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Woman killed after lorry crashes into house
A female pedestrian was killed yesterday following an incident in which a lorry crashed into the side of a house in Brierley, Barnsley. Police said that four men had been arrested and that the white tractor unit had been “involved in crime” before the crash. A spokeswoman for South Yorkshire Police said officers had been called to the scene at about 1.40pm.
Teenager jailed for killing stepmother
A 17-year-old was given a life term yesterday for murdering his stepmother using an axe and a samurai sword. Rueben Brathwaite, who is said to have become “obsessed” with watching extreme violence online, killed Fiona Scourfield, 54, at their countryside farm before trying to upload pictures of her body to the internet.
Swansea Crown Court heard yesterday how the teenager developed an interest in videos of beheading, suicide, and mass murder on “imageboard” website 4chan in the run up to the murder. A court heard Brathwaite immediately made a 999 call to confess to the killing, telling an operator he had become “fed up” with his life. Prosecutor Paul Hipkin said the teen had lived with his landscape gardener father, Charles Brathwaite, and his stepmother at their log cabin on Broodmoor Farm in St Clears, Carmarthenshire, west Wales, where he began accessing images and videos of “brutal” violence online.
Judge Mr Justice Simon Picken said Brathwaite had complained of loneliness, unhappiness and depression leading up to the attack, but had not been suffering from any mental health condition. The judge said: “The savagery of the attack on this defenceless woman makes this case all the worse. No doubt inspired by the graphic images seen on the internet in the months before the attack, you attempted to upload images of the attack to the internet.” Brathwaite was jailed for life with a minimum term of 15 years.
Teenage girl and woman shot in ‘targeted attack’
A girl, 15, and a 36-year-old woman were shot in a “targeted” attack in Birmingham, police say. The pair were taken to hospital after emergency services were called to the scene in Sheldon, at around 9.40pm on Thursday. They were not seriously injured, police said.
In a statement, West Midlands Police said: “Two people have been taken to hospital with gunshot wounds after reports of a firearm discharge in Sheldon, Birmingham last night.
No-fault divorces to be introduced as quickly as possible
No-fault divorces will be introduced as quickly as possible, ministers vow today, to reduce the “conflict” between separating couples and harm for their children. Archaic laws demanding proof that a marriage has broken down due to a partner’s adultery, unreasonable behaviour, or desertion, will be swept away, they confirm. Spouses would also be stripped of any right to contest a divorce application made by their partner, under a 12-week consultation launched by the ministry of justice.
David Gauke, the justice secretary, said the current divorce laws, which have been in place for half a century, were “out of touch with modern life”. “Marriage is a hugely important institution, but when a relationship ends it cannot be right that the law creates or increases conflict between divorcing couples,” he said.