A three-year-old boy who was allegedly thrown into a crocodile enclosure in at Johnson’s of Old Hurst, near Huntingdon

The relatives of a three-year-old boy who suffered severe injuries after reportedly being thrown into a crocodile enclosure have spoken out for the first time following “multiple surgeries” on the child. The event took place on 18 June at Johnson’s of Old Hurst, near Huntingdon, where courageous zoo owners stepped in to save him.

An online donation page has been set up to support the family of the injured toddler, whose identity has not been disclosed, with an initial goal of £6,000. Police have verified that the youngster is still being treated at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, where he is in a stable condition but faces a lengthy period of rehabilitation.

Following the incident, a 30-year-old man from Norfolk was apprehended on suspicion of attempted murder. He was subsequently released on bail after being deemed unfit to face questioning. In their statement, the boy’s family expressed their gratitude to the zoo employees who rushed to their son’s aid, reports Cambridgeshire Live.

The injured boy’s family said: “We would like to thank the staff at the zoo who rescued our son from the enclosure. We are truly grateful for the public support and well-wishes we have received, as well as to everyone who has been directly involved in our son’s care and recovery in hospital.

“Our attention remains focused on his recovery and supporting him through this extremely challenging and prolonged period of time.”

A fundraising page has been set up to support the boy’s recovery and rehabilitation, as well as to support the family throughout the coming months.

The organiser or the fundraising page thanked the “extraordinary bravery and quick actions of those nearby”, saying “the little boy was rescued by the zoo owners and rushed to hospital in a critical condition”. The page also stated that the boy is now “stable” but faces a “long road to recovery”.

The fundraising page adds: “After undergoing multiple surgeries, his condition is now stable, but he faces a long road to recovery. His parents are currently by his side in hospital, supporting him through both immediate and ongoing care physically and psychologically.”

Should any funds remain after meeting the family’s needs, they will be donated to charities and organisations within the Addenbrooke’s Trust which support other families facing similar challenges.

The zoo, which is based at a farm in Old Hurst near Huntingdon, has more than 100 animals, including lions, tigers and meerkats.

The crocodiles were not seized or put down by the authorities.

The arrested man, who is from Norfolk, is believed to have learning disabilities and was on a trip to the zoo with carers.

He is not believed to have known the child.

The man was released on bail until 18 September, and police said he was “assessed as not being fit for interview”.

People may be considered unfit for interview because of their physical or mental state.

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The 18-year-old was fatally stabbed by Vickrum Digwa in Southampton on 3 December last year, with two officers now under investigation by the IOPC

Two Hampshire police officers are facing a gross misconduct investigation following the arrest and handcuffing of Henry Nowak.

The 18 year old had told officers he had been stabbed and was struggling to breathe after the attack in Southampton on 3rd December last year, yet his desperate pleas were dismissed and officers failed to recognise he had suffered life-threatening injuries.

Henry was denied first aid and was instead restrained in handcuffs as he lay dying.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has now confirmed it is probing the behaviour of the officers and their alleged failure to acknowledge that the student required urgent medical attention following a stabbing by Vickrum Digwa.

Digwa, 23, was last month handed a life sentence for the deadly assault, after which he spun what a court described as a “wicked lie” to police, falsely claiming he had been the victim of a racist attack, reports the Mirror.

According to the IOPC, evidence indicates the two officers may have fallen short of professional conduct standards relating to duties and responsibilities, use of force, and discreditable behaviour.

One officer faces scrutiny over potentially disregarding the teenager’s claim that he had been stabbed. The watchdog is additionally examining whether race or religion influenced the officers’ decision-making.

Henry’s family has been notified of the decision to launch a formal investigation.

IOPC director of engagement Derrick Campbell said: “We continue to extend our deepest sympathies to Henry’s family and friends. “Our investigators met with Henry’s family earlier this month where we were able to discuss our investigation with them in depth, now that criminal proceedings have concluded.

“We are obliged to constantly review the evidence obtained throughout our investigations and assess any indications of potential misconduct for officers involved. As a result, two officers will now face gross misconduct investigations.

“There is clear evidence that public confidence in the force may have been seriously harmed by this incident, and that is a factor we must consider when assessing the evidence.

“The serving of gross misconduct notices does not necessarily mean that disciplinary proceedings will follow. At the end of our investigation, we will decide whether any officers should face disciplinary proceedings.”

Ukrainian oligarch Vadim Ermolaev, 58, was reportedly with his London-based lover, not his wife, when he was wounded in a suspected assassination bid in Monaco. 

Anna Nasobina, 46, and their son, 13, were with him when her legs were blown off in an explosion at a residential building, say reports.

She is in a ‘serious condition’ fighting for her life, and Ermolaev and their son were also wounded.

Initial reports said Ermolaev’s wife, also named Anna, who is the mother of four of his children, had been wounded in the blast.

But Ukrainian sources say she was abroad at the time and it was Nasobina, his long time partner, who was badly injured.

Anna, 56, told Ukrainian state media outlet Suspline: ‘We are currently in a state of severe stress and are actively cooperating with the investigation and law enforcement agencies.’

Anatoly Shariy, a Ukrainian political blogger, said: ‘During the explosion with Ermolaev, it was not his wife.

‘It was this woman who lost her legs and is on the brink of life and death.’

Nasobina, 46, and their son, 13, were with the oligarch when her legs were blown off

Nasobina is the daughter of the former first deputy state prosecutor of Dnipropetrovsk region 

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Ukrainian oligarch Vadim Ermolaev, 58, was reportedly with his London-based lover, not his wife, when he was wounded

He said: ‘Ermolaev was with his mistress, Anna Nasobina. She has been with him for a long time. They have a common child of 13 years.’

The Suspline report stated: ‘Businessman Vadim Ermolaev’s official wife, near whose [residential] building in Monaco an explosion occurred on the evening of 29 June, was not injured and was physically in another place.

‘From its own sources in law enforcement, Suspilne learned that the other woman is in serious condition.’

Some reports said that Ermolaev and Nasobina were married but most say he remained wed to Anna.

Nasobina is from Dnipro in Ukraine, and studied law at Dnipropetrovsk National University, followed by an International Institute of Management.

She describes herself as ‘London-based’ and has been the director of UK company Wycombe Square Investments LLP since 2023, using the spelling ‘Hanna’ for her first name.

She is co-founder of Club Éclectique, a private members’ and literary-arts society registered in Oxford Street with a linked Monaco office. It was established in 2016.

The club’s events feature Russian entertainers with pro-Kremlin ties, and attendees include members of the Moscow diaspora in London.

She is the daughter of the former first deputy state prosecutor of Dnipropetrovsk region.

Reports today in France suggest that investigators are examining the possible involvement of the Security Service of Ukraine [SBU] in the suspected assassination bid, which left Ermolaev, Nasobina and their son wounded.

The blast may have been a ‘warning’ rather than a deliberate attempt at murder.

Nasobina is from Dnipro in Ukraine, and studied law at Dnipropetrovsk National University

She describes herself as ‘London-based’ and has been the director of UK company Wycombe Square Investments LLP since 2023

She is co-founder of Club Éclectique, a private members’ and literary-arts society registered in Oxford Street

The entrance of a residential building in Monaco, 30 June 2026, where a bomb wounded Ermolaev

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Ukrainian police said previously that the oligarch may have been blown up over his alleged links to a €100million call centre fraud scheme.

Police sources claimed that the violent attack is directly linked to a network of fraudulent call centres in Dnipro, Ukraine, allegedly used to carry out large-scale financial scams across Europe.

The Ermolaev family is alleged to have played a significant role in the scheme, with the oligarch’s name reportedly at the centre of a sprawling pan-European investigation into clandestine call centres operating out of Ukraine.

Ukrainian outlet Ukrainska Pravda reported that the attempted assassination stemmed from a failed agreement to divide territory and unpaid debts allegedly owed to organised crime bosses in Dnipro. 

Ermolaev has been living in the principality since 2021, according to reports.

In 2019, he renounced his Ukrainian citizenship and obtained a Cypriot passport, and in December 2023, he was subjected to personal sanctions by Kyiv.

France is assisting in a search for the suspect. An aide to France’s Interior Minister, Laurent Nuñez, said yesterday that police were working ‘to find the perpetrator, who has fled’.

There was a claim in Nice-Matin news outlet that Ermolaev planned to deliver a speech to the European Parliament alleging corruption in Ukraine.

‘To date, no legal proceedings have been initiated against Yermolayev in any jurisdiction,’ said Theo Koshlyakov, the businessman’s legal assistant in Monaco.

Two police officers called to the scene of Henry Nowak’s murder are under investigation for potential gross misconduct after they handcuffed him as he lay dying.

The 18-year-old told officers he could not breathe and that he had been stabbed after being attacked in Southampton on December 3 last year, but officers from Hampshire Constabulary ignored his pleas and failed to realise he was mortally injured.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said it is investigating potential failures by the officers to realise that Henry needed urgent medical attention, to take action when he said he had been stabbed and could not breathe, and the decision to arrest and handcuff him instead of providing first aid.

One of the officers is also under investigation for potentially breaching conduct standards by dismissing the teenager’s claim that he had been stabbed. 

The watchdog is also looking at whether race or religion played a part in the officers’ decision making.

Sikh killer Vickrum Digwa lied to police that he had been the victim of a racist attack by Henry, when in fact he had fatally stabbed the 18-year-old.

IOPC director of engagement Derrick Campbell said: ‘We continue to extend our deepest sympathies to Henry’s family and friends.

‘Our investigators met with Henry’s family earlier this month where we were able to discuss our investigation with them in depth, now that criminal proceedings have concluded.

‘We are obliged to constantly review the evidence obtained throughout our investigations and assess any indications of potential misconduct for officers involved. As a result, two officers will now face gross misconduct investigations.

Police officers pinned fatally injured Henry to the ground as he gasped ‘I’ve been stabbed’ and ‘I can’t breath’. Gurpreet had said Henry was the aggressor

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Murderer Vickrum Digwa is seen lying to police as he tells them the teenager ripped off his turban in a racist attack. It was revealed to be a ‘wicked lie’

‘There is clear evidence that public confidence in the force may have been seriously harmed by this incident, and that is a factor we must consider when assessing the evidence.

‘The serving of gross misconduct notices does not necessarily mean that disciplinary proceedings will follow. At the end of our investigation, we will decide whether any officers should face disciplinary proceedings.’

Bodycam released last month showed Digwa falsely accuse Henry of being racist, claiming he had called him a ‘p***’ and acted as the drunken aggressor who ‘escalated the situation’ – as he stood unhandcuffed while medics performed CPR just yards away.

An officer at the scene repeatedly called the attacker ‘mate’ and, moments after arresting him, reassured him: ‘I’m not saying you’ve done anything.’

Digwa again insisted: ‘But I’ve been racially attacked.’ The officer replied: ‘I know, mate, I know.’

The previously unseen footage also showed that, despite being arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, Digwa was never handcuffed.

In contrast, Mr Nowak was restrained on the ground as he bled to death, repeatedly saying: ‘I can’t breathe.’ He also told an officer he had been stabbed – only to be told: ‘Don’t think so, mate.’

Digwa told what have been confirmed to be ‘wicked lies’ about Henry, trying to portray him as the aggressor and a racist. 

He never told officers he stabbed him and claims any wounds were because he ‘fell over’.

Police have apologised to Henry’s family but said the pathologist who spoke in court was clear ‘there was nothing officers could have done that day to save Henry’ as his fatal wound had caused ‘extensive’ internal bleeding.

The teenager’s treatment sparked fresh claims of ‘two-tier policing’, with critics suggesting officers had disbelieved Henry when he said he had been stabbed, because he was white.  

Current National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) guidance highlights a need for ‘not treating everyone the same or being colour-blind’.

Sir Stephen Watson, the anti-woke Chief Constable of Greater Manchester, has called for the guidance to be ‘revisited’ to rebut accusations officers are treating people unfairly. 

He said: ‘Fairness isn’t getting involved in the language of activism and social engineering.

‘It’s that which led us into conflict with the perception of reality. I certainly understand how it came about and I’m certainly concerned that we address that.’

Digwa (pictured) was jailed for a minimum of 21 years after he stabbed Henry to death

Referring to NPCC guidelines, Sir Stephen said: ‘We have in some contexts adopted the language of activism.

‘This is something we need to revisit, refresh and make sure that whatever we produce has the effect of doubling down on our impartiality.’

Digwa was given a life sentence with a minimum of 21 years in prison for stabbing Mr Nowak with a ceremonial knife with a 21cm blade, that he claimed he carried as part of his Sikh religion.

In the months before Mr Nowak was killed, tensions in the local area of Portswood were growing after a series of incidents, including the arrest of two asylum seekers for exposure and groping two women walking down a street.

Locals described a ‘climate of ongoing racial abuse’ due to the anti-migrant protests at the hotel.

In September, police had launched an arson investigation after a flare was thrown through a ground-floor window.

The following month a rally ended in violent clashes between migrants and protesters outside the hotel.

Police had made five arrests since protests began last summer and issued five dispersal orders, including one in November just days before the murder 500 metres from the hotel.

Time to dust off the gingham: Netflix is about to release a new adaptation of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s beloved frontier stories. The series will revisit Little House on the Prairie (1935), the best-known of her books.

For nearly a century, Wilder’s fictionalised accounts of her experiences on the American frontier in the 1870s and 1880s have been a staple of American culture. Her iconic children’s books – eight volumes originally published from 1932 to 1943 – quickly found an eager global audience. Together, they’ve sold over 73 million copies and indelibly shaped a popular image of a certain place and time in American life.

American filmmaker Michael Landon’s equally beloved television adaptation of the books hasn’t left syndication since its first run from 1974 to 1983. During the pandemic, it experienced a new resurgence that has yet to abate: in 2024 alone, it racked up 13.3 billion streaming minutes.

But how will a new generation of viewers respond to the Ingalls family and their experiences of life in an America that was still taking shape?

Besides the resurgent streaming figures, there are signs that this might be a fertile moment to reimagine life on the prairie. Whether in the 1930s or the 1970s, Little House on the Prairie has always thrived in times of depression and turmoil. Indeed, with uncanny timing, Landon’s adaptation premiered in the wake of the 1973 oil crisis. Petrochemical trauma apparently stimulates a longing for the age of the horse.

In moments of global suffering, Wilder’s prairie seems to offer a vision of simplicity that serves as an antidote to the turbulence of modern life – it even provided some with a blueprint for COVID lockdown life. Wilder’s knack of transforming rural privation into cosy domesticity is also likely to chime with our own era’s fixation with tradwives, momfluencers, homestead cosplayers and cottage core aesthetics.

The real Little House on the Prairie

The real story of Wilder and her family as they journeyed through Minnesota, Kansas and South Dakota was not so simple or wholesome. They experienced profound hardships including poverty, sickness and periods of near starvation.

Moreover, the novels’ dehumanising representations of the Osage glossed over the violent displacement of Indigenous peoples by Wilder’s family and their fellow “pioneers”. They perpetuated the racist stereotypes through which this dispossession was justified. There was little romance, either, about the continuing hardships of Wilder’s life in Missouri – until she published Little House in the Big Woods, the first book in the series, at the age of 65.

Even then, Wilder’s success was not a spontaneous fluke. Her only child, Rose Wilder Lane, had managed to escape farm life in Missouri to become one of America’s highest paid freelance writers. She was contributing articles to the era’s leading magazines and writing controversial biographies of public figures like Herbert Hoover and Charlie Chaplin. It was Rose who encouraged her mother to shape her childhood memoirs into fiction and the two women collaborated closely on the series.

But Rose didn’t just bring her literary connections and publishing experience to the mother-daughter partnership: she also brought her politics.

Rose was a prime mover in the early Libertarian movement. Along with Ayn Rand and Isabel Patterson, William F. Buckley labelled her one of the “three furies” of Libertarianism. With Rose’s input, Laura’s childhood memories were transformed into fantasies of American resilience, resourcefulness and self-reliance that chimed with her own political viewpoints.

The result enshrined a vision of the frontier, and by extension America, as a place defined by an exceptional freedom — but only for white settlers. Indeed, anger over Wilder’s treatment of Indigenous and Black characters has only grown over time. In 2018, the backlash led the American Library Association to remove Wilder’s name from its prestigious children’s literature award.

Little House on the Prairie was therefore explicitly and implicitly political from the start. Landon’s television adaptation happily continued that tradition, though his vision of prairie life would have likely angered Rose.

Even if its nostalgic presentation of frontier life hardly troubled the Wilders’ original vision, it still took on social issues germane to the 1970s, including racism and sexual assault. These competing legacies were brought into stark relief when Netflix announced its new adaptation in January 2025.

US political commentator and media personality Megyn Kelly took to X to declare: “Netflix, if you woke-ify ‘Little House on the Prairie’ I will make it my singular mission to absolutely ruin your project.” Melissa Gilbert, the actor who played protagonist Laura in the 1970s, was quick to respond. She urged Kelly to “watch the original again. TV doesn’t get too much more ‘woke’ than we did”.

The Little House in the culture wars

Netflix’s new adaptation will have to find its own place in the contemporary culture wars.

Its multi-racial cast signals a clear attempt to address the racism found in the original books. Pre-publicity from Netflix has been at pains to highlight that the show has hired an Osage cultural consultant and engaged the Osage Nation in discussion. As a result, the series also introduces a family of Indigenous homesteaders, reflecting how the Indian Homestead Act of 1875 offered Indigenous people the chance to settle on farmland in the so-called “public domain”.

In reality, though, taking up such land came at a high cost: Indigenous people were required to give up their tribal affiliations and deeply held beliefs in communal land ownership. As a result, families like this would have been rare in the period depicted – and far more likely to have been forced off their own lands than to have claimed new ones.

At the same time, the sun-drenched, prairie-chic aesthetic of the so-called town of Independence will no doubt appeal to those looking for Insta-worthy images of the beauty and grandeur of the American landscape. The trailer lingers over endless seas of golden-green grass in which pinafored children frolic aesthetically.

If early signs are anything to go by, then, it seems it will try to appeal to both its competing constituencies. These inherent tensions mean that a new adaptation of Wilder’s stories is certainly an appropriate way to mark America’s 250th anniversary year. There are few stories that sit more squarely in the American grain. For good and ill, Little House On the Prairie is the story of America.

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