Motorists were stopped in both directions on the M60 this morning following a crash on the major motorway.
Travel services say there was an accident, with emergency services called to the scene this morning. The incident is believed to have happened just before 7.30am.
Travel service Inrix said: "All traffic being temporarily held and stationary traffic due to accident on M60 in both directions at J1 A5145 Travis Brow (Stockport Pyramid)."
Both carriageways were reopened at about 8am, although there is heavy traffic in the area.
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The Post Office could be facing a £100m bill and insolvency after claiming tax relief for its compensation payments to sub-postmasters, a tax expert has claimed.
Dan Neidle, the head of non-profit organisation Tax Policy Associates, said the Post Office claimed £934m tax relief for its compensation payments, and suggested it could be "unlawful".
The Horizon scandal saw more than 700 sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses handed criminal convictions after faulty Fujitsu accounting software made it appear as though money was missing at their branches.
Mr Neidle posted on X saying: "The Post Office claimed £934m tax relief for its compensation payments to the postmasters it persecuted. That's outrageous. It's also unlawful - so the Post Office now faces an unexpected £100m tax bill. It may be insolvent.
"Our team of eminent tax and accounting experts reviewed the Post Office's accounts for the last ten years in detail and one issue stood out: it has treated the compensation it pays to postmasters as tax deductible. That is not correct.
"A source at the Post Office has confirmed to us that HMRC is investigating this and asserting that the Post Office owes tax - in our view they are right to do so."
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An HMRC spokesperson said: "We collect the tax due under the law, creating a level playing field for everyone and funding public services."
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A Post Office spokesperson said: "The disclosed information on taxation in Post Office's Annual Report and Accounts for 2022/23, published on 20 December 2023, is appropriate and accurate.
"We have regular conversations with government who are our sole shareholder and our correspondence in respect of this issue was about ensuring that the tax treatment of funding we receive from government to pay compensation was treated in the same way as other government funding that we receive."
Days after the ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office aired, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced that the wrongly prosecuted in England and Wales could have their names cleared by the end of the year under blanket legislation to be introduced within weeks.
A mother and her former partner have been given life sentences for the murder of her 18-month-old son during "a lengthy night of violence".
Alfie Phillips died on 28 November 2020 with more than 70 visible wounds and traces of cocaine in his body.
Sian Hedges, 27, and Jack Benham, 35, had denied murdering the toddler.
At Maidstone Crown Court, Hedges was sentenced to a minimum term of 19 years, while Benham was handed a minimum term of 23 years.
Justice Cavanagh said in his sentencing remarks that Alfie had been the victim of a "frenzied attack" in which he suffered about 50 injuries on the night of his death.
He said to Hedges: "You were Alfie's mother and he deserved your protection."
Sam Phillips, Alfie's father, described him as "good as gold" and "lively", adding he had been "robbed of the opportunity to see him grown up".
"The funeral was one of the hardest days of my lives. The images of his tiny coffin will stay with me forever," he said.
Hedges, of Yelverton, Devon, and Benham, killed Alfie overnight during lockdown in Benham's caravan in Hernhill, near Faversham.
During the nine-week trial, which ended on 30 November 2023, the prosecution said both defendants were complicit in the assaults that took place.
Kent Police
Alfie died with injuries including fractures to his ribs, arms and leg, signs of smothering to his lips and mouth, and traces of cocaine in his body.
The court heard that on the night before Alfie died, Hedges went to buy drugs from their friend and repay her £400 debt, and also get mixers and drinks for their evening together in the caravan.
Benham told police he bit Alfie on his back and shook him the morning he found him unresponsive in an attempt to rouse him, the jury heard.
The pair met in September 2020 at a mutual friend's house, where they would buy drugs.
During the trial, Hedges told her barrister that when she heard Alfie had died "I rang my mum and was screaming down the phone to her that Jack had murdered my son".
She said she had not beaten Alfie deliberately, had not seen Mr Benham do so and would not have covered for her former partner.
Asked if she had seen Mr Benham murder Alfie, she replied: "No."
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Mark Demain, Alfie's grandfather, said the toddler "completed our lives".
"We have never experience pain like this. I would describe it as if the light in our souls have gone out," he said.
"Our best friend, our grandson was so cruelly taken from us. Every day we are hurting."
Kent Police
Jurors previously heard about older injuries Alfie sustained in the months prior to his death and their explanations for them, such as a cut under his eye from playing with keys and his fingers being caught in the dog gate in Benham's parents' home.
One incident was described in which Hedges described finding blood on the carpet, a cushion and a tissue, but was told Alfie had fallen and hit his mouth on the oil heater.
Benham had described how he held Alfie above him but he slipped out of his hands and hit his nose on Benham's teeth, the court heard. Ms Hedges said she was not there and was unaware it had happened.
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When the pair were found guilty, Det Ch Insp Kathleen Way, of Kent Police, said the verdict would "not bring Alfie back", but would mean that "Hedges and Benham lose their right to freedom and life as they know it".
"Alfie should have been protected and loved by his mum, instead Hedges and Benham inflicted unimaginable suffering on him during a sustained and lengthy night of violence," she added.
Following the sentencing, Det Ch Insp Way said Hedges and Benham inflicted "unimaginable suffering".
She said: "He should have been protected and loved by his mother, but instead lost his life in appalling circumstances."
A prison officer who had sex with an inmate had to be jailed herself for a simple reason. Shania Begum had an inappropriate relationship with a prisoner called Joshua Mullings at HMP Birmingham and was caught on a covert camera having sexual activity with him in a store cupboard in September 2022.
The 25-year-old from Telford admitted misconduct in a public office. Yesterday Birmingham Crown Court heard it was likely she had been 'groomed' by the inmate rather than the other way around.
Judge John Butterfield KC concluded she met much of the criteria for a suspended sentence including having a 'realistic prospect of rehabilitation', personal mitigation and the fact immediate imprisonment would result in harm to her mother and older sister who she cared for due to health issues.
He also stated Begum did not pose a risk to the public and had no history of poor compliance with court orders due to the fact she had never previously committed a crime. But judge Butterfield then considered the final factor in determining whether to suspend the sentence which is whether 'appropriate punishment' can only be served in jail.
He said it was clear from similar cases, albeit involving police officers as opposed to prison officers, that a 'message' needed to be sent out. Begum broke down in tears as she was told she would have to serve her 16 months immediately and mouthed 'I'm sorry' to her family members in the public gallery.
In reality she expected the outcome having walked into the dock carrying a red holdall bag of belongings. While her barrister Andrew Baker had not even argued for a suspended sentence. He only asked that her term be kept to a minimum.
Shania Begum, who worked as a prison officer at HMP Birmingham (Image: WMP)
He pointed to the fact she had pleaded guilty, was of previous good character and had shown remorse. Mr Baker told the court at the time of the offence Begum was being pressured into an arranged marriage with a 'controlling' man who dictated where she went and who she spoke to.
He stated she felt 'cherished' in the relationship with Mullings but argued he had exploited her. Begum had worked at HMP Birmingham since 2018. Her illicit affair with the inmate was revealed in intelligence from a wider investigation at the Winson Green jail from July 2022.
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Authorisation was granted for her to be put under surveillance including a covert camera being installed in the store cupboard, which she was supposed to direct prisoners to tidy up. It captured Begum and Mullings together on multiple occasions between September 22 and 29 that year.
Prosecutor Daniel Oscroft said: "Initially they were alone together, playfighting and flirting. The acts ranged from heavy petting to penetrative sexual activity; Ms Begum giving the inmate oral sex on at least two occasions and full sexual intercourse on at least one occasion.
"The defendant was seen and heard to be interrupted by the work radio which she ignored. She was also interrupted by fellow prison staff. She was approached by one member of staff saying he had been looking for her for an hour."
Judge Butterfield described her behaviour as an 'utter repudiation of the trust placed in you' and said: "It has the potential and actual corrosive impact on the stability and welfare of the prison estate. It is a clear and present risk to good order."
He added: "Your conduct made you wholly open to all manner of further exploitation."
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A sub-postmistress who “lost everything” after being accused of stealing from the Post Office in the Horizon IT scandal has tearfully warned that she will not be eligible for Rishi Sunak’s £600,000 compensation scheme.
But while these postmasters are now eligible for £600,000 in compensation, those who were not convicted but wrongly ordered to pay back shortfalls in Post Office balance sheets – created by errors with Fujitsu’s Horizon IT system – will qualify only for a lesser £75,000 payment under the new plans.
Horizon scandal campaigner Alan Bates could be in line for a knighthood, Rishi Sunak has appeared to suggest
Have you been affected by the Post Office scandal? Email andy.gregory@independent.co.uk
But one former sub-postmistress in Newcastle, who lost her life savings when she repaid a fake shortfall, gave an emotional interview on Thursday warning that the government’s new offer of £75,000 “just doesn’t cut it”.
Sarah Burgess-Boyd, who was acquitted of theft at a trial in 2011 when the Post Office submitted no evidence, two years after she first reported seeing a shortfall on Horizon, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I have lost everything. I’ve lost my business, all my savings.
“I haven’t got a penny to my name,” she said, her voice strained with emotion as she fought back tears. “I’m not future-proofed. I’m nearly 60, I have no pension provision. I’ve lost my reputation – l lost everything.”
Claiming the Post Office doesn’t “seem to know or care what they’ve done to hundreds of people”, Ms Burgess-Boyd said “it would appear that government is the same”, adding: “I watched the news last night and the prime minister’s little speech.
The scale of the Post Office scandal has prompted the government to propose intervening in the courts in an uprecedented fashion to overturn their convictions
(Yui Mok/PA)
“I am really, really pleased that they are going to overturn convicted subpostmaster’s convictions, and he talked a little about financial redress, offering £600,000 to each convicted subpostmaster.
“But there are lots of us who were not convicted, who have lost a great deal and he’s said he’s offered us £75,000. That just doesn’t cut it.”
She added: “I would like to be put back into a position where I would be now in my life if the Post Office hadn’t have done what they did.
“I would like that financial stability so that I can enjoy the rest of my life. I’ve had 15 years of living hand to mouth, and I had a thriving business. It’s all gone.”
While Ms Burgess-Boyd said she has tried to block much of the public inquiry into the scandal from her mind for the sake of her mental health, the former sub-postmistress warned that, from what she has seen of it, there is “still no accountability”.
Asked about the galvanisation of public support in the wake of ITV’s drama Mr Bates vs the Post Office, Ms Burgess-Boyd said: “We are being heard, and I really sincerely hope now that justice will be done.”
A Department for Business and Trade spokesperson said: “While we cannot comment on individual cases, we are introducing a fixed offer of £75,000 for the postmasters who brought the class action in the High Court who did not receive a conviction.
“We know it won’t suit all postmasters – as with the £600k for those with convictions, GLO claimants can choose to ignore the £75k over and instead continue with the current process.”
