Connect with us

Published

on

The 73-year-old British man who died from a suspected heart attack after “sudden extreme turbulence” on a London-Singapore flight has been named as Geoff Kitchen.

Dozens more were injured in the incident, with passengers describing people being “launched into the ceiling” and overhead lockers.

Singapore Airlines flight SQ321 from Heathrow was forced to make an emergency landing at Bangkok Airport in Thailand.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

British passenger Geoff Kitchen died during severe turbulence on the flight to Singapore.

Singapore Airlines has apologised and said they are “fully cooperating with the relevant authorities on the investigations”.

Mr Kitchen, from Thornbury near Bristol, was on a six-week holiday with his wife to Singapore, Indonesia and Australia.

His wife is believed to be in hospital following the incident.

In a post on Facebook, Thornbury Musical Theatre Group paid tribute to Mr Kitchen: “It is with a heavy heart that we learn of the devastating news of the passing of our esteemed colleague and friend Geoff Kitchen in the recent Singapore air incident.

“Geoff was always a gentleman with the utmost honesty and integrity and always did what was right for the group.

“His commitment to TMTG was unquestionable and he has served the group and the local community of Thornbury for over 35 years, holding various offices within the group, including chairman, treasurer and most recently secretary.

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to his wife and the family at this difficult time, and we ask that you respect their privacy.”

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Extreme turbulence comes ‘out of the blue’

Kittipong Kittikachorn, head of Bangkok airport, said earlier that the 73-year-old died from a probable cardiac arrest.

Forty-seven Britons were among the 211 passengers and 18 crew onboard the plane, a Boeing 777-300ER.

A spokesperson for Samitivej Srinakarin Hospital said: “Seventy-one people needed treatment and six of them had critical injuries.”

However, Singapore Airlines seemed to contradict those numbers and said only 30 people had been taken to hospital.

Read more:
Images show damage in plane after one killed in turbulence
Is flight turbulence getting worse – and what types are there?

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Plane passengers speak from hospital

Speaking to Sky News, passengers said seatbelts spared some from injury, while others described flight attendants as having cuts to their heads.

Australian Teandra Tukhunen, who had her left arm in a sling in Bangkok’s Samitivej Srinakarin Hospital, said she was asleep and “woken up because I was thrown to the roof and then to the floor”.

Ms Tukhunen, 30, said when the seatbelt sign came on “pretty much immediately, straight after that I was flung to the roof, before I had time to put my seatbelt on unfortunately”.

“It was just so quick, over in a couple of seconds and then you’re just shocked. Everyone’s pretty freaked out.”

Turbulence can hit without warning

Jo Robinson

Weather producer

@SkyJoRobinson

There are a few forms of turbulence – where there’s a sudden change in airflow and wind speed.

Turbulence can often be associated with storm clouds, which are usually well forecast and monitored, allowing planes to fly around them.

Clear-Air Turbulence (CAT) is much more dangerous as there are no visual signs, such as clouds.

This invisible vertical air movement usually occurs at and above 15,000ft and is mostly linked to the jet stream.

There are clues on where CAT may occur, but generally it can’t be detected ahead of time, which means flight crews can be caught unaware with no time to warn passengers and put seat belt signs on.

It’s been understood for some time that climate change is increasing turbulence during flights, and the trend is set to worsen according to reports.

Passenger Dzafran Azmir said: “Some people hit their heads on the baggage cabins overhead and dented it, they hit the places where lights and masks are and broke straight through it.”

Follow Sky News on WhatsApp
Follow Sky News on WhatsApp

Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News

Tap here

Singapore Airlines also said the pilot declared a medical emergency and landed in Bangkok after “sudden extreme turbulence over the Irrawaddy Basin at 37,000 feet about 10 hours after departure”.

Its CEO said in a statement on Tuesday morning they were “very sorry for the traumatic experience that everyone on board SQ321 went through” and their priority would be to give “all possible assistance” to passengers and crew.

Goh Choon Phong added a team had been “swiftly” dispatched to Bangkok to help with ground operations and a relief flight with 143 passengers and crew had landed in Singapore at 5.05am local time on Tuesday.

A total of 79 passengers and crew remained in Bangkok, he added.

In a statement, the UK Foreign Office said: “We are supporting the family of a British man who has died in Bangkok and are in contact with the local authorities.”

Continue Reading

UK

Ukrainian man charged over fires at properties and car linked to Sir Keir Starmer

Published

on

By

Ukrainian man charged over fires at properties and car linked to Sir Keir Starmer

A 21-year-old man has been charged with three counts of arson with intent to endanger life after fires at two properties and a car linked to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.

Roman Lavrynovych, 21, a Ukrainian national from Sydenham, southeast London, is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday, the Metropolitan Police said.

The force said officers from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command led the investigation because of the connections to the prime minister.

Sir Keir Starmer house
Metropolitan Police
Fire Pic: LNP
Image:
Pic: LNP

Emergency services were called to a fire in the early hours of Monday at a house in Kentish Town, north London, where Sir Keir lived with his family before becoming prime minister.

Damage was caused to the property’s entrance but nobody was hurt.

A car was also set alight in the same street last Thursday.

A forensics officer is seen in Kentish Town, north London. Police are investigating a fire at Sir Keir Starmer's house in north London. Picture date: Monday May 12, 2025.
Image:
Forensic workers at a house in Kentish Town owned by the prime minister. Pic: PA


There was another blaze at the front door of a house converted into flats in Islington, also linked to the prime minister, on Sunday.

One person was taken to safety via an internal staircase by crews wearing breathing apparatus, London Fire Brigade said.

The head of the Crown Prosecution Service counter terrorism division, Bethan David, said: “These charges relate to two fires at residential addresses in Islington on Sunday May 11 and in Kentish Town on Monday May 12, as well as a car fire in Kentish Town on Thursday May 8.

“The Crown Prosecution Service reminds all concerned that criminal proceedings against this defendant are now active and that he has the right to a fair trial.”

Continue Reading

UK

Bank worker and brother who murdered drug dealer in ‘ferocious’ knife attack are jailed

Published

on

By

Bank worker and brother who murdered drug dealer in 'ferocious' knife attack are jailed

A brother and sister have been jailed for the murder of a drug dealer in a “ferocious” knife attack.

Isaiah Marsh, 21, and his 23-year-old sibling Mya Marsh were sentenced to a minimum of 20 years in prison for killing Minister Enfrence, 21, in a row over a £200 cannabis debt.

Bank worker Mya was trying to buy drugs from Mr Enfrence in Kings Norton, Birmingham, when she met him armed with a kitchen knife at about 10am on 5 November, the city’s crown court heard.

Judge Simon Drew KC said that Mya was the aggressor in an initial confrontation with Mr Enfrence over the debt as he sentenced the siblings on Thursday.

Mya called her brother Isaiah to the scene, who “launched a ferocious attack on Minister as he lay defenceless on his back on the floor” and had intended to kill, the judge said.

Mr Enfrence suffered at least 12 stab wounds to his body, arms, hands and head in the “unprovoked” attack.

He did not die instantly and managed to escape before collapsing nearby.

More on Birmingham

Judge Drew said footage of the attack, which was caught on CCTV, was “truly sickening” to watch as Mr Enfrence died a “traumatic and painful death”.

Minister Enfrence. Pic: West Midlands Police
Image:
Minister Enfrence was killed on 5 November. Pic: West Midlands Police

Siblings unanimously convicted of murder

The footage shows Mya passing a knife to her brother during the stabbing.

The judge told them: “This was an attack by two people on one. That attack was unprovoked. Members of the public, including a child in a pushchair, passed very close by while the attack was taking place.”

After the killing, Mya went to work “as if nothing had happened” after taking the morning off work, citing mental health problems, the court was told.

Isaiah later handed himself in to the police.

A jury unanimously convicted the siblings of murder on Monday following a three-week trial.

Both had denied murder and alternative charges of manslaughter.

Read more from Sky News:
Police fear mother might abandon fourth baby
Remains of more than 30 dogs found in raid

Isaiah claimed he acted in self-defence, while Mya claimed she did not believe her brother would use the knife to stab Mr Enfrence.

Rachel Brand KC, representing Mya, said the attack was “utterly out of character” for her client and that Mya had shouted “stop it” and “break it up” during her brother and Mr Enfrence’s struggle.

Isaiah, meanwhile, would find it “almost impossible to reconcile what he saw on the CCTV with who he is”, his barrister Michael Ivers KC told the court.

“He has told everyone who will listen when they have spoken to him that he is full of remorse about what happened,” Mr Ivers said.

Continue Reading

UK

Woman’s testimony from beyond the grave helps to convict rapist Steven Connery

Published

on

By

Woman's testimony from beyond the grave helps to convict rapist Steven Connery

A “despicable” rapist has been brought to justice and jailed for 10 years in part thanks to a woman’s testimony from beyond the grave.

Steven Connery, 41, repeatedly raped and sexually assaulted two women in the Forth Valley and Tayside areas.

Judge Douglas Brown said Connery’s first victim was left “so shocked that she couldn’t speak” following a painful attack in a bathroom while she was getting ready for a night out.

A court heard how the second woman was also left in “agony” after a sex assault.

Connery was arrested in 2022 after his past crimes were brought to the attention of Police Scotland.

His second victim died before a trial was held at the High Court in Glasgow, but her evidence was read out in the form of a statement by one of the investigating officers.

Connery denied any wrongdoing but was in March found guilty of four charges.

More on Crime

He returned to the dock on Wednesday and was handed a 13-year extended sentence, with 10 years in jail and three years on licence once released back into the community.

Judge Brown said: “It is almost inevitable that offences of this nature will cause substantial harm and in relation to the second complainer, who has since died, it is clear from a victim impact statement submitted by her sister that your behaviour had a massive impact not only on her but also on her family.”

Read more from Sky News:
TikTok influencer shot dead during livestream
Police fear mum might abandon fourth baby but close in on her location

It was noted that Connery was “still reasonably young” at the time of some of his offending, but the judge added: “Though there is little to indicate that a lack of maturity was a significant factor.”

Connery was additionally placed on the sex offenders’ register indefinitely and banned from contacting the woman who is still alive.

Detective Sergeant Khalid Abdulrahman said: “Although one of Connery’s victims passed away, it was right that her evidence was heard in court through the reading of statements.

“I hope this sentencing brings some comfort to both her family and the other victim in this case.

“Our thoughts remain with them, as without their information Connery wouldn’t have been held accountable for his despicable actions.”

Continue Reading

Trending