Megan Lannigan and her husband, Scott, took part after her dad, Bobby McGinty, had three heart attacks while on holiday in Florida.

A Carluke couple completed a mammoth fundraiser for a great cause last month.

Megan Lannigan and her husband, Scott, took part in the Scottish Half Marathon in August to raise money for Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland.

They were inspired after a “really tough year” in 2025 which saw Megan’s dad, Bobby McGinty, have three heart attacks while on holiday in Florida.

Photographer Megan said: “I was crying going over the finishing line.

“I think it’s because of all of the work you put in, the money you raise, knowing we had it for CHSS, and seeing my wee boy, my mum and my dad at the finishing line was such a mixture of emotions that just hits you. We were on such a high after it.

“We were both aiming to go under two-and-a-half hours and we managed it in two hours and 19 minutes so we’re chuffed with that.”

Megan, 33, added: “At the time of the first cardiac arrest, myself, my mum and my husband all had to provide CPR. Thankfully, all of us are CPR trained, because we knew what to do, as chaotic as it was. He went down very quickly.

“That was followed by two heart attacks, and then he was in ICU in Florida for seven days before waking up. He stayed in intensive care until his surgery.

“He had his cardiac arrest on 25 August and a triple bypass in September. By some miracle and somebody watching out over us, my dad is here to tell the tale now and has been signed off by cardiology, which is amazing.

“That bit of time is a bit of a whirlwind in my mind. He was in multi-organ failure, there were questions about flights home to the UK, we had to get my brother out to America. As a family, we made the decision that Scott and I would come home with our wee boy Mason – that was the right call for our own priorities at the time. My mum and brother stayed out there with him.”

At the same time, Megan’s uncle, Frank Robertson, died of a stroke. The family was advised by doctors not to say to Bobby as he was awaiting surgery.

Megan added: “We couldn’t tell my dad because he was so unstable and waiting for surgery. We couldn’t risk high blood pressure or the stress of it. He was asking why Frank was not messaging him back, and we had to protect him from that news until it was safe.”

As the dust settled and Bobby came home, Megan turned to running “as a form of therapy” and used Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland’s Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest (OHCA) service to help deal with the mental impact of what had happened.

Megan said: “I read a lot of Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland’s information online, because so much of my trauma stemmed from the CPR and the fight or flight response after my dad had gone to hospital.

“I started doing a wee run here and there when I came home to try to clear my brain. I knew there was support there for people who had given CPR, or people affected by it, not just the people who had gone through it. Reading and listening to other people’s stories, and knowing people had got through this, helped.”

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After Bobby returned home, Megan’s thoughts turned to using her new hobby of running to fundraise. That led her to signing up for the Scottish Half Marathon.

It isn’t the family’s only fundraiser this year. Bobby, along with friends and family, is taking on the Edinburgh Kiltwalk on September 13. So far the group has raised more than £10,000 for CHSS.

Megan said: “We have both got this hobby now and we are already thinking about what we might sign up to next. It has come from a really awful time, but we have created a positive from something negative.”

And Elaine Thomson, community events and corporate fundraiser at CHSS, said: “We’re so thankful for Megan and Scott for taking part in the Scottish Half Marathon for CHSS.

“It’s been a pleasure to work with the family and friends involved in this year of fundraising for CHSS. They have been able to create a lot of great memories in 2026 from a difficult 2025.

“Watching everyone come together for one cause has been very inspiring.

“Fundraising for CHSS helps us to support the one in five people across Scotland living with one of our conditions.”

To support Megan’s fundraiser please go to www.justgiving.com/fundraising/megan-lannigan.

If you’re living with the effects of a chest, heart or stroke condition or long Covid and are looking for advice and information, please contact Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland’s Advice Line on 0808 801 0899. You can also text ADVICE to 66777 or email adviceline@chss.org.uk.

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The Crown‘s Clare Foy was a world away from the Queen’s tweeds and headscarves tonight – the star of the red carpet at the Venice Film Festival in a bold red dress, complete with old-school movie star diamonds.

Foy, 42, plays a fictional newspaper executive at The Sun, Jules Davies, in Danny Boyle‘s Ink, which is about the mogul’s take over of the newspaper in 1969.

The actress channelled old Hollywood glamour in a custom Bottega Veneta gown and matching glasses, Christian Louboutin heels and opera gloves while making her show-stopping arrival.

She was joined at the premiere by leading men Guy Pearce, 58, who portrays Rupert Murdoch, and Jack O’Connell, 36, who stars as Larry Lamb.

Meanwhile, George Clooney, 65, was dressed to the nines in a Giorgio Armani tuxedo while his dazzling wife Amal, 48, looked a picture of elegance in a Tom Ford gown.

Foy said today that she found her adventure in the world of 1960s tabloid journalism ‘really intoxicating’ and felt jealous of reporters.

‘They had power at their fingertips,’ she said. ‘They knew what they wrote would be what people read and what people believed.’

Pearce revealed that he had reached out to Murdoch via his daughter Elisabeth, and that Murdoch was quite pleased by the casting. The film is based on a stage play which Murdoch himself came to see twice.

George Clooney, 65, and his dazzling wife Amal, 48, looked picture perfect in matching black tie outfits as they descended on the red carpet for the opening night

She was joined at the premiere by leading men Guy Pearce (L), 58, who portrays Rupert Murdock, and Jack O’Connell (R), 36, who stars as Larry Lamb

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Pearce said: ‘I had some messaging with Elisabeth [Murdoch], his daughter, and she said ‘Dad’s very happy that you are playing him.’ But he hadn’t seen the film at that point.’ 

Director Danny Boyle said that at the time Murdoch, now 93, ‘represented at the time a breath of fresh air in what was a very rigid British society. It begins with something that’s fun and different, challenging a rigid order.’

The media was also on the mind of actor Clooney – whose father Nick is a retired news anchor and journalist. 

Clooney is in Venice to accept a Lifetime Achievement award, given before the premiere.

After posing for pictures with wife Amal he jokingly took up a place among the bank of press photographers and pretended to take pictures himself.

Clooney joked that he’s been getting nostalgic in the run up to the festival. 

He said: ‘I’m 65 years old — everything is melancholy. You brush your teeth and you’re like, ‘My teeth used to be so much better.’ Everything about getting older…’

He added: ‘I also feel very lucky. I have an incredible wife whom I love very much and she loves me. I have great kids. I think life is pretty good.’

He explained that he is working less as he gets older, and has stepped away from directing movies as it takes up too much time.

Foy channelled old Hollywood glamour in a custom Bottega Veneta gown and opera gloves while making her show-stopping arrival

Foy plays a fictional newspaper executive at The Sun, Jules Davies, in Danny Boyle’s Ink, which is about the mogul’s take over of the newspaper in 1969

Foy said today that she found her adventure in the world of 1960s tabloid journalism ‘really intoxicating’ and felt jealous of reporters

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All eyes were on Foy as she descended on the red carpet in front of an army of photographers

Amal was a picture of elegance in a ruched black Tom Ford gown

Clooney is in Venice to accept a Lifetime Achievement award, given before the premiere

The couple wrapped their arms around each other while posing for photos

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The media was also on the mind of actor Clooney – whose father Nick is a retired news anchor and journalist

After posing for pictures with wife Amal he jokingly took up a place among the bank of press photographers and pretended to take pictures himself

Clooney joked that he’s been getting nostalgic in the run up to the festival

He said: ‘I’m 65 years old — everything is melancholy. You brush your teeth and you’re like, ‘My teeth used to be so much better.’ Everything about getting older…’

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Danny Boyle, Jack O’Connell, Claire Foy and Guy Pearce posed for a picture on the red carpet (L-R)

Clooney proudly posed with his Lifetime Achievement

Clooney’s co-star in that film, Laura Dern, presented him with the award last night

Alessandra Ambrosio dazzled in a ruched black gown

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Nina Dobrev wore quirky  Giorgio Armani Privé dress

Jonathan Bailey, Giorgio Armani Global Fragrance Ambassador, chose a Giorgio Armani tuxedo

Maggie Gyllenhaal looked effortlessly chic in Celiné

‘I have two 9-year-old kids. If I act in a movie, it’s three months [away]. When I direct a movie, it’s a year. And I can’t do that anymore. 

‘I can’t pull the kids out of school anymore. I’m happy to doing this, being an actor, again. It’s fun. I’m a character actor now.’

He said that he hopes to make a new Oceans movie with good friends Brad Pitt and Matt Damon, adding: ‘As soon as we get our schedules to work, we’re going to film.’

Having become famous thanks to the TV series ER, he went on to appear in films including Out of Sight, Syriana, Three Kings, O Brother Where Art Thou and Jay Kelly, which was at the festival last year. 

His co-star in that film, Laura Dern, presented him with the award last night.

The film arrives in UK cinemas on January 8 and will be available to stream on Netflix in the US on the same day. 

It will also have a limited cinema run on December 11 in the US. 

The Venice International Film Festival runs until September 12, with stars including Robert Pattinson and Oasis brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher expected to descend on the Lido.

You can imagine being a queer teen in a Christian fundamentalist community in rural Australia is not an easy ride. In his debut feature Leviticus, writer and director Adrian Chiarella imagines how much harder that would be if there were also supernatural forces conspiring against you.

The film centres on the burgeoning romance between 17-year-old Naim – played by Joe Bird, who recently impressed in the wonderful Australian horror film Talk to Me (2022) – and Ryan (Stacy Clausen). The pair are forced to attend a fire-and-brimstone sexual conversion therapy session with a fundamentalist “healer” on a mission to convert the town’s gay and lesbian teens.

After sessions with this mysterious figure end in Exorcist-style convulsions and gouts of vomit, participants are pursued by an entity that looks identical to the person they desire most. In classic horror-film fashion, if a teen succumbs to their desire for the lookalike, they are torn to shreds in the midst of sex. Ryan and Naim are caught between their desire for one another and the fact that the person they become intimate with might kill them.

Leviticus is an excellent independent drama. The film’s success lies less in its execution of effective scares and horror tropes and more in the emotionally resonant, superbly acted depiction of a forbidden young gay relationship in an oppressive community. Save one or two jump scares, it is not an especially harrowing or nail-biting horror spectacle. But the film builds a desolate atmosphere and creates a complex and likeable young couple for audiences to root for.

Chiarella has based his screenplay on his experiences as a gay man growing up in Sydney, Australia, which he adapts with heady atmosphere into a beautifully desolate depiction of rural Australia.

With the success of Backrooms (2026), about horror lurking in an endless network of interconnected rooms, horror filmmakers and audiences are particularly attuned right now to in-between spaces and the inherent creepiness to be found in the blandly everyday. Leviticus follows other excellent examples of Australian mystery and horror cinema, from Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) to Wolf Creek (2010) and Killing Ground (2016), in using the unique starkness of the countryside to convey a distinctive strangeness and melancholy.

Leviticus was shot in rural townships west of Melbourne. It depicts the Australian small town as we might expect to see an oppressive southern gothic American backwater. Outside of the judgmental eyes of the town, romantic encounters take place in haunting liminal spaces. These include dilapidated barns surrounded by abandoned rusted machinery and across stretches of bleak, blanched grassland.

Mia Wasikowska is superb in the film as Naim’s young mother, Arlene. You might recognise her from films like Tim Burton’s awful Alice in Wonderland (2010) or Jane Eyre (2011). After such early career success, Wasikowska rejected Hollywood and fame for a series of interesting and unconventional independent films like Leviticus.

Arlene has converted to Christian fundamentalism after the death of her son’s father. Wasikowska articulates with moving complexity the tension between the love for her son and her anxiety around his sexuality within the context of the intolerant wider community.

The main conceit of Leviticus is simple but clever: transgressive sexual desire = death. The pursuit of teenagers by a relentless entity after sexual activity has been explored in the influential and acclaimed film, It Follows (2014) – a film that Chiarella cites as an inspiration for Leviticus. That film was similarly set in the downbeat environment of a small rural town. Its “monster” also in part represents the simultaneous excitement and anxiety of young desire. In Leviticus, however, the anxiety is a specifically queer one, where longing, self-acceptance and internalised shame battle for dominance in the young mind.

The film scholar Harry Benshoff influentially wrote about horror film through a queer lens, pointing out the tension between horror cinema’s popularity among LGBTQ+ audiences and the genre’s subtext of societal homophobia.

Monsters in some of the biggest horror films, from A Nightmare on Elm Street’s (1984) Freddy Krueger to Terrifier’s (2016) Art the Clown, have been interpreted as physical embodiments of the homophobic fear of repressed transgressive queer sexual urges. At the same time these figures have been paradoxically embraced as queer icons that challenge the norms of a repressive society.

In Leviticus, this subtext of queer horror is made into a conscious, deliberate theme. The film is perhaps a little too determined that audiences grasp its themes at the expense of being allowed to make their own interpretations. But overall, is a beautifully made, eerie and emotionally sophisticated horror film. Its two charismatic young stars are clearly destined for bright careers and Adrian Chiarella as a brilliant new directing talent in the genre.

‘The hard work we’re doing is nothing compared to what they’ve been through’

A couple who saw four of their close family members diagnosed with cancer in just four years are running 12 half marathons in 12 months to raise money for The Christie Charity after seeing first-hand the impact of its care.

Deb and Alex Beachell, originally from Manchester, will take on the ASICS Manchester Half Marathon this October as part of their challenge, having already completed eight races so far.

Deb and her wife Alex decided to take on the challenge after four members of their family, Alex’s mum and stepdad, as well as Deb’s dad and brother, were diagnosed with cancer over the last four to five years.

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The couple, who met at Manchester Pride 20 years ago and have been married for 13 years, say they want to give something back after The Christie’s care helped to give their family the all clear.

Alex, 49, said: “It started with my stepdad Alan before Christmas four or five years ago. We found out that he had cancer and he went to the Christie for treatment.

Deb, 48, added: “A year later my younger brother Paul, a week before Christmas again, got diagnosed with cancer and again was treated at the Christie. They were treated so quickly. From finding out they had it to starting treatment at the Christie happened in the blink of an eye. It was amazing the treatment they had.”

Deb added that her brother’s treatment was quite complicated and lasted a long time, including some complicated surgeries to remove his cancer.

Alex said: “And whilst her brother was being treated my mum Jill was diagnosed with cancer. And then at the end of last year Deb’s dad Derek was diagnosed with cancer as well. This was about the time that we were thinking of doing a challenge and wanting to run for The Christie and that really sealed out fate with doing it.”

Deb said: “It was just like we had to do it now. There was no way we couldn’t do it. It was that emotional thing with it being my dad as well – we just had to do something.”

The couple, who now live in Leek, said that all of their family has now had the all clear, apart from Derek who is waiting for his last scans following surgery to remove his cancer.

Deb said: “It feels like the hard work we’re doing is nothing compared to what they’ve been through. The speed of the treatment they’ve had, we’re just so lucky we’ve got them all with us today. Some are not so lucky, so we definitely count out blessings.”

In an effort to raise money for the hospital that has helped their family so much, the couple came up with the idea to run the 12 half marathons.

They came up with the idea in October last year over a couple of pints. Alex said: “We were in the pub and we were thinking of doing something for charity and then I thought, well why don’t we make it a proper challenge?

“So we decided to do one each month. It sounded like a good idea. Everything seems like a good idea after a couple of pints doesn’t it?”

Starting in March in London, the pair have ran one every month since and will finish their challenge in December in Milton Keynes.

So far, they have completed races in London, Llandudno, Blackpool, Chester, Leamington Spa, Birmingham and one from The Christie in Manchester to The Christie in Macclesfield.

The couple said the challenge has given them a focus and an outlet through the difficult times and has allowed them to clear their heads while training.

However, Alex said that the Blackpool race was particularly difficult for her, as her sister passed away just days before the race.

She said: “That was a really tough one mentally, because my sister passed away two days before unexpectedly. But we did it anyway. But it was mentally hard to get through it.

“I saw a group of people wearing matching t-shirts on the way round and I realised they had angel wings on and they were wearing them as a tribute to someone so that upset me on the way round, but in a good way.”

Deb said: “We’re so excited for Manchester. We’ve done a few runs between us over the years, but Manchester is by far our favourite because the atmosphere is fantastic.

“We’re both busy at work and have had a lot going on, so fitting in training runs and mentally getting ourselves out there has definitely been the hardest part. But a couple of hours out running is nothing compared to what people going through cancer treatment face every day.

“The most surprising thing has been realising just how many people we know who have been affected by cancer, either themselves or through family and friends, and have received treatment at The Christie.

“For families affected by cancer, just knowing there are people out there who understand what they’re going through and are prepared to support the work The Christie does is really important. And if it inspires anyone else to get up and start their own challenge to raise funds, that would just be amazing.”

Deb and Alex will be running the Manchester Half Marathon on October 4. To donate to their fundraiser click here.

Two fire engines and police were on the scene in Navigation Road, off Walmgate, on Wednesday evening (September 2) after the blaze.

The fire had been extinguished by 5.30pm on Wednesday but cordons remain around the burned-out BMW car.

Seven police officers stood guard by the cordon across Navigation Road at the junction with Walmgate on Wednesday evening.

Some police officers were speaking to residents behind the tape.

Images shared with The Press showed the car engulfed in flames as residents stood outside their homes behind the cordon.

A passerby who witnessed the car exploding told The Press: “I was coming from Foss Islands Road and I saw smoke and realised it was a car well alight.

“It was clear there was something wrong. The driver had pulled up on the pavement and was trying to get things out of the car while it was smoking.

“He was clear before it suddenly caught fire and then started to explode – it was popping.

“The police arrived before the fire service and closed the road. They have been doing a great job keeping everyone well back.”

A woman living in flats opposite where the car burst into flames said she heard a “bang like a shot”.

“[I] ran outside and saw the smoke,” she said. “My neighbour in Hope Street said there were already some police there when the car went up.”

The incident came at a time when traffic had been building in Walmgate due to drivers being diverted from the York inner ring road which is closed at Fishergate due to storm damage.

There are plenty of great shows happening right up until the end of the year

What a summer of music we were treated to in Belfast!

As CMAT closed out CHSq with her second sold-out gig at the city centre music festival on Tuesday, it is officially time to say goodbye to festival season.

From Belsonic to AVA to the new Summer Series at Custom House Square, the music hasn’t stopped over the last number of months and as always, we love to see it.

If September has hit you like a ton of bricks and you are already marking your calendars for festival season 2027, do not fret – there are still plenty of fantastic gigs happening in Belfast for the remainder of 2026.

If you are a country fan, a rock music lover and everything in between, there are plenty of brilliant acts set to perform in Belfast over the next few months to get you through the impending darker evenings.

Here are only some of the upcoming gigs taking place in Belfast to close out 2026:

Freya Ridings

Where: Ulster Hall

When: September 6

Billy Ocean

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Where: Waterfront Hall

When: September 14

Anastacia

Where: Waterfront Hall

When: September 17

Jane McDonald

Where: Waterfront Hall

When: September 19 & 20

Megan Moroney

Where: The O2 Belfast

When: October 1

Duran Duran

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Where: The O2 Belfast

When: October 18

Katherine Jenkins

Where: Waterfront Hall

When: October 27

Westlife

Where: The O2 Belfast

When: October 27 – November 6

The Script

Where: The O2 Belfast

When: November 2

Cody Johnson

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Where: The O2 Belfast

When: November 4

The Fray

Where: Ulster Hall

When: November 13

Niall Horan

Where: The O2 Belfast

When: November 15 & 16

The Shamrocks

Where: The O2 Belfast

When: November 20

Picture This

Where: Telegraph Building

When: November 25

The Darkness

Where: Telegraph Building

When: December 1

Nathan Carter

Where: Waterfront Hall

When: December 10

Ash

Where: Ulster Hall

When: December 10

Razorlight

Where: Telegraph Building

When: December 13

Florence Road

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Where: Ulster Hall

When: December 14

Colin Graham

Where: Ulster Hall

When: December 18

The Tumbling Paddies

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Where: Ulster Hall

When: December 19

For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our What’s On newsletter.

A man and a woman have been charged with burglary offences in Newport city centre.

A 33-year-old man was charged in connection with a burglary at a commercial address on Usk Way, Newport, on Saturday 29 August.

Rory Hiscox, of Chepstow Road, Newport, was charged with burglary other than a dwelling, and two counts of fraud by false representation.

A 33-year-old woman has been charged in connection with a burglary at a commercial address on Millennium Walk, Newport, on Tuesday 25 August.

Nicole Clarke, of no fixed address, was charged with burglary other than a dwelling, and theft from a shop on Cambrian Road, Newport, on Sunday 23 August.

Both defendants were remanded into police custody to appear at Newport Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday 2 September.

Cases of giardiasis, an intestinal infection that causes diarrhoea, bloating and gas, have reached their highest level in England since 2016 according to newly published data by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).

The agency reported 6,069 lab-confirmed cases of giardiasis in 2025, an 11.4% rise from 2024. It is the highest yearly total in almost a decade.

This rise might sound alarming. But while the increase in cases is real, it doesn’t necessarily mean that England is facing a crisis. Instead, the rise is probably happening for a mix of reasons, including: increased international travel in the post-pandemic era; upgrades to lab testing; changes in rainfall and flooding; and better awareness of Giardia duodenalis – the tiny parasite that infects the small intestine.

What is giardiasis?

The Giardia parasite infects the small intestine, and is one of the most common causes of diarrhoea by a parasite. It infects hundreds of millions of people each year globally.

The infection it causes, called giardiasis, can result in diarrhoea, bloating and nausea. In longer lasting and moderate to severe cases, it can also result in weight loss. Some people can feel tired for weeks, even after the infection has gone. Symptoms usually start one to three weeks after being exposed.

Not everyone who becomes infected by Giardia develops symptoms of giardiasis. Some people can carry the parasite without knowing it’s there and spread it to other people.

For most people, giardiasis is merely unpleasant rather than outright dangerous. But it can cause lasting illness and be a bigger problem for children, older adults and people with weaker immune systems.

Most people get better on their own, though some may have symptoms for weeks or even months. Those whose symptoms are more severe or longer-lasting can be treated with anti-parasite medicine.

In children, especially under two years old, infections lasting more than several weeks can affect their growth.

How does it spread?

Giardia spread by the faecal-oral route. This means that if tiny Giardia cysts in infected poo are inadvertently swallowed, they can cause illness. As few as ten microscopic cysts can be enough to cause infection.

The best-known route that the parasite spreads is by drinking water or eating food that has been contaminated with infected poo.

Infection can also spread by close contact between people in the same house (especially when there is poor hygiene and hand washing), nurseries and infected animals such as cats and dogs.

International travel is important too. Travellers visiting regions with poorer sanitation can be exposed to Giardia through contaminated food and water.

Another route that is gaining attention is sexual transmission. Giardia can be passed on during sexual activities where there’s oral contact with the anus (rimming) or where fingers with infected poo on them (from fingering or fisting) come into contact with a mouth.

Why are cases rising?

There are probably multiple reasons. One is that we’re getting better at finding giardiasis.

More NHS labs in England have upgraded their testing technology. This means testing equipment is better able to look for multiple potential causes of gastrointestinal illness in a single sample. These tests have also become more sensitive, and can identify infections that, in the past, might have been missed.

So, part of the rise in giardiasis cases that we’re seeing may be explained by upgrades to the tracking and diagnosis of infections.

International travel is another route to think about. Travel fell during the Covid pandemic, which potentially lowered exposure and reporting of gastrointestinal infections. As travel has somewhat recovered, imported infections have risen. The UKHSA noted that giardiasis cases went back to pre-pandemic levels in 2023, and have continued to rise.

Changes in the environment may also play a role. The Giardia parasite is linked to water quality, so heavy rain and flooding can increase the chances of water becoming polluted with Giardia-infected poo.

These overlapping factors are probably the key reasons for the rise in giardiasis cases being reported in England.

Don’t panic!

Giardiasis deserves attention, but not panic. For most healthy adults, it is not fatal. The bigger problem is that symptoms can last a long time and affect people’s quality of life.

People should seek medical advice if symptoms last more than seven days, if they’re experiencing bloody diarrhoea and if they know they have been in contact with someone who has giardiasis.

Thankfully, there are practical ways to lower the risk of becoming infected. Good hand-washing with soap is very effective, especially after changing nappies, touching animals and using the toilet.

Washing hands, genitals, the outer anus and sex toys before and after sex may be helpful too. Waiting for several weeks after diarrhoea caused by Giardia has stopped before having sex again also helps to stop passing it on to someone else.

Travellers should be weary of drinking untreated water. Swallowing water when swimming should be avoided. Anyone with diarrhoea should not swim until two weeks after they have fully recovered from the infection.

Giardiasis has been under-recognised for many years now. The recent rise in reported cases in England might be telling us about better detection, but also may be telling us about changes in risk. Either way, it’s a reminder that water and food-borne infections are still an important part of public health.

A man is facing prison time after he killed his own dad just hours after discovering he was his biological father.

Steven Shevels, 61, died after hitting his head on the concrete floor of the beer garden of the Queen’s Head pub, in Willington, County Durham, on Christmas Eve last year.

Martin Greensmith, 37, admitted pushing Mr Shevels but denied manslaughter.

Following a seven-day trial at Teesside Crown Court this week, a jury found him guilty.

Greensmith had just been told Steven was his biological father hours before the incident took place, the court heard.

Shortly after hearing this news, Greensmith and Steven had an interaction in the beer garden which culminated with the defendant pushing his dad, who fell and struck his head on the ground.

Greensmith was one of several people who went to help Steven, but he left the pub shortly before emergency services arrived.

He was arrested on Christmas Day after returning to his home in Willington.

Examination of his mobile phone revealed he had spent an hour searching online for solicitors and looking at a page about involuntary manslaughter.

Speaking after the verdict, Steven’s sister Angela spoke of how his death had affected their family.

‘My brother Steven was the victim of an unprovoked act of violence that took his life far too soon,’ she said.

‘His passing has left a hole in all our hearts, and a future forever changed for all of his family, friends, and everyone who knew him.’

Detective Chief Inspector Alfie Keane, of Durham Constabulary, said: ‘This is a truly devastating case. It shows how split-second decisions can have life-long consequences and an unimaginable impact on everyone around them.

‘Our thoughts remain with Steven’s family and friends at this difficult time.’

He will be sentenced at Teesside Crown Court on October 21.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

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Nimesh Tailor, project director Elizabeth line + at Alstom, said: “Seeing the first of the additional ten Elizabeth line units enter passenger service is a special moment for everyone involved at our Derby site, as well as all those across the country involved in their creation.