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The mother of one of the four teenagers found dead after a car crash in North Wales has said she wishes she could wake from her “nightmare”.

Jevon Hirst, Harvey Owen, Wilf Henderson and Hugo Morris – aged 16, 17 and 18 – were found in a silver Ford Fiesta in Snowdonia (Eryri) on Tuesday, after they were reported missing from an overnight camping trip.

An urgent search was launched by police, who found their bodies inside the overturned car, after it left the A4085 at Garreg, near Tremadog, and was partially submerged in water.

Rishi Sunak sent his sympathies to the boys’ families during Prime Minister’s Questions.

“I know the thoughts of the whole house will be with the family and friends of the four teenagers who died in a car accident in North Wales,” he said.

Crystal Owen, Harvey’s mother, wrote on Facebook: “I feel like I’m in a nightmare I wish I could wake up from but I’m not.

“I just wanted to say I do appreciate people’s kindness but no amount of messages is going to help me overcome this. Nothing will make this nightmare go away.”

She said she didn’t know the boys were going camping and thought they were going to stay at a friend’s grandfather’s house.

Superintendent Owain Llewellyn, from North Wales Police, said the crash appeared to be a “tragic accident” but that the investigation into why the car left the road is ongoing.

In an update on Wednesday, he said officers were now being assisted by members of the the North West Underwater Search Team and that the road would remain closed in the meantime.

Police remain at the scene in Garreg, Gwynedd, on Wednesday morning after the bodies of four teenagers were discovered
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Police were still at the scene on Wednesday

A quiet space set up at a church in Shrewsbury in memory of four boys killed in North Wales car crash
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A quiet space set up at a church in Shrewsbury

In the Shropshire town of Shrewsbury, where the boys lived, the Trinity Churches parish said it would offer “time and space to pray” at the Trinity Centre in Meole Brace, from 9am on Wednesday.

Shrewsbury Abbey, meanwhile, is open all day for prayer, and Shrewsbury Colleges Group, where the boys were A-level students, offered “deepest condolences” to their family and friends.

Wilf’s girlfriend, Maddi Corfield, posted a tribute online for her “sweet angel”.

“I love you so much, I’m going to miss you forever,” she said.

“The sweetest and most loving boy I’ve ever known. I hope you know how much I love you, gorgeous.

“Thank you for all the time you’ve spent with me… thank you for loving me endlessly. I promise I’ll do the same for you, my sweet, sweet angel.”

She added: “I can’t imagine my world without you. I’m missing you so much already, but I am going to enjoy life the way you would’ve wanted, the way that you made me feel.”

A solitary candle left at the scene in Garreg, Gwynedd, in memory of four teenagers who were found dead
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A candle left at the scene

Staff at the Dough and Oil restaurant in Shrewsbury paid tribute to Harvey, who worked with them.

The restaurant will remain closed on Wednesday as a mark of respect.

They said in an Instagram post he was “easy-going, warm, funny, gentle, bright, hardworking and humble”.

In a post of Instagram, they described him as “easy-going, warm, funny, gentle, bright, hardworking and humble”.

“He gave it his all, developing a passion for dough and had dreams of one day opening his own bakery,” they said.

“Our love, thoughts and condolences go out to Harvey’s family and to those of his friends, their lives full of promise cut so tragically short.”

Shrewsbury Town Council said its Christmas lights switch-on planned for Wednesday evening would not go ahead following the boys’ deaths.

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Car found in search for four teenagers on Snowdonia camping trip

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‘Tragically four bodies were recovered’

Her mother, Lisa Corfield, 37, said on Facebook: “I am absolutely heartbroken for Maddi and all of the families involved.

“Wilf was such a lovely, kind lad and treated Maddi in a way only a mother could hope her daughter be treated.”

First Minister of Wales Mark Drakeford called the death of the boys “devastating news”.

Posting on X, he said: “My thoughts are with their family and friends during this incredibly difficult time as they deal with the unimaginable.”

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Child dies and another injured after car driven on to sports pitch

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Child dies and another injured after car driven on to sports pitch

A child has died and another has been injured after a car was driven on to a sports pitch in Cumbria.

Police say they were called at 4.58pm to reports of a collision involving a BMW i40 and two children on a pitch at Kendal Rugby Union Football Club on Shap Road, in Kendal.

Cumbria Police say one child died, while the second is being treated by paramedics.

A man aged in his 40s has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving.

A spokesperson for Cumbria Police said: “Specialist investigators are at the scene and the area has been cordoned off as initial investigation enquiries take place.”

The force said the incident was not believed to be terror-related. Immediate family members of both children have been informed, it added.

In a post on its Facebook page, the club said it was “deeply saddened to confirm that an incident occurred today at Kendal Rugby Club.”

The post, attributed to club chairman Dr Stephen Green, continued: “Our thoughts are with their family and friends and we kindly ask for privacy for all involved at this difficult time.”

The club and its facilities are now temporarily closed while it cooperates “fully” with authorities, it added.

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Tim Farron MP, whose constituency includes Kendal, posted on X: “This is devastating, utterly heartbreaking news. I’m praying for the children and for their families and friends.

“Our community in Kendal is stunned and in mourning.”

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PhD student guilty of drugging and raping 10 women in London and China

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PhD student guilty of drugging and raping 10 women in London and China

A man has been convicted of drugging and raping 10 women in London and China between 2019 and 2023.

Chinese PhD student Zhenhao Zou, 28, filmed nine of the attacks as “souvenirs”, and kept a trophy box of women’s belongings, jurors in his trial were told.

Warning: This article contains details of sexual offences

He was accused in court of drugging and raping three women in London and seven in China between 2019 and 2023.

Jurors at Inner London Crown Court found him guilty of 11 charges of rape against 10 women, including two who have been identified and another eight who have yet to be traced.

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Moment police arrest student guilty of rape

The mechanical engineering student was also convicted of three counts of voyeurism, 10 of possession of an extreme pornographic image, one of false imprisonment and three of possession of a controlled drug with intent to commit a sexual offence, namely butanediol.

He was cleared of two further counts of possession of an extreme pornographic image and one of possession of MDMA with intent to commit a sexual offence.

***ONLY USE IF HE IS CONVICTED OF AT LEAST TWO RAPES*** The trial heard Zou kept a 'lost property box' full of women's belongings. Pic: Met Police
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The trial heard Zou kept a ‘lost property box’ full of women’s belongings. Pic: Met Police

The jury has not reached verdicts on four counts of possession of drugs with intent to commit a sexual offence.

Zou – who first moved to Belfast in 2017 to study mechanical engineering at Queen’s University before moving to London in 2019 – showed no visible reaction as the verdicts were read out in court.

Catherine Farrelly KC, prosecuting, told jurors during the trial that Zou “presents as a smart and charming young man” but is “also a persistent sexual predator; a voyeur and a rapist”.

***ONLY USE IF HE IS CONVICTED OF AT LEAST TWO RAPES*** A discreet camera belonging to Zou. Pic: Met Police
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A discreet camera belonging to Zou. Pic: Met Police

Zou, who also used the name Pakho online, befriended fellow Chinese students on WeChat and dating apps, before inviting them for drinks and drugging them at his flats in London or an unknown location in China, the court heard.

The jury heard how he would secretly film his attacks using a mobile device and hidden cameras, and was shown evidence found on SD cards at his accommodation of him raping unconscious women in London and in China.

Senior Crown Prosecution Service prosecutor Saira Pike thanked the “incredibly strong and brave” women who came forward to report his “heinous” crimes.

“Zou is a serial rapist and a danger to women,” she said.

“In some instances, we have not been able to identify Zou’s victims. Without knowing who these women are, we have not been able to support them through a deeply distressing period of time.

“We have always been determined to seek justice for both the unidentified and identified victims in this case.”

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James Scott Rhys Anderson: British man who ‘fought for Ukraine’ jailed for 19 years in Russia

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James Scott Rhys Anderson: British man who 'fought for Ukraine' jailed for 19 years in Russia

A British man has been jailed for 19 years after a Russian court found him guilty of fighting for Ukraine in the country’s Kursk region.

James Scott Rhys Anderson, 22, had been charged with terrorist and mercenary offences and was found guilty after a closed trial.

The court said he was to serve the first five years of his sentence in prison and the remainder in a penal colony.

In the trial, a Ukrainian soldier from the same unit was questioned as a witness.

Ukrainian troops broke across the border into Kursk region on 6 August last year.

They still hold some territory there seven months later, despite attempts by Russian forces to force them out.

Investigators accused Anderson of illegally crossing into Kursk in November as part of an armed group that committed unspecified “criminal acts against civilians”.

Russian state media published video showing him being led in handcuffs and locked in a cage of the kind where defendants in Russian court cases are placed.

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It apparently showed Anderson saying he had served in the British army from 2019-2023 before deciding to join the foreign legion of Ukraine’s armed forces.

Early on in the war, Ukraine’s authorities said more than 20,000 people from 52 countries came to Ukraine’s aid.

Since then, the number of foreign fighters in Ukraine’s military has been classified.

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