He was jailed for two years and five months

A convicted drug dealer who tried to drag a woman out of her car outside a doctors’ surgery in Peterborough has been jailed for more than two years. Lee Holliday, 43, ran towards the victim’s car as she was driving out of the Westwood Centre in Peterborough at about 1.30pm on July 31.

The victim stopped driving when she noticed Holliday chasing after her, thinking there might be a problem with her car. Holliday, of Welland Road, Dogsthorpe, Peterborough, immediately opened the rear passenger door of the car and got into the back, shouting “drive, drive, they’re chasing me”.

When the victim refused and told him to get out, Holliday did so but walked around to the driver’s side, opened the door, and tried to grab the ignition keys and the steering wheel. Holliday put his hands around the victim’s neck, attempted to pull her out the vehicle, ripping her shirt and necklace in the struggle.

The victim’s daughter, who was close by at the time, assisted in intervening and getting Holliday away from the vehicle until police arrived. Following a trial at Cambridge Crown Court, which concluded on Thursday (12 February), Holliday was found guilty of common assault and was jailed for two years and five months, which included the activation of a two-year suspended sentence for supplying class A drugs.

DC Matt Reed, who investigated, said: “This was a frightening ordeal for the victim who was targeted at random by Holliday. Hopefully, this will be a wake-up call for him.”

Decades of care have taken the garden on a remarkable journey of restoration, transforming it into a magical landscape, which includes a stunning carpet of snowdrops as spring nears.

The garden’s recent Grade II listing means this cherished piece of heritage will be protected for generations to come.

Tudor Croft Garden is one of just five parks and gardens among 199 sites to be recognised by Historic England over the past year.

Tudor Croft Garden owner Mike Heagney inspects the latest snowdrops Image: Sam Booth

Created in 1934 for industrialist Ronald Crossley, the garden is described as ‘a rare survival of an inter-war suburban garden in a relaxed Arts and Crafts style’.

Designed to complement the family home, which is also Grade II listed, the grounds remain largely unchanged, providing views across the property and towards the North York Moors.

Among its distinctive features are the Gnome Garden, containing hand-crafted terracotta figures of elves, gnomes, pixies, birds and animals by Walter Scott, and a Secret Garden with a stone-flagged bridge over a pond.

The site also showcases a rare roofed fernery, intricate rockwork thought to be by the Backhouse Nursery of York, a rose pergola built from Crossley bricks and a water garden.

Mike, who owns Tudor Croft, has raised more than £100,000 for charity by opening the garden to the public each spring and summer, and says the restoration has been a joy.

Tudor Croft

‘We’re delighted that Tudor Croft has been listed by Historic England and is now protected for future generations to enjoy,’ he says. ‘Because of the visual connection from the garden to the moors, this listing should also prevent new housing being built adjacent to the site, which would badly damage the garden.

‘The garden was completely overgrown when my father, Tony Heagney, bought the house in 1952.’

He recalls how his parents and their five children moved in 73 years ago, and woke up the next morning to ‘find the entire garden covered in snow’.

‘Tudor Croft now includes dozens of small gardens within the whole, featuring a trout stream, pools, fountains and the finest fernery in Britain,’ adds Mike.

‘It brings us great joy, and we care for it with help from family, staff and our wonderful team of volunteers.

Snowdrops at Tudor Croft Garden. Picture: Gill Davidson/The Northern Echo Camera Club

‘Restoring Tudor Croft to its current beauty has been a magical journey.’

In the 1990s, Mike started a collection of snowdrops and there are now more than 300 varieties in the collection. There will be a chance to view the garden’s renowned collection this month, on February 7 and 8.

Admission is £10, with children admitted free.

Historic England describes Tudor Croft as ‘a good example of a suburban garden with a contemporaneous family house designed for an industrialist, with Crossley bricks used to build the house and garden features, including the rose pergola’.

Mike Heagney says it has been a joy to restore Tudor Croft. Picture: Gill Davidson/The Northern Echo Camera Club

In its listing, the heritage body says it has ‘a carefully considered layout with the house at the highest point overlooking the rear sloping garden, allowing far-reaching views to the natural landscape beyond, with the summits of Highcliffe and Roseberry Topping deliberately appropriated as part of the design’.

It adds: ‘The attention to materials and textures complements the Arts and Crafts aesthetic of the house, with plentiful use of bricks, masonry fragments from Gisborough Priory, millstones set in stone paving and rockwork, including rare textured magnesium limestone found only along the local coast.

‘The accomplished designs of the rare roofed fernery and the rockwork, and associated civil engineering of the water gardens, bear the hallmarks of the Backhouse Nursery of York, famous for their consummate rockwork and expertise in plants, notably alpines and ferns.

‘The less formal, more intimate and relaxed style of the garden, inhabited by numerous terracotta gnomes and other animals handcrafted for Crossley, epitomises the 1930s devotion to outdoor leisure and is in contrast to the formal structures of hard landscaping and garden rooms seen in earlier Arts and Crafts gardens.’

Tudor Croft is lauded as a ‘rare example of a largely intact 1930s garden in England’.

Tudor Croft

The listing places Tudor Croft among 19 ‘unusual historic buildings and places’ highlighted by Historic England.

Dudderhouse Hill Neolithic long cairn, at Long Scar in the Yorkshire Dales, is also recognised. It is now a scheduled monument, securing its status as a nationally important archaeological site protected by law.

Historic England says it ‘provides important evidence of early prehistoric communities in northern England’.

It adds: ‘This partly turf-covered mound of stone, dating to around 3400 to 2400 BC and measuring 23 metres long and 12 metres wide, is one of the oldest visible monuments in the landscape and offers a rare insight into prehistoric ritual and burial practices.

Tudor Croft

‘Until the 1990s, experts believed long cairns were absent from the Yorkshire Dales, assuming that Neolithic communities in the area used natural cave systems for burial instead.

‘However, fieldwork over the past two decades has identified a small number of these ancient monuments across the region.

‘First identified in 2008, the Dudderhouse Hill long cairn displays evidence of structural arrangements, including large stone slabs and edge-set stones suggesting internal compartments. Remarkably, the cairn’s orientation appears carefully planned with its axis aligned towards Pen-y-ghent, a prominent peak, whilst mirroring the Ingleborough to Simons Fell ridge to the north-west.’

Heritage minister Baroness Twycross says these heritage sites have played a part in ‘shaping our national stories over the centuries’. She adds: ‘I’m proud that we’re safeguarding our rich history so future generations can continue to enjoy it.’

Historic England says: ‘These newly protected places demonstrate the remarkable diversity of England’s heritage.

‘They connect us to the people and events that shaped our communities.’.

Tudor Croft Garden, 1 Stokesley Road, Guisborough TS14 8DL

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Former CNN host turned independent journalist Don Lemon pleaded not guilty to federal civil rights charges Friday, accused in a protest at a Minnesota church where an Immigration and Customs Enforcement official is a pastor. Four other people are also set to be arraigned in the case.

Lemon did not comment to reporters as he entered the courthouse accompanied by his attorney, Joe Thompson. Roughly two dozen protesters stood outside the building, chanting “Pam Bondi has got to go” and “Protect the press.”

Also scheduled for arraignment Friday is civil rights attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong. The prominent local activist was the subject of a doctored photo posted on official White House social media that falsely showed her crying during her arrest. The picture is part of a deluge of AI-altered imagery that has circulated since the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal officers in Minneapolis amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

Lemon’s attorney did not return calls this week seeking comment. Arraignments in federal court typically include the entering of pleas and scheduling of future proceedings. Lemon has said he plans to plead not guilty.

Two more defendants accused in the protest at a Southern Baptist church in St. Paul are scheduled for arraignment next week, including another independent journalist, Georgia Fort. Nine people have been charged in the case.

Protesters interrupted a service at Cities Church on Jan. 18 by chanting “ICE out” and “Justice for Renee Good,” referring to the 37-year-old mother of three who was fatally shot by an ICE officer in Minneapolis last month. Lemon has said he is not affiliated with the group and that he was there as a journalist to chronicle the event for his livestream show.

“I have spent my entire career covering the news. I will not stop now. In fact, there is no more important time than right now, this very moment for a free and independent media that shines a light on the truth and holds those in power accountable,” Lemon told reporters after his arrest.

The church protest drew sharp complaints from conservative religious and political leaders. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt warned in a social media post: “President Trump will not tolerate the intimidation and harassment of Christians in their sacred places of worship.” Even clergy who oppose the administration’s immigration enforcement tactics expressed discomfort.

All nine are charged under the 1994 Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, which prohibits interference or intimidation of “any person by force, threat of force, or physical obstruction exercising or seeking to exercise the First Amendment right of religious freedom at a place of religious worship.” Penalties can range up to a year in prison and up to a $10,000 fine.

Thompson is one of several former prosecutors who have left the Minnesota U.S. Attorney’s Office in recent weeks citing frustration with the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement crackdown in the state and the Justice Department’s response to the killing of Good and Pretti.

One of four lawyers registered to represent Lemon, Thompson had led the sprawling investigation of major public program fraud cases for the prosecutors office until he resigned last month. The Trump administration has cited the fraud cases, in which most defendants have come from the state’s large Somali community, as justification for its immigration crackdown.

The letter states: “While you no longer serve as British Ambassador to the United States and have stepped down from the House of Lords, it is clear that you possessed extensive social and business ties to Jeffrey Epstein and hold critical information pertaining to our investigation of Epstein’s operations.

Going into the men’s singles skeleton final, Team GB’s Matt Weston is in prime position to win the UK’s first medal at this year’s games.  

The 29-year-old ended the first day of competition with a 0.3-second advantage at the top of the leaderboard, while his teammate Marcus Wyatt is in seventh.

Team GB have been within touching distance of medal positions so far at the Milano Cortina games, so could the current skeleton world and European champion be the one to finally get the UK on the medal table?

Who is Matt Weston?

Born in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, Weston started out his sporting career in a completely different discipline.

He practised taekwondo up until the age of 17, winning medals at UK-based events and international honours whilst representing England abroad.

At the taekwondo European Cup in 2012 he won both gold and silver, adding a silver and bronze to his collection at the International Taekwondo Federation World Cup in 2014 before retiring from the sport aged 17 due to a fracture in his back.

Right until he started the selection process for British Skeleton, he also played rugby, previously representing Kent as well as his local team Sevenoaks RFC and a Saracens Academy College.

His introduction to skeleton came via the British Skeleton Discover Your Gold talent identification scheme following a suggestion from his weightlifting coach, Chris Dear.

Speaking to Sky News sports presenter Jacquie Beltrao, Weston said it takes a “certain type of person” to take part in Skeleton.

“To get over that fear when you first start and you go down and you have no brakes,” he said.

“Whether you have a good run, a bad run, you crash or don’t crash, you are going to the bottom because it’s just sheet ice. Once you get over the fear and apprehension about that, it’s so much fun.”

From beginner to Olympian

Weston made his debut in skeleton in 2019. Before then he completed a tense training period with the Royal Marines, which was designed to test his physical and mental fitness.

He finished 15th in his debut race on the Europa Cup in Winterberg, Germany, closely followed by a silver medal in Igls, Austria, and bronze in Altenberg, Germany, just a month later.

By 2020 Weston was competing on the World Cup circuit and in November 2021 he won gold for Great Britain, the first men’s World Cup win in skeleton for almost 14 years.

Just over two years after he made his debut, he competed as an Olympian at the Beijing winter games in 2022.

In 2023, and paired with six-time world champion Martins Dukurs as a coach, Weston made major gains on both European and world stages.

He won the European title in January 2023 and a week later became world champion, taking the crown by a staggering 1.49 seconds.

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Weston started the 2025/26 season recovering from a thigh injury, but this didn’t hold him back.

In March 2025 he took his second world champion crown and in January of this year – only a month before the start of the Olympics – he clinched his third successive overall World Cup title.

He remains the UK’s most decorated slider at the world championship level.

Planning permission is being sought for the installation of six artwork totems by contemporary artist Katayoun Dowlatshahi and a piece by steel sculptor Steve Anwar.

Officers from North Yorkshire Council will recommended councillors approve the plans for the town’s Coronation Park when they meet next week.

Inspired by Catterick’s history and natural surroundings, the six totems would be over two metres high and made from corten steel with a ribbon design print waterjet cut into each.

Each totem includes a ceramic collar. The artist would aim to create
an impression into the clay of the totem using leaves in order to achieve an “engaging, tactile element to the work and reflect the hidden flora that can be found in the park”.

The sculpture would be located in the mini plaza at the base of a ramp from Shute Road.

The concept for the structure is to embody the values of Catterick Garrison and its “evolving identity: diverse, dynamic, and deeply rooted”.

The artwork would feature a poem which has been inspired by the artist’s engagement with the local community.

Planning Caroline Walton said in her report to members: “Whilst a subjective issue, officers consider that the proposed artwork would be of a high-quality design and material finish which would contribute in a positive way to the cultural and aesthetic amenity of the area, having involved local community groups as part of the design process.

“The installations would be sited so as to not interfere with the appropriate visibility required by users of the public highway or create any other highway safety or amenity issues for local residents.”

The public art programme is being developed by BEAM, a cultural development organisation working across the North of England.

Planning Permission was granted in March 2024 for the original redevelopment, which includes a new community building, multi-use space, covered external canopy and creation of public square and mini-plaza.

Work is underway on the scheme with the project is expected to be completed by winter 2026.

The application will be debated by the Richmond area planning committee on Thursday next week.

People will have three extra opportunities to cast their vote ahead of the city council elections

Voters in Cambridge will be among the first to trial a more flexible way of voting in person at local elections. The next local elections will take place on Thursday May 7, 2026.

Cambridge City Council has been selected for a new government-backed pilot as one of only five local authorities to test “early voting”. This will give voters an opportunity to cast their vote in person before polling day, not just on May 7.

For the 2026 city council elections, early voting will be available on Thursday, April 30, Friday, May 1, and Saturday, May 2.

Voters will also be able to choose where they vote during the early voting trial. Three voting hubs in the city will be located at The Guildhall, the Meadows Community Centre, and the Clay Farm Centre.

Early voting hubs will be open between 9am and 6pm on each of the three early voting days. Any elector can vote in any hub.

The early voting pilot will use approved and secure digital technology to make sure that no one is able to vote more than once. A city council spokesperson said: “The pilots are part of the Government’s commitment to encourage greater participation in democracy by modernising the voting experience, while keeping elections secure, transparent and trusted.”

Eligible voters in Cambridge will still be able to vote in the usual way at their allocated polling station on polling day. Postal and proxy voting will also be available as usual.

Robert Pollock, Returning Officer for Cambridge, said: “We would like to give our residents more choice in how they vote, while keeping all the safeguards that make our elections secure and trustworthy. We all have busy lives that can make it harder for some people to get to a polling station on one specific day.

“I hope the early voting pilot, will give more people, more opportunities to participate in our local democracy.”

Vicky Jenner, Electoral Services Manager, said: “We are working closely with the Government and our suppliers to plan, deliver and evaluate this pilot, with a clear focus on maintaining the security and integrity of the poll. We’re excited for Cambridge to be at the forefront of these changes to the way we vote, and for our residents to be among the first in the country to take part.”

Murrell, 61, has been charged with embezzlement.

A preliminary court hearing in the case against Nicola Sturgeon’s estranged husband has been postponed until after the Scottish Parliament election.

Peter Murrell had been scheduled to appear at the High Court in Glasgow on February 20 to answer to one count of embezzlement.

The Crown Office tonight announced the hearing will now take place on May 25 in Edinburgh – three weeks after the Holyrood election.

Murrell, 61, was the chief executive of the SNP for more than two decades.

He was charged in April 2024 following a long-running Police Scotland investigation – Operation Branchform – into the party’s finances

Murrell is charged with one count of embezzlement and made no plea or declaration after making an initial appearance at Edinburgh Sheriff Court in March last year.

The estranged husband of Nicola Sturgeon now faces a preliminary hearing in May.

Murrell dramatically resigned from his SNP role in 2023 following a row over the party’s declining membership numbers.

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A spokesperson for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service said: “Scotland’s prosecutors act independently and in the public interest in all cases. COPFS understand there is significant interest in this matter which is active under the Contempt of Court Act 1981.

“The provisions of this Act protect the integrity of proceedings, preserve access to justice for victims and secure the rights of people accused of crime.

“Anyone publishing items about active cases is advised to exercise caution as material must not be commentary or analysis of evidence, witnesses or accused. Contempt of Court carries penalties of up to two years in prison and/or an unlimited fine.

“The Lord Advocate and Solicitor General were not involved in decisions on this case.”

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The US military has completed the transfer of thousands of Islamic State (IS) detainees from Syria to Iraq, the US Central Command has said.

CENTCOM said more than 5,700 adult male IS suspects were transported by US forces from detention facilities in Syria to Iraqi custody, in an operation that began on 21 January.

The prisoners were transferred to Iraq at the request of Baghdad.

“We appreciate Iraq’s leadership and recognition that transferring the detainees is essential to regional security,” said Admiral Brad Cooper, a CENTCOM commander.

Over the last three weeks, the US military escorted detainees from 60 different nationalities from prisons run by the US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northeastern Syria to Baghdad.

The transfer began after a rapid offensive by Syrian government forces against the SDF, which has guarded the IS detainees and the facilities where they were incarcerated for years.

On 29 January, the US brokered a ceasefire deal which set out a phased integration of Kurdish fighters into the central state.

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Iraq hopes to put on trial some of the thousands of detainees, who were held for years in Syria without charges or access to the judicial system.

On the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, Iraq’s foreign minister Fuad Hussein told Reuters discussion with “some Arab and Muslim countries” to take back their citizens had begun.

“The successful execution of this orderly and secure transfer operation will help prevent an ISIS resurgence in Syria,” said US Army Major General Kevin Lambert, commander of the Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve, the US military’s operational name for the international war against IS.

The centre-right Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has won an overwhelming victory in the first election since the student uprising in 2024, which ousted the former prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

BBC South Asia correspondent Azadeh Moshiri, is in Dhaka outside Hasina’s former residence, which is now a memorial for the student protesters killed in the uprising.

As many as 1,400 people were killed during 2024’s weeks-long anti-government protests, most at the hands of security forces, according to the UN.