So how do you cope with the Crucible pressure when stuck in the chair?

“The psychology aspect of snooker is enormous,” said Chris Henry, a subconscious brain and performance coach, who has worked with some of the sport’s biggest names including Murphy, Stephen Hendry, Mark Selby, Luca Brecel, Jimmy White, Ali Carter and 2026 debutant Liam Pullen.

“You have to be very mentally strong in snooker, you have to be tough and know how to deal with the situation. It’s not what happens that counts, it’s how you choose to deal with what happens.

“Snooker is a dead-ball sport so you have a long time to think about things, which is not always good. Being sat in the chair, feeling completely helpless is a terrible place to be, especially if you’re not playing well and feel embarrassed.

“It’s better to get out of that environment. Negative things are happening in the subconscious and you have to change to get into a better state.”

He advises “doing some breathing exercises, just to calm down and get into the performance state” in order to change from a negative to a positive state quickly.

Carter provided one of the best examples of quickly going from negative to positive when he found himself 4-0 down to John Higgins at the mid-session interval, gaining just 37 points in four brutal frames.

“I would’ve been quite happy to get in my car and drive home, I was absolutely seething,” said Carter afterwards.

However, after composing himself, Carter won all five of the remaining frames in the session against the four-time champion, although the Scot would eventually prevail 10-7.

Councillors have finalised locations for the signs, with installation expected to follow over the coming weeks.

The project was driven by a desire to move away from standard “Welcome to Bolton” boundary signs in favour of something that better reflects the area’s character.

Both the proposed signs. (Image: Supplied)

Cllr Nadim Muslim said: “We wanted something that felt more personal to Egerton and Bromley Cross.”

“These places have a strong sense of identity, and the signs are about recognising that.”

The designs have been made with support from the Turton Local History Society and have taken a year to make.

At the heart of the signs will be a newly commissioned version of the historic Turton crest, linked to Henry Cheetham and once used by the former Turton District Council.

Cllr Nadim Muslim. (Image: Nadim Muslim)

A Lancashire rose will also feature on the signs, which reflect the lasting connection many residents still feel to the county’s heritage.

The response from residents has so far been mostly positive, with many saying they have wanted signs like these for years.

This doesn’t come without negativity, as some say the councillors are not prioritising other issues.

Cllr Muslim added: “We are being inundated with messages from people who have wanted this for a while. We’re responding to what people want.

The Turton crest. (Image: Supplied)

“There will always be people who disagree. We’ve had potholes filled, bin collections sorted, and tackled speeding on the roads, that doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate our heritage.”

Careful consideration has been given to where the signs will be located, with the council ensuring pavements remain clear and accessible.

The Egerton sign is expected to be placed near the junction of Cox Green Road and Blackburn Road, while the Bromley Cross sign will be installed towards Chapeltown Road.

For now, the focus is on marking borough boundaries, with potential additional locations to be explored in the future.

Supporters say the new signs are a simple way to show pride in the communities they call home.

Your latest round up of cases heard between April 20 and April 24

Cases before Northern Ireland’s courts this past week included a custodial sentence handed down to a 23-year-old man charged with rioting in Ballymena last summer.

Elsewhere, a court heard that a man charged with making a series of threatening social media posts against an MLA claimed they were just “political opponents”.

And an intruder who spent hours trying on assorted drag queen costumes in a Belfast venue was jailed for seven months.

Here is your latest round up of cases before the courts between Monday, April 20 and Friday, April 24.

Man, 23, jailed over summer riots in Ballymena

A 23-year-old man charged with rioting in Ballymena last summer has been handed a custodial sentence.

At Antrim Crown Court on Monday, Kurtis Dunlop, 23, was sentenced to 32 months imprisonment, with half to be served in prison and half on licence.

On Monday, June 9 2025 large-scale disorder broke out on the streets of Ballymena, involving a crowd of rioters and lasting for three consecutive nights. Further violence occurred across Northern Ireland including at Larne, Newtownabbey, Portadown and Derry.

Dunlop, was first observed at Bridge Street in Ballymena, throwing a piece of masonry at a police vehicle. Soon after he, along with other rioters launched a sustained attack on officers throwing fireworks, bottles and other items at police lines.

Read more here

NI man told MLA he’d be ‘getting smashed to bits’, court hears

A Co Antrim man charged with making a series of threatening social media posts against an MLA claimed they were just “political opponents”, the High Court heard on Tuesday.

Andrew Moran, 30, allegedly issued menacing Facebook comments which left Democratic Unionist Party representative Trevor Clarke fearing he could be attacked.

Moran, of Grange Lane in Newtownabbey, denies counts of improper use of a public electronic communications network, threatening or abusive behaviour, harassment and intimidation of a witness.

He was released on bail but banned from making any contact with Mr Clarke. The South Antrim MLA received the first messages on March 27 this year after announcing on Facebook that he was holding a constituency surgery in the Mallusk area.

Sent from an account in the name of Andrew Thomas Moran, one of the responses warned: “F*** away back off to Randalstown, or you’ll be getting smashed to bits.”

Prosecutors claimed the defendant also posted: “Should have had your arms and legs broken years ago, how you are still sneaking about is beyond me.”

A further message said to have been directed at the politician stated: “The Orangemen don’t want you.”

Mr Clarke received a number of YouTube links from the same account, the court heard, including footage of one man physically assaulting another.

Read more here

Pastor accused of illegal protest at NI abortion clinic awaits verdict

On Wednesday a judge reserved his verdict in the case of a retired Baptist pastor who is accused of conducting an illegal abortion protest inside the limits of a “safe access zone.”

Having heard the evidence in the case against Clive Johnston last month, counsel for the prosecution and defence supplemented their skeleton arguments before District Judge Peter King at Limavady Magistrates Court, sitting in Coleraine.

Mr Johnston, from the Melmount Road in Sion Mills and who is a former President of the Association of Baptist Churches in Ireland, faces two offences under the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Act (Northern Ireland) 2023.

The 77-year-old retired pastor is accused of doing an act in a safe access zone at the Causeway Hospital in Coleraine, “namely conducted a protest with the intent of, or being reckless as to whether, it had the effect of influencing a protected person whether directly or indirectly, in connection with the protected person attending the premises,” on 7 July last year.

The pensioner is further charged that on the same date he “failed to comply with a direction…to leave a safe access zone.”

Read more here

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Man stabbed after neighbourhood feud “boiled over”, court told

A man was stabbed in the chest after his neighbourhood feud with a father and son “boiled over” into weapons being wielded on a north Belfast street, a court heard on Wednesday.

The victim, aged in his thirties, suffered a partially collapsed lung during the alleged attack carried out in broad daylight at Oldpark Avenue on Monday.

Paul John Burns, 46, faces charges of attempted murder and possessing a knife with intent to commit an indictable offence.

His 65-year-old father, Paul Burns Senior, is accused of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and having an offensive weapon in public, namely a small wooden baton, in connection with the incident.

Both defendants were remanded in custody amid police claims that an ongoing dispute has now developed into an outburst of severe violence.

Belfast Magistrates’ Court heard they became involved in an altercation with the injured party outside their Oldpark Avenue home shortly before 5pm on April 20.

The man claimed that as he approached his mother’s house two doors away Paul Burns Sr struck him on the elbow with a wooden bat.

Paul Burns Junior then emerged from the defendants’ home holding a kitchen knife and stabbed him in the chest, it was alleged.

A friend of the victim drove him to the Mater Hospital where he subsequently underwent surgery.

Read more here

PSNI officers to stand trial charged with warning Belfast bars of Covid checks

Two PSNI officers are to stand trial charged with warning Belfast bar owners in advance of Covid-19 checks on their premises, a judge ordered on Thursday.

The policemen appeared in court for a preliminary inquiry into allegations of alerting licenses at three pubs in the city’s Shankill area during the coronavirus pandemic.

Neither officer can be named because of interim reporting restrictions imposed to protect their identities.

Both constables face three counts of misconduct in a public office over a period between December 2021 and March 2022.

Licensees of the Royal Bar, the Diamond Jubilee and Bar Berlin were allegedly forewarned about police inspections to establish if the premises were complying with emergency public health regulations in force at the time, according to the charges.

Restrictions had been put in place on the number of people sharing restaurant and pub facilities as part of social distancing efforts to tackle a surge in the number of Covid cases.

Police officers then carried out checks to ensure the rules were being followed.

There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing or criminal activity by the owners of the three pubs.

One of the defendants is further accused of unlawfully obtaining personal data, namely contained on PSNI computer records.

Read more here

Intruder who spent hours trying on drag queen costumes in Belfast venue jailed

An intruder who spent hours trying on assorted drag queen costumes in a Belfast city centre venue was jailed for seven months on Friday.

Gvidas Malinauskas, 42, repeatedly entered a dressing room at the Union Street Bar to dress up in wigs, boots and catsuits.

He caused more than £1,000 damage to performers’ clothing left ripped, stained and smelling of urine, prosecutors said.

Malinauskas, a Lithuanian national of no fixed abode, admitted charges of burglary with intent to steal and criminal damage.

Belfast Magistrates’ Court heard police were alerted after staff at the venue on Union Street discovered an unknown man in a drag queen dressing room on September 21 last year.

CCTV checks showed Malinauskas entering the bar through an unlocked front door at around 9am that morning.

He went upstairs into the dressing room, remaining in the area until he initially left just after midday.

“He was wearing a white fluffy coat, pink boots and a long wig,” a Public Prosecution Service lawyer said.

About an hour later the defendant was observed back in the same area of the premises.

He was still in the same boots but had changed into a beige catsuit, the court heard.

Read more here

Man who wrapped Nazi flag around his hand before racist attack avoids jail

A man who wrapped a Nazi flag around his hand before punching a man in the face during a racist assault was handed a suspended jail sentence on Friday.

Sentencing Jamie Taylor at Craigavon Magistrates Court, Deputy District Judge Gerard Trainor told the 36-year-old his attack was “racism through and through, naked.”

“Behaviour of this nature is unacceptable in any right-thinking society,” the judge declared and turning to Taylor demanded to know, “have you anything to say?”

“Sorry, Your Worship,” Taylor replied, “sorry to the injured party.”

“I am not convinced that you are,” Judge Trainor told him, adding that “the only question is whether you go to prison today, or the next day when you commit further offences.”

Taylor, from the Tandragee Road in Gilford, had earlier entered guilty pleas to charges of common assault, disorderly behaviour, criminal damage and resisting police, all committed on 27 February this year.

Read more here

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But it’s a strange thing: he hasn’t really made total sense until this moment. As in, he was always a massive rock star who now finally has the massive rock star stages to strut around on. Previously – at least among snooty media – Yungblud was a curio. A highly likeable punk kid, articulate, outspoken about mental health, fearlessly political, funny, good-looking, he was too poppy to please the metallers, too much of a showman for slouching hipsters, and his teen appeal was just not the done thing; heavy forbid rock n roll, a music invented by and for teenagers, should actually have a teenage audience. And yet through sheer force of will, he has built and built his crowd, working hard, building his “family” and just making it happen – this was a guy who couldn’t get booked for festivals, so he simply put on his own; this summer the 3rd Bludfest takes place in Czechia.

MAGA warrior Kari Lake and plenty of other attendees Saturday night criticized the lack of robust security at the Washington Hilton after a gunman opened fire at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner with President Donald Trump in attendance.

But Lake, the senior advisor to the United States Agency for Global Media, was not alone in questioning how a gunman could have made it so close to Trump, first lady Melania, Vice President JD Vance and nearly the entire line of succession to the U.S. presidency.

“I can’t believe how lax the security was at the White House correspondents dinner tonight,” Lake posted on X. “Upon entering, nobody asked to visibly INSPECT my ticket nor asked for my photo identification.”

The tickets for the dinner, which is hosted by the White House Correspondents’ Association, did not have specific names. In addition, attendees only had to go through one round of magnetometers for the actual ballroom where the dinner took place, but not for the hotel building as a whole.

Authorities named the suspected shooter as Cole Tomas Allen, a 31-year-old resident of Torrance, California. He is in custody after being tackled to the ground while allegedly firing one of his weapons.

By contrast, to attend many of the pre-parties and after parties around DC ahead of and during the big weekend, attendees often have to be on a list, have their name checked or present a photo identification.

Similarly, Mads Campbell, CEO of Leda Health, said there was “no bag check. no real screening. no line. just thousands of people packed together, being pushed through the doors as fast as possible.”

She wrote: “It started the second we got there. every event we’ve ever been to, especially at this level, there are layers of security. bags checked, IDs checked, actual process.” She said that she left early because “my best friend literally turns to me and says, ‘I think something is going to happen.’ And then it did”

Caty Payette, a communications director for Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), echoed the sentiment.

“I was there this evening and there was no security to be admitted to the lobby of the hotel,” she said on X. “Guests had to simply flash a ticket to a pre-event party or the dinner itself to be let into the premises, which in hindsight was alarming.”

But reporter Carolina Lumetta had a different perspective.

“I was there. I had to show my ticket in the hotel lobby,” she said. “Then I went downstairs a flight of stairs and went through a security mag and had my purse searched. Then we went down one more flight of stairs (where the gunman was apprehended), and entered the ballroom.”

CNN reporter Wolf Blitzer, who was feet away from the shooter when he opened fire in the lobby, said that there had been additional security and noted how security threw him down and tackled him as the shooting began.

The banquet hall — where hundreds of prominent journalists, celebrities and national leaders were awaiting Trump’s remarks — was immediately evacuated. Members of the National Guard took up position inside the building as people were allowed to leave but not immediately reenter. Security outside was also extremely tight.

Republican Rep. Mike Lawler of New York, a guest at the dinner, said he heard a pop and “we didn’t know what the hell it was. And then you heard all sorts of things clatter.” Lawler said he gets “death threats often” and said, “I think we live in a climate where everybody recognizes it’s a problem, but I don’t think people fully appreciate how much of a problem it really is.”

Video posted by Trump showed the suspect running past security barricades as Secret Service agents ran toward him. One officer was shot in a bullet-resistant vest but was recovering, officials said. The gunman was tackled to the ground and was not injured, but was being evaluated at a hospital, police said.

Inside the ballroom, guests scurried for cover at the sound of shots while Secret Service agents, including the heavily-armed counterassault team, swarmed the stage after the incident.

Vice President JD Vance was removed from the room first, while agents initially covered Trump in place before escorting him and first lady Melania Trump from the room. Trump briefly stumbled on the way offstage, before being assisted by his security detail.

He was held for some time in a secure presidential suite at the hotel as the president and organizers initially sought to resume the event — hotel staff refolded napkins and refilled water glasses, and aides adjusted the teleprompter for the president — before Trump was returned to the White House on the advice of the Secret Service.

The shooting raises serious security concerns. Generally, the Hilton hotel, where the dinner has taken place for years, remains open to regular guests during the correspondents’ dinner, and security has typically been focused on the ballroom rather than the hotel at large, with little screening for people not entering the dinner itself. In past years, that has created openings for disruptions in the lobby and other public spaces, including protests in which security moved to remove guests who unfurled banners or staged demonstrations.

In 1981, a John Hinckley Jr. opened fire and almost killed President Ronald Reagan at the same hotel.

In addition, during the 2024 campaign, the president had two separate attempts on his life.

After the shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania in July 2024, where a gunman shot Trump, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle reasigned. Secret Service has long been plagued by scandal, such as in 2012, when Secret Service agents hired sex workers in Colombia.

In 2014, the agency received additional scrutiny when a man jumped the fence of the White House. Shortly thereafter, two drunk Secret Service agents would be investigated for drunkenly driving a government car into a White House barricade.

— with wires

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A server at the Washington Hilton described the moment she saw a suspected gunman rush toward security at the White House Correspondents Dinner where President Donald Trump and other Cabinet members were present.

Flavienne, a server at the venue, told The Independent how she was pushing a service cart into an elevator with another female employee on Saturday night when a man dressed in a suit to blend in with attendees took out a long gun and opened fire at least three times.

“The lady was behind me, she was working with me. She [was trying to] push the cart [in the elevator]…The guy passed just close to her. Just like you pass like this — and then he pulled out the gun, the long gun. He shot that gun immediately, like three shots.”

A man with short brown curly hair, identified in a picture posted by President Donald Trump on Truth Social, was taken into custody by law enforcement. He was identified as a 31-year-old California man named Cole Tomas Allen by law enforcement sources. A Secret Service agent was shot in the incident, but is expected to be OK. The suspect was apprehended before getting to the ballroom where Trump was on stage. He has been detained and charged with two federal crimes.

Journalists and VIPs at Saturday night’s even were looking forward to Donald Trump’s first attendance at the annual celebration of the Washington press corps., and the performance of Oz Pearlman, the evening’s headliner.

Instead, a scene of shock, confusion and panic played out only moments after the national anthem ended and color Guard filed out of the ballroom.

Five loud, unmistakable gunshots rang out from the hallway area immediately connected to the central entrance of the main ballroom. The New York Times reported that a 31-year-old California man named Cole Tomas Allen was taken into custody at the scene.

A security guard who prevented journalists from seeing the hallway where the shooting took place was unable to describe it to reporters who clustered around the exit, eager for details about the scene.

But Flavienne told The Independent that she was mere feet from the attacker as he passed by her and another worker, headed to the main ballroom.

“I pushed my cart, and the lady behind me tried to wait for me to push. I’m trying to help the lady to push the cart, because the cart was big and heavy. So that guy just passed. He just passed like three feet. He pulled up the cart — that’s when he shot,” said Flavienne, who was visibly distraught and in shock from what she’d witnessed. “I’m just feeling like [I need] to get out. Feeling too much emotion like, I’m feeling like this is one I get to saw [like] that on the movie I never, never be [seeing it] happening, right? “

“They said he was dressed up like a server,” another worker at the venue commented as Flavienne recounted her experience.

Images of the detained man depicted him shirtless, though the sequence of the events leading up to the photos weren’t immediately clear.

A state of confusion hung over the dinner for roughly an hour following the shooting. In the very first minutes after the gunshots rang out, VIPs including Trump and Vice President JD Vance, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, FBI Director Kash Patel and Sen. John Fetterman were seen being rushed from the ballroom.

Initially, it appeared that the president and others would be returning in an attempt to make a show of bravery following the chaos. But the White House Correspondents Association’s president, CBS News White House correspondent Weijia Jang, later informed attendees that law enforcement had directed the building be cleared.

As crowds spilled out into the D.C. streets, a light drizzle rained down on some tuxedoed and gowned attendees searching for rideshare vehicles and other means of transportation. An extended security perimeter around the Washington Hilton prevented some from reaching a nearby Metro station, and halted hotel guests seeking to return to their rooms.

The president addressed reporters from the White House briefing room only minutes after the assembled White House press corps was released from the underground ballroom of the Washington Hilton complex.

Trump confirmed to reporters that one law enforcement operative was struck by a round fired by the suspect during the attack, but was “saved by the fact that he was wearing obviously a very good bulletproof vest.”

US police say the suspected gunman at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner had multiple weapons on him when he charged a security checkpoint.

Surveillance video released by Donald Trump shows the suspect running past metal detectors as security agents draw their guns.

Washington DC police chief Jeffery W Carroll said officers exchanged gunfire with the suspect and one US secret service officer was “struck in his vest”. He was taken to hospital and is said to be “in good spirits”.

The suspect, who police called a “lone gunman”, was not struck by gunfire, but has also been transported to hospital to be evaluated.

Read the latest here.

President Donald Trump was unharmed and other top White House officials were evacuated from an annual dinner of the White House Correspondents’ Association after a man armed with guns and knives stormed the lobby and opened fire.

The shooting suspect was taken into custody and identified as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, two law enforcement officials told The Associated Press. A motive was not immediately known, and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said charges related to Saturday night’s attack will be filed shortly.

___

This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.

US President Donald Trump was rushed to safety from the White House Correspondents’ Dinner after gunshots rang out at the venue.

The President and First Lady Melania Trump appeared to be part way through a conversation at the Washington Hilton when he was interrupted by a commotion at the White House table.

Loud bangs could be heard and then various secret service members escorted the president away from the venue as they called out “stay down, stay down”.

The president, first lady and all other protectees are safe, the Secret Service said later, after seven to eight gunshots were fired.

Follow our live updates here.