Tributes have poured in for the 25-year-old, whose death has left the local community ‘deeply saddened’

The death of a gifted Cambridge musician has left the local community “deeply saddened”. Harrison Cole, 25, was found in the River Cam on Sunday morning (June 7), police said it was not treating the death as suspicious.

A Cambridgeshire Police spokesperson said: “We were called to the River Cam at about 9.15am on Sunday with reports of the body of a man in the river near to King’s College. The death is not being treated as suspicious and has been passed to the coroner.”

Mr Cole was assisting organist at King’s College and has been described as a “glorious person and an amazing organist” in a tribute from the college. In a statement, the college said: “We are deeply saddened to share the news of the death of Harrison Cole, Assisting Organist at King’s College. Harrison Cole was a music scholar at Ipswich School, and during his school years, he spent three years as a student at the Junior Department of the Royal Academy of Music.

“Following a gap year organ scholarship at Wells Cathedral, he came up to Trinity College, Cambridge as organ scholar in 2019. Upon graduation, he spent a year as assistant organist at Gonville and Caius College before taking up his position at King’s in September 2024.”

During his time at King’s, the organist accompanied the Choir on recordings, broadcasts and concert tours, including two A Festivals of Nine Lessons and Carols services, and tours to Australia, Estonia, the USA and Canada.

Harrison was due to leave King’s this summer, according to the college. He had recently been appointed to assistantships at St Paul’s in Knightsbridge and St Michael’s in Cornhill: two significant musical establishments in London from which he was poised to develop a freelance career as pianist, organist and conductor.

Provost Gillian Tett said: “The entire College community has felt this loss keenly, particularly the Choir and Chapel teams. Our thoughts are with his family and loved ones at this sad time.”

The celebrity organist Anna Lapwood wrote: “Still can’t quite get my head around this news. Harrison was such a glorious person and an amazing organist. Sending all my love to his family, and to everyone in Cambridge. May he rest in peace and rise in glory.”

Channel 4 has confirmed that a hit true crime doc that’s previously left fans feeling “physically sick” will air next week.

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Taskmaster is drawing to a close and Channel 4 has already revealed what will fill its slot next week.

Greg Davies and Alex Horne are presiding over the final instalment of their quirky Channel 4 game show tonight, Thursday, June 11, with the five celebrities keen to claim the coveted golden Taskmaster trophy.

At present, comedian Amy Gledhill, writer Armando Iannucci, actor Kumail Nanjiani and Gavin and Stacey’s Joanna Page all remain in contention for victory, though presenter Joel Dommett unfortunately no longer has sufficient points.

Channel 4 audiences are keenly anticipating the finale, but many are already curious about what will succeed Taskmaster following its 10-week run in the Thursday evening primetime schedule.

It has now been confirmed that Taskmaster series 21’s replacement next week is a “real hidden gem” that has both “captivated” and previously left audiences feeling “physically sick”.

Billed as an “eye-opening” true crime documentary series, Channel 4 is scheduled to repeat a popular episode of 24 Hours in Police Custody.

The critically acclaimed programme follows the daily work of officers investigating serious crimes, documenting the journey from initial arrest through to final charge.

Originally broadcast in 2021, this episode, titled The No Body Murder, which follows Cambridgeshire Police, sees “DCI Adam Gallop believe a man declared missing in 2015 has been murdered.

“But has so far been unable to locate his body and the more time passes, the less chance there is of new witnesses or forensic evidence turning up.”

The official description continues: “The police investigation takes officers from an urgent excavation in the woods where the missing man is believed to have been shot to a journey across Europe in search of clues.”

Writing on IMDb, one viewer commented: “Arguably ‘true crime’ has never seen a better documentary.”

Another described it as “Gripping, unpredictable, shocking. A fantastic insight into the Police in Beds/Cambs. Unmissable TV.”

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A third viewer observed: “Pure drama that challenges the perception of modern day police work and the modern day accused.”

However, before 24 Hours in Police Custody returns to screens next week, viewers must first enjoy tonight’s Taskmaster finale.

The official synopsis for this evening’s Taskmaster final reads: “Amy Gledhill literally tears her hair out, Armando Iannucci plays the recorder while riding a trike with a plunger on his head.

“Joel Dommett sniffs the contents of a vacuum, Kumail Nanjiani mistreats a beloved resident of the Taskmaster house and Joanna Page lays waste to Little Alex Horne. Plus, the greatest pillow fights of all time.”

24 Hours in Police Custody is available to watch on Channel 4.

Iran’s Kharg Island, home to a terminal through which the country exports most of its oil, has emerged as a focus of the war launched in late February by the United States and Israel.

Strikes on oil infrastructure on Kharg — or a ground invasion — would severely curb Iran’s oil exports, a key source of revenue for the Islamic Republic. An assault would also mark a major escalation that could provoke even heavier retaliatory attacks on Gulf Arab infrastructure and further drive up oil prices. The skyrocketing cost of fuel is already threatening the world economy.

U.S. President Donald Trump said strikes in mid-March “obliterated” Kharg’s military assets but did not target the island’s oil infrastructure. He warned that if Iran continued disrupting traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, he would reconsider the decision to spare energy targets on the island.

Then on Thursday, Trump said in a social media post that the U.S. would “assume total control” of Iran’s oil and gas industries, including the Kharg Island terminal, in the “not too distant future.”

The president made the post as escalating attacks between the countries pushed the Middle East closer to the resumption of a full-scale war. His latest threats emerged at a time when efforts to negotiate an end to the war appear to be stuck.

The island is on the other side of the Persian Gulf from U.S. bases in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. A U.S. occupation of it would put American troops in a stationary position just 33 kilometers (21 miles) off Iran’s coast. That’s well within range of Iranian drones and missiles, if the Islamic Republic is willing to inflict damage on its own territory.

The small coral island is especially important because Iran’s coastline is mostly too shallow for tanker ships to dock. The U.S. has imposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports, which has impeded Iran’s efforts to export oil, mainly to China, through the Strait of Hormuz, even as Iranian attacks have closed the vital waterway to most traffic.

The destruction or loss of the island would deny the government a major revenue source, but it would also remove even more oil from world markets at a time of soaring prices. The destruction of the terminal would further damage Iran’s already weakened economy and undermine any efforts at postwar reconstruction.

Iran has continued to exert control over the strait, through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil passed before the war. Meanwhile, the U.S. has sent thousands of soldiers and Marines to the region.

Kharg Island has storage tanks and housing for thousands of workers. Gazelles roam freely near the refineries and depots. It also is home to a medieval Portuguese fortress and the ruins of one of the oldest Christian monasteries in the Persian Gulf.

The launch of her book Tell Your Friends will take place at Waterstones Darlington from 6pm to 7.30pm on Thursday, June 18.

It will feature a conversation between Ms Wilson and fellow young Darlington author HF Askwith, who will host the discussion and explore the themes and inspiration behind the new novel.

HF Askwith (Image: Supplied)

Tell Your Friends follows Crystal Shaw, a reluctant online personality who sees university as her chance to break free from her controlling vlogger family.

While outwardly agreeing to her mother’s demands to create a spin-off channel about her university experience, Crystal is secretly looking for someone who can help her expose some damning evidence about her parents.

She hopes this evidence will destroy their social media empire and give her and her younger siblings freedom.

(Image: Supplied)

The story takes a dark turn when Crystal confides in Alyssa, a fellow journalism student who turns out to be a secret superfan of the family’s vlog.

Alyssa, unwilling to lose her connection to the vlogger family, develops her own plans—raising the stakes for both girls.

Ms Wilson, who was born and raised in Darlington and now lives in Newcastle, is a journalism graduate with an MA in creative writing from Northumbria University.

She has worked as a freelance journalist and served as temporary production editor at Mslexia, a magazine for women writers.

Her debut novel, The Goldens, was a bestseller and named Waterstones Book of the Month in July 2025.

The panel host, HF Askwith, is a winner of the Northern Writers’ Award and also holds an MA in creative writing from Northumbria University.

Both authors will be signing stock at the end of the evening.

Royal Ascot is just days away but there’s still some good racing to come before then and I’ve found four to follow on betting sites, all running at York, for Friday’s racing tips.

Plenty in Bintaryana’s favour for York run

We’re going to start Friday’s selections with an unexposed filly in BINTARYANA. William Knight has his string in good form and this daughter of Showcasing has only seen the racecourse four times, winning a fillies’ maiden at Nottingham (6f, good) on the second of those.

She’s not been quite as good as that on either start since, finishing second at Southwell (6f, AW) under a penalty next time and then racing too freely for her own good at Haydock (5f, good to soft) last time out when second on her handicap debut.

Despite that, she’s up 2lb and with that bit of extra experience under her belt and back over 6f she could be a better proposition. She’s also got a handy draw from stall five and receives weight from all her opponents, so there are a few things that we have on our side in playing to relatively small stakes.

Friday tip 1: Bintaryana – 1pt each-way @ 11/4 (bet365)

Big Negotiator can strike a winning deal

Regulars will know this isn’t the type of race I normally cover in this column but unless there is a good newcomer, I think BIG NEGOTIATOR looks to have a very good chance and I’m prepared to break the ‘norm’ and get involved on horse racing betting sites.

Her debut effort in a Navan fillies’ maiden (5f, yielding) was promising and she built on that despite being a beaten favourite at Listowel (6½f, good). In the latter contest, she swept to the front and looked booked to break her duck but just didn’t see out the longer trip quite as well as the winner Beibhinn.

I think the return to the minimum trip on should suit and it can make her trip from Ireland a worthwhile one with a win.

Friday tip 2: Big Negotiator – 2pts win @ 13/8 (bet365)

Altareq close to maiden success

This looks both fascinating and tricky in equal measure. The best of Wahdan on his first start for Tim Easterby would make the former Joseph O’Brien inmate very interesting. Urban Glimpse is another for short lists, with first-time cheekpieces a potential fillip.

Cloth Of Gold looks nicely treated on his best form so far but I’m going to side with ALTAREQ each-way. Jim Goldie trains this former John and Thady Gosden inmate, who is 0-5 to date. He’d improved on the last of his three starts for his previous stable, who then let him go for 95,000gns.

Stepping up on that form immediately for this trainer, when beaten just over 1l over C&D last month, from a wide draw and after being slowly away, it was a good reappearance effort.

Dropped back in trip at Hamilton last time, he wasn’t far away in third. I think the return to this trip will be a positive. We know he acts here and he’s also better drawn this time. If jockey Lauren Young can get him off to a better start, then he could be a threat to all.

He’s unexposed and my idea of an each-way selection. At the time of writing 16 runners are declared, so you will get four or maybe even five places on betting apps.

Friday racing tip 3: Altareq – 1pt each-way @ 5/1 (bet365)

Watch Forest Phoenix soar at York

Vinciamo and FOREST PHOENIX both make this handicap debuts here having met just under two weeks ago at Catterick, when the former led for much of the way but the latter came out on top.

There’s little to choose between them with regard to the draw here, with Vinciamo perhaps marginally better off being the lower of the two but stall seven shouldn’t be a major handicap for the selection.

What struck me watching that race was that once the winner had got going, he won very cosily and left the impression that improvement should follow. He’s saddled by Tim Easterby and we know that whichever branch of that family sends them to the Knavesmire, they need treating with plenty of respect.

That Catterick outing felt like a reconnaissance mission for a trip here and he looks to have been allotted a fair mark (72) by the handicapper. Fellow last-time winners I’m Dan Dare, Adalida, Simba’s Pride and Houndhill will all have some support, which should help with a very solid market for this race.

Friday racing tip 4: Forest Phoenix (York, 16.45) – 1pt each-way @ 6/1 (bet365)

Betfred are offering new customers £50 in free bets right now, with the entire bonus available for wagering on racing.

A lot of betting sites place restrictions on which sports free bets can be used, but Betfred don’t limit a punter’s choice.

Sign up using the link below, complete the registration process and then make a first deposit of at least £10. Next, wager £10 or more on any event at the Betfred sportsbook at odds of evens or greater.

Once the bet is settled, punters will receive the £50 in free bets, which is split into 5 x £10 free bet tokens. £30 of the welcome bonus can be used on any sport, while the other £20 can only be used on accumulators.

If you’re having a bet on Friday’s racing, it’s vital to practice responsible gambling.

Betting can be addictive, and it’s important to stay in control of your gambling, whether you’re using online bookmakers, casino sites, slot sites, bingo sites or any other gambling platform.

Never treat gambling as a way to make money, never bet more than you can afford and when the fun stops, stop.

Gambling sites offer punters tools, like deposit limits, profit and loss trackers and self-exclusion options, to help you stay in control.

But if you ever feel like you need help or advice on gambling addiction, don’t hesitate to contact one of the charities or organisations below.

We may earn commission from some of the links in this article, but we never allow this to influence our content. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.

WASHINGTON (AP) — It looks from afar more UFO than UFC.

Maybe it’s the kind of contraption that has carried space aliens to the White House to force a meeting with America’s leader.

But come closer and you’ll see the contours of the eight-sided cage, 30 feet (9 meters) in diameter and shaped, with careful precision, like the MMA league’s signature Octagon. That is, a STOP! sign flipped on its edge, with wire-mesh sides and padded corners fitted with different sponsors’ logos: Morgan & Morgan, Bud Light, Dodge Ram, Corona Extra and Polymarket, which identifies itself as the world’s largest prediction market.

Overhead looms The Claw, a four-sided mass that arcs more than 90 feet (27 meters) into the air and features lights, speakers, thick snakes of wiring and four large screens so fans not seated right next to the Octagon can follow the cage fighting below.

And surrounding all that are risers filled with gray folding chairs forming a temporary arena expected to seat 4,000-plus people for the seven UFC fights being staged on Sunday to celebrate the 80th birthday of President Donald Trump and the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence’s signing.

For non-UFC fans, all of this might be disorienting under any circumstances. But the temporary arena is covering nearly the entirety of the White House’s South Lawn, where Marine One usually lands to ferry the president to out-of-town trips and gobs of kids scramble in the grass during the Easter Egg Roll every spring.

More than $60 million and tens of thousands of hours of labor have been poured into building the arena, according to a court filing from the National Park Service, which oversees the South Lawn and is contesting a lawsuit meant to block the event.

A packed pre-event schedule includes a press conference at the Lincoln Memorial with UFC chief Dana White and the fighters on Friday night.

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Work on the arena began May 20 and has continued for weeks. During a walk-through for reporters on Thursday, construction noises — particularly sanding and hammering — could be heard. Giant cranes were carrying materials around overhead, though that was for the $400 million ballroom that Trump is building nearby, not the UFC fight.

The remaining grassy lawn around the arena, on the other sides of the White House, has been fitted with supplemental spotlights. But the grass that normally grows between the White House and the start of the risers for the arena is now gone, with nothing but dusty dirt that will need to be resodded when this is all over — unless the president really does decide to leave the arena up permanently.

There’s also a large Freedom 250 logo standing between the White House and the arena. Nearby, crews removed the tables and yellow patio umbrellas from Trump’s refurbished Rose Garden and were power-washing that space, as well as the colonnade to the Oval Office, in preparation for the fights.

White has vowed that even heavy lightning — when The Claw might make a conspicuous target for bolts — wouldn’t stop the show.

“I don’t care if it snows,” White said.

​Councillors and the MP for Scarborough and Whitby have hit out at an “incorrect” Government response to a petition calling for stroke services at Scarborough Hospital to be restored.

​Alison Hume MP, who represents Scarborough and Whitby, said there was “only one word to describe my feeling about my campaign at the moment, and that’s frustration”.

​Last year, as part of the campaign, a petition was submitted to the Department of Health to “once again provide specialist emergency assessment, investigation, treatment and care for patients who are potentially suffering from, or have suffered from, an acute stroke”.

​In response, a health minister at the time said: “There have been no direct stroke admissions to Scarborough Hospital since 2015.

​“A limited ‘assess and transfer’ model operated between 2015 and 2020 but was found to be clinically unsustainable and inconsistent with the approved national model for hyper acute stroke units.”

​At a recent meeting of the Scarborough and Whitby Area Committee, Cllr Rich Maw said: “The government’s response to your stroke petition effectively endorsed the current stroke service configuration and rejected the case for restoring acute stroke provision at Scarborough.”

Yorkshire Ambulance Service. Courtesy Anttoni Numminen.

​Quizzing the MP, he added: “I’ve heard that you are holding a debate and you are pressing to encourage a thrombectomy service in North Yorkshire.

​“But what evidence do you believe could realistically persuade ministers or NHS decision-makers to reconsider this decision?”

​Ms Hume called for a review of current stroke strategy “because it doesn’t cover the needs of rural and coastal communities”.

​Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), the Labour MP said the “next step is applying for a debate on why Yorkshire and the Humber don’t have access to 24/7 elective services, so that’s the first thing I’m doing”.

York Hospital. Courtesy Numminen/LDRS

​Speaking after the meeting, she added: “Then I’m applying for a wider debate on stroke services in coastal communities, and that one should be a longer debate in which I hope we’ll get support from MPs, not just in Yorkshire and the Humber, but across the country, because we all have similar issues.

​“Our constituents are miles and miles away from stroke services, and I’m absolutely determined, given that we’ve got a brand-new A&E at Scarborough, that we could be doing the initial scans there.”

Joshua Camplin claimed he was only looking for friendship

A convicted paedophile who arranged to meet a 14-year-old boy a bus station for sex was instead met by waiting police officers, a court has heard.

Joshua Camplin had sent a series of sexually explicit messages and photographs to someone he believed to be a 14-year-old boy and repeatedly asked for intimate pictures in return, unaware he was chatting to an undercover online police officer running a decoy account.

The 33-year-old defendant would later claim that he that he was only seeking a friendship with the decoy, that he missed the message where the decoy said he was 14, and that he had no sexual interest in children.

Giving Camplin an extended sentence as a dangerous offender a recorder said he did not accept any of those assertions.

Kathryn Lane, prosecuting, told Cardiff Crown Court that in 2019 Camplin was jailed and made subject to sexual harm prevention order for possession of indecent images.

She said as part of that order there were restrictions on the defendant owning internet-enabled devices and he was banned from having social media or online accounts in any name other than his own.

The court heard that in early February this year Camplin, who was calling himself James Brown and had a username Ginger Lad, initiated contact with a profileon the gay and bisexual dating website FabGuys.

Camplin’s messages were not initially replied to by the decoy but then the pair began exchanging messages and they moved their communications to email.

The court the decoy account was being run by an undercover police officer.

The prosecutor said the decoy told Camplin he was aged 14 “but that did not deter” the defendant who sent the supposed teenager a series of sexual messages and photographs and made repeated requests for pictures of the decoy’s penis and bum.

When the decoy replied on one occasion that he was in school the defendant told him to go to the toilets and “show me some”.

The court heard the defendant continued asking for intimate pictures and videos before discussing meeting the ‘teen’ for oral sex.

On March 3 arrangements were made for the supposed child to travel to Newport and the decoy messaged the defendant to say he was on his way.

At 4.15pm that day police arrested Camplin outside Newport bus station.

Joshua Andrew Camplin, of Chepstow Road, Newport, had previously pleaded guilty to two counts of breaching a sexual harm prevention order, attempted sexual communication with a child, and attempting to arrange the commission of a child sexual offence when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has one previous conviction for nine offences from 2019 namely the possession of indecent images.

Darren Bishop, for Camplin, said there was very little mitigation he could put forward as far as the offending was concerned but said his client had encountered the decoy on an adult website and said there had initially been no indication of age.

He said his client acted as the primary carer for his partner who had severe mobility issues and said the offending had been a “betrayal” of that partner.

Recorder Simon Hughes noted in his pre-sentence report Camplin claimed that he was only seeking a friendship with the ‘teenager’, said he missed the email where the decoy told him he was 14, and denied having any sexual interest in children.

The recorder said he did not accept any of those assertions and said he was certain that had the police not attended and had the decoy been a real person the defendant would have had oral sex, and perhaps other sexual activity, with him.

He noted an “escalation” in Camplin’s behaviour from possession of images in 2019 to trying to arrange contact offending in 2026 and said probation had assessed him as posing a high risk to any child.

The recorder said in those circumstances a standard determinate sentence was not adequate to protect the public.

With a one-quarter discount for his guilty plea Camplin was sentenced to a seven-year extended sentence comprising 54 months in custody followed by a 30-month licence period.

He must serve two-thirds of the custodial element of the sentence before he can apply to be released but it will be for the Parole Board to determine if he is safe to be let out.

Camplin will be a registered sex offender for the rest of his life and he was made subject to an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.

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The Jungle Box in Hertfordshire was home to meercats, owls, iguanas giant tortoises and a 16ft snake

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A miracle update revealed a baby tortoise survived a horrific fire at a children’s soft play centre and mini zoo.

The incident happened at The Jungle Box on the Watermill Industrial Estate in Buntingford, Hertfordshire after the fire was reported at around 3am on June 10.

Ten fire engines were called to the disaster according to The Mirror, where animals at the site included meerkats, owls, iguanas giant tortoises and a 16ft snake. Now, fire crews shared on Facebook they discovered the baby tortoise alive in the aftermath of the blaze.

Crews from Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue service had initially thought all animals had died in the horror fire. Posting a photo of the tiny survivor, the service wrote: “We have some heartwarming news to share following yesterday’s devastating fire at the Jungle Box in Buntingford.

“While carrying out the fire investigation, we incredibly discovered a baby tortoise alive in the aftermath, despite earlier fears that all the animals had died. A small but powerful moment after a very difficult incident.”

Investigations into the cause of the fire are still ongoing. Black smoke could be seen billowing from the building as local residents were urged to keep their windows and doors closed.

Road closures were put in place on Aspenden Road and London Road. A neighbouring business, The Spud Twins, expressed their sadness at the news in a heartfelt post on social media.

It said: “Absolutely devastated for our friends over at the jungle box soft play. If anyone has a visit booked or a party – you will be contacted in due course.”

A horrific knife attack in Belfast has exacerbated tensions which have spilled over into widespread disorder.

Much of the violence has targeted migrants and ethnic minorities. Hadi Alodid, 30, a Sudanese refugee who entered the UK in 2023 via Ireland, has been charged with attempted murder.

Politicians of all stripes have used the attack to raise the need to change the Common Travel Area (CTA) on the basis that it has become a “loophole” in the UK’s immigration regime.

Politicians generally want to be seen offering immediate solutions where issues arise. But here they risk playing into profoundly damaging narratives for societal cohesion, while upending arrangements that thousands rely upon on a daily basis.

What is the Common Travel Area?

The CTA began to operate in 1922, after Ireland’s independence from the UK. Neither country wanted to impose a full immigration regime where people had previously moved freely, especially in the context of managing their new land border. The CTA allows British and Irish citizens to move, live and work freely between the two countries, as well as the Crown dependencies Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man.

It has persisted, bar a wartime interruption, ever since. Every day people live in Ireland and work in the UK, and vice versa, and move between these countries using the CTA. There are even some road routes that cross the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland multiple times in a short stretch.

The CTA was intended to operate on both an internal and external level. It provided for unrestricted movement to take place between the parts of the CTA. But this was only achievable because both Ireland and the UK aligned their immigration policy and enforced comparable rules of entry.

Brexit threw these arrangements into uncertainty. Although both countries reaffirmed their commitment to the CTA, challenges loomed. With Brexit, the UK became able to exclude or impose entry requirements on citizens of European Economic Area countries, who Ireland, as an EU state, was obliged to freely admit. It also disrupted the arrangements for return of asylum seekers who moved between these countries, which depended upon EU rules.

An immigration backdoor?

The current tension between the Irish and UK governments is that Alodid was permitted to enter Ireland off a flight from France, and was then able to move across the border. Something might well have gone wrong in this case, but the problem is not a lack of immigration powers.

The UK has a broad range of measures that it can employ to manage the border. By law, it is able to treat any area within a mile of the border as a “border area” for the purposes of immigration checks. The Irish authorities operate similar powers and regularly stop traffic, particularly cross-border bus services, near the border.

UK and Northern Ireland authorities maintain the intelligence programme Operation Gull to police immigration affecting Northern Ireland. But it has focused policing on constraining onward movements into Great Britain. The UK government is reportedly set to “intensify” this work.

Politicians frequently propose new legislation to deal with issues around immigration. Here the problem is not the existence of powers, but of resourcing and policing priorities. These can be harder (and require significant funds) to solve. The more requirements of border checks there are, the more people’s lives will be affected by such checks (including carrying more documentation to be able to prove their right to cross).

Even though immigrants can technically be stopped at the border, the issue is what happens next. There is no formal arrangement between Ireland and the UK to return people who have crossed irregularly (without permission or documentation). This has produced tensions in particular cases, but often suits both governments.

Irregular movements across the border are a “two-way issue”, with many asylum seekers arriving in Ireland coming through the CTA, according to the Irish government. Returner arrangements are complex to administer and efforts to return an individual to a “safe third country” have generated litigation. If there is not a disparity in movements, there is little impetus to set one up. If a disparity emerges, or particular incidents create a political storm, then negotiating such an arrangement becomes more fraught.

The CTA arrangements do not mean that Northern Ireland is hosting a disproportionate number of refugees in the UK. Northern Ireland has the lowest percentage of ethnic minority inhabitants of any region of the UK, and its population of nearly 2 million includes fewer than 2,400 people receiving asylum seeker support, according to the latest Home Office figures. Due to the nature of the CTA, there is relatively little data available about how many people claim asylum in the UK having crossed the border from Ireland.

Jim Allister, the leader of the hardline Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) party, has nonetheless warned of the importation of an “alien culture”.

The circumstances of the initial attack will be exposed in the criminal justice process, but at the moment there is nothing to indicate that this was anything other than an isolated incident. If only we were so fortunate to live in a country where knife crime was alien.

What Northern Ireland does have is a long history of sectarianism and violence. Questions around the border have long been part of this history, and the CTA is bound up in these.