The Healthcare Inspectorate Wales inspection found faecal staining on furniture and suspected blood on a wall

An unannounced inspection into a specialist mental health hospital in Cardiff has found “serious concerns”. The newly published findings said there was a strong odour smell in an unlocked cupboard, faecal staining on furniture in the dining room and on a door frame, as well as red staining consistent with blood on a wall.

The inspection of the University Hospital Llandough, carried out by the Healthcare Inspectorate Wales (HIW), found issues with the condition and cleanliness of wards, and that medicines were not being stored securely.

The HIW completed an unannounced inspection at the Cardiff & Vale University Health Board run site on March 23, 24 and 25, 2026. The independent inspectorate reviewed wards 10, 14, and 16, which each provide care for people over 65 with dementia or severe mental illnesses.

The inspection identified serious concerns impacting patients’ dignity, comfort and overall experience. It found that the condition and cleanliness of some ward and communal areas, inside and out, didn’t support a “safe or therapeutic” environment for the patients.

They said this was particularly important because the hospital’s patients rely on the ward environment to remain orientated and reassured. For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here.

The report also identified weaknesses in the management of personal belongings and the maintenance of orientation aids, like clocks, despite the issue being raised by concerned family members. There were also issues with patient information boards displaying up to date information about current staff roles.

The findings said: “HIW was not assured that effective risk management and infection prevention and control arrangements were consistently in place. We identified multiple environmental, ligature and health and safety risks, as well as poor standards of cleanliness and hygiene in patient and communal areas.”

Among their concerns was a room containing identified ligature risks which was unlocked and accessible to patients and medicines not being securely stored. They also found an unlocked storeroom with a strong odour smell, faecal staining on furniture in the dining room and on a door frame, as well as red staining consistent with blood on a wall.

A further issue related to patients’ personal belongings going missing or becoming mixed up with other patients’ belongings.

The published findings reads: “Patients’ property was not always stored appropriately, which reduced assurance that items were being managed safely and securely.”

They explained how valuables were stored in CD cupboards without appropriate security and without robust arrangements for recording, tracking, and returning patient property. The HIW said such issues with misplaced items caused distress for some patients and their families.

The HIW further detailed how some of these concerns were identified during a previous inspection, which had raised concerns about oversight and the health board’s ability to deliver and sustain improvement.

The inspectorate did however also highlight a number of things the service did well. They said the hospital provides a wide range of meaningful, therapeutic, and recreational activities, treated patients with dignity, kindness, and respect, promotes a safe and supportive environment, and delivers personalised, timely care that supported patient choice, independence, and wellbeing.

Alun Jones, Chief Executive of Healthcare Inspectorate Wales, said: “This inspection found committed staff delivering compassionate and respectful care in challenging circumstances. However, significant concerns were identified about the ward environment and failure to address known risks, particularly around cleanliness, safety and oversight.

“While challenges associated with ageing mental health estates are seen across Wales and are not unique to this service, the impact on patients here is significant. The health board must now demonstrate clear and sustained improvement to ensure patients are cared for in a safe, clean and well‑maintained environment.

“We will continue to monitor progress closely.”

Since the inspection in March, the health board has outlined actions taken and planned improvements, including addressing safety risks, undertaking deep cleaning, strengthening infection control, improving maintenance and enhancing oversight. The healthcare inspectorate will continue to monitor progress to ensure improvements are implemented and sustained.

In response to the report being published, Natasha Asghar MS, Shadow Minister for Health and Social Care, said: “While it’s really reassuring to read about the compassionate care that older patients are receiving at Llandough Hospital, but there are clearly a number of areas where performance is not good enough.

“Staff on the wards are clearly working hard under difficult circumstances and deserve recognition for the compassionate care they provide. However, failures in leadership, maintenance, housekeeping and governance are not acceptable and must be addressed by the health board as a matter of urgency.

“People living with dementia are among the most vulnerable patients in our health service and there is clearly scope to improve their care.

“The health board must demonstrate clear progress on cleanliness, patient safety, dementia-friendly environments and leadership accountability. Families need reassurances that these shortcomings are being addressed.”

Scotland enjoyed a huge reprieve during the first half of their decisive World Cup 2026 group match against Brazil when Vinicius Junior had what would have been his second goal of the match ruled out following a VAR review.

Scotland – who headed into the Group C finale needing a point to all-but seal passage to the World Cup knockouts for the first time in their history, while a narrow defeat would at least keep their hopes alive – already trailed 1-0 in Miami when Vini Jr capitalised on a Scott McKenna howler to net after just seven minutes.

On 22 minutes, the Real Madrid superstar appeared to make it 2-0 as another defensive clanger, this time from Jack Hendry, allowed him to nick the ball off the retreating Scot before firing home a neat finish.

Scotland’s knockout hopes appeared to be hanging by the thinnest of threads but a VAR review gifted them a scarcely-deserved reprieve as Vini Jr was deemed to have fouled Hendry in the act of tackling him, kicking his leg before getting the ball.

The Brazilian forward was furious to see his goal ruled out, although that appeared to fuel him as he went on to head in a perfectly valid second goal from close range just before half-time to leave Steve Clarke’s side in all sorts of trouble.

The decision to rule the 22nd-minute goal out was a contentious one, with BBC pundits disagreeing whether referee Cesar Ramos made the right call.

The BBC’s rules expert Darren Cann, a former Premier League and international assistant referee, believes Ramos made a mistake.

On the broadcast, Cann said: “I think Scotland are a little fortunate to be honest. There is a small contact before the ball is played but I don’t really feel it is a foul by Vini Jr.

“He’s just holding his ground and the defender just kicks into him. I think it’s one that Scotland will be delighted with but I think a little fortunate to get the decision.”

However, co-commentator James McFadden, a former Scotland international, held an opposing view to Cann.

When asked whether he agreed with the rules expert, McFadden didn’t pull his punches, saying: “No I don’t, I think it’s a foul. Whether it’s a slight contact or not, it’s a foul.

“When you see it back, clearly he gets caught when he’s in the action of kicking the ball, which is enough to stop him being able to kick the ball. He’s impeded. It’s a foul for me – he catches him and it’s a correct decision.”

McFaddden later added: “I think it’s a bit of a let-off but if it’s a foul, it’s a foul.”

But one of BBC’s pundits in the studio, ex-Brazil international Lucas Leiva, backed up Cann’s view that the five-time world champions were hard done by, saying: “For me it’s not a foul, great press, it could be 2-0. Of course, let’s see what the referee experts say, but for me, it’s not a foul.”

Rachel Corsie: “I think the argument is the contact is made before Vini touches the ball, he’s not in control of the ball, he contacts the Scotland player first, it’s incredibly fortunate.”

Scotland were hoping that a change of World Cup format, which sees eight of the 12 third-place finishers in the tournament go through to the last 32, would enable them to make history and get out of the group for the first time.

This photo shows Layla Burns-Alexander all ready for her prom.

Layla is a 16-year-old pupil at Joseph Rowntree School in York.

She is photographed in the garden on her relative’s house with her cousin’s horse.

Her school prom took place at Sandburn Hall on Wednesday, June 17.

We would love to see more school prom photos – and share them with Press readers.

Please send them – along with your prom story – by email to maxine.gordon@thepress.co.uk

You can also send your photos and all the information for the story straight to our newsdesk via an easy-to-use online form – just hit the ‘send now’ button below…

A member of the cultlike group known as Zizians has been charged with murder in the shooting of her parents at their Pennsylvania home on her 30th birthday, and a prosecutor said Wednesday she wasn’t acting alone.

Delaware County District Attorney Tanner Rouse said evidence from a neighbor’s doorbell camera, ballistics and analysis of cellphone records have left investigators certain Michelle Zajko is at least partly responsible for the deaths of her parents, Rita and Richard. They were shot in her childhood playroom on New Year’s Eve 2022, surrounded by her old dolls and toys.

“I didn’t murder my parents,” she wrote in an April 2025 “ Open Letter to the World” that her attorney sent to The Associated Press.

Authorities had long described Zajko as a person of interest.

The two deaths are among six linked to the Zizians, a group of young, highly intelligent computer scientists who appear to share radical beliefs about veganism, animal rights, gender identity and artificial intelligence. Since 2022, members have been tied to the death of one of their own during an attack on a California landlord, the landlord’s subsequent killing, the Zajkos’ deaths in Pennsylvania, and a highway shootout in Vermont that left a border agent and another Zizian dead.

Ballistics and list of mistakes provided links to Zajko

In the Pennsylvania case, investigators spent years painstakingly collecting evidence, Rouse said, including video from a neighbor’s doorbell camera that captured two people getting out of a car outside the Zajkos’ home in Chester Heights, a voice shouting “Mom!” and another voice exclaiming, “Oh my God! Oh, God, God!”

Authorities haven’t found a weapon, but Zajko made a list describing mistakes such as leaving shell casings behind, he said. Those casings matched ammunition from Zajko’s home in Vermont and from a firing range in her backyard, Rouse said.

“If she wasn’t the one who actually pulled the trigger, she was certainly aligned with those who did,” he said.

Online court records didn’t indicate whether Zajko had an attorney in the Pennsylvania case as of Wednesday. An attorney representing her in Maryland did not respond to a message seeking comment, and the Delaware County Public Defender’s office declined to comment.

Zizians face charges in multiple states

Zajko, now 33, also is charged with providing the gun used to kill U.S. Border Patrol Agent David Maland in January 2025, though nothing has happened in that case. She was arrested in Maryland a few weeks later along with Daniel Blank and Jack “Ziz” LaSota, whom authorities describe as the group’s leader. Police who responded to a landowner’s complaint about suspicious people parked in box trucks on his property described them as having “ties with the Zizians Cult” and said they would be questioned about crimes across the country.

All three have pleaded not guilty to charges of trespassing and illegal gun and drug possession, while LaSota also has pleaded not guilty to a federal charge of illegal gun possession by a fugitive. A judge recently granted a defense request for a competency evaluation in the federal case.

In court filings, LaSota’s attorneys said their client eschews the term Zizian and denies that she and her friends have formed a cult. Zajko has claimed authorities arrested the group in Maryland to prevent them from exonerating Teresa Youngblut, who has pleaded not guilty to murder in the Vermont shooting and could face the death penalty if convicted.

Temperatures are expected to soar up to 38C this week

Bins will be collected at earlier times across Cambridgeshire this week due to the hot weather. Temperatures are forecast to soar to 38C on Friday (June 26), with a rare red weather warning issued for the county.

As a result of the high temperatures, bins across Cambridgeshire will be collected earlier than usual. Here are when bins will be collected in each council district:

South Cambridgeshire District Council

• Bins will be collected at 5am instead of 6am. People are advised to put their bins out the night before.

Cambridge City Council

• Bins will be collected at 5am instead of 6am. People are advised to put their bins out the night before.

Huntingdonshire District Council

• Bins will be collected at 5.45am.

Fenland District Council

• Bins will be collected by 6am.

East Cambridgeshire District Council

• Bins will be collected by 6am.

Peterborough

• Bins will be collected by 5.45am. The council is prioritising black and brown bins, and recycling may be missed up to Friday. Bulky waste collections are cancelled until Friday.

Do you want more of the latest Cambridgeshire news as it comes in from across the county? Sign up to our dedicated newsletter to make sure you never miss a big story from Cambridge or anywhere else in the county. You can also sign up to our dedicated Traffic and Crime newsletters for the latest updates on the topics you are most interested in .