After dining lavishly on lobster, caviar and truffles in the opulent surrounds of the Palace of Versailles last night, Donald Trump affixed his signature to the much-anticipated memorandum of understanding that will, all being well, begin a 60-day ceasefire between the US, Israel and Iran.

The document was subsequently signed in Tehran by the Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian.

“This was not easy,” the US president reportedly remarked as he wielded his trademark Sharpie marker pen – a statement that may go down as a huge understatement. The text of the deal reveals the Iranian negotiators drove a very hard bargain in return for opening the Strait of Hormuz, which the world now hopes will enable the global economy to recover from the considerable disruption of the past three and a half months.

This war has been an utter disaster for the US and Israel, writes Arshin Adib-Moghaddam of SOAS, University of London, who has been researching and writing about Iranian affairs for many years. Trump and his ally, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have failed to secure any of the outcomes they set out to achieve when they attacked Iran on February 28. In fact it has arguably left Iran, while battered, stronger strategically than it was before the war.

It’s not as if Iran-watchers haven’t warned of the danger of using blunt force against Iran. As Adib-Moghaddam notes here, he and fellow scholars and analysts have been stressing for years that the Islamic Republic was well prepared for the sort of asymmetrical conflict we have now seen it wage. And now, of course, it has demonstrated to itself – and the rest of the world – what a potent deterrent it has in its ability to shut down the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz.

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Iran ceasefire deal confirms what we’ve been saying for years: military might doesn’t work

The state banquet at Versailles followed the 2026 summit of the Group of Seven (G7), which has been taking place this week in the French spa town of Évian-les-Bains. As Natasha Lindstaedt of the University of Essex notes, this was a clever move dreamed up by the French president, Emmanuel Macron, who was desperate to avoid a repeat of last year’s summit in Alberta, Canada, when the US president walked out a day early.

On that occasion he refused to sign the usual unified G7 statement, complaining that he didn’t like the language on Ukraine. There was no such reticence this year. Macron was cock-a-hoop at what he called a “very deep change in the US approach”. It was, he said, “re-synchronisation” for the G7 on the war in Ukraine, which released a statement pledging unwavering support for Ukraine in defending its territorial integrity, which Trump also signed after what the US president said was a “very good” meeting with Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky on the summit’s sidelines.

Key to achieving this unity, says Lindstaedt, was the approach of the other G7 leaders towards the US president: flattery. As we know, this is something that has proved highly effective in the past.

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Macron plays ‘Trump whisperer’ as the US president signs Iran ceasefire deal after a successful G7 summit

Republicans unimpressed

If Trump’s dining companions at Versailles were effusive in their congratulations for the US president’s deal, the reaction from many prominent Republicans in the US has been less than positive. “Reagan is rolling over in his grave,” commented Senator Bill Cassidy, who added that the war had been “the worst foreign policy blunder in decades”. It’s a view shared by much of the party’s old guard, who see the deal as a capitulation.

Quite how Iran managed to gain the upper hand in a conflict against two of the world’s best-armed militaries will make for an important case study for students of war. Jim Lamson and Matthew Moran of King’s College London explain how Iran managed to turn the tables and emerge not only undefeated, but arguably stronger.

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How Iran gained the strategic upper hand in the war with the US and Israel

Israelis livid

Meanwhile, if the US president’s critics in the US are unimpressed, Israelis – friend and foe alike – are positively livid. David Horovitz, the editor of The Times of Israel, called it “a catastrophic capitulation”. Others have been less polite.

Benjamin Netanyahu has made no public comment since the deal was signed. It has been reported that he wasn’t shown the finalised agreement before it was signed (Trump commented this week of their alliance that: “We are the big partner and he is the very small partner”, which will give him an idea of where he stands).

The fact is, writes Simon Mabon, a Middle East specialist at Lancaster University, that despite being close allies, the US and Israel – but particularly Trump and Netanyahu – are at loggerheads over what they want from the war from any peace agreement that ends it. Most Israelis see any bid by Iran to develop a nuclear weapon as an existential issue, for which there can be no compromise. The war, meanwhile, is deeply unpopular in the US, where rising fuel prices and inflation are really beginning to hit home.

The war has also hurt Trump’s popularity which is at a new low, just months before November’s midterm elections, at which the Republicans are likely to lose control of at least one chamber of Congress, if not both. Netanyahu also faces an election in October. So the idea of a ceasefire with no resolution of the nuclear issue is anathema.

To further complicate the situation, the deal stipulates an end to the conflict being waged in southern Lebanon and makes the US responsible for guaranteeing that country’s territorial integrity. This would require Israel to withdraw, something the Israeli prime minister has firmly ruled out, setting the scene for some serious discord between the two leaders.

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Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu have different war aims – can the Iran peace deal survive?

All of which means we may well be hearing some more fairly ripe language from Donald Trump, who has recently told the Israeli prime minister he is “fucking crazy” and that he has “no fucking judgement”.

Strong words. But not without precedent. As Andrew Gawthorpe, an expert in US politics at Leiden University notes here, Netanyahu has a long track record of moving US presidents to profanity.

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Why US presidents end up cursing Benjamin Netanyahu

The red coloured vehicle, a 2010 Nissan Qashqai Diesel, is sitting in a prominent position within the street.

Motorists in Ayr are being driven round the bend by a seemingly abandoned car that is causing an obstruction in Parkhouse Street.

The red coloured vehicle, a 2010 Nissan Qashqai Diesel, is sitting in a precarious position within the town centre.

And motorists are having to dodge past the vehicle as they enter the one-way street because the car is jutting out at an angle and onto the roadway.

It is believed that the vehicle has been sitting there for around three weeks. Traffic wardens have placed at least six tickets on the front windscreen.

And questions are being asked as to why action hasn’t been taken to remove the vehicle from situ.

One prominent Facebook page, ‘C**p Parking in Ayrshire,’ which flags up poor parking in the region, has already picked up on the rogue vehicle.

One man posted this message: “This car has been here for three weeks now. The back end that is sticking out over the parking bay into the carriageway has been clipped.

“Instead of plastering it in parking tickets, shouldn’t the traffic wardens be contacting the appropriate body to get it lifted before somebody else clips it?”

Another message read: “We questioned this this morning thinking maybe owner in hospital or something. Why can they not trace owner’s address and do a wellness check?”

Another contributor said: “Traffic wardens need an education! You can’t just put ticket on. Only the first ticket is valid.”

Another poster said: “Phone the police. They will come and get the registration details and contact the owner to move it. My parents had a car that sat outside for four weeks. Police were called by a couple of the neighbours and the car was moved within a day.”

Ayrshire Live contacted Ayrshire Roads Alliance and was told that the vehicle has been reported to the police for uplift. ARA don’t have the powers to remove it.

Mayor Wu signed a letter of intent and a formal agreement will follow next April during Tartan Week.

Boston’s mayor admitted she placed on traffic cone on a statue of Bill Russell outside the city halls amid the Tartan Army’s antics.

Mayor Michelle Wu laughed when asked about the trend after she officially made Boston and Glasgow sister cities.

“I think we may see some lingering traditions from their visit, and I have to admit I also put a cone on Bill Russell’s head outside today,” Mayor Wu said.

“It’s been fun. I mean, the cones are pretty fun.”

She added: “I think that it’s such a sense of playful, joyful surprise when you can see that happening.

“We do need cones that need to be in the right place to stay in the right place, so we need to find additional cones for that, but it’s just a sense of joy everywhere.”

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The traffic cone tradition is most associated with the statue of the Duke of Wellington outside the Gallery of Modern Art in Glasgow.

Since the late 1980s, a cone has been atop the statue’s head and it has been persistently replaced whenever it is removed.

Mayor Wu also praised the Tartan Army for bringing positive energy to the city and for cleaning up after themselves along the way.

“No Scotland, no party’ has been absolutely been stuck in my head all the time,” she said.

“I think one other bit of incredible feedback that I’ve gotten is that in space after space, where the Tartan Army has has occupied, whether it is the fan march or other spaces, they’re cleaning up after themselves completely.”

Mayor Wu added: “They’re gathering all the litter, putting it away when the trash cans are overflowed, putting it in a little pile next to the trash cans.

“It’s a mayor’s dream, really.”

Mayor Wu signed a letter of intent at The Haven, Boston’s only dedicated Scottish bar, which has served as the unofficial Tartan Army headquarters throughout the tournament, on Thursday.

A formal agreement will follow next April during Tartan Week.

Speaking to journalists on Thursday, Mayor Wu said the sister city agreement is “an enduring partnership from there on out”.

She called First Minister John Swinney a “lovely leader” and said it was an “honour” to welcome him into Boston’s City Hall.

She said they had a conversation about the shared history and heritage that Boston and Scotland communities have.

They also discussed how devoted they are to tackling hunger and poverty, especially for children.

“There were a lot of shared values there, and a lot of places where we’ll look to work together,” Mayor Wu said.

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Amen Teklay, 15, died after being found seriously injured on Clarendon Street in Maryhill last March.

A trial was shown CCTV and footage of a teenager being chased down a street in Glasgow with a weapon just days before he was allegedly murdered.

Amen Teklay was found seriously injured on Clarendon Street, Maryhill, on the evening of March 5 last year and died at the scene.

Two teenagers aged 16 and 17 have gone on trial accused of murdering the 15-year-old in a sword attack in Glasgow.

The trial began at the High Court in Glasgow on Thursday and jurors were shown CCTV and mobile phone footage leading up to the day of Amen’s death.

Footage filmed on a phone on February 12, 2025 – nearly a month before Amen was murdered – showed Amen being assaulted by a group of three boys on Great Western Road.

Prosecutor Adrian Stalker said the altercation was “three against one”.

The jury was also shown footage from March 2, 2025 – three days before Amen’s death.

At approximately 8.45pm, a group of three young males, apparently including one of the accused, was seen on CCTV footage outside the Lismore pub in Partick.

Detective Sergeant Jennifer Piggot, the first witness in the case, told the court that Amen could be seen approaching the group before a stand-off took place.

Mr Stalker said: “It looks like there’s been some kind of confrontation.”

He added that the group of three could be seen “circling Teklay around the bus stop” by the pub.

“It appears both [the accused and Amen] have weapons at some point.”

Ms Piggot confirmed to the jury that it looked like both teenagers possessed “large knives or machetes”.

One of the accused teenagers could then be seen on mobile phone footage, apparently chasing Amen down the street.

The video ends with an image of the accused holding a large knife that Mr Stalker said “widens then tapers on the end”.

The murder charge alleges that the two teenage boys, with their faces masked, assaulted Amen and brandished a frying pan and a sword or similar instrument at him at Glenfarg Street and Clarendon Street on March 5 last year.

It is alleged that the pair, who cannot be named due to their age, chased Amen and struck him on the body with the sword, leaving him so severely injured that he died.

The two boys deny the charge and the 16-year-old has lodged a special defence of self-defence.

The 16-year-old boy is also charged with attempting to defeat the ends of justice on March 5, 2025 by hiding a blood-stained top and disposing of a sword or similar instrument, by means unknown to the prosecutor.

It is also alleged the 16-year-old, while acting with another person, behaved in a threatening or abusive manner on March 2 last year in that they brandished a sword and metal barrier or similar instruments at Amen and chased him.

The 16-year-old is also charged with unlawful possession of a blade, namely a sword or similar instrument, at a number of locations in Glasgow between March 2 and 5, 2025.

It is also alleged that, while acting with two other people, he assaulted Amen on February 12 last year on Great Western Road, Glasgow.

The two teenagers have both pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Jurors were sworn in on Thursday at the trial which is taking place before Lord Colbeck at the High Court in Glasgow.

Addressing the jurors, he told them: “You must reach your verdicts based on the evidence.”

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Earlier, a large section of the Gardens including the track next to Piccadilly Gardens tram stop was taped off.

That led to Metrolink services being disrupted.

The cordon has now been scaled down with services running again.

The Bee Network website says however: “Due to an earlier police incident, we are experiencing a minor delay on the Altrincham, Bury, Ashton, and Eccles Line.”

Ivory Coast forward Elye Wahi was arrested in France on suspicion of spot-fixing just two weeks before the World Cup started

Canadian authorities have confirmed that Ivory Coast striker Elye Wahi will be permitted to represent his country in Saturday’s clash against Germany in Toronto, having previously been refused entry. Wahi was arrested on suspicion of spot-fixing just a fortnight before the World Cup got underway, in connection with an incident during a match for French side Nice last month.

This initially prevented him from crossing into Canada, putting a crucial group stage fixture for the Ivory Coast in jeopardy. Ghana midfielder Thomas Partey was also refused entry into Canada, missing Wednesday’s match against Panama in Toronto. However, with no formal charges brought against Wahi, Canadian authorities granted him clearance to enter the country and feature against Germany.

Wahi started in Ivory Coast’s 1-0 victory over Ecuador in their World Cup opener on Sunday, with Amad netting a 90th-minute winner in Philadelphia. It was a monumental result for the nation, who could secure a place in the knockout stages with a victory over either Germany or Curacao.

The Athletic reported on Thursday morning that Wahi would be absent from the squad for Saturday’s showdown with Germany. The Ivory Coast Football Federation (FIF) confirmed in an official statement that Wahi had been denied permission to enter Canada.

“The administrative authorizations required for his entry into Canadian territory could not be obtained at this point,” the statement read.

The FIF also confirmed that Wahi would remain in the United States, with the team based in Philadelphia for the duration of the tournament. Hours later, the FIF announced that Wahi would be permitted to enter Canada following a U-turn by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).

The IRCC confirmed in a statement: “Canada has been consistent that hosting major events does not change Canada’s immigration laws. Every person seeking to come to Canada is assessed individually, based on the facts available and the law that applies, while maintaining the safety and security of Canadians as a top priority.

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“In exceptional circumstances, Temporary Resident Permits may be granted to a person who is inadmissible or does not meet the requirements to enter or remain temporarily in Canada.”

Wahi remains the subject of an ongoing investigation, with allegations that he deliberately picked up a yellow card during a match against Metz on 17 May, before being arrested by French police on 29 May.

Following his release from police custody, Wahi was given the green light to travel to North America for the World Cup. While Wahi has now secured clearance from Canadian authorities, Ghana midfielder Partey was not afforded the same leniency by immigration officials.

The IRCC told the BBC: ”Canada has been consistent that hosting major events does not change Canada’s immigration laws. Every person seeking to come to Canada is assessed individually, based on the facts available and the law that applies.”

Partey is facing eight criminal charges, relating to incidents from 2020 to 2022.

Ghana could return to Canada for the Round of 32 if they finish second in Group L, which would mean Partey would miss out on the knockout clash.

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Upgrade your World Cup TV setup with the Sky Glass ‘designed for football’

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An application from Cook & Holman Ltd to convert the former Grant Ashley Hair & Beauty Salon, in Poppleton Road, into The Carriageworks bar have been withdrawn.

City of York Council planning officers stated they would take no further action on the application.

The reason for the plants being withdrawn have not been publicly stated.

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Plans stated the bar would have served coffee along with beer and wine for consumption on and off the premises.

The plans would have seen the venue open from 8.30am to 4.30pm from Monday to Wednesday and until 11pm from Thursday to Saturday.

It would have closed on Sundays.

No amplified music would have been played and there are no plans to put seats outside.

A noise impact assessment lodged as part of the application found there would have been no change to ambient noise levels as a result of the conversion.

The front of the building has stood vacant since Grant Ashley closed in April 2024.

Plans stated an extension built at the back of the building in 2012 would remain in use by another hair salon business.

A flat on the first floor of the building is above the proposed shop and bar and is out of the application’s scope.

They added the conversion would put the empty space to positive use and bring activity to the corner of a residential street.

The boy failed to attend school and his parents couldn’t be reached, prompting police in Taiwan to issue a missing-person alert before he was found safe at sea

A frightened youngster was discovered adrift at sea on a massive polystyrene slab a day after he failed to appear at school.

The 11 year old pupil was absent from lessons on Tuesday morning, and alarmed by his unusual non-attendance, his teacher tried reaching his parents but got no response, reports the Mirror.

The lad, identified only by his family name Tsou, had previously been flagged by social services as belonging to a vulnerable household, triggering a welfare visit to the family residence. Despite numerous knocks at the door, there was no answer, leading officers to issue a missing-person bulletin.

That same afternoon, while the hunt continued, a fisherman noticed a child bobbing in the water at the mouth of the Zhonggang River off Zhunan Township, Taiwan, perched on a chunk of polystyrene.

He promptly alerted authorities and coastguard personnel raced to the location and succeeded in bringing the youngster, subsequently confirmed as Tsou, safely ashore in an urgent rescue mission.

Following the rescue, they got in touch with his father, who is employed in Hsinchu, and made arrangements for him to pick up his son.

Preliminary enquiries indicate Tsou may have journeyed unaccompanied from nearby Houlong Township to the coastal spot to play.

The precise details and his reasoning are still being examined. The Miaoli County Government’s Education Department has now stepped in and is offering counselling and assistance for both the youngster and his parents. Two years ago, a youngster was discovered trapped inside a large inflatable bubble drifting at sea by a shocked sailor who was enjoying a family boat trip.

Rafael Graça do Prado, then 32, was out on the water with his children when he spotted the unusual object floating off Lazaro Beach in Ubatuba, Sao Paulo, Brazil, on December 24.

Video footage captures the see-through bubble bobbing in the waves with the young lad, approximately eight years old, trapped inside.

It’s understood the child had been playing with his parents on the shore inside the bubble, which was tethered by a rope to prevent it from drifting away. However, the rope had broken and the youngster floated out to sea before being fortunately spotted by Rafael.

His immediate worry was whether sufficient oxygen remained inside the ball.

“I was worried about whether he was able to breathe or not because the balls can be dangerous,” he said. “There is a certain amount of time that you can breathe inside it. I calmed him down, and that was when my daughter started filming.”

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Cutting up a watermelon can be a messy and frustrating job, but this simple watermelon cutting hack will make the process a lot easier as it claims to be ‘mess-free’

Is there anything more delicious and satisfying on a scorching summer’s day than a slice of wonderfully juicy watermelon? Not only is it packed with water to keep you hydrated in warm weather, it also contains vital vitamins and powerful antioxidants that contribute to heart health, muscle recovery, and general wellbeing.

While most supermarkets offer the option of purchasing the fruit pre-sliced into chunks or wedges, it’s frequently more economical to buy a whole watermelon and slice it yourself at home. But this can quickly become messy, as the large fruit can prove awkward and challenging to cut into, particularly if you’ve purchased one of the larger varieties.

Fortunately, the internet is brimming with ingenious cooking and food hacks that make everyday tasks, such as cutting up a melon, considerably easier than you might initially expect.

One TikTok user known as Timbits is amongst those who has shared his life hack, leaving nearly a million viewers astonished by demonstrating his clever and mess-free approach to cutting up a watermelon.

“You’ve been cutting watermelon wrong your whole life and your ancestors are disappointed. This hack will change your life – no more messy slices, just clean grids every time,” the video’s caption stated, as a man was shown demonstrating the straightforward cutting technique.

How to cut a watermelon without mess

Having already cut the watermelon in two, the person preparing the fruit carefully sliced the pink flesh into evenly distributed portions, creating rows spaced a few centimetres apart. They then rotated the watermelon to add further cuts, transforming the rows into neat, square pieces of fruit.

To extract the chunks from the rind, the man reached for a large metal spoon, which he used to scoop out the individual pieces of watermelon, then transfer them to a bowl. He continued scooping out the remaining fruit, which resulted in perfectly bite-sized portions.

The straightforward hack quickly captured people’s attention, with over 997,700 viewers watching the clip, and many heading to the comments section to share their reactions.

“The things I learn on this app!!!!” wrote one viewer, while another commented: “You have changed my life forever.”

A third person chimed in: “I use a ice cream scoop and scoop it out lol.”

However, one sceptic remarked: “But if you dont cut deep enough, especially in the middle it’ll just break off and kind of defeats the purpose. You still gotta spoon it off the rind. Idk why ppl dont just spoon it out to begin with. Less mess. More water melon.”

Yet another user suggested: “Cut it a second time down the middle and slice it the same way on each side then cut along the grind. it’ll get the most fruit!”.

Child killer Kyle Bevan was stabbed 25 times during an attack by convicted killers Mark Fellows, Lee Newell and David Taylor at HMP Wakefield in West Yorkshire

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Riot police appeared on the screen wearing helmets, stab vests and arm protection. The four officers were surrounding a man wearing a grey, prison issue jumper and jogging bottoms.

Both hands were cuffed behind his back. Slowly and methodically they removed the cuffs off one hand, and then the other. He was appearing at Leeds Crown Court for his trial on video link from HMP Full Sutton near York, one of the country’s high secure jails.

On first glance the man, bald, middle aged and bespectacled, did not appear to justify the level of security he was being afforded. It was an extraordinary scene, which played out in court in the absence of a jury, before they were sworn in to determine his case. Stay in the know by making sure you’re receiving our daily newsletter

But it was an indication of who the court was dealing with. David Taylor, although perhaps not currently a well-known name within the wider public, is surely one of the country’s most dangerous prisoners.

Because by this time, he had already killed one prisoner in another high security jail, and attempted to murder a police officer in another category A prison, after the Greater Manchester Police cop had come to question him about another murder he had committed before he was remanded in prison to await his day in court. He had also boasted about being able to ‘make a shiv [an improvised weapon] out of all sorts’.

In Leeds, he was standing trial alongside two of the country’s most high profile prisoners – Mark ‘The Iceman’ Fellows and Lee Newell. Both were already serving whole life orders. With Taylor’s help, they murdered child killer Kyle Bevan in HMP Wakefield, which has earned the nickname ‘Monster Mansion’ due to its notorious inhabitants over the years including Harold Shipman.

The trio bonded over their hatred for child killers and sex offenders. We may never know whether the alliance was created to enforce their own warped moral code, or whether it was purely out of self-interest and a desire to be moved away from the jail and a prison regime which they hated.

Whatever the reason, it had murderous consequences. And it left serious questions about how a prisoner could be murdered and lay dead and discovered for more than 12 hours, and the whole ‘very strange’ policy of mixing vulnerable and main prisoners.

Mark Fellows and Lee Newell both had little to lose by the time they joined forces with David Taylor in HMP Wakefield. CCTV in the days leading up to the murder, on November 4 last year, showed them associating with each other at various times.

Fellows was a high profile, category A prisoner serving a whole life order for the murders of gangland figures Paul Massey and John Kinsella. Massey was hit by a hail of bullets as he emerged from his BMW on the drive of his home in Clifton, Salford, on July, 26, 2015.

It would be the highest profile casualty of a gang war which rocked the city. His assassin was dressed head to toe in combat gear, having waited for the perfect moment to strike. Fellows was generally thought to be a gangland ‘nobody’ before he slaughtered Mr Big.

But, nicknamed ‘The Iceman’ by his friends, Fellows was capable of cold-blooded murder. Fitted with a colostomy bag in his youth, he was fastidious about cleanliness, his health – and his murderous work.

A non-smoking, long distance runner, Fellows plotted murders with clinical efficiency – using GPS technology and a night-vision hunting scope to track down his targets. He remained a free man for three years after killing Massey, allowing him to commit his second gangland murder.

John Kinsella and his pregnant partner Wendy Owen were walking their six large American Bulldogs through woodland in Merseyside on the morning of May 5, 2018.

Suddenly, Fellows, masked, in a hi-vis jacket and on a mountain bike, appeared and began opening fire with a revolver. Kinsella was an ally of Massey, and carried ‘Mr Big’s’ coffin at his funeral.

Fellows spent the afternoon after the murder with his mother at the Trafford Centre, eating at Zizzi restaurant, and buying a trendy pair of £165 Mallet trainers from Tessuti. Later, he socialised with pals in the pub and enjoyed a meal at KFC. He flew out to Amsterdam on holiday a few days later.

With a second killing on their hands, police moved quickly. There were similarities in the M.O. Officers already suspected Paul Massey’s killer had fled on a bike, and Mark Fellows was already in the frame. GMP went to colleagues in Merseyside and told them what they knew.

Just a few minutes after Fellows’ return flight touched down at Manchester Airport on May 30, officers boarded the easyJet aircraft and arrested him on suspicion of both murders. A raid of Fellows’ flat turned up a Garmin Forerunner GPS watch.

Data on the watch would reveal Fellows had conducted a reconnaissance mission in the days before Massey’s murder in vivid detail. Police were not only able to trace his route, but could even tell when he had been running, cycling or pushing his bike.

At the time of the Kinsella murder, Fellows was working as a sous chef preparing sauces at ready meal firm Greencore in Warrington. He worked nights, starting his shift at 5.30pm.

But charged with the murders of Massey and Kinsella, after being convicted with the help of the GPS watch in the first ever prosecution which had used such data, Fellows will call high security prisons home for the rest of his life.

Lee Newell also had a shocking criminal past. He was handed a whole life order in 2013 for murdering child killer Subhan Anwar in HMP Long Lartin. Anwar, from Huddersfield, was serving a life sentence for the murder of his partner’s two-year-old daughter.

At the time of the killing in the Worcestershire jail, Newell had already been serving a life sentence for strangling his neighbour, 56-year-old Mary Neal, to death in Norwich in 1988.

Newell had lost the sight in his right eye after being attacked by double killer Gary Vinter at HMP Woodhill in Milton Keynes in November 2014.

A more recent inmate at Wakefield, David Taylor’s wrap sheet was no less shocking.

Even before being found guilty of murdering Bevan, Taylor had admitted murdering a missing woman and been found guilty of attempting to murder a police officer in prison. Taylor pleaded guilty to murdering Alisha Apostoloff-Boyarin from Ashton, who was reported missing by her family in February 2022. Her body has never been found.

Taylor then tried to murder a GMP police officer who had attended HMP Frankland in Durham, where Taylor was being held, to interview him about Alisha’s disappearance. Taylor had claimed to have information about her whereabouts.

But during an interview, Taylor produced an improvised weapon and stabbed Detective Constable Darren Bratby to the chest, an attack captured on shocking CCTV footage from the jail.

A few days later he admitted in a chat with a prison governor: “So it was a planned attack.

“I’m going to tell you straight. I went to f****** kill him, there’s no two ways about it. I went to f****** kill him.”

Taylor appeared to be furious about being accused of murdering Alisha. He was also said to be angered about being subject to an IPP sentence, imprisonment for public protection, after being convicted of aggravated burglary and possessing an offensive weapon in 2007.

Taylor had accused a man in his 30s of being a ‘sexual predator’ and behaving inappropriately with his teenage daughter. Taylor forced his way into a property armed with a baton, hitting his victim to the back.

“I didn’t know what an IPP was,” he told his attempted murder trial. He was ordered to serve a minimum of 899 days, about two-and-a-half years. It meant 99 years. With an IPP you have to lower your risk, so it’s low enough for the judge to release you.”

While in prison he studied humanist psychology and counselling, and gained a foundation degree from the Open University. Taylor told the court: “I did everything I needed to do, which is what you have to do to progress. I went through the system completely, from A, to B, to C, to D.”

He said he was released on licence in 2013. Taylor described himself as an ‘old fashioned villain’, with convictions dating back to 1977 when he was a teenager. Describing a conviction for wounding, Taylor, originally from Glossop, said: “It was an after school brawl. I’ve always been a bit of a scrapper.”

He told how in his later life he came to live in Ashton-under-Lyne, Skegness, and then Durham in 2019. Taylor still had friends in Manchester, including one man named Norman who has since died. He said he knew Alisha through Norman. “She was Norman’s son’s girlfriend,” Taylor told the court.

“She phoned me up asking me for help. I went down, back to Ashton-under-Lyne. She stayed with me with her boyfriend in County Durham.” Asked when was the last time he’d seen her, Taylor said “Probably 2021 or 22?”

“She just got on with her life as far as I was concerned, that was it.” He told how he was spoken to by police as a person of interest, and then a suspect. “I told them everything I could to help them with the case,” he said.

Addressing the attack on DC Bratby, Taylor said the weapon came from the ‘side of the chair’ in the interview room. He told how he ‘retrieved it’ during a visit with his solicitor. Taylor said: “I knew exactly where they are stashed. They are everywhere.”

Asked why he attacked the police officer, Taylor said: “Because I’m angry, I’m enraged with what’s going on in my life.” When he was asked what had been going through his head at the time, Taylor responded: “I just don’t know. I just snapped. I lost it, I lost my mind, I lost my nerve. I completely lost it.

“All I think is I’m being accused of something I haven’t done. It all came pouring out on that particular visit.” It was November last year when the unholy alliance began to form. CCTV showed the trio associating with each other. What they were discussing remains unclear.

But footage showed them follow Kyle Bevan into his cell at about 5.30pm on November 4. Bevan was in the jail serving a life sentence for the murder of his partner’s daughter, two-year-old Lola James, at her home in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, Wales. Bevan had launched a frenzied and brutal attack on the defenceless tot, who suffered injuries usually found in car crash victims.

He had only been in a relationship with her mum, Sinead James, a few months after adding her on Facebook before moving in with her in early 2020 as the country went into lockdown. Drug user Bevan claimed he was innocent but refused to give evidence during his trial at Swansea Crown Court.

James was sentenced to six years after being found guilty of causing or allowing her daughter’s death. Serving a minimum term of 28 years, Bevan was said to have kept himself to himself in Wakefield and was ‘very reserved’, often remaining in his cell.

Wakefield prison was something of an outlier within the UK’s jails, in that lags termed as ‘vulnerable prisoners’, including sex offenders and those who have committed crimes against children, were able to mix with the other ‘main’ prisoners. A prison officer from Strangeways called to give evidence at the Leeds Crown Court trial described the arrangement as ‘very strange’.

Only weeks before Bevan was killed, former rock star and Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins was allegedly murdered in the prison on October 11. Two weeks later, on October 25, prisoner David Minto, was ‘severely attacked’ in the prison by another inmate. The jail was on ‘high alert’.

It is unclear exactly how Bevan came to his death. Cells within the prison do not have CCTV cameras. But he was stabbed 25 times, and his body was left to look as though he was asleep.

Prison officers checked on him through the window of his cell during the evening, but they did not spot any cause for concern. It was only the following morning when a screw tried to wake Bevan up, that his death was discovered.

No murder weapon was ever discovered but prosecutors claimed he must have been stabbed to death using improvised weapons. In the aftermath of the killing there was ‘something of a satisfied, job done mood’ amongst the perpetrators, prosecutors said. When Fellows’ cell was searched, he was all packed up and appeared ready to leave.

The jail was placed into lockdown and in the days and weeks that followed, the trio were moved out to other prisons. On his transfer out of the prison, Taylor was heard to shout by a nurse in the vicinity of Newell ‘nice working with you and the Iceman’.

Then came the trial at Leeds Crown Court, which began earlier this month. The judge told how it was an ‘enormous enterprise’ to bring all three defendants to court, given the ‘serious security concerns in this case’.

Prosecutors in their opening speech claimed that Taylor also referred to Fellows as the ‘Wakefield Dexter’. The TV show featured the character Dexter Morgan, who lived a ‘double life’ as a blood spatter analyst who worked for the police, but was also a ‘vigilante serial killer who targets criminals’.

Following inspection reports by the Prison Inspectorate there has been a ‘reconfiguration’ of the prison population at Wakefield. A report published earlier this month by the Inspectorate said: “There had been several serious incidents at HMP Wakefield since our inspection, including the alleged murder of two prisoners.

“Leaders had responded to these incidents by introducing a coordinated set of measures aimed at improving safety. Leaders had reconfigured the population following a review of common themes from these incidents, including a self‑inflicted death.

“The population had previously been integrated, with prisoners convicted of sexual offences accommodated alongside those convicted of other serious offences. As a result of the reconfiguration, a considerable number of prisoners had moved out of the prison to be replaced by others considered more suitable. Nearly all prisoners at Wakefield were now deemed vulnerable due to their offence or circumstances.”

Taylor could soon join Fellows and Newell among the ranks of criminals to be given a rare whole life order. The case also poses questions to law makers of what can be done to prevent criminals serving whole life orders, with seemingly little to lose, simply doing as they please, with little threat of further consequences.

Fellows, Taylor and Newell will be sentenced at Leeds Crown Court on Friday (June 19).

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