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Even as his flight left the runway in 2014, Cashief Nichols couldn’t quite believe what was happening. Brought to the UK from Jamaica by his mother when he was six years old, he had vague memories of his country of birth and understood his heritage, but south London was all he had really ever known.

“I knew I wasn’t born in the UK,” he tells Sky News, “but it was home, for sure”. However, after several years of applying for indefinite leave to remain, he was deported, due to a Home Office decision that he had no legal right to be in the UK and had overstayed as a minor.

“Throughout the entire process, I’ll be honest, I didn’t think it was actually going to happen because it was just absurd to me,” he says. “Surely I can’t get sent to a place that I have no knowledge of? But eventually, it happened.”

Cashh has released the album Return Of The Immigrant about his experiences of being deported
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Cashh, real name Cashief Nichols, says he hopes to help others going through similar situations

Nichols’ life was upended not long after the release of his star-studded debut mixtape, Alarm Clock, featuring collaborations with the likes of Wiley, Ghetts, Kano and Lady Leshurr. He had also worked with Stormzy. Now known as Cashh, he was Cashtastic back then and a rising star, signed to Universal.

“This project had a lot of my peers at that time and now they’re household names of UK music,” he says. “It was my time. It’s like doing a 100 metre run and just as you’re about to cross the finish line, someone kind of pulls your leg out of nowhere and you’re injured.”

The flight to Jamaica was only the second time he had ever been on a plane; the first, that journey to the UK as a child. “It was a confusing time for me because essentially everything I’ve worked for, everything I’ve known, is about to get pulled away from me – or rather, I’m being pulled away from it. And that is definitely a heavy load to have on your shoulders. But at the same time, I’m that six, seven-year-old again, excited by the fact I’m on a plane. They’re bigger in real life! It’s a melting pot of different emotions.”

At this point, the rapper says he had convinced himself there might have been a mistake, and that when he landed he would be U-turned on to the next flight back. But there was no mistake. He arrived in Jamaica with no contacts, no home, no idea what his future held. It would be five years before his return.

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The Home Office would not comment on Nichols’ case specifically, but a spokesperson told Sky News: “We expect those with no legal right to be in the UK to leave voluntarily but make no apologies for enforcing their removal if necessary. The Home Secretary has set out plans to introduce a new immigration system that is firm and fair. The new system will stop the abuse of the system and expedite the removal of those who have no right to be here.”

After arriving in Jamaica, once realisation dawned, the rapper says he spent his first two-and-a-half years “in a mental prison”, desperate to get back to his family, friends, the life and career left behind. He says he felt frustrated, but not angry. “One of the most difficult parts I’d say is over the years, one by one, or maybe two by two, five by five, seeing people disappear,” he says. “I guess everyone has their own life. I think in general it’s just out of sight, out of mind.”

Rapper Cashh in Jamaica
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Cashh pictured in Montego Bay, Jamaica, in 2018, and as a boy in Kingston (below) in 1998, before he was brought to the UK by his mother
Rapper Cashh as a child

Nichols was granted approval to return to the UK in 2019. “I literally can’t explain the feeling,” he says. “It was like, I’m not going to waste this opportunity – because that’s literally what it is. I’m not taking it for granted. I know that this is an opportunity that a lot of people don’t get, it’s rare for someone to be removed from the country and actually return. So I think there’s a greater purpose for me being back in the UK and being able to tell my story.”

Now back as Cashh, the rapper’s experience is told through his debut album, Return Of The Immigrant, featuring songs and skits laying bare what it is like passing through the immigration system – “we’re not people, we’re just paperwork”, he says – to tracks such as Wash Clothes, celebrating aspects of Jamaican culture.

The last track, Mummy’s Diamond Prayer, is a voice message from his mother, left when Nichols travelled back to Jamaica – “this time on my own terms” – earlier in 2021. It is a prayer for good things, for success, prosperity. “I just remember feeling goosebumps,” he says. “I will never forget that prayer.”

Now, Nichols is hoping to use his status to help enact change.

Rapper Cashh has released the album Return Of The Immigrant, about being deported from the UK to Jamaica
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Cashh says he is now thankful for the time he had in Jamaica

“I want to change the narrative of what it is to be an immigrant,” he says. “I remember being younger, if you called somebody an immigrant it’s almost like it’s offensive.”

The rapper says he is in the process of setting up a foundation, Proud Immigrant, to help fund immigration cases in the UK. He also wants to set up a facility in Jamaica to help those who find themselves in a similar situation to his when he first arrived.

In his experience, he says, “once you get on that plane and you get to the country they’ve sent you back to, there is zero information for you. You are now on your own”. The idea is to set up a place for people to get advice, maybe help them connect with lawyers. “Just help to facilitate, to make the landing a little bit softer for them – because my landing wasn’t soft.”

Jamaica is a beautiful country, he says, and he is now thankful for this time there.

“The sun is nice, they have beaches,” he laughs. “I’ve now been on both sides of the coin. I’ve been on the side of having the privilege of living within the UK – not even just the UK, just a first-world country that has opportunities. People have to understand that it’s not that migrants are travelling to the UK or to any first-world countries because they hate their country, [it’s because] there’s opportunities here to literally change lives.”

Nichols says he is now grasping his own opportunity with both hands.

“It’s a sad reality that I’m just an anomaly,” he says, of the fact he has been able to return, albeit on a visa. “Really, this doesn’t stop. So whatever voice I can give, I’m here and I’m willing to help.”

Cashh’s mixtape Return Of The Immigrant is out now

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Helen Flanagan shares mental health struggles and ‘heartbreaking’ reason for pulling out of West End show

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Helen Flanagan shares mental health struggles and 'heartbreaking' reason for pulling out of West End show

Coronation Street star Helen Flanagan says she was sent into a psychosis after suffering a “bad reaction” to her ADHD medication earlier this year.

The 33-year-old TV star, who’s best known for her role as Rosie Webster in Coronation Street, shared the news on Instagram, after a couple of months away from social media.

She said she was left “emotionally struggling” after splitting from the father of her children, footballer Scott Sinclair – with whom she shares Matilda, seven, Delilah, five, and Charlie, two.

She also explained her reason for pulling out of a theatre tour of Cluedo 2 which kicked off last month, saying it was due to a bad reaction to her medication for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

At the time, it was announced that Flanagan had withdrawn from the show for “medical reasons”.

Alongside a selfie with her giving the peace sign, she wrote: “Had a few months off from social but I’m back now.

“So basically I really struggled mental health wise December/January. I felt really not great in my head over Christmas and I didn’t really feel that much different when I took the kids away for new year.

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“I had a lot of difficult things going on things I just can’t talk about on Instagram.

“I felt terrible, so I was due my theatre tour which I was excited about so when I came back from holiday I thought it was best for me to take some medication so I’d feel better and be able to cope better with being a working single mum of three and I was emotionally struggling with the break up from the father of my kids.”

‘I just love my kids so much’

She added: “I had a really bad reaction though to the medication (an ADHD medication) and it sent me into a psychosis for a few days which I didn’t know I was in.

“I just love my kids so much, this bad reaction though was a few days before rehearsals were starting and sadly I just wasn’t mentally well enough to do it.

“I was heartbroken as I’ve always been professional as an actress but I needed to stay at home and feel better for me and my kids, with the help of my amazing parents.”

She added that she felt like she was in a “really good happy place” and has found therapy “amazing”.

She said: “I feel like I’ve worked on myself with things that were quite tough to me but I feel lighter now.”

The cast of Cleudo 2 (L-R) Edward Howells, Dawn Buckland, Ellie Leach, Jack Bennett, Jason Durr, Hannah Boyce, Gabriel Paul. Pic: Alastair Muir
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The cast of Cleudo 2 (L-R) Edward Howells, Dawn Buckland, Ellie Leach, Jack Bennett, Jason Durr, Hannah Boyce, Gabriel Paul. Pic: Alastair Muir

Flanagan was replaced in the role of Miss Scarlett in Cluedo 2 by Strictly Come Dancing winner Ellie Leach, who was one of the fellow celebrities to comment on Flanagan’s post, writing “love you” with three kisses.

Other stars including Ex-Girls Aloud singer Nadine Coyle, presenter Carol Vorderman and Coronation Street actresses Lucy Fallon and Brooke Vincent also showed their support.

Flanagan played Rosie Webster in the Manchester-based ITV soap from 2000 to 2012, returning to the role between 2017 and 2018.

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P Diddy: What is Sean Combs accused of and what has he said?

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P Diddy: What is Sean Combs accused of and what has he said?

Sean Combs – also known as P Diddy and Puff Daddy – has been embroiled in a string of serious allegations in recent months. 

The 54-year-old’s homes in Los Angeles and Miami were raided by Homeland Security Investigations agents on 25 March.

But what exactly is he accused of – and what has he had to say about it?

What are the allegations?

The raids on the rapper‘s properties were part of an ongoing sex-trafficking investigation by federal authorities in New York.

According to Sky’s US partner network NBC News, three women and a man were interviewed by federal officials in Manhattan in relation to the probe.

The investigation includes further allegations of sexual assault, solicitation, and distribution of illegal drugs and firearms.

Combs has also recently faced several lawsuits accusing him of sexual misconduct and other wrongdoing.

In February, a music producer alleged Combs coerced him to solicit prostitutes and pressured him to have sex with them.

Combs’s lawyer responded by saying: “We have overwhelming, indisputable proof that his claims are complete lies”.

The rapper’s former protégé and girlfriend, R&B singer Cassie, also sued him in November alleging she was trafficked, raped, plied with drugs and beaten by Combs over a 10-year period.

The lawsuit claimed he forced her to have sex with male prostitutes while he filmed them. The case was settled the day after it was filed.

Cassie Ventura and Sean 'Diddy' Combs pictured together in 2015
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Combs with former girlfriend Cassie Ventura in 2015. Pic: Reuters

Also in November, Combs was sued by Joie Dickerson-Neal who alleged he drugged and sexually assaulted her when she was a psychology student at Syracuse University in January 1991. She also accused him of filming the attack.

Combs rejected the claims as “made up and not credible”, with a spokesperson branding them “purely a money grab and nothing more”.

Another of the rapper’s accusers is a woman who claims he “gang raped” her two decades ago after she was plied with drugs and alcohol at the age of 17.

What has Sean Combs said?

He has denied all the allegations.

In a statement in December, Combs described the claims he was facing then as “sickening” and alleged his accusers were “looking for a quick payday”.

“Let me be absolutely clear: I did not do any of the awful things being alleged. I will fight for my name, my family and for the truth,” he said.

Following the raids on his house earlier this week, Combs’s lawyer Aaron Dyer said there had been a “gross overuse of military-level force as search warrants were executed”.

“There is no excuse for the excessive show of force and hostility exhibited by authorities or the way his children and employees were treated,” he added.

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Mr Dyer said Combs had not been arrested or had his ability to travel restricted, and neither had any of his family members.

“This unprecedented ambush – paired with an advanced, coordinated media presence – leads to a premature rush to judgement of Mr Combs and is nothing more than a witch hunt based on meritless accusations made in civil lawsuits.

“There has been no finding of criminal or civil liability with any of these allegations. Mr Combs is innocent and will continue to fight every single day to clear his name.”

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Diddy’s homes raided

Have there been any repercussions?

Two properties owned by Combs were searched by federal agents on 25 March.

NBC News reported several phones were also seized from the musician in Miami before he was scheduled to depart on a trip to the Bahamas.

Last year, Combs stepped down as chairman of his cable television network Revolt amid the sexual abuse allegations.

Sean Diddy Combs at the Met Gala in May 2023
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Combs at the Met Gala in May 2023. Pic: Reuters

Revolt announced Combs’s decision via social media. It is not clear if he will ever return to the media company – which previously said he had “no operational or day-to-day role” at the network.

“This decision helps to ensure that Revolt remains steadfastly focused on our mission to create meaningful content for the culture and amplify the voices of all Black people throughout this country and African diaspora,” the network said.

Combs also created an online marketplace called Empower Global that featured Black-owned brands. Its website is still active, but has no products currently listed for sale.

Why is he famous?

Combs is among the most influential hip-hop producers of the past three decades.

Also known as Puff Daddy and P Diddy, he built one of hip-hop’s biggest empires, blazing a trail with several entities attached to his name.

He is the founder of Bad Boy Records and a three-time Grammy winner who has worked with top-tier artists including Notorious BIG, Mary J Blige, Usher, Lil Kim, Faith Evans and 112.

His latest album, The Love Album – Off the Grid, was released last year days after Combs was honoured at the MTV VMAs.

It was nominated for best progressive R&B album at February’s Grammy Awards, which he did not attend.

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Singer Nick Cave says he has ‘feelings of culpability’ over the deaths of his sons

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Singer Nick Cave says he has 'feelings of culpability' over the deaths of his sons

Nick Cave has said he has “feelings of culpability” over the deaths of his sons.

The Bad Seeds singer, 66, made the comments after losing two of his children in the space of seven years.

His son Arthur died aged 15 after he fell from a cliff near his home in Brighton in 2015. It came after he took the drug LSD for the first time, an inquest heard.

Then in 2022 his 31-year-old son Jethro, who had schizophrenia, died in Melbourne.

The 66-year-old, speaking during an interview with The Guardian, said it was “against nature” for a parent to bury their child.

When asked if he feels culpable for their deaths, including Arthur’s given Cave’s own struggles with substance abuse, he said: “There could be some element of that”.

He added: “Look, these things are in our DNA, they’re inherited. I don’t want to make any assumptions about Arthur, who was just a young boy. It’s not like he was into drugs.

“On a fundamental level, it’s against nature to be burying your children. And there can’t help but be feelings of culpability.”

Soon after Arthur died, Cave and his family moved to Los Angeles because they found it too difficult living down the road from where the tragedy took place.

Australian singer Nick Cave and his fashion designer wife Susie Cave
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Cave and his fashion designer wife Susie Cave

Cave said he felt like he had to grieve publicly after the death was widely reported.

However, he said the experience of bereavement after Arthur’s death helped when Jethro died, because he knew he “could get through [it]”.

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The musician also addressed accusations that he has previously sided with the extreme alt-right online movement.

He said: “The concept that there are problems with the world we need to address, such as social justice, I’m totally down with that.

“However, I don’t agree with the methods that are used in order to reach this goal – shutting down people, cancelling people…

“The problem with the right taking hold of this word is that it’s made the discussion impossible to have without having to join a whole load of nutjobs who have their problem with it.”

Cave also denied he was a Tory and said he had never voted for the party.

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