A dress worn by Amanda Holden for a semi-final of Britain’s Got Talent has brought more than 200 complaints to the broadcasting watchdog. Holden, 46, a judge on the television talent show for ten years, wore a low-cut gown, right, for the show on Thursday. One viewer said on Twitter that Holden was “effectively topless”. Another tweeted: “7.30pm. Kids watching. Amanda Holden dressed like a stripper. Completely inappropriate.” A spokesman for Ofcom said: “We will assess these complaints before deciding whether or not to investigate.” Last year, it decided not to investigate the ITV show after outfits worn by Holden and Alesha Dixon brought 19 complaints.
Father of psychotic son seeks skunk crackdown
A man whose son was sectioned after repeatedly stabbing his mother and cutting off his own penis while high on a potent strain of cannabis has backed a campaign to have the drug reclassified from a Class B to a Class A drug. The father, who asked to remain anonymous, said he believed that his son’s violent psychotic episode was triggered by smoking skunk, a variant of cannabis grown using chemicals. “He switched from a very bright, bubbly lad to what one can only describe as a waste of space,” the father told BBC Radio 5 Live. The father, whose son is now alcohol and drug free, supports the campaign by Lord Monson, whose son killed himself in similar circumstances.
Two Filipina maids stole widow’s £300,000 jewels
Two Filipina maids stole £300,000 of jewellery from a grieving widow. Lorna Manuel, 44, teamed up with her friend Rowena Manuel to take the heirlooms from the home of Edna Ghel in St John’s Wood, north London. Rowena Manuel had wept at the graveside of Mrs Ghel’s late husband as she gained the widow’s trust, Southwark Crown Court was told. But while Mrs Ghel, 68, was out on April 15 last year Rowena helped herself to her valuables. Lorna Manuel, of Worcester, admitted conspiracy to steal and was jailed for three years. She faces deportation once released. Rowena was said to have fled the UK and returned to the Philippines. The jewellery has not been recovered.
Sailor who tried to save crewmate is killed by wave
An amateur sailor who tried to save a fatally injured crewmate died in the same Clipper Round the World Yacht Race seven months later, an inquest hearing was told. Sarah Young, 40, a company owner from London, was knocked overboard by a huge wave in the Pacific in April last year. She had tried to resuscitate Andrew Ashman, 49, a paramedic from Orpington, Kent, who was hit by a sail rope off the Portuguese coast. Ms Young would have been called as a witness at a pre-inquest hearing into his death, Southwark coroner’s court, in south London, was told.
Rapists caught on film as they led victim by the hand
Police have released CCTV footage of three Asian men who led a woman by the hand to a quiet street where she was gang raped. The 34-year-old woman was approached on Greek Street in Covent Garden, London, about 12.15am on March 20. The video shows one of the men holding her hand and taking her to a secluded area of Slingsby Place, with the other two following behind. At least two of the men then raped her. Police have asked for anyone with information on the attack to come forwards.
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Couple on track to visit every railway station in Britain
A couple have begun an epic trip to visit every railway station in Britain. Geoff Marshall, 44, and Vicki Pipe, 34, started in Penzance and have stopped at 750 stations in three weeks, averaging more than 30 a day, as part of a planned tour of all 2,563 stations on the national rail network, ending in Thurso in August. Mr Marshall’s favourite so far is Coombe Junction Halt in Cornwall, which has two scheduled trains a day. “It’s not just about ticking off every station,” he said. “We are meeting lots of nice people and visiting interesting places along the way.” The couple, from London, are making an online documentary series about their trip.
Zookeeper killed by tiger was ‘inspirational’
Colleagues of a zookeeper who was mauled to death by a tiger have paid tribute to her. Rosa King, 34, was killed at Hamerton Zoo Park in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, on Monday. Staff were said to have thrown meat into the enclosure in an attempt to distract the tiger. A spokesman for the zoo said: “Rosa was not only an invaluable and highly respected member of our team, first and foremost, she was our friend and we miss her very much. Rosa’s passion and commitment to animals and wildlife were an inspiration to all those who worked with and knew her. We are still coming to terms with what has happened.”
Ms King’s parents, Peter and Andrea, said that she was passionate about animals. “She lived and breathed a vocation that meant the world to her.”
Cambridgeshire police and Huntingdonshire district council are investigating the incident.
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Torture suspect held
The ex-wife of Charles Taylor, the former president of Liberia, has been arrested on suspicion of committing torture. Agnes Reeves Taylor, 51, was arrested by the Metropolitan Police’s war crimes unit on Thursday and charged with four offences allegedly committed during the civil war between 1989 and 1991. Ms Reeves Taylor, of Dagenham in east London, will appear before Westminster magistrates today.
Death driver, 80, banned
An 80-year-old woman who knocked down and killed a pedestrian after being advised repeatedly not to drive by her GP has been banned from driving for five years. June Cox hit Pamela Wilde, 83, as she crossed a road in Bournemouth last November. Cox admitted causing death by careless driving, before magistrates in Poole. She also received a four-month sentence, suspended for 18 months.
Sir Jeffrey Tate dies
Sir Jeffrey Tate, the eminent conductor who was born with spina bifida, has died aged 74 from a suspected heart attack. Sir Jeffrey, who was the principal conductor of the English Chamber Orchestra and the Royal Opera House in the 1980s, collapsed in an art gallery in Bergamo, Italy.
Neighbour was framed
A healthcare assistant who lost her job and home and was fined £1,904 after a neighbour claimed she had smashed the windows of his Jaguar and threatening him has had her conviction quashed. Mark Webb, 42, was jailed for 15 months at Bristol crown court after admitting perverting the course of justice. Police found that he had written the menacing notes that he claimed had been sent by Frances Avis, 33.
Music can heal brain
Playing a musical instrument can protect the brain and ward off age-related conditions such as dementia, according to a study which found that learning to play a sound altered the brainwaves. Bernhard Ross, of the Baycrest centre for geriatric care in Toronto, whose research is published in the Journal of Neuroscience, uses musical training to help stroke survivors to get movement back.