More drinking, less violence
Fears of a rise in violent crime after licensing laws were relaxed before Christmas appear to have come to nothing. Many believed that 24-hour drinking would lead to more antisocial behaviour but Home Office figures show that serious violent crime dropped 21 per cent in the last six weeks of 2005 and overall violent crime fell by 11 per cent. Extra resources were put into deterring alcohol-related disorder over Christmas.
Everest death trial
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Three mountaineering experts appeared in court accused of the manslaughter of the youngest Briton to reach the top of Mount Everest. Jonathan Tinker, Henry Todd and Michael Smith will stand trial at the Central Criminal Court in London on June 6. Michael Matthews, 22, died on the mountain seven years ago.
Cancer campaigns
Ann Marie Rogers, 54, a breast-cancer patient fighting to receive the drug Herceptin at a cost of £21,000 a year, must wait a little longer after the High Court judge reserved his decision. Meanwhile Jayne Sullivan, 45, ended a vigil at the Welsh Assembly after it voted to speed up its approval of new drugs.
Marriage increase
The number of couples marrying has increased for the third successive year. There were 270,700 marriages in England and Wales in 2004, up from 270,110 in 2003 and 255,596 in 2002, the Office for National Statistics said. In 2001 the number of marriages fell to 249,227, the lowest number recorded since 1897.
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Payback time
A Millennium Dome chief who funded a life of luxury by defrauding his employers out of £4 million was stripped of his wealth. Judge Christopher Hardy told Simon Brophy, 39, who was jailed for 4½ years last September, that if £750,000 was not paid within 18 months he would have to serve an extra 2½ years.
School death
The woman who was found dead in a school car park has been named as Donna Hunt, 41, a laboratory technician who had worked at Forest School in Winnersh, Berkshire, for seven years. She was found on Monday as pupils arrived for lessons and had serious head injuries. A 45-year-old local man is being held.
Munch record
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Summer Day, painted in 1904 by Edvard Munch, has been sold for £6.16 million at Sotheby’s in London, breaking the previous record for a painting by the artist. It was once appropriated by Hermann Goering but was later bought by an ancestor of Fred Olsen, the shipping tycoon, who sold it this week.