NUMBERS UP.. & UP
Record £180m EuroMillions rollover in Tuesday’s draw
A RECORD jackpot of £180million will be up for grabs in the next EuroMillions draw on Tuesday.
No winner has emerged since a Superdraw on February 5, which has sent the rollover prize rocketing.
The jackpot cap was increased by €10million to its current level after a French player won the then maximum of €200million – which equates to £173million – in December. If there is no winner this Tuesday, the top prize cannot be increased beyond its new limit. However, players who match five main numbers and just one of the Lucky Stars will receive more money. Under the rules, the jackpot can stay at €210million for four draws at most before that amount must be paid out.
But such a huge prize is now likely to spark a surge in ticket sales, boosting the chances of a winner on Tuesday. The precise amount to be won by a successful Brit will depend on the exchange rate on the day, as the prizes are valued in euros.
The two biggest EuroMillions jackpots have come in the last three months and four of the top 10 ever have gone to Brits.
The top three UK wins are £170million by an unnamed player, £161million by Colin and Chris Weir and £148million by Adrian and Gillian Bayford.
IT’S on the Square, guv – footie legend and I’m A Celebrity hero Harry Redknapp is close to landing an ACTING role on EastEnders.
The former Premier League boss is set to sign on the dotted line for a potential part as Queen Vic landlord Mick Carter’s new sidekick.
It’s a huge coup for the BBC soap’s executives who had kept weeks of behind-the-scenes talks under wraps. A source said: “Harry will be a great addition to EastEnders. Even though he has no traditional acting experience, his character and charm are more than enough to stand him in good stead on the show.
“And with him growing up in the real East End, it makes it even better.”
Born in Poplar, Harry, 73, played for London clubs West Ham and Spurs before managing them both. He won the FA Cup in 2008 as boss of Portsmouth.
But it was an unlikely stint on ITV’s 2018 I’m A Celeb series that catapulted him on to our screens and saw him crowned King of the Jungle. He’s since got into mainstream TV, starring in adverts and documentaries, and he’s hosting his own successful podcast.
Now Harry is about to take his small screen career to a new level alongside huge TV names like Danny Dyer who plays Mick Carter. And if Harry has his way, he’ll be his new sidekick.
Harry said in a recent interview he was desperate for a part – and even had a script in mind.
“Mick Carter and his regulars are in The Vic,” said Harry. “They’re at the bar and one says, ‘Ere, you heard Redknapp has moved back in the area?’ Another says, ‘Nah, he’s moved to that posh Sandbanks’. Mick then says, ‘Nah, he’s had enough of it. He’s come back’.”
Harry added: “At this point, I come into the pub, they turn around shocked and I say, ‘I’ve moved round the corner’. Mick then says, ‘We’re starting up a little business. A bit of this, bit of that’.
“I’d like to be in it a year before they bump me off or something.”
Our source added: “Everything has been pretty much agreed and it’s now down to the fine details.”
Last night a spokesman for Harry declined to comment.
I come into the pub… and they turn around shocked
HARRY ON HOW HE SEES HIS BIG VIC ENTRANCE
FORMER PM Theresa May accepted £115,000 to address a women’s forum founded by the Dubai ruler accused of kidnapping his daughter.
Mrs May flew to the Gulf in February last year to speak at the Global Women’s Forum event.
She was pictured shaking hands with Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum – ruler of Dubai and Vice President of the United Arab Emirates.
Last week videos emerged of the 71-year-old billionaire’s daughter Princess Latifa claiming she was being held captive in a villa by her family.
The United Nations has asked the UAE to provide proof she is still alive.
In the videos, released by friends of the princess, Latifa, 35, says: “I don’t know if I’m going to survive this situation. The police said I’d be in prison my whole life – I’d never see the sun again.”
The claims are the latest against Al Maktoum, who has been a guest of the Queen at Royal Ascot. In 2000, Latifa’s sister Princess Shamsa escaped while on holiday in Surrey. She was tracked down, taken to her dad’s home in Newmarket, Suffolk – then returned to Dubai.
She has not been seen in public since.
TORTURED
Two years later, Latifa made her first escape bid by trying to cross the border into Oman. She was caught and jailed for three years at home, where she says she was tortured in solitary confinement. In 2018 Latifa made a second bid for freedom and a life in the US. She was captured off the coast of India and taken back to Dubai.
On Friday, the royal family said she was being “cared for at home”.
Mrs May’s trip to the emirate came months after Latifa’s stepmother Princess Haya fled to the UK with her two children to claim asylum, reportedly in fear for her life. Records show the bill for Mrs May was footed by the Dubai Women Establishment, founded by the Sheikh in 2006. Its website says: “The Establishment’s mission is to champion women in driving the socio-economic future of Dubai through influencing policies, sharing knowledge, leading initiatives.”
But Princess Latifa’s friend, human rights lawyer David Haigh, said the event was arranged by the Dubai establishment as “a publicity stunt designed to distract from the country’s quite appalling treatment of women”.
A Sunday Mirror probe found that in the past decade 30 MPs – 17 Tories, 11 Labour and two SNP – accepted trips aimed at forging closer ties with the UAE. In some cases, spouses joined them on the £117,000 trips. Theresa May was unavailable for comment.
THE tragic toll of children killed at the hands of parents known to be abusive has risen once more.
The number killed since child protection laws were last overhauled in 2004 now stands at a horrifying 69.
That is six higher than 2019 when the Sunday Mirror launched the Save Kids From Violent Parents campaign in a bid to change the law, which presumes contact with both parents is in the best interests of the child.
We acted after finding 63 children had died – and kids were allowed to live with convicted killers and paedophiles.
Now investigations have concluded into a further six cases where professionals failed to take steps to protect young victims.
The true figure is expected to be even higher as investigations are ongoing into dozens more deaths.
Some 12 children died in domestic homicides in London alone last year, amid fears lockdown caused a spike in killings.
Our fight is backed by Chelsea Chambers, who escaped through a window when her stepdad David Oakes killed her mum Christine,
38, and two-year-old sister Shania in Braintree, Essex, in 2011.
Oakes, sentenced to life, has since died. He was allowed to see Shania every weekend despite Christine making numerous reports to police about his violence.
Chelsea, now 20, said: “I back this campaign 100%. This man was never fit to have a two-year-old in his care.
“My mum had a non-molestation order, but we still had to meet him to collect Shania.”
The Children Act was updated in 2004
in the wake of the Victoria Climbie tragedy and was supposed to make it easier for local authorities to step in when they know a child is at risk.
Victoria, eight, was starved and tortured by great aunt Marie Therese Kouao, 63, and boyfriend Carl Manning, 46, after agencies missed numerous chances to save her. She died in 2000 and her murderers were jailed for life.
The legislation, introduced in 1989, says welfare of the child must come first.
Yet even violent criminals are not automatically banned from having time alone with their kids. And under human rights laws, both kids and their parents have a right to a family life.
The Government pledged to change the law last June and has promised better training for professionals. A review is set to report back this year.
As part of our ongoing probe, we reviewed the cases of Leo Tompsett, five, Amelia Crichton, seven months, Hope Smith, six months, Kayden Walker, six months, Blake Barrass, 14, and his 13-year-old brother Tristan.
Kayden died of “catastrophic” injuries after being attacked in 2018 by dad Ricky Walker, who got six years for manslaughter. Previous
LEO TOMPSETT, 5
PLAYFUL Leo Tompsett was killed by his mum Cheryl, 42, in a murder-suicide at Beachy Head in East Sussex in 2018.
Weeks earlier, police were called to the family home and two of Tompsett’s older children disclosed past abuse.
Officers were called out the next day and Tompsett said: “All my kids are dead to me.”
Police learned of incidents in which she threw a wooden toy at Leo’s dad Mark Woodhams and a laptop at an older child.
A court ruled contact with Leo should be supervised – but then ordered Tompsett, from Maidstone, Kent, should be allowed time alone with her son. Weeks later, she killed him then took her own life.
Mark, 47, backed our campaign and said: “You’d think the people a child can trust most with their life are their parents.
Leo’s mum betrayed that trust.”
abuse allegations were not probed. Hope’s dad Neil Smith got life for her 2017 murder. Authorities were aware he had a history of “significant domestic abuse”.
The Barrass brothers were murdered in 2019 by mum Sarah and dad Brandon Minchin. He was Sarah’s half brother and the family was known to social services. In
total, 54 children have been
killed by dads with a documented history of abuse and six by mums. In nine cases, both parents were complicit.
Some 21 children died after being left with convicted and violent criminals.
In 11 cases, unsupervised contact was ordered directly in the family courts. In the remaining 58, the decision to allow unsupervised contact was made by local authorities. Justice Minister Alex Chalk said: “We are determined to ensure that children are safe, whilst ensuring they have the best possible family life.
“This is a complex, sensitive area and any action we take following the review must be rooted in solid evidence. That is why it’s so important we take time to consider this with the utmost care.”
HARRY and Meghan’s remarks in what looks like a war of words with the Queen have been taken out of context, a friend insists.
Dean Stott said their comment that “We can all live a life of service” should be seen as an indication of the couple’s desire to carry on doing good deeds.
Mr Stott, a former Special Forces soldier who has known Harry for 12 years, defended the Duke and Duchess of Sussex after they were accused of “horribly disrespecting” the Queen. The monarch announced on Friday that the pair will lose their royal patronages.
Mr Stott, who lives near Harry and Meghan and their son Archie in California, said: “They’re very much a modern couple and like to do things differently so they see that they can still do a service but in their own way.
“It keeps… Harry and Meghan in the position that they can still be in that public limelight, but obviously always giving back.”
They see they can still do a service...in their way DEAN STOTT ON HARRY AND MEGHAN’S PLANS
FREEDOM
Mr Stott said the comment about “service” should be “taken in context” of the couple’s charity work. He added that the loss of their royal roles gave Harry, 36, and pregnant Meghan, 39, “more opportunity and freedom to do more and help more”.
Mr Stott, who left the military after a parachuting injury, was inspired by Harry to break two world records in 2018 by cycling almost 14,000 miles from Argentina to Alaska.
As royal watchers continued to analyse Harry and Meghan’s words last night, a PR expert predicted huge growth for the couple, who already have a £70million Netflix deal. Mark Borkowski said: “Ultimately, it’s not just about money. It’s about power and influence and, I’m sure, Meghan’s ambitions politically over the next 20 to 30 years.
“That’s where the royal family are probably rattled… because clearly they are going to have a huge influence in America.”