WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department knew or should have known for weeks that its case against a former Olympian charged with intentionally damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was flawed, and that he bore no responsibility for longstanding problems at the landmark, defense lawyers said Tuesday.

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro on Friday moved to dismiss the indictment against David Hearn, saying in a 20-page filing that newly produced evidence from the Interior Department showed the former Olympic canoeist was not responsible for damage to the pool’s lining.

Pirro’s office attributed the damage instead to a botched installation by a contractor as well as “the rush to complete the project prior to events associated with the America 250 celebration” in the weeks surrounding July 4, as directed by President Donald Trump.

Lawyers for Hearn urged a judge to permanently dismiss the case and foreclose the possibility that the Trump administration could revive it. They took issue with Pirro’s assertion that prosecutors only recently learned about the flawed contracting work.

“From the outset, the evidence showed that the pool liner was already failing and that Mr. Hearn did not cause the damage alleged in the indictment,’’ Hearn’s legal team argued in a 28-page motion filed Tuesday in D.C. Superior Court.

The poor condition of the pool was “plainly visible” for weeks and was publicly documented through photographs, video and news reports, lawyers Mary Dohrmann, Steve Levin and Norman Eisen wrote.

The contractor, Virginia-based Atlantic Industrial Coatings, “publicly acknowledged, before Mr. Hearn was indicted, that portions of the project required repair,” the lawyers said. The firm was awarded a $14.7 million no-bid contract to repaint and waterproof the pool’s concrete floor.

A spokesperson for Pirro’s office did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

Trump said Monday that Pirro “choked” and “folded like an umbrella” in moving to drop charges against Hearn. Trump, who met with Pirro late Monday, said he remained disappointed by her assessment that damage to the Reflecting Pool was the result of shoddy construction, not vandalism. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has backed Trump’s claims that vandals damaged the pool.

The dismissal of charges against Hearn was an embarrassing setback for the Justice Department and marked a rare moment during Trump’s second term of an aide or political appointee openly defying him.

Hearn has said he was on a bike ride June 19 when he reached in to examine the pool’s newly peeled coating and briefly touched a chunk attached to the side of the pool. But he said he obeyed a park worker who told him to let go of it.

Felony charges, including a possible prison sentence, were brought “without a meaningful investigation into the central and obvious question in this case: whether Mr. Hearn caused, or even could have caused, any damage to the Reflecting Pool,’’ Hearn’s lawyers said. “Defying both decency and common sense, the government proceeded to indict Mr. Hearn before it had obtained or evaluated the information necessary to establish a good-faith basis for the charge.”

The CourtRoom NE has confirmed plans to open Consett’s first dedicated padel facility, promising “a little bit more” alongside the fast-growing racket sport.

Posting on social media, the operators said: “Coming soon to Consett (and probably overdue), the town’s first Padel facility with a little bit more.”

A spokesperson for the company said: “It will be here before you know it.”

Consett’s new courts will join a rapidly expanding padel scene across County Durham and Darlington as the trendy sport has grown in popularity.

The county’s first dedicated padel spot, True Padel Durham, opened in early 2024 with nine indoor courts at the Belmont Industrial Estate.

The operator also opened a second site in Sunderland last year.

Darlington has also seen padel take off in recent years; Pure Padel Darlington has seven indoor courts in the town centre, and Padel Project UK is running outdoor courts nearby.

Further afield, venues have also sprung up at Sedgefield’s Padel Barn, Stockton’s Padel Up, and Thorpe Farm near Barnard Castle, which converted a historic farm building into an indoor centre serving County Durham, Teesdale and North Yorkshire.

No opening date has yet been confirmed for the Consett venue, but The CourtRoom NE has urged residents to follow its social media pages for updates as the project progresses.

St Ouen’s Bay north-western tip of Jersey was cleared of swimmers and closed after reports of a possible shark sighting – the species has not yet been confirmed

A lifeguard on a popular UK beach had an unexpected encounter with a shark.

St Ouen’s Bay on the north-western tip of Jersey was cleared of swimmers and closed on the morning of Saturday, August 1 after reports of a possible shark sighting.

One lifeguard is said to have had a closer look at the animal – believed to be up to 12 ft long – but the species remains unconfirmed.

RNLI lifeguard Tom Rolls said his colleague Nick paddled over the animal on a rescue board at about 10.40am shortly before the beach was shut.

Mr Rolls told the Bailiwick Express: “He even said he kind of punched it as he was paddling, so it must have been really close to the surface.

“It was darkish grey, about 10 to 12 feet long, and then it swam away really quickly from under his board.”

Lifeguards decided to red flag the beach since the species could not be identified, effectively closing it to the members of the public.

Richard Peirce, a wildlife campaigner who has published books on sharks in British waters, said he doubts the sighting involved a species like a Great White.

“I haven’t seen a good picture of a dorsal fin that might have enabled me to have a stab at the species,” he told Metro.

“It has to be a good picture because if you get a good enough side on a dorsal fin, it’s a bit like a human fingerprint.

He was unsure of what species it could have been but said since it had a large dorsal fin and was close, a basking shark came to mind.

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Around 30 species of sharks roam in the waters surrounding the British Isles, including the blue shark, mako, thresher and poor beagle dubbed a miniature Great White, and the basking shark, the second-largest living shark, Mr Peirce said.

Shark scientist Tom ‘The Blowfish’ Hird said that Great Whites are constantly on the move following food sources, and it would be easy for one to swim around the UK within days.

He said that just because the species has not been spotted for sure in British waters “doesn’t mean they’re not here already.”

Three universities have disputed claims by a Cambridge professor at the heart of a plagiarism row that he holds academic positions with them, the Daily Mail can reveal.

Professor Jason Arday became a poster boy for diversity as the university’s youngest ever black professor, but is facing questions about both his academic record and a series of dazzling anecdotes from his past.

Now, three universities in Britain and the US have contradicted details of the 41-year-old’s professional background which are listed on the website of Jesus College, where he is a fellow.

The official biography states Professor Arday ‘is a Visiting Professor at The Ohio State University in the Office of Diversity and Inclusion’ and at the ‘University of Glasgow in the School of Education’.

But a spokesman for Ohio State University today told the Daily Mail: ‘We have no record of an employee by that name.

‘Visiting professors appear in our employment records. The records would not indicate if an individual visited in another, non-employment, capacity.’

Similarly, a spokesman for the Scottish university said it ‘can confirm that Professor Arday isn’t a visiting professor at the University of Glasgow’ and, when asked by The Herald newspaper if he had ever held that position, added he was ‘never a visiting professor here’.

The profile also describes him as an ‘honorary professor at Durham University in the Department of Sociology’. Although Professor Arday previously held several roles at Durham, the Daily Mail has been told he no longer has any ‘formal’ position there, contradicting his online biography.  

Critics have accused Professor Arday, pictured on This Morning in 2023, of taking chunks of his PhD thesis from research by another student, leading him to admit errors in his work

A spokesman for the university said the professor instead ‘had an unpaid academic association…in relation to ongoing project work’.

Professor Arday was contacted for comment, but none was provided prior to publication. 

The latest wave of revelations will further ramp up pressure on the University of Cambridge to investigate the veracity of the work and purported professional experience of Professor Arday.   

Some have argued that he has come under unfair levels of scrutiny in the matter.

Cambridge has so far held out against taking formal action, suggesting in a previous statement that he was the victim of a ‘vile campaign to undermine his credibility’.

Critics have accused Professor Arday of copying significant chunks of his PhD thesis from earlier research published by another student, leading him last week to admit to a series of errors in his work.

He has insisted he is not a ‘fantasist’ after doubts were raised about his seemingly sensational list of personal achievements, which included running 600 miles in six days and raising millions of pounds for charity.

‘I am accountable for the mistakes I’ve made, I hold myself accountable and other people should hold me accountable,’ he said in an interview with The Times over the weekend. 

‘We’re talking about academia here. I didn’t murder somebody. I think the cruelty that I’ve experienced and the positioning of me as this kind of liar and fantasist is totally unacceptable.’

Yet revelations have continued to snowball about the under-fire academic, with The Telegraph revealing that WaterAid had cast doubt on his claim that he volunteered for them ‘installing water points’ in South America and West Africa.

Professor Arday accepts that various achievements he has recounted in the past are not entirely accurate, saying he did not personally raise £5.5million for charity as he once claimed, but was part of a ‘syndicate’ of more than 100 fundraisers, whom he could not name as they had signed non-disclosure agreements.

The Daily Mail previously revealed the academic had seemingly claimed he was in TV series Seven Up – but then backtracked when told it was broadcast decades before he was born.

The landmark show has followed the lives of the same group of people every seven years from the age of seven since 1964.

Footage from a talk Professor Arday gave in 2022 showed him telling the University of Bath’s Race Equality Taskforce: ‘I was part of a programme which doesn’t really exist any more, but was called Seven Up at the time.

‘Seven Up is basically when they follow you over the duration of your life, so they follow you at seven, 14, 21. I was pulled out of the project when I was 14.’

Seven Up was first broadcast two decades before Professor Arday was born in 1985.

The original 14 participants would have been born in 1956 or 1957. The Seven Up project is scheduled to end this year.

He also would have been too old to have featured in a series launched in 2000 by the BBC – Up Millennium Generation – which followed individuals who were seven years old at the turn of the millennium.

In response to inquiries from the Daily Mail on Sunday, Professor Arday said that when he talked of Seven Up, he didn’t mean Seven Up the famous TV series, which followed children at seven-year intervals in the format he described. He said that in fact he was referring to ‘a local community and parent-led initiative developed around the Ubuntu principle that “it takes a village to raise a child”.

‘It was organised by Black women to support Black mothers raising children with complex learning needs.’

He asked that we attribute the quotes to ‘a source close to Professor Arday’.

Footage has emerged from a talk the professor gave in 2022 in which he claimed to have appeared in the TV series Seven Up (Pictured: The original Seven Up show which aired in 1964)

‘The reference to “Seven Up” was used informally as a shorthand illustration of the concept. It was not intended as a literal comparison and should be understood in the context in which it was made. Attempts to present the phrase in isolation risk creating a misleading impression of both the initiative and Professor Arday’s comments,’ Professor Arday said.

A BBC spokesman on Sunday confirmed Professor Arday had ‘nothing to do with our films’.

Appointed to Cambridge aged 37, the professor of sociology of education has had a remarkable life that, according to talks he has given, has seen him overcome a raft of challenges.

Raised in south London by working-class immigrants from Ghana, he was diagnosed with autism, dyslexia and ‘global development delay’ at a young age, and was non-verbal until the age of 11.

He taught at four universities prior to Cambridge but his elevation to such a high-profile institution sparked scrutiny, which led to allegations of plagiarism in his 2015 PhD thesis last year.

Liverpool John Moores University cleared him of academic misconduct, but there have been calls for a fresh inquiry after critics claimed to have uncovered passages in his work that they allege have been plagiarised.

An investigation by The Guardian at the weekend cast doubt on a claim he made that a pig’s head was sent to his home in a campaign of racist intimidation.

Professor Arday said police investigated the matter but this was denied by the Metropolitan Police.

A spokesman for the University of Cambridge said: ‘We take allegations of academic misconduct incredibly seriously. It is University procedure that investigations are carried out by the institution at which the research was undertaken. 

‘This is standard practice in the sector because that institution has access to the information to ensure a full and fair investigation. We have either advised complainants to approach the relevant institution or passed on complaints.

‘Allegations of plagiarism regarding Professor Arday’s thesis and some of his journal publications have been investigated by Liverpool John Moores University and the journals in question.’

A spokesman for Liverpool John Moores University said: ‘In September 2025, the university received allegations of academic misconduct against its former PhD student, Professor Jason Arday. 

‘A confidential procedure was conducted in response to those allegations and Professor Arday’s PhD still stands. We will not comment further on a private matter between the university and a former student.’

By SAM MERRIMAN, POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT

Published: 23:20 BST, 4 August 2026 | Updated: 00:49 BST, 5 August 2026

I followed Alan Titchmarsh’s advice all summer, and my plant has never looked better

Herbs rank among the simplest and most satisfying plants to grow, offering fresh flavours, delightful scents and numerous culinary applications. Whether nurtured in a garden bed or on a windowsill, most herbs flourish when given the correct balance of sunlight and moisture.

Basil stands out as one of Britain’s most beloved herbs, prized for its adaptability and aromatic foliage.

Gardening authority Alan Titchmarsh recently revealed his essential guidance for cultivating robust basil in a YouTube video for GrowForItHQ. His straightforward recommendations helped me establish my own basil and transform it into a flourishing plant throughout the summer months.

He said: “Basil plants need plenty of sunlight and are prone to fungus if they’re planted too close together.

“So I’m spacing my plants 10cm apart so they get air circulating around them.”

“It’s a wonderful job doing this. You get glorious aromas assailing your nostrils. It tends to be one of those herbs that loves it warm and sunny and then shrivels up come the colder weather, but when it’s like this, perfect basil weather.”

After completing his planting, Alan said he had a “lovely herb pot that looks good on the table”, noting that it works brilliantly in numerous dishes.

Taking Alan’s guidance on board, I divided my basil plant to give each stem more room and improve airflow.

I also relocated it to a sunnier position where it could absorb ample sunshine, which basil requires to prosper. Throughout warmer spells, I have ensured the plant receives regular watering to prevent the soil from becoming parched.

This is particularly crucial given that it is growing in a container, which tends to dry out more rapidly than plants in beds.

Since implementing these straightforward adjustments, my basil has appeared considerably healthier and more robust, displaying far more vibrant foliage — ideal for topping pizzas and salads.

To promote bushier growth, I also intend to nip the tops of the stems off rather than allowing the plant to grow excessively tall.

According to the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), basil plants grown in containers can become depleted of nutrients, making it essential to use an organic-based, balanced liquid fertiliser to stimulate leafy growth.

They added: “Avoid using potassium-rich fertilisers like tomato feed, as these encourage flowering.”

They say the most successful people achieve more by breakfast than the rest of us do in an entire day.

And that certainly seems true of Oscar-winner Cate Blanchett, who gets up at 5am every morning and manages to feed her chickens, walk the dogs, take a cold-water plunge and do the school run – all before starting work.

But the Australian actress’s early starts, coupled with her ‘love of late evenings’, means ‘the wheels are constantly falling off’ due to her lack of sleep, she has said.

Ms Blanchett, 57, who is mother to Dashiell, 24, Roman, 22, Ignatius, 18, and 11-year-old Edith, splits her time between her East Sussex manor house and her clifftop house in Cornwall.

And it seems it’s her decades spent working across both film and theatre that has led to her burning the candle at both ends.

‘I suppose it’s years and years in the film industry, which is all early starts,’ she told Harper’s Bazaar of her intense morning routine, as she posed for a quirky, avant garde new shoot.

But the Australian actress’ early starts, coupled with her ‘love of late evenings’, means ‘the wheels are constantly falling off’ due to her lack of sleep, she has said

The September issue of Harper’s Bazaar UK is on sale from August 6

‘But I’m also a creature of the theatre, so I love late evenings – the moment when everyone else goes to bed and I’ve got the house to myself.

‘[But] I did have a hard word with myself about a year ago and said, ‘You really need more than four hours [of sleep]’ The wheels are constantly falling off. Constantly.’

In one shot, taken by photographer Emma Summerton, Ms Blanchett can be seen reclining on a red and white striped lilo while wearing a dramatic velvet Stella McCartney dress with a large bejewelled heart bodice from the English brand’s winter 2026 collection.

The dress is stitched with ‘lead-free crystals’ which the fashion label says are ‘safer for communities, the environment and all our fellow creatures’ – making it a likely draw for the eco-conscious actress.

She wore dark sunglasses and black stilettos with her hair curled in ringlets.

Ms Blanchett, who won Oscars for The Aviator in 2004 and Blue Jasmine in 2014, recently founded not-for-profit organisation, RSL Media, an online register where creatives can declare their consent for their work to be used by AI.

She is also gearing up for her run later this month in the National Theatre’s production of Electra/Persona, in which she will alternate roles with actress Nina Hoss.

And amid her hectic work schedule she is still negotiating parenting her children, the youngest of which is learning how to navigate beauty standards and technology.

‘[She is] on the cusp of all that stuff, but you have to keep the door to conversation open,’ she said.

‘They’ll sense if you’re coming to control or curate their relationship to their friends or the digital world.’

She said of allowing her children screentime: ‘[I ask them] why do you need it? What are you doing that you can’t do with a pen and paper?

‘I try to have respectful arguments with my kids and explain my point of view.’

Ms Blanchett, who was a vocal advocate of the #MeToo movement when it took off in 2017, said she feels it has now been ‘rolled back’ and ‘discredited’ while women have still not achieved equality in the industry.

‘I suppose it’s years and years in the film industry, which is all early starts,’ she told Harper’s Bazaar of her intense morning routine, as she posed for a quirky, avant garde new shoot

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‘But I’m also a creature of the theatre, so I love late evenings – the moment when everyone else goes to bed and I’ve got the house to myself’, she said

Ms Blanchett, who is mother to Dashiell, 24, Roman, 22, Ignatius, 18, and 11-year-old Edith, splits her time between her East Sussex manor house and her clifftop house in Cornwall

And amid her hectic work schedule she is still negotiating parenting her children, the youngest of which is learning how to navigate beauty standards and technology

‘We were at an exciting point’, she said

‘But we’ve never reached equality of pay, and not only has MeToo been rolled back, and super-quickly discredited, but there’s a conversation in one of the biggest democracies in the world [the US] about women not having the right to vote because of household voting.’

The hard-working actress is also on the Earthshot Prize Council, which works to find solutions to climate change through technology, and praised founder Prince William.

‘[He’s been] an extraordinary leader, very hands-on in a consistent and practically engaged way,’ she said.

She said he’d clearly ‘inherited’ the interest from his father King Charles and had ‘grown up with it’.

The September issue of Harper’s Bazaar UK is on sale from August 6.

More than 9,000 domestic abusers are set to walk Britain’s streets within three years under Labour‘s early prison release scheme.

In plans set to terrify survivors, 3,000 perpetrators will be freed annually before serving full sentences, the Daily Mail can reveal.

It follows the Prime Minister green-lighting controversial plans to release some of the worst criminals from prison early, excluding rapists and the most serious sex offenders.

Andy Burnham had paused the scheme after it emerged the killers of PC Andrew Harper would be among those freed. 

Last night domestic abuse victims, charities and Mr Burnham’s own MPs tore into the Government for allowing thousands of abusers back on to Britain’s streets before their jail terms are up.

According to analysis from the Tories, 9,371 of these criminals could be out of prison by the end of this Parliament in 2029.

Once free, they would be fitted with electronic tags to track their movements and alert authorities if they move outside of set zones.

But shadow justice secretary Nick Timothy last night branded it ‘disgraceful’ that domestic abusers are eligible for early release, even with such measures in place. 

Shadow justice secretary Nick Timothy, pictured, branded it ‘disgraceful’ that domestic abusers are now eligible for early release 

He said: ‘Labour had to be dragged into this U-turn on [excluding rapists from] early release after campaigning from victims. But it clearly does not go far enough and is putting victims’ lives at risk. The clock is ticking… Labour need to ensure the remaining sex offenders and other serious criminals are excluded.’ 

And Reform UK’s equality spokesman Suella Braverman accused Labour of ‘throwing thousands of traumatised victims to the wolves’ by granting early release to violent abusers.

She said: ‘Not only is it deeply traumatising for these victims to know their attackers will be free to roam the streets nearby – many will be literally fearing for their life.’

Domestic Abuse Commissioner Dame Nicole Jacobs said: ‘If these figures are anywhere near the level of abusers set to be let out, then it is critical the Government is transparent about the scale of releases, so we can be confident the right level of resource is in place to keep victims safe.’

Last night Mr Burnham was also facing a backbench mutiny.

Labour MP for Stoke-on-Trent South, Allison Gardner, told this newspaper: ‘For survivors, the prospect of an abusive partner being released early is frightening, and their safety must come first.’

Sarah Champion, the Labour MP for Rotherham, said: ‘With patchy rehabilitation in prisons, and less time served, there is no reassurance that these manipulative aggressors will have changed.’

Last month, the Prime Minister paused prisoner release reforms after learning two men convicted of killing PC Harper, 28, would have benefited. Both were passengers in a car that dragged the policeman down a road after he responded to a burglary report in 2019.

Following a backlash, Mr Burnham announced that no prisoners would be released under the scheme, designed to ease pressure on overcrowded prisons, until an urgent review had been carried out.

The Prime Minister said ministers would examine the policy in detail to ensure public safety remained the overriding priority before any changes were implemented.

The family of PC Harper learned this week that two of his killers remain eligible for early release after the review. Calling the move a betrayal of his legacy, Aileen O’Connor, chairman of the Thames Valley Police Federation, vowed to launch a legal challenge over the move.

Yesterday, Tory peer Baroness Bertin, co-chair of the all-party parliamentary group on domestic violence, said ‘lives will certainly be lost if this [scheme] isn’t thought through properly’. 

She added: ‘The threat abusers can pose to victims on release can’t be underestimated.’

Under the scheme, which will take effect in October, criminals who faced serving two-thirds of their sentence before being considered for release will now be let out after only half their term.

Less serious offenders will be released after serving just a third of their sentence instead of half.

Justice minister Alex Davies-Jones, pictured, insisted that anyone eligible for early release would be ‘under the strictest licensing arrangements’

There was a 28 per cent increase in offenders being recalled to prison this year after breaking the terms of their licence agreements, according to Government data (Stock Photo)

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Alice Russell-Harris, of abuse charity Refuge, said: ‘The PM took on the mission to halve violence against women. This decision risks undermining that commitment.’

Domestic abuse is not categorised as a specific offence – making it difficult to estimate the true extent of abusers up for release.

The Conservatives used Ministry of Justice data to calculate the number of criminals prosecuted for breach of a restraining order, stalking, controlling or coercive behaviour or intentional strangulation who would be eligible for release.

A MoJ spokesman said: ‘This is a speculative figure. It wrongly assumes prison population and sentencing patterns will remain unchanged throughout Parliament, while also counting people who have not yet committed offences.’

Abusers of women who were freed to reoffend  

Lover killed in fall as she tried to flee his beating

Leonidas Georgalla was jailed for more than a year for fracturing his ex-wife’s skull, but after his release from prison went on to kill his new girlfriend.

Georgalla, 54, was jailed for 20 months in 2008 for driving wildly in New Zealand while his terrified wife clung to the car bonnet, before coming loose and suffering the head injury.

After his release he came to Britain and later began a relationship with Kathleen John, 39. But he began beating her and police banned him from contacting her.

He was jailed for 12 years in November 2023 for killing Ms John, pictured, when she fell from a third-floor window in an effort to escape him as he was attacking her.

Georgalla admitted manslaughter and breaching a restraining order.

Detectives said injuries on Ms John’s body that showed she had been assaulted by Georgalla before the fall. Georgalla refused to tell police why he killed Ms John, who had worked as an NHS nurse.

Detective Inspector John Marriott said: ‘Leonidas Georgalla is a danger to women… At the time of Kathleen’s death, there was a restraining order against him for previous abuse she had suffered. He had been convicted of domestic violence in other countries.’

Leonidas Georgalla was jailed for more than a year for fracturing his ex-wife’s skull, but after his release from prison went on to kill his new girlfriend

Ambushed mother and slashed her in face 

Mark Brazant ambushed married mother Josephine Conlon, 36 – slashing her across the face and neck, narrowly missing her jugular vein – six days after he was let out of jail in December 2019.

Brazant, 50, who has paranoid schizophrenia, was supposed to be escorted to a secure address in Ealing, west London, after his release from HMP Thameside. He had being jailed for three offences of battery and one of common assault, all against lone women.

Instead, he was freed to stalk Mrs Conlon as she pushed her baby in a pram in broad daylight.

CCTV captured the vicious assault and Brazant was jailed for life at the Old Bailey in 2022.

Giving evidence at the trial, Mrs Conlon, pictured, said: ‘I remember him being above me.

‘I think from that original shove your mind goes into overdrive trying to [understand] what is happening.

‘I remember thinking he had pushed me into the driveway because he was going to rape me, but he didn’t, he just started hitting me.

‘There were lots of blows and I realised I was being stabbed. I was screaming a lot because I was not on the road and I wanted someone to hear me. I was ducking a lot and trying to get away.’

Brazant was convicted of attempted murder and ordered to be detained in a mental hospital for 11 years.

Mark Brazant ambushed married mother Josephine Conlon – slashing her across the face and neck, narrowly missing her jugular vein

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Inflicted over 70 injuries on partner in murder

David McCorkell murdered Diane Dyer in 2019 in an ‘orgy of violence’.

McCorkell inflicted 71 injuries on his 61-year-old partner and strangled her during the attack in south London.

Durng his trial at the Old Bailey McCorkell, 61, was described as a prolific abuser of women who was jailed in 2002 for robbery after he beat a woman in

a hospital.

Despite only receiving a two-year sentence for robbery he was not released until 2015 because he was viewed as such a threat to women.

After he was freed, McCorkell was jailed again in 2017 for 27 months for burglary.

After this sentence, he began dating Ms Dyer, pictured, in 2019 and had only known her for three months when he murdered her that July. Judge Richard Marks described McCorkell as an ‘evil bully’ who had ‘an appalling criminal record’ of 22 convictions.

Jailing him for a minimum of 21 and half years in December 2019, Judge Marks said: ‘This was a savage, vicious and brutal killing.’

Ms Dyer lived on her own and prosecutor Allison Hunter KC said she was ‘extremely vulnerable prior to her relationship and during her relationship.’

David McCorkell murdered Diane Dyer in 2019 in an ‘orgy of violence’

Stabbed pregnant girlfriend to death 

Shaine March murdered his girlfriend Alana Odysseos, 32, when she was eight weeks pregnant in 2024.

He had previously stabbed a 17-year-old teenager to death in 2000 and was released on licence in 2013, but was recalled to prison later that year after he was convicted of assaulting his then-pregnant girlfriend. He was released in February 2018.

When March, 47, started going out with

Ms Odysseos, pictured, probation services were told of the relationship but stopped monitoring him after he told them the relationship had ended amicably.

But on July 22, 2024, March stabbed her 19 times with a kitchen knife and was jailed for 42 years at the Old Bailey last October.

His sentence was increased to a whole life order after the Attorney General said the prison term was unduly lenient.

Shaine March murdered his girlfriend Alana Odysseos when she was eight weeks pregnant

Prosecutors said in the months before her death, Ms Odysseos confided in friends and family that March had started to become violent and abusive towards her.

When he was arrested on suspicion of murder he shouted ‘I stabbed her, I killed her’ and ‘I don’t regret nothing… allow me to rot in jail. I don’t ever want to come out.’

Samantha Yelland, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: ‘His previous offending revealed a pattern of emotional and physical abuse, and he showed no remorse when he was being arrested.’ 

March was also convicted of assault in 1995.

Upholding complaints about the posters, the ASA said the grey and ashen appearance of the female’s skin, the dry and cracked lips and mouth, one eye swollen shut and the other fixed and vacant, together with the sunken and lifeless appearance of the face, gave a realistic impression of a dead child.

A popular square in London just yards from Victoria station has been overrun by ‘aggressive’ rough sleepers. 

Affluent Grosvenor Gardens has been turned into a shelter for the homeless in the shadow of £800-a-night The Goring Hotel – a favourite of the late Queen Elizabeth II.  

It is just over a mile from Andy Burnham‘s 10 Downing Street residence. The PM made ending rough sleeping his first policy pledge when he took office. 

When the Daily Mail visited the triangular patches of land this week, dozens of homeless people wrapped in blankets were seen dozing in tents, on the parched grass and even on top of public table tennis tables.

Others wandered around drinking alcohol while office workers and tourists enjoyed their lunch break in the leafy square.

One homeless man was seen screaming at passersby, including an elderly couple who appeared shaken.

Piles of pillows, sleeping bags and other belongings were left on top of bus shelters in what appeared to be a storage place for homeless people during the day.

Meanwhile, the smell of marijuana was strong in the area, where families often walk heading towards the busy train station.     

Nearby shopkeepers told the Daily Mail how homeless people, often on drugs, frequently steal hundreds of pounds worth of produce from their businesses or harass staff.

Others were seen wrapped in sleeping bags sleeping on the parched grass with a tent also erected close to the Grosvenor Gardens Shell Hut 

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Bally Singh, who runs the off-licence Charles of Belgravia, said two homeless people had smashed through his front door and stolen more than £1,000 worth of alcohol and cigarettes. 

‘This was the first robbery I’ve had in my shop in over a hundred years of ownership,’ he said.

‘They were very foolish thieves as they put their stolen goods into a rubbish bag from the council, which is red in colour.

‘An hour later, police found them in the coach station with the bag – however the bottles had smashed, destroying all the goods.

‘It’s terrible. I had to replace the door and the lock on my shutters as they broke the motor.’

Another homeless man repeatedly stole ice cream from the freezer left outside the shop, while others discarded their shoes and belongings on the stand.

Mr Singh said homeless people raiding his shop is costing him between £30 and £40 a week.

‘We informed the council about it in a very big email, and there are guards patrolling around,’ he said.

Varundi, a receptionist at a nearby hotel, said: ‘So often they’re just coming here, they try to bother guests, they try and use our restrooms.

‘Of course we cannot physically touch them because that’s against law, but sometimes it’s really difficult for us to kick them out of here.

‘We’re trying to be nice to them because if they’re using the restroom, it’s fine, as anyone can use it, but it’s not truly sanitary.

‘If you look at the back of the building, you will find someone who has been sleeping there for the last three days.

‘We now have a hotel room that we can not open the blind to, as they would be bothered.

‘It’s very difficult, chaotic sometimes, but (it is) something you cannot control.

‘We really want to do something for them and sympathise with them, but there is nothing much we can do because they can be aggressive.’

The receptionist said they were unable to let a room for one week when a homeless man urinated inside after booking it. 

‘He stole the linens in the room,’ Varundi said. 

‘We could not let that room out for another week because it was so stinky. It was so smelly and nobody would have it inside. And there was the cost of having it deep cleaned, too.

‘There are more than ten people sleeping in Grosvenor Gardens each night. They don’t try to harm you, but sometimes you feel scared of them.’

Her colleague, Bianca, said: ‘One morning we were cleaning the buffet from our breakfast and there was someone hanging around.

‘He would walk around and take the sugar off our tables and things like this.’

She added: ‘There are more and more of them lately. It’s more common.’

Mary, 47, a server at a nearby burger restaurant, said the worst days are on Friday and the weekend.

‘Sometimes they come in, they grab a customer’s stuff, run away, pick up food,’ she said.

A camp with around 20 rough sleepers has been set up just yards from London Victoria station

A homeless man puts a blanket over his head as he dozes on the grass at Grosvenor Gardens 

‘Sometimes it’s £100s worth of food. So if you get a delivery, takeout, and it’s ready, they come in and grab the waiting bag and run.

‘They come in when they know it’s busy and we are attending to our customers.

‘We have to apologise to our customers and give free drinks or give a refund if it is taking too long. We get shouted at but it’s part of it.’

Morgan, a 28-year-old bartender, said: ‘Obviously we do get the occasional homeless person coming in but I wouldn’t say like it really affects us too much.’

Another shopkeeper near the station said they enter their shop ‘every single day’ while a 24-year-old baker nearby said the homeless people also frequently come in and steal their food.

A barista said that the recently installed security guards sometimes helped, and if any issues arose they would alert them.

‘They sleep around the corners, they sleep in the station. They often come in asking for coffee or if we have any free food we can give them,’ they added.

One barista said he had been punched by a homeless person after they tried to steal food from their cafe.

‘It’s not considered an emergency as they did not have a knife, so we had to wait a long time for police to come,’ he said, but added that he was eventually taken away by officers.

His colleague said: ‘We have been physically abused by the homeless people in the area.

‘They throw things at us when we tell them to stop stealing our food and they get angry.

‘They can be loud and aggressive. They take between £80 and £100 every day, one guy took £64 worth of food in one go.

‘They don’t mess with our bigger members of staff, but we have young people working here, women who may not be as strong.’

The barista said they have built up a relationship with some of them and ‘if they approach us nicely, I’m always gonna give you water or our hot food that’s about to expire’.

Shopkeepers have told the Daily Mail how they have had repeated problems with homeless people who are sleeping in the park 

‘You can clearly tell when someone is in need, especially when it’s cold,’ they said. 

Cafe owner Adam, 39, of Maestro of Belgravia said that homeless people entering his shop had ‘become a lot more prevalent’.

He recently had a homeless man sleeping in the doorway of the basement to his store who he had to wake up to access his storage area.

He said: ‘My customers have mentioned it as well, especially on Victoria Street, coming up to Grosvenor Gardens.

‘There’s a group or a camp of people that are just homeless and have addiction issues, just constantly get told to move on.

‘It’s a bit hard to see as just a person that has the luxury of running water and stuff. But also as a business person, you can’t be too generous or be too kind because it will be a recurring thing.

‘Our neighbour had a break-in a couple of weeks ago, and I think that was a bunch of addicts that went in and stole some alcohol and cigarettes on the shelf.

‘It makes you put life into perspective, how lucky you are just to have a roof over your head and have the food and the support and love of your family.

‘Sometimes when you open shop and then there’s someone sleeping outside and you have to wake them, it can be frustrating.

‘We’ve had a few negative, really negative reactions or you get few swear words before they move on.’

Cllr Caroline Sargent, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Enforcement at Westminster City Council, said:

‘Local people and businesses are fed up with rough sleeping sites springing up, and so are we. This is totally unacceptable in the heart of a capital city.

‘As a Council we do all we can to help people sleeping rough off the streets and spend £8m a year on support ranging from hostels to addiction treatment.

‘While many people we engage with support to move away from rough sleeping, some locations can also attract individuals involved in anti-social behaviour and, in some cases, criminal activity.

‘We work with partners to address both issues, recognising that rough sleeping and ASB are separate challenges requiring different responses.

‘Andy Burnham has pledged to end rough sleeping – we’d like to take him up on that. We need everyone to play their part – immigration, police and businesses so that we end this problem for good and this needs the urgent support of the Home Office.’

The Met said it has rolled out new technology as part of a crackdown on retail crime, which has quadrupled the number of shoplifters being brought to justice in the capital. 

It lets retailers submit CCTV footage, witness statements and other evidence directly to officers, allowing them to track, arrest and build cases against offenders more quickly.

Chief Inspector Rav Pathania, the Met’s lead for business crime, said: ‘The results speak for themselves. This crime reporting technology is helping us identify offenders faster and bring more shoplifters to justice. By receiving CCTV footage and evidence directly from retailers at the point a crime is committed, we can build stronger cases and act more decisively.’ 

There is no suggestion that any of the individuals shown above have been engaged in illegal activity.