Wales take on Italy at the Principality Stadium in the penultimate match of this year’s Six Nations. Italy have won the last two meetings and three of the last four.
Wales are bottom of the table and on course for a third straight wooden spoon. After back-to-back heavy defeats against England and France to start the tournament, they came agonisingly close to beating Scotland before pushing Ireland close last time out.
“Having an unchanged team reflects the cohesion and the consistency in the group and the consistency of performance out in Ireland,” Wales head coach Steve Tandy said. “This week we need to go up another level. We have had some good performances. There were parts against France, then we built up into the Scotland game where I thought we were very good. Against Ireland we stepped up to the plate physically. Now it is putting it all together and creating our best performance this weekend.”
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They go in search of their first Six Nations win in over 1,000 days, with their last victory in the competition coming against today’s opponents in Rome back in March 2023. That run without a win in the Six Nations now stands at 15 consecutive defeats in the competition.
“For the team and myself, going back to Principality Stadium is amazing,” Tandy added. “The boys did well creating their own energy against Ireland, but there is nothing better than being at home. The boys reference in meetings what the Scotland game meant to them, as well as the matches against France and New Zealand. The fans have been incredible and I think they are behind the team and the team are putting in performances to represent our nation.”
Italy made history last weekend, beating England for the first time as they claimed a 23-18 win in Rome. They have two wins to their name now going into the final round, knowing a win of any sort will seal a fourth-place finish.
“No-one is talking about two wins or three wins,” said Italy head coach Gonzalo Quesada. “The goal is more to finish our first Six Nations with full consistency and having five good games. That is something that has never happened. There was always a game where things did not work and there was a big loss. I promise it is not just words, it is exactly what we are after.”
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Italy have won on their last two trips to Cardiff but Quesada is aware of the desperation the hosts will be playing with this afternoon.
“We know that Wales must win this game, they must win it,” Quesada added. “They produced amazing performances against Ireland and Scotland but you can be in these periods where the results are not there, not even if you play as well and fight as hard as they did and the stunning physicality they put in against Ireland. We are preparing mentally and physically to be ready for what will be, for me, the toughest game of the whole Six Nations.”
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s powerful foreign minister said Saturday that there is no serious initiative to resume negotiations between the United States and Iran but that he believes Iran is open to back-channel talks.
The comments by Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to The Associated Press in an exclusive interview came as Ankara is striving to stay out of the widening war in the Middle East.
Ankara, which has good relations with both Washington and Tehran, had attempted to mediate a solution between them before the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran two weeks ago, triggering the war.
“The conditions are not very much conducive” to diplomacy now, Fidan said. The Iranians “feel betrayed” because for a second time they were attacked while in active negotiations with the U.S. over their nuclear program, he said, but added, “I think they are open to any sensible back-channel diplomacy.”
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Fidan, 57, served as Turkey’s intelligence chief for more than a decade before being appointed foreign minister in 2023.
Key role in formulating Turkey’s Middle East policy
In that role, he played a key part in shaping Turkey’s policy in the Middle East, particularly toward Syria, Iraq and Iran. He is considered to be one of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ’s most trusted advisers and one of the potential candidates to succeed him.
Turkey has maintained a neutral position in the war, criticizing both the U.S and Israeli strikes against Iran and Tehran’s retaliatory actions against Gulf states that host U.S. bases. Fidan said he has been attempting to persuade the Iranians to halt those attacks.
Fidan said Turkey’s top priority is to remain outside of the conflict, even after three missiles believed to come from Iran were intercepted over Turkey by NATO defenses. Turkey is a NATO member and an air base in southern Turkey is used by NATO forces, including U.S. troops.
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Iranian officials have insisted that they did not fire at Turkey, although the available data shows that the missiles came from Iran, the Turkish foreign minister said.
He ruled out a military response at this stage, saying that NATO’s defenses were effective and that Ankara’s “primary objective” is to stay out of the conflict.
“I know that we are being provoked and we will be provoked, but this is our objective,” he said. “We want to stay out of this war.”
Fidan, who has regular contact with Iranian officials, said he does not know the severity of the wounds suffered by Iran’s new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei in a strike earlier in the war, but that “what we know is that he is alive and functioning.”
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Khamenei was appointed to replace his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed Feb. 28 during the war’s opening salvo.
Fidan said “the process of electing a new leader and the medical conditions of the new leader, it created a gap” in Iran’s power structure and “I think that gap has been filled by the high command of the Revolutionary Guards,” referring to the paramilitary force reporting to the Supreme Leader.
A failed peace initiative
Before the conflict, Turkey tried to avert a war by offering to host talks in Istanbul that would have brought U.S., Iran and other regional countries together. Iran later opted for talks mediated by Oman, without the participation of regional actors and focusing solely on its nuclear program — talks that ultimately failed.
Fidan said that Iran had refused to discuss its missile program and the proxy armed groups it backs in the region, including the Lebanese Hezbollah and a group of Iraqi militias — both of which have now waded into the regional war.
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Turkey had proposed that “the Americans and the Iranians can discuss fully the nuclear issue and we as regional countries can come together to discuss the other two with Iran” as part of an initiative to build trust within the region.
Tensions with Israel
Turkey and Israel have tense relations, with Erdogan becoming one of the most vocal critics of Israel’s actions in Gaza. Turkey has cut trade ties with Israel and frequently accuses Israel of committing genocide. Israel in turn accuses Turkey of supporting Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that launched the deadly Oct. 7, 2023 attack in southern Israel.
Since Israel launched its strikes on Iran, some have gone as far as to suggest that Turkey could be the next target. Fidan dismissed that possibility, while acknowledging that the war in Iran gave Turkey an increased incentive to step up its own production of weapons and air defenses.
“As long as Netanyahu is there, (Israel) will always identify somebody as an enemy,” he said. “Because they need it to advance their own agenda. If not Turkey, they would name some other country in the region.”
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He criticized Israel’s role elsewhere in the region, including in Syria, where both countries have strategic interests.
Turkey has been a strong backer of the current government in Damascus led by interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, the former leader of an Islamist rebel group.
Israel regards al-Sharaa’s government with suspicion and, since it took power in December 2024, Israeli forces have seized control of a swathe of land in southern Syria and launched airstrikes on Syrian military facilities, wiping out much of the country’s arsenal. Israel has said its presence in Syria is meant to secure its border from another Oct. 7-style attack.
“They are after not security, they are after more land,” Fidan said. “So as long as they don’t give up this idea, there will always be a war in the Middle East.”
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An ongoing role in Gaza
Turkey has also sought to play an active role in postwar Gaza. It has joined U.S. President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace — boycotted by many other countries that see it as an attempt to supplant the United Nations and criticize the lack of a role for Palestinians — and has offered to supply troops for an international stabilization force in the battered enclave.
Fidan said it was important for Turkey to join the Board of Peace, as an “opportunity” to stop the war, although “we are not under the illusion that the Board of Peace will address all the existing issues.”
Fidan said Turkey has not received a request to contribute troops to the stabilization force, which he attributed to the Israeli opposition, but added, “I think the Americans are quietly trying to settle the issue with the Israelis to allow Turkey to participate.”
Fidan said however, that Turkey’s priority was the establishment of an administration committee for Gaza, which is to be made up of 15 politically independent Palestinian administrators.
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“We expect them to go into Gaza and start their work,” he said. “This has not started yet, so we need to start from somewhere.”
Schools in the south of the city are predicted to be those most affected
A report set to go before Peterborough City Council has outlined how school admissions are likely to become oversubscribed in the city’s growing southern townships in the near future.
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On Monday (March 16), the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee will hear a forecast of how pressures on school admissions will affect both primary and secondary schools across the city over the coming years.
The report, which has been authored by Libby Walker, head of the council’s Admissions, Attendance & Transport Services, has outlined the Hamptons as an area where these pressures are most likely to be highest.
The data used to create the report forecasts primary school admission figures across the city’s north, central, west, Hamptons, Ortons, rural east, rural west, and Stanground/Fletton/Woodston areas.
Tables in the report show primary schools in the Hamptons will have by far the largest projected pressure over the next four years, with around 111 Reception pupils above capacity, indicating a significant shortfall in places by 2028/29.
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Secondary school admission figures are set within the north, south and central planning areas of the city.
Once again, figures illustrate the south (Hamptons and Great Haddon) as showing significant and increasing pressure over the same period, rising sharply to 201 Year 7 pupils above capacity by 2028/29.
The figures are a reflection of the recent population growth across the south of the city, with significant expansion of residential developments seen across the Hamptons and Great Haddon – areas that are still continuing to grow.
Earlier this year, the council confirmed that Great Haddon Secondary School (GHSS) will be opening in 2029. Similarly, the ground has already been broken on the 420-place Great Haddon Primary School, which is set to open in January 2027.
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The forecasts featured within the report were created by using each city school’s Published Admissions Number (PAN), essentially the number of places a school has available to allocate. This number is based on the school’s net capacity, which is determined via assessment by the Department for Education.
Adhering to each school’s PAN, priority in Peterborough admissions is given first to children with an Education, Health and Care Plan naming the school, followed by looked-after or previously looked-after children, then children in the school’s catchment area (especially those with siblings already attending), children of staff, and finally other applicants outside the catchment area.
When there are more applications than places, schools use oversubscription criteria to decide priority. If a child is not offered a place, they are placed on a waiting list ranked according to the same criteria.
Using data sourced from Primary & Secondary National Offer days, the report shows that the number of applications to primary schools (reception class) across Peterborough as a whole has actually decreased steadily over the past five years, dropping from 3315 in 2020 to 2498 in 2025.
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Over the same period however, the number of applications to the city’s secondary schools (Year 7) has risen, from 2763 to 2926.
Ms Walker explains this in the report: “Nationally, the birth rate has fallen within the UK and this has created place issues for primary schools due to falling rolls.
“However, migration into the city has meant that as yet, we have not seen the same issues within secondary schools and have had to create additional places year-on-year into secondary schools to be able to meet demand.”
The stand-off between Ten Hag and Sancho lasted four months, before Sancho joined Dortmund on loan for the remainder of the season and helped them reach the Champions League final.
But they could not afford to keep him and, although United sporting director Dan Ashworth was credited with brokering the truce that allowed Sancho to join up with United in the pre-season of 2024, it was a temporary situation, which Chelsea seemed to solve by agreeing a loan that committed them to a permanent transfer at the end of the season.
Yet, after five goals in 41 appearances, Chelsea preferred to pay a £5m penalty to send Sancho back to Old Trafford.
This time, there was no olive branch. Sancho was placed in Ruben Amorim’s ‘bomb squad’ and had to train away from the first team until he joined Villa on 1 September.
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United have an option to trigger an additional year on Sancho’s contract, which otherwise expires in the summer. In public, they are reserving their position on that. No-one expects it to happen.
At 25, Sancho still has a lot to offer. There have been glimpses of quality during his time at Villa, but it is by no means certain he will stay there beyond the end of the season.
“Seeing Jadon close up, technically, he’s got an awful lot of ability,” said current United interim head coach Michael Carrick, who worked with Sancho as part of Solskjaer’s backroom team and managed him for three games during his short stint in charge after the Norwegian’s dismissal.
“In and around the box; his ball carrying; his little plays; the connections; his creativity; the way he handles the ball – he’s got natural ability.
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“He’s always had it all the way coming through. That’s one part of football.
“But – and I’m not talking about Jadon individually on this – it is just how it is and how it should be.
“You can’t just assume it’s all going to be smooth. It’s proven that it’s not always like that.
“You’ve got to find a way through it. If you are playing in a good team with good players and a good squad and depth, that’s part of the challenge to stay at the top.”
Staff will be reduced by a third in a bid to bring down costs
A Cambridge museum has been forced to reduce its opening days and staff numbers due to rising costs. The Museum of Cambridge, on Castle Street will close for an additional two days each week and will reduce staff by one third, with changes coming into effect from March 30.
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The museum, which is in the 17th century White Horse Inn, currently opens to the public six days a week during term time. This will be reduced to four days a week. The museum will open Friday to Monday, with the addition of Thursdays during school holidays.
The Museum of Cambridge shares stories of everyday people of Cambridge and Cambridgeshire, and will be celebrating its 90th anniversary in November this year. Some of the attractions it offers include temporary exhibitions and free family activities.
Alex Smaridge, Director of the Museum of Cambridge, said: “Although this is something we would rather not have to do, increasing closure days at this time gives us an opportunity to act strategically and focus on what we do next, to ensure the long-term future of the museum. We are independent, and like many museums in the sector, we are facing rising operational costs and reduced footfall.
“We are working hard and looking forward to having events and activities on during the school holidays and making sure that everyone in Cambridge can continue to explore their local history.”
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Roger Lilley, Chair of Trustees at the Museum of Cambridge, added: “We are incredibly proud of the work of the Museum and want to ensure that we continue to provide an amazing experience for everyone who comes to visit us.
“The Museum has worked very hard coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure its future, but in the face of increased costs, the Board of Trustees agree that this is the right moment to assess our strategy.
“We remain grateful to the support of our donors and funders. Most importantly, we’d like to reassure everyone that they will still be able to access the Museum, attend our events and learn about their local history.”
The Museum of Cambridge is an independent social history museum which relies on entry fees, venue hire, donations, and grants to keep it running, along with the help of volunteers. The museum has been at its current location since 1936 and has a collection of over 40,000 objects.
Director Silvio Soldini’s wartime drama The Tasters is a gripping and deeply affecting film. Inspired by the testimony of Margot Wölk, who claimed in 2012 that she had been forced to taste Adolf Hitler’s food during the second world war, the film examines survival and moral compromise among those caught inside the machinery of the Nazi regime.
At its centre is Rosa Sauer (Elisa Schlott), a young woman who leaves Berlin in 1943 to live with her parents-in-law in rural East Prussia while her husband fights on the Russian front. Hoping to escape the bombing of the capital, she quickly finds herself facing a different danger when Nazi soldiers arrive and force her into a van with several other women from the village.
They are taken to the nearby Wolf’s Lair, Hitler’s secret headquarters, where the women are ordered to taste every meal prepared for the Führer to confirm that the food has not been poisoned. They sit together under guard to eat dishes prepared by the kitchen staff and then wait under supervision to see whether anyone falls ill.
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The women are fed and then observed for any signs of poisoning. MetFilm
The film unfolds within a muted visual palette that reflects the bleakness of its rural wartime setting. The countryside is drained of colour and the interiors appear subdued. This restraint extends to Hitler himself, whose presence is constantly acknowledged but never shown. The unseen dictator hangs over the film and shapes the lives of the women without ever appearing to them.
Elisa Schlott delivers a quietly commanding central performance. Her Rosa is observant and uneasy, a woman trying to understand a situation imposed on her without explanation. Schlott conveys the character’s anxiety through small gestures and careful silences, creating a performance with steady emotional weight which anchors the film.
The ensemble surrounding Schlott is equally impressive. The other women gradually come into focus, each drawn carefully with her own complexities. Emma Falck gives a strong performance as the wide-eyed and optimistic Leni, while Alma Hasun is compelling as the guarded Elfriede. Their shared circumstances create moments of closeness as well as distrust, so that survival becomes a matter of constant adjustment.
Rivalries emerge and alliances shift as the women spend long hours together under surveillance. Bonds form through conversation and secret gestures of care, and even within a system that treats them as expendable, the women continue to recognise one another as individuals.
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The Nazi soldiers are a constant threatening presence. Their authority over the women is absolute and the violence behind it surfaces in sudden moments. One lieutenant (Max Riemelt) begins to single out Rosa and the two enter a clandestine sexual relationship that offers brief escape for them both before the reality of their situation, and their own role in the horror of war intrudes.
Soldini’s patient, understated direction allows the story to unfold through confined interiors and careful observation. Composer Mauro Pagani’s impressive score carries an insistence beneath the action, evoking the war beyond the boundaries of the film. The conflict remains outside the frame, while the score intrudes at key moments and unsettles the fragile calm of the women’s routines.
In the crowded field of second world war films, The Tasters is a rare story that places women at its centre. These women continue their lives as best they can within the constraints of their reality. They talk and confide in one another, and small acts of kindness carry enormous weight in an environment shaped by control and fear.
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Exploring the fragile humanity which persists within an oppressive system, The Tasters is a thought-provoking, compelling and quietly powerful film that will devastate you softly.
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Donald Trump has said that, despite Iran’s willingness for a ceasefire, he has refused
Donald Trump has turned down a ceasefire proposal put forward by Iran. Disregarding appeals for peace from the United Nations and world leaders, Trump stated that despite Iran’s readiness for a ceasefire, he had declined as the proposed deal wasn’t satisfactory enough.
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“Iran wants to make a deal, and I don’t want to make it because the terms aren’t good enough yet,” he declared, adding that any conditions would need to be “very solid” for the US to consider negotiations. When questioned by NBC News about what terms he would accept to conclude the war, the 47th President of the United States responded: “I don’t want to say that to you.”
However, he did concede that Iran would need to abandon any remaining nuclear aspirations to secure a deal.
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He did inform NBC that the only power Iran possesses, “is the power of dropping a mine or shooting a relatively short-range missile”, reports the Mirror.
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Trump added: “But when we get finished with the shoreline, they’re not going to have that power either.”
He later said: “We’ve knocked out most of their missiles. We’ve knocked out most of their drones. We knocked out their manufacturing of missiles and drones, largely. Within two days, it’ll be totally decimated.”
He also told the NBC that US airstrikes had “totally demolished” most of Iran’s Kharg Island, before gloating that the American military ” may hit it a few more times just for fun”.
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Trump’s assertion that Iran has sought a ceasefire contradicts analysis from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a non-partisan, non-profit, public policy research organisation that promotes informed understanding of military matters through research, analysis, and education. According to the ISW: “Neither Iran nor the United States is prepared to hold discussions to reach a ceasefire despite mediation efforts by Oman and Egypt, according to Iranian, regional, and White House officials speaking to Reuters on March 14.”
In its summary of the conflict for March 14, the ISW added: “Three sources familiar with the efforts told Reuters that the Trump administration rejected efforts by Middle Eastern allies, including Oman and Egypt, to start diplomatic talks to end the war with Iran.”
Meanwhile, during the same NBC interview, Trump also stated he has been informed Iran’s new Supreme Leader is “not alive”.
Trump went on to say that should he be alive, he ought to surrender.
Trump’s remarks about Mojtaba Khamenei follow the recently appointed Ayatollah’s absence from a scheduled camera appearance before his nation on Thursday, which had been widely expected. Khamenei, son of the Islamic Republic’s previous supreme leader who shared the same name, was due to deliver his inaugural statement as leader.
However, Khamenei did not appear, sparking worldwide speculation regarding his location and physical condition.
Trump told NBC: “I don’t know if he’s even alive. So far, nobody’s been able to show him.”
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He added: “I’m hearing he’s not alive, and if he is, he should do something very smart for his country, and that’s surrender.”
An unidentified source based in the Iranian capital of Tehran claimed that Khamenei, 56, reportedly lost at least one leg and suffered serious abdominal or liver injuries following a strike by the US or Israel, according to The Sun.
The source offered extensive details concerning the new leader’s purported medical state, treatment, whereabouts and security measures. The source indicated he is being treated at Sina University Hospital in the city’s historic district, where a section has been cordoned off and placed under heavy guard.
Iranian state television has confirmed that Khamenei was injured in recent explosions, but the anonymous source’s allegations cannot be independently corroborated, largely due to Iran’s ongoing internet blackout. In a conversation with the Associated Press, Türkiye’s foreign minister Hakan Fidan admitted he is unaware of the extent of Khamenei’s injuries, but “what we know is that he is alive and functioning”.
Fidan’s remarks follow assertions by Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, who stated there was “no problem” with the Islamic republic’s new supreme leader. These statements were made after US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth suggested the Iranian leader is “wounded and likely disfigured”.
This week, Iran announced Mojtaba Khamenei as its new Supreme Leader following an airstrike that claimed the life of his father, the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on the first day of the Middle Eastern conflict.
Warning: Article contains images of graphic injuries that some readers may find distressing. Adam Wiggins beat his partner up and ‘left her for dead’ now she has taken the brave step of warning others
07:37, 15 Mar 2026
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A traumatised woman says she felt “left for dead” by her insecure ex-partner who beat her up and ran away, leaving police officers to find her bleeding and terrified. Kerry Ford described how she felt “warm” with blood as she drifted in and out of consciousness after the horrific attack.
Following the hearing Kerry bravely decided to share her story to warn other women and raise awareness of domestic abuse. “I really don’t want him to do this to anyone else,” she said. “He is the type of person who would do this again. He’s a horrible person.”
Kerry described herself as being “vulnerable” at the time she met ex-military veteran Wiggins, but that he seemed “totally fine” when she first met him around April 2025.
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She said it didn’t take long for their relationship to deteriorate, with Wiggins showing signs of jealousy and first becoming violent around July.
“He was totally fine at first and then he started showing tell-tale signs of abuse where he was jealous of me – he would always want to know where I was,” she said.
“He drank an awful lot and he took drugs an awful lot and then it was almost like I wasn’t allowed to look at anybody, so I would walk around with my head on the floor because if I looked at anybody he would say I wanted to be with them. He would always accuse me of fancying his friends. It was just horrendous.
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“Then the hitting started, where he would punch me and leave me with bruises. I was really vulnerable and not in a good place myself when I met him and I think he took that to his advantage because he knew that I was easy to manipulate.”]
Kerry described how Wiggins would put her down and call her names, which along with her vulnerable mental state made it feel difficult to leave him. In texts seen by WalesOnline Wiggins appears to call the woman “fat” and “elephant”. Don’t miss a court report by signing upto our crime newsletter here
Wiggins’ behaviour progressed into a serious incident against Kerry which saw him arrested and bailed. It was while on bail for this incident that Wiggins attacked her on August 16, leaving her bleeding and terrified.
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Describing the incident, Kerry said: “On Friday night (August 15) he was out with his friends and he asked me to pick him up so I did that, brought him back to my home. I went to the toilet and he screamed at me: ‘Where’s your mobile phone?’ I said: ‘It’s in the bedroom.’
“He started going through my phone, asking me who I had blocked and asking why I had blocked these people. I said: ‘I’ve got loads of people on my blocked list, it doesn’t mean they’re anybody.’”
Kerry described how Wiggins became enraged which made her so scared that she wet herself. He then subjected her to the brutal attack.
Recalling the harrowing details, she said: “I screamed at him to get out of my house because I knew what was coming. He punched me, so I slapped him back across the face. With that, he told me: ‘Like that is it?’ and he saw red.
“I remember three or four blows to my face and side of my head and then I must have been unconscious because I woke up on the floor to him kicking me with my arm held up to my face.
“And with that I got up and I was completely covered head to toe in blood; I was warm. My whole body was warm and my face was warm.”
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While she was in that state Kerry detailed how Wiggins ran off and left her there, as she feared for her life. “He ran off and my dog was cwtched into the side of me crying – she’s traumatised as well. She won’t go near a man anymore,” she said.
“I managed to get myself down the staircase and as I came stumbling down the stairs I had fallen into the door. He had got my car keys. Before he got in the car I said: ‘Adam please don’t leave me, I’m dying; phone me an ambulance.’ And he just drove off. I then managed to scream for help
“I got around to my neighbour’s whose reaction was: “Oh my god her throat has been slit,” because the blood was squirting. That was embarrassing as I was in my underwear walking the street. Then I went [back] to my home and that’s when I was in and out of consciousness.”
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It was heard at the sentencing on February 26 how Wiggins called 999 after he left the scene. It was heard how he stated on the phone that he had assaulted someone, claiming he acted in “self-defence”.
He told the operator that the victim “might need an ambulance” but refused to confirm who was injured. Police officers dispatched to the area found Wiggins who was put inside a police van where he admitted that he had assaulted Kerry and should not have been in the area due to his bail conditions.
Meanwhile other officers found Kerry at her home with multiple lacerations to her head. They took her straight to hospital where she was confirmed to have a plethora of injuries.
“Police put me in the back of the car and took me to the hospital,” she said. “Staff at the Grange were amazing – they put me straight into a CT scanner and took me straight for X-rays
“They had to shower me three times to try and get the blood out of my hair otherwise they were looking at shaving it off because of the injuries to my head. I had 15 stitches to my head [for] three deep gashes to head, one broken wrist, one badly injured wrist and two broken fingers.
“I kept saying sorry to the nurse, saying: “It’s a Friday night you don’t need to be doing this for me, there are people here who are dying”. She said: ‘We don’t see this. We see people with broken noses and black eyes, but we don’t see this.’.
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Wiggins of Queen Street, Pentre, pleaded guilty to one count of causing grievous bodily harm without intent. He has six convictions for seven offences of which three relate to the battery of “other partners”.
Judge Vanessa Francis called Wiggins’ actions “persistent and sustained” while she considered how he had “already spent time in custody” prior to the hearing. She said the time he has spent on remand is already equivalent to that of a 12-month sentence.
She sentenced Wiggins to 24 months in prison suspended for two years, which saw him released from prison on the day of the sentencing. Since her ordeal Kerry said she will continue to be affected by what happened to her, while Wiggins walks free.
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“It’s been really hard,” she said. “My mental health is terrible, I couldn’t go out for ages. I was scared and I wasn’t sleeping. My doctor has actually diagnosed me with PTSD and put me on sleeping tablets.”
Frustrated, Kerry added that she was informed by a counselling service via her GP that she will need to wait three years to wait for psychological therapy, while Wiggins was told during his sentencing that upon his release he will begin a rehabilitation course, a mental health treatment requirement and an alcohol abuse requirement.
“I feel let down as the victim,” she said. “I’m living in fear, I have been through the worst time of my life and he’s getting help and I’m not.”
Kerry said the impact of Wiggins’ actions don’t stop with her, either. She explained: “My mum is the worst affected. “I went out on a night out in December and my phone was in my handbag and it accidentally rang my mum, its pocket dialed her, and was pressing loads of buttons.
“She woke my sister up at 1am and they got dressed to come and find me because they thought something was wrong and I was doing a code. And that’s horrendous for my mum to feel like that. I suppose she saw me in the state that I was, and my sister had seen me in hospital and cried every time she looked at me.”
If you or someone you know is affected by domestic abuse visit the Live Fear Free website or call the helpline on 0808 80 10 800.
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A trip with school friends changed Stef’s life forever (Picture: Helene Wiesenhaan/BSR Agency/Getty Images)
The memories of August 6, 2000 and what started off as ‘the best weekend of my life’ still play back vividly in Stef Reid’s head.
For a start there were arguments beforehand, as Stef, then 15, pleaded with her strict mother Carol to let her visit lakes in rural Canada with her best friends.
Later, having been allowed to go, Stef recalls with crystal clarity the thrill and excitement of racing along the water in a tube, being pulled by a speedboat.
‘You bounce along the waves and eventually you’re thrown into the water, as I was,’ she says. ‘I turned to wait for the speedboat to come back and collect me.’
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However, in the final horrific seconds, Stef realised the driver of the boat hadn’t seen her in the water. And what happened next changed her life. ‘In a split second I realised he was heading straight for me – and my brain shifted into survival mode,’ says Stef, now 41.
‘I thought, “Stef, you need to avoid those propellers”, so I tried to dive under the surface to safety but I had a lifejacket on.’
Stef Reid is now a Paralympian (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)
‘I have this memory of darkness in the water and suspension in time. I was underwater and swam towards the light on the surface. I remember thinking, “Wow, that was really lucky, I won’t tell my Mum,” because I didn’t realise anything was wrong.
‘I couldn’t see my legs and after a few seconds I felt weird sensations. Shock, terror and panic set in.’
A lifeguard on the boat swam to support Stef in the water. When pulled back on board, she was bleeding profusely. The propeller had left deep gashes along her back and mangled her right foot. ‘I wanted to talk but I couldn’t get the words out,’ says Stef.Back on land, ‘my friends made a stretcher out of a deckchair and put me on the back of the van.
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‘A neighbour who was a nurse sat beside me as we raced to meet the ambulance.’
Mum Carol, who is English and married to Scotsman Philip, arrived at the hospital. As surgeons began to discuss a possible amputation, she pleaded with them to remove her own healthy foot and graft it on to Stef’s mangled limb.
‘I’ll never forget my mum begging the surgeon, “Can you amputate my leg and give it to Stef?”,’ she says. ‘And after all those years of teenage arguments and disagreements I learned in that moment that my mum put me first in everything.’
Stef and her mother Carol had a strained relationship, but the accident brought them closer (Picture: Supplied)
‘All those times as a teenager when I was angry with her because she was too strict, I realised she just wanted me to be safe.
‘I never fought with her again. I realised she loved me so much, she would sacrifice her own leg to help me. It made me realise how lucky I was.’
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Stef remained in hospital for three weeks, with Carol, now 71 and a retired bookkeeper, sleeping on a chair beside her bed. The teenager had to face the reality that her dreams of becoming a professional rugby player were in tatters.
‘I was angry, miserable and in pain,’ she says. ‘I had to accept that sport wasn’t going to be part of my life and threw myself into my studies instead.’
Stef returned to school with hopes of becoming a surgeon. Two years later she was given her first running blade. While studying biochemistry at Queen’s University in Ontario, she asked to join the running team.
‘I wondered just how fast I could go,’ she says, and soon Stef was running alongside the non-disabled team. She was invited to run in Manchester at the age of 22 and paused her academic studies to train for the Paralympics as a long-jumper and sprinter.
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Carol is one of Stef’s biggest supporters (Picture: Supplied)
The gamble paid off. Stef won a bronze medal in the 200m at the 2008 Paralympics in Beijing when representing Canada, and silver in the long jump at the London 2012 Paralympics for Great Britain.
With her British parentage, Stef moved to the UK full time in 2011 to live and train in Leicester, turning to inspirational speaking and broadcasting after retiring from athletics in 2022.
Behind each of Stef’s successes has been Carol, her biggest cheerleader.
Stef now lives in Loughborough with husband Brent Lakatos, a Canadian wheelchair racer.
‘Mum gave up her weekends to drive me to competitions and she was always in the crowd shouting “Go, Stef, go!”’ says Stef, whose success extended beyond the track to include appearances on TV shows Celebrity MasterChef and Dancing on Ice, where she made it to the quarter finals.
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Which of those two was the most nerve-wracking? ‘The scariest was Dancing on Ice,’ she says. ‘I wasn’t a natural skater and it was so nerve-wracking because I’d have an epic fall in every final practice, which made the live skate on television so much worse hours later.
‘My legs used to feel like jelly but I realised I could still function under all that stress.
Dancing on ice was one of the biggest challenges Stef has taken on (Picture: Matt Frost/ITV/Shutterstock)
‘Celebrity MasterChef in 2018 was wildly different because I had very little experience of cooking and I misunderstood the show.
‘I thought I’d be mentored and taught in every episode. When I realised there was no training involved, I ended up watching YouTube for hours every day, learning how to cook.
‘The skills never left me and now I can at least throw a fantastic dinner party!’
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Next up, Stef is presenting TV coverage of the Winter Paralympics in Italy – which begin this Friday – from a studio in Toronto. She is also a diversity ambassador for British Ice Skating, an inspirational speaker and a high-performance coach.
‘My best advice is just go for it,’ she says. ‘My life could have been wrecked when I was 15 but I would never have achieved what I have without losing my foot – or without my amazing mother helping me every inch of the way.’
Stef Reid recently launched the Hail Mary Friday Club for those looking for a gentle shove to live with more boldness and joy. Visit stefreid.com
The Reds are chasing a top-four finish as they look to consolidate themselves in the Champions League conversation, while Igor Tudor’s Spurs are looking to avoid the unthinkable, with relegation now a very real threat for the north London club.
Today’s hosts are in indifferent form, having suffered two defeats in their last three matches.
One of those came in their last Premier League outing, as they were stunned by bottom club Wolves 2-1 at Molineux.
They then avenged that loss by beating the Black Country club just days later, but they slipped back into that losing streak with a 1-0 defeat at Galatasaray in the Champions League in midweek.
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The Premier League champions were without their first-choice goalkeeper Alisson Becker, who had picked up a minor injury in training that kept him out of the trip to Turkey.
As for Spurs, they are just one point above that dreaded dotted line, with Tudor not winning any of his first four games in interim charge.
Pressure has mounted on the Croat after the 5-2 defeat by Atletico Madrid in the Champions League earlier this week, and rumours are swirling about his immediate future as Spurs look anxiously over their shoulders.
How to watch Liverpool vs Tottenham
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TV channel: In the UK, the game will be televised live on Sky Sports. Coverage starts at 4pm GMT on Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Main Event.
Live stream: Sky Sports subscribers can also catch the contest live online via the Sky Go app.
Live blog: You can follow all the action on matchday via Standard Sport’s live blog, with expert analysis from Sam Tabuteau at the ground.
He died at HMP Bure in Norfolk on Friday, the Prison Service said.
The former actor, who appeared in the BBC drama Grange Hill, was convicted of four counts of sexual activity with a 14-year-old girl and charges of sexual assault and assault by penetration relating to a 15-year-old girl at a property in Hertfordshire on April 9 2022.
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After Alford’s death was first reported by The Sun on Sunday, a Prison Service spokesman said: ‘John Shannon died in prison on March 13 2026.
‘As with all deaths in custody, the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman will investigate.’
John Alford was sentenced to eight and a half years in jail after sexually assaulting two teenagers (Picture: Hertfordshire Police/PA Wire)
Alford appeared in ITV drama London’s Burning (Picture: John Stillwell/PA Wire)
Jurors heard during the trial that the defendant, charged under his real name John Shannon, sexually assaulted the girls while they were drunk following a night out at the pub.
Police received a third-party report from the 15-year-old girl’s mother outlining the allegations two days later, before the defendant was arrested.
The 15-year-old girl said in her evidence she had felt ‘absolutely sick’ following the assault and had planned to keep the incident secret before having a ‘mental breakdown’ to her friend’s mother on April 11.
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Alford told jurors during the trial that all the allegations were ‘scandalous’ and a ‘set-up’, and that there was no DNA evidence to support the assaults.
He said he had told police that the girls were ‘going to extort money’ from him, and that he suffered from mental health issues including anxiety, depression and paranoia.
During his trial in September prosecutor Chris White told the jury: ‘John Shannon was fully aware of the girls’ ages, yet he chose to exploit them – giving them alcohol and then committing sexual offences against them.’
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