Joe Lycett has put his money where his mouth is, shredding £10,000 of his own cash after David Beckham failed to end his controversial multimillion-pound World Cup promotion deal with Qatar.
Wearing a rainbow-coloured ruffled top, and noise cancelling headphones to protect his ears, Lycett tossed in the cash in two goes, with the resulting shreds spewing out of the end of a wood-chipper.
Remaining expressionless throughout, the 34-year-old star then curtseyed to the camera, and exited left.
Image: David Beckham attended the Doha Forum in March
The Brummie comedian, who is known for his high-profile stunts, had posted an ultimatum on social media last week, warning the former England star that along with the cash, Beckham‘s “status as a gay icon will be shredded”.
Lycett had directed the message to Beckham personally and had said he would donate the money to LGBTQ+ charities if the sports star ended the sponsorship deal ahead of the tournament.
However, Beckham did not publicly acknowledge or respond to the ultimatum.
While it is illegal in the UK to deface a banknote in any way (through the Currency and Banknotes Act of 1928), it is not illegal to destroy a banknote altogether, for example through burning.
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However, if Lycett had burned the equivalent number of dollars in the US, or destroyed £10,000 of coins, he could have faced prosecution for his actions, as burning or destroying money in America is illegal, as is destroying coins minted after 1969 in the UK (according to the Coinage Act of 1971).
Lycett, set up a dedicated website to livestream the shredding, which took place in a dingy, brick-walled building at midday on Sunday, just before the World Cup opening ceremony.
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He later shared a video of the act on Twitter and wrote “A platform for progress”.
His original video issuing the ultimatum showed him sat at a desk with wads of cash, praising Beckham as a gay icon and joking that marrying a Spice Girl was “the gayest thing a human being can do”.
Going on to explain that Qatar was “voted as one of the worst places in the world to be gay”, he then appealed to Beckham to rethink his deal with the Middle East country.
It has been reported that Beckham signed a multi-million-pound deal with the FIFA World Cup hosts, which Lycett said was worth £10m – but other reports have put as high as £150m.
Image: Lycett dressed flamboyantly for the occasion. Pic: Joe Lycett
Qatar has faced an onslaught of criticism since being chosen as the host nation, with the country’s poor human rights record and ban on same-sex relationships proving particularly problematic.
In Qatar, participating in same-sex sexual activity can be punished with up to seven years in prison, or even the death penalty.
The safety of migrant workers and the logistics of holding a football tournament in desert heat has also attracted negative attention.
Three days before the shredding, Lycett shared a message he had sent to Beckham’s PR team asking: “Could you let me know if there’s any chance he might budge on his position, or am I to expect radio silence on this?”
Adding: “There’s still time for David and his team to do the right thing”. He also shared a picture of the £10k and the red woodchipper he would go on to use to shred it.
There had been a mixed response to the comedian’s pledge to destroy the money, with some praising him for raising awareness of Qatar’s poor human rights record and criminalisation of LGBTQ+ people, while others urged him to donate the money to a food bank rather than shredding it at a time when the cost of living is soaring.
Ahead of the shredding, fellow comedian Harry Hill wished Lycett luck, saying he would be “voting with my feet” and not watching any of the World Cup, or buying any products endorsed by Beckham.
Beckham had recently impressed the public with his distinctly un-starry approach to viewing the Queen laying in state, queuing for 13 hours to pay his respects. The negative press around his association with Qatar may now be sullying some of the good-will he has built up.
Image: Bill Drummond performing with The KLF in 1992. Pic: Richard Young/Shutterstock
It’s not the first-time stars have hit the headlines for burning money.
In 1994, electronic band The KLF burned £1m as a work of performance art. Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty torched the cash – which represented the bulk of the money they had previously earned from their music – in the back of a disused boathouse on the Ardfin Estate on the Scottish island of Jura.
The child who died in a school coach crash in Somerset on Thursday was a 10-year-old boy, Avon and Somerset Police have said.
A specially trained officer is supporting the child’s family, the force said, adding that two children taken to Bristol Royal Hospital for Children by air ambulance remain there as of Friday.
Four children and three adults also remain in hospital in Somerset.
There were between 60 to 70 people on board when the incident happened near Minehead, just before 3pm on Thursday.
The coach was heading to Minehead Middle School when it crashed on the A396 between Wheddon Cross and Timbercombe.
Image: Pic: PA
Police said that 21 people were taken to hospital, including two children who were taken via air ambulance.
Gavin Ellis, chief fire officer for Devon and Somerset, said the coach “overturned onto its roof and slid approximately 20ft down an embankment”.
Rachel Gilmour, MP for Tiverton and Minehead, said the road where it happened is “very difficult to manoeuvre”.
“You have a very difficult crossing at Wheddon Cross, and as you come out to dip down into Timbercombe, the road is really windy and there are very steep dips on either side,” she told Sky’s Anna Botting.
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“You have looked after each [other] in what was a life-changing event, we will get through this together,” they wrote on Facebook.
“I feel so lucky to be your teacher. I am so grateful to my wonderful colleagues during this time who were also fighting to help as many people as we could.”
Maria’s treatment by Greater Manchester Police (GMP) was so shocking the chief constable described it as “undefendable” and yet a year after a high-profile inquiry found she had been “unlawfully” arrested and strip-searched, Maria now has a criminal conviction for the crime the inquiry said she should never have been arrested for.
Warning: This story includes graphic descriptions of strip searches and references to domestic violence.
The Baird Inquiry – named after its lead Dame Vera Baird – into GMP, published a year ago, found that the force made numerous unlawful arrests and unlawful strip searches on vulnerable women. A year on, the review has led to major changes in police processes.
Strip searches for welfare purposes, where the person is deemed at risk of harming themselves, are banned, and the mayor’s office told Sky News only one woman was intimately strip-searched to look for a concealed item by GMP last year.
Women had previously told Sky News the practice was being used by police “as a power trip” or “for the police to get their kicks”.
However, several women who gave evidence to the Baird Inquiry have told Sky News they feel let down and are still fighting for accountability and to get their complaints through the bureaucracy of a painfully slow system.
The case of Maria (not her real name) perhaps best illustrates how despite an inquiry pointing out her “terrible treatment”, she continues to face the consequences of what the police did.
Image: ‘Maria’ said she was treated like a piece of meat by GMP
‘Treated like a piece of meat’
The story begins with an act of poor service. A victim of domestic violence, Maria went to the police to get keys off her arrested partner but was made to wait outside for five-and-a-half hours.
The Baird Inquiry said: “This domestic abuse victim, alone in a strange city, made 14 calls for police to help her.
“She was repeatedly told that someone would contact her, but nobody did. The pattern didn’t change, hour after hour, until eventually she rang, sobbing and angry.”
The police then arrested her for malicious communications, saying she’d sworn at staff on the phone.
Inside the police station, officers strip-searched her because they thought she was concealing a vape. Maria told Sky News she was “treated like a piece of meat”.
The Baird Inquiry says of the demeaning humiliation: “Maria describes being told to take all her clothes off and, when completely naked, to open the lips of her vagina so the police could see inside and to bend over and open her anal area similarly.”
Image: Chief Constable Stephen Watson said the actions towards Maria were ‘inexplicable’
After the inquiry found all this not only “terrible” but “unlawful”, Chief Constable Stephen Watson described the actions of his officers towards Maria as “an inexplicable and undefendable exercise of police power”.
He added: “We’ve done the wrong thing, in the wrong way and we’ve created harm where harm already existed.”
Despite all of this, the charges of malicious communication were not dropped. They hung over Maria since her arrest in May 2023. Then in March this year, magistrates convicted her of the offence, and she was fined.
Dame Vera’s report describes the arrest for malicious communications as “pointless”, “unlawful”, “not in the public interest” and questions whether the officer had taken “a dislike to Maria”. Yet, while Maria gained a criminal record, no officer has been disciplined over her treatment.
A GMP spokesperson said: “The court has tested the evidence for the matter that Maria was arrested for, and we note the outcome by the magistrate. We have a separate investigation into complaints made about the defendant’s arrest and her treatment whilst in police custody.”
The complaint was referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) in August 2023 and Maria was told several months ago the report was completed, but she has not heard anything since.
Image: Dame Vera Baird’s report catalogues the ‘unlawful’ arrest and strip search of various individuals by GMP
‘There’s been no accountability’
Dame Vera’s report also catalogues the “unlawful” arrest and strip search of Dannika Stewart in October 2023 at the same police station. Dannika is still grinding through the police complaints service to get a formal acknowledgement of their failings.
She told Sky News: “Everyone involved in it is still in the same position. There’s been no accountability from the police. We’re still fighting the complaint system, we’re still trying to prove something which has already been proved by an independent inquiry.”
Image: Body cam footage of Dannika Stewart being arrested
Asked if anyone had been disciplined, Chief Constable Watson told Sky News: “There are ongoing investigations into individual failings, but for the most part the Baird review talked about systemic failings of leadership, it talked of failings in policy and failings of systems.
“In some cases, those people who may have misconducted themselves at the level of professional standards have retired. There are no criminal proceedings in respect of any individual.”
He added: “Every single element of the Baird inquiry has been taken on board – every single one of those recommendations has been implemented – we believe ourselves to be at the forefront of practice.”
‘It’s been three years’
Mark Dove who was also found by the inquiry to have been unlawfully arrested three times and twice unlawfully stripped-searched says he’s been in the complaints system for three years now.
He told Sky News: “There have been improvements in that I’m being informed more, but ultimately there’s no timeline. It’s been three years, and I have to keep pushing them. And I’ve not heard of anyone being suspended.”
Image: Mark Dove was found to have been unlawfully arrested three times and unlawfully strip-searched twice
Sophie (not her real name), a domestic violence victim who was also found by the review team to have been unlawfully arrested by GMP, told Sky News that although most of her complaints were eventually upheld they had originally been dismissed and no officer has faced any consequences.
She said: “They put on record that I’d accepted a caution when I hadn’t – and then tried to prosecute me. Why has no one been disciplined? These are people’s lives. I could have lost my job. Where is the accountability?”
Since the Baird Inquiry, every strip search by GMP is now reviewed by a compliance team. GMP also provides all female suspects in custody with dignity packs including sanitary products, and they work with the College of Policing to ensure all officers are trained to recognise and respond to the effects of domestic and sexual trauma on survivors.
Image: Kate Green, deputy mayor for Greater Manchester for policing and crime
The deputy mayor for Greater Manchester for policing and crime, Kate Green, says the lessons of the Baird Inquiry should reach all police forces.
She said: “I would strongly recommend that other forces, if they don’t already follow GMP’s practise in not conducting so-called welfare strip searches, similarly cease to carry out those searches. It’s very difficult to see how a traumatising search can be good for anybody’s welfare, either the officers or the detainees. We’ve managed to do that now for well over a year.”
Ms Green also suggests a national review of the police complaints system.
Deputy Chief Constable Terry Woods, of GMP, said: “Our reformed Professional Standards Directorate (PSD) has increased the quality of complaints handling and improved timeliness.
“Where officers have been found to breach our standards then we have not hesitated to remove them from GMP, with more than 100 officers being dismissed on the chief constable’s watch.
“Out of 14 complaints relating to Dame Vera’s report, four have been completed. Our PSD continues to review and investigate the other complaints.
“We’re committed to being held to account for our use of arrests and our performance in custody.
“By its nature, custody has – and always will be – a challenging environment.
“However, basic provisions and processes must always be met and, while we’re confident our progress is being recognised across policing, we stand ready to act on feedback.”
One child has died after a coach bringing children back from a school trip crashed and overturned near Minehead, Somerset, police have said.
A major incident was declared after the vehicle, which had 60-70 people on board, crashed on the A396 Cutcombe Hill, between Wheddon Cross and Timbercombe, shortly before 3pm on Thursday afternoon.
The coach was heading to Minehead Middle School at the time.
At a news conference on Thursday night, officials confirmed one child died at the scene.
A further 21 patients were taken to hospital, including two children who were transported via air ambulance. “Several” other people were treated at the scene, they added.
Image: A police officer near the scene of the coach crash in Somerset. Pic: PA
“This has been an incredibly challenging scene for all emergency services,” Chief Superintendent Mark Edgington said.
“Today’s events are truly tragic, we know the whole community and wider area will be utterly devastated to learn of this news.”
An investigation into what caused the crash will be carried out, he added.
Gavin Ellis, the chief fire officer for Devon and SomersetFire & Rescue Service, said the coach “overturned onto its roof and slid approximately 20ft down an embankment”.
He praised an off-duty firefighter who was travelling behind the vehicle for helping at the scene, before crews then arrived to carry out rescues “in extremely difficult circumstances”.
“I’m grateful for the tireless effort and actions of the crews in doing everything they could for those who were trapped and as quickly as safely as possible,” he said.
“I’m extremely proud of the efforts that my firefighters took today at this tragic event.”
Eight fire engines were sent to the scene, with two specialist rescue appliances and around 60 fire personnel, Mr Ellis said.
A total of 20 double-crewed ambulances, three air ambulances and two hazardous area response teams were also sent to the scene, a representative for the South Western Ambulance Service said.
Image: Pic: PA
Ch Supt Mark Edgington said: “Many passengers either sustained minor injuries or were physically unharmed and were transferred to a rest centre.
“Work to help them return to Minehead has been taking place throughout the evening.
“An investigation into the cause of this incident will be carried out.”
Minehead Middle School has pupils aged between nine and 14, and is five days away from the end of term.
‘I don’t have words,’ says local MP
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‘From one mother to another, I feel your pain’
Rachel Gilmour, MP for Tiverton and Minehead, has said the road where the coach crashed is “very difficult to manoeuvre”.
Speaking to Sky News chief presenter Anna Botting, Ms Gilmour said she visited Minehead Middle School recently, where she “met the children and they were full of joy, enthusiasm and were very positive”.
“I know many of their parents,” she said. “I don’t have words.”
Describing the scene, Gilmour continued: “You have a very difficult crossing at Wheddon Cross, and as you come out to dip down into Timbercombe, the road is really windy and there are very steep dips on either side.
“If the coach, as the police are saying, went 20ft off the road, you are literally on a really, really steep bank.”
The MP, whose constituency is partly in Devon and partly in Somerset, said there is a “really, really close community”.
“We will pull together, but it would be crass of me to say to a parent who’s just lost their child that I could make things better, I can’t,” she said.
“All I can say is that from one mother to another, I feel your pain.”
Image: Cutcombe Hill near Minehead, where the accident took place. Pic: Google Maps
Sir Keir Starmer said in a post on X: “There are no adequate words to acknowledge the death of a child. All my thoughts are with their parents, family and friends, and all those affected.
“Thank you to the emergency workers who are responding at pace – I’m being kept up to date on this situation.”
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson wrote: “It is heartbreaking to hear that a child has died and others are seriously injured following the incident in Minehead earlier today.
“My thoughts are with their friends and families, and all those affected by this tragic event.”