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More than 13,000 online child sex offences will have been recorded while the government’s flagship internet safety legislation sat in limbo over the summer, new research has suggested.

The Online Safety Bill was due to return to parliament today after being pushed back from July – and more than 100 grooming and other such crimes are likely being registered by police each day in the meantime, the NSPCC says.

But the bill coming back before MPs has been delayed further following the latest Tory leadership crisis, which saw Rishi Sunak installed as the new prime minister last week.

The government has since refused to commit to a new timetable.

The NSPCC said the “crucial” legislation should be treated “as a priority”.

Chief executive Sir Peter Wanless said: “There is overwhelming public consensus for the crucial legislation to be bought back as a priority and with strengthened protections for children, so they are systemically and comprehensively safe from harm and abuse for years to come.”

A Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport spokesperson told Sky News: “Protecting children and stamping out illegal activity online is a top priority for the government, and we will bring the Online Safety Bill back to parliament as soon as possible.”

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What is the Online Safety Bill?

The legislation was a key part of the Conservative Party’s 2019 election manifesto, with the former culture secretary, Nadine Dorries, vowing to get tough on tech firms.

Addressing parliament last year, she threatened social media bosses with swift criminal prosecution if they failed to “remove your harmful algorithms today”.

Under the original proposals, tech companies would have two years after the passage of the bill to prepare for the changes.

Opposition to the plan was focused on the vague definition of “online harm”, with critics suggesting it would give the DCMS too much power to dictate internet discourse.

That debate has been brought to the fore by Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter, as he appears keen to loosen content moderation rules, despite growing pressure from governments to do the opposite.

Read more:
Super app or ‘Wild West’? The future of Twitter under Elon Musk

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‘We have to take advantage of this moment’

Victim’s emotional plea to PM

Nearly 50,000 people have signed a petition calling on Mr Sunak to get the Online Safety Bill passed.

The campaign includes a letter from a victim who was groomed and abused online from the age of 11.

“Unregulated online spaces meant my abuser could use several platforms to groom, abuse, and manipulate me without ever having to leave his home,” they wrote.

“Online grooming by its very nature is intense and deceptive, and it took me a long time to realise that what happened to me was not my fault.

“Sadly, too many children are still going through the same thing I did.

“They are still not safe from grooming and sexual abuse online.

“But you can change this.

“You have the power to stop this happening to other young people.”

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‘Thank you Molly, for being my daughter’

‘We’re endangering young people’

It comes after the father of teenager Molly Russell, who took her own life aged 14 after viewing content related to self-harm and suicide on social media, warned further delays to the bill would endanger young people.

“If we wait around and chase perfection, we’re endangering young people in particular, who are exposed to harmful content,” he told The Guardian last month.

The current culture secretary, Michelle Donelan, has insisted the bill is her top priority.

The NSPCC cited Home Office police data for its analysis, based on the total number of online child abuse cases recorded in England and Wales in 2021/22.

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Child dies and another injured after car driven on to sports pitch

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Child dies and another injured after car driven on to sports pitch

A child has died and another has been injured after a car was driven on to a sports pitch in Cumbria.

Police say they were called at 4.58pm to reports of a collision involving a BMW i40 and two children on a pitch at Kendal Rugby Union Football Club on Shap Road, in Kendal.

Cumbria Police say one child died, while the second is being treated by paramedics.

A man aged in his 40s has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving.

A spokesperson for Cumbria Police said: “Specialist investigators are at the scene and the area has been cordoned off as initial investigation enquiries take place.”

The force said the incident was not believed to be terror-related. Immediate family members of both children have been informed, it added.

In a post on its Facebook page, the club said it was “deeply saddened to confirm that an incident occurred today at Kendal Rugby Club.”

The post, attributed to club chairman Dr Stephen Green, continued: “Our thoughts are with their family and friends and we kindly ask for privacy for all involved at this difficult time.”

The club and its facilities are now temporarily closed while it cooperates “fully” with authorities, it added.

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Tim Farron MP, whose constituency includes Kendal, posted on X: “This is devastating, utterly heartbreaking news. I’m praying for the children and for their families and friends.

“Our community in Kendal is stunned and in mourning.”

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PhD student guilty of drugging and raping 10 women in London and China

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PhD student guilty of drugging and raping 10 women in London and China

A man has been convicted of drugging and raping 10 women in London and China between 2019 and 2023.

Chinese PhD student Zhenhao Zou, 28, filmed nine of the attacks as “souvenirs”, and kept a trophy box of women’s belongings, jurors in his trial were told.

Warning: This article contains details of sexual offences

He was accused in court of drugging and raping three women in London and seven in China between 2019 and 2023.

Jurors at Inner London Crown Court found him guilty of 11 charges of rape against 10 women, including two who have been identified and another eight who have yet to be traced.

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Moment police arrest student guilty of rape

The mechanical engineering student was also convicted of three counts of voyeurism, 10 of possession of an extreme pornographic image, one of false imprisonment and three of possession of a controlled drug with intent to commit a sexual offence, namely butanediol.

He was cleared of two further counts of possession of an extreme pornographic image and one of possession of MDMA with intent to commit a sexual offence.

***ONLY USE IF HE IS CONVICTED OF AT LEAST TWO RAPES*** The trial heard Zou kept a 'lost property box' full of women's belongings. Pic: Met Police
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The trial heard Zou kept a ‘lost property box’ full of women’s belongings. Pic: Met Police

The jury has not reached verdicts on four counts of possession of drugs with intent to commit a sexual offence.

Zou – who first moved to Belfast in 2017 to study mechanical engineering at Queen’s University before moving to London in 2019 – showed no visible reaction as the verdicts were read out in court.

Catherine Farrelly KC, prosecuting, told jurors during the trial that Zou “presents as a smart and charming young man” but is “also a persistent sexual predator; a voyeur and a rapist”.

***ONLY USE IF HE IS CONVICTED OF AT LEAST TWO RAPES*** A discreet camera belonging to Zou. Pic: Met Police
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A discreet camera belonging to Zou. Pic: Met Police

Zou, who also used the name Pakho online, befriended fellow Chinese students on WeChat and dating apps, before inviting them for drinks and drugging them at his flats in London or an unknown location in China, the court heard.

The jury heard how he would secretly film his attacks using a mobile device and hidden cameras, and was shown evidence found on SD cards at his accommodation of him raping unconscious women in London and in China.

Senior Crown Prosecution Service prosecutor Saira Pike thanked the “incredibly strong and brave” women who came forward to report his “heinous” crimes.

“Zou is a serial rapist and a danger to women,” she said.

“In some instances, we have not been able to identify Zou’s victims. Without knowing who these women are, we have not been able to support them through a deeply distressing period of time.

“We have always been determined to seek justice for both the unidentified and identified victims in this case.”

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James Scott Rhys Anderson: British man who ‘fought for Ukraine’ jailed for 19 years in Russia

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James Scott Rhys Anderson: British man who 'fought for Ukraine' jailed for 19 years in Russia

A British man has been jailed for 19 years after a Russian court found him guilty of fighting for Ukraine in the country’s Kursk region.

James Scott Rhys Anderson, 22, had been charged with terrorist and mercenary offences and was found guilty after a closed trial.

The court said he was to serve the first five years of his sentence in prison and the remainder in a penal colony.

In the trial, a Ukrainian soldier from the same unit was questioned as a witness.

Ukrainian troops broke across the border into Kursk region on 6 August last year.

They still hold some territory there seven months later, despite attempts by Russian forces to force them out.

Investigators accused Anderson of illegally crossing into Kursk in November as part of an armed group that committed unspecified “criminal acts against civilians”.

Russian state media published video showing him being led in handcuffs and locked in a cage of the kind where defendants in Russian court cases are placed.

Read more:
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It apparently showed Anderson saying he had served in the British army from 2019-2023 before deciding to join the foreign legion of Ukraine’s armed forces.

Early on in the war, Ukraine’s authorities said more than 20,000 people from 52 countries came to Ukraine’s aid.

Since then, the number of foreign fighters in Ukraine’s military has been classified.

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