Northumbria Police is one of three forces in the country trialling a new pilot scheme this month, offering potential victims a test to detect and identify known substances with which drinks may have been spiked.

The testing kits will be available through trusted providers, including education and health settings, in Newcastle city centre, so victims have more options for support. 

It is recognised that spiking is underreported to police, but officers still want victims to come forward for testing, even if they don’t want their case to go through the criminal justice system.

Police make spiking test kits available for city centre drinkers (Image: North Yorkshire Police)

The pilot project, overseen by the Home Office and National Centre for Violence Against Women and Girls and Public Protection (NCVPP), will be evaluated before being considered for wider roll-out.

It will be an indicator to determine whether it increases the number of people coming forward.

Any improved data will only strengthen the police’s ability to prevent and tackle these offences going forward.

Detective Chief Superintendent Claire Hammond, the lead Violence Against Women and Girls officer at the NCVPP, said: “We hope that by providing direct access to testing we will empower victims with a choice over the support they receive and help them to get answers.

“If something doesn’t feel right, then please seek support and come forward for a test.

“Spiking has a significant impact of feelings of safety, particularly for women and girls, and we are absolutely focused on tackling it.

“It is, therefore, crucial that we know and understand when and where it is happening, so we can use that intelligence to prevent further cases and disrupt offenders.”

Superintendent Joanne Park-Simmons, of Northumbria Police, said: “We completely recognise the distress and worry that potential spiking incidents can cause victims, and, ultimately, we want people to know we’re here to help them.

“We’re proud to have been selected as one of three police forces in the country for this new pilot, which we hope will only strengthen our response to such incidents going forward.

 “By working in collaboration with our partners in Newcastle, including health and education settings, we can further understand the bigger picture and ensure those affected are supported in a way that suits them.

“We know that not everyone wants to progress a criminal outcome, but it’s hugely important we can understand what is happening in our area, so we can take more action.

“Newcastle has always been a safe and welcoming city, and we want to make sure it stays that way.

“If you think you have unfortunately experienced spiking, please consider accessing a test through a provider near you.

 “You will be listened to, and as ever we’ll be here if you need us.”

 A new webpage has been created on the Northumbria Police website which allows potential victims to find the closest venue stocking the new kits.

Read next … more crime stories from The Northern Echo, by clicking here

Project Vigilant targets potential sex, spiking and theft offenders  

North Yorkshire Police launch anti-spiking campaign

Spiking | The Northern Echo

To report spiking, members of the public can send the force a direct message on social media or use live chat and report forms on their website.

Anyone unable to make contact in those ways should call 101.

In an emergency, including where a crime is taking place, the advice is to always dial 999.

According to reports, the crew member has been recovered but has not yet been flown from Iran – and the special rescue mission remains in progress as of Sunday morning UK time

Reports suggest that the second crew member from a downed US warplane has now been recovered after a ‘heavy firefight’.

A US government official has told Al Jazeera that the second crew member from the downed F-15E has now been found – the official has stated, however, that the rescue operation is still in progress.

The missing crew member is confirmed rescued, they said – but is not safe yet. The rescue team must still successfully exfiltrate from Iran and get back to safety.

Iran shot down a F15-E Strike Eagle fighter jet Friday, with one service member getting rescued and the search then desperately being conducted for the second US officials say.

The last time a U.S. warplane was shot down by enemy fire in combat was an A-10 Thunderbolt II during the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, said retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Houston Cantwell, a former F-16 fighter pilot.

US special forces have reportedly conducted a rescue operation for the downed pilot in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province, Iran, following clashes with the Basij Resistance Forces.

US airstrikes have reportedly targeted communication towers in Dehdasht, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province, attempting to disrupt communication and coordination of Iranian forces.

It comes as Donald Trump warned Iran to open the crucial Strait of Hormuz by his Monday deadline and Tehran called his threat “unbalanced and foolish.”

Conservative councillor Amy Cowen has served since 2021, with Charlotte Cadden handed the baton as campaigning is getting underway.

Having a career in policing for 30 years, Ms Cadden said her priorities would centre on tackling crime, anti-social behaviour and protecting local green spaces.

Charlotte Cadden with councillors Nadim Muslim and Samantha Connor (Image: Charlotte Cadden)

Ms Cadden, who has previously lived in Egerton, said: “I’ve worked in Bolton at all different ranks, but I’ve investigated serious crime alongside anti-social behaviour.

“We do suffer a number of burglaries, car crimes, as well as anti-social behaviour, especially as we come into summer.

“You’ve now got a lot of e-bikes, these illegal bikes that shouldn’t be on the road that teenagers have got no insurance for, and a lot of the time they’re masked up, and it’s frightening for local residents.”

The Conservative candidate actively supporter of women’s rights, being part of introducing Police SEEN UK which challenges sex discrimination in forces across the country.

Charlotte Cadden (Image: Charlotte Cadden)

She also pointed to concerns around development, including opposition to building on green belt, or new grey belt sites, such as Tongfields.

Ms Cadden said she hoped to continue the work of Cllr Cowen and praised her time in office.

She added: “Amy has been a fantastic councillor since 2021. She’s done some incredible casework over the past few years.”

Cllr Nadim Muslim, also representing Egerton and Bromley Cross, said: “We’re really pleased to have some more of her experience.

“We have general issues around speeding and anti-social behaviour, so her police background is going to make a huge difference to how we tackle those issues in our ward.”

Ms Cadden, is currently a governor at Rumworth School in Ladybridge and stood as Conservative candidate for Gorton and Denton. The seat was won by the Green Party’s Hannah Spencer, who is from Bolton.

Council elections will take place on Thursday 7 May in Bolton.

David and Denise Hopwood, of Duchy Avenue in Over Hulton, were given 14 days by Peel Land to clear the structures from a strip of land next to their property.

Now the couple instructed solicitors to challenge the decision.

The dispute centres on land the couple say they have maintained for around eight years, after contacting Peel in 2019 about looking after the area.

The fence sits adjacent to the couples property (Image: NQ)

Mr Hopwood said they were not explicitly given permission to install structures but believed they had approval to maintain the land, and had offered to pay for a licence at the time.

Over the years, the couple installed a small fence and planter features, which they say improved the appearance of the land and helped prevent anti-social behaviour.

A planter that has been removed as a consequence of Peel’s enforcement (Image: NQ)

David said: “We don’t want their land, we just wanted to keep it tidy and make it look nice.

“It had previously been overgrown and attracting anti-social problems.”

Peel later issued an enforcement notice, stating the structures were unauthorised and must be removed, with the land returned to its previous condition.

David said he has since taken down the fence panels, planters and ornaments, leaving only some posts and base boards in place.

He said: “I really want to win, but I’m not holding out hope.

“I’m simply taking a one-time stab at this — I can’t plough money into it.

He added that if allowed to keep the land as it is, the couple would be willing to pay a licence fee and continue maintaining it.

David said he also pointed out that other nearby residents had made informal use of the land, including placing boulders and creating a small memorial for a neighbour who had passed.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Dan Hurley had UConn ready for another Final Four fight night. Once again, his Huskies scored a knockout.

Fabulous freshman Braylon Mullins made another last-minute 3-pointer — his only basket of the second half — and the Huskies muscled their way past Illinois 71-62 on Saturday to reach their third national championship game in four years.

Tarris Reed Jr. had 17 points and 11 rebounds and Mullins finished with 15 points as the Huskies (34-5) rode strong inside play and tough defense to their 19th straight victory in the Sweet 16 or later rounds of the NCAA Tournament.

They’ll face either Arizona or Michigan with a chance to win their seventh national title, all since 1999, as Hurley tries to become the only active coach with more than two championships.

“We’re a tough program, we’re a group of fighters,” said Hurley, who won it all in 2023 and 2024. “We’ve got incredible will. We go into these games, we’re ready for battle. For us, it’s not a game that we’re just kind of running around in uniforms throwing the ball around, hoping it goes in. That’s not what we’re doing out there. We’re fighting. It’s a life-and-death struggle for us to get to Monday night for the opportunity to win a championship.”

Mullins sent the Huskies past Duke, the top overall seed, in the Elite Eight last weekend with the shot of the tourney — a 35-foot 3-pointer with 0.4 seconds left. He was equally effective this time, a short drive from his hometown of Greenfield, Indiana.

After Silas Demary Jr. secured an offensive rebound, Mullins hit a catch-and-shoot 3 with 52 seconds left that gave UConn a 66-59 and thwarted Illinois’ late charge.

“The set was going to be run for anybody on the team. You’ve just got to shoot with confidence,” Mullins said. “Just trying to find the best look on the floor, and I know our point guards are going to get us the ball, so I think that was the biggest shot I hit tonight.”

UConn needed it on a night star forward Alex Karaban struggled with his shot. He had nine points on 1-of-8 shooting while adding four rebounds and four assists as he tied Hurley’s brother, Bobby, for second in career March Madness victories by a player with 18. A win Monday also would make him the first player since John Wooden’s dominant UCLA teams in the 1960s and 1970s to finish as a three-time champion.

Thanks in part to Karaban, the Huskies haven’t lost a tournament game played past the opening weekend since 2009, when they fell in the national semifinals to Michigan State. With one more victory, they would break a tie with North Carolina and move into third place alone in national titles, trailing only UCLA (11) and Kentucky (eight).

Freshman guard Keaton Wagler had 20 points and eight rebounds to lead the Fighting Illini (28-9), who reached their first Final Four since losing the championship game to UNC in 2005.

Wagler and Mullins became the first pair of freshmen to top 15 points in a Final Four game since Michael Jordan and Patrick Ewing in 1982.

“It’s margins, they’re so small,” said Illinois’ Brad Underwood, a 62-year-old coaching lifer who reached his first Final Four. “Getting here is really hard. Winning is really hard. It’s why I have so much appreciation for Alex Karaban. He’s been to three of them. That’s freaky. It’s a rebound, it’s a loose ball, it’s a ball rolling in, it’s a banked 3.”

Tomislav Ivisic had 16 points and seven rebounds for the Illini, who couldn’t replicate the blueprint that carried them to double-digit victories over Penn, VCU, Houston and Iowa. Illinois made just 3 of 14 3-pointers in the first half and finished 6 of 26 beyond the arc.

UConn took full advantage even though the Huskies had two long scoring droughts — nearly six minutes in the first half and more than six minutes in the second. The latter allowed Illinois to charge back from its biggest deficit of the season, 57-43 with 9:43 to play, to get within 57-53 with 5:03 remaining.

But the Huskies answered and closed it out at the free-throw line for their fifth straight win in the series. UConn beat Illinois 74-61 on Nov. 28 in Madison Square Garden, and now the Huskies have held the Illini to their two lowest scoring totals and shooting percentages of the season. UConn also beat Illinois 77-52 in the Elite Eight two years ago.

“We held them to 35 percent (shooting),” Underwood said. “They just made more 3s than we did.”

And finished with a little more punch.

“The year hasn’t been a joy ride,” Hurley said. “We haven’t been a machine of destruction. We’ve been a team that’s had to grind out games like this.”

___

AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

Fifa’s latest decision to require every team in its women’s competitions to include at least one female head coach or assistant is, on the surface, a landmark moment.

The rule will apply across all women’s tournaments, from youth level to senior competition, beginning this year with the U17 and U20 World Cups and the Women’s Champions Cup.

In a sport where the technical area remains overwhelmingly male, the symbolism is powerful. But symbolism in sport is rarely neutral. It can signal progress while exposing how far the structures around it still have to travel.

Women’s football has grown rapidly in visibility and commercial value. Coaching, however, has not kept pace. At the 2023 Women’s World Cup, only 12 of 32 head coaches were women. Across some national associations, women make up as little as 5% of the coaching workforce. Against that backdrop, Fifa’s intervention is both unsurprising and, in many ways, overdue.

It is also an admission that organic change has failed. But there is a deeper issue. Research on coaching cultures consistently shows that underrepresentation is not the root problem but a symptom of more deeply embedded behaviour. Increasing numbers without addressing those issues risks leaving the foundations intact.

The timing, too, invites scrutiny. If the imbalance has been clear for years, why act now? And why only within the women’s game?

A problem contained within a single domain

The policy applies exclusively to women’s competitions. On one level, that makes practical sense. Structurally, however, it reinforces a familiar pattern. Gender inequality is treated as an issue to be solved within women’s sport, rather than across football as a whole.

The men’s game – where coaching pathways are more entrenched, better funded and more resistant to disruption – remains untouched. In effect, the responsibility for reform is placed on the side of the sport with the least power to drive it.

There is also a flawed assumption at play: that appointing more women will, in itself, transform coaching cultures. It may not. Women, like men, can reproduce the same patriarchal structures they have been socialised into. Representation alone does not guarantee change.

Policies like this walk a narrow line. Without intervention, inequality persists. But mandates risk introducing a parallel narrative: that women are present because they are required, not because they are qualified.

Fifa’s chief football officer, Jill Ellis, has framed the rule as an accelerant, designed to “create clearer pathways, expand opportunities, and increase visibility for women on our sidelines”. The logic is compelling.

Yet elite coaching is as much about perceived authority as it is about expertise. If female coaches are seen, however unfairly, as fulfilling a quota, the policy risks undermining its own aims.

There is another trap here too. The expectation that women will bring inherently different, more collaborative or empathetic approaches leans on gender stereotypes. It risks reinforcing the very assumptions that have historically limited women’s progression.

Visibility at the top does not necessarily mean readiness. Fifa has invested in coach development and nearly 800 women have received scholarship support since 2021. But the gap between training and elite international competition remains significant.

If exposure outpaces infrastructure, early difficulties may be interpreted as evidence that the policy itself is flawed. Sport is quick to remember failure and slow to acknowledge context. And if those stepping into these roles have been shaped by the same systems they are expected to change, criticism risks missing the point entirely.

Beyond visibility

None of this is an argument against increasing the number of women in coaching. Representation matters. It shapes expectations, broadens ambition and challenges long-standing assumptions about who leads.

But meaningful change is rarely immediate. It happens in coach education, in hiring practices, in mentoring networks and in grassroots environments where coaching identities first take shape. A mandate can open the door. It cannot, on its own, build the path.

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Without deeper structural change, such as in how coaching is taught, valued and practised, new appointments risk being placed into old systems.

Fifa’s decision is part of a broader effort to increase the presence of women in technical roles and align leadership with the rapid growth of the women’s game. It is not insignificant. It disrupts a long-standing status quo and will have visible effects, not least at the 2027 World Cup. But visibility alone will not transform a system.

If women on the touchline are to become unremarkable – as an expectation not an exception – the structures beneath elite coaching must change as well. Otherwise, mandates risk becoming what sport has seen before: gestures that are symbolically powerful, but structurally fragile. Real change will come not when women are required to be present, but when their presence no longer needs to be required.

Mars moves into Aries this week which is a double blast of Mars energy, bet you can feel it!

Ambition, power moves, passion projects, full-blooded attractions, and the pursuit of mission impossibles are all on the cards.

It’s the season to put your best foot forward, be led by ambitious instincts, and get what’s coming to you sooner vs later. Activate new roles, applications, pitches, inventions, ideas, relationships and schemes. Back yourself!

Which power moves does the tarot think you should make this week?

Aries

March 21 to April 20

Tarot card for Aries for this week: Knight of Wands

Meaning: You are unstoppable (some might say insufferable) this week because not only is your planet Mars moving into your sign of Aries but you also get the Knight of Wands, which is like the essence of Aries energy.

I think you could climb any mountain. So, yeah, head off on a grand adventure, attempt the impossible, aim as high as you dare and then some more. Nothing is out of reach for you this week if you put your back into it. Go get some!

Head here for everything you need to know about being an Aries

Taurus

April 21 to May 21

Tarot card for Taurus for this week: Four of Wands

Meaning: Your power move is to apply for a promotion, head to the next level, raise your prices/game/ideas, progress beyond the space (that you’ve outgrown). Bigger, better, bolder.

Taurus, you’re a deeply ambitious and capable person, born to lead, made for controlling and bossing other folk! It’s a race to the top, and the start line is here, this week. You can progress far, far beyond this current position. Believe it and do it. Results within four weeks!

Head here for everything you need to know about being a Taurus

Gemini

May 22 to June 21

Tarot card for Gemini for this week: Five of Cups

Meaning: There’s been some loss, regret and setbacks spoiling your mood recently, even though you’ve tried to brush them all off. Gemini, those sad days are over. The rebuild and reboot starts here!

So dry your eyes and look ahead with hope and optimism. Use the humbling or wise lessons you’ve learned to set out with a new-found sense of experience, shrewdness or understanding. You’ve lived and learned. Put the knowledge to good use and go make your realm brilliant again, better than before. You are the master of reinvention.

Head here for everything you need to know about being a Gemini

Cancer

June 22 to July 23

Tarot card for Cancer for this week: Five of Swords

Meaning: Your power move is to end an argument. You didn’t start this, but you can end it, and that is the real power move, because you get to take back control and put this fire out, before they can pour any more fuel on it.

Whatever it takes, you can do it. You love figuring people out, sussing out their buttons, and then pressing them! So, strategise a path to peace, make your moves, and watch them fall in line. They never really wanted this heat anyway and are sorry to have tested you. You love stuff like this.

Head here for everything you need to know about being a Cancer

Leo

July 24 to August 23

Tarot card for Leo for this week: Two of Swords

Meaning: Decision-making is this week’s project and homework. You are going to make a big, bold decision that sucks the power out of the room and puts it all in your back pocket.

Other folk are still watching and wondering, and you’re already 10 steps ahead and out the door! The early bird gets the worm. First movers’ advantage. Play the risky hand and take the grand prize, remembering fortune favours the bold. You are boldness personified.

Head here for everything you need to know about being a Leo

Virgo

August 24 to September 23

Tarot card for Virgo for this week: Nine of Wands

Meaning: This week will bring you enormous self empowerment, and that comes from testing your mettle, facing a fear, overcoming a challenge you have dreaded tackling. Get to it. It’s the right time!

The Nine of Wands brings reassurance and help that you don’t expect, and everything will unfold much faster and smoother than you could ever imagine. So don’t live with this nagging feeling of low-key fear any longer… face its root cause and feel strong. You can do this. You’ve got this.

Head here for everything you need to know about being a Virgo

Libra

September 24 to October 23

Tarot card for Libra for this week: Page of Wands

Meaning: Your power move this week, Libra, is to let life bring you what it’s got in mind for you, and engage with it fully, trusting the process, ditching the schedule, and refusing to overthink the outcomes.

Focus on what’s in front of you. Put down your plans and schemes, and engage with the current moment, because that is where the real opportunities are, and where you will find the greatest success and potential for progress.

Head here for everything you need to know about being a Libra

Scorpio

October 24 to November 22

Tarot card for Scorpio for this week: The Magician

Meaning: Success requires value, which means creating, inventing, or delivering something that folk want. The Magician puts an idea in your mind this week that you alone can execute and that will be amazingly successful. Are you ready to begin?

It’s based around a natural talent, strength or interest of yours, and it’s something fresh and new. With a little training or refinement, you can bring this project to fruition and maybe even ‘sell’ it somehow. Fancy being an entrepreneur? It’s on the cards!

Head here for everything you need to know about being a Scorpio

Sagittarius

November 23 to December 21

Tarot card for Sagittarius for this week: Three of Coins

Meaning: You are so well loved and admired, people always draw to your flame because you’re naturally funny, bright and charismatic. Your power move, this week, is to use the company you keep and attract. It’s via who, vs what, you know that doors can open for you right now.

Collaborate, cooperate, and co-create. Ask for help and advice. Share ideas. Brainstorm. Question and validate other folk. Seek investment and support. Whatever you need from others will be granted this week (if you ask).

Head here for everything you need to know about being a Sagittarius

Capricorn

December 22 to January 21

Tarot card for Capricorn for this week: The Wheel of Fortune

Meaning: Make one big, bold change in your realm this week. Then step back and watch that Wheel of Fortune start to spin. Everything creates a halo, a ripple effect, a knock-on. And you will enjoy watching the consequences and well-timed impacts of your move spread out across your wider realm.

It all comes from a good place and therefore it will bring good gifts to others. Be brave, resolute and direct. Make what you wish to happen… happen. You have the power.

Head here for everything you need to know about being a Capricorn

Aquarius

January 22 to February 19

Tarot card for Aquarius for this week: Seven of Wands

Meaning: Aquarians are competitive; I truly think it’s an under-rated trait of yours. Bring out the best of you by entering into some kind of rivalry, competition, target-setting or goal creation this week, ideally with other folk.

You are known to rise to any occasion, you are fuelled and enlivened by ‘proving something’ to other people, so make this your environment and baseline, and you will surpass your own expectations. Play to win and you will win. But you need to pick a game to play.

Head here for everything you need to know about being an Aquarius

Pisces

February 20 to March 20

Tarot card for Pisces for this week: Seven of Coins

Meaning: The power move is to let go of what’s not working. Don’t tie yourself up in painful knots to an idea, person, place or role that doesn’t suit or serve you well. Life’s too short for this waste of energy.

Accept what’s not right in your life and give yourself full and unconditional permission to seek something new. And you know what, it will all happen faster than you think! This has been brewing for a long time, and it’s time for a rebirth. Acknowledge this and the process will begin.

Head here for everything you need to know about being a Pisces

Kerry King has been reading, teaching and creating tarot for 30 years. Join her magical, exclusive Tarot Club for forecasts, predictions, lessons and readings straight to your inbox. Enjoy one month free for all Metro readers (no lock-in or commitment) over on Patreon.

Your daily Metro.co.uk horoscope is here every morning, seven days a week (yes, including weekends!). To check your forecast, head to our dedicated horoscopes page.

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Investigators will also be able to directly take funds from a person’s bank account

Sweeping new DWP powers are set to crack down on benefit fraud, including bank account checks for claimants. Legislation was passed last year introducing a range of new powers, enabling investigators to request banking information for people receiving certain benefits.

Officials will approach UK banking providers, instructing them to scrutinise their records for accounts connected to particular benefits, to flag any accounts that may be ineligible for their payments. The new legislation also grants the authority to withdraw funds directly from a person’s bank account should they owe the DWP money and refuse to repay the debt. The eligibility checks will initially target those claiming Universal Credit, Pension Credit, and Employment and Support Allowance. This could be extended to other benefits.

The DWP has now issued an update on when these bank checks will actually start to be used. Officials confirmed that they have not yet been put into practice as some things need to happen first.

As these bank account checks are rolled out, the DWP is first undertaking a ‘test and learn approach’ to trial the new powers, which is due to commence this year. In the meantime, the DWP is currently developing code of practices governing the use of these new powers.

The DWP said the final version of these codes will be presented to Parliament “before any new powers can be used”. The direct deduction powers, whereby investigators can withdraw a sum directly from a person’s bank account, are intended to target people who have left the benefits system and still have outstanding amounts to repay.

Previously, the DWP could only recover funds through a person’s PAYE earnings or via deductions from their benefits. Should the DWP plan to exercise this power, they will notify the people, giving them an opportunity to challenge the matter.

Officials will also ask for three months’ worth of bank statements to confirm that the person has sufficient funds in their account. The legislation additionally provides expanded powers for fraud investigators to request information during an investigation.

Previously, they were limited to demanding information from a restricted list of sources. They can now approach any third party connected to the person suspected of fraud, compelling them to hand over the required details.

When the powers were enshrined in law in December 2025, Andrew Western, minister for Transformation, said: “It is right that as fraud against the public sector evolves, the Government has a robust and resolute response.

“The powers granted through the bill will allow us to better identify, prevent and deter fraud and error, and enable the better recovery of debt owed to the taxpayer. A benefits system people can trust is essential for claimants and taxpayers alike – through this bill, that’s exactly what we’ll deliver.”

Tyrone Jugessur’s barrister said the defendant, who has 42 previous offences on his record, understands that he ‘needs to change’ for the sake of his children

A man repeatedly rammed his ex-girlfriend’s car in a terrifying attack in the street, a court has heard.

The incident marked the culmination of a spree of offending by Tyrone Jugessur which included stealing a van with a puppy inside and being caught with a van taken from the set of a BBC production which had contained thousands of pounds worth of equipment.

The defendant’s barrister told Cardiff Crown Court that her 34-year-old client, who has 42 previous offences on his record, understands he “needs to change” and he wants to “get back to being a full-time father”. Don’t miss a court report by signing up to our crime newsletter here.

The court heard the defendant’s offending began in May last year when a van belonging to a man working for the BBC was taken from a film set in Dinas Powys. Inside the Ford Transit was equipment worth £10,000.

While it is not known who took the van it was subsequently found in the possession of the defendant in Sully.

The court heard two weeks later Jugessur stole a van after the driver had momentarily left the vehicle to speak to a colleague.

Inside the van were tools and the driver’s 17-week-old puppy.

The defendant removed the puppy from the van before driving away.

Jugesaur stole another vehicle in July when he took a car belonging to a man who was delivering newspapers in Rhiwbina in Cardiff. On that occasion the car was driven away in convoy with a van.

The missing car was located by police and the defendant was seen running away. Officers recovered blank Ford key fobs and an electronic device for plugging into a vehicle’s onboard diagnostic port from the van.

The court heard the offending came to a head in December when Jugessur got involved in an argument with an ex-girlfriend about who she was texting.

The defendant snatched the woman’s phone and smashed it, and damaged her car keys.

Then on December 31 witnesses heard a woman in a black Mercedes in Pentland Close in Llanishen shouting: “Call the police” before Jugessur, who was following her in a Seat Leon car, repeatedly rammed the Mercedes from behind.

In an impact statement which was read to the court the defendant’s ex said she used to love driving but was now too scared to go out in her vehicle and has lost her independence as she now has to rely on lifts from family and friends.

She said had been left struggling with anxiety and was “suffering emotionally” and she said though she loved her house she now felt like the only option was to move.

Tyrone John Jugessur, of Lynmouth Crescent, Llanrumney, Cardiff, had previously pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, two counts of theft of a vehicle, two counts of driving while disqualified, two counts of driving with no insurance, handling stolen goods, and criminal damage when he appeared in the dock for sentencing.

He has 25 previous convictions for 42 offences including “multiple” vehicle thefts and motoring matters. The court heard he is a banned driver having never passed an extended driving test following a previous disqualification for an offence of dangerous driving.

Martha Smith-Higgins, for Jugessur, said it was accepted her client had a bad record but said from 2022 to 2025 there was a “period of calm” with no offending.

She said the gap was a “significant one” in the context of the defendant’s offending history and said during that time he had been “working hard”.

The barrister said the father-of-two knows he “needs to change” and he “wants to get back to being a full-time dad”.

With discounts for his guilty pleas Recorder Greg Bull KC sentenced Jugessur to a total of 40 months in prison.

He will serve up to half the sentence in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.

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