
Rooney accused Vardy of leaking "false stories" about her private life to the media in October 2019, after carrying out a months-long "sting operation" that involved sharing Instagram posts but secretly blocking all but one account - Vardy's - from seeing them.
The fake stories included Rooney travelling to Mexico for a baby "gender selection" procedure, planning a return to TV, and the basement flooding at her home.
"I have saved and screenshotted all the original stories which clearly show just one person has viewed them," Rooney wrote in the internet post that quickly went viral.
"It's .......... Rebekah Vardy's account."
Vardy denies the accusations and is suing Mrs Rooney for libel. The trial before Mrs Justice Steyn continues, with a decision expected in writing at a later date.
New laws to outlaw guerrilla-style climate protests that have caused misery for the public are being unveiled in a bumper Queen's Speech.
A new offence of "locking-on", targeting activists who lock or glue themselves together or to buildings, is planned by Home Secretary Priti Patel.
Her crackdown comes in one of 38 new bills, which also include a bonfire of EU laws in post-Brexit reforms and levelling-up measures to revive town centres.
The legislative agenda is being seen as an attempt by Boris Johnson to relaunch his government after the Conservatives' heavy losses in last week's local elections.
Although Labour - hit by "beergate" allegations against Sir Keir Starmer - failed to make major gains in the so-called Red Wall, senior Tories are alarmed by a Liberal Democrat surge in Conservative heartlands.
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Jittery Tory MPs will also be hoping the seven expected bills overturning EU laws will produce a "Brexit dividend" in time for the next general election and win the votes of Leave supporters.
For the first time, the Queen's Speech will be delivered by Prince Charles, after Buckingham Palace announced Her Majesty, who turned 96 last month, is not attending because of her mobility problems.
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And as well as new legislation, the prime minister is also promising moves to address the cost of living crisis by creating well paid and highly skilled jobs to ease the burden on families.
These measures could include another reform of business rates by Chancellor Rishi Sunak and allowing workers in the gig economy - employed by the likes of Uber and Deliveroo - to work more hours.
Speaking to Sky News on Tuesday, Policing Minister Kit Malthouse did not rule out the prospect of an emergency budget.
"Well, we don't rule anything in or anything out," he said.
"I do know that they are looking very, very carefully almost every day at how people are struggling with their prices of food and fuel and the choices that they are having to make - and I know that they're giving it careful thought about what the next steps should be."
Mr Malthouse also acknowledged government "alarm" at predictions of soaring inflation but downplayed hopes of rapid help in the Queen's Speech.
Image:The Queen will miss the event
'Long-term, sustainable solution'
Speaking ahead of the State Opening, the PM said: "This Queen's Speech will get our country back on track, and I will strive - and this government will strive - night and day to deliver it.
"Because in spite of everything we have been through, we are going to ensure that over the two years we have left in this parliament, we spend every second uniting and levelling up this country, exactly as we said we would."
On the cost of living, Mr Johnson will say in the Commons debate following the Queen's Speech: "We will get the country through the aftershocks of COVID, just as we got through COVID, with every ounce of ingenuity and compassion and hard work.
"By urgently pressing on with our mission to create the high wage, high skilled jobs that will drive economic growth across our whole United Kingdom.
"That is the long-term, sustainable solution to ease the burden on families and businesses."
Times 'tougher than they should be'
But Sir Keir Starmer claims a failure to tackle the cost of living crisis and low growth in the Queen's Speech will mark a major economic failure by the Conservatives.
"Times are tough for working people," the Labour leader said ahead of the State Opening. "But they are much tougher than they should be.
"Some 12 years of the Conservatives have meant low economic growth, high inflation, and high taxes.
"Because the Tories are not up to the challenge of growing the economy, all those tax hikes aren't going into improving public services. Never before have people been asked to pay so much for so little."
Other bills in the government's programme of legislation, seen as more evidence of an "operation red meat" to shore up the PM's leadership, include:
• Brexit freedom bills, repealing hundreds of pieces of EU legislation still in UK law; • Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, allowing local communities a say on new developments and forcing the rental of empty high street properties; • Schools Bill, requiring compulsory attendance registers for schools in England; • Media Bill, allowing the controversial privatisation of Channel 4, attacked by artists at the Baftas on Sunday; • Bill of Rights, allowing UK courts to overturn past rulings of the European Court of Human Rights; • Energy Bill, on building up to eight new nuclear power stations, to increase wind power and solar energy.
'Clamp down on outrageous behaviour'
The Public Order Bill, according to the home secretary, will prevent highly disruptive tactics causing misery to the hard-working public, costing millions in taxpayers' money and putting lives at risk.
She says the new law will respond to tactics like "locking-on" to major transport projects and infrastructure which disrupt thousands of journeys and cause costly delays in construction and operations.
"The law-abiding, responsible majority have had enough of anti-social, disruptive protests carried out by a self-indulgent minority who seem to revel in causing mayhem and misery for the rest of us," said Ms Patel.
"The Public Order Bill will give the police the powers they need to clamp down on this outrageous behaviour and ensure the British public can go about their lives without disruption."
Image:Just Stop Oil of campaigners staging a protest at a petrol station
The law and order crackdown will include:
• New offences of "locking-on" and going equipped to "lock-on" to other people, objects, or buildings will carry a maximum penalty of six months jail, an unlimited fine, or both; • A new offence of interfering with infrastructure such as airports, railways and printing presses, carrying a maximum sentence of 12 months in prison, an unlimited fine, or both; • Making it illegal to obstruct the construction of major transport projects, including the HS2 rail network, punishable by up to six months in prison, an unlimited fine or both; • Extending stop and search powers so police can seize articles and new Serious Disruption Prevention Orders for those who repeatedly inflict criminal disruption on the public.
The bill comes after similar measures in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act were thrown out in the House of Lords. Now those measures have been reinstated in the new legislation.
