An ‘aggressive’ London Underground passenger killed an Elizabeth Line worker with a single punch to the face after missing his train, a court heard.  

Ayodele Jamgbadi, 29, of Kingston Road, Ilford, is accused of murdering ‘adored’ father Jorge Ortega, 61, with ‘significant force’.

On December 4, 2024, the defendant allegedly kicked an advertisement frame when he missed his train from Ilford station to Stratford at around 8.45pm.

Inner London Crown Court heard Mr Ortega and two other Transport for London (TfL) colleagues then intervened and tried to calm the irate passenger down. 

However, Jamgbadi floored the 61-year-old with one punch, knocking him unconscious after he hit his head on the concrete platform.

Mr Ortega was taken to hospital but died of a severe traumatic brain injury two days later, the court heard. 

Jamgbadi was initially charged with causing grievous bodily harm but that was upgraded to murder following Mr Ortega’s death.

Judge Benedict Kelleher told the jury that Jamgbadi is not fit to enter a plea, and they therefore have to determine whether he did the act.

On December 4, 2024, the defendant allegedly kicked an advertisement frame when he missed his train from Ilford station to Stratford at around 8.45pm 

Inner London Crown Court heard Mr Ortega and two other Transport for London colleagues then intervened and tried to calm the irate passenger down 

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The key questions they have to consider is whether Jamgbadi threw the punch and whether it was a significant cause of Mr Ortega’s death. 

He said: ‘He is unfit to plead which means that he is not mentally well enough to stand trial and he is in hospital for that reason.

Patrick Dennis, prosecuting, told the court that Mr Ortega was on duty at the time of the incident. 

He said three TfL staff members, including Mr Ortega, had approached a man on the platform after being alerted by banging noises. 

He said: ‘The defendant arrived at the railway station. CCTV shows that he missed the train heading into London to Stratford.

‘After he missed the train, the defendant effectively kicked an advert frame.

‘As a result Mr Ortega and two other staff members came out of the office and they effectively tried to calm Mr Jamgbadi down.

‘As Mr Ortega retreated backward, the defendant punched him once in the face and that caused Mr Ortega to fall onto the platform and strike his head and that rendered him unconscious.

Patrick Dennis, prosecuting, told the court that Mr Ortega was on duty at the time of the incident 

He said three TfL staff members, including Mr Ortega, had approached a man on the platform after being alerted by banging noises 

‘The defendant displayed aggressive behaviour.’

Mr Dennis described what the CCTV images showed: ‘They don’t get particularly close – the defendant then started to walk away from them but he then turned around and started to walk toward Jorge Ortega, who started to back away.

‘It is at that stage he punched Jorge Ortega with significant force.’

Mr Dennis said an ambulance arrived and Mr Ortega was taken to hospital but ’48 hours after the incident he tragically died’.

Following his arrest, Jamgbadi told British Transport Police officers: ‘I punched him in the face, I literally punched him in the face. 

‘What are you going to do about it, are you going to nick me?’

Mr Ortega, a customer experience assistant, was with colleagues in an office on the platform when they heard ‘banging noises’ from outside, the court heard.

They went outside and saw Jamgbadi kicking an advertising frame and asked him if he was OK.

Mr Ortega’s co-worker, Mohammed Alim, said the man ‘seemed a bit disturbed, a bit angry and just said “Who’s got a problem?”‘.

Mr Alim told the court: ‘Within a split second he swung a punch on Jorge’s left-hand side. The attacker used his right hand.

‘It struck Jorge near the temple area. The impact of the punch was with so much force that I saw something fly out of his mouth.

‘He was floored. He hit the back of his head.’

Mr Alim said he feared the man was going to attack Mr Ortega again when he was on the floor, telling the court ‘he went to Jorge’.

Mr Alim said ‘he looked at Jorge and he looked like he was going to attack him but I said ‘what are you doing?’

The attacker then turned to Mr Alim, who said he thought he ‘stopped him’ from doing anything else.

Mr Alim said: ‘I raised my hands up in a defensive motion and said “take it easy”.

‘Something came to [the attacker’s] head and he just turned back and walked off.’

Mr Ortega’s co-workers and members of the public carried him in to an office where he was ‘going in and out of consciousness’, Mr Alim recalled.

The attacker then moved away after Mr Alim said something to him and towards a third member of staff, before he left the scene, the court heard.

The man then pushed through the barriers without paying in order to leave the station.

The jury were told that pathologist Dr Michael Parsons concluded: ‘The overall pattern of head injury is entirely consistent with a substantial impact to the back of the head caused by a heavy fall from a standing height.

‘There was bruising and a laceration to the right eyebrow and adjacent cheek which are entirely consistent with a punch to the face.’

Mr Ortega was a member of the RMT union and worked as a customer experience assistant for MTREL, which runs the Elizabeth Line.

Mick Lynch, who was RMT’s general secretary at the time, expressed his condolences to Mr Ortega’s family after the attack.

Then-prime minister Sir Keir Starmer said the incident was ‘absolutely tragic’.

In a tribute, Mr Ortega’s son said: ‘Our dad was the most loving person, the kindest soul you could have the pleasure of meeting. 

‘Everyone who has met our dad or who has ever worked with him over the years will tell you this. 

‘He had a brilliant mind, enjoyed cooking, loved drawing, and was highly skilled in art. 

‘He was an amazing family man and would always put other people first. He loved his grandchildren, and in turn, they adored our dad.’

The trial continues.

Jodie Kidd has just launched Delta Roam’s brand new modular outerwear range which lets you mix and match your layers and it’s a ‘game changer’ for unpredictable weather

We can all agree that trying to prepare for every weather autumn throws at us is almost impossible. Rainy showers one moment, sunny spells the next, a chilly morning followed by an unexpectedly hot afternoon all mean that you’ll almost never get it right when picking which coat or jacket to wear on any given day.

However, Delta Roam has just answered all of our weather woes, as it launches the brand new Modular Outerwear System with British supermodel Jodie Kidd. The new range includes three pieces – two of which are available now, and one which launches next month – which have been cleverly designed to be mixed and matched together to prepare for all eventualities.

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This is Jodie’s second collection with Delta Roam, after launching the chestnut brown version of the brand’s best-selling Beaumont Robe last year. After returning as a brand ambassador for a second year, Jodie said: “The Modular Outerwear System is a complete game-changer for anyone living an active, outdoors lifestyle. It combines high-fashion tailoring and sleek silhouettes with incredible practical utility – taking you effortlessly from morning commutes to weekend adventures, no matter what the British weather throws at you.”

The new Modular Outerwear System is built around Delta Roam’s signature combination of practicality and style, and rethinks how we layer up in the autumn and winter weather. The modular system lets you combine all three of the products into one ultra-warm and waterproof piece of outerwear, or wear them as three individual items. Or, each one can be mixed and matched together into different versions to suit all weathers.

The main item in the collection is the Drift Parka (£210), which comes in both black and forest green and is a lightweight, easy to carry long waterproof jacket that’ll keep you protected from the rain. It’s made from a durable 10k waterproof nylon ripstop, with fully taped seams to protect you from heavy downpours. It has an adjustable waist for a tailored fit, an adjustable hood and cuffs for extra protection from wind and rain, and even the pockets have been designed to keep everything warm and dry, with zip fastenings and deep, fleece-lined hand-warmer pockets.

When you’re not wearing the Drift Parka, it folds up nearly into itself to create a crossbody bag, and even has integrated internal straps that let you wear it across your back so you don’t need to carry it between showers. Its lightweight design means you can wear it as a standalone jacket, or you can adapt it to a warmer, cosier layer by attaching the Core Gilet (£110) through the clever connection system.

The gilet lets you add warmth without unnecessary bulk, and can be worn on its own or zipped into the parka. It’s filled with responsibly-sourced insulation, has external hand pockets and can also be folded into its own integrated pouch that fits easily inside a backpack.

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There’s some other great multi-way jacket options, like the Hikebound II 3-In-1 Waterproof Jacket which is £200 from Columbia which also has three individual jackets built into one. You can wear the outer shell in mild but wet weather, the inner fleece in mild and dry weather, or zip them together in cold and wet weather.

You can also shop the Alaskan Womens 3 in 1 Long Waterproof Jacket which is now on sale at Mountain Warehouse down from £219.99 to £129.99 and combines an outer waterproof shell and inner warm lightweight jacket, which you can wear separately or both together. Finally the Women’s Breckenridge Waterproof 3 In 1 Jacket is now just £99.98 down from £199.95, which has a fully seam sealed jacket which has been tested to a 10k waterproof rating, and a classic Passenger fleece that zips inside for when you need protection from the elements.

A waterway has been polluted with thousands of gallons of fuel after it leaked from a data centre in New Jersey.

Roughly 5,000 gallons of fuel leaked from a storage tank at Equinix’s NY2 data center in Secaucus and flowed into Anderson Creek – a narrow tributary running through the New Jersey Meadowlands wetland in the northeast of the US state – on Friday evening.

Secaucus mayor Michael Gonnelli said the spill had been caused by a ‘computer glitch’.

However, Equinix – the ‘largest global data center and colocation provider for enterprise network and cloud computing’, according to its website – said an investigation into the cause of the leak was still underway.

Containment barriers and vacuum trucks were sent out to suck a mixture of diesel and water out of the creek in a bid to stop the pollution from spreading.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) said the fuel did not reach the Hackensack River, a 45-mile-long river stretching through New Jersey and neighbouring New York, ultimately flowing into Newark Bay.

But environmental campaigners and experts have branded the leak a ‘slap in the face’ and wondered whether it could have been contained entirely.

Hackensack Riverkeeper Bill Sheehan told the nonprofit news outlet Gothamist: ‘The tributaries are the capillary system of the whole ecosystem.

‘All the water that runs off of our land goes into the creeks first, and then runs through the creeks out into the river.’

Equinix said a fuel release was detected from a tank outside its facility on Friday, but that staff stopped the leak environmental contractor Clean Harbors and the fire brigade were called in and the DEP and Hudson Regional Health Commission were notified.

Mayor Gonnelli said the data centre had been operating from the site since 2001. ‘We’ve never had a problem before this time,’ he said.

‘There’s a lot of complaints about data centers, I can tell you that. But right now, they did everything they had to do.’

The DEP diesel fuel which had leaked from the facility had been contained.

Equinix said a full investigation had been launched to establish the cause of the incident and to prevent future accidents.

The company said: ‘We are working closely with those agencies, local officials, and community stakeholders to ensure a thorough remediation,’ adding that it remained ‘committed to resolving this quickly, transparently, and responsibly.’

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Deputy council leader Councillor Peter Wilkinson told a meeting of the authority’s executive today (Tuesday, September 15) that the properties were instead being provided to meet the council’s statutory responsibilities towards homeless households.

Councillors were considering a revised business case which would increase the council’s temporary accommodation programme from 90 to 112 homes.

The scheme was originally approved in 2024 amid increasing demand for temporary accommodation and rising costs from placing homeless households in hotels and bed and breakfasts.

Addressing claims about the scheme at the meeting at the Civic Centre in Selby, Cllr Wilkinson said: “I’m aware that there has been some discussion on social media regarding the purpose of these homes.

“For clarity, this programme is not for asylum accommodation. Accommodation of asylum seekers is arranged separately by the Home Office.

“These homes are intended for households to whom North Yorkshire Council owes homelessness duties, including families with children, people fleeing domestic abuse and other vulnerable residents who would otherwise have nowhere suitable to stay.”

Dozens of comments have been posted online in recent days suggesting the homes would be used to house migrants.

One person said: “British people born in this country need houses. Forget the migrants. Send them back. They are not our problem.”

Another added: “This will be to house migrants as they want them out of all hotels etc.”

But the council’s report confirms the purpose of the programme is to provide temporary accommodation for homeless households across North Yorkshire.

It says demand has increased, partly because households are spending longer in temporary accommodation.

Twenty properties have already been delivered — 11 in Scarborough, six in Norton, two in Catterick and one in Ripon — with another 40 properties acquired or already owned by the council being prepared for occupation.

The revised programme would increase the overall budget from £11.6m to just around £18.1m, with the council saying the additional investment would reduce its reliance on more expensive emergency accommodation.

The report says there is a particular shortage of one and two-bedroom temporary accommodation for homeless single people and couples, as well as shortages in parts of Harrogate, Selby and Scarborough.

Once all 112 homes are available, the council estimates the programme could eventually produce savings and avoid additional costs of up to £2.71m a year, with the additional benefit expected from 2028/29 onwards.

Cllr Wilkinson said the properties would remain council-owned assets.

He added: “Overall, this is a prudent investment that reduces ongoing revenue pressure, supports some of our most vulnerable residents and represents good stewardship of public money.”

The council has a legal duty to help people who are homeless or threatened with homelessness.

Its report also points out that families with children and pregnant women cannot legally be housed in B&B accommodation for more than six weeks.

How can I boost my longevity without walking 10,000 steps a day?

Experts have long recommended brisk walking for better health benefits

JJ Gabiel has stunned Man Utd by asking to leave the club and he now won’t make his first-team debut against Brighton on Wednesday night.

Manchester United are in the dark over JJ Gabriel’s decision to try and quit Old Trafford after the 15-year-old refused to train on Tuesday ahead of what could have been a first-team debut this week.

United had planned to name Gabriel in their squad to face Brighton in the Carabao Cup third-round on Wednesday, but the teenager has decided against training with Michael Carrick’s squad after asking to leave the club.

Gabriel would have become United’s youngest-ever player had he featured against the Seagulls, but he has left the club in a state of shock after sending a formal notification that he wants his registration to be cancelled.

United officials are unclear what has caused Gabriel to demand to leave the club he has played for since the age of 11. He made his UEFA Youth League debut against Sabah last Thursday and scored a hat-trick as his remarkable rise up the ranks continued.

Despite Gabriel’s request and his decision not to train, which effectively rules him out of a senior debut this week, United still feel the situation is rectifiable given the time remaining on his contract. A United source said Gabriel cannot be de-registered, despite his request.

He can’t sign a professional contract until he turns 17, or a scholarship agreements until he is 16, which Gabriel does not do until October 6.

Astley-based Fresh Start Waste Services won in the Environmental Services sector for Environmental Improvement, with its entry titled ‘Fresh Start is leading the industry by doing what others wouldn’t.’

Sean Martins, director at Fresh Start Waste Services, said: “This award belongs to the whole Fresh Start team.

“We chose not to wait for legislation or accept that mixed recycling was too difficult.

“We invested ahead of demand because our customers deserve clear evidence, transparent reporting and the best environmental outcome we can achieve for every tonne.”

The award recognised the company’s investment in a £750,000 Kiverco Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) in Swinton, which processes around 15,000 tonnes of dry mixed recycling annually.

Through improved separation, quality control and recovery processes, Fresh Start has increased its recycling recovery rate from 41 per cent to more than 60 per cent.

Unrecoverable material is shredded onsite and converted into refuse-derived fuel, supporting the company’s zero-to-landfill commitment.

Fresh Start has also committed a further £1.5 million in its long-term processing strategy.

The company has purchased an adjoining building and submitted a planning application to roughly double its processing space.

If approved, the expansion would allow for additional processing upgrades, including advanced bag-splitting technology to recover more recyclable material from bagged waste.

Mr Martins said: “Our current MRF is already recovering more valuable materials and keeping the remainder out of landfill.

“Subject to planning, the next phase will give us the additional space and technology to build on that performance.”

Fresh Start provides customers with digital compliance records, onboard weighing data and detailed recycling performance reports.

The company has also been invited to accept Green World Ambassador status and will have its winning paper published in The Green Book, an international environmental best practice guide.

CambridgeshireLive readers have been sharing their views on the A141 St Ives road improvements, lorries using residential streets as rat runs and proposed bypass plans

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CambridgeshireLive readers have been sharing their thoughts on St Ives streets being exploited as “rat runs”, where lorries “thunder through” residential areas to bypass the congested A141. Many questioned whether proposals genuinely incorporate local feedback and what modifications might follow.

Locals say heavy goods vehicles are “thundering” through residential roads to avoid a congested route. The claims follow the unveiling of proposals to upgrade the A141 and roads in St Ives amid concerns about traffic congestion.

An update on the plans was delivered to Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority’s transport committee on Wednesday, September 8. It proposed a new dual-carriageway bypass from Spittalls Interchange to a new roundabout on the B1090.

The B1090 would also be upgraded to dual carriageway up to the A141 roundabout, with an additional lane added to Harrison Way between the A1123 and the busway. Two new “offline routes” for pedestrians and cyclists were also proposed to connect Huntingdon and St Ives, alongside four routes to extend the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway. It also put forward two new park and ride facilities at Huntingdon Racecourse and Wyton Airfield.

One of our readers, Whynot2 says: “The only reason it’s a residential area now is because of all the houses that have been built, lorries were using the road long before. If the road is a 30/40mph and lorries are doing the speed limit, does that mean cars and vans are thundering through as well?”

Freddly adds: “If the council or National Highways were to improve the A141 and roads in St Ives, congestion would reach current levels 18 months after the projects were completed, and would obviously surpass it on nearby (unimproved) roads.”

VFRrider writes: “Maybe the lorries are delivering to the businesses. Also, lorries coming from the Chatteris direction would use that road. A pity councillors live in a fantasy world where people only carry clipboards and don’t have goods to deliver and pick up. These people would destroy every business.”

Over on our Facebook page, Jamie BH comments: “In other words, a list of streets ‘in play’ for future LTNs”

Clare D says: “What’s the betting? They’re gonna reduce the speed to 50 miles an hour and put cameras all the way along? It’s just an excuse to do this. These 50 miles per hour and 20 miles per hour limits are absolutely stupid. We’re going back in our evolution. Why keep changing things that work just so you can put cameras up and get revenue in, plus I’m sure all these stupid limits everywhere are actually messing up lorries, they are diesel. They need to clear themselves out now and again, or is that what the government is hoping for? So then they can force everyone to go electric.”

Robert M feels: “50mph is reasonable and acceptable. Just because your speedo has 80 mph on it, you don’t have to drive that fast.”

What would you do about these ‘rat runs’? Comment below or HERE to have your say.

Among botanicals, landmarks, and just about every conceivable wildlife scenario, Lego also pays homage to emblematic movie productions to create buildable merchandise from your favourite films. This, the DMC DeLorean set from Back to the Future, lets fans build, display and recreate action from the iconic franchise – plus, it comes with your very own minifigure Doc Brown and Marty McFly.

Adrian Mason, from Reform UK, asks:

What assessment has the First Minister made of the affordability of tuition fees in Wales?

Mr Mason says there is a cap in place in England, but Welsh universities are under pressure with a huge deficit. He says Bangor Uni alone has a £90m deficit.

Mr ap Iorwerth is asked for clarity on what Wales will do to help the “fragility” of higher education in Wales, as the First Minister words it.

He says there has to be support for students, and the institutions alike. “It is a balance,” he says. “We need to find that balance”.

“This is something we need consensus on, it’s far too important to be used as some sort of political ding dong”.

Mr ap Iorwerth says consideration is being taken on the 2027-28 fee cap.