Yusuf Nazir: Boy, 5, who died after being sent home from hospital was ‘inhumanely treated’ and ‘gasping for breath’, say witnesses
A five-year-old boy, who died a week after he was sent home from an emergency department, was treated “inhumanely” and was “left gasping for breath”, according to witnesses in the hospital waiting room.
The claims over his alleged mistreatment were made to Sky News by two separate and unrelated women who saw Yusuf Nazir cradled in his mother’s arms at Rotherham Hospital just eight days before he died.
On Tuesday, Yusuf’s family met Health Secretary Victoria Atkins and said she told them she will ask NHS chief Amanda Pritchard to look at the case.
Yusuf’s mother Soniya and uncle Zaheer Ahmed spent over an hour with Ms Atkins sharing their concerns about a 2023 report into his death.
After the meeting, Mr Ahmed said: “We’re very happy with the way the meeting went, we could see progression coming our way and this is all we wanted, we want to get another report issued and get the truth out.”
Zaheer Ahmed, the uncle of Yusuf Nazir
Yusuf died on 23 November 2022 – eight days after he was seen at Rotherham Hospital and sent home with antibiotics.
A report into Yusuf’s NHS case published last year found his care was appropriate and “an admission was not clinically required” but this has been rejected by his family.
Mr Ahmed insists they were told “there are no beds and not enough doctors” and complained that Yusuf should have been admitted and given intravenous antibiotics in Rotherham to save his life.
‘Is there anyone who can help?’
Two independent and unrelated witnesses have spoken to Sky News to express their concerns about Yusuf’s care.
Both were in the emergency department at the same time as Yusuf and his mother.
One described the situation as “scary” and the other said it was a “truly horrific night”.
Jade Cousins sat opposite Yusuf as he lay cradled in his mother’s arms.
She said he was “gasping for breath” and she was not listened to when she urged medical staff to intervene.
Ms Cousins said: “I said to the nurse, ‘there’s a lady and there’s a little boy who’s really struggling to breathe. He’s gasping. Is there anyone that can come and help?’ and she just basically said, ‘If his mom’s concerned, then she needs to bring him to us herself’.”
“She was only a small lady herself. So picking up a boy who was practically just floppy would have been too much,” Ms Cousins added.
‘Inhumane treatment’ on ‘truly horrific night’
A second witness, who wants to stay anonymous, described Yusuf’s “inhumane treatment” on a “truly horrific” night.
She said: “I was in the waiting room before Yusuf arrived and it was clear as soon as he entered that he was very unwell.
“After waiting a few hours it was very clear that his condition was getting worse, and he was gasping for his breath.”
She added: “Yusuf’s mum spoke to the receptionist to ask for help, to be told that, ‘I can hear he is making a snoring noise’.
“He was not snoring, he was gasping for his breath. Even my child who was nine at the time replied, ‘That isn’t snoring’.”
“The events of the night were truly horrific, my child and I spoke about it to family and friends as it had stuck in our mind so much.
“I couldn’t believe that a child and family could be treated in such an inhumane manner.”
‘Report missed evidence’
Mr Ahmed said the NHS report published in October last year missed out on a range of evidence.
“An honest, fair investigation by a completely independent body. That’s what we’re wanting,” he said.
The report set out how Yusuf, who had asthma, was taken to the GP with a sore throat on 15 November.
Later that evening, his parents took him to Rotherham Hospital Urgent and Emergency Care Centre (UECC) where he was seen after a six-hour wait.
Yusuf was discharged with a diagnosis of severe tonsillitis and an extended prescription of antibiotics, the report said.
Two days later, Yusuf was given further antibiotics by his GP for a possible chest infection, but his family became so concerned they called an ambulance and insisted the paramedics take him to Sheffield Children’s Hospital rather than Rotherham.
Yusuf was admitted to the intensive care unit on 21 November but developed multi-organ failure and suffered several cardiac arrests which he did not survive.
NHS trust: ‘Nothing could have been done differently’
Dr Jo Beahan, medical director at the Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We were all deeply saddened by the tragic circumstances surrounding Yusuf’s death.
“It is something no parent wants to go through, and our sympathies remain with Yusuf’s family.
“Given the concerns raised by Yusuf’s family at the time, an independent investigation was commissioned by the South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board.
“The trust fully cooperated with the investigation and accepted the recommendations made within the report, which was published in October 2023.
“The independent investigation found that, sadly, there was nothing that could have been done differently that would have saved Yusuf’s life.”
Dr Beahan added: “The trust’s urgent and emergency care centre, as with emergency departments across the country, is a very busy environment, especially during the winter months.
“November 2022 was a particularly busy period for the urgent and emergency care centre at the trust. Yusuf was monitored during the period he waited to see a doctor.
“The CCTV footage of the period in the waiting room was considered by the investigators in the independent report.
“Yusuf was then seen by a very experienced doctor on the morning of 16 November and was given an increased dose of antibiotics.
“If an admission had been considered necessary at that point, Yusuf would have been admitted to the children’s ward.”
UK
Police chiefs warn of crime surge if Labour’s plans pass – as hunt for mistakenly released prisoners continues
Police are preparing for a surge in crime if the government’s plans to overhaul prison sentences go ahead – with hundreds of thousands more offences expected in a year.
Measures proposed under the Sentencing Bill, intended to ease overcrowding in prisons, include limiting the use of short sentences and releasing some criminals earlier.
However, police chiefs are warning such measures could see up to a 6% rise in crime in the immediate aftermath, should the plans become law.
It comes as a manhunt is under way for two prisoners mistakenly released from HMP Wandsworth, including Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, a 24-year-old Algerian man and registered sex offender, and 35-year-old William Smith.
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Manhunt underway: what do we know so far?
‘It has to be properly funded’
Assistant Chief Constable Jason Devonport, who spent 18 months on secondment as a governor at HMP Berwyn, said forces are planning for an increase in all types of offences.
While he said community programmes to support rehabilitation “are being ramped up,” he warned officers “expect, certainly in the short term, there will be an increase of offending in the community”.
“I believe in the Sentencing Bill and I believe in rehabilitation,” he added, “but it has to be properly funded.”
ACC Devonport said the probation service is trying to recruit 1,500 officers a year for the next three years to manage demand, and that the rise in police-recorded crime in one year is expected to be between 4% and 6%.
In the year to June 2025, police in England and Wales recorded 6.6 million offences. A rise of 6% would then equal around 396,000 additional recorded crimes.
Gavin Stephens, chairman of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, added that officers have “all been in policing long enough to know that some of the things that help people stop offending or desist from offending are not going to be resolved by short sentences in particular”.
However, he added: “Our issue is in the short-term period of the implementation, there is a shift of demand on to policing, and we want that shift of demand on to us to be properly recognised and properly modelled… so we can have the right and appropriate resource in there to mitigate the risk to communities.”
Feeble and inept – prison release fiasco is yet another political crisis
The charitable view of the latest prison release blunder that has plunged the government into another political crisis is that it’s extremely bad luck rather than an act of incompetence by ministers.
But the more we learn about the shocking details of what happened and what looks like a cynical attempt at a cover-up by the hapless David Lammy, the more the blame can be laid at the government’s door.
More mistaken releases inevitable, MP warns
In a further warning about the state of law and order in the UK, the chair of the Justice Committee has said the prison system is at “breaking point”.
Labour MP Andy Slaughter called the latest mistaken releases “extremely concerning,” adding: “While the day to day running of prison security and public safety are paramount, the current spate of releases in error will be repeated until the underlying failures are addressed.”
He also said evidence taken by the committee “laid bare a crisis-hit prison system, starved of investment over many years which is facing multi-faceted pressures”.
What do we know about the manhunt?
HMP Wandsworth admitted on Wednesday that Kaddour-Cherif, sentenced for trespass with an intent to steal, was accidentally released on 29 October.
His release came just five days after the high-profile release of migrant sex offender Hadush Kebatu from HMP Chelmsford in Essex.
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Lammy refuses to say if more prisoners mistakenly released
Hours after Kaddour-Cherif’s accidental release was confirmed by the Met, Surrey Police announced it was also searching for Smith after another error by prison staff.
The 35-year-old, who was sentenced to 45 months for multiple fraud offences and goes by the name Billy, had apparently been released on Monday.
It is not yet clear why it was nearly a week between the first release at Wandsworth and the police being informed that an offender was at large.
Both mistakes follow vows by Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary David Lammy that enhanced checks on prisoner releases would be introduced.
He came under fire while standing in for Sir Keir Starmer at PMQs, but sought to blame the Conservatives, saying: “In 25 years in this House, I have not witnessed a more shameful spectacle frankly than what the party opposite left in our justice system.”
News of Kaddour-Cherif’s release broke as PMQs was ending, and a comment released on Mr Lammy’s behalf said he was “absolutely outraged” about it.
He had been repeatedly asked whether any more asylum seekers had been mistakenly released from jail since the Kebatu case, and refused to answer.
Read more from Sky News:
Nearly 40,000 freed early to tackle prison overcrowding
How many prisoners are released by mistake?
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Lammy has ‘egg on his face’, former prison governor says
In response to concerns of a spike in crime should the Sentencing Bill become law, a Ministry of Justice spokesperson said the government “inherited a prison system in crisis, days away from running out of space”.
“Public safety will always be our top priority, and we are building 14,000 more prison places to keep dangerous offenders locked up,” they added.
“Offenders released face strict licence conditions, and we are increasing the probation budget by an extra £700 million over the next three years and investing in new technology to reduce admin, so staff can focus on work that reduces reoffending.”
And in response to the manhunt for the two released convicts, a spokesperson said: “Releases in error have been increasing for several years and are another symptom of a justice system crisis inherited by this government.”
They added: “We are clear that these mistakes must not continue to happen.”
UK
Prince William hails ‘world’s true action heroes’ at Earthshot awards – and gets praise himself from Kylie
Prince William has praised environmental innovators as the “world’s true action heroes”, describing them as the role models we need “in these uncertain times” at his Earthshot awards in Rio.
Joined on stage by four young people from Brazil at his annual ceremony, William explained his motivation to set up the prize, saying of the finalists: “Their stories are the inspiration that gives us courage.”
“And there’s a great deal we can learn from their determination and their vision for scale,” he added.
“As well as their unyielding belief that we can create a better world. It’s no exaggeration to say that they are the world’s true action heroes.”
Pic: Kensington Palace / Andrew Parsons
For the fifth year of his environmental prize, which sees five innovators or entrepreneurs awarded £1m each, he was joined by singers Kylie Minogue and Shawn Mendes performing at the ceremony.
Speaking to Sky News ahead of her performance, Kylie hailed the awards as an “incredible initiative”.
“I’m really excited to see everyone,” she told Sky News. “There’s amazing people doing incredible things, so it’s good to be here.”
The Prince of Wales with Kylie Minogue on the green carpet. Pic: Reuters
Pic: Kensington Palace / Andrew Parsons
‘When we unite, we are unstoppable’
While the awards have been his focus for the first three days of his trip to Brazil, he will travel to Belem tomorrow for COP30, the UN’s climate conference.
Acknowledging the sense of pessimism around the climate debate, exacerbated by recent global turbulence he said: “I understand some might feel discouraged in these uncertain times.
“I understand there is still so much to be done. But this is no time for complacency, and the optimism I felt in 2020 remains ardent today.”
In a call to action, he added: “The issues that continue to face our world are a threat to all of us, but when we unite, our momentum is unstoppable.”
Sir Keir Starmer was also at the ceremony before heading to COP30. Pic: Reuters
He then called on the young people, part of the Mini COP programme, to tell the audience their hopes for the future.
Earlier in the day, the prince had spoken at another Earthshot event about how he does everything he can to reassure his own children that the planet will be looked after.
Pics: Kensington Palace / Andrew Parsons
The spectacular show, also featuring some of Brazil’s biggest stars, was designed to hook in a global and multigenerational audience.
Pic: Kensington Palace / Andrew Parsons
Fortunately for Prince William and his team, it also hasn’t been overshadowed this week by any significant new developments or revelations about his uncle Andrew, who only a week ago was stripped of his remaining honours and titles, and it was announced he would also be moving out of his home Royal Lodge on the Windsor estate.
Expensive, noisy and eight years late, but the British Army finally has a new armoured fighting vehicle that troops could deploy to Ukraine in the event of any peace deal.
The nearly £10m Ajax – weighing more than 40 tonnes – is as heavy as a Russian tank and potentially vulnerable to cheap Russian drones.
Yet it is being billed by the UK as a “next generation” fighting machine, equipped with cameras, protective armour and a 40mm gun, with bullets that can rip through concrete.
Luke Pollard, the defence procurement minister, talked up the fleet’s potential while acknowledging that the £5.5bn procurement has had its issues.
This includes excessive noise and vibrations coming from the vehicles that left 17 soldiers requiring treatment for hearing loss.
“It is an incredible platform. It has got the ability to perform tasks that its predecessors could not,” the minister said, having just gone for a spin in an Ajax during a visit to a General Dynamics factory in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales, where the vehicles are being assembled.
“After all the problems it may have had in the past, we have put those to bed now.”
Luke Pollard says issues with the Ajax have been ‘put to bed’
The Ministry of Defence on Thursday declared what is known as initial operating capability for Ajax has been met.
It defined this as the ability to deploy a squadron of 27 vehicles on operations from a pool of 50. The total number of delivered Ajax vehicles is 165.
They come in six variants, with the main type designed for reconnaissance and fighting.
The army has ordered a total of 589 of the various models, which it expects to receive by 2030.
The Ajax was demonstrated during this year’s British Army Expo. Pic: PA
Launched more than a decade and a half ago, the Ajax programme was meant to achieve its initial operating milestone in 2017, but this date has been repeatedly pushed back.
The most serious delay occurred when testing was paused after soldiers suffered hearing and other injuries because of loud noise and vibrations coming from the vehicles.
It is why anyone who uses Ajax today must wear specially secured hearing protection.
Pic: Ministry of Defence
So, what’s it like?
Sky News was among a group of journalists that were invited to ride around on one of the vehicles at a test track on the factory grounds.
The vehicle is very loud – though soldiers said this would not impact its ability to conduct its primary mission of reconnaissance.
They said Ajax is fitted with clever cameras and sensors that can spot a target up to five miles (eight kilometres) away.
However, there is clearly the potential for enemy drones to detect the Ajax in return if it were pushing towards enemy territory in a warzone like Ukraine.
The vehicle’s armour is designed to protect against such a threat. But officials said the fleet has yet to be fitted with electronic countermeasures, even though this kind of equipment is fundamental for any operation in Ukraine to help jam enemy drones.
Pic: Ministry of Defence
When could it be deployed to Ukraine?
The UK, France and a coalition of more than 30 allies have pledged to deploy to Ukraine to help secure the peace if Kyiv and Moscow agree to some kind of ceasefire – a goal Donald Trump has been trying to achieve, but one that seems vanishingly unlikely for now.
However, Mr Pollard signalled that Ajax could be in the mix of any British offering to the mission.
“We’re not yet setting out precisely what capabilities we would deploy to Ukraine in the event of peace, largely because we don’t know when that peace will come, and we keep our military units at a state of readiness, and we rotate through them,” he told Sky News.
“But when we have the ability to deploy incredibly capable platforms like Ajax and the brilliant men and women trained to use it to its fullest effect.
“There’s a clear opportunity for us to be able to enhance NATO’s capabilities on the eastern flank and any coalition of the willing deployment potentially in the future.”
Read more from Deborah Haynes:
Damning report into UK’s fast jets programme
UK military to be given powers to shoot down drones
Lance Corporal of Horse Andrew Rawlinson, 32, of the Household Cavalry Regiment, who is an Ajax commander, said he would be happy to deploy to Ukraine if asked.
“The squadron that I work in, they’re all good to go,” he said.
Lance Corporal Andrew Rawlinson says his squadron are ‘all good to go’ with the Ajax
“We’ve been training on it now non-stop pretty much for a good two years to get to the IOC [initial operating capability] level and I think everyone’s content, knows their jobs and would be happy to roll out.”
Asked whether Russia should be worried, he said: “Yeah, sure.”
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