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It takes just minutes for the scenes to turn grim: a dirty trap house, a drug user injecting scabbed feet, a tiny baby crawling amid the filth.

This is Trapping, a new British film starring MOBO-winning drill rapper Abra Cadabra and produced by filmmakers and grime pioneers Femi Oyeniran and Nicky “Slimting” Walker.

Later this evening, they take the story to parliament for a discussion about the bleak reality of the UK’s county lines problem, where vulnerable adults and children as young as six, according to the Children’s Society, are recruited to move and supply drugs.

While the portrayal of drug dealing often shown on screen has long drawn criticism for glamourising the lifestyle, the same cannot be said for Trapping. Rather than focusing on the “girls, the money, the cars”, as writer and director Penny Woolcock tells Sky News, it delves into the world of “going county” and those on the frontline, also showing the hopelessness of the addicts they feed.

Louis Ede plays Daz in Trapping
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Louis Ede plays main character Daz. Pic: Alice Dunhill

Raised on the Broadwater Farm estate in Tottenham, Abra Cadabra, real name Aaron Philips, told Sky News at the film’s premiere that he drew on his personal experiences to play county lines gang leader Magic.

“It’s reality,” he said. “It’s what some of the kids in London go through growing up. It’s good to show what’s really going on… I’ve seen a couple of my friends go through stuff like that. It hit home.”

Louis Ede, who plays main character Daz, a young boy wanting to earn some money to help his struggling mum, is now 20 but had just turned 18 when filming started.

“I learnt a lot of things I didn’t know before. I’ve been around people who have been in that environment – that’s why, in a way, it was kind of easy for me to portray the character because I could channel the things I’ve experienced from my past. However, saying that, I didn’t know how gritty that lifestyle actually is until I shot the film.”

‘This is not just a black problem – it’s a white problem, too’

Nicky 'Slimting' Walker and Femi Oyeniran at the premiere of Trapping
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Nicky ‘Slimting’ Walker and Femi Oyeniran at the premiere of Trapping


For the film’s stars and creators, taking the debate to parliament is a big deal. Oyeniran and Abra Cadabra will be part of a panel supported by campaigner and chief executive of Enact Equality L’myah Sherae; author and activist Ben Lindsay, founder of Power The Fight; filmmaker and youth coach Amani Simpson; and Labour MP for Streatham Bell Ribeiro-Addy.

They are calling on the government to launch a creative grants scheme to help young people in need, taking stats from the Children’s Society stating that 46,000 children in England – and likely many more unknown – are thought to be involved in gangs, with 4,000 teenagers being criminally exploited in London alone.

They say the situation has been made worse by the recent rise in children reported missing from school and increasing child poverty.

Oyeniran, who started his career starring in the cult classic Kidulthood and went on to produce films including It’s A lot, The Intent and The 12, says widening the debate is as important as the film itself.

“[Trapping] gives a rounded perspective of drug dealing,” he says. “Sometimes you look at films about drugs and it’s either a critique of drug use, or it’s about drug dealers. This shows the real side, it humanises the drug users, and also it shows that it’s beyond just a working class thing, it’s also a middle class thing. And it’s not just a black problem, it’s a white problem, too.”

Too often, in the media and with politicians as well as in film and TV, the focus is on gangs, he says. “It’s titillating, the idea of a gang is scary, and all of that stuff. But let’s talk about the middle-class people that live in counties that consume drugs… who are these drugs being sold to?”

Rapper Abra Cadabra performing at the premiere of Trapping in London
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Abra Cadabra also recorded the soundtrack for the film, and performed at the premiere in London

Read more on Sky News:
Guns and swords seized in county lines crackdown
Organised crime group targeted in ‘largest single operation’ to close down county lines

Walker, his filmmaking partner, says he hopes children and young people watching the film will be put off the lifestyle often sold to them. “There’s only one thing that happens to you when you’re a drug dealer – you end up going to jail for a very long time. Or, you end up dead.

“A film like Trapping will show you the dark side. It’s not glamourising, to be the next Pablo Escobar. It’s not showing you about the flashy clothes and all these things… it’s showing that you’re in this sh*tty, horrible flat, that it smells, and you’re around dirty people.”

‘This is about protecting children’

Woolcock said she wanted to make something authentic, that young people vulnerable to the lifestyle could relate to. You have kids that queue up [to sell drugs] because they think it’s going to be great. We wanted to show that, that’s truthful.”

Woolcock is calling on MPs to tackle the problem. “Youth service has been cut to shreds, there’s virtually no youth provision. Poverty and inequality have increased and those are the underlying causes, why people want to get into this.

“A kid in a certain neighbourhood will think there are three options: you are either a drug dealer, a footballer or a rapper, and that is it.”

“Politicians have a responsibility to end this issue,” says Ms Sherae. “In order to protect the next generation, they have to do more and introduce laws to really think about prevention rather than a hard line on drug use. If you think about this as a safeguarding issue, this is about protecting children.”

The Trapping movie panel discussion takes place this evening, with the film released on Friday on The Drop, a new streaming platform which aims to serve minority and underrepresented audiences and promote independent and upcoming British talent, supported by the British Film Institute and launched by Oyeniran and Walker’s Fan Studios.

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How Clean Is Your House? presenter Kim Woodburn dies

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How Clean Is Your House? presenter Kim Woodburn dies

Kim Woodburn – a former cleaner who found fame presenting the hit TV show How Clean Is Your House? – has died.

Woodburn, who was 83, later became a contestant on Celebrity Big Brother in 2017, finishing as runner-up.

Kim Woodburn is evicted in third place during the Big Brother 2017 final at Elstree Studios in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire.
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Woodburn came third in Celebrity Big Brother 2017. Pic: PA

Her manager said in a statement: “It is with immense sadness that we let you know our beloved Kim Woodburn passed away yesterday following a short illness.

“Kim was an incredibly kind, caring, charismatic and strong person.

“Her husband, Peter, is heartbroken at the loss of his soulmate.

“We are so proud of the amazing things Kim achieved in her life and career.

“We kindly ask that Kim’s husband and close friends are given the time and privacy they need to grieve.

“We will not be releasing any further details.”

Aggie MacKenzie and Kim Woodburn.
Pic: PA
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Woodburn with Aggie MacKenzie (L). Pic: PA

On Tuesday, her husband shared a video montage of photos of Woodburn over the years, starting when she was just four years old, with the message: “My wonderful, beautiful, Kim passed away last night. God bless, my love, xx xx”

Known for her trademark tight, plaited bun, Kim was largely blind in her right eye, and had poor sight in her left eye, and earlier this year had told her followers she was undergoing emergency eye surgery.

Read more from Sky News:
Doctor to plead guilty to giving Friends star ketamine before fatal overdose
Liam Gallagher hits out at Edinburgh council after Oasis fans branded ‘rowdy’

Woodburn, who had been selling video greetings to fans, shared her last Instagram post in February, when she posted a message saying “Kim is unable to record any further videos for the foreseeable future due to a health problem”.

She wrote: “No more videos for now, my loves, I need to get better!”

Woodburn, born Patricia Mary in Hampshire, left a turbulent home life aged 16, moving to Liverpool to become a live-in cleaner.

She revealed in her 2006 autobiography that, at the age of 23, she prematurely gave birth to a stillborn son and buried him in a park.

The revelation in her book led to a police inquiry, but no action was taken by officers.

In the same year as the stillbirth, she changed her name to Kim – after American actress Kim Novak.

Years later, she was scouted by a TV company looking for a cleaner with an engaging personality to front How Clean is Your House?

Paired with Scottish cleaner Aggie MacKenzie, the two professional cleaners fronted the show – a ratings hit and a pioneer for the home cleaning genre – from 2003 to 2009.

Woodburn went on to appear in Celebrity Big Brother, I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of here! and E4’s Celebrity Cooking School, as well as regularly contributing to ITV’s This Morning and Loose Women.

She also appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Big Brother’s Bit On The Side, Celebrity Come Dine With Me and A Place In The Sun.

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Doctor to plead guilty to giving Matthew Perry ketamine before Friends star suffered fatal overdose

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Doctor to plead guilty to giving Matthew Perry ketamine before Friends star suffered fatal overdose

A doctor in the US has agreed to plead guilty to giving Friends actor Matthew Perry ketamine in the lead up to his death from a fatal overdose, prosecutors have said.

Dr Salvador Plasencia, who will admit to four counts of distribution of ketamine, faces up to a maximum of 40 years in prison.

He is among five people charged in connection with the death of Friends star Perry, who was found dead in his hot tub by his assistant in October 2023.

The medical examiner ruled that ketamine and other factors caused him to lose consciousness and drown.

The actor, 54, had been using the drug through his regular doctor in a legal treatment for depression, but had begun seeking more ketamine than his doctor would give him.

Plasencia is accused of supplying the bulk of Perry’s ketamine in his final weeks. He and three other defendants, including another doctor, agreed to plead guilty in exchange for their cooperation.

Jasmine Sangha, who prosecutors allege was a major ketamine dealer, is alleged to have provided the dose that killed the actor and is the only defendant who has pleaded not guilty.

More on Matthew Perry

About a month before the actor’s death, Perry found Plasencia, a doctor who allegedly asked another doctor, Mark Chavez, to obtain the drug for him, according to court filings in the Chavez case.

“I wonder how much this moron will pay,” Plasencia texted Chavez, according to court filings from prosecutors.

The pair who practised in California met up the same day and exchanged at least four vials of ketamine, the filings said.

After selling the drugs to Perry for $4,500 (£3,314), Plasencia allegedly asked Chavez if he could keep supplying them so they could become Perry’s “go-to” prosecutors said.

Perry struggled with addiction for years, dating back to his time on Friends, when he became one of the biggest stars of his generation as Chandler Bing.

He starred alongside Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer for 10 seasons from 1994 to 2004.

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Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs trial judge dismisses juror after five weeks of evidence – over ‘concerns about his candour’

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Sean 'Diddy' Combs trial judge dismisses juror after five weeks of evidence - over 'concerns about his candour'

A juror has been dismissed from the Sean “Diddy” Combs sex-trafficking trial after hearing five weeks of evidence.

Judge Arun Subramanian said he had “concerns” about the jury member’s “candour” and made the decision after it emerged the man – Juror 6 – had given inconsistent answers about where he lives.

This could indicate he potentially had an agenda, that he wanted to be on the panel hearing the Combs trial for a purpose, the judge said, and there was nothing the juror could say that would “put the genie back in the bottle”.

Diddy trial: Day 24 – as it happened

Sean "Diddy" Combs hugs his lawyer Nicole Westmoreland as he enters the courtroom during his sex trafficking trial
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Combs hugged one of his lawyers as he arrived in the courtroom. Pic: Reuters/ Jane Rosenberg

Questions over whether the juror, a black male, resided in New York or across the Hudson River in the state of New Jersey first arose at the end of last week – but defence lawyers argued dismissing him would disrupt the diversity of the jury.

However, the judge rejected this argument ahead of the start of Monday’s court session, excusing the juror and replacing him with one of the alternates, a white male.

A review of the juror’s answers to questions about his residency during jury selection, along with his subsequent responses to similar questions, revealed “clear inconsistencies”, the judge said.

“Taking these all together, the record raised serious concerns as to the juror’s candour and whether he shaded answers to get on and stay on the jury,” Judge Subramanian said.

Leaving the juror on the panel could threaten the integrity of the judicial process, he added.

“The court should not, indeed cannot, let race factor into the decision of what happens. Here, the answer is clear. Juror number six is excused,” Judge Subramanian said.

The charges against ‘Diddy’

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is charged with one count of racketeering conspiracy, two charges of sex-trafficking, and two charges of transportation to engage in prostitution.

He has pleaded not guilty to all charges and has strenuously denied all allegations of sexual abuse. The hip-hop mogul’s defence team has described him as “a complicated man” but say the case is not.

They have conceded Combs could be violent and that jurors might not condone his proclivity for “kinky sex”. However, they argue this was a consensual “swingers” lifestyle and was not illegal.

Special agent and paralegal testify

Following the juror’s dismissal, the sixth week of the trial began – with testimony from a paralegal specialist and a special agent, who both gave evidence as summary witnesses.

This means they were not involved in the criminal investigation into Combs, but were tasked with reviewing some evidence, including charts, phone records and data. In court, the aim is to provide context to the testimony heard so far and how it relates to the charges against the hip-hop mogul.

During paralegal specialist Ananya Sankar’s testimony, the court heard about texts appearing to reference “freak offs” – sexual encounters with male escorts which former girlfriends Cassie Ventura and “Jane”, two of three alleged victims to give evidence during the trial, both say Combs forced them into.

Cassie was in an on-off relationship with Combs from 2007 to 2018, while Jane – a pseudonym – dated him on and off from the beginning of 2021 to his arrest in September 2024.

Casandra "Cassie" Ventura cries on the stand during redirect during Sean "Diddy" Combs' sex trafficking trial in New York City, New York, U.S., May 16, 2025 in this courtroom sketch. REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg
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Cassie Ventura gave evidence against Combs during the first week of the trial in May. Pic: Reuters/ Jane Rosenberg

Chicken soup and $4,000 cash

In messages from March 2016, Combs’s then chief of staff Kristina Khorram appeared to ask an assistant to set a hotel room up, with items requested including Gatorade, water and chicken noodle soup. “He wants you to go right away now please,” a message said.

In another text, Khorram asked workers to fetch $4,000 in cash and to ensure a male escort was given access to the hotel room, the court heard.

The court also heard about messages sent around the time of the bombshell civil lawsuit filed against Combs by Cassie in November 2023 – which was settled within 24 hours for a then undisclosed sum, revealed to be $20m during the trial.

By this time, Combs was seeing Jane. According to an audio file of a conversation, Jane told Combs after finding out about Cassie’s lawsuit: “I don’t know what I’m feeling… this is so word for word, it is crazy and it just feels sick to my stomach.”

On 28 November 2023, about two weeks later, Jane told Combs she felt he exploited her with their “dark and humiliating lifestyle”.

The following month, the court heard Jane said in a message to Khorram: “He said he would expose me and send videos to my baby daddy… I am traumatised by my time with him.”

Sean "Diddy" Combs, winner of the global icon award, poses in the press toom at the MTV Video Music Awards on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023, at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)
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Diddy at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2023. Pic: Evan Agostini/ Invision/ AP

Jane said she would not normally involve Khorram in such matters, but told her she needed help as Combs was having one of his “evil-ass psychotic bipolar” episodes.

Jane told Khorram that she was heavily drugged in the tapes.

Although it was not clear exactly what she was referencing, a message sent to Combs by Khorram around the time of the lawsuit seemed to show some friction between the pair.

“If you cannot be honest with me this doesn’t work,” she told him, according to the messages. Combs “keeping things” to himself put them in the “situation we are all in right now”, she added.

Towards the end of the court day, videos entered into evidence under seal were played by the prosecution. This means the jury and lawyers could see and hear what was happening, but members of the public in court could not.

Read more:
Everything you need to know about the trial
The rise and fall of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs
What we learned from Cassie’s testimony

Prosecutors have said they expect to conclude their case later this week. After this, Combs’s defence team will begin theirs.

Last week, Kanye West turned up at the court in Manhattan, New York, to support the rapper, spending about 40 minutes in the building watching proceedings on a monitor in an overflow room.

Combs’s mother, Janice Combs, and several of his children have also consistently shown up throughout the hearing.

Diddy denies charges of sex-trafficking, transportation to engage in prostitution and racketeering conspiracy.

The trial continues.

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