She seemed perfect, at first. Her CV brimmed with all kinds of qualifications. And she had years of experience caring for vulnerable people.
As Sarah Whitaker sat at her kitchen table and looked through the paperwork the care agency had sent her, she knew that Tracy was the one she could trust to look after David, her 89-year-old dad.
Retired businessman David Seal suffered a stroke in the summer and needed more and more support at home.
He was taking a daily cocktail of strong prescription medicines and also needed help emptying his catheter bag because going to the toilet had become difficult recently.
“We need somebody experienced in stroke management and catheter care,” said Sarah. “But we also needed somebody who could drive my dad to the town and back. And somebody who was a very good cook.
“My dad chose Tracy and she arrived the next day.”
Image: Sarah was sent Tracy’s CV and profile by Hampshire-based Access Care
Tracy came by train and, on the journey to David’s home, revealed that she could not drive because there was a problem with her licence.
Sarah saw this as a red flag. But that wasn’t all she was worried about.
“We had to teach her how to open and close the catheter because she had never seen one before. And that was a surprise given her experience.”
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It got worse. Tracy couldn’t cook and once served David deep-fried Brussels sprouts for lunch. Sarah was increasingly concerned about the carer’s medicine management skills too.
“She was giving dad pills here there and everywhere. And that’s a problem because if you give my dad a pill, he’ll swallow it. Whatever it is.”
This was far removed from the carer she had read so much about.
Sarah was introduced to Tracy through an introductory care agency, Hampshire-based Access Care. When Sarah got in touch about her concerns, the agency said they were confused too.
They had never had any complaints about Tracy. She was the model carer.
And then one sunny day in early September, as David was being pushed around the village in his wheelchair by his grandchildren, one of them pulled out a mobile phone to capture the happy scene.
“As soon as Tracy saw the camera she stepped out of view as quick as a flash,” said Sarah. “And later my daughter said that it seemed odd that she didn’t want to be on camera.”
Image: The woman who was looking after David Seal did not want to be pictured
Sarah rang the care agency again, who supplied her with a copy of Tracy’s driving licence. She looked at the video again.
“The image we had from the walk and the person in the driving licence photo were two different people.”
The next morning, Tracy – or whoever she was – packed her bags and left.
Sarah was horrified. She was left wondering who had been in her father’s house for nearly three weeks. It started to fit into place; the shoddy catheter care, the bad cooking and the poor handling of medicines.
She contacted the care agency again, who promptly contacted Tracy, who was adamant that she had been in the house caring for David.
Access Care contacted Hampshire Police. But the response was not what they expected.
A police constable replied on 4 November with disappointing news. They explained that officers had “limited lines of enquiry” and that because Tracy had denied the allegation, they would need an “independent witness” to confirm the allegation.
They seemed to be saying that they would not investigate, adding that it would be deemed “not in the public interest” to send a police officer to interview Tracy in person at her home, despite having her address.
Image: Sarah said she only found out later that ‘Tracy’ was ‘two different people’
The police were clearly not interested and showed no signs of investigating. So as part of our investigation into this story, we tracked down Tracy to an address and decided to pay her a visit. To get her side of the story.
I arrived at a large housing estate and saw Tracy backing her car into the drive at the back. I approached her and said I wanted to speak to her about her work as a carer in David’s home.
At first, she said that she had worked very hard to provide the best care but that the family were not happy. She was very clear that she had lived in the home for nearly three weeks. No question about it.
But when I confronted Tracy with the photo evidence from the sunny village walk, her tone changed. She took in deep breath and sighed.
“I don’t know how to explain this,” she said slowly. “It’s so bad. Very bad. I’m sorry.”
Image: Tracy admitted to Sky News she sent a friend to care for David
Tracy explained to me that she had asked a friend to do the care job in her place, admitting that her friend was not a trained carer. She said nobody had forced her to do it and she had never done anything like this in the past.
She said she thought she could get away with it because the care agency never checked up on her.
“They [the agency] never met me face to face. They have to do more checks to know who is going in the house.”
Image: The real Tracy said her care agency never checked in on her
I show Sarah the video of Tracy and her astonishing admission. “She was knowingly complicit and sent an untrained carer – a complete stranger – into the house of a vulnerable elderly man who is very ill. The nerve of the woman!”
Sarah did some research and reached out to the care regulator, the Care Quality Commission (CQC). But to her surprise, they said they could not help.
They don’t regulate introductory care agencies like the one Sarah used to hire Tracy.
“I thought it was absolutely incredible that the CQC were not involved and I was very surprised to discover that agencies like this send carers all over the the place but aren’t regulated in any way.”
Image: Fully managed care is regulated by the CQC, while introductory agencies – like Access Care – use self-employed carers
One of the reasons why the deception was picked up on so quickly is that Sarah lives next door to her dad. And so, we got around to talk to David and I asked him how he felt about having a stranger looking after him.
“I feel very cross about it. I feel fooled and misled,” he said. But David is also clear about another point: regulation. Or lack of it.
“There’s no point in being responsible for the care industry if you’re only dealing with people who are registered with you. It is quite pointless.”
A spokesperson for the Care Quality Commission told Sky News: “We appreciate the distress this incident has caused both Mr Seal and Mrs Whitaker, however as neither introductory agencies or self-employed carers are covered by CQC’s remit we are unable to take action in this case.
“These matters should be reported in the first instance to the local authority safeguarding team who have the remit to investigate the issue and take necessary action.
“Any questions regarding the legal framework for how health and social care is regulated in England is a matter for the government.”
Image: David said CQC not regulating the introductory agencies is ‘pointless’
The care sector is big business. Home care services are worth over £12bn per year and rising, according to healthcare analysts LaingBuisson.
The government has written to Chief Executives of adult social care services telling them of their so-called ‘home first’ approach to healthcare, which supports people to live independently at home rather than being cared for in hospital. Just like the kind of care David was receiving.
And as winter comes and pressure increases on the NHS, these kinds of services are relied on more than ever.
“If you can’t guarantee that the person you’re expecting is the person you get then I think the system is very flawed,” Sarah tells me.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson told Sky News: “Our sympathies are with David’s family and friends in this deeply concerning case.
“This government inherited a social care system in crisis. We are committed to building a National Care Service – underpinned by national standards and delivered locally – to improve the consistency of care and ensure everyone can live an independent and dignified life.”
“A healthy NHS and social care system requires strong regulation to ensure patient and user safety and that’s why we are reforming the Care Quality Commission to make sure it is fit for purpose.”
Access Care CEO Tiggy Bradshaw also told Sky News: “We were shocked to hear of this terrible deception and are deeply sorry for what Mr Seal and his family have experienced.
“When we heard of these alarming allegations, we contacted Action Fraud and the police and commenced an urgent safeguarding review. We have been in close touch with the family throughout and will continue to collaborate with the police.
“We have strict protocols in place however these extremely unusual circumstances have given us cause for reflection.
“We are in the process of developing further security checks and procedures for families in receipt of care at home.”
Several days after approaching Hampshire Police for comment, a spokesperson told us they were looking into the case, adding: “Officers are carrying out a number of enquiries and the incident is still under investigation to determine whether any crimes have been committed.”
Sarah meanwhile says she has been left deeply concerned by the incident.
Image: ‘If the system can be played this easily, then the system needs to change,’ Sarah said
“We knew nothing about this person who was in my dad’s home. For all I know she could have been an axe murderer,” she told Sky News.
“The fact that the carer was able to get away with it for as long as she did put the entire system in doubt.
“If the system can be played this easily, then the system needs to change.”
Russell Brand has pleaded not guilty to rape and sexual assault charges as he appeared in court in London.
The British comedian and actor, from Hambleden in Buckinghamshire, was charged by post last month with one count each of rape, indecent assault and oral rape as well as two counts of sexual assault.
The charges relate to alleged incidents involving four separate women between 1999 and 2005.
The 49-year-old, who has been living in the US, was flanked by two officers as he pleaded not guilty to all the charges at Southwark Crown Court today.
Image: Russell Brand appears at Southwark Crown Court. Pic: Reuters
Brand stood completely still and looked straight ahead as he delivered his pleas.
The comedian, who has consistently denied having non-consensual sex since allegations were first aired two years ago, is due to stand trial in June 2026.
Even as someone who has grown up in the public eye, Tom Daley has vulnerabilities and concerns to finally reveal.
The five-time Olympic medallist has an even greater perspective as the British diver who first competed at the Games aged 14 in 2008, who is now retired and a father of two.
Having grown up in the public eye when social media was still in its infancy, Daley is deeply troubled by the toxicity online, especially for someone with an opinion.
And the 31-year-old has spoken out from a young age – from LGBTQ+ rights to bullying and mental health – but he is ready to go further now.
“There’s lots of things I think we’ll look back on this last five, 10 years of human history as being quite shocking in a way,” Daley said in an interview with Sky News.
Image: Tom Daley competing at Tokyo 2020. Pic: PA
“When social media came to prevalence – and cancel culture and people not being allowed to make any mistakes or be able to share too many opinions – it can be very scary and intimidating for certain groups of people.
“I think it definitely pits lots of people against each other and I think we always have to remember that we’re all in this together at the end of the day.
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“And there’s so many more important things – being able to come together as one human race and I know that sounds very like hippie-dippie.
“But it really is as simple as that, about just being kind to each other.
“Where has that kindness and compassion gone because everybody feels like they have something to say about very small groups of people.”
Image: (L-R) Tom Daley and Matty Lee celebrate winning gold in the Men’s Synchronised 10m Platform Final at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Pic: PA
A front row seat to LA 2028
The Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion revealed he was gay in 2013 and went on to marry Oscar-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black.
They now live as a family in Los Angeles – the city hosting the 2028 Olympics.
Image: Tom Daley and Noah Williams took silver at the Paris Olympics last year. Pic: PA
Having retired from diving after a final silver medal at Paris 2024, Daley will have a front row seat to the Games taking place in an America where Donald Trump has seemed to roll back LGBTQ+ protections early in his second presidential term.
“It is scary in some parts of the world how the rights of LGBT people are kind of being reversed or they’re being dangerously threatened,” Daley said when asked about Trump.
Image: Tom Daley and his husband Dustin Lance Black at the Brit Awards 2023. Pic: AP
“It’s something again where minorities have to come together for the greater good because it is scary.
“And you may see someone else’s rights going away and I think it’s important that everybody, especially minorities, come together because it won’t just be one group that gets targeted.
“Once one group has been targeted, it will move on to the next, and the next, and the next.
“I think the most important thing is staying visible. I think lots of people ask, ‘What can you do to be an activist? What can you do to an advocate?’
“I think it’s being truly and authentically yourself. As long as you’re happy, your friends and family are happy, and you’re not hurting anyone else, then I think just being visible is a great form of activism.”
Image: Donald Trump and his wife Melania at his election night rally on 6 November 2024. Pic: Reuters
Trump election victory was a ‘shock’
“For lots of people living in the West Coast bubble, it was like a bit of a shock when Trump won the election in November,” Daley said.
“But I think it’s also given everybody a wake-up call. I just always believe in leading with kindness, care and compassion and trying to make life worth living for every single person.”
Daley knows what it is like to feel targeted for abuse.
Image: The sports star attends a screening in London for Tom Daley 1.6 Seconds. Pic: PA
In a new documentary featuring family video growing up, Tom Daley 1.6 Seconds, there is a sense of disbelief that he gave interviews as a child talking about being bullied in school after his Olympic debut at Beijing 2008.
“I never really saw it back then as something that was strange because it’s something that I had lived and grown up and just was part of how my life existed,” he said.
“But, looking back on it, I kind of was like, ‘Oh my gosh, imagine if it could have all been so different’.”
London 2012 poster boy
During the build-up to London 2012, Daley was the poster boy of the home Olympics.
But he was dealing with bulimia and body dysmorphia in private. It’s still difficult to talk about, knowing people would comment on how he seemed in great shape.
“But that’s not what an eating disorder is,” he said. “An eating disorder is not being able to think about your body, what you eat, what you put into your body rationally.
“And I think that’s something that people don’t necessarily understand with eating disorders, which is why going through that, I went through it alone.
“Because I was embarrassed to be thinking about those things. I didn’t think anybody would believe me.”
To this day, Daley feels people online are dismissive of his concerns. In interviews, he grates when it is pointed out that in retirement he is not fat.
“I’m constantly reminded of that,” he said. “So it’s definitely something that triggered the way that I think about my relationship with food.”
This is not to take away from how fondly Daley looks back on a career that saw him reach the pinnacle with Olympic gold in 2021 at the pandemic-delayed Olympics.
There is no sign of coming out of retirement again as he did in Paris last year.
“I feel incredibly proud of what I’ve been able to achieve in terms of my perseverance and resilience through lots of different things,” he said. “I do miss being on that diving board.
“It is like there is no other feeling than being on top of a diving board in a competition where you’re putting all of the work that you put in into that 1.6 seconds and I think I will forever miss that.”
A man who made and sold poisonous diet pills has been jailed.
DNP is poisonous to humans and has been banned for human consumption in the UK.
The industrial chemical, which is officially known as 2,4-Dinitrophenol, has been illegally sold as a pill for weight loss, according to police.
Kyle Enos, 33, from Maesteg, Bridgend, was jailed for three years on Thursday after a multi-agency investigation.
DNP can cause serious physical side effects or death, according to the Food Standards Agency.
Enos was found to have purchased the pure form sodium salt of the powder from China via the dark web.
He made the pills using cutting agents and a pill press in his bedroom and advertised them on a website he had made.
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After receiving orders via email, he would ship the products within the UK and beyond, disguising them as vitamins and minerals.
Following the investigation, he was charged with multiple drug offences and pleaded guilty at Cardiff Magistrates’ Court on 1 May.
‘Extremely ill or even dying’
He was sentenced at Cardiff Crown Court for one count of member of public import/acquire/possess/use of a regulated substance without licence, one count of supply regulated substance to member of public without verifying licence and one count of supply of regulated poison by person other than a pharmacist.
He was also found to have failed to comply with a serious crime prevention order (SCPO) after a previous conviction for the supply of the Class A drug Fentanyl.
Detective Constable Kieran Morris, of South Wales Police’s regional organised crime unit (ROCU) Tarian, said Enos was supplying the pills “with no safety precautions in place”, which could have led to buyers “becoming extremely ill or even dying”.
“Tarian ROCU are committed to safeguarding members of the public not only within our region, but across the United Kingdom and beyond,” he added.
Alison Abbott, head of the National Crime Agency’s prisons and lifetime management unit, said SCPOs were “a powerful tool” to help prevent those convicted of “serious offences” from reoffending after their release from prison.
“This case should serve as a warning to others,” she added.
“As we did with Enos, we will actively monitor all those who are subject to such orders, and they will stay on our radar even after they are released from jail.”