Ryan Thomas‘s brother Adam has revealed a terrifying ordeal when a gun was pointed at his head when he was on a bus.

The Waterloo Road actor, 38, was a teenager when the incident happened as he told how at first he thought the weapon being brandished was fake.

Speaking on his At Home With The Thomas Bros podcast with Scott and Ryan, the trio were sharing stories about travel when Adam gave the shock news. 

He said: ‘I got a gun pulled to my head on a bus. It was when I was like, how old was I? About 15, 14. And I was sat at the back of the bus on a double decker.

‘And this group of lads got on and they basically pulled out a gun and put it to my head and I thought it was like a pretend gun.

‘Then they took the like revolver out and showed me all the bullets and I just s**t myself.’

Ryan, 42, then quipped: ‘What! Were you in like Grand Theft Auto or something?’ 

The Waterloo Road actor, 38, was a teenager when the incident happened as he told how at first he thought the weapon being brandished was fake

The latest podcast episode comes just after Ryan’s fiancée Lucy Mecklenburgh revealed why the pair sleep in separate beds.

The former The Only Way Is Essex star, 35, has been with Ryan since 2017 and they got engaged two years later.

In a new interview Lucy opened up about their sleeping arrangements after actor Ryan, 42, recently confessed they don’t share a bed.

Now she has explained why, telling The Mirror: ‘Ryan snores and sleep talks, and I need my sleep.

‘I have to sleep, especially with two young kids. It’s full-on, so I’d just turf him out to the spare room because I’d be like, ‘Shut up!’, and that kind of evolved.’

She also discussed why their nuptials aren’t something that they are focusing on right now, saying: ‘I think it’s become harder because we had kids before we got married.’

The pair share son Roman, six, and daughter Lilah, four, and Lucy told how when you have a family your ‘priorities change’. 

Along with raising two children and moving to Manchester in recent years, Lucy said things have been ‘really full-on’. 

‘We would love to one day,’ she said of getting married however.

Last month Ryan first revealed their sleeping arrangements and also said that they spend their evenings in different living rooms.

On his podcast, At Home With The Thomas Bros, Ryan explained that the couple have their main residence in Manchester and a second home in London.

The latest podcast episode comes just after Ryan’s fiancée Lucy Mecklenburgh revealed why the pair sleep in separate beds 

The star, who hosts the show with his brothers Adam and Scott, explained: ‘In Manchester, we stay in separate beds and we have separate living rooms’. 

He further detailed that due to their London home, where they were currently staying, being smaller, they have to share a bed when in the capital: ‘Well we do now, because we haven’t got enough rooms in London.’

Adam was outraged by the prospect and told his brother: ‘I think it’s f***ed up personally as well. You need to stay in the same bed as her.’

Last year Lucy laid down the explanation for the arrangement, saying: ‘Basically Ryan snores, he sleep talks, he whacks me in his sleep.’

Ryan is also father to daughter Scarlett, 17, with former co-star Tina O’Brien.

In April, Ryan’s brothers poked fun at him after he said his fiancée Lucy seemed ‘in love’ with him on their recent trip to Copenhagen.

The couple shared some loved-up snaps from the holiday where they stayed in the luxurious Hotel Bella Grande.

Ryan shared photos of them smooching in a photobooth which his brother and Love Island star Scott thought was surprising as Lucy is not a fan of PDA.

Speaking on the podcast, Scott said: ‘I saw some pictures of you two kissing in a photobooth. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. This is a bit PDA for Lucy.’

Ryan replied: ‘I just validated my love for Lucy. I was so in love this trip. I felt like she was.’

Scott and Adam both started laughing, with Adam adding: ‘Let’s ask Lucy, get her on.’

Ryan then professed his love for Lucy, who he has been in a relationship with since 2017, saying he is ‘besotted’ with her.

He said: ‘I just love her so much. I know she was in love and she had the best time and I’ve come back and I love that woman you know.

‘I’m the luckiest man in the world, I fancy her so much and I’m besotted with her.’

After getting engaged in June 2019, a year later Covid-19 hit forcing Ryan and Lucy as well as several other couples to put their nuptials on hold.

“In eight out of those 10, we made arrests, but in none of those instances did the police vehicle start to pursue in the same direction, ie the wrong way as the offending vehicle.”

A review by the PSNI has uncovered 10 incidents where police were involved in pursuits of vehicles which travelled in the wrong direction on carriageways.

However, a senior officer told the Policing Board that in none of those cases did the police vehicle drive in the wrong direction.

The issue was raised by the board following concern over recent incidents.

In August, two police officers were among seven people killed when a car travelling the wrong way down a dual carriageway crashed into a force vehicle near Middlesbrough.

The previous week, five teenagers were killed in Co Kildare after the car they were travelling in crashed into another while driving in the wrong direction on the M9 motorway.

Following that incident, concerns were raised by police and politicians in Ireland about cars being driven in the wrong direction on roads for social media likes.

Board chair Brendan Mullan asked the PSNI leadership team if there had been a review of the current pursuit policy following the crashes.

Assistant Chief Constable Melanie Jones said: “What we have done is developed a strategy to look specifically at the issue of whether or not we have issues with wrong-way driving.

“So the pursuit policy is sound.

“I have undertaken a review to see whether or not we have evidence of pursuits where the offending vehicles are driving the wrong way on carriageways.

“I’ve identified 10 such instances.

“In eight out of those 10, we made arrests, but in none of those instances did the police vehicle start to pursue in the same direction, ie the wrong way as the offending vehicle.”

Ms Jones said the key considerations around pursuits related to safety of the public, the people in the vehicles and officers.

She said: “If they make a decision that that pursue is to be disengaged because of the level of risk that’s involved, and wrong-way driving would be a high level of risk, they will make that decision.

“And it may be that the direct that the officers continue in the pursuit on the right side of the road to then keep up with it and put an intervention in, but without carrying on the wrong side of the road.”

The senior officer said the force was looking at a strategy that would use intelligence and enforcement.

She said: “If we get the social media type trends of the filming, that we won’t sit passively because we weren’t there.

“We’ll identify the offenders. We’ll commence an investigation, and we’ll look to bring you know criminal justice outcomes to those that are doing that.

“We’ll link that into a media strategy to make sure that we’re informing the public of the action we take and we’ll use it as a preventative tool to discourage people from doing it.”

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A public inquiry into the tragedy could now be established over ‘sensitive’ MI5 evidence

The Home Secretary wants to block a ‘discreet body of MI5 material’ relating to the Manchester synagogue attack from being publicly disclosed at an inquest into the deaths of two men killed by terrorist Jihad Al-Shamie.

If Chief Coroner, Judge Alexia Durran, upholds the application by Shabana Mahmood, a public inquiry into the attack in Crumpsall on Yom Kippur could ultimately be established. A ‘closed session’ of a pre-inquest review to assess further details will be held at a later date, with the media not being able to attend.

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Questions over whether or not Al-Shamie was known to the security services before the attack on October 2 last year also emerged during a pre-inquest review hearing held on Thursday.

Security guard Melvin Cravitz, 66, and Adrian Daulby, 53, were killed at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue.

Mr Cravitz’s legal team said there were ‘previous denials’ by the Home Secretary, in the House of Commons on October 13, that Al-Shamie was known to the security services or counter-terror policing beforehand.

Victoria Ailes, for the family, said counter-terror policing also released a statement saying he was not known to them.

Ms Mahmood said Al-Shamie was ‘never referred to the Prevent programme, nor was he known to counter-terrorism policing or the security services’ in her statement.

But Anna Morris KC, representing the family of Adrian Daulby, said they question whether the material which forms the subject of the application by the Home Office might ‘contradict’ those statements.

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Mr Daulby’s family, she said, were ‘concerned’ the material ‘may contradict statements made public that the terrorist was not known to counter-terror policing or the security services’. The family, Ms Morris said, wanted ‘rigorous scrutiny’. She also pointed to what she called a ‘demonstrable lack of candour’ on the part of the security services relating to other atrocities, referencing the Manchester Arena terror attack.

Ms Ailes, for the Cravitz family, urged the chief coroner to consider ‘open justice’. Referring to the statements made about Al-Shamie, she asked the coroner in determining the application to consider whether ‘open justice is more relevant’ where ‘a public position has been taken’.

The situation mirrors that of the initial inquest process into the deaths of the 22 people killed in the Manchester Arena bombing terror attack of 2017. A public inquiry – which gives a chair greater powers to examine and assess sensitive security information – was ultimately established and ran for almost two years.

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The media and families were prevented from attending a series of ‘closed hearings’ relating to MI5 evidence and information.

Judge Durran, the Chief Coroner, will give a written ruling on the synagogue application at a later date. The Home Secretary, in the application, says any disclosure of the material could ‘give rise to a risk to national security’, the hearing was told.

Neil Sheldon KC, for the Home Secretary, said there has ‘never been any question’ of material being ‘withheld’. He said the application involved a ‘discreet body of material’ within overall disclosures.

“The basis of the claim is national security,” he said. “The Secretary of State’s assessment that disclosure would harm national security is cogent, compelling and supported by detailed analysis.”

Barrister Edward Pleeth, counsel to the inquest, said there was ‘no adequate alternative’ to non-disclosure and supported the application. A Public Interest Immunity (PII) application is a legal request used in court to withhold sensitive evidence from disclosure when revealing it would harm the public interest.

Families of the deceased attended the pre-inquest review hearing on Thursday together with other so-called interested persons, organisations and groups.

Al-Shamie was shot dead by Greater Manchester firearms officers at the scene.

Tragically, one bullet fired at him hit Mr Daulby, who was standing with others inside the synagogue barricading the doors. It also emerged at the hearing that police fired 10 shots in total.

The firearms officers were referred to only by the cyphers F42, S19 and C25. The officer F42 fired four shots with a Glock pistol, S19 fired five shots with a carbine rifle and C25 fired a single shot with the same weapon, it was said.

The same projectile that hit and killed Mr Daulby went on to hit congregant Yoni Findlay, Mr Pleeth said, saying a ballistics report had been obtained. It was either the first or second shot fired by officer F42.

Congregant Andrew Franks was stabbed by Al-Shamie in the incident and it emerged at the hearing that Mr Franks opened the gate which allowed the terrorist into the grounds of the synagogue compound.

His status as an ‘Interested Person’ at the inquest was granted, with the Chief Coroner saying that in granting the order, ‘no criticism or cuplability’ of him was attached to it. The same status was also granted to the three GMP officers. A decision over the status for Mr Findlay will be made at a later date.

Anthony Metzer KC, for Mr Findlay, said he was ‘both a victim and a survivor’ and ‘the victim of lethal force by an arm of the state’.

Mr Findlay, he said, was on the ‘front row’ behind the door, and Mr Daulby was standing behind him at the time.

The status allows people to ask questions of witnesses giving evidence at inquests and obtain access to disclosed evidence.

The hearing was also told of ‘delays’ to investigations by police watchdog the Independent Office for Police Conduct. No further dates were set.

The Juniper Street property in Irvine was deliberately set alight in the early hours of Thursday.

A house has been nearly destroyed and left covered in black soot after being torched in the early hours of the morning. Ash and discarded items cover the driveway of the Juniper Street property in Irvine, North Ayrshire, which was deliberately set alight at around 4.30am on Thursday, September 3.

Emergency services rushed to the Annick Gardens estate with firefighters on the scene for around seven hours. The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) crews battled to get the blaze under control until around 11.15am.

Photos from the scene show the house all but destroyed after the shocking fire, which looks to have taken hold of the garage and upstairs rooms. The garage roof looks ready to collapse while the windows are charred from the black smoke and soot.

Archie Thorburn was a well-known and hugely talented valleys rugby player who represented Wattstown and Pontypridd

A valleys rugby club is set to pay tribute to one of their greatest ever players this weekend following his death.

Wattstown RFC confirmed the sad passing of club stalwart Archie Thorburn in a post on Wednesday morning. Thorburn, who was 59, made nearly 200 appearances for the club, and also played for Pontypridd RFC during his career.

He also played in four Worthing Welsh Districts Cup finals in 1993, 1994, 1996 and 1997.

During his time with the club, Thorburn scored a century of tries and will go down as one of the club’s greatest ever players.

The club are set to honour Thorburn with a minute’s silence ahead of their National League 1 East Central clash with Llanishen at the weekend.

In a post confirming the news, the club said: “Everyone at Wattstown RFC sends our deepest condolences to Archie Thorburn’s family at this incredibly sad time.

“A true Wattstown legend, Archie made 195 senior appearances, 10 youth appearances and scored an incredible 100 tries, renowned for his devastating pace.

“He also represented Pontypridd RFC and earned a Welsh District cap before returning home to Wattstown.

“This Saturday, we will honour Archie and his family with a minute’s silence before both our 1st XV fixture at Wattstown Park and our Athletic fixture against Dowlais.

“Once a Duck, always a Duck.

“Rest in peace, Archie.”

Andrew Wheeler, a committee member at the club, told WalesOnline: “Wattstown went through an era back then when they were known as one of the toughest sides in the Rhondda. Archie was a big part of that.

“I know it sounds a bit much, but it felt like they had every hard man in the Rhondda playing for them. Other teams didn’t want to play them because they were an aggressive very physical side.

“Archie was in the backline, so he was like, you know, a smaller build guy.

“But he had a lot of wolves in the pack doing all the dog, and he was a very fast guy. He could then run rings around people with the ball.

“He was a very, very nice gentleman,” he added.

“He had a lot of time for people. He was polite. He, yeah, he, he was a really nice man and you can see that in the amount of people who have spoke about him, really.”

The news has sparked a number of tributes on social media.

“Terrible news this, absolutely gutted when I heard,” read one. “Excellent player and more importantly a lovely person. My sincere condolences to the family and also all at WRFC. R.I.P. Archie.

Another said: “Archie was a great guy and brilliant rugby player, always greeted you with a smile and was a genuine nice man. Godspeed Arch.”

“So very sad to hear this. Deepest condolences from everyone at Treorchy RFC,” was the message from nearby Treorchy RFC.

ChatGPT has gone offline in a major outage.

Visitors to OpenAI’s chatbot saw an array of strange behaviour – including the site attempting to download an unusual file.

Users joked that the outage meant they would have to use their own brains at work. But it also led to an array of problems across other sites and apps, many of which rely on OpenAI for their artificially intelligent features.

Some users reported similar problems at other rival chatbots, such as Anthropic’s Claude and X’s Grok. But those appeared to be at least more minor in their scope, and continued to work for many visitors.

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1976: Founders Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne created the company on April 1, 1976, as they set about selling computer kits to hobbyists, each of which was built by Wozniak.

The first product was the Apple I. 

1977: Apple released the Apple II in June, which was the first PC made for the mass market. 

1981: Jobs became chairman.  

1984: The Macintosh was introduced during an ad break for the Super Bowl and later officially unveiled during a launch event. It was discontinued a year later and Jobs left the firm.

1987: Apple released the Macintosh II, the first colour Mac.

1997: Apple announces it will acquire NeXT software in a $400 million deal that involves Jobs returning to Apple as interim CEO. He officially took the role in 2000.  

Steve Jobs, then-chief executive officer of Apple, with the iPhone

2001: Apple introduced iTunes, OS X and the first-generation iPod.

The first iPod MP3 music player was released on October 23, 2001, at an event in Cupertino and was able to hold up to 1,000 songs.

2007: Apple unveils the iPhone. 

2010: The first iPad was unveiled.

2011: Jobs resigned in 2011 due to illness, handing the CEO title to Tim Cook. Jobs died in October from pancreatic cancer.

2014: Apple unveiled the Apple Watch. It also unveiled its first larger iPhones – the 6 and 6 Plus. 

2015: After purchasing Beats from Dr Dre, Apple launched Apple Music to compete with Spotify and other music streaming services. 

2016: Apple returned to its roots and announced the 4-inch iPhone SE. Meanwhile, the firm is embroiled in a legal battle with the FBI, involving the agency demanding access to the locked phone used by Syed Farook, who died in a shootout after carrying out a deadly December attack in San Bernardino, California, with his wife. The court order was dropped on March 28 after the FBI said a third party was able to unlock the device.  

2017: Apple introduces the iPhone X, which removes the home button to make way for a futuristic edge-to-edge screen design and a new FaceID system that uses advanced sensors and lasers to unlock phones with just the owner’s face.    

Jobs at an Apple event at the company’s headquarters in Cupertino, California

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2018: In a first for the company, Apple introduces new features in its latest operating system, iOS 12, that encourage users to manage and spend less time on their devices. The move was spawned by a strongly worded letter from shareholders that urged the firm to address the growing problem of smartphone addiction among kids and teenagers. 

2019: In January, Apple reports its first decline in revenues and profits in a decade. CEO Tim Cook partly blamed steep declines in revenue from China.

2020: In March, Apple closes all its brick-and-mortar retail stores outside of China in response to coronavirus. 

2021: In an online virtual event in April, CEO Tim Cook declares Apple’s goal of becoming carbon neutral for Earth Day. Later in the year, the iPhone 13 was announced. 

2022: In September, the iPhone 14 was announced. One of the new features included a new sensor to detect if a user had been in a car crash, as well as an improved camera system. 

2023: Apple brings back its ‘Home Pod’ after the first generation was discontinued. The ‘Home Pod’ can be seen as an alternative to Amazon’s Alexa or Google Home, as it is powered by voice commands. 

2024: Apple makes its first steps into artificial intelligence with the release of Apple Intelligence. The features are not all released at once, with many delayed until the following year. 

2026: Apple announces a leadership shakeup. After 15 years leading the company, Tim Cook steps aside from his position as CEO to become executive chairman. John Ternus, 51, Apple’s widely respected hardware chief, will take over as CEO on September 1. 

Henry’s Cafe and Bar operated from Park Place for 30 years but now a new tenant is being sought

A new operator is being sought for Henry’s bar in Cardiff city centre.

The owner of the building on Park Place is looking for a new tenant after the owner of Henry’s, Stonegate Group, opted not to enter into a new lease.

Henry’s, close to the New Theatre, was one of the best known night venues in Cardiff having been open for 30 years but closed in February. It is now being formally advertised to new operators. Never miss a Cardiff story by signing up to our daily newsletter here

The empty building, which is owned by an undisclosed private landlord, extends to 25,000 sq ft, of which Henry’s occupied around 13,100 sq ft on the ground and basement levels.

Stonegate, which is the largest pub company in the UK, took over the venue when it acquired the entire bar portfolio of Tattershall Castle Group in 2015.

Real estate investment and asset management firm Propatir, set up by Alex James, has been appointed to market the property.

Possibilities include another bar or restaurant firm as well as from boutique and service apartment operators with a view to leasing the entire building from the landlord – subject to planning approval and refurbishment.

Mr James said: “This is a prime opportunity to refresh a celebrated piece of Cardiff’s nightlife history. Leasing this iconic Park Place venue provides you with a fully fitted bar and restaurant within a character rich space boasting over 30 years of patron loyalty.

“This well-located hospitality venue captures strong, diverse footfall from local offices, students, and tourists alike, positioning your business precisely where Cardiff comes to celebrate, shop, and enjoy the theatre.”