Robert McGregor filmed himself raping three boys, aged three, six and 12, then shared the videos with other paedophiles online.

The family of a child rape victim say they fear the attacker could be freed back to their community on release from prison this month.

Robert McGregor filmed himself raping three boys, aged three, six and 12, then shared the videos with other paedophiles online. The delivery driver from ­Inverness was jailed for 10 years in April 2017.

The family of one victim was notified by letter last week from the Scottish Prison Service, telling them that the 45-year-old is due to be released on May 29.

They are terrified of coming face to face with their son’s attacker as authorities would not confirm if McGregor will be allowed to return to their home town.

The mum said: “In November he was denied parole and the letter from the board stated he would be released in April 2027 so we thought we had a year. It turns out there was an error in the paperwork because they hadn’t taken into consideration his time on remand.

“So when that letter dropped on the doormat saying he will be released in weeks, I collapsed. No sentence is going be enough for what he did but we’ve been fighting to keep him inside through parole hearings. We are living in fear that any of our family could come face to face with him at any time.”

The letter confirming McGregor’s release failed to mention that the paedophile was ordered to be supervised for five years upon release. The family have since received an apology.

The mum said: “We went the police station, we waited for hours.

“There’s been no support. The justice system is failing people. We are living a nightmare. He raped and sold videos of innocent children all over the world. He is pure evil. I’ve no doubt he is still a danger.”

The Sunday Mail previously told how the family’s online petition calling for McGregor to be denied release when he applied for parole in 2021 won 3500 signatures.

McGregor abused children in the Highlands for 13 years, starting in 2001. He duped families into trusting him, took the boys on trips or to his home, then raped them.

Scottish Tory justice spokesman Liam Kerr said: “It is appalling that the family appear to have been the victim of an admin error and are also being kept in the dark about where this dangerous criminal will be when he is released soon.”

The SPS acknowledged the ­family’s concerns, adding: “We would encourage anyone in this situation to contact organisations such as Victim Support Scotland.” The Parole Board for Scotland does not comment on individual cases.

Police Scotland said it and other agencies “use professional assessment, robust risk assessment processes, and the latest technologies to manage registered sex offenders, mitigate risk and properly target appropriate resources”.

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Manchester United midfielder Casemiro will play his final game at Old Trafford for the Reds this afternoon.

Manchester United will play their final match of the season at Old Trafford this afternoon when they host Nottingham Forest in the Premier League. After last season’s disappointment, there will be a feel good feeling inside the stadium as the Reds gear up for a return to the Champions League next year.

Forest are safe and may choose to make changes ahead of their final match of the season at the City Ground next week. However, United should go for a strong starting line-up. Senne Lammens is guaranteed to start in goal.

Diogo Dalot and Luke Shaw have solidified themselves as the starting full-backs this season. Shaw’s fitness has been particularly pleasing considering his injury issues over recent campaigns. He is just two starts away from starting every Premier League match for United this season.

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Carrick has favoured Harry Maguire since returning and there is little evidence to suggest he will deviate from that stance. Partnering him could be Leny Yoro or Ayden Heaven but the most likely choice will be Lisandro Martinez.

The midfield two pick themselves. Casemiro is fit and Carrick will not deny him a start on his final Old Trafford appearance. Partnering him will be Kobbie Mainoo who has played so well in 2026 he has been nominated for the Premier League’s Young Player of the Year award.

In front of them will be Bruno Fernandes. The captain has been superb this season and without him this would have been a very different season.

Benjamin Sesko’s injury means the three attackers pick themselves. Bryan Mbeumo will lead the line, albeit Matheus Cunha is an option for that role.

Amad will begin on the right flank. He has hit a difficult patch of form and desperately needs a goal.

United’s predicted XI vs Forest: Lammens; Dalot, Maguire, Martinez, Shaw; Casemiro, Mainoo; Amad, Fernandes, Cunha; Mbeumo

Manchester United have a huge summer transfer window ahead after qualifying for the Champions League once again

Michael Carrick is already being offered transfer opportunities after reports that Manchester United have reached an agreement to make the interim head coach their permanent successor to Ruben Amorim.

United are said to be offering Carrick a two-year contract, with an option to extend it by another 12 months. Once that deal is signed, attention will turn to this summer transfer window.

Qualifying for the Champions League presents the club with an opportunity to overhaul their squad ahead of next season, and a midfield revamp is in the offing. Here, Mirror Football looks at some of the biggest headlines surrounding United.

READ MORE: Cristiano Ronaldo receives bombshell news hours before title deciderREAD MORE: Wayne Rooney hospitalised on BBC show as Man Utd legend at risk of surgery

Bargain first transfer

Benfica would consider selling United target Richard Rios for just £26million this summer, according to A Bola. They are said to be weighing up a significant departure, with Andreas Schjelderup and Vangelis Pavlidis also potential options.

A rebuild is required after a disappointing season domestically, finishing well adrift of champions Porto after drawing too many matches. As a result, they will reportedly be willing to move on Rios for just £26million, a figure that falls well below the Colombia international’s £87million release clause.

United are one of several clubs credited with an interest ahead of the summer. With the club eyeing multiple midfield reinforcements, signing Rios at a reduced rate could enable them to afford Elliot Anderson’s asking price.

Making the Colombian their first summer signing could also be beneficial because of the upcoming World Cup. Striking any deal before the action begins would avoid any price hike based on his performances in North America.

Rivals to United are said to include Napoli, who are due to pay them £38million for Rasmus Hojlund this summer. That amount would effectively cover the costs of any deal for Rios.

Rashford risks unwritten rule break

Marcus Rashford could end up swapping Barcelona for Real Madrid this summer, according to the Independent. They cite sources close to the situation when reporting that the Spanish club’s prospective new head coach, Jose Mourinho, could go for Rashford.

With their rivals yet to trigger their £26million option to sign the England international permanently, there may be an opening for Madrid to make a move. Mourinho is said to still have a good relationship with Rashford from their time working together at United when the Portuguese replaced Louis van Gaal.

However, any switch would prove highly controversial, as it is rare for any player to represent both, let alone swap one for the other in the space of a summer. Luis Figo is the most infamous example, and Luis Milla also did so before the Portuguese, like Rashford, after only a season at Barcelona.

Michael Laudrup is another example, but he only lasted a season at Madrid after the move, while Luis Enrique went in the opposite direction during the 1990s. Rashford would become the first senior player to follow in their footsteps since Javier Saviola. The Argentine left Barcelona for Spain’s capital city, but, like Laudrup, left after just a year.

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Sky will show at least 215 live Premier League games next season, an increase of up to 100 more.

“The Central station, Newcastle, may be a more magnificent pile (who can say otherwise?), but Newcastle claims to be the northern metropolis.

“York station may be more extensive, so it ought to be for a number of railway systems converge at that point.

“Hull station, with its huge hotel, may present a far more imposing appearance, but then that great outlet of the Yorkshire and Lancashire manufacturers contributes nearly one-third of the entire revenue of the North Eastern Railway.”

On the platform at Bank Top station shortly after it was completed (Image: Darlington Centre for Local Studies)

For all the weekly newspaper’s enthusiasm for the station, Bank Top was regarded as a small, drab building, and within 30 years was completely rebuilt.

Demand was growing for passengers to be able to access Teesside from the main line station – it was previously only possible from the Stockton & Darlington’s North Road station and so when, in the 1880s, a loop line was planed connecting Bank Top to Middlesbrough and Stockton, it was clear passenger numbers were going to increase.

Much to the despair of some directors of the NER, who didn’t think more money should be lavished so soon on Darlington, the company asked its new chief architect, William Bell, to plan a new station.

A fabulous picture from John Askwith of Bank Top station under construction, by a couple of men and their dog (Image: John Askwith)

Mr Bell, from York, had joined the NER architect’s department aged 14 and spent his entire 57 year career in it. He was largely responsible for stations at Hull, Newcastle, Leeds and Scarborough, and while working on Bank Top, he also built Sunderland and Thornaby stations.

Bell’s work was overseen by the NER’s chief engineer, TE Harrison, who was at that stage a big fan of “island stations” – which is why Bank Top is such a weird, back-to-front sort of a station with a fabulously grand entrance that no one uses as everyone sneaks in the side, tradesmen’s entrance.

Island stations have all their offices and waiting rooms on a central island with the up and down railways tracks flowing on either side of them.

The plans increased the size of the station by two-thirds, and 20 houses and three pubs in Station Street, plus Bank Top school, were bought and demolished to accommodate it.

The clay and topsoil excavated for its foundations and for the new cutting in Parkgate, so bridges could take the tracks, was deposited on the fields to the south of Victoria Road – the streets between Bedford Street and Clifton Road were later built on top of this clay. Waverley Terrace, named after the Edinburgh station, was the first and Victoria Embankment soon followed.

Work began in 1885, and was delayed three months by the winter of 1885 and a further two months by the winter of 1886.

An amazing picture from the archive of the North Eastern Railway Association showing Bank Top under construction in about 1886. That dog, by the way, appears to be sitting on the roof of the low building in the foreground (Image: NERA)

It was to have three arched train sheds. The western two are 62ft wide while the eastern one is 66ft wide because it follows the footprint of the 1861 station, including incorporating part of its eastern wall. Mr Bell helpfully put “oculi” – rounded openings – into his extended walls for ventilation but they also show which stretches of wall are later.

The grand Victoria Road clocktower and portico of Bank Top station (Image: Chris Lloyd)

Mr Bell also designed a grand main entrance at the top of Victoria Road. It had an elegant 80ft clocktower, in the French Renaissance style, and a tall and broad portico. Cabs entered the portico through one elegant arch, dropped off their passengers in the dry, and then exited by another elegant arch.

Inside the portico of the station’s grand Victoria Road entrance which not many people now use (Image: The Northern Echo)

Access, though, was not so easy for the passengers who now had to get across the north-bound tracks to reach the booking office and waiting rooms in the centre of the island.

Two tunnels were dug beneath the tracks for foot passengers and two shafts were sunk for hydraulic lifts for those who couldn’t manage the stairs.

“But,” says Bill Fawcett, the absolute expert in North Eastern Railway architecture, “an extraordinary piece of petty meanness intervened and, having built shafts for them, the directors left out the lifts, arguing that these would entail the full-time services of a porter.”

In fact, they would have had to employ at least two lift operatives to ensure the lifts were working 24/7.

And then they decided that no one would be use the main entrance because it was too inconvenient.

Henry Tennant, the station general manager, predicted that most people would drive up the goods ramp from Parkgate straight onto the platforms’ island because they would regard it as preferable to “see your luggage taken to the train than use the subway or lift at the west entrance and lose sight of your luggage which might go astray”.

The goods entrance to Bank Top station has now become the main entrance. This picture taken by John Boyes in about 1964. What is that strange shaped lorry facing him? Picture: JW Armstrong Trust (Image: JW Armstrong Trust)

So the southern subway at the Victoria Road entrance was dug but never opened to the public. It was, for a while at least, used as a service tunnel – but it, and the lift shafts, must still be there somewhere.

Just to give Bank Top a further vice-versa feel, shortly after it was opened, a horse-drop was built on Park Lane, near the portico. Cattle and sheep were also unloaded here, convenient for the market, so the Victoria Road entrance quickly started to look as if it were the goods entrance.

A further embarrassment was that soon after Sir ED Walker, “the WH Smith of the North”, had started the clock in the tower, it stopped and needed repairs. Once going, residents in the new streets complained that its chiming kept them awake at night, and so it was silenced forever.

One councillor condemned the station as a “gross extravagance” and a “white elephant”, while the chairman of the railway, John Dent Dent, said the company had “built a much larger station…than there was any occasion for”.

Bank Top station shortly after it opened on July 1, 1887. Picture: North Eastern Railway Association (Image: NERA)

Bank Top station shortly after it opened on July 1, 1887. Picture: North Eastern Railway Association (Image: NERA)

Perhaps because of this, the station slipped into service on July 1, 1887. The Northern Echo reported the following day: “The new station at Bank Top, Darlington, was yesterday opened for traffic without any formal ceremony.”

This was the day that NER’s summer timetable came into operation, so the station had to be operational, ready or not. The first train to leave it was the 5.30am to Middlesbrough and Saltburn, pulled by engine number 1099 and driven by James Allen. It was, of course, 22 minutes late because of a delay with the mail.

Dinsdale station was opened at the same time as Bank Top as new loop line connected Bank Top with Teesside (Image: The Northern Echo)

The first train into it was the 5.40am from Middlesbrough, which was also the first train to use the station on the new loop line at Dinsdale, where a smattering of people on a new bridge gave it a cheer as it went over celebratory fog signals (mini-explosives strapped to the tracks).

Bank Top obviously wasn’t quite ready for the big day, but The Northern Echo was impressed by what it saw.

“Even yet the finishing touches are to be given,” it said, “but the building is sufficiently near completion to show that it is among the largest and most notable of its kind in the country.

The refreshment rooms at Bank Top on the London-bound platform (Image: Chris Lloyd)

“The first class waiting room is amongst the handsomest – perhaps the handsomest – of the kind in England. It is large, lofty, and light, and the roof is richly panelled with elaborate and artistic mouldings. In the centre of the ceiling is a large coloured glass light. The walls have a dado, about 3ft 6ins high, of panelled and polished teak. The buffet is a handsome piece of furniture of the same wood, with plate glass backs, with a counter in front of polished granite standing on teak panelling.”

Bank Top station in the days of steam (Image: The Northern Echo)

There was even, overlooking platforms two and three, a room dedicated to footwarmers. Until the 1920s, trains were unheated and a long journey on a cold winter’s day could be very challenging. From the 1850s, the railway issued passengers with footwarmers – initially brass or metal tins filled with boiling water but then metal tubes were devised with chemicals inside that, if shaken vigorously, would set off a reaction and heat up.

A busy summer’s day at Bank Top station in 1962 (Image: The Northern Echo)

The failings of railway footwarmers – they either leaked everywhere, quickly went cold, or melted the soles of shoes – were a source of jokes throughout the Victorian railway age, and it was often said that a footwarmer which made everything in the carriage wet would “break the ice” and get the strangers talking.

The Silver Jubilee service departs from the south end of a snowy Bank Top in late 1936. Picture: JW Armstrong Trust (Image: JW Armstrong Trust)

In those early days, Bank Top handled 148 trains every 24 hours, including most of the passenger traffic which had been handled at North Road.  “The North Road station loses all its importance, and so far as a chief station is concerned, it passes out of existence, and will be carried on only as a roadside or calling statin for trains passing to and from the west only,” said the North Star newspaper.

A porter at work on Bank Top station in the 1960s (Image: The Northern Echo)

Bank Top also consigned the station at Fighting Cocks to the history books, as the new loop line bypassed it and instead went through Dinsdale.

Bank Top had cost £100,000 to build. The purchase of its land had cost another £30,000 and the construction of the loop line and Dinsdale station had cost a further £80,000, making it a £24.5m project in today’s values.

Waving a train off at Bank Top station. Picture: Rodney Wildsmith (Image: Rodney Wildsmith)

Despite the chaos on opening day, despite all the criticisms over its extravagance, and despite all the eccentricities over its entrances, the layout of the island station has remained largely unchanged since 1887 – which makes the £150m enlargement of 2026 such an enormous moment in its 140-year history.

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow advanced to a runoff in Louisiana’s Republican Senate primary Saturday, capitalizing on the power of President Donald Trump’s endorsement in another attempt to purge his party of people he views as disloyal. State Treasurer John Fleming came in second to join her in the next round of voting.

Trump supported Letlow over incumbent Sen. Bill Cassidy, one of the few Republican senators who voted to convict him during his second impeachment trial over the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Cassidy, a doctor, has also clashed with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over vaccine policy, though he provided crucial support to help Kennedy get confirmed.

“I want to say thank you to a very special man who you all know, the best president this country has ever had, President Donald Trump,” Letlow told supporters in the evening, flanked by her two young children. “There is no greater endorsement than the endorsement of President Trump. We’ll always be singing that from the mountaintops.”

Invoking Cassidy’s impeachment vote, Letlow said: “Louisiana was not pleased with that vote. They took that as a sign that he had turned his back on the Louisiana voters.”

Trump, who has been trying to dislodge Cassidy, unloaded on him the morning of the election, calling him “a disloyal disaster” and “a terrible guy” on social media. In the evening he followed up with: “Congratulations to Congresswoman Julia Letlow on a fantastic race, beating an Incumbent Senator by Record Setting Numbers.”

Speaking to supporters after the result was known, Cassidy made a thinly veiled reference to the president, saying, “Insults only bother me if they come from somebody of character and integrity, and I find that people of character and integrity don’t spend their time attacking people on the internet.”

“Our country is not about one individual,” he said. “It is about the welfare of all Americans, and it is about our Constitution.”

The Louisiana primary comes in the middle of a month of campaigns by Trump to exact retribution on politicians who have crossed him. On May 5 he helped dislodge five of seven Indiana state senators who rejected his redistricting plan.

Next Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky will face a Trump-backed challenger, Ed Gallrein, in another Republican primary. Massie angered Trump by opposing his signature tax legislation over concerns about the national debt, pushing for the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files and opposing his decision to go to war with Iran.

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The election was scrambled by a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision gutting a part of the Voting Rights Act that affects how congressional maps are drawn. Although the Senate primary is moving forward, Louisiana leaders decided to delay House primaries until a future date to allow them to redo district lines ahead of time, a shift that threatened to cause confusion for voters on Saturday.

In 2020, while she was a college administrator, her husband Luke was elected to the U.S. House but died of COVID-19 before he could be sworn in. Letlow ran for and won the seat in a March 2021 special election and was reelected in 2022 and 2024.

___

Beaumont reported from Des Moines, Iowa.

A commissioned initial strategic assessment into a potential bid for the 2040s, led by UK Sport, will examine whether the UK could host the Games again following the success of London 2012 and whether a northern bid could deliver major regeneration and economic growth.

The assessment will examine factors including potential costs, the socioeconomic benefits of hosting and the likelihood of a successful bid.

Ministers say the move is part of a wider effort to use major sporting events and facilities to boost local economies, strengthen communities and enhance the UK’s global appeal.

This comes after The Great North, a group of mayors and leaders across the North, have kicked off their campaign with a joint letter to Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, calling on the Government to pledge to back any potential future bids being based in the north for “a fairer redistribution of major events across the country”.

In the letter, The Great North, which is chaired by North East mayor Kim McGuinness, also ask the Government to work with them and support proportionate feasibility and preparatory work.

Kim McGuinness says the North has the passion and the sporting pride to deliver a world-class Olympic and Paralympic Games (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)

Ms McGuinness said: “From our great cities and towns to our coastlines and countryside, the North has the venues, the passion and the sporting pride to deliver a world-class Olympic and Paralympic Games that showcases the very best of Great Britain to the world. 

  “A Great North Olympics would be a global showcase, leaving a legacy of prosperity, unity and renewal.

“It’s an opportunity not to be missed, delivering transformational investment in transport, regeneration and public spaces across the North of England. This could become the most people-powered Games ever hosted – inspiring millions of people into sport, volunteering and community action. 

“Mayors and leaders across the North have made the case to Government, and I’m delighted ministers and sporting bodies are now exploring how we could turn this ambition into a reality.

“We stand ready to work together to develop a credible, deliverable vision that can make the case to the International Olympic Committee.” 

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said London 2012 had demonstrated the transformative potential of the Olympics but that the North had long been overlooked as a potential host.

She added: “London 2012 showed what the Olympics can do for our country. It inspired a generation through sport, attracted huge investment and showed the best of Britain to the world.

Fireworks at Tower Bridge in central London to mark the start of the London 2012 Olympic Games. (Image: PA)

“But while the North of England has driven so much sporting excellence, no matter the talent we produce, the sporting moments we create, and the world-class events we attract – for too long we have been told the Olympics is simply too big and too important to be hosted in the North.

“Not any more. It’s time the Olympics came North and we showed what we can offer to the world. I couldn’t be more pleased to announce that we’re starting the firing gun on a long overdue vote of confidence in the North.”

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves said sport could play a central role in boosting economic growth.

She said: “Britain’s sporting prowess is recognised and respected around the world. It’s something we are determined to capitalise on to breathe life into our communities and build a stronger and more secure economy.

“That’s why we’re throwing our full support behind bringing the Games back home which will boost our Northern Growth Corridor. It’s also why we’re backing stadium regeneration plans, like at Elland Road, to deliver new homes, business opportunities and public spaces in Leeds and beyond.”

The plans form part of a wider government push to use sport as a catalyst for regeneration in towns and cities.

A new Stadium Regeneration Accelerator programme will work with sporting bodies on priority sports infrastructure projects that could unlock housing, jobs, apprenticeships, transport improvements and community sports facilities.

The programme will not provide direct funding for stadium redevelopment but will seek to remove barriers to large scale development by working with sports organisations and investors.

Government departments including DCMS, HM Treasury, the Office for Investment and the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government will collaborate with organisations such as the Premier League, the English Football League and the Women’s Super League.

Projects across England being considered include proposals in Greater Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle, Leeds, Liverpool and London, with ministers saying they could help drive regeneration in surrounding areas.

President Donald Trump ranted about Republican Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, calling him a “disloyal disaster” and a “terrible guy” before polls closed in a contentious primary election to keep control of his seat.

The president lashed out at Cassidy in a Truth Social post shared Saturday morning as polls opened across the state. Hours later, Cassidy was defeated.

“Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana is a disloyal disaster,” Trump wrote. “His entire past campaign for the Senate was about ‘TRUMP,’ how he’s with me all the way, and then, after winning, he turned around and voted to IMPEACH me for something that has now proven to be total ‘bulls***!’”

“He knew that at the time, but didn’t care,” the president added. “Bill Cassidy is a sleazebag, a terrible guy, who is BAD FOR LOUISIANA. Now he’s going to get CLOBBERED, hopefully, in today’s BIG election, by two great people!!!”

Cassidy faced two other GOP candidates — including Trump-endorsed Representative Julia Letlow — in Louisiana’s Republican primary.

Cassidy was among the seven GOP senators who voted to convict Trump in 2021 during his impeachment trial over the January 6 Capitol attack. Trump was ultimately acquitted after 57 Senators voted to convict, three short of the supermajority needed to convict.

Last month, Cassidy told NBC News that his 2021 vote “might be” a liability in the primary election. But he said he has been trying to emphasize his working relationship with the president.

“If you want somebody who works well with President Trump, you vote for Bill Cassidy. He may not like me, but he has signed into law four bills that I either wrote or negotiated in the last four months,” Cassidy told The Washington Post.

Trump urged Louisiana residents to vote for Letlow, calling her a “winner who will NEVER let you down.” Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry also joined Trump in endorsing Letlow earlier this year.

The congresswoman first took office in 2021 following a special election to replace her husband, who initially won the seat in 2020 but died from COVID-19 complications just days before his swearing in.

Cassidy’s defeat marked the first time an incumbent senator lost a primary election in more than 10 years.

The senator, who has also worked as a physician, was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2008 and won his first Senate race in 2014.

“I’m focused on the now and the future,” he told NBC News last month. “If you want somebody delivering for our state, to make Louisiana a place where people move to set down roots, raise their children and grandchildren, I’m your guy.”

The Independent has requested comment from Cassidy’s campaign.

The DWP has the power to deduct money from Universal Credit payments for a number of reasons, including to pay for rent arrears or benefits overpayments

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has published the complete list of 27 grounds for imposing Universal Credit benefit sanctions.

Universal Credit is a means-tested benefit that was initially launched in the UK to supersede the previous benefits system in 2013. By 2018, all new claimants were obliged to apply for UC, while those already receiving legacy benefits continued to receive their existing awards.

The DWP holds the authority to reduce Universal Credit payments for various reasons, including to recover rent arrears or benefits overpayments. According to the DWP website, money can be deducted from your Universal Credit payments to cover things such as:

• Child maintenance
• Court fines
• Rent arrears
• Overpayments or arrears from tax credits, Council Tax, Housing Benefit, Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), and Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
• Utility debts, like electricity, gas and water

However, deductions cannot be made from elements such as your child allowance, childcare and housing costs, reports the Manchester Evening News.

The Government department outlines 27 grounds for reducing Universal Credit payments specifically through benefit sanctions.

This occurs when the DWP believes you have not fulfilled everything you committed to do as part of your ‘claimant commitments’ – resulting in a reduction to your payment.

Examples of why a claimant might face sanctions include missing an interview, voluntarily leaving employment and not applying for jobs.

On the GOV.UK website, it confirms that claimants must ensure they fully understand all the requirements they must meet to receive Universal Credit, and the consequences if they fail to complete one or more of their work-related activities. It also states that ensuring your claimant commitment remains current by reporting any changes to your circumstances is essential.

Below is the complete list of 27 reasons for Universal Credit benefit sanctions from May 2016 to the present day, along with the number of sanctions issued for each reason.

Full list of 27 reasons for Universal Credit benefit sanctions

• Failure to Attend or Participate in a Mandatory Interview: 578,758
• Failed to comply with an interview requirement: 567,776
• Availability for Work: 32,264
• Employment Programmes: 22,053
• Failed to participate in an employment programme: 21,917
• Failed to undertake all work search action: 21,639
• Reason for leaving previous employment: 9,538
• Failed to comply with a work focused interview requirement: 8,738
• Left work voluntarily: 5,968
• Failed to undertake particular specific work preparation action: 5,436
• Lost work because of misconduct: 3,563
• Failed to apply for a job: 3,519
• Failed to comply with an interview requirement self employed: 2,243
• Other: 1,429
• Failed to undertake particular specific work search action: 1,099
• Lost pay voluntarily: 726
• Loss of pay through misconduct: 437
• Failed to accept an offer of paid work: 300
• Failed to maintain a CV: 238
• Failed to be available to take up work: 182
• Failed to attend skills assessment: 90
• Failed to participate in training: 81
• Failed to participate in work experience or work placement: 52
• Failed to comply with requirement to provide evidence or confirm compliance: 21
• Failed to comply with requirement to report specified change in circumstances relevant to work related requirements: 8
• Failed to improve personal presentation: 7
• Unknown: 5

Conor McGregor will return to action for the first time in five years when he faces Max Holloway in a welterweight bout at UFC 329 in Las Vegas on 11 July.

The 37-year-old Irishman has not fought since breaking his leg in defeat by Dustin Poirier in 2021.

He was scheduled to return against American Michael Chandler in 2024 but pulled out just over two weeks prior to the bout after breaking his toe.

The fight with Holloway is a rematch of their featherweight bout in 2013, which McGregor won on points.

Holloway, 34, is a difficult return opponent for McGregor as the Hawaiian has consistently competed at the highest level at lightweight in recent years.

One of the biggest MMA stars in history, McGregor has 22 wins and six defeats since making his debut in 2008.

McGregor was the UFC’s first simultaneous two-weight world champion after winning titles at featherweight in 2015 and lightweight in 2016 but his career has been dogged by controversy in recent years.

Last year he accepted an 18-month ban for violating the UFC’s anti-doping policy after missing three drugs tests within a 12-month period in 2024.

The ban, which was backdated to the date of the third missed test in September 2024, concluded in March.

McGregor has been tested eleven times, external by Combat Sports Anti-Doping (CSAD) this year, which is more than any other fighter on the UFC’s roster.

Expert evidence was heard at Preston Crown Court in the trial of high school teacher Jamie Varley, 37, who adopted Preston Davey along with his partner, John McGowan-Fazakerley, 32.

Dr Joanne Gifford, an expert in child sexual abuse and clinical lead for the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, told the jury that Preston had sustained multiple injuries during the four months he lived with the couple.

She said: “The injuries are clinical signs of sexual abuse, more than one occasion.”

Her 173-page report detailed around 40 trauma injuries, including internal and external injuries including tears and lacerations, with “in excess” of 30 bruises across his body.

Preston was born on June 16, 2022, and taken into care by Oldham Council. He was placed with foster parents at five days old.

In April 2023, when he was 10 months old, he was adopted by Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley.

It is alleged Preston was routinely ill-treated, had indecent images and videos taken of him and was sexually abused and physically assaulted.

Varley and McGowan-Fazakerley deny all charges.

The court heard that Preston was taken to Blackpool Victoria Hospital three times before his death.

He died after being taken to A&E at around 6.30pm on July 27, 2023.

Varley told police he left Preston in the bath for three or four minutes and returned to find him submerged.

Despite nearly an hour of resuscitation attempts, Preston could not be saved.

Dr Alison Armour, a Home Office pathologist, ruled out drowning as the cause of death.

She concluded the cause of death was an upper airway obstruction, leading to Preston’s collapse by a deliberate act of smothering, or an object or objects inserted into his mouth.

Dr Gifford said there had been three previous “near miss” episodes where Preston was in critical condition.

The court heard of a 29-second video allegedly found on Varley’s phone, showing Preston in distress and struggling to breathe.

Another video allegedly from the same phone, recorded about 90 minutes before Preston was taken to hospital, showed him in a babygrow on a bed, displaying what Dr Gifford described as “extreme respiratory distress.”

She told the court: “Clinically I watched that and I wanted to resuscitate him immediately, he looks terminal in that video.

“There are parts of not breathing. Gasping. I would describe as agonal gasp.

“He’s a child in that video who needs to be resuscitated.”

Dr Gifford identified nine facial bruises and one on Preston’s chin prior to his death.

Dr Gifford said the sheer number of bruises and the fact they often appeared in clusters and patterns suggestive of “grip-type” marks was indicative of physical abuse.

Dr Gifford told the jury it was not “clinically remotely plausible” they could be accidental.

She also discussed a video where Varley “jump scared” Preston by shouting “Boo!” as the child was falling asleep. Other footage reportedly showed the child left alone in a bath for 14 minutes.

“They are hard videos to watch,” she said, “They are a child having unpleasant experiences.”

Varley denies murder, manslaughter, two counts of assault by penetration, five counts of cruelty to a child, grievous bodily harm, sexual assault of a child, 13 counts of taking indecent photos or videos of a child, one of distributing an indecent photo of a child, to his co-accused, and one of making an indecent photo.

McGowan-Fazakerley denies allowing the death of a child, three counts of child cruelty and one count of the sexual assault of a child.

The trial has been adjourned until Monday next week.