The former prince has been told to reign in the horse riding amid fears it will come off as a ‘bad look’, royal sources say

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been told to reign it in, with the former prince now banned from horse riding while under police investigation.

He’s been grounded amids fears from royal aides that his beloved afternoon hacks throughout the countryside will seem a “bad look” while the 66-year-old is under police investigation for allegedly leaking UK secrets to convicted paedophile and multimillionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Since his dramatic arrest last Thursday – on his birthday, which saw him ushered into a car by Thames Valley Police and whisked to a local station for 11 hours of police questioning – he has been forced to buck his favourite hobby.

Speaking to The Sun, a royal source said: “Since his arrest last week he has been ordered not to go horse riding. It’s considered a bad look.

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“They don’t think he should be seen grinning and smiling on his horse like he was in Windsor. But it was one of the few things he actually enjoyed doing so what on earth is he going to do with his time?”

The riding ban comes months after the voluntary surrender of his gun licence to the police last year, which saw another hobby of his come to an unceremonious end.

As public scrutiny of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor remains, the former Duke of York is officially grounded.

However, despite the arrest and increased scrutiny, Andrew will still enjoy two luxuries at Sandringham that most Brits won’t ever come close to. A source told the Sun: “He will be given his own chef and valet at Marsh Farm, which is a climbdown to the luxury he was previously afforded.”

The property is a stark contrast to his former home at Royal Lodge in Windsor, where the 66-year-old had valets, chefs, butlers, housemaids, and cleaners, in addition to an army of servants when staying at his former apartment at Buckingham Palace, the Express reports.

It’s now understood that Charles is funding Andrew’s exile and retirement as he does not want the former duke to be a burden to others. Andrew was arrested by Thames Valley Police on February 19, on suspicion of misconduct in public office and released under investigation 11 hours later.

Andrew held the role of the UK’s trade envoy from 2001 to 2011, giving him privileged access to senior government and business contacts around the world.

The latest release of the Epstein files showed new emails and claims that Andrew had forwarded government reports from visits to Vietnam, Singapore, and China to late sex offender Epstein in 2010.

Andrew has vehemently denied all accusations made against him in relation to the deceased financier.

Within hours of his arrest, King Charles broke his silence as he released a statement, which read: “I have learned with the deepest concern the news about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and suspicion of misconduct in public office.

“What now follows is the full, fair and proper process by which this issue is investigated in the appropriate manner and by the appropriate authorities.

“In this, as I have said before, they have our full and wholehearted support and co-operation. Let me state clearly: the law must take its course.

“As this process continues, it would not be right for me to comment further on this matter. Meanwhile, my family and I will continue in our duty and service to you all.”

King Charles officially removed all of Andrew’s royal titles and patronages in November 2025 following the release of Virginia Giuffre’s posthumous memoir, Nobody’s Girl, in October last year.

Giuffre, who sadly took her own life in April 2025, accused Andrew of sexually assaulting her three times when she was under the age of 18.

Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland chief inspector Jacqui Durkin has described child criminal exploitation as an issue of “increasing concern”.

There is an “inconsistent” and at times “inadequate” criminal justice system response to child criminal exploitation in Northern Ireland, a report has found.

Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland chief inspector Jacqui Durkin described child criminal exploitation as an issue of “increasing concern”.

She said criminally exploited children can be targeted by paramilitaries and organised crime gangs, going missing from being in care, and urged that more is done to protect them, and to understand the scale of the exploitation.

Criminal Justice Inspection inspectors found that Northern Ireland’s criminal justice system faced significant challenges in recognising, assessing and responding to child criminal exploitation.

They acknowledged the difficult work undertaken on a daily basis by police officers to help children in complex and challenging circumstances, and concern was raised around their resourcing.

However inspectors found the PSNI did not have a clear model in place for tackling child criminal exploitation across the organisation, and that frontline officers and staff lacked awareness and training on child criminal exploitation.

Case file reviews carried out as part of inspection fieldwork found children were “often treated as suspects rather than victims and safeguarding referrals were not always made in a timely manner”.

Inspectors also found evidence of victim-blaming language in some records they examined during fieldwork, and a lack of specific markers on PSNI or Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland case record computer systems.

They made four recommendations.

These include the Department of Justice working in collaboration with criminal justice organisations to develop a strategic framework, and that the PSNI immediately develop an adequately resourced delivery model for the identification, response and disruption of child criminal exploitation across the organisation.

Ms Durkin said the report “makes for concerning reading”.

She said: “While pockets of good practice including the use of multi-agency support hubs and targeted interventions were identified, based on the evidence gathered and considered during this inspection, inspectors concluded outcomes for children who had experienced or were at risk of child criminal exploitation were not good.

“The challenge for the criminal justice system and others is to implement the two strategic and two operational recommendations for improvement included in this report.

“We need to see children as children, protect them from harm and vigorously pursue those who are exploiting them and robbing them of their childhood.

“This is not a drama storyline – this is the work of all of us and there is no time to waste.”

Justice Minister Naomi Long responded saying the report “provides important and timely insights into how the justice system can better recognise, prevent and respond”.

She added: “My department accepts the recommendations and is in the process of working with partner organisations to establish a child-centred child exploitation strategic framework for justice outcomes.”

Detective Chief Superintendent Zoe McKee said the PSNI acknowledges the findings and recommendations made by Criminal Justice Inspection.

She said: “Alongside the Department of Justice and other key partners, we are laser-focused in tackling child criminal exploitation, an issue that requires a whole system approach.

“Significant work to tackle CCE is already under way.

“We have established enhanced governance arrangements to drive delivery of shared objectives through a cross-departmental action plan, reporting through our established CCE Delivery Group led by senior leadership within Public Protection Branch.”

She added other work is under way, while training and awareness are also being strengthened, and an organisation-wide e-learning package is under development.

Ms McKee said: “I also acknowledge the report’s observations regarding resourcing.

“Despite ongoing financial and workforce constraints, our specialist officers and staff in Public Protection Branch and across local policing continue to work hard to better protect some of the most vulnerable children in our society.”

Democrat Al Green held up the sign as Donald Trump walked into the House of Representatives to deliver the annual speech – and his was not the only protest

Donald Trump was confronted by a sign reading “black people aren’t apes” as he gave his State of the Union speech tonight.

Democrat House member Al Green held up the sign as Donald Trump walked into the House of Representatives chamber for the annual address to a joint session of congress tonight. Rep. Green was removed from Trump’s joint address to Congress last year, after he yelled at the President in protest over cuts to Medicaid.

This year’s protest refers to a video Trump posted to his Truth Social website earlier this month, which depicted Barack and Michelle Obama as apes. Trump claimed he had not watched the video all the way through before instructing an aide to post it on his behalf.

Some Democratic congresswomen arrived at the speech wearing ‘suffragist’ white in support of women’s rights.

Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández of New Mexico, who leads Democratic Women’s Caucus, told CBS News: “This year, there are specific attacks on women’s ability to vote. The Democratic Women’s Caucus is wearing white both to honor that fight that women have always had and to signal we are still in the fight.” Some members of Congress are swerving tonight’s speech, after Democrat leaders urged them to stay away rather than disrupt the speech with a headline-grabbing stunt.

Trump is going into the State of the Union with worse poll ratings than any president in modern history. This week a Washington Post/ABC News poll found 60% of Americans said they disapproved of the job Trump is doing – with 47% indicating strong approval. Just 39% said they approved of his performance, the lowest of any President ahead of a second-year State of the Union in modern history.

The last time Trump’s disapproval reached 60% was shortly after the January 6th Insurrection in the final days of his first term.

Few Americans, 29%, think the country is heading in the right direction, according to the most recent AP-NORC poll. Most, 69%, believe things are heading in the wrong direction. That pessimism is higher than it was when Trump took office last year. Last March, about 6 in 10 Americans said the country was heading in the wrong direction.

That’s partially because Republicans’ mood grew much darker last fall, after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Republicans are now more optimistic than they were a few months ago, but only about 6 in 10 say the country is heading in the right direction, down from about 7 in 10 last March.

👉Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim on your podcast app👈

What is Gaza like four months on from the ceasefire? Is Hamas still operating? Why won’t Israeli troops withdraw completely? And what about the Palestinians who have been forced to leave their homes?

Richard has been taken into Gaza by the IDF, which is still the only way that international journalists are allowed into the Strip. He is shown a Hamas tunnel which the IDF says was used until recently.

He also paints Yalda a picture of the complete destruction that he saw.

The two also reflect on the war in Ukraine, four years on from Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Yalda’s interview with the iconic American filmmaker, Ken Burns, will be available on Thursday, 26 February.

You can also watch the podcast on our YouTube channel here.

Do you have a question for Richard and Yalda? Write to them at theworld@sky.uk

James Sefton, 65, and his wife Ellen, 66, were killed when a booby trap device exploded under their car

A fresh appeal for information has been made over the killing of a former police officer and his wife by a car bomb in 1990.

James Sefton, 65, and his wife Ellen, 66, were killed when a booby trap device exploded under their car in Belfast. It happened on Wednesday June 6 after the couple had left their home on Lyndhurst Gardens and driven towards Belfast city centre.

At approximately 10am, as they passed the old Forth River Primary School on Ballygomartin Road, the bomb exploded beneath their car.

Mr Sefton, who was driving, was fatally injured and died in the Mater Hospital. Mrs Sefton was critically injured and transferred to the Royal Victoria Hospital. She died the following day.

The new appeal for information has been made by the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) which is probing the murders at the request of the Sefton family.

Assistant commissioner Amanda Logan, who is leading the commission’s investigations team, said the family is seeking the truth around what happened.

She said even the smallest detail could help.

“It’s over 35 years since James and Ellen were killed,” she said.

“Their family is seeking the truth about what happened and we believe there is someone out there who may hold the vital piece of information that could make a difference to the investigation. Even the smallest detail could help us understand what happened and why.”

Ms Logan added that the suffering of the Sefton family was “representative of the pain of so many victims, survivors and families”.

“People are still suffering, deprived of information and with no accountability,” she said.

“Our job at the commission is to try to deliver answers for people who have been searching for them for decades.”

The witness appeal will involve distributing posters and an organised leaflet drop in the areas relating to the investigation.

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Tanya Petrie was a former pharmacy technician at the prison

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A woman has been jailed for smuggling drugs into prison in what was called a ‘criminal conspiracy’. Tanya Petrie, 61, is a former pharmacy technician at HMP Bristol.

Hailing from Worle, Weston-Super-Mare, she was caught after police caught her retrieving a package from a residential wheelie bin in Somerdale Avenue in Bristol. She then attended the prison, where police say she was detained, searched and subsequently arrested on suspicion of being part of a conspiracy to take prohibited items into prison.

Bristol Live reports Petrie was found guilty by a jury at Bristol Crown Court on Thursday, February 12, of conspiring to bring or convey a list A prohibited article into prison and sentenced to six years behind bars. She previously pleaded guilty to conveying a list B prohibited article into a prison.

She was sentenced on Monday, February 16, to six years and three months in prison. After being arrested at work, Petrie was searched while in custody and Petrie informed officers at Avon and Somerset Police that she had a package on her person and handed the officer a cling-film wrapped package.

Officers say this was later discovered to contain four packages of class B drugs, two packages of class A drugs (cocaine) and tobacco. Following further investigative enquiries, police believed that Petrie had made an earlier trip to Somerdale Avenue on the morning of October 9, 2023.

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In an interview, Petrie revealed that she had taken money from the wheelie bin which she used to purchase SIM cards from a local garage. She then snuck this into the prison and gave it to a prisoner.

Officers conducted in-depth data analysis and identified two phone numbers which were being used within the prison. The phone was linked to prisoner Kyle Joyner, 32.

Officers discovered that Joyner had been using the phone to contact one of the occupants of the property in Somerdale Avenue, Casey Collins, 23, from Knowle West. Collins was responsible for placing the item in the wheelie bin that Petrie collected in October 2023.

Joyner, Collins and Petrie were all charged in the summer of 2024. Joyner and Collins pleaded guilty to conveying listed A prohibited items into the prison in January 2025 and were jailed for three years and two years and four months respectively.

For Joyner, this sentence will be served in addition to his existing prison sentence of eight years and eight months.

Senior Investigating Officer, DI Tim Seaman from the Serious and Organised Crime Team, said: “This case shows the proactive and determined work carried out by our team and our partners to uncover and dismantle a criminal conspiracy operating both inside and outside the prison walls.

“By working closely with colleagues at HMP Bristol, HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) Counter Corruption and the Regional Prison Corruption team within the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit, we were able to swiftly identify the actions of a member of staff who was abusing her position of trust to smuggle dangerous drugs and illicit items into the prison.

“Such actions enable organised crime, fuel violence, and undermine the hard work of honest staff who dedicate themselves to running secure and rehabilitative environments.

“This investigation sends a clear message: our investigations into organised crime will identify those who facilitate organised criminality and we will work tirelessly with our partners, and use every tactic available to bring those involved in corruption to justice – regardless of their role or position.”

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The rapper, who arrived at the stadium nearly three hours before the 7.45pm kick-off, joined the Swansea ownership group last July and made his way to south-west Wales after being at the Winter Olympics, where he served as Team USA’s honorary coach as well as a special correspondent for broadcaster NBC.

Emergency services were called to the Port of Middlesbrough, at the Riverside Park Industrial Estate, after the incident on December 8.

Sadly, a man, who worked for AV Dawson, was pronounced dead at the scene, sparking an investigation by Cleveland Police and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).  

The Port of Middlesbrough, which is owned and operated by AV Dawson, has now been handed an improvement notice by the HSE. 

The notice, issued on December 16, states the company failed to ensure risk assessment and system of work measures were implemented during the transport, handling and storage of steel pipes.

The full notice states: “You have failed to make and give effect to such arrangements as are appropriate, for the effective control and monitoring of your preventive and protective measures, by failing to ensure that the measures identified in your risk assessment and system of work document were being implemented during the transport, handling and storage of steel pipes on December 8, 2025.”

The firm must comply with the notice by March 13.

An AV Dawson spokesperson said: “We are cooperating fully with the ongoing HSE investigation and it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage.”

Cleveland Police previously said the HSE was leading the investigation.

The HSE probe remains ongoing.

AV Dawson previously said its thoughts were with the man’s family and friends.