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Boy died while changing boots, inquest told
A seven-year-old boy died after being crushed between two cars as he was changing out of his boots after a rugby match in Plymouth, an inquest heard yesterday. Alfie Tollett had just watched his brother play in a match at the Plymstock Albion Oaks rugby club on Sunday 19 February when a car trying to park nearby “shunted” another stationary vehicle into him, the coroner said. Alfie was crushed between the vehicle and his
family’s own car, the coroner said. Although he was taken to Derriford Hospital, Alfie was pronounced dead around an hour after the incident. His official cause of death was given as blunt force traumatic chest injuries.
A 55-year-old man arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving has been released on bail until 20 May. Devon and Cornwall Police are continuing to appeal for witnesses and any potential dashcam footage of the incident.
Ukrainian girl, 14, dies after being found on beach
A teenage girl from Ukraine has died after being found unconscious on a beach in south Devon. Devon and Cornwall Police said the girl was found on Saturday at Dawlish Beach, following a search involving the police helicopter and coastguard. The girl had been living in the Dawlish area, the force said.
Arctic blast heading towards UK, Met Office warns
The Met Office has warned UK residents to brace themselves for snow and plunging temperatures this week. Forecasters say that a major change in climate is underway, as Arctic air moves in from the north, bringing snow, ice and freezing temperatures for many. Experts believe the drop in temperature is being caused by sudden stratospheric warming and could bring about similar freezing conditions to the Beast from the East in 2018. Warnings for snow and ice have been issued across northeastern parts of the UK as well as some Northern Ireland and southern and central areas of England and Wales.
Firefighters accept revised pay deal to avert strikes
Firefighters voted yesterday to accept a pay deal aimed at averting strike action, with a union leader hailing the settlement as a “testament to the power of collective action”. An improved offer was made in February to the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) of
a 7 per cent pay rise backdated to last July and a further 5 per cent from July this year. The union’s executive decided to recommend that members vote to accept the offer in a ballot which opened on 20 February and closed yesterday. Some 96 per cent of FBU members voted to accept the deal on an 84 per cent turnout.
Raab ‘made staff member cry’, says ex-colleague
Dominic Raab made a member of staff cry, a former colleague has claimed in the latest in a string of allegations of bullying made against the deputy prime minister. Mr Raab is the subject of an investigation into claims he bullied multiple members of staff and has committed to resigning from government if the allegations against him are upheld. Mr Raab has strongly denied that he is a bully.
In the latest claims, a colleague who advised Mr Raab in one department, told the BBC: “I didn’t personally feel bullied. I did observe though what I would characterise as bullying behaviour. There is no question in my mind about that.” And one of Mr Raab’s former parliamentary staffers said they did not think he was a bully, but said reports about his behaviour resonated with what they had witnessed. “There were a handful of occasions where I observed him make a member of staff cry because he was not happy with their work. That was probably one of the things that I found most uncomfortable,” they said.
Toblerone forced to drop Matterhorn from packaging
Toblerone is to remove the Matterhorn mountain peak from its packaging because of strict Swiss marketing rules. With some of the chocolate’s production due to be moved from Switzerland to Slovakia, the confectionary will soon fall foul of restrictions about “Swissness” which stop national symbols from being used to promote products that are not made exclusively in the country. US firm Mondelez said it would replace the image of
the 4,478m (14,690ft) mountain, which borders Switzerland and Italy, with a generic summit instead.
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