Writing for Belfast Live, Michele Janes, Director of Barnardo’s Northern Ireland, argues that the next Executive must be judged by whether it delivers for children

As Northern Ireland looks ahead to next year’s election, political parties will make many promises about the future. But for children and young people, their futures are being formed in the present – and too many are being asked to wait for support they desperately need now.

Barnardo’s Northern Ireland works alongside 18,000 children, young people and families through 45 services. Every day, I see their resilience and potential, but also the pressures they face.

Around 73,000 children in Northern Ireland are living in poverty. More than 4,000 children are now in care – the highest number since 1995. Demand for mental health support continues to grow.

Despite what some people would have us think, I know that these challenges are not inevitable. We can make different choices.

That is why Barnardo’s Northern Ireland is asking parties to put three priorities at the heart of their plans for government: ending child poverty, transforming how government works for children and families, and giving every child the best start in life.

First, we need tangible action on poverty. Poverty is corrosive, affecting every aspect of a young person’s life. It affects what they eat, where they live, and whether they can participate fully in school and community life. Gerard, 19, described poverty as something that can “eat you from the inside”. No young person should feel this way. That’s why we are calling for a Northern Ireland Child Payment. Modelling by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation suggests a targeted payment could reduce overall child poverty to 20 per cent, benefiting around 150,000 children.

We also want expanded eligibility and automatic enrolment for Free School Meals, alongside a Participation Fund so children do not miss out on sports, school trips, music and other opportunities simply because their families cannot afford them.

But improving children’s lives cannot be the responsibility of one department. Poverty, housing, education, mental health, family support and social care are deeply connected.

That is why our second priority is transforming how government works for children and families.

On 31 March 2025, 4,188 children and young people were in care – the highest number since the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995, and an increase of more than 21 per cent since the 2022 Independent Review of Children’s Social Care Services.

Northern Ireland already has much of the evidence and expertise it needs to reform the system. What we need now is politicians and departments working together, with shared responsibility for improving children’s lives. Children do not experience their lives in departmental silos, and government cannot continue to respond to their needs in silos either.

The proposed Arm’s-Length Body for children’s social care could help support this transformation, but structural reform alone will not be enough. We need a genuinely joined-up approach across government, focused on what children and families need, rather than expecting them to fit around government structures.

Crucially, children and young people must help shape that change. As 17-year-old Shahbano put it, “young people do not need politicians simply to speak to them – they need politicians willing to speak with them”.

And this cannot mean another strategy sitting on a shelf. It must mean families getting support earlier, foster carers receiving the help they need, and care- experienced young people being properly supported into adulthood.

Our third priority is giving every child the best start in life. Too often, support arrives only once a family has reached crisis. The estimated cost of late intervention in Northern Ireland is £536 million every year – but the human cost is greater.

Through the Sure Start programmes Barnardo’s leads, we support around 3,000 families with children under four in areas of high deprivation. Sheena, who has been supported by Barnardo’s SureStart in Strabane since pregnancy, told us how help with breastfeeding, nutrition and communicating with her baby built her confidence as a parent.

Her wish is simple: that every parent could access that kind of support. Right now, access to Sure Start depends too heavily on postcode. The next Executive should expand it according to need, alongside an inclusive early years system focused on the first 1,001 days, better support for infant mental health and emotional wellbeing, and a properly funded Early Learning and Childcare Strategy.

Because the best time to help a child or family is before a problem becomes a crisis.

These issues are all connected. A child experiencing homelessness needs more than somewhere to sleep. A young person leaving care does not stop needing support when they turn 18. A child who comes to Northern Ireland seeking sanctuary needs safety, education, healthcare and belonging.

Our manifesto therefore also calls for action on family homelessness, continued priority for ending violence against women and girls, better support for refugee children and young people, and stronger cooperation across government.

The next Assembly term will shape the lives of a generation. So as parties ask for our votes next May, we should ask what they are promising the thousands of children who have no vote of their own.

And when the next Executive takes office, we should judge it not simply by the strategies it publishes or commitments it makes, but by whether children’s lives actually improve.

Are fewer children growing up in poverty? Are families getting help before they reach crisis? Are children safer and healthier? Are they being heard? Do they have the opportunities they need to thrive?

This election should be judged by what it promises our children – and the next government must be judged by whether it delivers.

For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.

Families will be able to nominate one next of kin to travel for free on National Rail services to attend events between November 7 and 8 this year and beyond.

Veterans minister Calvin Bailey said support for the families of those who have “given everything for their country” should be “a given”.

Mr Bailey – a former RAF officer who served alongside US special operations units in Afghanistan – would not say how much money had been set aside for the scheme, but insisted no eligible family members will be turned down.

Speaking at the Cenotaph in central London, he said: “The scheme’s been costed, it’s funded, and it will be continued beyond this year.

“We think this is an essential part of of commemoration. It’s something that I feel perhaps should have just been a given, and I hope it because this shouldn’t be a discussion point.

“This should have been something that we have been doing for a long time. When people give everything for their country, we should give them ensure that their families are able to feel as though they’re part of that connective tissue.”

He continued: “Coming here is a significant event, but coming here can come at great personal expense.

“It’s an emotionally difficult period for those people that have lost someone, but it’s a very significant thing to be at the heart of our national commemorations, and as we’ve heard from those members of bereaved families today, being here in any number helps them to ensure that connection remains.

“This is a small but very significant lifting of the barriers of cost of living and the challenges that people have either with distance or with cost to ensure that they’re part of these commemorations.”

The scheme will build on the Government’s existing free travel offer for serving personnel and veterans.

Mr Bailey said he had asked the Department for Transport to make sure there are no “unnecessary impediments” over the Remembrance Day weekend caused by train delays or cancellations.

Mikki Brett, the widow of the late CPO Stuart Brett – who served in the Weapons Engineering branch of the Royal Navy and died in service in April 2023, said: “It’s fantastic news that the in-service bereaved have been recognised for the support given to their loved ones with free train fares to remembrance events this year.”

By GLEN OWEN

Published: 23:17 BST, 12 September 2026 | Updated: 23:47 BST, 12 September 2026

While the Prime Minister attempts to split his time between London and Manchester, he is neglecting the Chequers country estate so beloved by his predecessors.

On Saturday night, the Tories said that under the terms of the statute that grants prime ministers the use of the grace-and-favour home in Buckinghamshire, Andy Burnham risked losing his access to the 16th-century mansion if he effectively mothballed it.

This was denied by No 10, which said Mr Burnham had made use of the property on occasion. A Government source said: ‘He is barely ever there, because he likes to spend weekends at home in Manchester.

‘But he is thinking of holding a New Year’s Eve party there.’

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The 1,000-acre estate has been in public hands since 1917, when its then owners donated it to the British government.

It has been the official country residence of the Prime Minister since 1921, when David Lloyd George moved in.

The Chequers Estate Act says that ‘if any Prime Minister shall decline to avail himself of the rights hereby conferred upon him’ then the house passes instead to the Chancellor, the Foreign Secretary or even the US Ambassador. 

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The Tories have said Andy Burnham risks losing his access to Chequers under the terms of the statute that grants prime ministers the use of the mansion

A Government source said the Prime Minister is ‘barely’ at Chequers as he likes to spend weekends in Manchester

According to the Act ‘the inducement to spend two days a week in the high and pure air of the Chiltern hills and woods will, it is hoped, benefit the nation as well as its chosen leaders… The main features of this scheme are therefore designed not merely to make Chequers available as the official country residence of the Prime Minister of the day, but to tempt him to visit it regularly.’

Mike Wood MP, Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office, said: ‘It seems our city-obsessed Prime Minister is determined to snub our nation’s counties.

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‘For the city-bred man especially, contact with rural life was intended to restore a sense of proportion between town and country.’

Arsenal star Bruno Guimaraes says teammate David Raya is ‘definitely’ the best goalkeeper in the world after his stunning performance in the win over Sunderland.

The Gunners left the Stadium of Light with a hard-fought 2-0 victory that extends their 100 per cent start to the new Premier League season having won four games from four.

That record looked to be in doubt when Sunderland were awarded a penalty early in the second half with Ezri Konsa hauling down Daniel Ballard.

Enzo Le Fee stepped up and struck low and hard for the corner of the net but Raya sprung across his line magnificently to push his effort onto the post and out.

Two minutes after Raya’s heroics, Guimaraes curled home a wonderful strike from range to put the visitors in front.

Raya made more brave saves as Sunderland pushed for an equaliser before Bukayo Saka wrapped up the victory with a second in injury time from the penalty spot.

Guimaraes and Raya spoke to TNT Sports after the game with the former asked if his teammate is the best goalkeeper in the world.

The former Newcastle United captain replied promptly: Yes, definitely.

‘He made some very good saves that kept us in the game. Unbelievable moment to save that penalty and I think after that we had confidence to play forward and we scored a goal. But yeah, everything because of this guy he is unbelievable.’

Raya has kept clean sheets in four of Arsenal’s five matches this season – five including the Community Shield victory over Manchester City in August.

His heroics tonight sparked Arsenal into life just as Sunderland were clicking into gear.

‘It’s a big moment, especially away from home,’ Raya said.

‘For the players and the team to have that faith and keep going and win the game, two minutes after we score.

‘Even if we conceded a goal, we had the faith to get back in the game. It’s important to keep the clean sheet because it helps us win games.’

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As the leader of Reform UK, I am delighted and humbled by the extraordinary £36 million donation Christopher Harborne has made to our party. He joins Ben Delo, who has also donated £36 million, in making the largest financial contribution ever seen in British politics. Yet this remarkable, not to say extremely generous, donation is only part of a much bigger story.

Since Reform UK was established in 2021, Conservative and Labour have between them been able to raise considerably more money than we have. They have also received millions of so-called Short Money – public funds given to aid opposition parties in Parliament.

The donations of Mr Harborne and Mr Delo help to level a playing field that has always been tilted against any genuine challenge to the two-party duopoly.

Many voters will ask why their money arrived in one tranche rather than in stages. The answer to that question is simple and, frankly, alarming. The fact is that both men were deeply fearful that this Labour government would do whatever it could to subvert the democratic process.

We have already endured the government’s attempted cancellation of elections in May this year that would have deprived five million people of the chance to vote. It was only Reform UK’s legal action that prevented this outrage from coming to pass.

We are also witnessing the extension of the vote to 16 and 17-year-olds via legislative measures currently making their way through Parliament. This cynical moving of the goalposts plays directly to Labour’s advantage.

On top of that, it was seriously suggested until recently by this Labour government that donations from private individuals to political parties would be capped – although trade unions would be able to carry on bankrolling the Labour Party with impunity. This is the sort of law people would expect to find in a dictatorship.

It was with these concerns in mind that Christopher Harborne, Ben Delo and I concluded the process which they would follow. Both had been prepared to give Reform UK £1 million a month until August 2029, the latest date that the next general election must be held. In the end, they decided that they trusted us sufficiently to hand over the entire sum at once.

The money will be used for one purpose only: to make certain we are ready to form a government at the next election. With that in mind, I and my shadow cabinet will shortly embark on a countrywide tour to listen to the concerns of the public and find out what they believe is required to fix Broken Britain. I carried out a similar exercise this spring ahead of the local elections, which Reform UK won.

In accepting these funds, it is essential to emphasise the fundamental difference between the party that I lead and the administrations of Keir Starmer and Andy Burnham – and, for that matter, the Conservative governments that came before them.

Their entire purpose appears to have been the acquisition and retention of power for its own sake. I am only interested in turning around this country’s fortunes for the public good.

I have said repeatedly that I have no interest in rank, title or position. I only returned to front-line politics two years ago as I believed it was still possible to effect change. And change is what this country desperately needs.

Britain is in a state of economic and social decline. In almost every respect we are sinking beneath the waves. It’s sad to say, but the world looks at us with a mixture of incredulity and pity.

The country is going bankrupt, not just financially but in a deeper sense. It is more than apparent that this great nation has lost its confidence, its cohesion and its sense of purpose.

Look at the evidence. Illegal migration continues unchecked while families struggle to get a GP appointment. Energy prices remain cripplingly high as Net Zero dogma is forced on voters by people who never have to choose between heating and eating. Knife crime stalks our towns and cities, yet the response from the political class is more lectures about ‘root causes’, not proper policing and deterrence. Our armed forces have been hollowed out to the point where we can barely field a proper fighting force. And our farmers are treated as the enemy by a government that claims to care about food security.

This is not accidental mismanagement. It is the direct result of years of elite indifference to the concerns of the British people.

The donations received by Reform UK will fund the best research department British politics has ever seen. They will ensure our policies are properly costed and workable. And they will allow us to hire the best minds in every area in which expertise is required.

Professional organisers will be put into our target seats so that the impressive advances that have already been made can be converted into a working majority at the next general election.

Reform UK has grown to become the largest party in Britain, with more than 270,000 members who have done exceptional work to make us a presence in UK politics. Christopher Harborne and Ben Delo can be regarded as the cavalry who have come to join in the fight and help inject a sense of balance as we take on the Conservatives and Labour.

British politics deserves something fresh – a party with a real sense of mission. That is what Reform UK intends to provide. At our conference in Birmingham this month, I set out my plan for a Reform UK government. Ministers will be given 100 days to prove their worth. Each will make a specific pledge. If they fail to implement it, they will have to resign. No ifs, no buts.

I made this commitment because I knew that if I didn’t, voters would lose faith in politics and politicians forever. The Tories had 14 years to improve the country. They made it worse. Andy Burnham has asked the electorate to give him ten years to make his mark. This is as preposterous as it is insulting. Time is one luxury we cannot afford.

The old parties have had their chance. They have squandered it. Now the British people have a genuine alternative: a properly funded, professionally organised and determined party that will put this country’s interests first once more.

We will not be distracted by the usual howls of outrage from the Establishment. They always cry foul when their comfortable duopoly is threatened.

It must also be said that neither Christopher Harborne, nor Ben Delo, nor any other donor to Reform UK will receive a knighthood or a peerage in return for their donations. The cash-for-peerages scandals that have disgraced successive governments must be consigned to the dustbin of history. This money is an investment in democratic renewal, pure and simple.

The next election represents the last chance to save Britain. Vote Reform UK to get your country back.

Arteta: Unbelievable. Again. He’s a player that decides football matches when we need. Big credit to Sunderland as well, the way they play, the way they are coached. What they do because they are a really good time. I don’t want to take any credit out of them because they really deserve a lot of credit for how hard they make it for you. Not only that, in periods they play, have courage, and have a great understanding of what they have to do throughout the game. It’s been extremely tough, really happy that we’ve done it.

Benn’s new multi-fight deal with Zuffa begins with the first world title challenge of his 10-year career, having been installed as the WBC mandatory challenger at welterweight last year. It is his first return to the division since April 2022 and he had to complete a gruelling cut to make weight, revealing he had been “dragged to the pits of hell” in a bid to get down to 147lbs. But he did it successfully, before quickly piling it back on with no rehydration clause in place.

She is already known as the crane driver’s daughter who became Queen Elizabeth’s confidante and dresser. Now Angela Kelly’s remarkable rise to power seems set for a global audience.

The Mail on Sunday understands Ms Kelly, 68, has agreed to cooperate with a film about her life story which saw her wield almost unparalleled influence in the Royal Household.

Known as ‘gatekeeper’ to the late Queen, what the feisty Liverpudlian chooses to reveal on camera could prove a matter of serious concern to the King and senior courtiers.

The ‘scripted documentary’ will, it is believed, combine interviews, archive footage and potentially some dramatic reconstruction. Producers are said to be working with Bafta-winning screenwriter Jeremy Brock MBE, who wrote Mrs Brown, the Queen Victoria film starring Judi Dench and Billy Connolly.

‘The royals will be worried, and they are right to be worried,’ said an insider.

From her views on Brexit to King Charles himself, the late Queen’s private thoughts remain a matter of keen speculation.

So close were the two women – the Queen said they could have been ‘sisters’ – Ms Kelly was trusted to ‘wear in’ her employer’s new shoes, arrange her hair and even massage her feet. She was among a select group at Balmoral when the monarch died four years ago.

Ms Kelly has signed a confidentiality agreement which makes it hard to cash in on her three decades with the Royal Household; it is even said to include a ban on using the words ‘King’ and ‘Palace’ for commercial purposes.

But in telling her story, Ms Kelly might be protected by a letter from one of the Queen’s private secretaries granting express permission to publish three books, only two of which have so far appeared.

‘She knows everything you ever wanted to know, including the Queen’s real views on Meghan,’ said a royal observer. ‘I don’t think the Palace has a leg to stand on if she wants to tell her story. If Harry and Meghan can break all the rules, why can’t she?

Ms Kelly (far right) is pictured at London Fashion Week in 2018 with the late Queen Elizabeth II and Anna Wintour

‘Angela has often spoken about wanting to spend time in the US, and she could do just that. There’s nothing they could do to her there.’

Ms Kelly, who has acquired an agent, would be in high demand on the American chatshow circuit.

But Ms Kelly was not admired by all her fellow courtiers. Willing to ruffle feathers and possessed of a fearsome temper, some Palace staff nicknamed her AK47, a play on her initials and the Soviet-era assault rifle. 

She is known to feel bruised by the speed at which she was asked to leave the Household and vacate her cottage on the Windsor estate, although friends insist she does not blame the senior royals.

The locks to the Queen’s private apartments at Windsor were changed within days of her death and Ms Kelly’s Palace-issue mobile phone was cut off.

In one Instagram post, Ms Kelly wrote: ‘I am too old to worry about who likes me and who dislikes me! …. If you love me – I love you! If you hate me – I don’t care!’

There will be some who fear a settling of scores. She is said to have crossed swords with both Camilla – when she was Duchess of Cornwall – and, famously, Prince Harry.

In his memoir Spare, Harry accused the dresser of obstructing Meghan’s attempts to practise wearing her tiara with a hairdresser before their 2018 wedding. The Mail on Sunday has been told the new film is controlled by 53 Degrees Global, a major London production company, in collaboration with Walt Disney.

It is believed the ‘scripted documentary’ will combine interviews, archive footage and potentially some dramatic reconstruction. (Pictured: Ms Kelly leaves a Christmas lunch hosted by the late Queen in 2018) 

The company promotes itself as ‘trusted by royalty’ and makes documentaries under the True Royalty Originals brand. It is closely associated with the True Royalty TV streaming service, described as Netflix for royal fans.

It is a particular sign of the late Queen’s warm regard for Ms Kelly that she was given unprecedented ‘permission and blessing’ to publish two books while still a member of the Royal Household: Dressing The Queen: The Jubilee Wardrobe in 2012 and The Other Side of The Coin – The Queen, The Dresser and The Wardrobe in 2019.

Although packed with colourful vignettes – including an episode in which the Queen and Ms Kelly went star-gazing – the books remained comparatively discreet. Although King Charles was said to dismayed by a photo in the second book which showed his mother, shoeless, her feet up on a divan.

Ms Kelly, who lives near Sheffield in a home bought for her by the King, certainly has a remarkable story to tell. Born to a dockyard crane operator, she worked as a lorry driver for the Women’s Royal Army Corps before landing a post as housekeeper to Sir Christopher Mallaby, British ambassador to Germany.

When the Queen and Prince Philip came to stay during an official visit to Berlin in 1992 they met Ms Kelly, and soon afterwards she was offered a job as a dresser at the Palace. She eventually became personal assistant, adviser and curator to Her Majesty, and in 2023 was created a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order.

During the monarch’s last months, she moved into a room on the same floor of the Queen’s private apartments in Windsor Castle – later telling friends she was effectively the Queen’s carer – and was one of only a handful of people in an adjoining chamber to the bedroom where she died at Balmoral.

A source at Disney last night said the Angela Kelly project would be lapped up by a US audience.

‘The market is flooded with royal stories but this one is unique,’ he said. ‘This is a person with access to the Queen, a woman who never voiced her opinions publicly.’

Buckingham Palace, Ms Kelly and 53 Degrees Global were all approached for comment.

Your round-up of the key cases heard before Northern Irish courts during the week of September 7-11.

Cases before the courts in Northern Ireland this week included the trial of a Co Down farmer accused of causing unnecessary suffering and neglect to animals on his farm.

Another case saw a three-and-a-half year sentence imposed on a man who injured an off-duty policeman during an episode of cocaine-induced psychosis.

Meanwhile a warehouse operator who stabbed a man on the dancefloor of a Belfast nightclub in a revenge attack was jailed for 27 months.

Here is your round-up of the key cases heard before Northern Ireland courts during the week of September 7-11.

Belfast dad ‘walloped’ man with chair outside Wetherspoon’s

A Belfast man who hit another man with a metal chair in a street fight outside a bar in Carrickfergus was handed a suspended sentence on Monday.

Following his arrest, William McCullough told police “I picked it up and walloped him.” The 35-year old from Hopewell Crescent had a 16-month sentence imposed which was suspended for two years by Judge Gordon Kerr KC.

Belfast Crown Court heard that on Sunday February 18, 2024 police were called to a fight outside Wetherspoon’s on Carrick’s High Street.

The fight had been instigated by a woman who pushed another female and when CCTV was viewed, McCullough was captured defending himself against others.

READ MORE HERE

Man sawed his way into neighbour’s flat before setting it on fire

A man told police he had sawn his way into his neighbour’s flat and set fire to it “in retaliation for a complaint of harassment,” a court has heard.

Appearing in the dock of Newtownards Magistrates Court on Monday, 27-year-old Jack McClure was charged with six offences alleged to have been committed on Sunday September 6.

McClure, with an address at Balloo Walk in Bangor, was charged with arson with intent to endanger life, burglary with intent to steal as well as four drug offences, including possessing magic mushrooms, herbal cannabis, pregabalin and diazepam.

READ MORE HERE

Vet had to euthanise starving calf separated from its mother on farm

A Government vet told a jury how she humanely euthanised a starving calf that had been separated from its mother on a Co Down farm.

The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) vet was called to give evidence during the the trial being held at Belfast Crown Court.

Samuel Ernest Cooper, 71, of Derryleckagh Row in Newry, has been charged with a total of 17 charges spanning a five-month period.

The farmer has been charged with, and denies, ten counts of causing unnecessary suffering to animals, four of failing to hold a carcass, two counts of failing to have bovine animals tested and one of failing to keep a record of medicines.

The offences are alleged to have been committed on cows and sheep on dates between December 1, 2022 and May 19, 2023.

READ MORE HERE

Man who assaulted nursing staff while inpatient at Belfast hospital sentenced

A 28-month sentence was imposed upon a man who assaulted nursing staff whilst an inpatient in Belfast’s Royal Victoria Hospital.

Gerard Kane was told he will serve half the term in prison followed by a 14-month period on licence when he is released from custody.

With an address as HMP Maghaberry, the 62-year old was sentenced at Belfast Crown Court on Thursday for a total of six offences.

The court heard that on October 3 last year, police were called to the RVH by nursing staff due to the behaviour of Kane, who was an inpatient on a ward.

A member of staff reported that Kane has picked up a bin and tried to throw it at her. She said Kane then walked towards her with intent and she believed he was going to assault her.

After she moved out of his way and began walking to the nurse’s station, Kane followed her and made sexual gestures at her whilst glaring at her.

READ MORE HERE

‘An abuse of trust’: Care worker stole £30,000 from house-bound man

A care worker who stole more than £30,000 from a vulnerable, house-bound man over a five-year period was jailed on Friday for the “nasty” offence.

Nicola Beattie will spend a year in custody followed by a year on supervised licence for a charge of fraud by false representation.

As she jailed the 47-year old from Gilpin Park in Craigavon, Judge Natalie Pinkerton told Beattie her offence involved “gas-lighting” and manipulation.

Belfast Crown Court heard that in August 2016 Beattie, who worked as a carer for Homecare, was assigned as the keyworker for the vulnerable man.

He depended on Beattie to purchase his food and clothing as well as paying his household bills and expenses.

As he was an alcoholic, he had an alcohol management plan and Beattie also purchased alcohol for him in accordance with the plan.

When the lockdown restrictions ended at the end of the coronavirus pandemic, the victim raised concerns with his daughter regarding his finances and said Beattie would not give him access to his bank statements.

He said that when he confronted Beattie, she took his bank statements – and when he told her he was going to report his concerns to Beattie’s manager, she took the contact card with the manager’s number on it and asked if he had any evidence.

READ MORE HERE

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Man stabbed on dancefloor of Belfast nightclub in revenge attack

A warehouse operator who stabbed a man on the dancefloor of a Belfast nightclub in a revenge attack has been jailed for 27 months.

Judge Natalie Pinkerton told Mohamed Abdul Hakeem that he would spend an identical period on supervised licence on his release from custody.

The 20-year-old, of Airfield Heights in West Belfast, had previously pleaded guilty to a single charge of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Belfast Crown Court heard on Friday that on the evening of Sunday, August 31, 2024, the victim was out for the evening with some friends at Ollies nightclub in Waring Street.

It was the prosecution case that at around 2.20am the following morning the defendant approached his victim from behind and appeared to punch him in the back, before striking him a further three times to the lower back and legs.

A prosecution lawyer told the court that the incident was caught on CCTV cameras in the nightclub. The victim had sustained three stab wounds: One to his back, and two to his lower left leg.

READ MORE HERE

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Man who injured off-duty policeman during cocaine-induced psychosis sentenced

A three-and-a-half year sentence has been imposed upon a man who injured an off-duty policeman during a episode of cocaine-induced psychosis.

Kyle Knell was handed the sentence at Belfast Crown Court on Friday by Judge Philip Gilpin who divided the term equally between prison and licence.

From Tynan Drive in Newtownabbey, the 30-year old father of three was told his actions caused “significant harm to others.”

On January 6, 2025 Knell went to a hotel with friends where he consumed a large amount of alcohol and cocaine. His behaviour was erratic and he was captured on CCTV running through the reception area with no shirt on.

After leaving the hotel at around 8.45pm, he flagged down a motorist and got dropped off in a residential street in Co Antrim.

A female who recognised Knell was sitting in a parked car outside her parent’s home talking her to police officer partner on the phone when Knell approached the vehicle.

He started banging on her car door shouting “They’re trying to kill me … help me.”

The woman told her partner what was happening and he told her to hang up and get her father. Knell then approached the parents’ front door and pushed his way in shouting “Help me, they’re going to shoot me for ten grand.”

READ MORE HERE

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“In a lot of these countries, the average life expectancy of dogs is very low, and so the turnover of the dog population is quick,” Prof Lankester explained.

“So, if you vaccinate in year one and you hit your targets, but then you don’t vaccinate so much in year two and year three, very quickly you’ll lose herd immunity because unvaccinated puppies will be born and vaccinated dogs will die,” he said.

“You can go from 70 per cent coverage to below 40 per cent coverage within a year and a half, and once it’s below 40 per cent then rabies transmission can be sustained, and it will come back.”

As a case in point, rabies has re-emerged as a serious public health concern in Ukraine in recent years as a result of disruption to vaccination programmes and a surge in displaced and abandoned pets.

The number of people bitten by rabid animals with rabies increased from 780 in 2021 to 2,507 in 2024, according to data from the Ukrainian Ministry of Health.

What about culling? Are we neglecting an important tool that has helped bring rabies under control out of concern for animal rights?

It’s now quite hard to imagine the hero of a book written today coldly putting down a rabid dog, and you do not need to look far for evidence of how unpopular the idea of culling dogs, or even taking steps to remove them from cities, is.

Mass protests erupted in India last year after the country’s top court, acting on its own authority against what it called the public health “menace” of rabies, ordered the authorities to begin rounding up the city’s population of stray dogs and putting them into shelters.

Yet the order was welcomed by the family of Chhavi Sharma, a six-year-old girl who died from a rabies infection after being bitten by a stray dog in the Indian capital.

“I hope there are no more Chhavis, who are hurt elsewhere. Nobody should go through the cruel fate we underwent,” her aunt told local television.