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A prisoner Covid death has led to what is believed to be the first prosecution of its kind in the UK, after the company running HMP Addiewell and a Scottish health board admitted criminal charges at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Friday.

Sodexo, which operates the West Lothian prison for the Scottish Prison Service, and NHS Lothian, which provided healthcare there, both pleaded guilty to failing to ensure they met their duties under health and safety legislation. The charges relate to the death of Calum Inglis, 34, in October 2021. The case is expected to call at the same court again in December.

What the court heard about the prisoner Covid death

Mr Inglis, from Edinburgh, was serving a short sentence and had only months left when he tested positive for Covid-19 on 12 October 2021. He was asthmatic and unvaccinated. He was found dead in his cell on 24 October, and his cause of death was recorded as complications of Covid-19 infection.

The court heard that Sodexo failed to adequately monitor him after his positive test, and that NHS Lothian failed to put an adequate care plan in place. Fiscal depute Connor Muir said an expert report had criticised poor record-keeping around the giving of paracetamol on the prison wing, something Mr Inglis repeatedly asked for. Proper medical care, he said, would have “significantly increased his chances of surviving”.

Lawyers for the family claim Mr Inglis was not seen by a nurse during the 12 days. They say he reported being breathless and coughing up significant amounts of blood. It is alleged that in his last days he repeatedly used his cell intercom to ask for help and was told someone would see him in the morning, but nobody came.

Sheriff Julius Komorowski offered condolences to the family, who were in court. He said Mr Inglis had died in “awful circumstances” and that “this death must seem senseless.”

Family calls for Sodexo contract to end

Speaking for the family, solicitor Aamer Anwar said Mr Inglis was “treated worse than an animal” and described the case as the first successful prosecution in the UK for a Covid-19-related death. He called HMP Addiewell, Scotland’s only private prison, “not fit for purpose” and urged the Scottish Government to cancel Sodexo’s contract. According to the family’s statement, that contract runs until 2033.

Mr Inglis’s mother Jennifer, a former nurse, said her son “deserved compassion, dignity, and proper medical care” and that the thought of his suffering would haunt her for life. His sister Frances Marr said the family would keep pressing for accountability through a fatal accident inquiry.

The prosecution follows a Crown Office investigation into about 6,000 pandemic-related deaths. The then Lord Advocate, Dorothy Bain KC, instructed proceedings against the prison operator last year. Mr Inglis was one of 16 Covid-related deaths in Scotland’s prisons during the pandemic.

Responses from Sodexo and NHS Lothian

Dr Tracey Gillies, NHS Lothian’s medical director, apologised “unreservedly” to the family for the failings in his care and offered condolences. She said the board carried out a review after his death and that actions have since been taken for both NHS Lothian and prison service staff to prevent a repeat.

A Sodexo spokesperson extended “deepest sympathies” to the family but said it would be inappropriate to comment further while legal proceedings have not concluded.

With both organisations having admitted the charges but the case still to return to court, the outcome of this prisoner Covid death prosecution is not yet fully settled. The family says it sees the guilty pleas as the start of its fight for a public inquiry, not the end.

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The Cornell no confidence vote passed on Friday, when the university’s faculty senate backed a resolution against the school’s top leaders by 75 to 50. Five senators abstained and five did not vote. The result is symbolic, but it lays bare how far trust has eroded on campus since a former student filed a lawsuit in September alleging she was raped at a fraternity house.

What the faculty vote does and doesn’t do

The senate has no power to remove or discipline Cornell’s president, Michael Kotlikoff, or other administrators. The resolution also stops short of demanding his resignation. Its sponsors have said the aim was to press the board of trustees to confront what they describe as longstanding institutional failures. Voting was held electronically for more than a week, and results were emailed to senate members on Friday afternoon.

The trustees responded quickly and did not budge. Board chair Anne Smalling said the vote reflected deep anger on campus and sent a “clear signal that what happened to Jane Doe is unacceptable.” She said the board “fully supports President Kotlikoff and his administration.” She pointed to expanded sexual assault prevention education, more victim advocates and extra staff in the civil rights office as evidence of progress.

The lawsuit behind the dispute

The turmoil dates to mid-September. A former student, identified in court papers as Jane Doe, sued the university and seven former members of the Chi Phi fraternity. She alleges she was given ketamine and raped at a fraternity house in October 2024. All seven men have denied the allegations. Some say the sex was consensual, others that they were not involved. None of the claims has been tested in court.

The criminal side of the case has shifted. The local district attorney initially concluded the woman had consented and that no crime had been committed. That investigation has since been reopened and handed to New York’s attorney general. Meanwhile, a months-long Title IX investigation at Cornell led to discipline for several of the men. Two were expelled and two were suspended and placed on probation. Two more had to write reflection papers and complete bystander training. A seventh had already graduated and was barred from campus, according to records obtained by The New York Times.

Kotlikoff’s defence and the critics’ case

Before the Cornell no confidence vote, Kotlikoff told senators he wanted to make Cornell a leader on sexual assault and asked for more time. He argued that replacing him would do little to fix complex problems and could damage the university’s reputation. He said he had not read the campus police report because university policy bars senior administrators from interfering in criminal investigations. He rejected the idea that he had been indifferent to her case, though he acknowledged he had only recently learned she had left Cornell. He also said the university must decide whether fraternities can operate safely, and he did not rule out sweeping restrictions on Greek life.

Critics say that is not enough. Some professors are angry that he has not moved harder to strengthen the disciplinary process, push for criminal investigations and change party culture. Paul Ortiz, a labor history professor who co-sponsored the resolution, said hundreds of students, staff, alumni and faculty had approached sponsors to say the Jane Doe case was “but a tip of the iceberg.” He said “a veritable fortress of silence has been breached.”

What comes next

Some faculty argued for patience until an independent review is finished. Cornell hired former U.S. Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates to examine how it handled the initial report in 2024, as well as its wider procedures for similar complaints. Her findings could carry more weight than a symbolic resolution, whichever way they cut.

Thomas Giuffra, the woman’s attorney, said he hoped the vote would be “another step forward” in addressing “the longstanding scourge of sexual assault on campus.” With the trustees backing Kotlikoff and the legal and investigative processes still unfolding, the Cornell no confidence vote leaves the president in place but under open pressure from his own faculty.

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The Thomas Markle court appearance in Florida on Friday ended with the father of the Duchess of Sussex ordered into home detention and electronic monitoring, but with no plea taken. Markle, 82, is charged with one count of possessing child sex abuse material. He has not been convicted of anything, and the allegations have yet to be tested in court.

What happened at the hearing

According to the BBC, citing its US partner CBS News, the 30-minute hearing heard federal prosecutor Courtenay Derry set out the charge. Markle was brought in by wheelchair, escorted by two US Marshals. He will be detained at his assisted living facility in Florida, and the judge also imposed travel restrictions. The Standard reported that he was ordered to undergo a psychiatric examination amid concerns that he may not be able to understand the proceedings or properly help his lawyer.

The US Department of Justice and the US Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California said an arraignment date in California will be set in due course. The Standard reported that this is not expected for at least several weeks.

The allegations in the federal complaint

Prosecutors say the case stems from FBI searches, carried out on warrants, of storage units in Los Angeles registered to Markle. The DoJ said he had rented them since 2008, with the latest payment made in October. Agents say they seized about 78 items, including film negatives, slides and books, which they allege contained child sex abuse material.

Court documents say witnesses “positively identified” Markle in two of the images. The man pictured “appears to be in the age range of 30s to 40s”, which the reports note would suggest the images date back decades. These are allegations from the complaint, not findings of fact.

First assistant US attorney Bill Essayli said the allegations were “extremely serious” and that prosecutors would pursue the case “to the fullest extent of federal law”. FBI director Kash Patel said authorities “moved quickly” to arrest Markle. The Independent and the BBC both report that he faces up to 20 years in federal prison, though the Standard puts it as “at least” 20 years. Sources differ on this point.

How the investigation began

The Standard and the Independent report that the inquiry followed Markle’s son, Thomas Markle Jr, contacting authorities in the Philippines and the FBI. He alleges he found illegal images among his father’s belongings in Cebu. The BBC says police in the Philippines obtained a warrant last month to examine devices allegedly removed from Markle’s former home there, after four boxes of material were handed over. The Independent adds that Philippine authorities are reviewing more than 7,000 recovered images and have named Markle Jr as a person of interest in their own investigation.

Markle has previously denied the allegations, calling them “sick lies”, according to the BBC.

Questions over the Met’s handling of a 2019 letter

The Thomas Markle court appearance also comes amid scrutiny of the Metropolitan Police. The force confirmed in October that it received a letter in 2019 making a “number of claims” about Markle relating to allegations outside the UK. It passed the information to the office of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex but did not share it with other law enforcement agencies. The Met has referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, which is now examining its handling of the matter.

The Duchess of Sussex said she was “deeply distressed” by the news and that her thoughts were with “any children who may have been harmed”. She has been estranged from her father since 2018. The Duke and Duchess have not commented on his arrest, the BBC reports.

What happens next

With no plea entered, the next significant step is the California arraignment, where Markle will be asked to respond to the charge. Until then, the Thomas Markle court appearance leaves the case at an early stage, with the psychiatric evaluation likely to shape how it proceeds. Markle is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

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Thomas Markle charged with a federal offence is the latest development in a story that began only weeks ago. The father of the Duchess of Sussex, 82, is accused of possessing child sexual abuse material. He is expected to appear before a court in Tampa, Florida, on Friday. The charge is an allegation, and he has not been convicted of anything.

What the US Department of Justice alleges

According to a Department of Justice statement quoted by Variety, Markle, of Lakeland, Florida, was arrested on a federal criminal complaint. It alleges he kept child sexual abuse material, including sexually explicit photographs of himself with prepubescent girls, in two Los Angeles-area storage units. He is said to have rented the units for nearly two decades, since 2008. He is charged with one count of possession of child pornography.

The FBI searched the units under warrants and says it seized about 78 items, including slides, film negatives and books containing suspected abuse material. Court documents described by the sources say two images allegedly show an adult man, whom a witness identified as Markle, with a nude young girl. A third is said to show a nude young girl in a room that appears to belong to a motel chain in the Philippines. Other photographs allegedly show him with children in various stages of undress.

If convicted, Markle would face at least 20 years in federal prison, according to The Standard.

How the case came to light

The allegations first became public last month. His son, Thomas Markle Jr, told The Sun he had reported his father to police in the Philippines and to the FBI. He said he had found suspected illegal images in his father’s belongings in Cebu City. Rolling Stone reports that Markle Jr told investigators he found “hundreds, if not thousands” of such images. A Philippine justice official said a task force on human trafficking and child sexual exploitation was investigating, including a forensic examination of a seized computer. The sources do not say whether any charge has been brought in the Philippines.

Markle Jr also told The Sun he had tipped off the FBI about the Los Angeles storage units. The Standard reports that he said this, though the sources do not describe how the FBI first identified the units.

US officials stressed the role of the public. First Assistant US Attorney Bill Essayli said prosecutors would pursue the case “to the fullest extent of federal law”. FBI Los Angeles assistant director Patrick Grandy said the case showed the importance of people speaking up, “even if it’s a family member or close friend”, when they suspect someone may be exploiting children.

Markle’s denial and the Met Police questions

Markle has strongly denied the claims. Speaking to the Daily Mail last month, he called them “sick lies” and said: “I could never do what I’m being accused of.” The sources do not report any response from him to the federal charge itself. Variety said it had tried to contact him.

Meghan has said she was “deeply distressed” by the allegations. She said a letter making “troubling and disturbing allegations” about her father was passed to her via the Metropolitan Police and its Royalty and Specialist Protection unit, and that she was assured it was being investigated. Sources differ on whether that was in 2018 or 2019. She said her estrangement from him, and her decision to keep him from her children, was to protect them.

The Met has acknowledged it never shared the details of that letter with other law enforcement agencies, according to The Standard. The Independent Office for Police Conduct is now examining the force’s conduct. Variety adds that the Met said it was making internal enquiries to confirm how the letter reached Meghan, and that it is not investigating Markle itself.

The Tampa hearing will be the first step in the US court process. Until the case is heard, the allegations remain unproven.

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The Paul Mackenzie sentence handed down in Mombasa on Friday, 200 years in prison, closes one chapter of Kenya’s Shakahola forest case. It does not end the legal fight. Mackenzie, who leads the Good News International Church, was convicted last month of murdering 190 children and one adult. His defence lawyer says an appeal has already been launched.

How the 200 years were calculated

According to the BBC, the High Court imposed 100 years for homicide and a further 100 years for offences related to starvation. Sentences within each category run concurrently, but the two sets run consecutively, giving the 200-year total. Prosecutors had asked for the death penalty. Justice Diana Kavedza-Mochache accepted that the case met the threshold for considering it, but declined to impose it, saying capital punishment would remove any prospect of rehabilitation. Kenya has not carried out an execution since 1987, and the sources note that those sentenced to death there serve life terms.

The judge said Mackenzie bore “primary criminal culpability” for relocating followers to a remote location and ordering them to fast to death. She described the killings as “cold and calculated” and said the sentence was meant to “send an unmistakable message” that such atrocities warrant the maximum penalties allowed by law.

What the court found

The court found that 183 victims died of starvation, while eight others were classified as murder by direct homicide. In her judgment on 19 October, the judge said followers regarded Mackenzie as “Jesus’s mouthpiece.” The BBC reports she found the deaths arose from an organised system of religious teachings and directives that compelled followers to take part in the fast. Burials were called “weddings,” and the dead were celebrated as having wedded with Jesus.

Post-mortem results cited in the reporting showed starvation as the cause of death for most victims. Others died from suffocation, strangulation or head injuries. The judge also said some children were isolated and denied food while their parents watched.

Mackenzie was tried alongside 28 others, including guards who enforced the fasting orders and gravediggers who helped conceal the bodies. All 29 were found guilty. Sentences for the co-accused went up to 160 years, and his assistant pastor, Smart Mwakalama, received that term. According to the Associated Press, all but one of the group had denied the charges, and that person confessed and pleaded for leniency. The defendants had asked the court for leniency before sentencing.

Appeal and remaining charges

Everyone convicted has been given 14 days to appeal. Defence lawyer Lawrence Obonyo, who represents Mackenzie and several others, told the AP he had already started the process. He argued the ruling was “circling around the constitution to give a sentence that is unattainable,” since terms of 160 to 200 years amount to life sentences.

The Paul Mackenzie sentence also covers only part of the picture. Reports say he faces further charges, which he denies. They include terrorism and manslaughter charges relating to more than 200 other victims, plus child abuse and torture charges in two other courts. Prosecutors allege he directed the deaths of 52 people in Kwa Binzaro village while in detention, and he has pleaded not guilty in that case.

Families react

Reactions from relatives were mixed. Suleiman Ziro, who lost six children and his wife, told the AP the sentence was not enough and called for the death penalty, partly because he has not recovered his loved ones’ bodies. Francis Wanje, who lost eight relatives, told the BBC before the hearing that he hoped for a sentence “which will match his deeds in the forest.” Another bereaved father, Stephen Mwiti, said he feared Mackenzie’s message could still spread from behind bars.

The sources differ on how many victims have been identified. The Guardian says only 26 of the more than 400 bodies recovered could be named, while the AP reports more than 60 were identified and reburied by relatives. Both agree that many remain unidentified or unclaimed.

The case has also raised questions about oversight. The BBC reports that investigations by the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights found local officials and law enforcement had repeatedly turned a blind eye to the group’s activities. The Guardian notes calls for tougher regulation of religious organisations. The Paul Mackenzie sentence settles one trial, but the appeals and the outstanding charges mean the Shakahola cases will continue in court.

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California Governor Gavin Newsom has commuted every sentence on California death row, converting the death sentences of 548 people to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Described by Al Jazeera and the Death Penalty Information Center as the largest mass clemency in US history, the move came on Thursday as Newsom’s final term winds down.

What Newsom announced

In an open letter, Newsom said he was using his constitutional clemency powers because “state-sanctioned killing is incompatible with California’s values, undermines the foundations of our legal system, and diminishes each of us.” The Guardian reported that the decision covers 529 men and 19 women, making up the largest death row in the western hemisphere.

He called the decision difficult but a “righteous action”, acknowledged it may reopen “excruciating memories for victims’ families”, and said he alone bears responsibility for it. Life without parole, he argued, is the harshest punishment the state can ethically enforce. He also described California’s system as a failure that “has not and cannot be fairly applied”, and said it has led to the conviction of innocent people.

A largely symbolic move with real consequences

California has not carried out an execution since 2006, and only 13 people have been put to death since voters restored capital punishment in 1978. Newsom imposed a moratorium in 2019. The BBC described the commutations as largely symbolic for that reason, but the Guardian noted the practical effect: the sentences can no longer be revived by a future governor.

The cost of maintaining the system is a recurring theme. The Death Penalty Information Center says California has spent $6bn on capital punishment since 1978. Experts quoted by the BBC said ending it could save millions of dollars in court costs every year.

Newsom’s office also highlighted delays in the system. Of the 548 people sentenced to death, 220 had waited 15 years or more for an appointed habeas lawyer, and 139 had waited 20 years or more. Without the moratorium, 45 people would be considered to have exhausted their appeals and would face immediate execution risk, according to the governor’s office.

Court review still to come

The commutations are not entirely final. Under California’s constitution, the state Supreme Court must review clemency for anyone with multiple felony convictions. The Death Penalty Information Center estimates this applies to about two-thirds of the cases. The BBC, citing CalMatters, reported that at least four of the court’s seven justices must sign off. How the court will handle the volume of reviews, and how long it will take, was not clear from the reports.

Reaction and the national picture

The American Civil Liberties Union called the commutations an end to a “racist, error-prone, and inhumane punishment.” Other supporters included Martin Luther King III and death penalty lawyer Bryan Stevenson. Jeanne Woodford, a former state prisons director who oversaw four executions, said she is “haunted by the fear that we will execute an innocent person.”

The Guardian also reported support from a relative of a murder victim, who said she once backed the execution of the man who killed her sister but changed her mind over time. The BBC spoke to the mother of one man affected, who maintains his innocence. She said the news brought mixed emotions, but that at least the execution chamber would not be rebuilt.

The Death Penalty Information Center says the decision will cut the national death row population by nearly 30 percent. It arrives while public opinion remains divided. A Pew survey in August found 66 percent of Americans support the death penalty for murder, yet roughly 73 percent acknowledged a risk of executing an innocent person. The DPIC says at least 203 people sentenced to death in the US since 1973 have later been exonerated.

Timing and politics

The announcement follows the failed execution of Christa Pike in Tennessee in late September, which prompted international criticism and renewed calls for a national pause. Executions are also rising elsewhere in the US, with three scheduled for Thursday in Indiana, Florida and Alabama, and the Trump administration has pledged to expand federal executions.

Newsom, who is term-limited, leaves office in January 2027. Xavier Becerra is due to succeed him on 4 January. Newsom is widely seen as a possible 2028 presidential candidate. Columbia law professor Bernard Harcourt told the BBC that an abolitionist stance ahead of a presidential run is not unprecedented, citing François Mitterrand in France in 1981, and suggested voters may respect it. Whether American voters see it the same way is untested.

For now, the future of California death row rests with the state Supreme Court, which must decide whether Newsom’s clemency stands for those with multiple felony convictions.

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Thomas Markle Jr, the Duchess of Sussex’s half-brother, has been named a “person of interest” by Philippine authorities investigating child sexual abuse image allegations against their father, Thomas Markle Sr. No charges against either man have been reported in the sources, and officials have been careful about how they describe the son’s position.

Interior and local government secretary Jonvic Remulla told a press conference in Manila there were “signs that point that the son is involved in the crime as well”. He stressed that Markle Jr, 60, was “only a person of interest so far” and was not yet being treated as a suspect. “We will know in the next few days,” he added.

What the Philippine official said

Remulla said more than 7,000 photos and one video had been uncovered. He said they showed under-age males and females of Asian, Latin and European descent, some as young as 10 and 11. He called them “the most deplorable displays of impunity towards sexual activity that I have ever seen”.

The Guardian reports that Markle Jr’s alleged involvement is not thought to be directly linked to the material he handed to police. The sources do not say what the “signs” Remulla referred to actually are, and Markle Jr has not been reported as responding to the remark.

How the inquiry began

The inquiry followed Markle Jr’s own approach to local police and the FBI. He said he had found four storage boxes at his father’s former home in the Philippines containing “hundreds, if not thousands” of child sex abuse images. The Mirror reports that boxes of materials were handed to authorities last week and are understood to contain computers, phones, hard drives and old video tapes.

The Standard reports that Markle Jr also alerted the FBI to two storage units in Los Angeles. This came days after Mexican police raided a unit Markle Sr is said to have rented near his former home in Rosarito, Mexico. Police and FBI agents are examining whether Markle Sr possessed illegal images while living in the Philippines and in Mexico.

Markle Jr was recently interviewed at his home in Cordova, Cebu, during an international, multi-agency video meeting. According to the Sun, as cited by the Guardian, he gave his statement to an FBI agent in Florida who specialises in child abuse cases. He remains in Cebu City.

Markle Sr’s position

Markle Sr, 82, returned to the US from the Philippines in May. He has admitted paying for sex in the Philippines. He strongly denies possessing child abuse imagery, has called the allegations “sick lies”, and has suggested he was “set up”. He has reportedly been moved into a US care home for dementia patients, which the Standard says has prompted fears that the FBI may be unable to interview him.

Meghan, the Met and the wider fallout

The Duchess of Sussex said she was “deeply distressed” by the claims. She said she had been told of disturbing allegations about her father and had kept him from contact with her children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, to protect them. A spokesman declined to comment on the latest development.

The sources differ on when she received a letter containing those allegations through the Metropolitan Police and Royalty and Specialist Protection. The Guardian says 2018, the Mirror says 2019, and the Standard says “seven years ago”. The Met has said it shared the allegations with her but not with other forces, and it has referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, which is now investigating.

For now, the label of “person of interest” signals only that investigators want to establish more about the son’s role. Remulla’s promise of clarity “in the next few days” suggests the next announcement may show whether the inquiry widens or the label is dropped.

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An Aer Lingus Dublin to Rome flight was diverted to a French military air base on Thursday after a bomb threat, one of at least 21 aircraft targeted across Europe in the second wave of such alerts in a single week. No explosives have been found on any of the planes involved.

What happened to the Dublin to Rome flight

The Aer Lingus Airbus A320 was rerouted to Evreux military airfield, west of Paris, and escorted by military aircraft. France’s air force said it scrambled jets “as soon as the threat was reported”. The office of Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said a bomb squad was waiting at the airfield and that 151 passengers and six crew had been moved to a safe place.

Aer Lingus described the diversion as a “security precaution” and said the aircraft landed safely in Normandy. The airline said it was working to get passengers to Rome as soon as possible.

A wider pattern across Europe

The Dublin to Rome flight was only one of many. According to the BBC, flights to Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, France, Italy, Poland and Romania were affected. The Guardian’s live coverage, which counted aircraft reported through the day, put the tally at 25 at one stage.

• Two Finnair flights from Helsinki were targeted. One was escorted into Rome’s Fiumicino airport by Italian fighter jets, and the other landed in Vienna.
• Three Ryanair flights landed in Bulgaria, two of them in Sofia, escorted by Bulgarian fighter jets. The transport ministry said no issues were identified.
• Czech police said four aircraft arriving in Prague were searched with negative results. Among them were EasyJet flights from Newcastle and Glasgow. The National Centre against Terrorism, Extremism and Cybercrime has taken over the investigation.
• A Wizz Air flight from Milan to Warsaw was diverted to Vienna, and LOT and Aegean Airlines each reported flights affected.
• Spain’s airport authority said three flights at Madrid were targeted, but any threat was ruled out after inspections.
• Heathrow and Birmingham airports received threats that were assessed as not credible.

The disruption follows similar threats earlier in the week, which briefly shut an airport outside Warsaw.

Who is behind the threats?

The answer is still unclear. Aeroporti di Roma, which manages Rome’s two airports, confirmed to the BBC that the threat against two inbound flights arrived by email. It was signed by a group or individual calling themselves “Fighters of the Male State”, who said they were targeting a “feminist regime” and threatened to “turn the skies red”. The BBC noted that the name appears to echo a Russian ultra-right group banned by a Moscow court in 2021. It also cautioned that even if the email is genuine, it is unlikely to give investigators the leads they need.

No arrests or charges have been reported, and no country has attributed blame. Al Jazeera noted that the threats come as many European officials accuse Russia of planning cheap, deniable “hybrid attacks”, but that is context rather than a finding about these incidents. EU transport commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas said it was “too early to draw conclusions on whether the reported incidents are linked”.

Official response

UK Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander called the incidents “malicious hoax threats” and said there were “established processes” for dealing with them. Heathrow said there was “no risk to passengers, colleagues or the aircraft”. A global airlines body condemned “attempts to interrupt air transport” and urged authorities to find the origins of the threats.

The Guardian’s analysis offered some perspective. About 20 alerts are still a tiny fraction of all flights in Europe, though experts quoted there said the sheer number of hoaxes pointed to coordinated action. For the passengers on the diverted Dublin to Rome flight, that meant an unscheduled stop at a military base rather than the Italian capital.

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The Henry Nowak sentence has been increased by the Court of Appeal, which ruled that a 21-year minimum term for Vickrum Digwa was “unduly lenient”. Digwa was jailed for life in June after being convicted of murdering the 18-year-old student in Southampton on 3 December 2025. His minimum term is now 25 years.

What the Court of Appeal decided on the Henry Nowak sentence

The Lady Chief Justice, Baroness Carr, sat with Mr Justice Nicklin and Mr Justice Wall. She quashed the 21-year minimum term and replaced it with 25 years. Digwa spent 175 days on remand, and that time is deducted. He must therefore serve at least 24 years and 190 days before he can be considered for parole, according to reports of the ruling.

Attorney General Ellie Reeves referred the case under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme. Digwa, who appeared by video link from HMP Frankland, separately argued that his term was “manifestly excessive”. The court refused him permission on that point, with Baroness Carr saying it was “unarguable” that the term was too long.

The Lady Chief Justice said the trial judge, William Mousley KC, had been entitled to use a 15-year starting point. He had found that Digwa did not take the knife to the scene intending to commit a crime. But she said his overall assessment “materially understated” two things. One was the repeated use of a large, immediately available dagger with intent to kill an unarmed man. The other was “the deliberate cruelty, additional suffering and obstruction” that followed. “It was not only lenient, but unduly so,” she said.

The kirpan argument

Much of the hearing turned on the religious blades that Sikhs may lawfully carry. The sentencing judge had heard that Digwa wore a small kirpan and also carried a larger dagger, in keeping with the Nihang order of Sikhs. Reports say the dagger was 21cm long.

Jonathan Polnay KC, for the Attorney General, stressed that the case was “not about the lawful possession of a kirpan”. He said it was about what followed. He argued that using a lawfully carried blade for lethal violence was “on at least one level, analogous to an abuse of trust”. Baroness Carr said the initial lawfulness of carrying the knife “does not reduce the seriousness of its subsequent lethal use”.

Imran Khan KC, for Digwa, argued that overlapping aggravating factors had been counted more than once. The judges accepted that some should not have counted against Digwa, including the wider community impact, which the court said he had not anticipated or intended.

Aggravating factors cited in court

The Attorney General’s submissions pointed to several features of the case. They included a false allegation of racism against Mr Nowak, which police body-worn video showed led to officers handcuffing him as he lay dying. They also cited the filming of the dying teenager and what was described as sustained attempts to pervert the course of justice. Baroness Carr described the filming as “incomprehensible cruelty”. The trial judge had earlier found the racism accusation to be a lie.

Digwa’s mother, Kiran Kaur, was jailed for three years in July for assisting an offender by removing the knife from the scene. She dropped an appeal against that sentence shortly before the hearing.

Family reaction and what happens next

Mr Nowak’s family called the ruling “an important step towards justice” but said no sentence could return their son. “We have been given a life sentence of grief,” they said, adding that their “fight for justice is far from over”. They said they would support the independent rapid review being led by former lord chancellor Alex Chalk, which will examine the killing and “any missed opportunities to intervene”.

Ms Reeves said the “brutality and cruelty of this case horrified me” and that she hoped the outcome would bring the family some justice.

The legal process is not entirely over. Digwa has applied to appeal against his murder conviction, and that application will be decided separately.

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An Educating Cardiff teacher who sexually assaulted a 17-year-old girl has avoided immediate jail, receiving a 33-month prison sentence suspended for 30 months. Gareth Ritter, 44, of Bryngwyn, Monmouthshire, was also told he will be on the sex offenders’ register for life. He had appeared in the Channel 4 documentary series about school life in the city.

How the Educating Cardiff teacher’s case unfolded

Ritter initially denied the sexual assault charge. He changed his plea to guilty in October, after giving evidence at his trial at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court. He had also previously admitted two counts of making an indecent photograph of a child and one of distributing an indecent photograph of a child.

The assault itself dates back to 2015, when Ritter was in his 30s. The court heard he offered the teenager a lift home from an event in Cardiff, then said he needed to stop at a flat he owned in Cardiff Bay. Judge Dyfed Llion Thomas told him he had made comments about how she looked and dressed that made her feel uncomfortable, and had touched her uninvited. He then moved towards her until her back was against a wall and kissed her.

The court heard she pushed him away. On the drive home, Ritter told her not to tell anyone what had happened. The Daily Record reported that he was described in court as having “giggled” about the incident rather than apologising.

How the offence came to light

The allegation emerged years later, almost by accident. Detectives investigating an unrelated matter found intimate images of a young woman under 18 on Ritter’s phone and tablet. The court heard he claimed someone else had sent them to him. When police contacted the woman about the images, she told them about the assault.

During the trial she described the incident as something that “makes me feel sick”. She said she had blamed herself and later been diagnosed with depression. She said Ritter had “abused his position” and was someone she had “looked up to”.

The judge’s remarks and the decision to suspend

Judge Thomas described the offence as a “cruel assault on a young woman by an older man”. He said the attack was planned and an abuse of trust, adding: “I think you targeted her on that night, you took her to a location where you knew you would be alone.”

He also spoke directly about the complainant’s fear of not being believed. “She is believed, Mr Ritter, and everyone knows that what she told the court was true,” he said. The judge said he had “grave reservations” about whether Ritter was truly remorseful, pointing to “arrogance and self importance” in his evidence.

Even so, he suspended the sentence “with some reluctance”, citing Ritter’s previous good character and the likely effect on his family. Ritter must also complete 250 hours of community service.

Defence barrister Jenny Yeo said the former teacher, who has no previous convictions, was “sorry beyond words for the stress and pain he had caused”. She said he had lost his long-serving careers in teaching and in music, where he had been respected as a brass band conductor, and was seeking therapy.

What happens next

The court heard a further hearing will consider court costs, a restraining order and a sexual harm prevention order. No appeal was mentioned in the reports of the sentencing.

Anyone affected by the issues in this story can contact the National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac) on 0808 801 0331. Children can call Childline free on 0800 1111, and adults worried about a child can call the NSPCC on 0808 800 5000.

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