By SHANNON MCGUIGAN, NEWS REPORTER

Published: 19:53 BST, 28 July 2026 | Updated: 20:34 BST, 28 July 2026

A manhunt continues for a man after two teenage girls were allegedly raped in an alleyway in Blackpool.

The incident is said to have happened to two girls, both in their late teens, in an alleyway between Edward Street and Topping Street on July 25, 2026.

The area was cordoned off by Lancashire Constabulary over the weekend as both detectives and forensic officers were seen scanning for evidence.

A probe has been launched into the incident. The two girls are being supported by police officers.

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Lancashire Constabulary have released CCTV footage of a man they want to speak to as part of their enquiries.

A Lancashire Police spokesperson said: ‘We were called at 2.36am on Saturday, July 25 to a report of rape in Blackpool.

‘It was reported that two girls, both in their late teens, had been raped by a man in an alleyway off Deansgate, the alleyway running between Edward Street and Topping Street.

‘An investigation has been launched by detectives.

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The incident is said to have happened to two girls, both in their late teens, in an alleyway between Edward Street and Topping Street (pictured) on July 25, 2026

Lancashire Constabulary have released CCTV footage of a man they want to speak to as part of their enquiries

‘Our enquiries are at an early stage, and both girls are being supported by our officers.’

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Any witnesses or anyone with information that could aid police enquiries are urged to call 101, quoting log 0195 of July 25.

Alternatively, those who wish to report anonymously can do so through the independent charity, Crimestoppers, by calling 0800 555 111.

Hull Crown Court heard that over 12 years, Bush breached the trust placed in him by grieving families “on an almost industrial scale”, by keeping bodies for months after they should have been cremated, giving out the wrong ashes, taking money for funeral plans without making any of the arrangements and stealing charity donations collected at services.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday praised the late Senator Lindsey Graham as a bipartisan lawmaker and ‘legend’ who rose from humble roots to become a powerful force to be reckoned with in the US Senate. 

‘He was a man who gave America the full measure of his good and mighty heart,’ Trump said of Graham, the late South Carolina Republican who died unexpectedly earlier this month at 71. ‘Until that heart itself just gave out.’ 

‘While he was always quick to laugh, no one ever doubted the gravity of his mission to all in a strong America,’ Trump said of Graham during a memorial service at Washington National Cathedral. 

‘There’s probably not a single town in South Carolina where Lindsey did not help repair a bridge, expand a school, improve a hospital, or recover from a disaster,’ Trump said of Graham, who served for more than two decades in the Senate.

‘As you remember, Lindsey and I did not exactly get off to the best of starts’ while running against each other in the 2016 Republican presidential primary elections, Trump told attendees, recounting how, at one point during the primary race, he shared the late senator’s personal phone number during one of his rallies. 

‘I shared his personal cell phone number with the millions of people that happened to be watching that particular day,’ Trump remembered. ‘He said, ‘’I had that number for 20 years.” That was the beginning of a friendship, in a way.’ 

‘But it was Lindsey who had the last laugh,’ Trump added, ‘because while I blew up his phone call for one day, we became great friends, and Lindsey did not stop calling me for the next 10 years.’

He ‘was a force of nature, and I will miss him greatly,’ the president said.

Trump’s remarks cap a two-day series of funerals for Graham in Washington and in the Palmetto State, where he will be laid to rest.  

A number of high-profile attendees were seen streaming into the National Cathedral before services began, including current and former administration officials, foreign leaders, and Cabinet officials.

Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, whose confirmation Graham helped push through the Senate Judiciary Committee years earlier, was seated in the front row alongside his wife, Ashley. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Israeli Prime Minister Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were also in attendance. 

Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche attend the funeral service for Graham

Former Vice President Mike Pence greets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a funeral service for Graham at the Washington National Cathedral 

Netanyahu speaks to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth at the Cathedral ahead of Graham’s funeral 

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talks with U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Lawmakers pay tribute to Graham at the US Capitol

Senator Jim Justice comforts Senator Roger Marshall at the Capitol 

Other big names included Eric Trump and his wife, Lara Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, and former Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche were seated together in the second row.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, and Energy Secretary Chris Wright were also seated near the front of the cathedral.

Earlier, Graham’s former Senate colleagues honored his life and career at a smaller ceremony held in the Senate Rotunda. That memorial was, at times, highly emotional, as many in the chamber remembered the years they spent working alongside Graham, and walked around his casket to say their final goodbyes.

‘I look forward to the days when you make us all laugh again,’ Senate Majority Leader John Thune said of Graham at the Capitol tribute, pausing briefly as he choked back tears.

Vice President JD Vance also spoke at the service. ‘I remember Lindsey Graham as a man who loved people, and because he loved people, he was willing to reason with them, to respect them, and ultimately to persuade them,’ the vice president said.

Lindsey’s death was announced just after 2am Eastern time on July 12.

The cause of death was aortic dissection due to arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease, according to a statement issued by his office at 5pm.

‘The death certificate will be PENDING until all the toxicological and microscopic testing are finalized, and at that point the death certificate will be updated to reflect the cause of death and appropriately classify the manner of death,’ a spokesman for Graham’s office said at the time.

Earlier this morning, Greater Manchester Police issued an appeal via social media to ask for the public’s help in their search for a missing 13-year-old girl.

Mia was last seen last night (July 27) in Glenbrook Gardens, Bolton, at around 8:20 pm.

This evening, police have confirmed that the teenager was ‘found safe and well this morning.’

She was described as four feet tall with straight, shoulder-length brown hair.

The police appeal stated Mia was last seen wearing grey leggings, a black jacket, and black socks with beige Crocs.

Greater Manchester Police put out the following statement: “Mia is around four feet tall with straight, shoulder-length brown hair and was last seen wearing grey leggings, black jeans, and black socks in beige crocs.

“Police in Bolton are becoming increasingly concerned about Mia, 13, who was last seen last night.

“Anyone with information about Mia’s whereabouts should contact police on 101—or 999 in an emergency—and quote log 3508-27/07/26.”

While wildfire numbers in England and Wales remain below the 788 recorded by the same point last year, fire chiefs warned “continued dry conditions, combined with warmer temperatures and harvesting activity in many rural areas”, were creating conditions in which fires can start and spread rapidly.

But Alex Wilson AM, Reform UK London Assembly Group Leader, said: “I am deeply troubled by the fact that Zack Polanski has deflected blame and not apologised for his dangerous social media use. This is not the first time he has got into trouble for his posts, having previously scolded the brave police officers who apprehended the alleged Golders Green attacker. There is no doubt that this vile post is incitement to murder.”

A failed asylum seeker who sought ‘attention’ by going to a school with an arsenal of weapons and a petrol can aiming to start a fire has today been jailed for two years.

Both Douk Deng, 21, was carrying a hatchet, a hammer and a seven-inch kitchen knife when he was stopped by police.

The alarming incident came after the South Sudanese man had been refused asylum three times and ‘become extremely frustrated in relation to his immigration status’, a court heard.

Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court heard how officers were called to the Edgar Wood Academy in Middleton, Greater Manchester, on August 8, last year, after a report a man was acting suspiciously outside.

The secondary school, which was closed for the summer holiday, wasn’t due to reopen until the following month but prosecutors believe he intended to set the building on fire.

Brian Berlyne, prosecuting, said a workman had spotted Deng carrying a petrol can and he had a hammer tucked in the belt of his trousers.

Deng, married with at least one child in his homeland, then walked towards the back of the building, Mr Berylne said, before the workman ‘shouted for him to leave’.

Police were called, arriving a short time later and arrested him as he walked away from the school.

Officers seized the petrol can, which contained half a litre of petrol, along with the hammer, a hatchet and a kitchen knife, the court heard.

Mr Berlyne said: ‘It’s the Crown’s case that he must have intended to set fire to the school premises.’

The court heard it was the second school he visited in as many days.

The day before, Deng had gone to the nearby Holy Family Roman Catholic and Church of England College, when he walked towards the entrance, looked through windows and hung around in the foyer.

When he was confronted by a builder, he pointed at the school’s crest and said: “Baby”.

Deng became ‘irritated’ and wrecked an intercom, Mr Berlyne said, and left after the builder contacted police.

The asylum seeker then walked to nearby business park, where he was spotted throwing two plant pots on the floor.

Deng, who identified himself to be South Sudanese, pleaded guilty to seven charges at an earlier hearing.

A day earlier, Deng went to Holy Family College but was turned away by workmen

They include two charges of possessing an offensive weapon in a public place, possessing an offensive weapon on school premises, possession of a bladed article on school premises, and two counts of criminal damage.

Deng, of Heywood, Greater Manchester, also pleaded guilty to having an article with intent to destroy or damage property.

Sarah Haque, defending, said he’d not intended to cause ‘harm’ to anyone and had become frustrated after arriving in the UK and being placed in a HMO with fellow asylum seekers who he believed had received more assistance than he had.

He’d fled his home country in ‘dramatic circumstances’, found himself in a foreign county and wanted to work to support his wife and children, Ms Haque said.

She added: ‘He believed nobody was listening to him or helping him.

‘His intention was to create a scene for attention in order to try to obtain some kind of help.’

Ms Haque said Deng believed the school was a hospital or a company building and she described his actions as ‘bizarre and not the act of a person with a carefully considered plan’.

Ms Haque added: ‘The defence would say he wanted attention and was in crisis and wasn’t motivated by hostility towards teachers, children or others.’

Jailing him for two years, Judge Bernadette Baxter also described the circumstances of the offending as “bizarre”.

She acknowledged that Deng had had a ‘difficult life’ and there was ‘no doubt’ he’d suffered trauma.

But she also noted that a psychiatric report had identified no mental health condition.

She added: ‘I have no power to order the Home Office to do anything but in my judgement your circumstances as a failed asylum seeker, who has been in this custody for the best part a year, the Home Office should be doing something rather than nothing to deal with your status in this country.’

Chief Superintendent Helen Caldbeck, Greater Manchester Police District Commander for Rochdale, said: ‘I’m incredibly proud of the officers’ response to this incident.

‘They were professional and brave in tackling a suspicious man armed with weapons and immediately confronted Deng, to keep the public safe.

‘We have thoroughly investigated Deng and cannot find a clear indication of his motive or intention on that day.

‘Thankfully no one was close to coming to harm, but this was nevertheless a disturbing incident.

‘I thank all officers and investigators on this case who have ensured that the appropriate action has been taken and swift justice has been served.’

EXCLUSIVE: Joe Fagan told the Record Labour had to “reach out beyond the Holyrood bubble” and become rooted in communities.

A new MSP has promised to “shake up” politics as he announced his bid for the Scottish Labour leadership.

Joe Fagan, a former leader of South Lanarkshire council, said his party will only be trusted when it is “rooted in communities”.

In a statement to the Record, he declared: “Continuity won’t cut it.”

Scottish Labour’s summer leadership contest was triggered by the abrupt resignation of Anas Sarwar, who was given a peerage and a job in the UK Government.

MSP Michael Marra has said he intends to run while Monica Lennon, who will become an MSP again within days, is another contender.

Fagan, who was elected in May to serve the South Scotland region, said Scottish Labour must learn from the localism of new Prime Minister Andy Burnham: “Scottish Labour needs to learn lessons from where we have won, not just where we have lost.

“Andy Burnham’s by-election victory in Makerfield and our own successes in South Lanarkshire show that Labour can win back trust when we are rooted in communities and serious about changing people’s lives.

“The lesson is simple: people will listen to Scottish Labour again when we stop sounding like a party talking to itself and start proving that we are on their side.

The 38 year-old said of his time running a local authority with a budget of around £1billion:

“As a local council leader I worked across party lines to make swimming free for South Lanarkshire’s under-16s, to cut the cost of living and deliver the best paid home care workforce in the country.

“I am not here to wait around. As my track record shows, I am here to get things done. That means more money in people’s pockets, better services on their doorstep and a politics that puts practical change ahead of excuses.”

Fagan, who grew up in East Kilbride, said: “I am standing to unite our party and seize this municipal moment. I want us to back the workers and the wealth builders who hold the key to our future shared prosperity.

“I want to build local wealth and local power and renew Labour as a force for change within the Scottish Parliament and without. That means trusting people, backing communities and putting power closer to the people who know their places best.

He concluded: “I know my campaign is bold, but continuity won’t cut it. It’s time to reach out beyond the Holyrood bubble and shake up Scottish politics.”

Contenders need the support of three Scottish Labour MSPs, three MPs and support from affiliated trade unions and local parties to get on the ballot.

It is understood Fagan’s supporters are confident he will meet the threshold to become a candidate.

A friend of Fagan said he was not tarnished by previous defeats and would amount to a break from the past.