Two men have been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter after the death of a 22-year-old soldier who went missing after a bar fight and alleged car ramming.

The men, aged 22 and 23, were taken into police custody on Saturday after the body of Liam Potts was found in the River Tyne on August 18, three days after he disappeared.

Mr Potts, who served with the Coldstream Guards, was last seen heading towards Wylam in Northumberland at around 12.20am on Saturday, August 15, and his body was found a short distance away from Wylam Bridge.

Prior to his disappearance, Northumbria Police had received a report of a fight and subsequent collision involving a vehicle and a group of pedestrians on the bridge.

On Monday, the police said two men were arrested and then bailed in connection with the report. 

They have since been re-arrested on suspicion of manslaughter as detectives investigate whether the two incidents directly led to Mr Potts entering the water, police said.

Mr Potts was not in the vehicle involved in the collision, nor was he struck by it, police said.

When officers found Mr Potts’s body they did not believe there to be any third-party involvement, but further inquiries have prompted the manslaughter arrests.

Liam’s body was found in the River Tyne on August 18, three days after he disappeared

He went missing near Wylam Bridge, Northumberland, after a pub fight and a car crash which happened in the area the previous evening 

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A man and a woman, both in their 20s, suffered serious injuries in the collision.

The woman has been discharged, while the man remains in hospital for further treatment.

Searches for Mr Potts were carried out by Northumbria Police in conjunction with HM Coastguard, North of Tyne Mountain and Northumberland National Park Mountain Rescue teams after the 22-year-old did not return from a night out with friends.

Specialist officers recovered a body on Tuesday, August 18.

No formal identification of the body has taken place, but Mr Potts’s next-of-kin have been informed.

His family said he was the ‘heart and soul of any room’.

They said: ‘To our Liam. You may no longer be here beside us, but your presence will never be forgotten. Your family, friends and colleagues have all said the same thing, “once you met Pottsy, you could never forget him.”

‘You really were the heart and soul of any room.

‘We are going to miss your smile, your laugh and the little things that made you who you are. Though time may pass, the love we have for you will never fade.

‘You will always be remembered, and forever loved. Rest peacefully, knowing that your memory lives on in all those whose lives you touched.’

Senior investigating officer Detective Inspector Rachael Rutherford, of Northumbria Police, said: ‘Our thoughts remain with Liam’s family during this difficult time.

‘The facts remain the same that Liam was on the bridge at the time of the collision, but he was not an occupant of the vehicle and was not struck by the vehicle.

‘Inquiries have revealed that Liam, for reasons yet to be established, entered the water within minutes of the collision.

‘We have therefore made the further re-arrests as we are looking to establish whether there is any link between the collision and Liam entering the water.’

Det Insp Rutherford added: ‘We know there has been a lot of confusion and speculation in the community. It’s clear that Liam was a very popular young man.

‘We are committed to finding answers for Liam’s family and we will continue to provide updates on our investigation.

‘We would remind people to avoid speculation both online and in our communities as this could impact the ongoing investigation.

‘We would continue to ask that people respect the family’s privacy at this tragic time.’

The church has stood at the centre of the village for more than 1,000 years

Numerous historic buildings in Cambridgeshire are suffering with deterioration or decay. If deemed ‘at risk’, they are placed on the Historic England register.

One church at risk, which has stood at the centre of a Cambridgeshire village for more than 1,000 years, is the Church of St. Mary Magdalene. It was once the victim of arson, and can be found in the charming village of Ickleton.

The church was built with a nave, a chancel and a central tower over the crossing between the two. The height of its tower was increased in the 14th century and the chancel was rebuilt during the middle of the 15th century. The chancel was rebuilt once again in the 19th century, but retaining the 15th-century pisicina and adding Gothic Revival sedilia.

Years later, in 1979, the Grade I listed building was struck by an act of arson. Thankfully there wasn’t too much damage caused, and it instead led to an interesting discovery. Hidden away for 400 years, the arson attack revealed “rare and beautiful wall paintings” which were found beneath the whitewash of the nave, according to Hinkledux Churches.

They date back from the 12th century, and are a unique find across England. According to Hinkledux Churches, nowhere else has such early surviving art from an age when every church had illustrations of saints’ lives and Bible stories on the walls, like holy picture books or sacred comic strips.

Nowadays, the church stands as an important landmark in the heart of Ickleton. Sadly, the church was listed on Historic England’s Heritage At Risk register. The Grade I listed building was deemed at “immediate risk of further rapid deterioration or loss of fabric”.

It is in a “poor” condition and the church’s vulnerability has been classed as “high”. According to the register, a solution has been agreed to help its condition.

Donald Trump‘s ambassador to Belgium has called for an American academic who was suspended by a university for sharing plagiarism allegations about Jason Arday to be reinstated in the name of free speech. 

Nathan Cofnas, an academic specialising in the philosophy of biology, was stood down from his position at Ghent University on Thursday. 

Arday, who was hired as the youngest black professor at the University of Cambridge at the age of 37 in 2023, was found dead at his London home last Friday. 

The 41-year-old resigned from his position as a sociology of education professor following intense scrutiny over claims of academic plagiarism first aired by Mr Cofnas in a post on his Substack last month. 

Ghent University confirmed it had suspended the academic after a ‘preliminary disciplinary investigation’, adding that it ‘opposes discrimination, hatred and racism’.

In a joint statement on Wednesday, university rector Petra De Sutter and vice-rector Herwig Reynaert said while academic freedom and debate were important, it was ‘not unlimited’ and ‘may be restricted’ to protect the rights of others. 

In an email to Ghent University seen by The Times, Bill White urged the institution to ‘explore a way to rescind this decision and to ensure Nathan’s continued employment’, adding the issue had the full attention of the Trump administration. 

Mr White, who described Mr Cofnas as a ‘well-respected Jewish American professor’ said his email was a ‘respectful and diplomatic attempt’ to ‘calm things down’. 

Nathan Cofnas, an academic specialising in the philosophy of biology, was stood down from his position at Ghent University on Thursday

In a lengthy statement on X, the ambassador said the United States Mission to Belgium condemned Ghent University’s ‘retaliation’ against Mr Cofnas following his ‘accurate whistleblower reporting on academic fraud’. 

‘The United States government regularly funds and supports research, academic exchanges, and other engagements with overseas universities,’ he wrote. 

‘Dishonest, corrupt institutions that engage in, or reward, scapegoating mob behavior are not desirable partners for us. 

‘This is particularly true where the purpose and effect of the scapegoating is to punish accurate journalism unearthing academic dishonesty. 

‘We are therefore reviewing any relationships we have with Ghent University. Bad-faith idealogues will try to make this a referendum on the content of Cofnas’s scholarship – or polemical distortions of it. That’s wrong. 

‘Free speech means that controversial views are protected. And Cofnas’s views were known to Ghent University when he was hired. The ultimate purpose of freedom of speech is to overturn lies, fraud, and false ideologies. 

‘This is precisely what Cofnas was doing, and precisely the reason his home institution wants to silence him.’

On Friday, Mr Cofnas wrote that he had become ‘the scapegoat in the Jason Arday affair’ and ‘smeared as a racist’ in a piece for the Wall Street Journal. 

Arday, who was hired as the youngest black professor at the University of Cambridge at age 37 ub 2023, was found dead at his London home last Friday

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In an email to Ghent University, Mr White urged the institution to ‘explore a way to rescind’ the decision to suspend Mr Cofnas over a Substack post about Arday shared last month

‘I have been flooded with death threats, smeared in countless newspaper articles, and accused of targeting Arday because I think that, as put it, “people like Cofnas simply don’t believe that Black people deserve to be professors at all”,’ he wrote. 

‘Speaker after speaker at the vigil held for Arday in Trafalgar Square on Monday denounced me by name, including a prominent politician. Many have claimed that I fabricated the evidence against Arday, although this is easily refuted.’

Mr Arday’s death has been referred to the Coroner for the Inner South District of Greater London. No medical cause of death was given.

The coroner will now carry out an investigation and decide whether there will be an inquest. 

Cambridge initially said claims of plagiarism regarding Mr Arday’s thesis and some journal publications had been investigated by Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) and the journals in question.

LJMU, which awarded Professor Arday his PhD in 2015, concluded that he had not plagiarised work.

But last week, Cambridge announced an independent investigation into his appointment.

Mr Arday resigned but said this decision should not ‘be mistaken for an acceptance of the narratives that have surrounded me’.

Mr Cofnas declined to comment when contacted by Daily Mail.  

Ghent University has been contacted for comment. 

The development was also described as ‘overdevelopment’ and ‘damaging urban sprawl’

Residents of two villages in the Peterborough countryside were delighted after plans to build thousands of homes were scrapped.

As part of Peterborough City Council’s draft Local Plan, which will see around 20,000 homes built in Peterborough by 2044, there were 3,000 homes allocated for land north of Castor and Ailsworth. During the consultation stages, local residents and campaigners fought hard to protect the rural area from what they labelled as ‘overdevelopment’ and ‘damaging urban sprawl’.

Martin Chillcott, chair of campaign group Protect Rural Peterborough, was over the moon to discover that the latest version of the proposed Local Plan no longer featured these Castor and Ailsworth homes.

He said: “This outcome is a win-win for both the city centre and the John Clare countryside. Development here would have ripped the heart out of this nationally important landscape, whilst diverting much needed investment away from the city and wider urban area.

“By focusing on urban renewal over trashing this much loved countryside, the Local Plan will enable a properly planned approach to reviving our city centre, turn around a decade of decline and protect Peterborough’s space to breathe. This landscape is one of our finest, shared assets, and this vital step will help safeguard it for everyone.”

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Mr Chillcott praised the “openness” of the current Peterborough City Council administration with their response to the campaigners’ feedback regarding the proposals.

Leader of Peterborough City Council, Cllr Shabina Qayyum, said: “Since we started our initial work on the Local Plan in 2023 our focus has changed.

“After extensive listening to local residents, parish councils and holding of workshops, we have asked officers to work on focusing on the city centre, where we are looking to increase the number of homes to help revitalise what the heart of the city is, so we are no longer looking to include as many homes within our more rural areas.

“This is a hugely positive outcome for us, demonstrating that we are an administration that engages in decision-making processes in consensus with the populations we serve and takes our heritage and nature reserve sites into consideration.

“A very collaborative piece of work. It is also important to stress that reasonable development gives families the opportunity to work and live in rural areas as well. This final draft of the Local Plan has removed a number of previously proposed sites.

“However, it does include a requirement that the Ailsworth, Barnack and Castor Neighbourhood Plans identify sites to contribute towards meeting local needs.”

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority Mayor Paul Bristow also backed the campaign to remove the proposed homes from the Local Plan.

He said: “After speaking to campaigners, I made it clear to Homes England that I thought this was the wrong site and that this would be reflected in any spatial development strategy I put forward. But make no mistake, the fact that the John Clare countryside will remain the landscape that inspired that famous poet is down to the hard work of campaigners and residents. I was proud to back their campaign and be with them, and I always will.”

Peterborough City Council’s cabinet will be asked to approve the final draft of the Local Plan to enable a six-week consultation to take place in September and October 2026 before it is submitted to the government for approval.

The Local Plan is the key document which allows local authorities to guide development in their areas. It outlines what areas should and should not be developed and how land should be protected.

Any representations received during the final consultation stage will only be considered by an independent planning inspector, not Peterborough City Council. The council cannot amend this version of the plan before it is submitted.

He was last seen wearing a red Manchester United t-shirt and black tracksuit bottoms

Police have issued an urgent appeal for help in locating a “high risk” nine-year-old boy who has been missing for two days.

Cathal O’Shea was last seen in the Castlewellan area of Co Down on Thursday, 20th August 2026.

He is described as wearing a red Manchester United t-shirt and black tracksuit bottoms.

In an appeal posted on social media, the PSNI said: “Police are growing increasingly concerned about the welfare of 9-year-old Cathal O’Shea.

“He was last seen in the Castlewellan area on the afternoon of Thursday, 20th August 2026, and was last seen wearing a red Manchester United t-shirt and black tracksuit bottoms.

“If you have any information to assist locating Cathal please contact Police on 101 and quote reference number 257 of 22/08/26.”

For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.

A teacher has been jailed after ‘manipulating’ a teenage boy into sex and abusing her position of trust.

Private tutor Emily Drury, 26, from Mablethorpe, was handed a four-and-a-half-year sentence at Lincoln Crown Court after being arrested last June.

Drury admitted five counts of sexual activity with a child, pleading guilty to the charge of engaging in non-penetrative sexual activity with a teenage boy and four charges of engaging in penetrative sexual activity with a teenage boy.

However, police said she ‘delayed her guilty plea until the very last opportunity’, prolonging uncertainty and difficulty for the victim.

Judge James House KC said only a custodial sentence was appropriate due to the severity of her crimes.

She sexually abused the 15-year-old on numerous occasions between May and June 2025, having targeted him after seeing him drinking with friends and offering to tutor him in private ahead of his exams.

The court heard how she warned the boy, ‘You can’t tell anyone about this,’ with prosecutor Amber Hobson explaining that he agreed before confiding in two of his friends, sending them a picture of Drury.

After ‘rumours’ began, word reached the boy’s school, and the police were contacted.

The court also heard how, when interviewed, the boy permitted police to look through his phone, on which they found a message from the ex-teacher, referring to a note and cash she left him.

‘I enjoy every piece of you. I don’t know how to stop, or what this is. Here’s £20 just in case…Your Em xoxo’, it read.

A victim impact statement from the boy was read out during sentencing, with Drury seen wiping tears from her eyes.

‘Since getting married, her and her husband didn’t really talk, they weren’t having sex and marriage wasn’t what she expected,’ the student said Drury told him.

‘She treated me kindly, told me she was obsessed with me.’

The boy recalled Drury saying ‘positive things’ to him, buying him clothes, and making him ‘feel better’ about himself.

‘I trusted her and confided in her about some very personal things.’

He continued: ‘I felt judged. I felt that people blamed me. I felt unable to simply be a child.’

Reluctant to report the abuse initially, he said he was ‘worried that people would not take [him] seriously’ because of his gender.

‘I believed there was a stigma attached to being a male victim of sexual abuse, and that fear made it even harder to cope.’

He concluded: ‘I realised I had been manipulated. I was put into a situation where I was experiencing emotions and situations no child should have to experience.’

Drury’s defence barrister, Jeremy Janes, said she had hoped to have a ‘lifelong career’, which, because of her behaviour, she has now lost.

He said his client pursued an ‘uncharacteristic, fantastical, and unreal relationship’ with the child.

Character references from her parents and brother were also submitted to the court, with her husband and other relatives in attendance.

Drury was told by the judge how the lasting impact of the abuse would continue in the boy’s mind while he was approaching his exams.

‘She was in a position of trust. She was the adult; he was the child,’ he said while passing sentencing.

‘This was not simply a single indiscretion – that would have been bad enough.’

Drury must serve a minimum of half of her four-year, six-month sentence before she can be considered for release.

In addition to jail time, she has been given a sexual harm prevention order and a restraining order lasting five years. She will be on the sex offenders register for 10 years.

Detective Constable Julie Jode, from Lincolnshire Police, called her actions ‘despicable’.

‘As an adult in a position of authority, she was expected to provide guidance, support, and protection. Instead, she used that position to target and manipulate someone who should have been able to trust her implicitly.

‘The victim in this case was forced to navigate an incredibly difficult and challenging period of his life while also facing the uncertainty of a lengthy criminal justice process. The fact that the offender delayed accepting responsibility only added to that ordeal.’

Police have praised the boy’s ‘remarkable courage and resilience’ in bringing Drury to justice, insisting that ‘gender is not a factor in how reports of sexual abuse are investigated’.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

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Peter Schemichel took aim at three Manchester United stars for their roles in the woeful opening day defeat to Hull City.

Pre-season optimism was chipped away inside 38 minutes on Saturday afternoon as the newly-promoted Tigers took a 2-0 lead through goals from Semi Ajayi and Nobel Mendy.

Michael Carrick’s side were twice undone by set pieces with Ajayi lashing into the roof of the net after Oli McBurnie’s initial effort was pushed onto the bar by Senne Lammens.

Record signing Mendy added a second shortly before half-time, powering home a header from Regan Slater’s free kick.

United were in disarray for Hull’s opener, beaten to the first ball in the build-up which led to the corner. As the ball came in, Dorgu let the ball pass him with Heaven not tight enough to McBurnie as he forced the ball back towards goal.

Dissecting the goal at half-time, Schmeichel blasted Dorgu for ‘not looking at the ball’, insisting Heaven had to be stronger dealing with the Hull striker.

‘Look at Dorgu on the front post, he is not even looking at the guy taking the corner kick,’ the United legend told Premier League Productions.

‘At that exact moment, he loses his concentration, he does not have the ability to block the first ball.

‘And of course, Ayden Heaven on the back post. He allows McBurnie to go in behind him. You can’t allow that. That’s not how you defend, you have to be stronger.’

Schmeichel also took a dim view of United’s defending for the second goal. As United and Hull players jostled for position inside the box as the free kick was being taken, Luke Shaw was spotted inexplicably dropping back to play the opposition onside.

Schmeichel added at full-time: ‘It is the absolute lack of concentration from Man United. That’s what disappoints me the most.

‘I picked on Luke Shaw. Luke Shaw is two yards behind everyone else, playing everyone else onside.

‘He shouldn’t be there. He fell for the dummy. If he stayed up there, he would be either offside or it would have gone out for a goal kick.

‘That’s a disappointment for me, that an experienced team like that makes mistakes like that.’

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President Donald Trump has turned against his former ally, Tucker Carlson, as he accuses the journalist of being in cahoots with politicians to take him down. 

Trump, 80, took shots at Carlson late Friday night as he turned into bed, calling the former Fox personality a ‘loser’ with a ‘very low IQ.’ 

‘Tucker’s “Views” have fallen through the floor, and will only get worse. Nobody cares about him any longer in that he has become totally irrelevant, and happens to be, surprisingly, a very Low-IQ individual,’ he wrote on Truth Social. 

‘Tucker wants to run for political office, but he should be required to take a cognitive test.’  

Carlson, 57, has not announced a bid for a political office and has previously said he didn’t intend to run. 

However, Carlson told the Columbia Journalism Review that he hopes to help build a ‘third party,’ and laid out a ten-point vision for America. 

There’s also been speculation that some conservatives are vying to have Carlson run for president in 2028, running on a MAGA, but anti-Trump platform. 

A loose group of politicians has formed around Carlson, including Representative Thomas Massie and former Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, both of whom Trump also attacked on Friday night. 

‘Nobody cares about him any longer in that he has become totally irrelevant, and happens to be, surprisingly, a very Low-IQ individual,’ Trump wrote on Truth Social

Trump wrote a long post on Friday, attacking Carlson, Representative Thomas Massie and former Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene 

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‘LOSERS ALL!’ the President wrote. ‘Tucker is a loser, and always has been! 

‘Marjorie Taylor Brown (Green turns to Brown under stress!), a highly neurotic young woman, went from Ultra Conservative to a Liberal “Fool,” all in a matter of weeks, because I refused to return her phone calls – Not because I didn’t like her, just because I had no time.’ 

He went on to accuse her of ‘quitting’ after she realized she had no chance at winning after he stripped his endorsement.  

‘Thomas Massie has turned out to be a failed politician, and a real JERK,’ Trump continued. ‘He thought it was really wonderful to vote, “NO,” on everything, no matter how good, strong, or proper the Legislation would be. 

‘What a team this would be, THREE LOSERS, and a pocketful of change! The only chance they have is to join the Radical Left Dumocrats, and try breaking into the Primary System. To all of them I say, PRAISE BE TO ALLAH!’ he signed off. 

Massie responded to the insults on X, writing: ‘Trump’s getting roasted today for his disastrous beef policy, the debt hit $40 trillion because of his “big beautiful bill,” he stepped-in-it in Iran, and he’s weeks away from failing his midterms in November. 

‘He posted this because we are the three he should have listened to.’

Greene also launched an attack against Trump, saying he’s the one who moved away from MAGA ideals.

Carlson told the Columbia Journalism Review that he hopes to help build a ‘third party’ that is MAGA but anti-Trump. The President and Carlson used to be close allies 

A loose group of politicians has formed around Carlson, including Representative Thomas Massie and former Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who reportedly want Carlson to run for president 

Greene also launched an attack against Trump, saying he’s the one who moved away from MAGA ideals. She called him a ‘false little god’ and an ‘internet troll,’ who is ‘not a Christian at all’ 

She called him a ‘false little god’ and an ‘internet troll,’ who is ‘not a Christian at all.’ 

She also accused Trump of hitting out at the group because of his own ‘bad polling.’ 

‘Trump now calls me a traitor because instead of bowing down to him like some false little god, I stood up and fought for women who were raped as teenagers and abused by the richest, most powerful men in the world, friends of Donald Trump,’ she wrote earlier this month, in reference to her demand for all of the Epstein files to be released.  

‘He attacks us with such vitriol because we actually are everything he claimed to be, conservative and America First, and he has proven as President that he is nothing more than a neocon puppet for Israel, corporations, big donors with special interests, and his dear friends in the Epstein class.

‘We never changed, Trump did.’  

The Daily Mail has reached out to the White House, Carlson, Greene, and Massie for comment. 

1. Prioritise exercise

2. Consider trying tai chi.

3. Protect your hearing

4. Address vision loss

5. Follow a nutritious diet

MoMo Productions via Getty Images

6. Don’t use tobacco products

7. Limit your alcohol use

8. Stay active when you retire

People on Stoneyside Grove, Walkden, have won today, August 22, on the People’s Postcode Lottery.

Ticket holders in the M28 3PD postcode, which covers Stoneyside Grove, just off Stoneyside Avenue in Walkden, near the Ellesmere Shopping Centre, have won £1,000 as part of today’s prize.

The People’s Postcode Lottery manages lotteries for 20 charities, with each one having one draw a month.

They won alongside 19 other postcodes nationwide.

Subscriptions to the postcode lottery support a range of charities across the UK.

The lottery supports “a wide range of charities and good causes across Britain and around the world”.

To date, they’ve provided more than £1.1 billion in funding, which is helping thousands of organisations and projects.