People in North Korea, including schoolchildren, are being executed for watching Squid Game and other foreign media, according to new testimony.
Citizens also face being killed for listening to K-pop, a South Korean music genre that includes bands like BTS.
Interviewees have described a climate of fear in which the South’s culture is treated as a serious crime.
The less well-off are more likely to suffer the harshest punishments, while wealthier North Koreans are able to pay corrupt officials to dodge prosecution, it is claimed.
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The testimonies were revealed by Amnesty International after conducting 25 in-depth interviews with escapees who have fled the secretive state run by Kim Jong-un‘s regime.
The escapees said watching globally popular South Korean dramas, such as Squid Game, Crash Landing on You, and Descendants of the Sun, can lead to the most extreme consequences, including death.
‘Multiple executions’
One interviewee said they heard from an escapee with family links how people, including high school students, had been executed for watching Squid Game in Yanggang Province, which is close to the Chinese border.
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Another execution for distributing the South Korean show was previously documented by Radio Free Asia in neighbouring North Hamgyong Province in 2021.
“Taken together, these reports from different provinces suggest multiple executions related to the shows,” Amnesty said in a statement.
Image: Squid Game guards with the Young-hee doll from the show, at a promotional event in Bangkok, Thailand. Pic: Reuters
Interviewees also described the perils of listening to foreign music, particularly K-pop from South Korea, with the popular band BTS named in their testimony.
In 2021, The Korea Times reported that a group of teenagers were caught and investigated for listening to the group in South Pyongan Province, which neighbours the capital, Pyongyang.
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‘Homes sold to avoid re-education camps’
Choi Suvin, who fled North Korea in 2019, said people would sell their own homes to avoid punishment.
“People are caught for the same act, but punishment depends entirely on money,” the 39-year-old said.
“People without money sell their houses to gather $5,000 or $10,000 to pay to get out of the re-education camps.”
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This inequality was further evidenced by the case of Kim Joonsik, who was caught three times watching South Korean dramas, but avoided punishment because his family had connections.
The 28-year-old, who left the country in 2019, said: “Usually when high school students are caught, if their family has money, they just get warnings.
“I didn’t receive legal punishment because we had connections.”
He contrasted his fate with that of three of his sister’s school friends.
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In the late 2010s, the girls were condemned to years-long sentences in North Korea’s labour camps because their families could not afford bribes.
Image: South Korean pop band, BTS. Pic: AP
‘Executions to brainwash’
People, including schoolchildren, were made to attend public executions as part of their “ideological education”, the interviewees said.
Ms Choi described seeing someone executed for allegedly distributing foreign media in 2017 or 2018, in Sinuiju, near the Chinese border.
“Authorities told everyone to go, and tens of thousands of people from Sinuiju city gathered to watch,” she said.
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“They execute people to brainwash and educate us.”
Kim Eunju, 40, said: “When we were 16, 17, in middle school, they took us to executions and showed us everything.
“People were executed for watching or distributing South Korean media. It’s ideological education: if you watch, this happens to you too.”
Image: Kim Jong-un and his daughter, Kim Ju-ae, attend a missile launch in 2023. Pic: Reuters
‘Ideological cage’
Sarah Brooks, deputy regional director at Amnesty, said: “These testimonies show how North Korea is enforcing dystopian laws that mean watching a South Korean TV show can cost you your life – unless you can afford to pay.
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“The authorities criminalise access to information in violation of international law, then allow officials to profit off those fearing punishment.
“This is repression layered with corruption, and it most devastates those without wealth or connections.”
She added: “This government’s fear of information has effectively placed the entire population in an ideological cage, suffocating their access to the views and thoughts of other human beings.
“People who strive to learn more about the world outside North Korea, or seek simple entertainment from overseas, face the harshest of punishments.
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“This completely arbitrary system, built on fear and corruption, violates fundamental principles of justice and internationally recognised human rights. It must be dismantled.”
Image: Kim Jong-un addresses the North Korea Supreme People’s Assembly, Pyongyang’s version of parliament. Pic: Reuters
Under North Korea’s 2020 Anti-Reactionary Thought and Culture Act, South Korean content is “branded rotten ideology that paralyses the people’s revolutionary sense”.
Those caught consuming such media face between five and 15 years of forced labour under the act, with heavier sentences – including death – for distributing it or organising group viewings.
Fifteen interviewees described how a specialised police unit dubbed the “109 Group” would hunt for foreign media, conducting spot checks on people’s homes, and street searches of mobile phones and bags, all without a warrant.
One defector recalled members of the unit warning: “We don’t want to punish you harshly, but we need to bribe our bosses to save our own lives.”
The landmark Channel 4 documentary is a firm favourite amongst true crime fans as it follows detectives in a local police force as they investigate major crimes. Often following a case from start to finish, detectives are seen in the race against time as they uncover horrific truths in their search for justice.
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Having first been released in 2014, 24 Hours in Police Custody fans eagerly await new instalments to be released on Channel 4, with fresh episodes being released earlier this year.
After several weeks of the show being replaced on the television schedule, a two part instalment was aired last night on Channel 4, with both episodes released back to back. However, it may have been familiar to some viewers already as it was a repeat.
Titled 24 Hours in Police Custody: The Butcher of Suburbia, it delves into the 2024 murder of a 74-year-old woman. Viewers witnessed detectives investigate the killer who dismembered and hid her body, initially claiming she had moved away.
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For part one, the broadcaster teased: “The landmark series brings us the gripping inside story of the murder of a 74-year-old woman – and the killer’s macabre efforts to conceal her death.”
Part two continued: “The suspect admits to the murder of a 74-year-old woman. But a deeply disturbing tale that shocks experienced detectives has only just begun.”
Despite it being a repeat, viewers were left feeling sick after tuning in, with one person writing on social media: “Just vile and sick.”
Another said: “What an evil monster he is, that poor woman, this is absolutely horrific.” A third added: “My god what an evil sicko.”
Previously, when the episodes were first aired, one disgusted viewer said: “Omg that episode of 24 hours in police custody – the butcher of suburbia is HARROWING.”
Another added: “#24hoursinpolicecustody is undoubtedly one of the best programs on TV. The Butcher of Suburbia…the chilling calmness, openness, honesty about killing and chopping up a 70-year-old lady. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen anything quite like it.”
Viewers may be wondering when episodes will next be released on television screens. However, in disappointing news, the documentary series does not appear on the television guide next week, instead, Channel 4 will premiere its adaptation of A Woman of Substance on Wednesday, March 11, at 9pm.
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24 Hours in Police Custody can be streamed on Channel 4 online.
For the latest showbiz, TV, movie and streaming news, go to the new **Everything Gossip** website.
The following article contains spoilers from the episode of Coronation Street dated March 5. It hasn’t aired on ITV1 yet, but can be viewed on ITVX.
Jodie Ramsey (Olivia Frances-Brown) could be about to take action to keep someone quiet in Coronation Street, as a Weatherfield resident has made a massive discovery about her.
The character, introduced to us during Corriedale, has spent the past couple of days at the hospital supporting David and Shona Platt (Jack P Shepherd and Julia Goulding), who were there for baby Harper’s operation.
Initially, Jodie and the rest of the Platt clan were in the hospital lobby waiting for news on Harper. However, when David and Shona learnt that their daughter had suffered a bleed, a stressed David told everyone to leave.
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Jodie stayed behind because she wanted to try to get closer to David. Whether this worked or not remains to be seen, but she did give David a hug, and he told her that she cannot tell anyone about it.
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While in the corridor, Jodie bumped into a mum who assumed that Harper was her daughter.
Jodie had to think on her feet in today’s episode, as the mum crossed paths with her again.
Prior to this, Shona and David discovered that Jodie had spent the entire night at the hospital with them. They thought it was a bit strange, but their exhaustion meant neither of them had the energy to grow suspicious.
When Jodie bumped into the mum, she happily chatted about Harper’s operation and once again pretended that she was her daughter. To Jodie’s shock, though, Shona was overhearing the entire thing.
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David and Shona have spent the past couple of days at hospital with Harper (Picture: ITV)
Jodie quickly claimed that the mum wasn’t very well mentally, and went along with her assumption that she was Harper’s mum because it was easier. Shona was far too tired to wonder if Jodie’s story was true, which meant she had got away with it.
Jodie’s ‘trophy box’ discovered
Meanwhile, at the Platt home, Lily (Grace Ashcroft-Gardner) was searching for some schoolwork. During this, she came across a box in a cupboard. Curious, she opened it and spotted the cut out of Bernie Winter’s (Jane Hazlegrove) face, which was stolen by Jodie a couple of days ago.
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When Jodie returned from the hospital, Lily confronted her aunt about the box. The teen had also noticed Brian Packham’s (Peter Gunn) book inside, and wondered why she had stolen it along with the picture of Bernie.
Jodie has previously told Lily that Shona won’t ever love her as much as Harper, because she isn’t her daughter (Picture: ITV)
Jodie did a very good job at covering up the truth and told Lily that she nicked the book because she wanted to stick up for her niece, as Shona and David never do.
Jodie asked Lily if she was going to keep quiet, and was thrown when the youngster said she wasn’t sure.
Left alone, Jodie had a dark look on her face, but is she going to do something to Lily to ensure she doesn’t tell anyone about the box, which seems to have items from her past victims inside?
New figures show more than 2,700 investors were “within touching distance” of ISA millionaire status in 2022-23 – and strong market gains since then mean many are likely to have now crossed the seven-figure mark.
Data obtained from HM Revenue and Customs via a Freedom of Information request shows around 5,070 people had Individual Savings Account (ISA) pots worth £1 million or more by April 2023.
But that may only tell part of the story.
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Further breakdowns requested by investment app Plum reveal:
1,240 ISA holders had between £950,000 and £999,999
1,530 investors held between £900,000 and £949,999
4,700 savers had pots worth £800,000 to £899,999
With stock markets rising in recent years, many of those investors may now have exceeded £1 million.
Nearly 60,000 savers above £500,000
The HMRC data also shows 59,970 ISA holders had balances between £500,000 and £999,999 in 2022-23.
Plum said a significant proportion of these investors could realistically join “millionaires’ row” within the next decade — assuming they remain invested and benefit from compounded growth.
Rajan Lakhani of Plum said: “Few people could ever have imagined that when the ISA launched, it would one day be creating tens of thousands of millionaires.”
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The milestone highlights the power of long-term investing.
Figures released in December by The National Lottery showed that since its launch in 1994, more than 7,700 millionaires have been created. It previously said 365 millionaires were made in 2025 alone.
But financial experts say investing offers something different: control.
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Maike Currie, vice president of personal finance at PensionBee, said: “What these figures tell us is the power of compounding and the importance of control – you can’t plan to win the Lottery, but you can plan to invest.
Not everyone will win the Lotto – most won’t.
Likewise, not everyone will be born into wealth, marry it or receive a life-changing inheritance.
But investing is within the reach of ordinary earners and ISAs are one of the most powerful tools we have to democratise that opportunity.”
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With the end of the tax year approaching, Currie said the figures are a reminder to use annual ISA and pension allowances before they reset.
“You don’t need luck – you need time, discipline and the decision to start,” she added.
For tens of thousands of investors already sitting on six-figure ISA balances, the leap to seven figures may be closer than they think.
And for everyone else, the message from experts is clear: while lottery wins grab headlines, steady long-term investing may be quietly building far more millionaires in the background.
As the war in the Middle East continues to rage on, The News’s former chief reporter Tom Cotterill found himself in the middle of the mayhem. Writing from Tel Aviv, Tom, who is now The Telegraph’s defence editor, describes his journey into Israel as Iranian missiles flew overhead.
A Brit living in Turkey has sent a message to holidaymakers amid the conflict in the Middle East. She said she’s not afraid, despite the “serious war” that’s breaking out
A Scottish woman, known as Your Lassie in Turkey on TikTok, recently posted her thoughts after she started receiving comments from people making assumptions about the conflict in Iran. She had a key message for Brits.
Speaking on Wednesday (March 4), she said: “There was an Iranian missile intercepted today. Now, I’ve read lots of different stories, and different news reports. Some reports are saying the missile was rogue, that it was heading for Cyprus, but then came in towards Turkey.
“I’ve heard that it was directly coming for Turkey, I’ve read a load of different things, so I don’t know what is 100% accurate, but what is accurate is that NATO did actually manage to intercept it over a believed Turkish airspace.
“Some people are saying it didn’t reach Turkish airspace, but it was intercepted anyway, so I’m going to go on to talk about that. A few things I would like to highlight here.
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“It’s extremely serious. Turkey has got a bit of a tricky balancing act to do. We’ve got a very long border with Iran. There’s been over 500 years of stability, there’s never been any direct problems between Turkey or Iran.
“The Turkish government and the Iranian government actually have a really good relationship. It’s very pragmatic, but there’s very strong economic and trade ties between both countries.”
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She also pointed out that Turkey is a NATO country, and that the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has a “very good” relationship with President Trump. Even though she describes Turkey as being “in the middle”, she also noted it’s a country that doesn’t want conflict.
She told people Turkey is “not involved in the conflict”, and life is currently as normal in the destination. In other words, people may have a very different idea of what it’s actually like there, as she feels safe at the moment.
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“Until we’re told otherwise, it’s safe to come to this country, and it’s safe to fly” she added. She said if the airlines are operating, and the government say it’s safe, there is generally no need to worry about travelling.
One person replied to her video, saying: “Love your videos. Our whole family will be visiting Turkey in June, we all love it. There are 14 of us!”
Another added: “Yes, you do know exactly what is going on, you are there. My husband is Cypriot, he called his mother in Cyprus this morning and Cypriot families are worried. Hope all is ok. Stay safe.”
A third replied: “To be honest, it’s very scary. I feel nowhere is safe now. Can change hour by hour. No point in worrying about it. Just need to get on with our lives until told otherwise.”
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Meanwhile, a fourth also commented: “Thanks for these updates. Our family will be visiting Turkey in June and looking forward to it. Been visiting Turkey for 20 years.”
What is the current travel guidance for Turkey?
As of March 5, the government website states: “FCDO advises against all travel to within 10km of the border with Syria due to fighting and a heightened risk of terrorism.
“Regional escalation poses significant security risks and has led to travel disruption.”
British nationals should:
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Read if you’re affected by a crisis abroad – GOV.UK. This includes guidance on “how to prepare for a crisis” with suggestions on what you might include in your emergency supplies and “what to do in a crisis”
Follow advice from the local authorities
Sign up to FCDO Travel Advice email alerts
Monitor local and international media for the latest information
Stay away from areas around security or military facilities
Keep your departure plans under review, and ensure your travel documents are up to date
If you are advised to take shelter, stay indoors or find the nearest safe building or designated shelter. An interior stairwell or a room with as few external walls or windows as possible may provide additional protection
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The parking measures in North Berwick have proven controversial and would allow just 45 minutes of free parking in the high street.
Residents of a seaside town are at war with new parking meters with 40k worth of damage caused by vandalism before they are even switched on.
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Around 30 out of 40 new machines in affluent North Berwick have been spray painted with graffiti, smashed and even covered in glue – before they have collected a penny.
Some of the meters around the plush town have been defaced with stickers featuring the campaign slogan “Resist”.
However just weeks before the new parking laws are set to come into effect damage has been caused to the machines already.
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The parking measures have proved controversial and would allow just 45 minutes of free parking in the high street.
Drivers in the area would then be charged £1 for up to 75 minutes and £2 for up to a maximum of 90 minutes.
The new rules were due to start this week but that has now been put back to April.
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Locals say a 7000 strong petition calling for them not to be installed was ignored by council bosses.
One local said: “There are only a couple of weeks when it’s busy in the summer, the rest of the time, it’s fine as it is, so it’s really just moneymaking.
“The way the council snuck it through wasn’t very good
“The charges aren’t required. There are plenty parking spaces. Nobody can condone vandalism, but everybody hopes they don’t get caught.
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“I think they should take away the charges. There was a petition that got about 7000 signatures – the towns only got a population of 10,000 – and they ignored it. It’s totally undemocratic.”
Another said: “In my view, it’s not a significant amount of money they’re charging for it, and it should keep traffic flowing through the high street.
“I don’t think it’ll impact businesses that much – I don’t think it’s a bad thing. I don’t agree with the vandalism at all, I think it’s out of order.”
Jane Leason, from Yorkshire but regularly holidays to North Berwick in motorhome and thinks the campaign is “hilarious.
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He said: “It’s a lovely place. If you stop cars coming through and put restraints on people, the businesses will suffer.
“I think the ‘Resist Campaign’ is so funny. It’s our demographic. Older people know how to fight for things and they’re not going to put up with too much.
“Councils think they can wear people down, but they can’t wear older people down. Yes it does get busy during the summer – we know, we come here in the summer – but places like this need tourists to come.
“And during the quiet seasons, locals just want to enjoy their lives as they are, not pay for tourists.
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Robert Leason said: “This shows the council needs to listen to what the local people are saying.
“The council is too big and too remote to listen to what people are saying, but now people are saying “you need to take notice of us.”
Alana Anderson, owner of Madame Butterfly, local business added: “I’ve been here eighteen years and when I first heard about the meters, I was terrified. I’m still terrified.
“You read social media and see people saying they won’t come to North Berwick again, and the council aren’t doing anything to reassure business owners.
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“I don’t live in North Berwick, and I don’t know where I’m going to park. It’s a tricky place – people might just get in their fancy cars and go to Tesco.
“I don’t think vandalism is the answer, however I’m not really surprised. I do think it’s taking it a wee bit far, because I don’t think they’re going to change the council’s mind.
“They’ve put the machines in, and they’re not going to take them down. The vandalism won’t get us anywhere. It’s delayed it for a couple of months, but I don’t think it’ll get us anywhere. I think it’s fighting a losing battle.”
Andy Robertson, local resident – “After the holiday season is over, there’s loads of spaces to park.
“I have family that live outside Glasgow, and they have cars – where are they going to park? They’re not just coming for half an hour or an hour, so I’ll have to buy three parking tickets.
“The vandalism is just stupidity – it’s just extra money. The machines will need to be repaired, and where is that money going to come from? It’ll be us.
“The council are going to do what they’re going to do. They are the power and they’re going to do what they think they should do.”
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Carol Smith, local resident said: “I’m against the meters. The parking is only an issue during the summer months when all the visitors come.
“I think it’s unnecessary and it’s causing issues for people on residential streets who don’t have drives. I think it will cause chaos.
“I think the vandalism is wrong. I sympathise with the feelings behind it, but I think it’s just going to cost us more money to get them repaired.
“I don’t think the council has listened to the residents at all. I’ve heard stories of people saying they’ll never set foot in North Berwick now.”
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East Lothian Council leader Norman Hampshire told the BBC: “The council budget can’t afford to employ traffic wardens and the income from the parking charges will allow us to employ them.
“If people think by vandalising the machines they will stop the parking charges coming in, we will bring them in. We need to do this.
“North Berwick is a small town, some people will know who is responsible for the vandalism and Police Scotland are confident they’ll be able to apprehend the people responsible.”
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IPS UK that installed them described the vandalism as “totally extraordinary”.
Managing director Freddie Jones told the BBC: “We have experience of commissioning thousands of parking meters across the whole UK over a number of years.
“We have never seen the sheer volume and extent of the vandalism which has taken place in North Berwick.
“For a project of this type, it is completely unprecedented.”
John Wellwood, of North Berwick Community Council, said it was pushing for a legal review of the measures and the process of implementing it.
He said: “We don’t condone the vandalism; in fact we condemn it.
“But the strength of feeling in the town is massive.
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“This is what everybody is against and we can’t find anyone who is trying to support it apart from the council.
“Everything we have tried has been blocked by East Lothian Council. So I can understand the frustration people are feeling”.
Insp Alan King, of Police Scotland, said the vandalism had caused great expense to the “public purse” while councils were “bearing what are harsh economic times”.
East Lothian Council said the delay was not due to the vandalism.
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East Lothian Council leader, Councillor Norman Hampshire told the BBC those responsible for defacing the machines would have “action taken against them”.
“The council budget can’t afford to employ traffic wardens and the income from the parking charges will allow us to employ them,” he said.
“If people think by vandalising the machines they will stop the parking charges coming in, we will bring them in. We need to do this.
“North Berwick is a small town, some people will know who is responsible for the vandalism and Police Scotland are confident they’ll be able to apprehend the people responsible.”
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The council described the designs as ‘bland’ and ‘repetitive’
Plans to build nearly 30 homes in a small village with “limited services” have been refused. The Cambridge Housing Society submitted plans to East Cambridgeshire District Council to build 27 affordable homes on land west of Ely Road in Little Thetford.
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The homes proposed were 23 rented and four shared ownership homes. These included: six one-bed flats, three one-bed bungalows, seven two-bed houses, a pair of two-bed houses, four two-bed bungalows, four three-bed houses and one four-bed house.
The housing association said the plans provide “100% affordable housing” with a “balanced mix” of “high quality” homes. These plans have now been refused by the council.
In stating its decision for refusal, the council said that the “affordable housing need for Little Thetford had been assessed and met through a previously approved scheme”.
The council added: “The application site is adjacent to Little Thetford, however, the village has very limited services and facilities, resulting in residents having to leave the village for the majority of their daily needs.”
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The council also said the plans would cause “harm to the character” of the area. The designs of the homes were also seen as “repetitive and bland”, and would bring “poor quality design into the countryside”.
For anyone who may have moved to these homes, the council thought they would be affected by noise. There was also not enough information on how highways would be affected, as well as “insufficient” information on the watercourse.
Initially after the plans were submitted, they received 48 public comments and these were all objections. On resident in Dewsbury Gardens a junction at the front of the village was “dangerous enough”, and adding more traffic would make it “even more dangerous”.
Another person in Watsons Lane believed there wasn’t a “need” for the homes. One resident in Chapel Close mentioned that the village had “very limited amenities” and an “unreliable bus service”.
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They added: “With the addition of 27 dwellings and 61 parking spaces within the development this would cause significant congestion to an already dangerous junction which has visibility constraints.”
A five-year-old boy from Cambridgeshire died after an allergic reaction at school in December 2021. His mother has welcomed new government requirements for mandatory allergy training and adrenaline pens in schools.
Katie Green and Jasmine Norden Press Association Education Correspondent
08:00, 05 Mar 2026
A mother, whose five-year-old son tragically passed away following an allergic reaction at school, has expressed her support for new measures aimed at safeguarding children with allergies.
Helen Blythe, whose son Benedict died at Barnack Primary School, near Peterborough, in 2021, said that the new requirements will make it “less likely for other families to go through what we’ve been through”.
The government has unveiled statutory requirements for schools, replacing the previous non-statutory guidance on protecting children with allergies. Under the proposed measures, currently under consultation, schools will be required to provide mandatory allergy awareness training for all staff, keep spare allergy pens on hand for emergencies, and establish comprehensive plans to support children with medical conditions.
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These requirements, set to be implemented in September, follow campaigning efforts by the National Allergy Strategy Group and families, including Helen and Peter Blythe. The guidance will stipulate that schools should have individual healthcare plans for pupils with medical conditions.
For instance, a child with epilepsy should have a plan detailing seizure types and emergency procedures. Speaking to the Press Association, Mrs Blythe said: “This is something we’ve campaigned for for a long time as a family. It’s been a hard campaign, both work-wise and emotionally.
“These measures will make it less likely for other families to go through what we’ve been through. And for Benedict his memory will be etched into the history books and into time.
“We’ve always said that his life mattered and his death should matter too. And in this it does, it’s his legacy, and that means a lot.”
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The Blythe family have been campaigning for the introduction of Benedict’s Law to mandate allergy safety in schools for four years. The new protections were not in place when Benedict joined his school, Mr and Mrs Blythe said.
Minister for early education Olivia Bailey said: “No parent should have to send their child to school worried that a life-threatening allergic reaction won’t be handled swiftly. We have listened to the families and organisations who have campaigned tirelessly on this issue, and we are acting.
“These new requirements will give parents the confidence that every school has the training, the plans and the equipment in place to keep their child safe.”
Benedict died following accidental exposure to cow’s milk protein at his school. An inquest found the school didn’t follow all the measures in place to prevent the fatal anaphylactic reaction, and that there were risks of contamination and delays in administering an adrenaline pen.
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A prevention of future deaths report said initial investigations into Benedict’s death focused on him having eaten a McVitie’s biscuit that he had brought in from home on the day he collapsed. It was later established that the biscuit was not the cause of Benedict’s anaphylactic reaction, and an inquest concluded that he had likely been given cow’s milk protein in his bottle during break time.
In her report, coroner Elizabeth Gray stated that the failure to retain Benedict’s vomit or preserve evidence at the scene meant samples could not be tested, which could have helped to identify what caused Benedict’s reaction at an earlier stage.
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the school leaders’ union NAHT, welcomed the new guidance, but emphasised that schools need funding to ensure they have the staffing capacity to fulfil duties and can provide specialist health support where necessary.
He added that some specialist health support, where more complex provision is required, cannot be delegated to school staff even with training, and schools need clarification about what to do in these situations.
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He said: “Expecting schools to stock ‘spare’ adrenaline auto-injectors for use in emergency situations appears a sensible step, as is training staff to use them effectively. However, the government need to be confident that there are sufficient stocks maintained across the country to ensure each setting can keep a sufficient share of adrenaline auto-injectors.”
Colin McCourt, 41, has three children who he cares for on a fixed arrangement but says dating him isn’t “impossible”.
A man says women want to date a “hot single dad” – until they realise his kids come “first”.
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Colin McCourt, 41, says many women like the idea of dating a devoted father but struggle with the reality of his rigid childcare schedule.
The single dad-of-three has revealed the “hard truths” of dating him – and says it’s not “impossible” but “organised, structured and child-first”.
But he says he’ll always have full snack cupboard, and will always take the bins out without being asked.
Colin, a team manager from Glasgow, said: “People don’t expect it to be this structured.
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“They think you’ll just work around things.
“But you’re not just dating me, you’re dating a court calendar organised by someone in a suit I can’t afford.
“I’d rather someone know the hard truths straight away.
“Dating me isn’t impossible. It’s just organised, structured and child-first.
“And if someone understands that, then it can actually be something really solid.”
Colin shares care of his three children – aged four, seven and nine – on a fixed arrangement.
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Some weeks he has them for three days, other weeks for six, leaving limited and often late-night windows to meet someone new.
He said: “I could meet at 8:45pm on a Tuesday, but I’m not free Friday nights. There’s only so much you can build through voice notes and the odd coffee squeezed into a gap.”
He says spontaneity – often seen as a cornerstone of romance – simply isn’t realistic.
Colin said: “Spontaneous plans are adorable. But I need at least a weeks notice.
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“People will say, ‘let’s just go away this weekend,’ and I can’t. My life doesn’t work like that.”
One of the biggest hurdles, he says, is finding someone whose availability aligns with his.
He said: “You have to find someone whose weekends line up with yours.
“If they don’t, you probably can’t switch them. There’s a lot of time, money and legal structure that goes into having that routine.”
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Colin is also firm about boundaries when it comes to introducing a partner to his children.
“Someone might say, ‘I’ll come on the school run with you,’ but that’s not a cute date idea,” he said.
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“That’s weird if you want to do that when we have just met – that bit is the Champions League of dating, that won’t come for a long time.
“How is picking up my kids a cute date idea? It’s not.
“If you’re seeing someone every other weekend, and I have been seeing them for three months, then I have only seen them six times. That isn’t that much time at all.”
He insists the restrictions aren’t about putting a partner second, but about protecting his children.
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He said: “It’s not that I’m choosing someone else over you, I’m choosing my children first. And I’d expect the same from anyone I date if they had kids too.
“I date mainly single mums, so they don’t find it difficult as they understand the process.
“I think its more a problem for them when I move something for the kids when its not my weekend – maybe the mum was ill or something – and they tell me I shouldn’t be doing it and it’s not my responsibility.
“But it is, they are my kids.
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“It is so difficult to date as a single dad because when you have been in relationship for a long time and then going out and being free to date and choose who you like – you have to figure out what you want.
“Even if you have done healing and therapy, finding what you are looking for is really difficult and finding someone to match that and find a similar person on your journey.”
Colin says he also feels there’s an added layer of judgement attached to being a single father.
He said: “The perception is that single dads must have done something wrong.
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“There’s this assumption that we caused the break-up or walked away. That’s not always the case.
“Some of us were left. Some relationships just don’t work out.”
Originally moving to Glasgow to be with his former partner, Colin says the end of the relationship left him isolated.
He said: “My family don’t live in Glasgow. I work from home and I don’t have many friends around me.
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“When the kids are with me, I’m busy and focused. When they’re not, the house is quiet. That’s when the isolation hits.”
He admits he has questioned who would want to date a single dad-of-three with such a tight schedule.
Colin said: “You do think, ‘Who is going to want this type of man?’
“But the reality is, we are men who show up for their kids. Not every single dad is the problem.”
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Now, Colin hopes that by being upfront about the challenges, he can manage expectations from the start.
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