Connect with us

Published

on

Everton have been deducted 10 points for breaches of profit and sustainability rules, the Premier League has said.

The penalty, effective immediately, leaves the club with four points and plunges them into the relegation zone.

The club said it was “shocked and disappointed” by the “wholly disproportionate” ruling and plans to appeal.

It comes after the league referred Everton in March to an independent commission after reviewing the financial records of all top-flight clubs for the 2021-22 season.

According to the rules, clubs can sustain losses of up to £105m in three years or potentially face penalties.

However, Everton FC reported losses of £124.5million for the relevant period.

Everton FC said in a statement after today’s points deduction: “The club believes that the commission has imposed a wholly disproportionate and unjust sporting sanction.

More from UK

“The club has already communicated its intention to appeal the decision to the Premier League. The appeal process will now commence and the club’s case will be heard by an Appeal Board appointed pursuant to the Premier League’s rules in due course.

“Everton maintains that it has been open and transparent in the information it has provided to the Premier League and that it has always respected the integrity of the process.

“The club does not recognise the finding that it failed to act with the utmost good faith and it does not understand this to have been an allegation made by the Premier League during the course of proceedings.”

Everton added that both the “harshness and severity of the sanction imposed by the commission are neither a fair nor a reasonable reflection of the evidence submitted”.

The club added that it would also “monitor with great interest the decisions made in any other cases concerning the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules”.

Everton said they could not comment any further until the appeal process was over.

Read more UK news
Two 12-year-old boys charged with murder
Weapons being sold on shopping app for under £5

Steve Rotheram, the mayor of Liverpool City Region, said the points deduction was an “excessive and grossly unfair punishment”.

Writing on X, formerly Twitter, he said: “I’ll be supporting the club in their appeal and writing to the Premier League to ask them to rescind it.

“This is about fairness, not partisan rivalry.”

The Premier League said in a statement: “During the proceedings, the club admitted it was in breach of the PSRs for the period ending Season 2021/22 but the extent of the breach remained in dispute.

“Following a five-day hearing last month, the Commission determined that Everton FC’s PSR Calculation for the relevant period resulted in a loss of £124.5million, as contended by the Premier League, which exceeded the threshold of £105million permitted under the PSRs.

“The Commission concluded that a sporting sanction in the form of a 10-point deduction should be imposed. That sanction has immediate effect.”

Continue Reading

UK

Boy, 16, shot dead in south London

Published

on

By

Boy, 16, shot dead in south London

A teenage boy has been shot dead in south London.

The Metropolitan Police said the 16-year-old was killed on Paradise Road, near Stockwell Tube Station.

Officers were called to the scene around 3.20pm on Tuesday to reports of a shooting.

Despite the best efforts of paramedics from the London Ambulance Service and London’s Air Ambulance, the teenager was pronounced dead at the scene.

In a statement, the Met Police said that no arrests had been made and it had launched a murder investigation.

Officers were also working to identify the teenager and contact his next of kin.

‘Enormously shocking incident’

Superintendent Gabriel Cameron said: “This is an enormously shocking incident which I imagine will cause huge distress to the local community.

“Our thoughts are with the young boy’s family at this devastating time.

“Local officers are on the scene gathering CCTV and speaking to witnesses to piece together what has happened.

“They will be supported by specialist homicide investigators shortly.”

He added that police would work “around the clock” to find the perpetrators.

Continue Reading

UK

Bill Dare: Spitting Image producer dies after accident abroad

Published

on

By

Bill Dare: Spitting Image producer dies after accident abroad

Comedy writer Bill Dare, – who worked on shows including Spitting Image and Dead Ringers – has died after an accident overseas, his agent said.

Described as a “super producer” by his peers, Dare, 64, worked on eight series of hugely popular satire puppet show Spitting Image.

Airing on ITV during the 1980s and 1990s, the show delighted in lampooning public figures including politicians, celebrities and royalty, winning BAFTAs and Emmys. It was rebooted in 2020.

Dare also created Dead Ringers, a comedy impressions show broadcast on BBC Radio 4.

He also produced The Now Show, a satirical take on the news which ran on Radio 4 from 1998 to 2024.

Dare worked on a wide range of comedy shows during his career, including the radio production of The Mary Whitehouse Experience in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He had also written several novels.

In a statement released on Monday, his agent JFL Agency confirmed he died at the weekend.

A spokesperson said: “We are shocked and greatly saddened to have to announce the death of our brilliant client Bill Dare, who died at the weekend following an accident overseas.

“Our thoughts are with his wife Lucy, daughter Rebecca, and with all of Bill’s family and friends who will be devastated by his loss.

“Bill was a truly legendary producer and writer, and his comedy instincts were second to none.”

Pic: ITV/Shutterstock
Image:
Oasis depicted on Spitting Image in 1996. Pic: ITV/Shutterstock

Colleagues were quick to pay tribute and reflect on his talent.

Impressionist Jon Culshaw wrote on X: “It’s impossible to express the unreal sense of loss at the passing of the incredible Bill Dare. The wisest comedy alchemist and the dearest, dearest friend. Much love to Lucy and all Bill’s family and friends. We shall all miss him more than we can say.”

David Baddiel posted on the social media platform: “Just heard that the original producer of The Mary Whitehouse Experience on radio, Bill Dare, has died. Bill was an amazing creative force. I owe him much. RIP.”

Former EastEnders actress Tracy-Ann Oberman said she was “devastated” and that her “entire comedy career was down to Bill”.

She wrote: “When I was on the BBC Radio 4 rep company early on in career – I ran into Bill in the corridors – He asked if I was good at accents. I said yes.

“He cast me in a sketch show. I had to do about 15 different accents. We recorded in front of a live audience at Broadcasting House – afterwards Bill said ‘Why have I never met you – you’re going to have a big career’.

“He was incredibly loyal and supportive and really opened a path for me into the R4 comedy world and then TV having come out of the RSC and theatre it was all new. I will always be grateful. Fly high Bill.”

Comedian and writer Mark Steel wrote: “This is so grim. Bill was a compassionate hearty soul with the ability to be beautifully grumpy, a marvellously thoughtful comic mind.

“He’d argue but always listen and you’d always laugh, he made a million shows and wanted them all to matter and would have made a million more.”

Have I Got News for You writer Pete Sinclair said: “I am utterly devastated by Bill’s death. I still can’t believe it. He was a comedy genius. A hugely talented writer as well as a brilliant producer. A close friend and co-writer. I cannot begin to say how much I’ll miss him.”

Read more from Sky News:
Dolly Parton’s husband of nearly 60 years dies
With Love, Meghan: What we learnt from new Netflix series
The Crown actor ‘told to attend police interview’

Julia McKenzie, comedy commissioner for Radio 4, said: “I am so terribly sorry to hear this tragic news and my thoughts are with Bill’s wife, family and friends.

“Bill has been a huge part of Radio 4 comedy for decades, as a writer and producer, and listeners will have heard his legendary name at the end of many of their favourite shows.

“Bill was a comedy obsessive, and very instinctive about making the funniest choices when it came to writing, directing and editing.

“He cared so much about his work that in the production booth during Dead Ringers you’d see him crouched over the script, utterly focused on the show.

“He was funny and very dry in person, amusingly cynical when he needed to be and always pushed to keep the comedy he made, and particularly satire, spiky.

“I’ve known and worked with him for 18 years and like many I can’t believe he has gone, he will leave a big hole in the comedy world and in our hearts.”

Continue Reading

UK

‘Corrupt’ ex-prison officer who boasted about performing sex act on inmate jailed

Published

on

By

'Corrupt' ex-prison officer who boasted about performing sex act on inmate jailed

An ex-prison officer who boasted about performing a sex act on an inmate who “manipulated” her has been jailed. 

Mother-of-one Katie Evans, 26, burst into tears in court as the judge described how she was “corrupted” by an “experienced criminal” not long after she started work at Doncaster Prison when she was just 21.

As well as starting an intimate relationship with the prisoner, Daniel Brownley, Evans had more than 140 phone calls with him, moved money around bank accounts for him, and supplied him with information the prison held on him, the court heard.

Brownley had been jailed in 2016 for attempted robbery, burglary and handling stolen goods, the court heard.

“It appears you indulged in some form of sexual activity in the prison. It has been described that on one occasion you had oral sex with him,” Judge Jeremy Richardson KC told Evans at Sheffield Crown Court.

“It is truly a terrible situation for a judge to be passing sentence on a former prison officer who has been branded a corrupt prison officer.”

Judge Richardson told Evans “he corrupted you and not the reverse”, adding: “I’m entirely satisfied you were manipulated by an experienced criminal to assist him.”

He said Evans was “young and immature” at the time but added: “Your misconduct materially affected the good order and discipline of the prison.”

“You were inexperienced and immature but that is, however, no excuse for what you did.”

Read more from Sky News:
What we learnt from Meghan’s new Netflix show
Man given life sentence for murdering son’s girlfriend

Judge Richardson said the sentence of 21 months should have been longer but, “purely as an act of mercy”, he reduced it to take into account the effect it will have on Evans’ relationship with her young daughter and the difficulties she will have in prison as a former officer.

Evans, of Hatfield, Doncaster, admitted misconduct in a public office at a previous hearing.

Still crying, she waved at family members in the public gallery as she was led from the dock.

Continue Reading

Trending