Inflation eases but still remains above 10% as food costs at 45-year high

Published

2 years ago

April 19, 2023

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The rate of inflation has eased slightly but still remains above 10%, according to official figures showing food and drink costs at a 45-year high.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the consumer prices index (CPI) measure slowed to 10.1% in March from 10.4% the previous month.

Economists had largely expected a figure of 9.8%.

The data represents a slight improvement in the energy-driven cost of living crisis as fuel prices fell back to levels seen a year ago when Russia’s war in Ukraine prompted a spike in oil costs.

However, upwards pressure remained from household gas and electricity and food, including essentials such as bread, milk and eggs.

Food and non-alcoholic drink inflation was measured at 19.1% by the ONS – the highest level since August 1977.

High commodity and production costs are mostly to blame.

Other factors behind the spike were highlighted in February’s inflation data when the salad shortage struck supermarkets.

A crumb of comfort is that prices for goods such as tomatoes and cucumbers are tipped to fall sharply as the UK growing season gathers pace.

ONS chief economist Grant Fitzner said of the easing in overall inflation in March: “The main drivers of the decline were motor fuel prices and heating oil costs, both of which fell after sharp rises at the same time last year.

“Clothing, furniture and household goods prices increased, but more slowly than a year ago.

“However, these were partially offset by the cost of food, which is still climbing steeply, with bread and cereal price inflation at a record high.

“The overall costs facing business have been largely stable since last summer, although prices remain high.”

The latest figures were released against a backdrop of hopes that a deceleration in inflation would allow the Bank of England to pause its action to battle inflation through interest rate rises.

It has raised Bank rates at 11 consecutive meetings since December 2021 in a bid to keep a lid on price pressures in the economy.

While policymakers can do nothing about things like energy – the main driver of the inflation crisis – the Bank can look to take demand out of the economy by raising borrowing costs.

It will have been encouraged by the easing in the headline rate of inflation.

But a separate measure closely watched by the Bank that strips out volatile price elements, known as core inflation, remained static at 6.2%.

Employment data released on Tuesday also showed that wages continued to creep upwards, albeit at levels well below CPI.

The Bank has previously expressed worries that wage rises seeking to combat the hit to household budgets from inflation, which have come into sharp focus during the winter strikes across the economy, risk stoking inflation ahead.

Financial market data suggested the chance of a 0.25 percentage point rise in Bank Rate at the next meeting, due next month, had risen from 80% to 95%.

Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, commented: “‘The heat has been turned down on the bubbling cauldron of prices, but inflation is still scalding and interest rates look set to be pushed up again to try and cool it down rapidly.

“Instead of retreating below double digits, CPI is staying stubbornly high, causing more pain for companies and consumers.”

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said: “These figures reaffirm exactly why we must continue with our efforts to drive down inflation so we can ease pressure on families and businesses.

“We are on track to do this – with the OBR (Office for Budget Responsibility) forecasting we will halve inflation this year – and we’ll continue supporting people with cost-of-living support worth an average of £3,300 per household over this year and last, funded through windfall taxes on energy profits.”

Labour shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, said: “The question for families remains as real as ever – when will they feel better off under this Conservative government?

“And, why when the cost of living continues to bite, is the government refusing to freeze council tax this year, paid for by a proper windfall tax on oil and gas giants?”

UK

Man guilty of murder of Cher Maximen at Notting Hill Carnival

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1 hour ago

April 9, 2025

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Man guilty of murder of Cher Maximen at Notting Hill Carnival

A man has been found guilty of murdering a mother as she attended Notting Hill Carnival with her three-year-old daughter.

Cher Maximen, 32, was at the event in west London on 25 August last year when she was stabbed in the groin after trying to intervene in a fight.

Shakeil Thibou, 20, was charged with her murder after she died in hospital on 31 August.

He was found guilty by a majority of 10 to two jurors and is due for sentencing on 16 May.

Moments before stabbing Ms Maximen, Thibou carried out an “equally horrifying attack” on a man who was backing away from him, the Old Bailey has heard.

He was also convicted of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm to 20-year-old Adjei Isaac with intent, and having an offensive weapon.

At the opening of the trial in February, prosecutor Ed Brown KC told the court Ms Maximen and the group she was with had got caught up in the middle of a “horrifying outbreak of violence”.

At the time, Ms Maximen had been crouched chatting to her friends as they sat on the ground with their children.

She suffered a 12cm deep knife wound, which caused severe internal bleeding in her groin.

‘Pure anger’ in accused face

As jurors were shown police bodycam footage of the incident during a previous hearing at the Old Bailey, Mr Brown KC told them: “You will see pure anger in the face of Shakeil Thibou. This was right in front of her [Ms Maximen’s] three-year-old daughter.”

The “truly shocking” incident happened in just eight seconds.

How did it happen?

The Old Bailey previously heard how a crowd of hundreds splintered on Golborne Road in west London as Thibou and his two brothers, who were on trial alongside him facing separate charges, had an altercation with at least two other males.

Thibou produced a “huge” knife, described by one witness as a zombie knife, and lunged repeatedly at Mr Isaac in a “determined, thrusting movement”, the Old Bailey heard.

Mr Isaac recoiled and during the altercation the pair bumped into Ms Maximen who had been crouched chatting to her friends as they sat on the ground with their children.

The knife, the prosecutor said, missed Mr Isaac by “centimetres”.

Mr Brown KC told the court Ms Maximen struggled to regain her footing after being knocked to the ground.

He said: “Cher Maximen in those moments grabbed hold of Shakeil Thibou’s coat, pulled it and managed to get partially to her feet.

“She appeared to attempt to strike out with her hand at Shakeil who of course was still holding that knife in his hand. Cher Maximen took a step towards Shakeil Thibou and at the same time attempted to raise her right leg out towards him.

“It was at this moment, Shakeil Thibou raised the knife directly towards Cher Maximen and deliberately thrust it towards her, stabbing her in the groin.”

Sheldon Thibou was found guilty of violent disorder and guilty of assault on an emergency worker, PC Oliver Mort.

Shaeim Thibou was cleared of violent disorder but found guilty of assault on an emergency worker, PC Mort.

UK

Cher Maximen: Family’s ‘rage’ after mother fatally stubbed in front of daughter at Notting Hill Carnival

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1 hour ago

April 9, 2025

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Cher Maximen: Family's 'rage' after mother fatally stubbed in front of daughter at Notting Hill Carnival

The family of a mother who was fatally stabbed as she attended Notting Hill Carnival with her three-year-old daughter has said “the feeling of loss is overwhelming, but so is the feeling of rage”.

Cher Maximen, 32, was stabbed at the west London carnival’s “Family Day” on 25 August last year.

Shakeil Thibou, 20, has now been found guilty of her murder, by a majority jury verdict of 10-2, after a trial at the Old Bailey.

“I’ve lost my parents. I’ve lost my brother. Nothing has felt like this ever,” Ms Maximen’s cousin Lawrence Hoo told Sky News.

“It is the cruellest thing, it truly is.”

Ms Maximen died at a carnival she had been to so many times – she barely missed one.

On the day, Ms Maximen and her three-year-old daughter arrived at Europe’s biggest street party with a group of friends and their children. They’d been sitting and chatting when she was knocked over by some men who had started fighting.

News of her stabbing came almost immediately. Mr Hoo remembers receiving the call. “When I first heard that she’d been stabbed, I know it sounds silly, but I thought Cher will be alright. Cher’s strong, she’ll get through this.”

Ms Maximen was taken to hospital and underwent a number of emergency procedures before being put on life support.

Mr Hoo immediately headed to London to be at her bedside.

“I can remember being in the hospital being sat there with her, with other family members and that’s the last time I saw her. It still doesn’t feel real. There’s still disbelief,” he said.

“It’s the most senseless act to someone who had so much life and so much to give.”

Ms Maximen died from her injuries six days after the incident.

She was a vivacious young woman who grew up in Bristol and then London, finding her feet working with people in music and entertainment.

Ms Maximen was described as a “people person”, which for Mr Hoo manifested in her being “a bright light” in the lives of her loved ones.

He said: “It’s just this energy she had, she lit up the room. If you walked into a space, you’d know that Cher was there. Her energy itself would fill the room. She was a very bright light.”

Her life changed three years before her death when she became a mother in her late 20s.

Her daughter became her life’s work, she poured her love and energy into creating a person her family describe as her mini-me, “she’s Cher 2.0” Mr Hoo said.

Ms Maximen was stabbed just metres from her daughter on that day.

Mr Hoo said the idea of the toddler witnessing her mother on the ground punctuates the sadness the family feel with anger.

“The feeling of loss is overwhelming, but so is the feeling of rage,” he said. “She [Ms Maximen’s daughter] is aware that on that day, something happened to her mother.

“She saw her mother drop to the floor, and then she saw her mother bleed. That’s the daughter’s last living memory of her mother. And to live with that, knowing that that’s happened, that somebody did that. That’s why it’s so hard and that’s where the rage comes from.”

The family is now rallying around the little girl who is growing up without her mother.

Mr Hoo said the attack “will be a memory that will recur” for Ms Maximen’s daughter, adding “that is why it is so painful and hard to try to live with”.

“I think the trauma is going to be there, and trauma will raise its head when it chooses to come up. But we’ll be there for her,” he said.

The family held Ms Maximen’s funeral in October, and dozens came to remember a woman who loved to spread joy.

Mr Hoo said their focus is now Cher’s daughter: “It’s difficult to say how do we celebrate this life that was taken so prematurely. But I think it goes into her daughter, and it’s to give her daughter the best life and love, and tell her who her mother was.

“I just wish that we had so much more time.”

UK

Abuser who murdered husband and buried him in Canterbury garden jailed for 22 years

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1 hour ago

April 9, 2025

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Abuser who murdered husband and buried him in Canterbury garden jailed for 22 years

A domestic abuser who murdered her “frail” husband and buried him in the garden has been jailed for at least 22 years.

Maureen Rickards caused her husband “unimaginable pain and suffering”, said the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

She was found guilty at Canterbury Crown Court last month and today got a life sentence with a minimum of 22 years.

Jeremy Rickards, 65, was found wrapped in bin bags inside a hold-all at the couple’s property in St Martin’s Road, Canterbury, on 11 July last year.

He had five stab wounds to his chest – two of which pierced his heart.

There were also non-fatal injuries sustained about 10 days before his death, as well as other wounds thought to have been weeks old.

Grass cuttings were put over the body in an attempt to hide it, but the judge said police were alerted by an “overpowering odour” that “made them feel ill”.

Kent Police believe he was killed a month earlier and his corpse stored in an attic room cupboard before being moved.

Rickards, 50, told their daughter he had gone to Saudi Arabia for work, but police had no record of him leaving the UK.

The daughter became concerned by the style of messages she received and asked her mother if she’d taken over his phone.

She eventually reported him missing.

The last record of Mr Rickards being alive was when he topped up his phone on 8 June.

CCTV showed his wife of 27 years using his bank card a few weeks later, with the judge saying the cleaning products she bought were probably to clean up the killing.

Rickards was initially arrested for fraud – but officers searched the property and found the body.

The murder weapon has never been found.

Police said the victim was also seen with bruising on his face a few weeks before his death, telling a pub staff member he had been in a car accident.

But video found on his wife’s phone showed her shouting at him and the sounds of her beating him.

Mr Rickards briefly moved out of home in early June and was seen with numerous injuries at the property he stayed in.

His wife did not attend sentencing, but judge Mr Justice Kerr directed his comments towards her, saying: “Your videos also clearly show you threatening Jeremy, abusing him, using violence on him, and expressing an intention to kill him.

“He was in frail health and largely defenceless against you.”

Detectives said Rickards has never expressed remorse for the killing and tried to blame others.

“This was a horrific murder of a man who we believe had been a supportive husband to his wife, despite her violence towards him,” said Detective Inspector Colin McKeen.