GoFundMe has been accused of deceptively adding “tips” to donations that go to the company and not helping others.

The fundraising site has skyrocketed in popularity since it launched in 2010, helping strangers connect with grieving families struggling to pay for funeral costs or those who can’t afford to pay for medical bills after a tragic accident. Donors can send money to those in need through GoFundMe with a click of a button.

But when people go to donate to a charitable cause of their choice on the site, they are also hit with an automatic tip to the company that they can opt out of, a practice that a recently filed lawsuit claims is tricking donors into paying more.

“Once automatically added, GoFundMe makes the ‘tips’ difficult to remove, forcing consumers to hunt around for a way to remove them,” according to a lawsuit filed in a federal court in Illinois last month by Sandra Donovan of Illinois and Ebony Baker of Georgia, who have both made donations on GoFundMe.

The Independent, which obtained the lawsuit from ClassAction.org, has reached out to GoFundMe for comment.

The lawsuit also challenges how GoFundMe explains the tipping option on its site.

When donors go to pay on the site, the company has a blurb that reads, “GoFundMe has a 0% platform fee for organizers and relies primarily on the generosity of donors like you to operate our service.”

But the lawsuit argues that this description is “false,” adding, “In reality, completely unbeknownst to those who donate through its website, GoFundMe funds its services by charging charitable organizations hefty transaction fees on each donation they receive.”

GoFundMe says on its site that while it’s free to create a fundraiser, the company charges “one small transaction fee per donation.”

The fee varies slightly depending on who creates the fundraiser. Individuals and businesses are charged 2.9 percent of the donation plus $0.30, while certified nonprofits are charged 2.2 percent of the donation plus $0.30.

“Donors act quickly, often emotionally, and with the reasonable expectation that their money will go where they intend—toward helping others, not toward undisclosed or preselected middleman fees like the ‘tips’ charged by GoFundMe,” the lawsuit claims.

Donovan and Baker “paid money they did not knowingly authorize, conferring an improper financial benefit on GoFundMe” because of the company’s business practices, the lawsuit argues.

Donovan and Baker’s lawyers are asking the court to certify the case as a class action and are demanding a jury trial to stop GoFundMe’s “deceptive conduct and return its ill-gotten gains,” according to the lawsuit.

A GoFundMe spokesperson told The Independent that the company “exists to help people help each other, and we have carefully designed our business model to deliver as much support as possible to those who need it – the beneficiaries of fundraisers.

“Donors have the choice to leave GoFundMe an optional tip, which helps us provide fundraising technology, customer support, and Trust & Safety protections to our community. Tips are completely voluntary and can easily be adjusted to any amount, including zero.”

The spokesperson said the claims in the lawsuit have “no merit.”

“The majority of donors adjust the suggested tip amount, and many choose to leave no tip at all. Before completing a donation, donors are shown a clear breakdown of their donation, optional tip, and total,” the spokesperson said. “Whether a donor chooses to leave a tip has no impact on the amount the fundraiser beneficiary or nonprofit receives.”

This article was updated on September 11, 2026, to include a statement from GoFundMe.

Andy Burnham and his Home Office cohorts would be very much happier if this lot were all in black hoodies and balaclavas, like the new breed of anti-migrant protester we have seen in recent days in Dover and Portsmouth (and, indeed, outside the offices of the Daily Mail).

How much easier it would be to demonise them as either the dark forces of the Far Right or a bunch of nutters – or both.

Instead, infuriatingly, these people are in jumpers, gilets, jackets and jeans. In short – though not in shorts – they are in country casual. 

Quite a lot of them are farmers. Others are accountants, engineers, builders, housewives and public servants. Many, if not most, are women. And I cannot see a single face-covering between them.

Nor can the spin doctors paint them as knuckle-dragging Reform/Restore voters since, at the last elections, they returned a Lib Dem and a full hat-trick of Lib Dem local councillors (though they may not go down that route again in future). No one here has been attaching British and English flags to the handful of local lampposts.

These are the people of Piddington, the pretty Oxfordshire village of 358 souls which is about to vote on leaving the United Kingdom, having been told that it will shortly accommodate more than 1,250 asylum seekers. 

All young, single, undocumented males, they will be free to come and go from their digs in a former Ministry of Defence (MoD) site on the edge of the village.

With no shops or cafes in Piddington and nothing to do all day, some may board the first available bus to nearby Bicester – on the rare occasions when one actually turns up. But what about the rest of them the rest of the time? 

Daily Mail reporter Robert Hardman at Piddington in Oxfordshire, where a former Ministry of Defence (MoD) site was revealed as a planned asylum-seeker camp earlier this year

These are some of the many questions flying around the room this week as I drop in on a gathering which feels more like the Boston Tea Party than your ordinary parish council meeting.

For I find the village making its final plans ahead of Tuesday’s historic vote on a simple yes/no issue: Should Piddington secede from the United Kingdom and become a principality – like Monaco or Liechtenstein? 

The result will be announced, by-election style, on Wednesday morning. And I am more than happy to wager my house on the result.

Before this week’s gathering closes and people adjourn to the bar, I ask parish council chairman Tim McNally to read out the question on the ballot paper – ‘Yes or No: I support Piddington seeking to secede from the United Kingdom and pursuing self-determination’. 

I then ask those packed into the village hall (most of the electorate) to raise their hands if they intend to vote ‘Yes’. The result is a thumping Vladimir Putin/North Korea-style nem con slam dunk: 100 per cent in favour.

Nonetheless, the referendum will be held formally and correctly, under strict electoral protocols with numbered voting papers and a secret ballot. It will not be legally binding, since the Government has not authorised the vote.

One local council official has actually warned the villagers that it is illegal. So much for all that chips ‘n gravy baloney about localism and devolution from ‘King of the North’ Andy Burnham. Here in rural Oxfordshire they want their own Prince of Piddington.

It is now two months since the Daily Mail first dropped in on this saga. Back then, I likened it, half-jokingly, to the plot of the old 1949 Ealing comedy, Passport To Pimlico – in which the residents of a small London district discover an ancient treaty which means they are still part of Burgundy and, thus, not British and not subject to post-war rations and taxes.

The Home Office announced plans to house more than one thousand asylum seekers on the edge of the village

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Our Piddington story captured the imagination of the national and international media, not least because it has all the essential ingredients – picture postcard village with funny name/medieval church/rolling acres/history/colourful cross-section of articulate locals. It could easily host an episode of Midsomer Murders, a series filmed just down the road.

Yet behind the good humour and the sensible jerseys, these locals are every bit as serious and angry as those Poundland paramilitaries in their balaclavas down on the South Coast.

Back in July, neither the local MP for Bicester and Woodstock, Lib Dem Calum Miller, nor Cherwell District Council, run by the Lib Dems with Green support, wanted to talk to me about this local uprising. 

They had voiced the mandatory dismay at the lack of consultation from the Home Office, having been told out of the blue that the old MoD depot on the edge of Piddington was scheduled to become an open-door migrant centre.

However, not wanting to look in any way xenophobic, the MP then signed a letter in support of the asylum seekers while the council steered all questions to the Home Office which, in turn, said it was committed to moving small boat arrivals out of hotels.

The official response, in other words, was to write off the story as a sweet little silly season spasm of local anger and let it all blow over in a week or two.

Except, the Piddington story has not gone away. The world’s media has followed the Daily Mail down here. TV networks from America to Australia have latched on to the story. Even the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, has pitched in to voice support.

Here is a Government spin doctor’s nightmare: A grass-roots movement which resolutely refuses to fall into a stereotypical subset ripe for demonisation as either ‘Far Right’ or ‘Nimby’.

Robert Hardman attended a meeting hosted by Piddington locals, who are opposed to a migrant camp being set up next to their village

In light of the plans, Piddington voted to hold a symbolic referendum on leaving the UK 

You need only look at this week’s video message from the female half of the village which has already clocked up more than two million hits without even trying. It is accompanied by a letter to every female MP asking for solidarity in the face of an influx of single foreign young men with nothing to do except hang around a village.

As the 133-strong ‘Women of Piddington’ state in their appeal to the parliamentary sisterhood: ‘They would outnumber us ten to one. As fellow women, you will understand the serious risks.’

In fact, they could be outnumbered 26 to one if the Home Office opts to install 3,500 asylum seekers here, as an earlier blueprint suggested, although officials have now denied that this is the plan. 

The ‘Women of Piddington’ are not stopping there, of course. When Samantha Phillips stands up at this week’s meeting to offer a course in female self-defence, all 26 places are swiftly snapped up.

It is just another example of how this village has found a very effective alternative to blokes in balaclavas. Piddington is now on the map with a smile rather than a scowl. It also seems to have an uncanny knack for publicity.

It was back in July that the chairman of the parish council, management consultant Tim McNally, deliberately chose July 4 for a vote on whether to stage a referendum at all. ‘The USA was celebrating 250 years of independence on the same day and we thought we’d model ourselves on them,’ he told me at the time.

A polling booth was set up at the village hall for the day – all of it monitored on CCTV – and the result was an overwhelming vote in favour of holding an independence referendum (plus one invitation to a barn dance).

The campaigners then fixed a date for that plebiscite. Next Tuesday, September 15, seemed perfect. It comes ahead of Thursday’s deadline for contributions to the ‘public consultation’ on the quadrupling of the local population. 

The tiny Oxfordshire village has a population of just 350

Everyone accepts that this process is merely a box-ticking exercise which the Government must always undertake before pressing ahead with whatever it has decided to do in the first place.

Piddington therefore picked Tuesday so that the vote can be announced before the deadline.

‘I was on TV explaining that we would be holding our vote on September 15,’ recalls Mr McNally. ‘Then the presenter said, ‘So you have chosen Battle of Britain Day’. It was only then that I realised that we really had. So we are now calling ourselves ‘Ground Zero for the Battle of Britain’.’

September 15 is, indeed, the official anniversary of the 114-day battle in 1940. The Home Office spin doctors will be displeased to hear that a supporter has offered to fly a Spitfire over Piddington next week. ‘Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. It will depend on the weather,’ adds Mr McNally.

This is a slick operation in every regard. This week’s meeting includes media training. Villagers are told to expect saturation press attention and ‘to speak from the heart’ about what they want for the principality of Piddington. ‘Tax-free shopping!’ shouts one old chap at the back to gales of laughter.

Mr McNally is recruiting local children to design a new flag for an independent Piddington. This is a canny electorate. Many are boffins from the world of Formula One, given the concentration of motor racing teams in and around Oxfordshire.

Engineer James Burton has designed a very professional new Tiktok video to go with the new Piddington song – ‘It’s the Battle for Britain’ – complete with computer-generated wartime scenes and a dazzling heroine in Forties chic.

‘Everyone in this hall is of a certain age, let’s face it,’ he says. ‘We want to reach 16-24-year-olds all over the country.’

Pictured: A security guard is pictured at the entrance of the proposed migrant camp  

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The village is scouring the Whitehall rulebook to use it against Whitehall, not least draconian bat protection legislation. 

Farmer Joy Haw-Cook, 56, has been put in charge of the bat survey and stands up to report on her findings with a local bat expert in to help. ‘One of them is incredibly rare and is on the Red List as ‘one of the rarest and most elusive mammals in the UK’. So that is really great news for us!’ She receives a hefty round of applause.

‘Call me Batwoman or ‘Old Bat’,’ she jokes. ‘I didn’t know much about bats before but I do now and you can’t disturb very rare bats until the breeding season is over. A judge could put an injunction on the site until May.’

‘People just feel the Government is not listening,’ says accountant and deputy chair of the parish council, Susannah Parden, who has been appointed returning officer for the referendum.

‘We are giving all our freedoms to people who have simply broken into the country and we feel unsafe,’ says Krissy Honour, a farmer with a 13-year-old daughter. ‘She’s got her own flock of sheep on our smallholding right next to the MoD. I won’t be letting her out to look after them if we have no idea who these men are.’

Communities in the same boat from across Britain have been in touch with the Piddington team to discuss tactics.

The campaigners here are also feeding their research and ideas into a broader protest group drawn from across the Bicester area. Called ‘Wrong Plan. Wrong Site’, it is seeking a judicial review of the Home Office’s decision.

More legalistic in tone, this has the support of the local MP. 

‘Residents across our community have worked to expose the serious flaws in the proposal to build an asylum centre at MoD Bicester,’ says Calum Miller in a written statement. 

‘My goal has been to unite the various local groups around a community-based, inclusive campaign so that our area speaks with one voice to Government in expressing our opposition. I have challenged the Prime Minister to live up to his pledge to give agency and control back to local areas.’

He declines to say how he would vote in the referendum, if he lived in Piddington.

I get no response from Cherwell Council, although Mr McNally says he received a ‘curious’ call from them. ‘We got a missed call and rang it straight back and it was the council’s electoral services department. They said they hadn’t called but then said that the referendum was against the law. We are only allowed to hold a vote on things like what colour to paint the church gates.’

Ultimately, last week’s scenes on the coast and next week’s vote in Piddington all underline the same point: No one in Britain is buying the old liberal narrative that the (ever-expanding) small boats are packed with doctors, engineers and families fleeing war and oppression. Nor do people believe that they are ‘frontline’ workers without whom the NHS will implode.

It is accepted that these are, simply, people – many from peaceful Commonwealth countries – with an unimpeachable aspiration to make a better life for themselves and also the wherewithal to pay a people smuggler £3,000 for a ride on a boat.

Once they land, they can pretend to be whatever and whoever they like and, according to a Home Office whistleblower, they will be believed. As The Times revealed this week, the number of those granted asylum who are actually in genuine need of asylum stands at just 1 per cent.

None of which is the primary concern of the ‘Women of Piddington’ whom I meet.

 What concerns them most is the fact that their future neighbours have such a limited grasp of British culture and norms that the Government now feels the need to issue them with leaflets informing them that rape is illegal.

That is why, come Wednesday morning’s referendum result, Piddington will be casting around for a prince.

The train came off the tracks near Cleon in Normandy at around 7.45pm on Friday

At least 44 people have sustained injuries after a passenger train carrying approximately 180 people came off the rails in northern France, authorities have confirmed.

The train derailed close to Cléon in Normandy at roughly 7.45pm on September 11, resulting in one carriage overturning and four carriages leaving the tracks.

Reports from the area have subsequently indicated the casualty count may be greater, with an 18-year-old woman understood to be in a critical condition and 43 passengers believed to have sustained minor injuries.

A major emergency operation was launched in response to the incident, with French Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot confirming 140 firefighters had been dispatched to the location.

The regional TER train had been travelling between Rouen and Caen when it derailed between Tourville and Elbeuf-Saint-Aubin, within the Cléon commune area of Seine-Maritime, reports the Express.

Mr Tabarot stated: “At this time, the provisional report indicates about twenty injured. 140 firefighters are deployed on site to provide assistance to the injured and passengers.

“Along with the prefect, who is heading to the scene and coordinating the mobilization of emergency services, and the SNCF teams, we are closely following the situation.”

The prefecture of Normandy and Seine-Maritime gave a separate estimate that roughly 200 passengers had been aboard, contrasting with the figure of 180 provided by the transport minister.

It stated: “A passenger train operating the Rouen-Caen route derailed this evening, Friday, September 11, around 7:45 pm, near the municipalities of Cléon and Tourville-la-Rivière.”

“Approximately 200 passengers were on board.”

The Seine-Maritime prefect activated the departmental operational centre at 8pm, merely 15 minutes following the derailment, and initiated the ORSEC NOVI emergency plan for incidents involving multiple casualties.

The prefecture urged the public to keep clear of the area, stating: “It is requested to avoid the area. Situation updates will be communicated regularly.”

Questions are now surfacing about what led to the train leaving the rails.

A police source told French broadcaster BFMTV that the regional train collided with an unidentified object prior to the derailment.

Nevertheless, the cause of the crash has yet to be officially confirmed.

One woman quoted by local media described shattered windows following the impact, with passengers reportedly hurt by flying glass and debris inside the train.

Rail services have been entirely halted in both directions on the Rouen-Caen line following the derailment.

Services on the Paris-Rouen-Le Havre and Rouen-Amiens routes have also faced significant disruption, according to local reports.

Emergency operations continue at the scene and the public prosecutor’s office has now opened an investigation to establish the cause of the accident.

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New research has shown that nearly half of drivers get worried when an emergency vehicle comes their way

Drivers are being reminded of what to do when an emergency vehicle approaches. It comes as new research of 1,292 car owners commissioned by car insurance expert MoneySuperMarket found that millions of motorists reported panicking and making risky manoeuvres when they hear a siren approaching.

According to the new survey by MoneySuperMarket, more than 17 million (41%) motorists admitted to panicking when they hear approaching sirens from an emergency vehicle, such as an ambulance, police car or fire engine.

More than one in four drivers (27%), equivalent to 11.5 million motorists, said they had made a risky manoeuvre, such as harsh braking, swerving or mounting a kerb, when an emergency vehicle approached, potentially increasing the risk for themselves and other road users.

When asked about knowing what to do when an emergency vehicle approaches with a siren going, less than a quarter (23%) said they knew the correct way to react every time; only 4% say they never know how to correctly react and more than two in five (45%) reported feeling anxious when they hear a siren.

Younger drivers were the most affected group, with those aged 18 to 24 twice as likely to feel anxious when they hear a siren compared to the over-55s (66% vs 32%). Drivers aged 18 to 24 were also more likely to say they had panicked and made a risky manoeuvre than drivers aged over 55, at 54% compared with 12%.

Alicia Hempsted, car insurance expert at MoneySuperMarket, said: “Hearing a siren can make drivers feel under pressure, but sudden or unpredictable movements can create additional danger. Drivers should stay calm, check their surroundings, and make space only when it is safe and legal to do so. Knowing how to respond before an emergency vehicle approaches can help motorists act confidently while protecting other road users and emergency crews.”

What to do when an emergency vehicle approaches

Rule 219 of the Highway Code advises drivers not to panic, to consider the route of the emergency vehicle and to take appropriate action to let it pass while complying with traffic signs.

In practice, this means:

• Check your mirrors and work out where the emergency vehicle is likely to go
• Indicate and move to the side of the road in a controlled way, if it’s safe to do so
• Avoid stopping in a blind spot, bend, junction or narrow stretch of road
• Never mount the kerb, block a junction or brake sharply in the middle of the road
• Do not break traffic laws to make way – running a red light, entering a bus lane, or driving into a yellow box junction are still offences, even if you’re trying to help
• Once it’s passed safely, check your mirrors again before rejoining traffic

The data was collected via a survey of 1,292 UK drivers (aged 18+) conducted by Censuswide, with all data correct as of September 2026.

The percentages were based on more than 42 million people currently possessing a complete UK driving licence, according to data from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA).

Two in five respondents, 41%, said they felt panicked when they heard an approaching emergency siren. This is equivalent to an estimated 17 million motorists when applied to the stated licence-holder population, the researchers said.

Beverley Callard has spoken out about how she is “not herself” amid her cancer battle and was recently forced to cancel huge plans with a loved one because she just wasn’t feeling up to it

Beverley Callard has admitted she is struggling with having to put her life on hold amid her breast cancer battle.

The actress, 69, announced earlier this year that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer around the time she joined RTE soap Fair City. The soap legend, who is best known for having starred as Rovers Return landlady on Coronation Street on and off for 30 years, has been keeping her fans updated ever since.

On Friday night, the star, who recently completed radiotherapy, explained to her followers that she is currently preparing for “more tests and scans” as well as an endoscopy, for which she will have to be sedated.

Whilst she had had a great week at work, she found the days “long and hard” and by the time the weekend rolled around, she was left unable to attend a close friend’s wedding.

Speaking in a new video posted to Instagram, she said: “Oh, it’s been a hell of a week. In some ways, it’s been fantastic. Work was amazing, fantastic scripts. I was working with great actors, so we did really good stuff, but also we laughed a lot as well, it was amazing. But they were long, hard days.

“And it catches up with you when you’re not well. It’s great for me in one way, because it takes your mind off everything. I’m at work again but I’ve also got to have more tests now, and more scans.

“And the first one is on Thursday, I have to have an endoscopy. And apparently, I’ve got to be sedated for that, so they’re just checking out inside and seeing how that all is.

“But I am tired, and I’m not myself yet. To be honest, the whole thing just makes you put real life on hold, and I find that quite hard. I should have been going to a really mega Irish wedding tonight of someone who’s very dear to me, and I’m not up to it. I’m not up to partying yet, at all. I will be, I’m sure, but not just yet.

“So, time will tell. I’m trying my best. Today, I’ve been very lazy aside from walking the dogs, which you can have a look at on John’s Instagram! Yes, walking in the countryside. And thanks for all your messages, and keep telling me how you’re doing, please, as well.”

Beverley, who is also known for starring in Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps and last year filmed I’m A Celebrity…South Africa but was unable to attend the live final due to her illness, was optimistic about the situation in the caption of her post.

She wrote: “A bit of a chat about how I fell and what’s next…just don’t feel myself at all…but I WILL get there.” Beverley was instantly supported by her followers in the comments section of the post.

One wrote: “Keep going Bev. It’s really hard at times, especially the caner fatigue but take each day at a time.” Another said: “Sending love from a long time Corrie fan. You’re doing fantastic.”

Another said: “All you can do is your best and your body will tell you when you’re able,” whilst a fourth said: “Hang in there lovely lady. All the best this week.”

If you have been affected by this story, advice and support can be found at Breast Cancer Support.

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Qasim Rizwan, from Bolton, required every unit of rare blood available to him in the country after being diagnosed with autoimmune haemolytic anaemia (AIHA). Doctors initially struggled to match his blood type but scientists discovered he was a rare mix, including r’r’, a subtype of the Rhesus system that is shared by roughly one in 10,000 people. Only around 50 blood donors are type r’r’. Qasim, now 9, visited NHSBT’s national frozen blood bank in Liverpool in August with his father Rizwan Ahmed, 46, and brother Yusuf to thank staff for their help (NHSBT/PA)

A Just Stop Oil protester who likened himself to the Suffragettes after he smashed up a petrol station has had his medical license suspended again for showing ‘no remorse’ for his actions. 

The Doctor, Patrick Hart, complained he couldn’t protest any more because of ‘draconian’ British laws. 

Dr Hart used a hammer and chisel to smash 16 Esso petrol pumps on the M25 in 2022. 

He refused to show remorse for his protest action, which landed him in jail, but said he could no longer attend any protests ‘because he does not want to spend the rest of his life in prison’.

The doctor has likened himself to the Suffragettes by saying that they are ‘celebrated now’ but they ‘acted in a similar way to resist unjust laws and effect change’. 

The outspoken GP, who has appeared on Good Morning Britain, was jailed for 12 months for a Just Stop Oil protest, which blocked a service station on the M25 in 2022. 

He said he took part in the demonstration because he felt he had done all he could to combat the ‘crisis’ and that the effects of the heatwave put ‘increased pressure’ on the NHS, a professional tribunal heard.

The doctor previously told a court that he ‘regrets nothing’ and ‘reminded the Tribunal of actions taken by figures such as Martin Luther King Junior and Nelson Mandela’. 

Last year he was suspended from practising for ten months by the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS). 

Now, he has been suspended from practising for a further ten months after a panel found he showed a ‘contempt both for certain laws and the Tribunal process, having made it clear that he thought both were wrong to be punishing him’.

He qualified as a doctor in 2010 and was a practising GP at Bridge View Medical Practice in Bristol at the time of the protest, the tribunal heard. 

Dr Hart took part in a Just Stop Oil protest in April 2022, where he climbed onto the pipework at the Exolum Pumping Station and disrupted the storage and transportation of fuel.

He was fined £500 for that offence and was on bail.

Then in August 2022, he took part in another protest at Esso Service Station in Thurrock, Essex, where he used a hammer and orange spray paint to damage the petrol pumps.

This led to the closure of the forecourt on the M25 and left three-quarters of the petrol pumps out of action for 24 hours. 

Dr Hart was convicted at Chelmsford Crown Court, Essex, of criminal damage to property valued at £11,000.

He was jailed for a year with the judge deeming the offences were ‘deliberate’ and were committed while he was on bail. 

In May 2023, he invaded the pitch during the Premiership Rugby Final at Twickenham and threw orange-coloured cornflour around, as part of a wave of Just Stop Oil protests at major sporting events at the time.

He was later found not guilty of causing criminal damage to the pitch at Twickenham.  

Dr Hart referred himself to the General Medical Council in September of that year.

An MPTS tribunal was held in 2025, and the panel decided to suspend Dr Hart for ten months.

He was suspended for another ten months in a new tribunal having given no new evidence and showing ‘no remorse’ for his actions. 

The tribunal heard: ‘He told the Tribunal that there was an impasse as he was committed to his position that he acted in good faith and with integrity.

‘He said that the suffragettes, now celebrated in society, acted in a similar way to resist unjust laws and effect change.’

The doctor refused to say that his actions were ‘wrong’ and he said that he had ‘dignity’, knowing he didn’t back down from his conviction.

The panel said: ‘Dr Hart said that he had taken no further part in climate activism that risks arrest because he does not want to spend the rest of his life in prison and the imposition of draconian laws restricting protest has made it ineffectual.

Activists from protest group Just Stop Oil blocked the entrance to the Esso after damaging pumps at the filling station at Thurrock Services on the M25 in Essex in 2022

In May 2023, Hart invaded the pitch during the Premiership Rugby Final at Twickenham and threw orange-coloured cornflour around

‘He said that he does not have access to resources to properly maintain his skills and knowledge other than reading for his own interest but that, in any case, he had no interest in providing such evidence to the Tribunal while it would find him impaired because of his lack of insight.

‘Dr Hart said that, despite being an otherwise law abiding citizen, to act with integrity included sometimes choosing to break certain laws in the interest of effecting change.

‘He said that the recent heatwaves in the UK and Europe had put an increased pressure on health services and that this would continue to get worse.’

The panel added: ‘The Tribunal considered that Dr Hart’s opinions regarding climate change were sincere and deeply held.

‘However, it considered that he had shown no insight into the negative impact of his misconduct or conviction on public confidence or on the profession.

‘Dr Hart was candid in stating his position that he believed he had done nothing wrong and that he was at an impasse with his regulator.

‘The Tribunal considered that Dr Hart had shown contempt both for certain laws and the Tribunal process, having made it clear that he thought both were wrong to be punishing him.

‘The Tribunal determined that Dr Hart had demonstrated no insight into his misconduct and conviction, despite his belief that his insight was excellent.

‘The Tribunal noted that Dr Hart had indicated his main reason for attending this hearing or a subsequent review was to use the public forum to express his views on the climate crisis.

‘The Tribunal considered that this reflected its earlier finding that Dr Hart had demonstrated contempt in some circumstances for both the law and this Tribunal.

‘Despite this, the Tribunal considered that erasure would be disproportionate to Dr Hart at his first review hearing.’

By CAITLIN LENG

Published: 18:18 BST, 11 September 2026 | Updated: 01:06 BST, 12 September 2026

This is the moment thieves used a forklift to tear apart a cash machine from a funeral director’s building. 

Footage of the incident, which occurred on Thursday morning at Halstead High Street in Essex, shows a Matbro digger being used to repeatedly smash into the building, which housed an ATM. 

After creating a gaping hole in the funeral home, a group of men was then captured trying to retrieve the machine before an ambulance arrived at the scene. 

Emergency services were called to the high street at around 1.50am following reports of the incident, where one vehicle used in the incident was found. 

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No arrests have been made at this time, but police have confirmed several witnesses have been spoken to.  

Craig Collier, chief operating officer at Daniel Robinson & Sons funeral home, described being awoken to a call informing him the business had been targeted. 

Mr Collier said the incident made so much noise he believes ‘half the street woke up’. 

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Thieves were captured using a forklift to tear apart a cash machine from a funeral director’s building on an Essex high street

Footage of the incident shows a Matbro digger being used to repeatedly smash into the building, which housed an ATM

The forklift was used to create a gaping hole in the funeral home

‘I have come across cash machine attacks before, but not by funeral homes,’ he told The Telegraph. ‘I was thinking what part of the building is it and the proximity to the deceased?

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‘If there is a breach in the wall, we need to start moving the deceased off site and contacting the families. That was what was going through my head.’

A spokesperson for the business said the funeral home itself is a separate building and is ‘undamaged and operating as normal’. 

They said: ‘As a local family business, we understand the impact this theft has had on the local community in the total loss of the cashpoint, a vital piece of local infrastructure and disruption to the flow of traffic and pedestrians. 

‘There has also been damage to local phone and internet cables potentially affecting business and domestic services.

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‘We are working tirelessly to remove the debris and free up the highway and apologise for any inconvenience whilst temporary repairs and the subsequent full repair take place and ask for everyone’s continued support and understanding.’

Essex Police has since urged anyone with further information, CCTV, dashcam or other footage to ‘please come forward’. 

Reports can be made via the Essex Police website or through the online Live Chat service available 24 hours a day, seven days per week.  Anyone contacting police should quote incident 84 of September 10.

Anonymous reports can also be made to Crimestoppers by visiting their website or calling 0800 555 111.

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A spokesperson for the force said: ‘We have spoken to a number of people who witnessed the incident and we would encourage anyone with information who hasn’t spoken to us yet to please come forward.’ 

The latest tremor came a day after another magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck the Banda Sea near Indonesia’s Maluku Island on Friday, September 11

Indonesia has been struck by a magnitude 6.2 earthquake at a depth of 376km, it has been announced.

The earthquake was confirmed in Java by ⁠the German Research Center for Geosciences (GFZ) on Saturday, September 12.

The latest tremor came a day after another magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck the Banda Sea near Indonesia’s Maluku Island on Friday. That quake occurred at a depth of 143 km (89 miles) and had no tsunami potential, according to Indonesia’s geophysics agency.

Java is an island which lies between Bali and Sumatra and is dotted with volcanoes. It is described as a the geographic and economic centre of Indonesia and is home to more than half of its population.

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The quake was recorded about 115km (71 miles) north-east of Teluknaga, on the island of Java, the USGS said.

There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

This is a breaking news story – more to come.

The fairground closed for the evening following the incident

Emergency services rushed to a fairground in Rotherham tonight after a horror incident left three injured, including two children.

The youngsters were on a ride at the Maltby Crags Fair in Rotherham when an incident occurred around 7.30pm. South Yorkshire Police said that it had received reports of the incident involving the three people.

The injuries of the three are not said to be serious, reports The Mirror.

A spokesperson for South Yorkshire Police said: “Emergency services are currently in attendance at an incident at Maltby Crags Fair in Rotherham after two young people, aged 11 and 13, and a 21-year-old woman were injured while on a ride.“They have been taken to hospital for treatment and the fairground has now closed for the evening (11 September).“Blyth Lane was closed between Muglet Lane and Victoria Road to allow people to safely exit the fairground but has since been reopened.”

South Yorkshire residents posted on social media that a ride at the funfair had “malfunctioned”, reports YorkshireLive.

Former Rother Valley MP Alexander Stafford wrote on Facebook: “News from the fair in Maltby, where a ride has reportedly injured a child. I believe only one child is involved, but please check on your children if they are currently there.”

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