Home news in brief
Firearms enthusiast held after he made dozens of guns
A man who made his own guns at home has been jailed for seven-and-a-half years after being convicted of 45 separate firearms offences. Raymond Frederick Nugent, 73, a selfdescribed “gun nut” was arrested in October 2019 after a lengthy investigation into imports of blank-firing weapons into the UK from Czechia in 2018. Despite insisting that he never intended to sell or fire the weapons, Nugent was found to have cut
cardboard templates of various weapons to create new firing mechanisms for dozens of disarmed guns. Nugent, of Hornchurch in Essex, was found to have dozens of home-made guns and ammunition in his home when officers raided it in November 2018. Detective Superintendent Victoria Sullivan, Specialist Crime, said: “Though no evidence was found of any associated criminality linked to Nugent’s activities, the arsenal he had in his possession was lethal and, in the wrong hands, quite capable of causing incredibly serious harm.” SWNS
Lib Dems demand 8,000 more GPs
The Liberal Democrats have called on the government to train 8,000 more GPs and give pharmacists more prescribing power, as part of a plan to solve the pressures hitting the NHS. The strain on the health service was revealed by recent NHS England data, which found a record 54,532 people waited more than 12 hours in A&E departments last month from a decision to admit to actually being admitted. The party is also calling on the government to follow the example of Wales and Scotland by giving pharmacists the power and training to prescribe certain medicines and manage patients with illnesses such as diabetes. Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey accused Rishi Sunak and his government of being in “total denial” about the problems facing the health service, as the party set out five options it said would help bring the NHS “back from the brink”.
Ambulance workers strike as chancellor warned over ‘fair pay’
Ambulance workers will stage a fresh strike today in the escalating dispute over pay and staffing. It comes after chancellor Jeremy Hunt was told he can halt industrial action and begin solving the staffing emergency if he comes up with new money to pay health workers “fairly”. But Unison warned Mr Hunt that if he continues to resist appeals to release extra cash and kickstart talks with unions to end the strikes, the NHS dispute could run for many months. Thousands of members of Unison, Unite and the GMB will walk out across England and
Wales today. Up to 15,000 Unison ambulance workers will strike for the third time in five weeks and will be joined by 5,000 of their NHS colleagues at two hospital trusts in Liverpool.
Two dead in M40 eight-vehicle pile-up
Two people died yesterday after an eight-vehicle crash on the M40 in Buckinghamshire. The collision, which occurred at around 8.15am between Stokenchurch and High Wycombe, left 10 people suffering minor injuries and another two seriously hurt. Police, fire and ambulance crews attended, with Thames Valley air ambulance landing on the northbound carriageway. Despite the efforts of emergency services, a woman in her 60s and a man in his 70s were pronounced dead at the scene.
Red squirrels introduced at National Trust property
Red squirrels have been introduced at Castle Ward in a bid to establish a new population in the grounds of the Co Down property. The first four have been released at the estate with more to follow. The move is part of an ongoing effort between the National Trust, Ulster Wildlife, Belfast Zoo, Northern Ireland Environment Agency, and the Heart of Down Red Squirrel Group, to secure the long-term future of this increasingly rare mammal. They were released into a specially selected location in the Castle Ward estate, picked for its woodland habitat as well as being free from invasive grey squirrels, the biggest threat to the red squirrel’s survival. Red squirrels have faced huge declines in the UK and Ireland due to the invasive grey, introduced from North America in the 19th century, and habitat loss.
Want your views to be included in The Independent Daily Edition letters page? Email us by tapping here letters@independent.co.uk. Please include your address