The 41-year-old, who was sadly pronounced dead at the scene, has been described as a “legend” and a “gentle giant”.

A man who died in a horror Land Rover crash in Perthshire has been named locally as Loren MacGillivray.

Emergency crews raced to the scene on the Auchterarder to Aberuthven Road, near to Damside, at around 2.40pm on Friday, August 28.

The 41-year-old, who was the driver of the Land Rover Freelander, died at the scene.

No one else was injured in the crash.

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Heartfelt tributes have been paid to Loren, known as LJ, who has been described as a “legend” and “gentle giant”.

Billy Vaughan said: This guy is and always will be a legend in Auchterarder and beyond. We saw Minions just two weeks ago. Loren, you will always be in my heart and thoughts.

“They say only the good die young. Words are too difficult to type. You were one in a billion. Until we meet again brother. Fly high.”

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Dale Robert Mcnally wrote: “RIP LJ such a great guy gone far too soon”.

Sara Spittal said: “Can’t believe it – absolutely heartbreaking. He was such a gentle giant. Sending condolences and thoughts to the whole family at this sad time.”

Jemma Connelly said: “Rest easy buddy will miss your infectious laugh”.

Charli Crawford wrote: “What a gentle giant. Rest easy, LJ”.

Dale Robert Mcnally added: “RIP LJ such a great guy gone far too soon”.

A GoFundMe page has been set up by Stuart Walker, a friend of Loren’s mum, to help cover funeral costs.

A man has been jailed for causing the death of his girlfriend after claiming she had been struck in a hit-and-run.

Matthew DuPlessis was sentenced to nine years and three months after admitting causing death by careless driving while unfit through drugs and to perverting the course of justice.

Neighbours heard the 35-year-old and his girlfriend, Charlotte Dodd, also 35, arguing at her home on September 23, 2023, Chester Crown Court heard.

At 1.30am the next day the couple left in his van. Ms Dodd later fell from the moving vehicle and was fatally injured as she hit the road in Congleton, Cheshire, police said.

A passerby stopped his car when he saw her in the road with DuPlessis sat on a grass verge behind her. 

DuPlessis, from Crewe, insisted he and his girlfriend were out walking after a drinking session and a dark-coloured vehicle had struck her and fled. 

However, a police officer recognised DuPlessis’s name and knew he drove a white van similar to one parked at the scene.

In 2024, the defendant admitted driving with excess cocaine and was banned for three years. But the investigation into Ms Dodd’s death continued. 

DuPlessis admitted to police that she had repeatedly threatened to jump out of the vehicle, but did not.  

He refused to say how she came to leave the van, police said, but CCTV along Padgbury Lane showed the driver door shut with an interior light on, indicating that the passenger door was open.

DuPlessis told police Ms Dodd had opened the passenger door as she wanted to get out, the force said.

The video showed the van continuing a further 195 metres at an average speed of 19mph.

Forensic analysis found the van was over the centre line of the carriageway as the defendant went to turn left into Arnside Avenue and Ms Dodd left the vehicle at that junction.

Following sentencing Ms Dodd’s family said in a statement that they had ‘quietly lived through the turmoil, the uncertainty and the heartbreak surrounding the circumstances of Charlotte’s death’.

‘We have each carried an indescribable pain of losing our daughter, sister, granddaughter, niece and friend, whilst also watching her two young girls try to come to terms with losing their mummy,’ they said.

‘It has taken so long to reach a Crown Court sentence hearing,’ the statement continued.

‘Due to the lies and deception by one person from the very beginning, thereby perverting the course of justice, we still do not know the full truth of what really happened to Charlotte.

‘There are no witnesses. There are some questions that remain unanswered, and we will have to live with those questions for the rest of our lives.

‘Justice has now been served, yet we do not believe this reflects the enormity of what has been lost and the devastation that Charlotte’s death has caused.

‘Charlotte has not been able to live her best life because one person has senselessly taken that life away, stolen her future.

‘For us, no custodial sentence or punishment will ever be enough.’

It is not known how Charlotte Dodd, 35, died, but her family said no punishment for DuPlessis ‘will ever be enough’

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DCI Dave Hutcheon, of the major investigation team, said: ‘DuPlessis told multiple witnesses at the scene including his own parents, members of the public, paramedics and police at the scene that he and Charlotte were walking along Padgbury Lane having been out drinking and that Charlotte was dancing in the carriageway.’

The officer said DuPlessis had told people that a dark coloured vehicle had struck his girlfriend and fled the scene while he had his back turned.

He added: ‘We launched a fail to stop investigation at the scene, and the defendant was treated as a witness and later allowed to leave with his parents.

‘It hasn’t been determined how Charlotte came to leave the van. 

‘The defendant overshot the junction causing him to perform an emergency stop. 

‘He then reversed and parked his van on Arnside Avenue and went to Charlotte.

‘He then concocted his story to cover up that he was responsible for her death.

‘His lies were caught out by the roads policing officer and the detailed forensic analysis of his movements led to him having no option but to plead guilty.’

Born in Shotley Bridge on May 26, 1976, Collingwood grew up in a cricketing family and spent his childhood around the village club.

His father, David, was an opening batsman at Shotley Bridge Cricket Club, his mother Janet made teas, and summers for the family were spent at its ground beside the River Derwent.

For a player later known for relentless work-rate, athletic fielding and stubbornness under pressure, the club gave him an early foothold in the game.

He forced his way into Shotley Bridge’s under-13s side aged just nine, having been introduced to cricket on the playing fields of Blackfyne Comprehensive School in Consett.

Shotley Bridge. (Image: GOOGLE)

Where ‘Colly’ began

Shotley Bridge sits just outside Consett, on the edge of the Derwent Valley.

It is a place with a strong sporting identity, and its cricket club proved to be the setting for the first chapter of Collingwood’s rise.

In its tribute to the former all-rounder, Wisden described Collingwood’s father as a “stalwart opening batsman” at the village club and said the family spent much of their summers there.

The cricket magazine added that the young Collingwood was exactly the sort of local player Durham needed when it became a first-class county.

His early sporting talent was not restricted to cricket.

Collingwood also played football as a teenager, but his father persuaded him to focus on cricket — a decision that set him on course for an exceptional career.

He attended Blackfyne Comprehensive School, now Consett Academy, before breaking into Durham’s system.

He made his first-class debut for Durham in 1996, beginning an association with his home county that would last more than two decades.

Paul Collingwood with his daughters during the unveiling of the new Paul Collingwood Pavilion at the Emirates Riverside in Chester le Street. Photograph by Stuart Boulton.

From Shotley Bridge to England

Collingwood’s route from village cricket to international sport is one of County Durham’s great sporting stories.

He made his one-day international debut for England in 2001 and his Test debut against Sri Lanka in Galle two years later.

In all, he played 68 Tests, scoring 4,259 runs at an average of more than 40, while his 197 one-day international appearances remain an England record.

He was a three-time Ashes winner and scored a memorable double century — 206 — in the 2006-07 Ashes series in Australia.

But for many supporters, the defining moment was his role as captain when England won the ICC World Twenty20 in 2010, the men’s team’s first global limited-overs title.

At Durham, he became the club’s leading first-class run scorer and most successful player.

Across 304 first-class appearances, he scored 16,844 runs and took 164 wickets, while he captained the county to the 2013 County Championship title.

A lasting village connection

Collingwood retired from professional cricket at the end of the 2018 season, having represented Durham in 23 of the county’s first 26 years as a first-class side.

But his connection to Shotley Bridge has endured.

His success continues to offer a powerful example to young players at the club where it started: a local boy who traded football for cricket, developed at a village ground and went on to captain England to a world title.

For Shotley Bridge, Collingwood is more than a famous name on a scorecard.

He is proof that a child’s first innings at a County Durham cricket club can lead all the way to the international stage.

The First Minister added that that would see policies “about being ambitious for Scotland” being brought forward, as well as focusing on “key issues that matter in our society, around eradicating chid poverty, around ensuring we have a dynamic economy, that we take action on the climate and that we strengthen our public services”.

For the Heaton Park congregation, Rabbi Walker said a “year of difficulty and of grief and of pain” had been made even harder by the attacks elsewhere.

“Something has gone seriously wrong in our society,” he said.

“I think we’re dealing with symptoms. We’re extremely grateful for the increased security, but I don’t think there’s really any evidence of anyone dealing with the core problems.

“And on the contrary, in many ways, those may have become worse over the last months.”

Angela Rayner told the BBC the government would “not allow hatred to drive people from their communities, to make them afraid to live and practise their faith freely or to divide our country”.

“Antisemitism is a poison, and we won’t stop fighting it until every Jewish person can live their lives fully, and free from fear,” the cabinet minister for communities said.

A memorial service will take place at Heaton Park synagogue later to commemorate the victims and survivors.

Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis and Mayor of Manchester Bev Craig will be among those attending.

For those affected by the attack, the physical and emotional consequences are still being felt.

Bernard Agyemang, a security guard, is still recovering from the severe injuries he suffered when al-Shamie drove a car into him before trying to get into the synagogue with a knife.

Andy Burnham was last night accused of endangering the public over his latest change to the prison early-release scheme.

The Prime Minister is facing a new backlash after changing the policy to keep PC Andrew Harper’s killers behind bars, but at the same time opening the cell door to hundreds of dangerous offenders.

In yet another U-turn on the controversial scheme, Mr Burnham said anyone convicted of unlawful killing will be excluded.

It means Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole, who were convicted of the officer’s manslaughter in 2020, will no longer be eligible for early release next year, to the relief of PC Harper’s family and police leaders.

But to make the change, ministers are finding extra cell spaces by releasing inmates serving indefinite terms under imprisonment for public protection sentences (IPPs) – which were given to offenders considered a significant risk to the public between 2005 and 2012. 

Current and former ministers warned that the solution could pose a far higher risk to the public because many IPP prisoners have been assessed as too dangerous to release.

One of Mr Burnham’s own senior ministers condemned the plans, saying: ‘The Prime Minister has been too focused on media response rather than actual risk.

‘He’s bowed to public pressure over the reaction to PC Harper’s killers and not focused on the actual high-risk, high-harm perpetrators.

Mr Burnham speaking to TV personality Georgia Harrison about the possibility of making Georgia’s Law

Ms Harrison pictured at the BAFTA Television Awards at the Royal Festival Hall in London on May 10

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‘Are those who’ve committed manslaughter likely to come out of prison and commit manslaughter again? No. But I can guarantee you that the obsessed stalker or domestic abuser will come out and relentlessly pursue their victim again.’

Mr Burnham also faced criticism from campaigners who said the exemptions to the scheme did not go far enough because any persistent offenders, such as domestic abusers and stalkers, will still be let out early, putting victims at risk.

Some 5,000 prisoners had been due to be released early from next month under plans to ease jail overcrowding, down from 6,000 after ministers intervened to exempt rapists and serious child sex offenders.

Yesterday Mr Burnham limited the scheme further, blocking all those convicted of manslaughter, death by dangerous driving, indecent assault and grooming gang perpetrators.

He said: ‘We will now not only be keeping offenders serving time for indecent assault locked up, but also those in prison for manslaughter and death by dangerous driving.

‘This means the awful criminals responsible for the killing of PC Andrew Harper will not have their sentence shortened.’

Dame Nicole Jacobs, Domestic Abuse Commissioner for England and Wales, said: ‘For victims of domestic abuse across the country, this announcement won’t bring reassurance. 

‘While it’s good to see more dangerous offenders exempt from this scheme, I remain deeply concerned about the number of abusers who will still be eligible for early release.

Thames Valley Police mugshots of Jessie Cole (left) and Albert Bowers who are no longer eligible for early release

Thames Valley Police officer, PC Andrew Harper, was killed in the line of duty on August 15, 2019

Bowers and Cole pictured leaving Reading Magistrates Court following an hearing in 2019

‘This decision does not change the fact that victims and survivors will still be forced to take measures to protect themselves from dangerous abusers because the Government and our criminal justice system cannot.’

Former justice secretary David Gauke warned that the release of IPP prisoners carried ‘much higher risks’, adding: ‘The reality is that the remaining IPPs are in prison for good reason. 

‘They have been assessed (repeatedly) as being high risk. I looked at their prison disciplinary records and in many cases it was clear why they’d not been released.

‘Caution is still needed. In terms of public protection, releasing IPPs comes with much higher risks than the categories excluded from the early-release scheme.’

Tory justice spokesman Nick Timothy said: ‘They’re among the most dangerous people in prison. Will they all be released? Just some? How many? And on what timescale? What about those who would have had a life sentence had IPP not existed?’

He added: ‘This is Andy Burnham’s fifth position on early release in less than six weeks since he became PM. There are serious questions about what he’s now proposing. 

‘Put plainly, Andy Burnham’s early-release policy will endanger the British public. He seems to be trying to stop the release of one set of dangerous criminals by releasing another set of dangerous criminals.’

Sir Robert Buckland, a former justice secretary, said: ‘I know first-hand the crisis facing the criminal justice system in Britain, but changing the early-release scheme from favouring one set of dangerous criminals to another set of dangerous criminals does very little to protect the public.

Richard Lloyd was convicted in May 2008 at Coventry Crown Court. He was 26 years old at the time of sentencing

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Tracey Connelly, the mother of Baby P, who died after months of abuse

Nicholas Bidar became the first IPP prisoner to have his parole bid held in public after new laws came into force

‘While Mr Burnham focuses on winning a PR battle, today’s announcement will still put decent law-abiding citizens in danger. The Government must get a grip and explain exactly how and when it will increase prison capacity, which is the only way to put a stop to this crisis once and for all.’

The PM has also met revenge-porn campaigner and former Love Island star Georgia Harrison to discuss her campaign for ‘Georgia’s Law’.

Stephen Bear was jailed in 2023 for sharing a sex tape of Ms Harrison on his OnlyFans page. But after his release from prison, Bear breached his order by posting degrading comments about Ms Harrison online.

She is calling for a social media ‘kill switch’ so posts are removed while they are reviewed.

IPP sentences were scrapped in 2012, but the abolition was not retrospective, leaving many IPP prisoners behind bars because they can be released only once the Parole Board is satisfied they no longer need to be confined for public safety.

As of June 30, 856 IPP prisoners were behind bars. Eight in ten of those have served at least ten years beyond the minimum term at which they can apply for parole.

A further 1,415 prisoners have been recalled after being handed IPP sentences.

A cross-party oversight group will be set up to look at the IPP system. Mr Burnham said spaces will also be created by deporting foreign prisoners.

Thames Valley Police boss Jason Hogg welcomed the guarantee that Bowers and Cole will remain behind bars. 

But he said many police leaders remain concerned about plans to release offenders early and jail fewer criminals by ditching shorter prison sentences.

He described a ‘criminal justice system in crisis’, warning that forces would have to shift resources from other policing priorities to deal with offenders released into the community.

Bowers and Cole were passengers in the car that dragged PC Harper to his death after he tried to stop a gang stealing a quad bike in Sulhamstead, Berkshire, in 2019.

Aileen O’Connor, the chairman of the Thames Valley Police Federation, started a petition that attracted more than a million signatures to keep them in prison. 

She said: ‘We are pleased the Government – despite what was, frankly, initial reluctance – has eventually listened, seen sense and made the right decision to keep these lowlifes behind bars.’

Almost 3,000 people remain missing five days after the disaster, while Nepali and Chinese authorities confirmed an updated death toll of at least 810 on Sunday, August 30

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One miracle survivor of last week’s horror flash floods has told of her fight for survival after being caught up in devastating flash floods in Nepal.

Cara Severino, 26, is one of 42 Australians that were deemed missing following the disaster that struck at the Nepal-Tibet border last Wednesday. She is the only one to have been found.

The New South Wales woman had been hiking through the Himalayas when an ice avalanche triggered a huge deluge, sweeping through the region.

As floodwaters surged, Cara joined forces with other people trying to escape the deluge on a tractor. She was eventually rescued by Australian embassy officials, who came to her aid in a four-wheel drive days later.

Speaking about her ordeal, she paid tribute to the people who helped her survive. “Grateful to the crew we formed on that first day when we entered the national park on a tractor,” she said. “Sudha, Lucas, Samir, and Saugat – thanks to them I got out safely.”

She also spoke of the heartbreaking devastation she witnessed during her escape. “My heart goes out to all the Nepalese hikers who lost their life and towns,” she said.”We passed a guy hiking up to Thulu Safru who lost his whole family when their whole town was destroyed. It’s just so devastating and undeserving.”

She added: “I feel for the families of those still missing, I know how much my family and friends went through.”

While Cara managed to find her way to safety, thousands still remain missing as desperate search and rescue operations continue. Almost 3,000 people remain missing five days after the disaster, while Nepali and Chinese authorities confirmed an updated death toll of at least 810 on Sunday.

A total of 15 British nationals are reported to be missing in China. The missing Britons make up just a few of the 261 foreign nationals from 23 countries reported missing in the Tibet Autonomous Region, as per figures released by Chinese authorities.

Chinese authorities have said at least 16 people have died on their side of the border, but concerns have been raised about a lack of transparency as sharing footage from last Wednesday’s horror floods has been banned.

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On the Nepal side of the border, 33 British people had already been declared missing. That brings the total number of missing British nationals between Tibet and Nepal to a total of 48.

Police in Nepal said 794 people in total had been confirmed dead and at least 2,742 injured.

Several areas remain at risk of further flooding, with people who have returned home warned to stay alert and be ready to evacuate again at short notice.

Police have made 169 arrests on day one of London‘s annual Notting Hill Carnival – with revellers held over possession of weapons, drugs and sex offences.

The Met Police confirmed the total number as of 7.45pm on Sunday, with the vast majority of arrests occurring within the event’s perimeter and 27 taking place on approaches to the site. 

The force said officers responded to two knife assaults at the carnival – which is Europe’s biggest street party – including a slashing to the leg and one to the hand.

Neither offence resulted in life-changing or threatening injuries.

The Met confirmed on Friday that more than 7,000 officers will be present at the carnival this bank holiday weekend, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary and expected to be bustling with live music, parades, street food and sound stages.

Police have set up numerous dedicated points where arrested and detained revellers are held. On Lancaster Road, a tent has been set up to detain people who have been arrested for serious offences before they are taken to a police station.

Between 3.30pm and 5pm, a spate of eight arrests occurred there.

One officer told the Daily Mail that people being arrested and taken to the tent were suspected of serious crimes. He gave possession of knives, sexual assault and upskirting as common reasons for arrest.

He said the tent was one of six in the area, and over the course of the day had been used to detain about 25 people.

Revellers have been held over possession of weapons, drugs and sex offences

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The Met Police said officers responded to two knife assaults at the carnival (Pictured: A facial recognition van installed for the carnival)

An estimated two million people set to attend the event (Pictured: Revellers pack into Ladbroke Grove for day one of the carnival)

Crowds were colourful for day one

He added a concern for officers is the risk of gang related violence, as rival gang members may encounter each other at the event.

Medics and ambulance workers were also spotted entering the tent.

In 2025, the Met said it made 528 arrests across the two main days of the carnival, including 167 for drug offences, 50 for possession of an offensive weapon, 21 for sexual offences, four for violence with injury and 49 for other violence.

In 2024, there were eight stabbings, including the murder of 32-year-old mother Cher Maximen, with the same number the previous year, and seven including a murder in 2022.

In a statement released on Sunday evening, the Met Police said despite the incidents, the mood is ‘overwhelmingly positive and celebratory’.

It read: ‘While officers responded to a number of incidents as would be anticipated at an event of this scale, the mood has been overwhelmingly positive and celebratory.’

Commander Claire Smart, who is in charge of the policing operation, added: ‘We have been working closely with Notting Hill Carnival Ltd and other partners for many months ahead of this weekend’s event.

‘The organisers have stepped forward significantly across the event, including crowd management, and we have seen the positive progress today.

‘While we have seen a significant number of arrests and interventions by officers, the result of that proactive approach is a welcome reduction in the levels of serious violence seen at the event in previous years.

‘Nobody involved in the delivery of the event is complacent, however.

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 ‘There are still many officers deployed across the footprint to ensure crowds disperse safely.

‘We will have officers on duty through the night and tomorrow we will go again to ensure we can continue to tackle the minority who want to come to Carnival to spoil the celebration for the majority.’ 

But, it wasn’t all bad. Steel drums echoed across west London this morning as Notting Hill Carnival got off to a colourful start with revellers dousing each other in neon paint in the first street party of the two day event.

Images show people dancing in glittering outfits and playing steel drums to kick off the Families and Children’s Day parade.

Meanwhile, early birds arrived at the street party at 6am and began throwing body paint at each other and setting off colourful smoke flares as part of J’Ouvert, a vibrant pre-dawn ritual.

Some are fully covered in black paint and wearing horns to represent Jab Jab – from the French word diable, meaning devil.

The costume dates back to the 1838 abolition of slavery across the Caribbean when people took to the streets in all black to celebrate their freedom from devilish oppressors.

This year marks 60 years since Notting Hill Carnival began in 1966 and, while Saturday saw a quieter start with young performers taking to the stage at the traditional Panorama ticketed steelband competition, Sunday drew far bigger crowds as the carnival takes to the streets.

It is estimated that around two million revellers will attend the event with 7,000 Metropolitan Police officers and staff on duty.

More than 3,000 stewards – double the usual number – have also been deployed after crowd control responsibilities were transferred from Scotland Yard to the event organisers following an extra £4.66million grant announced by Sir Sadiq Khan in March.

But Susan Hall, leader of the Conservative group at the London Assembly, said she remained concerned about the security risks and called on the Mayor to ‘get a grip on this once and for all before more people are injured or die needlessly’.

An Australian father fears he will be separated from his son after battling the country’s complex and lengthy visa processes.

Six-year-old Thanasi Kuzeff was born in Kenya but is an Australian citizen due to his father Daniel Kuzeff’s heritage.

His parents, who are no longer in a relationship, have spent the past four years seeking a lawful way for Thanasi to grow up in Australia while remaining actively involved in his life. 

Thanasi arrived in Australia with his father in 2024 and quickly adjusted to his new life in far northern New South Wales, developing strong bonds with his stepmother and younger brother. 

He was separated from his mother Leah Wambui Sore, a Kenyan citizen, for more than a year as she had five visa applications rejected before she was eventually granted a visitor visa in January this year.

Ms Sore applied for a Subclass 143 Contributory Parent Visa, which allows parents of Australian citizens and permanent residents to live here indefinitely but there is a 15-year waitlist.

She was recently granted another visitor visa carrying a no further stay condition, meaning she can remain in Australia only until December 1.

In a desperate bid to keep the family together, Mr Kuzeff has urged Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke to intervene. 

Daniel Kuzeff may soon be separated from his son Thanasi due to Australia’s visa rules

‘We’ve done everything possible but have reached a dead end,’ Mr Kuzeff told the Daily Mail.

‘It’s been one rejection after another. It will be shattering if we can’t find a way to overcome this obstacle.’

Ms Sore added: ‘For me, it’s really not about what staying in Australia would mean for me. It’s about Thanasi.

‘Daniel and I have separate lives, but when it comes to our son, we both want the same thing.

‘We want him to be happy and stable and to grow up knowing that both his parents are there for him.

‘I don’t want him to have to choose between having his mum in one country and his dad and siblings in another. I just want him to have a normal childhood with the people he loves around him.’

Despite being entitled to remain in Australia as a citizen, Thanasi will likely return to Kenya with his mother if she is forced to leave the country. 

‘What shatters me most about what may come is that there is no way we can separate Thanasi from his mother again; he will have to return with her,’ Mr Kuzeff said.

Thanasi will likely return to Kenya with his mother if she is deported later this year

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Thanasi spent more than a year separated from his mother Leah before the pair were reunited in Australia in January

Thanasi has developed a close bond with little brother Finley (both pictured at an AFL game)

Mr Kuzeff said his son loves Australia and does not wish to return to Kenya. 

‘He recognised very quickly that the life he has here is very different to the one he would have back in Kenya,’ he said.

‘Australia is his home. His school, friends, dad, little brother Finley and baby sister are all here.’

Ms Sore does not want to spend another year watching Thanasi grow up via video calls from the other side of the world.

‘I just want to be there while he is still little enough to need his mum,’ she said.

‘If he stays here, he loses his mum again. If he comes with me, he loses having his dad and his siblings in his everyday life.’

‘I don’t want my son to have to make that choice.

‘More than anything, I just want Thanasi to be able to be a little boy, surrounded by the people who love him.’

‘There is no way we can separate Thanasi from his mother again,’ Mr Kuzeff said

Daniel Kuzeff (pictured) has urged Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke to intervene so that his son’s mother can remain in Australia

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Ms Sore was granted a visitor visa after the Administrative Review Tribunal intervened and ruled for a previously rejected application to be reconsidered.

‘This situation has been handled by all sides in an adult fashion; they have worked through it,’ tribunal general member Michael Judd wrote in his April 2025 ruling.

‘These cases are about real people.’

Unless Burke intervenes, Ms Sore’s only current pathway to remain in Australia permanently is through a Subclass 143 Contributory Parent Visa, for which she faces a lengthy wait. 

‘His childhood is now,’ Mr Kuzeff said.

‘There are Australian kids with a foreign parent right now, whose parents aren’t together (and) who would face separation because there is no pathway. It’s indescribable how much stress this has caused for years.’

In 2023, then-Immigration Minister Andrew Giles exercised his public interest powers to grant Italian national Andrea Tindiani Australian permanent residency. 

After 12 years in Australia, Mr Tindiani had faced potential deportation and separation from his nine-year-old son following an amicable split from his Australian partner. 

Thanasi (left) will be separated from his father and younger siblings if he has to return to Kenya

‘For me, it’s really not about what staying in Australia would mean for me. It’s about Thanasi,’ Leah told the Daily Mail

‘That was three years ago. Why have no policies been implemented in that time to prevent the heartache and stress of Australian families and their children,’ Mr Kuzeff said.

The Daily Mail has contacted Burke for comment. 

A Department of Home Affairs spokesperson said that it does not comment on individual cases.

‘Australia’s migration system provides a range of visa options for family members seeking to live in Australia. All visa applications are assessed on their individual merits and against the requirements set out in Australia’s migration legislation,’ they told the Daily Mail.

Australian citizenship of a child does not, in itself, provide an automatic pathway to permanent residence for a parent. However, there are a number of family visa pathways within the migration program that may be available depending on an individual’s circumstances.

‘The Department recognises the importance of family unity and the interests of Australian citizen children. Decision-makers are required to consider all relevant legislative requirements and information provided in support of an application when assessing visa matters.’

Ms Sore urged Burke to consider the family’s situation and what it would mean for her little boy.

‘I understand Australia has immigration laws and I respect that. I’m not asking to be above the law,’ she said.

‘I’m just asking for some compassion and whether there is a lawful way for me to stay while I wait for my parent visa. 

‘Thanasi has already experienced being separated from his mum. Now he finally has both his mum and his dad in his everyday life. I just don’t want him to lose that again.’

An online petition calling for Ms Sore to remain in Australia has attracted more than 400 signatures. 

‘Despite the unusual circumstances of our family, the adults in Thanasi’s life have worked together for years with one shared goal: to give Thanasi the opportunity to grow up in Australia with meaningful relationships with his mum, his dad and his younger siblings,’ it states.

‘This is about adults putting aside the complexity of their circumstances because a little boy should not have to choose between his home in Australia and having his mum physically present during his childhood.’

By DAN HANNAN FOR THE DAILY MAIL

Published: 23:00 BST, 30 August 2026 | Updated: 01:48 BST, 31 August 2026

Why was anyone surprised? Iceland is a wealthy and successful country. It had nothing to gain from joining the declining EU.

A country with a proud and ancient parliamentary tradition does not lightly submit to a supranational technocracy. The nation with perhaps the best-managed fish stocks in the world does not surrender to a bloc that has drained its own seas.

Icelanders have voted by 52.8 per cent to 47.2 per cent not to restart accession negotiations with the EU. They made their first application in 2009, in the wake of the banking crash, which hit Iceland hard. 

But they dropped it in 2015, once it had become clear that Iceland had recovered from the financial crisis much faster than the EU had, largely because it was wise enough not to bail out its banks.

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I was never in any doubt about the outcome. I know Iceland well, having been a regular visitor to that strip of cold black tundra since I was 19. I count the leaders of the ‘No’ campaign as good friends and I see the country as a second home.

I have stood many times at the site of their first parliament, the Thingvellir. Icelanders used to gather there from all over the island, riding their sturdy little horses over black lava fields and bright green moss, meeting as a free people.

They are unlike us in some ways. Few of them have surnames, they build their roads to avoid elf-mounds – said to be the dwellings of magical beings – and their language has barely changed in 1,000 years. But they resemble us in their stubbornness.

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Icelanders have voted by 52.8 per cent to 47.2 per cent not to restart accession negotiations with the EU

Iceland’s prime minister Kristrun Frostadottir speaking in Reykjavik after the results of the referendum were announced

They hate being told what to do, especially by foreigners.

I was unusual in predicting a ‘No’. Opinion polls showed a narrow but consistent lead for the pro-EU side and, as the votes came in, wide-eyed Europhiles, buoyed by early results from Reykjavik, were getting excited.

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Why? Because, deep down, they think European integration is inevitable, in the same way Marxists used to believe that socialism was inevitable. Take away the sense of inexorability and the flaws become painfully visible.

There is scant enthusiasm for EU membership other than among the impoverished states of south-eastern Europe, such as Montenegro, Macedonia and Moldova. Even Turkey has lost interest in joining. In Norway, polls suggest that opposition to membership has risen to around 70 per cent.

In these countries, EU membership is seen purely in cost-benefit terms. In Britain, a decade on from the 2016 referendum, it remains a culture war. A knot of Continuity Remainers who don’t know or care much about what is happening in the EU, are still obsessed with overturning our own referendum result.

Why? Because, for them, it is less about the EU than about defeating an imagined domestic enemy, a caricatured racist.

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They have stuck to their rejoinery for a decade, despite the EU adopting much harsher immigration laws than Britain, because they are anti-Eurosceptic rather than pro-Brussels.

It is true that Iceland has a closer relationship with the EU than we do. Membership of the European Economic Area means that it is in the single market for everything except agriculture and fisheries – though, importantly, Iceland is outside the customs union and has signed several trade deals that the EU does not have, including with large economies such as China and Indonesia.

There is an argument for Britain moving closer to the single market. But it needs to be done in a ruthlessly calculating manner, signing up for things only when there are clear mutual benefits rather than approaching talks in a spirit of penitence and atonement. Sadly, as the reaction here to Iceland’s welcome decision shows, we are a long way from that.

Still, the question remains. If a nation with a population the size of Croydon’s is content to take its chances alone, what are we so scared of?

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• Lord Hannan of Kingsclere is an independent peer and director of the Institute of Economic Affairs.