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A £5m mansion in Chiswick, west London – which used to belong to TV presenter Ant McPartlin – has been damaged by fire.

Six fire engines and around 40 firefighters tackled the blaze in Grove Park Gardens, which was reported to London Fire Brigade at 9.46am.

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Pic: X/@LondonFire

Crews used a 32m (105ft) ladder while fighting the fire in the seven-bedroom home.

The 4,435sq ft property belongs to the star’s ex-wife, Lisa Armstrong, who rents it out.

McPartlin‘s TV partner, Declan Donnelly, lives just a few doors down in the same road, with his wife Ali Astall and their two children Isla and Jack.

The house is estimated to have more than doubled in price since McPartlin and Ms Armstrong bought it for £2.3m in 2006, the year they married.

As firefighters tackled the blaze, a local resident told The Independent: “The fire looks pretty serious and definitely not under control. An ambulance passed me as I drove down the road with blue lights and siren on.”

The fire was brought under control just before lunchtime, with crews remaining at the scene into the afternoon.

London Fire Brigade confirmed to Sky News that no injuries had been reported, and that the cause of the fire was currently being investigated.

Lisa Armstrong (L-R), Ant McPartlin, Declan Donnelly and his wife Ali Astall at Royal Ascot in 2015
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(L-R): Lisa Armstrong, Ant McPartlin, Declan Donnelly and his wife Ali Astall in 2015

McPartlin and Ms Armstrong were together for more than 20 years and married for 11 years before filing for divorce in January 2018.

The break-up came after McPartlin entered rehab in 2017, following struggles with a two-year addiction to painkillers as a result of a knee operation.

He later pleaded guilty to drink-driving after crashing while more than twice over the legal limit in southwest London in March 2018.

Read more from Sky News:
Ant and Dec announce Byker Grove reboot
Ant McPartlin and Anne-Marie Corbett tie the knot

McPartlin first met Ms Armstrong, a make-up artist, at a roadshow in Newcastle in the mid-1990s, when she was an aspiring pop star in the band Deuce.

McPartlin has since married his former personal assistant, Anne-Marie Corbett, in 2019.

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Bob Vylan on ‘death, death to the IDF’ chant: ‘I’d do it again tomorrow, twice on Sundays’

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Bob Vylan on 'death, death to the IDF' chant: 'I'd do it again tomorrow, twice on Sundays'

Bob Vylan’s frontman has said he does not regret chanting “death, death to the IDF” at Glastonbury – and would do it again.

The outspoken punk duo sparked controversy with their performance at the festival in June, with the broadcast also leading to fierce criticism of the BBC.

But speaking on The Louis Theroux podcast, Bobby Vylan said he stood by the chant, adding: “I’d do it again tomorrow, twice on Sundays.”

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BBC bosses grilled over Masterchef, Bob Vylan and Gaza documentary

The US condemned the act’s “hateful tirade” and revoked their visas, with several festivals cancelling their upcoming appearances.

Vylan claimed this backlash is “minimal” compared with what the people of Palestine are going through – with many losing members of their family or forced to flee their homes.

He said: “If I have their support, they’re the people that I’m doing it for, they’re the people that I’m being vocal for, then what is there to regret. Oh, because I’ve upset some right-wing politician or some right-wing media?”

The musician revealed he was taken aback by the uproar caused by the chant, which was described by the prime minister as “appalling hate speech”.

Vylan added: “It wasn’t like we came off stage, and everybody was like (gasps). It’s just normal. We come off stage. It’s normal. Nobody thought anything. Nobody. Even staff at the BBC were like: ‘That was fantastic! We loved that!'”

A spokesperson at Mindhouse Productions – which was founded by Theroux and produces The Louis Theroux podcast – told Sky News: “Louis is a journalist with a long history of speaking to controversial figures who may divide opinion. We would suggest people watch or listen to the interview in its entirety to get the full context of the conversation.”

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Calls for Bob Vylan concert to be cancelled

‘The response was disproportionate’

The BBC’s Executive Complaints Unit has since found that the broadcast of Bob Vylan’s set breached editorial standards related to harm and offence.

Theroux asked Vylan what he meant by chanting “death to the IDF” – with the musician replying: “It’s so unimportant, and the response to it was so disproportionate.

“What is important is the conditions that exist to allow that chant to even take place on that stage. And I mean, the conditions that exist in Palestine. Where the Palestinian people are being killed at an alarming rate.”

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Maccabi fans will not be able to buy tickets to Villa match

No more investigations into ‘non-hate crime incidents’, Met says
Victim of Manchester synagogue attack speaks out

Pic: PA
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Pic: PA

He said he wanted an end to the oppression that the Palestinian people are facing – but argued chanting “end, end the IDF” wouldn’t have caught on because it doesn’t rhyme.

“We are there to entertain, we are there to play music,” Vylan added. “I am a lyricist. ‘Death, death to IDF’ rhymes. Perfect chant.”

He went on to reject claims that their set had contributed to a spike in antisemitic incidents that were reported a couple of days later.

“I don’t think I have created an unsafe atmosphere for the Jewish community. If there were large numbers of people going out and going like ‘Bob Vylan made me do this’. I might go, ‘oof, I’ve had a negative impact here’.”

Vylan’s conversation with Theroux was recorded on 1 October – before the Manchester synagogue attack, and prior to the ceasefire in Gaza coming into effect.

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Gavin Plumb: Man jailed for plotting to rape and murder Holly Willoughby loses appeal against life sentence

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Gavin Plumb: Man jailed for plotting to rape and murder Holly Willoughby loses appeal against life sentence

A security guard jailed for plotting to kidnap, rape and murder TV star Holly Willoughby has lost an appeal against his life sentence.

Gavin Plumb was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 16 years last year after being convicted of soliciting murder and encouraging or assisting others to rape and kidnap.

A trial at Chelmsford Crown Court heard that police found bottles of chloroform and an “abduction kit” with cable ties when officers raided the 38-year-old’s flat in Harlow, Essex.

Plumb’s kidnap plan involved attempting to “ambush” Willoughby at her family home, jurors heard.

Plumb argued in his defence that it was just online chat and fantasy.

Police believed Plumb was an 'imminent threat' to Holly Willoughby. Pic: PA
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Police believed Plumb was an ‘imminent threat’ to Holly Willoughby. Pic: PA

He was caught after an undercover police officer in the US infiltrated an online group called Abduct Lovers.

He told the officer, who used the pseudonym David Nelson, that he was “definitely serious” about his plot to kidnap the former This Morning host, leaving him with the impression that there was an “imminent threat” to Willoughby.

Due to the officer’s concern over Plumb’s post, evidence was passed to the FBI, who then contacted police in the UK.

Willoughby, who asked for her victim personal statement to be private, waived her right to anonymity in connection with the charge against Plumb of assisting or encouraging rape.

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Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs files to appeal his conviction and sentence

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Sean 'Diddy' Combs files to appeal his conviction and sentence

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is appealing the conviction handed down to him earlier this year over prostitution charges relating to his former girlfriends and male sex workers.

The music mogul was given a 50-month sentence and a $500,000 fine for flying people around the US and abroad for sexual encounters, including his then-girlfriend and male sex workers, in violation of prostitution laws.

He was cleared of more serious charges of racketeering conspiracy and sex-trafficking that could have put him in jail for life.

The two-page formal notice of appeal, seen by Sky News, was filed in Manhattan federal court on Monday, confirming he will be challenging both his conviction and his sentence.

It lists Combs’s defence council as Alexandra A E Shapiro, and shows a $605 (£450) docketing fee was paid to lodge the formal notice.

More detailed filings are expected to follow.

On the day of sentencing in early October the rapper’s lawyers had signalled they intended to appeal.

More on Sean Combs

Combs, 55, has been in custody since his arrest last year.

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Diddy jailed for more than four years

His seven-week trial earlier this year included four days of testimony from Cassie, now Cassie Ventura Fine, who told the court she was coerced and sometimes blackmailed into sexual encounters with male sex workers, referred to as “freak offs”.

Jurors were also shown video clips of Combs dragging and beating her in a Los Angeles hotel hallway after one of those sessions in 2016.

Ahead of the sentencing, Cassie also submitted a letter to the judge, calling Combs a “manipulator” and saying she would fear for her safety should he be immediately released.

Diddy and Cassie at the premiere for a film she starred in, just days after the 2016 hotel incident. Pic: zz/Galaxy/STAR MAX/IPx/ AP
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Diddy and Cassie at the premiere for a film she starred in, just days after the 2016 hotel incident. Pic: zz/Galaxy/STAR MAX/IPx/ AP

Ahead of his sentencing, Combs told the court he admitted his past behaviour was “disgusting, shameful and sick”, and apologised personally to Cassie Ventura and “Jane”, another former girlfriend who testified anonymously during the trial.

He told the court he’d got “lost in my excess and lost in my ego”, but since his time in prison he has been “humbled and broken to my core,” adding “I hate myself right now… I am truly sorry for it all.”

Judge Arun Subramanian, who had rejected bail for the rapper several times before sentencing, told him that he would get through his time in prison and would still “have a life afterwards,” calling it “a chance for renewal and redemption”.

He was facing a maximum of 20 years in prison for the prostitution-related charges, so the sentence was towards the lower end of the scale.

Prosecutors had argued he should spend at least 11 years behind bars, while Combs’s lawyers had called for him to be freed almost immediately due to time already served since his arrest just over a year ago.

Sky News has contacted Combs’s lawyers for comment.

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