A woman has died in a skydiving incident in County Durham.

Emergency crews were called to Wreford’s Farm in Shotton Colliery, near Peterlee, on Sunday morning.

The woman, aged in her 30s, was pronounced dead at the scene.

A Durham Constabulary spokesperson said the woman’s death is not being treated as suspicious and a file will be prepared for the coroner.

North East Ambulance Service said it was called to the incident at 10.17am on Sunday.

“We dispatched one ambulance crew and one specialist paramedic to the incident,” a spokesperson added.

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Wreford’s Farm is described on its website as a “small, family run farm” which produces pork and beef using “regenerative agriculture”.

No criminal charges will be brought over the death of an ice hockey player who died during a match in Sheffield, prosecutors have announced.

Nottingham Panthers’ Adam Johnson died in October 2023 after his neck was cut by an opposition player’s skate during a match at Sheffield’s Utilita Arena.

The Sheffield Steelers player, Matthew Petgrave, was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter and later bailed – but the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has now said it will not bring criminal charges against the Canadian.

Michael Quinn, deputy chief crown prosecutor, said: “This was a shocking and deeply upsetting incident. The CPS and South Yorkshire Police have worked closely together to determine whether any criminal charges should be brought against the other ice hockey player involved.

“Following a thorough police investigation and a comprehensive review of all the evidence by the CPS, we have concluded that there is not a realistic prospect of conviction for any criminal offence and so there will not be a prosecution.

“Our thoughts remain with the family and friends of Adam Johnson.”

Before joining Nottingham Panthers, the Minnesota-born Johnson played in Pennsylvania for the Pittsburgh Penguins, and Sweden for the Malmo Redhawks.

He also played in California for Ontario Reign and in Germany for Augsburger Panther.

A post-mortem examination confirmed the 29-year-old died as a result of the fatal neck injury.

The crowd of 8,000 spectators watched in horror as desperate attempts were made to save his life as he lay on the ice, shielded by fellow players.

The game was abandoned and spectators were asked to leave in the aftermath.

Kari Johnson, Johnson’s aunt, was watching the match via a livestream with his father and grandmother when he was fatally injured.

Speaking to Sky News at the time, Ms Johnson said: “It was a mess, it was a nightmare, it was like it wasn’t real. We were in shock, we couldn’t believe this was happening.”

Ms Johnson described her nephew as a “kind soul” and a “private kid” who “never would have wanted to be in the limelight like this”.

He simply wanted to be “good at hockey and have fun”, she said, adding he was “having the time of his life in the UK” and was planning to get engaged to his girlfriend.

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In January 2024, Sheffield’s senior coroner, Tanyka Rawden, suspended her investigation while the police inquiry took its course.

It later emerged that Ms Rawden had issued a Prevention of Future Deaths Report to Ice Hockey UK and the English Ice Hockey Association (EIHA) about the use of neck guards in the sport.

In the report, Ms Rawden said she was “sufficiently concerned that deaths may occur in the future if neck guards or protectors are not worn”, with the bodies given 56 days to say what action had been taken – or why action had not been taken.

Neck guards have been mandatory in the Elite League (EIHL), in which the Nottingham Panthers and Sheffield Steelers compete, since January 2024.

This followed the International Ice Hockey Federation’s decision in December to mandate the use of neck laceration protectors for its competitions.

Court decisions where people were granted asylum after arguing they had a “right to family life” will be reviewed as the government plans to ban migrants convicted of sex offences, the home secretary has said.

Foreign nationals who are added to the sex offenders register will forfeit their rights to protection under the Refugee Convention, the Home Office announced.

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As part of the 1951 UN treaty, countries are allowed to refuse asylum to terrorists, war criminals and individuals convicted of a “particularly serious crime” – which is currently defined in UK law as an offence carrying a sentence of 12 months or more.

The government now plans to extend that definition to include all individuals added to the Sex Offenders’ Register, regardless of the length of sentence, in an amendment to the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, which is currently going through parliament.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper told Sky News the new definition would also “take into account” sexual offence convictions in another country.

However, she was less clear if those affected will still be able to appeal against their removal from the UK under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

She said: “We continue to comply with international law, but the whole point is that our laws and our frameworks are about how we interpret international law… and how we make sure that the courts are then making their decisions based on the UK law that parliament has passed.”

She added the government is “reviewing” a “series of decisions” made in the courts where criminals have been allowed to stay in the UK under Article 8 of the Human Rights Act, which protects the right to respect “your private life, your family life, your home and your correspondence”.

“We are reviewing that because we do believe that the way in which it’s being interpreted in the courts is an issue and actually, there is greater clarification we can provide through our law to address that,” she said.

It is unclear how many asylum seekers will be affected by the change in law, as the government has been unable to provide any projections or past data on the number of asylum seekers added to the Sex Offenders’ Register.

Ms Cooper earlier said: “Sex offenders who pose a risk to the community should not be allowed to benefit from refugee protections in the UK. We are strengthening the law to ensure these appalling crimes are taken seriously.”

Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls Minister Jess Philips said: “We are determined to achieve our mission of halving violence against women and girls in a decade.

“That’s exactly why we are taking action to ensure there are robust safeguards across the system, including by clamping down on foreign criminals who commit heinous crimes like sex offences.”

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The Home Office would like voters to see this as a substantial change. But that’s hard to demonstrate without providing any indication of the scale of the problem it seeks to solve.

Clearly, the government does not want to fan the flames of resentment towards asylum seekers by implying large numbers have been committing sex crimes.

But amid rising voter frustration about the government’s grip on the issue, and under pressure from Reform – this measure is about signalling it is prepared to take tough action.

Conservatives: ‘Too little, too late’

The Conservatives claim Labour are engaged in “pre-election posturing”.

Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said: “This is too little, too late from a Labour government that has scrapped our deterrent and overseen the worst year ever for small boat crossings – with a record 10,000 people crossing this year already.

“Foreign criminals pose a danger to British citizens and must be removed, but so often this is frustrated by spurious legal claims based on human rights claims, not asylum claims.”

The Home Office has also announced plans to introduce a 24-week target for appeal hearings (known as “first-tier tribunals”) to be held for rejected asylum seekers living in taxpayer-supported accommodation, or for foreign national offenders.

The current average wait is 50 weeks.

The idea is to cut the asylum backlog and save taxpayers money – Labour have committed to end the use of asylum hotels by the end of this parliament.

It’s unclear how exactly this will be achieved, although a number of additional court days have already been announced.

The government also plans to crack down on fake immigration lawyers who advise migrants on how to lodge fraudulent asylum claims, with the Immigration Advice Authority given new powers to issue fines of up to £15,000.