Woman And Two Children Die In House Fire

Three people have died following a fire at a property in Maes Y Groes, Prestatyn, police in North Wales have said.

Two other people were taken to hospital after the blaze broke out in Maes Y Groes last night.

A  20-year-old woman, a boy aged four and a girl aged two were pronounced dead by firefighters.

A 23-year-old man and a 15-month-old baby were taken to hospital by ambulance.

A spokeswoman for North Wales Police said: "Firefighters from North Wales Fire and Rescue Service were called to a fire at a property in Maes Y Groes, Prestatyn, at 10pm on Friday.

"Two fire crews from Rhyl and a crew from Prestatyn attended the incident and firefighters wearing breathing apparatus entered the property."

The crews recovered the five people inside, she added.

A joint investigation is being carried out between North Wales Fire and Rescue Service and North Wales Police.

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Suspended Police Chief Found Dead On Railway

A suspended senior police officer has been found dead on a railway track after being hit by a train.

The body of Leicestershire Police Assistant Chief Constable Gordon Fraser was found on a trainline in Aston Magna, Moreton-in-the-Marsh, in Gloucestershire.

Mr Fraser had been suspended by the force since December 2010 over allegations of gross misconduct and fraud, pending an investigation by Merseyside Police.

He was due to appear at court in St Albans on Monday, October 22, in connection with a separate allegation of perverting the course of justice, being investigated by Hertfordshire Constabulary.

Mr Fraser had been offered welfare support during his suspension.

Leicestershire Police Authority and Leicestershire Police said they were "deeply shocked and saddened" by the death of Mr Fraser.

"Our thoughts are with his family and friends," they said in a joint statement.

British Transport Police is investigating the circumstances of Mr Fraser's death, which is currently not being treated as suspicious.

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Former Lib Dem Candidate Guilty Of Fraud

By Jason Farrell, Sky News Correspondent

A former Liberal Democrat candidate for Parliament has been found guilty of 25 counts of fraud at Coventry Crown Court following a Sky News investigation.

Dr Vincent McKee, 56, used his national tutorial agency, ICUT, to get clients' credit and debit card details, then he systematically raided their accounts.

Some of the fraud against students took place when he was running for election to become MP for Coventry North West in 2010, while campaigning against tuition fees.

In 2010, Sky News interviewed numerous defrauded parents and students who claimed McKee overcharged them after they had arranged private lessons through his network of tutors.

In December 2010, a Sky journalist posed as a client and arranged a £60 lesson with one of McKee's tutors in London. Three days later, McKee had withdrawn £328.50 from Sky's account.

The next day, he attempted to take a further £225, but Sky had blocked the card. 

This first investigation, broadcast in January 2011 in which McKee denied the allegations, led to him losing his membership of the Liberal Democrat party.

Shortly afterwards, he began trading under a new company name, University and Academy Tutors (UAT). He also started using a pseudonym, Patrick Murray.

Jonathan Miller claimed almost £2,000 was taken from his account

A second Sky investigation, two months later, found he was still taking money from students' bank accounts without authorisation.

Sky passed the evidence to Coventry Trading Standards and, in September 2011, he was charged with 34 counts of fraud totalling nearly £30,000.

During a six-week trial, witnesses travelled from across the UK to give evidence. The jury heard McKee tried to intimidate customers who asked for their money back.

The Coventry Telegraph reported that Nigerian Student Afolabi Oyedeji recorded a conversation in which McKee told him to: "F*** off back to where you came from," adding: "You may do that in Nigeria, we don't do that in Britain."

Ben Mills, prosecuting, asked Mr Oyedeji in the witness box: "You were asking for a refund. Did you think that was a satisfactory response?"

McKee blamed misunderstandings, bad record-keeping and other staff for taking money by mistake while he was ill. He described the Sky investigation as a "horrible onslaught", according to the paper.

Two Sky journalists also gave evidence in the trial and Sky's recorded calls were played in court. In one call, McKee suggested someone must have broken into his office, when explaining how money had been taken from our account and put into his.

Two weeks into the trial, McKee pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of Breach of Professional Diligence.

In the witness box, he admitted responsibility for the "mess" and failures at his company, but he denied dishonesty.

He had also pleaded not guilty to perverting the course of justice - allegedly providing falsified copies of written agreements with students to investigators at Trading Standards.

McKee insisted he had been entrapped by Sky News. In a statement, he said: "Mr Farrell's actions smacked of an attempt at devious entrapment that never quite came off in the way he intended."

Coventry Trading Standards has revealed they had their first complaints against McKee in May 2008.

But despite repeated warnings, McKee's practise of overcharging continued in 2009 and escalated through 2010, when he unsuccessfully ran for Parliament to become a Liberal Democrat MP.

Two television investigations and subsequent criminal charges in 2011 failed to stop him defrauding students.

In August 2012, just one month before the trial began, Sky was contacted by another customer who claimed he had been overcharged.

Many students have been unable to get their money back.

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Doctors Face Annual Fitness-To-Practice Test

By Thomas Moore, Health And Science Correspondent

Doctors' skills are to be checked every year to ensure they are fit to practice.

From December, every doctor will have an annual assessment, with a more comprehensive meeting to test their competence every five years.

The new rules have been brought in by the Department of Health in conjunction with the General Medical Council (GMC), which regulates the profession.

They are the biggest change to medical regulation for 150 years.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said: "Doctors save lives every day and making sure they are up to speed with the latest treatments and technologies will help them save even more.

"This is why a proper system of revalidation is so important."

GP Harold Shipman is believed to have murdered more than 200 patients

At present doctors may never face a formal assessment of their skills throughout their entire career.

But following the inquiry into serial killer and GP Dr Harold Shipman, medical authorities called for a new system that could flag up problems with doctors far earlier.

In one pilot study of 3,000 doctors, concerns were raised in about 1% of medics.

GMC chief executive Niall Dickson said: "The decision to press ahead with revalidation after many years of preparation and planning means that we'll be able to have a comprehensive system of regular checks for all doctors registered in the UK."

The chair of the British Medical Association, Dr Mark Porter, said patients must have confidence that doctors have up-to-date skills.

But he added: "There is too much bureaucracy in the NHS and so we have to be careful that revalidation does not add to this unnecessarily.

"We still need to ensure consistency across the UK so that all doctors are working to the same standards. And it is vital that sufficient support exists across the UK for those doctors who need it."

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Doctors Separate Twins In Four-Hour Operation

By Thomas Moore, Health And Science Correspondent

Surgeons have successfully separated conjoined twins just a day after they were born.

The British girls were joined at the abdomen and shared part of their intestines.

In a four-hour operation a team of 20 doctors and nurses at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London were able to separate the twins without complications.

Rosie and Ruby Formosa are now doing well and are smiling "bubbly babies", according to their mum Angela.

Mrs Formosa, from Bexleyheath, Kent, said: "Between 16 and 20 weeks we found out that they were joined. I didn't know what to think. I was shocked and I felt sad.

"We didn't know what to expect until they were born. The doctors could not tell where they were connected."

The girls were born in July,  six weeks prematurely.

Surgeons would normally wait until twins are several months old before attempting to separate them. But the structural abnormality had caused a blockage in their intestine, which required emergency surgery.

Angela and Daniel Formosa with twins Rosie (l) and Ruby (r)

Professor Agostino Pierro, who led the team, told Sky News: "The twins were very small because they were so young. But they are doing very well."

He added: "The babies will need further treatment in the future. but we expect that they will both be able to lead happy and normal lives."

Mrs Formosa said she was relieved to have the girls back home.

"They are really well. They are putting on weight," she said.

"They are normal bubbly babies who are starting to smile and cry when they want something."

Great Ormond Street Hospital is one of the world's most experienced centres for separating conjoined twins.

Mrs Formosa said: "When I was pregnant they were saying that the survival chances were quite low.

"For them to have been operated on and doing so well, it is amazing."

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Terrorism: UK Must Plan For Major Attack

The emergency services must be better prepared to tackle a lone gunman or Mumbai-style attack on the streets of Britain, ministers will say.

Fast-moving terror attacks by lone gunmen, such as those seen in Norway and Toulouse, are among the major scenarios the UK must be prepared for, Security Minister James Brokenshire will say.

Home Secretary Theresa May has asked the police and other emergency services "to make further improvements to the joint response".

"Staying ahead of the threat means ensuring our emergency response is capable of dealing with the threat in whatever form it takes," Mr Brokenshire will say.

Changing tactics have allowed terrorists to "achieve a devastating effect using relatively unsophisticated means", he will go on.

Three children and a rabbi were among Merah's victims in Toulouse

"The experiences in Toulouse and in Norway demonstrate the impact that a lone individual can have if sufficiently motivated, while the November 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai were characterised by an ongoing firearms and explosives attack, and by hostage-taking.

"So we are improving the way the emergency services work together in response to a major incident."

Lone individuals sympathetic to al-Qaida's cause were believed to be one of the major concerns being considered by the security services and police in the run-up to the Olympic Games.

Mohamed Merah, who said he had links with al Qaida, killed seven people in France's worst terror attacks in years near Toulouse in March, while Anders Breivik went on the rampage in Norway, killing 69 people in July last year.

And in 2008, 166 people were killed in the Mumbai terror attacks.

Security minister, James Brokenshire

Giving a speech at the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi) in central London, Mr Brokenshire will go on: "The overall aim is to ensure that the blue light services are trained and exercised to work together as effectively as possible in response to a major incident, including fast-moving terrorist scenarios, so that as many lives as possible can be saved."

Mr Brokenshire will also warn that northern Mali is "at risk" of joining Somalia, Afghanistan and Yemen on a list of places which "have all seen terrorism flourish in the absence of effective governance".

"This represents a grave threat to the people of Mali," he will say.

"But it also increases the threat to UK interests in the region and, potentially, the threat to us and our neighbours in Europe.

"With al Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb growing in ability and ambition, a collective failure to act might well manifest in attacks closer to home."

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Man Charged Over Syria Kidnappings

A 26-year-old man has been charged with the kidnapping of a British photographer who was held hostage in Syria, Scotland Yard has said.

Shajul Islam is accused of keeping John Cantlie, who worked for various newspapers including the Sunday Times, and Dutch journalist Jeroen Oerlemans captive for around a week.

Islam, who was arrested last week after arriving at Heathrow airport on a flight from Egypt, will appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court later.

A 26-year-old woman who was detained with him has been released without charge.

The pair were arrested on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism on October 9.

Anti-terror legislation gives police up to a week to question suspects without charge.

The charge alleges that Islam, with others, unlawfully and injuriously imprisoned John Cantlie and Jeroen Oerlemans against their will, between July 17 and 26.

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Benefits: Changes 'To Hit Disabled People'

Up to half a million disabled people and their families could be worse off under the new system of Universal Credit once it is fully implemented - with some warning that they might be forced out of their homes as a result of the changes, according to a report.

An inquiry headed by former wheelchair athlete Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson has said several "key" groups will lose out under the Universal Credit, which will start to replace much of the benefits and tax credits system from next year.

The study used research showing that once the changes are fully in place, 100,000 disabled children stand to lose up to £28 a week, 230,000 severely disabled people who do not have another adult to help them could receive between £28 and £58 a week less and up to 116,000 disabled people who work could be at risk of losing around £40 a week.

The report said the impact of the cuts in support for disabled children could be "extremely severe" for families currently receiving the mid rate "care component" of the Disability Living Allowance (DLA), a payment made where a child can be severely disabled but does not need care overnight.

Of those families affected, one in 10 expressed fears that they could no longer afford their own home, while two thirds said they would have to cut back on food, and more than a half said it would lead them into debt.

In some of the most severe cases, some families said the changes to support for disabled children could result in their children having to be placed in full-time residential care.

The report was led by Paralympic legend Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson

The report said 83% of those eligible for the severe disability premium (SDP), which will be abolished under the changes, reported that a reduction in benefit levels would mean they would have to cut back on food and 80% said they would have to cut the amount they spent on heating.

The changes start to come into force from October next year and current benefit claimants who move on to Universal Credit will not see an immediate reduction in their payments.

But they will have their level of benefit frozen, with no increases to take into account rising prices, campaigners said, and they may see their support cut immediately if their household circumstances change.

The report, Holes in the Safety Net: the impact of universal credit on disabled people and their families, had the backing of The Children's Society, Citizens Advice and Disability Rights UK and drew on research from these bodies.

Lady Grey-Thompson, who shares the title of Great Britain's most successful female Paralympian with cyclist Sarah Storey, said the findings of the report did not make "easy reading".

"The clear message is that many households with disabled people are already struggling to keep their heads above water," she said.

"Reducing support for families with disabled children, disabled people who areliving alone, families with young carers and disabled people in work, riskdriving many over the edge in future."

A spokeswoman for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) said savings from abolishing the adult disability premiums and changes in the child rate would be "recycled" into higher payments for more severely disabled people.

She said the report was "highly selective and could result in irresponsible scaremongering", adding that Universal Credit would provide greater incentives for people - including disabled people - to try out work and would reduce the financial and administrative barriers to work that exist in the current system.

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Jimmy Savile: Labour Demands New Abuse Probe

Labour has called for the Government to set up an independent inquiry into the Jimmy Savile sex abuse scandal to "do right by the victims".

On Monday, Culture Secretary Maria Miller dismissed demands for an independent inquiry, saying she was "confident" BBC chiefs were taking the claims "very seriously".

But Labour leader Ed Miliband said the BBC's internal investigations were not enough.

Speaking to ITV1's The Agenda, he said: "These are horrific allegations. In order to do right by the victims I don't think the BBC can lead their own inquiry.

"We need a broad look at all the public institutions involved - the BBC, parts of the NHS and Broadmoor. This has got to be independent."

The abuse is thought to have spanned six decades

Labour wants an independent inquiry to have the power to demand documentation and witnesses. It should look into Savile's activities at the BBC, Stoke Mandeville hospital and Broadmoor, the party said.

"I think we now have enough set of allegations and further allegations to know this is not some isolated set of incidents," Mr Miliband said.

"This seems to be a pattern of activity which spanned a number of institutions. As I say, I just think about the victims in this. This is absolutely horrific and will scar people for life. And I think for them, the BBC - good institution though it is - I don't think they can lead their own inquiry."

Prior to Labour's demand, Ms Miller told the Commons that the allegations had "wide-ranging implications for a number of public institutions" but rejected calls for an outside inquiry to restore the public's faith, warning it could hamper police investigations.

"In terms of a wider inquiry, we have a police investigation on-going at the moment," she said. "Everybody would agree that it is really important that those individuals who have been victims know that that investigation can go on unfettered and that that should be our priority at this stage."

New BBC boss George Entwistle has announced three internal investigations

She cited the three seperate internal investigations already launched by the BBC into the affair.

Commons culture committee chairman John Whittingdale said BBC director-general George Entwistle had offered to appear before the committee next week and said he was "sure" MPs would take him up on the offer.

Leeds North East MP Fabian Hamilton said his constituents, who turned out in their thousands to pay tribute to the broadcaster when he died, felt "betrayed and angry".

Police believe the DJ and television presenter's alleged catalogue of child sex abuse could have spanned six decades and included around 60 victims.

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Breast Cancer Cases In Older Women To Quadruple

The number of women aged 65 or over living with breast cancer is set to rise to more than 1.2 million by 2040.

New research from King's College London claims today's figure of 340,000 will quadruple in the next 30 years.

At present, 59% of all breast cancer survivors are over the age of 65 but the research, funded by Macmillan Cancer Support, suggests that this figure will increase to 73% by 2040.

The data, published in the British Journal of Cancer, also suggests that by 2040 breast cancer will account for more than half of all cancer cases in women in the UK.

Ciaran Devane, chief executive of Macmillan Cancer Support, said: "The NHS needs to take heed of these figures.

"It is already struggling to provide adequate care for older breast cancer patients.

"We need to change the way we care for older breast cancer patients now - so that we are prepared for such a dramatic increase in numbers."

Dr Rachel Greig, senior policy officer at Breakthrough Breast Cancer, said: "It is startling to think that we could have a million older women living with breast cancer within a generation.

"It shows that we have a rapidly ageing population - but also that we are getting much better at treating women with breast cancer.

"However, increasingly we should think less about the age of patients, and more about their individual need."

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