670mph pod plan to link UK airports
Ruby, 4, told of travel agent killing
TEST Hyperloop pod in US PASSENGERS could be whisked between airports in 670mph pods to cut the need for airport expansion.
Virgin Group believes the “hyperloop” pods, driven by compressed air, will turn London Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted, into one “hub” with travel between them taking just five minutes.
It says Hyperloop One could make a third runway at Heathrow unnecessary.
Rob Lloyd, boss of Hyperloop One, said: “Think of this as moving between terminals instead of between airports.”
The only successful tests have been on unmanned trials in the Nevada desert.
The Department for Transport said a UK hyperloop was “at least two decades away”.
THE four-year-old daughter of a travel agent who had her throat slit at work has asked why “Mammy went to heaven without her”.
The former partner of Cassie Hayes, 28, told how little Ruby was left sobbing after she broke the news of the killing.
Leah McDonald, 31, wrote on Facebook: “As if my heart couldn’t break any more, having to watch my little girl break down crying as I tell her that mammy has gone to the angels, telling her she’s never going to see her again.
“Ruby asking, why did she go without her?? Mammy was my best friend, mummy, I love her so much.”
She added: “Cassie was the most FRIGHT Child’s toy spider amazing thing to enter my life back in 2007. I’m so lucky to have had the pleasure to be her first girlfriend and her first love and best friend – the one person who stood by my side.
“Even when we split, we were there for each other. She was the best person I could have picked to be the mammy to our little girl.”
Cassie’s brother, Ryan, said: “They were two peas in a pod. Ruby is not yet five and she’s CHARGED Andrew Burke lost three people very close to her, her grandad, her nana and now her mammy.” Ruby’s grandad, Steven McDonald, was killed in a fire when she was just seven weeks old, he said. Cassie’s current partner, Laura Williams, also paid tribute. “She is the most amazing, gorgeous, selfless and strong person I know,” she said. And she described Cassie as “my future wife and my forever”. Cassie’s family added in a statement: “Our whole lives have been shattered. This has torn our hearts from our bodies.
“Cassie was an amazing, kind human being who would do anything for anyone. She doted on all her family and our loss is beyond calculation.”
Andrew Burke, 30, yesterday appeared in court accused of Cassie’s murder at the TUI travel agents’ office in Southport town centre, Merseyside, where she was the assistant manager.
Burke, of St Helens, was remanded in custody until February 19.
Cassie, originally from Alnwick, Northumberland, died of shock and haemorrhaging from a neck wound, Liverpool crown court heard.