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Hospitals are bracing themselves for “exceptionally low” staff numbers in some regions as nurses prepare to go on strike over the bank holiday weekend, NHS England has warned.

The latest walkout comes as the health service warns that, due to nearly six months of strike action, the number of rescheduled appointments is set to hit half a million next week.

The bank holiday strike by members of the Royal College of Nursing union will take place from 8pm on Sunday to 11.59pm on Monday.

It will be the latest action by nurses in a long-running dispute over pay and conditions.

Nurses make up a quarter of NHS staff and are the biggest proportion of the health service workforce. They are seeking a pay rise that is 5% above inflation.

The RCN says nurses’ salaries have consistently fallen below inflation – with the consequences now worsened by the cost of living crisis.

During the strike action, the union said it will not agree to derogations (areas of care where unions agree to provide staffing during industrial action), meaning nurses in intensive care, A&E and cancer care will be on the picket line.

However, in a new development, the RCN has agreed with NHS England that nurses may offer “safety critical mitigations” in some emergencies to “maintain safe patient care”.

NHS England said the health service and RCN “are seeking to agree mitigations on an organisation by organisation basis if there is a critical risk to patient safety”.

But it warned that staffing levels for some areas of the country will be “exceptionally low, lower than on previous strike days”.

Meanwhile, Great Ormond Street Hospital’s chief executive Mat Shaw has said he is “incredibly grateful” to staff and the RCN for “granting safety exemptions” during the strike.

The world-renowned children’s hospital had earlier declared a business continuity incident due to “serious concerns over safely staffing the hospital” throughout the walkout.

It said on its website some children may need to be sent home in order to care for those who remain to be safe.

Read more:
More teacher strikes loom
GMB votes to accept NHS pay offer after Unite rejection
Hundreds of Heathrow staff to strike in May

Original strike plan deemed unlawful

Nurses are set to strike this weekend after a High Court judge ruled on Thursday it would be unlawful for the strike to continue into Tuesday as originally planned.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay secured the court’s interim declaration after bringing legal action against part of the trade union’s proposed walkout.

Meanwhile, NHS England is urging the public to use the health service wisely as hospitals prepare to cope with the bank holiday weekend.

It said emergency and urgent care would remain the priority, with people asked to use other services such as pharmacies and 111 where possible.

Unions encouraged to accept pay offer

The latest action comes as health unions are split over whether to accept a 5% pay offer from the government.

The NHS Staff Council – made up of health unions, employers and government representatives – is meeting on Tuesday to discuss the offer.

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From Thursday 27 April: RCN general secretary says government has ‘lost nursing’

The government ‘has lost nursing’ says RCN general secretary

Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation which represents organisations that commission and provide services for the health service, told Sky News: “There is a danger, there is a concern that unions who haven’t accepted the deal might split off.

“We would very much encourage them not to do so. I think it’s extremely important for NHS staff to stick together.”

He continued: “We hope that if the staff council accepts this (pay offer), then all the unions will accept it.

“But I think it’s really important to say that that doesn’t mean that we as leaders of the health service don’t recognise the real concerns amongst staff that their pay has fallen.

“I talk to NHS all the time and many of them say to me they’ve never known at a time when they’re more concerned about staff morale, we see it’s very hard to retain staff in the health service.

“We recruit staff reasonably well, but too many of them leave because they find the pressures of the job very difficult. So the issues that lie behind the strike, issues of recruitment, of retention, of motivation, they will continue to be there and we need to address those questions.”

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Police investigating alleged attack on prison officer by Southport triple murderer Axel Rudakubana

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Police investigating alleged attack on prison officer by Southport triple murderer Axel Rudakubana

Police are investigating an alleged attack on a prison officer by Southport triple killer Axel Rudakubana on Thursday, Sky News understands.

A Prison Service spokesperson said: “Police are investigating an attack on a prison officer at HMP Belmarsh yesterday.

“Violence in prison will not be tolerated and we will always push for the strongest possible punishment for attacks on our hardworking staff.”

Rudakubana is serving life in jail for murdering Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class last year.

According to The Sun, Rudakubana poured boiling water over the prison officer, who was taken to hospital as a precaution but only suffered minor injuries.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.

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School kids asking for advice on strangulation during sex – as abuse victim issues warning

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School kids asking for advice on strangulation during sex - as abuse victim issues warning

Schoolchildren are asking teachers how to strangle a partner during sex safely, a charity says, while official figures show an alarming rise in the crime related to domestic abuse cases.

Warning: This article contains references to strangulation, domestic abuse and distressing images.

It comes as a woman whose former partner almost strangled her to death in a rage has advised anyone in an abusive relationship to seek help.

Bernie Ryan, chief executive of the Institute for Addressing Strangulation, has been running the charity since its inception in 2022 after non-fatal strangulation became a standalone offence.

“It’s the ultimate form of control,” she says.

She says perpetrators and victims are getting younger, while the reason is unclear, but strangulation has seeped into popular culture and social media.

“We hear lots of sex education providers, teachers saying that they’re hearing it in schools.

“We know teachers have been asked, ‘how do I teach somebody to strangle safely?’

“Our message is there is no safe way to strangle – the anatomy is the anatomy. Reduction in oxygen to the brain or blood flow will result in the same medical consequences, regardless of context.”

Bernie Ryan, the Chief Executive of the Institute for Addressing Strangulation
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Bernie Ryan, CEO of the Institute for Addressing Strangulation

A recent review by Conservative peer Baroness Gabby Bertin recommended banning “degrading, violent and misogynistic content” online.

Violent pornography showing women being choked during sex she found was “rife on mainstream platforms”.

Ms Ryan says she “wants to make sure that young people don’t have access to activities that demonstrate that this is normal behaviour”.

Read more from Sky News:
Suspect accused of Derby bank murder appears in court
Man whose body was found in suitcase ‘had raped teenager’

Strangulation is a violent act that is often committed in abusive relationships.

It is the second most common method used by men to kill women, the first is stabbing.

According to statistics shared by the Crown Prosecution Service, in 2024 there was an almost 50% rise in incidents of non-fatal strangulation and suffocation – compared to the year before.

Kerry pleads for other victims of abuse to leave before it's too late
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Kerry Allan pleads for other victims of abuse to seek help

Domestic abuse victim Kerry Allan has a message for anyone who is in an abusive relationship.

Kerry met Michael Cosgrove in September 2022. While she said “at the beginning it was really good”, within months he became physically abusive.

In August last year her friends found his profile on a dating app.

“I confronted him and he denied it. I knew we were going to get into a big argument and I couldn’t face it, so I said I was going to my mum’s for a few days and take myself away from the situation.

“I came back a few days later and stupidly I agreed we could try again and everything escalated from that.”

Injuries to Kerry's chest. Pic: CPS
Image:
Injuries to Kerry’s chest. Pic: CPS

In the early hours of 25 August the pair had come in from a night out at a concert and got into an argument.

“He was having a go at me, accusing me of flirting with other people, and I was angry. I told him he had a nerve after what he’d done to me in the week and how he humiliated me.

“I told him that I wanted to leave, that we were done and that I wanted to go to my mum’s and that’s when it got bad.

“He pinned me to the bed and that’s when he first strangled me.”

Kerry's neck injury. Pic: CPS
Image:
Kerry’s neck injury. Pic: CPS

Kerry says this was the first time she’d ever been violently assaulted. Cosgrove was eerily silent as he eventually let go and Kerry gasped for air.

“I remember trying to get my breath back, I was crying and hyperventilating… I was sick on the bedroom floor and I was asking him to go.”

Cosgrove strangled her for a second time before letting go again.

“He was saying I wasn’t getting out of this bedroom alive. I was dead tonight, he hoped that I knew that. Just kept saying how I’d ruined his life.”

Injury to Kerry's eye. Pic: CPS
Image:
Injury to Kerry’s eye. Pic: CPS

“I remember feeling a sort of shock thinking at this point, I’m not going to get out of this bedroom, he’s actually going to kill me.”

Kerry began screaming and shouting for help as loud as she could.

Her neighbours heard the commotion and called the police. While they were en route, Kerry was once again being assaulted.

Bleeding in Kerry's eye
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Bleeding in Kerry’s eye

“I ran over to the bedroom window and tried to jump out, he grabbed me as I went to open the window, and we struggled. And then I was back in the same position, he was on top of me on the bed, and his hands were round the throat again. But this time it didn’t stop.

“I remember trying to struggle and trying to kick out and hit him and I just kept thinking that I definitely was going to die, because at this point, it wasn’t stopping.”

The next memory Kerry has is opening her eyes to see police and paramedics in the bedroom.

Michael Cosgrove. Pic: CPS
Image:
Michael Cosgrove. Pic: CPS

Cosgrove had heard the sirens, jumped out of the bedroom window and went to hide in Kerry’s car.

Kerry remembers opening her eyes to paramedics caring for her: “I remember thinking, I’m alive. I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe that I was alive and I wasn’t dead. My last memory is him being on top of me with his hands on my throat.”

Kerry met Michael Cosgrove in September 2022
Image:
Kerry met Michael Cosgrove in September 2022

She gives this advice to anyone who is in an abusive relationship: “Please speak to somebody, whether it’s friends, family, a work colleague, whether it’s somebody online, whether it’s a charity that you’re directed to, any sort of abuse is not okay.

“Whether it starts off emotional, they often start off that way, and they escalate, and they can escalate badly.

“Take what happened to me as a huge warning sign, because I wouldn’t want anyone else to be in the position I’ve been in the last eight months.”

Cosgrove was found guilty of attempting to murder Kerry and intentional strangulation.

He will be sentenced in July.

If you suspect you are being abused and need to speak to someone, there are people who can help you.

The National Domestic Violence Helpline: 0808 2000 247

Women’s Aid

Respect, the helpline for male domestic abuse victims: 0808 8010327

Galop, the LGBT+ anti-violence charity: 0800 999 5428

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Two men found guilty of cutting down famous Sycamore Gap tree

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Two men found guilty of cutting down famous Sycamore Gap tree

Two men have been found guilty of cutting down the famous Sycamore Gap tree that stood for more than 150 years.

Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers were convicted of causing more than £620,000 worth of damage to the tree and more than £1,000 worth of damage to Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland.

On 27 September 2023, the pair drove 30 miles through a storm to Northumberland from Cumbria, where they both lived, before felling the tree overnight in a matter of minutes.

An image of the Sycamore Gap standing, which was shown in evidence. This image was taken at approx. 5.20pm on Wednesday 27 September 2023.
Pic: CPS
Image:
The Sycamore Gap tree before it was cut down. Pic: CPS

The pair each denied two counts of criminal damage to the sycamore and to Hadrian’s Wall, which was damaged when the tree fell on it, but were convicted by a jury at Newcastle Crown Court on Friday.

The Sycamore Gap tree sat in a dip in the landscape and held a place in pop culture, featuring in the 1991 Kevin Costner film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.

It also formed part of people’s personal lives, as the scene of wedding proposals, ashes being scattered and countless photographs.

Footage of the moment the tree was felled was played during the trial.

Undated handout photo issued by Northumbria Police of Daniel Graham. Daniel Graham, 39, has been found guilty at Newcastle Crown Court alongside mechanic Adam Carruthers, 32, of criminal damage after the felling of the Sycamore Gap tree - valued at £622,000 and £1,114 damage to Hadrian's Wall. Both defendants will be sentenced on July 15. Issue date: Friday May 9, 2025.
Image:
Daniel Graham. Pic: Northumbria Police/PA

Undated handout photo issued by Northumbria Police of Adam Carruthers. Adam Carruthers, 32, has been found guilty at Newcastle Crown Court alongside groundworker Daniel Graham, 39, of criminal damage after the felling of the Sycamore Gap tree - valued at £622,000 and £1,114 damage to Hadrian's Wall. Both defendants will be sentenced on July 15. Issue date: Friday May 9, 2025.
Image:
Adam Carruthers. Pic: Northumbria Police/PA

In the clip, the sound of a chainsaw can be heard, and the silhouette of a person can be seen, before the trunk eventually tumbled.

The footage was shot on Graham’s iPhone 13, with the metadata providing the coordinates of the tree.

Part of tree kept as ‘trophy’

Over the course of the trial, the pair blamed one another, but the prosecution argued they were both responsible for what the court heard was a “mindless act of vandalism”.

As well as the video footage of the felling, an image of a piece of wood and a chainsaw was found on Graham’s phone.

Adam Carruthers and Daniel Graham. Pic: CPS/PA
Image:
Adam Carruthers (R) and Daniel Graham (L) worked together felling trees. Pic: CPS/PA

Chainsaw and chunk of wood never found. Pic: PA
Image:
An image of a piece of wood and a chainsaw was found on Graham’s phone. Pic: PA

Richard Wright KC, prosecuting, told the court: “This was perhaps a trophy taken from the scene to remind them of their actions, actions that they appear to have been revelling in.”

Voice notes played in court

The jury was also played voice notes the pair had sent one another, commenting on the media coverage the incident was receiving.

In one of them, Graham, 39, said to 32-year-old Carruthers: “Someone there has tagged like ITV News, BBC News, Sky News, like News News News”, before adding: “I think it’s going to go wild.”

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Sycamore Gap seeds saved

Another piece of evidence was a photo of the defendants felling a different tree, about a month before the Sycamore Gap was cut down.

The prosecution said Graham, who owned a groundworks company and Carruthers, who worked in property management and mechanics, were “friends with knowledge and experience in chainsaws and tree felling”.

From the beginning, much of the trial focused on the significance of the tree, with Judge Mrs Justice Lambert telling the jury to put their “emotion to one side” before proceedings began.

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Voicenotes from Sycamore Gap tree trial

‘Mindless acts of violence’

Northumberland Superintendent Kevin Waring, of Northumbria Police, said: “We often hear references made to mindless acts of vandalism – but that term has never been more relevant than today in describing the actions of those individuals”.

Graham and Carruthers gave no explanation for why they targeted the tree, he said, “and there never could be a justifiable one”.

Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner, Susan Dungworth, called the felling of the tree “unfathomable” and said, although “there was no remorse [from the defendants], there was compelling evidence, and now there will be justice”.

Gale Gilchrist, chief crown prosecutor for CPS North East, said Graham and Carruthers took “under three minutes” to bring down the “iconic landmark” in a “deliberate and mindless act of destruction”.

She said she hoped the community “can take some measure of comfort in seeing those responsible convicted”.

‘Enormity of the loss’

Reflecting on the verdict and the actions of the pair, Tony Gates, chief executive of Northumberland National Parks Authority, said: “It just took a few days to sink in – I think because of the enormity of the loss.

“We knew how important that location was for many people at an emotional level, almost at a spiritual level in terms of people’s connection to this case.”

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Moment Sycamore Gap tree cut down

Read more from the trial:
Two men went on ‘moronic mission’ to fell Sycamore Gap tree

Man told police he was being ‘framed’ over tree felling
Defendant says friend wanted to cut down world’s ‘most famous tree’
Jurors played voicenotes in Sycamore Gap tree trial

The tree’s stump still sits by Hadrian’s Wall, where new shoots have been emerging.

Its largest remaining section will go on display at the National Landscape Discovery Centre in the Northumberland National Park later this year.

The effort to preserve the tree’s legacy also goes beyond the region where it stood.

Forty-nine saplings taken from the tree have been conserved by the National Trust. They will be planted in accessible public spaces across the country as “trees of hope”, which will allow parts of the Sycamore Gap to live on.

The defendants, who didn’t react when the verdicts were delivered, will be sentenced in July.

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