Tulisa Accused Of V Festival Blogger Assault

Former X Factor judge and N-Dubz singer Tulisa Contostavlos has been accused of assaulting a blogger at V Festival.

Essex Police are investigating after celebrity writer Vas Morgan claimed that the 25-year-old charged towards him in a "drunken and angry state" in the backstage area of the Chelmsford event on Sunday.

A representative for Constostavlos issued a statement saying: "Tulisa strongly denies assaulting Mr Morgan; she specifically denies punching Mr Morgan in the eye.

"She has placed this matter in the hands of her lawyers for immediate and appropriate action."

A force spokeswoman confirmed that officers received the allegation of an assault on Tuesday. The attack is alleged to have taken place just after midnight.

She added: "We are making further inquiries."

Earlier this year Tulisa was arrested on suspicion of supplying class A drugs following a newspaper report about an alleged cocaine deal.

Her bail has been extended until October.

She was dropped from the X Factor and replaced by Sharon Osbourne.

In 2012 Tulisa won an apology from her ex-boyfriend after he leaked footage on to the internet of the two of them performing a sex act.

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Prisoners Cold Call From Jail Call Centres

Prisoners are being employed to gather insurance details from members of the public at call centres set up inside jails.

The Ministry of Justice has confirmed inmates are working as call centre operatives at HMP Oakwood in Wolverhampton and HMP Drake Hall in Staffordshire.

They carry out market research for insurance companies as part of a scheme officials claim prepares them to return to work after their release.

Without revealing they are in jail, they read from a script, which reports suggested included asking possible customers their names and postcodes.

The Government denied claims they could inquire about the total value of homeowners' possessions and any items that were particularly valuable.

Sources also made clear the workers do not have access to the "full address details" of any members of the public.

The cold callers work from secure computers with no internet access and are not allowed a pen to stop them recording any of the data.

The Ministry of Justice said prisoners should not 'sit idle'

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: "Prisoners placed in call centres are risk assessed and their work subject to stringent security measures, with calls supervised and recorded.

"At no point can they ask the value of items, record data outside of the secure systems or deviate from a carefully worded script.

"These small pilots are being carefully monitored and would only be rolled out if deemed to be successful."

The spokesman added: "It is crucial that offenders do not sit idle in their cells.

"Ensuring prisoners learn new skills through work opportunities makes them more employable in the future - that means a lower risk of reoffending, lower crime and fewer victims."

Security firm G4S confirmed it ran a call centre at HMP Oakwood in partnership with businesses and insisted it was entirely safe.

"All the prisoners are carefully security checked and interviewed before working in the centre, calls are made remotely by computer, and every conversation is closely monitored by supervisors," a spokesman said.

"No information from the calls is stored and there is no way any personal information can be used for any criminal purposes."

However, critics warned the scheme could put customers are risk.

Peter Cuthbertson of the Centre for Crime Prevention told The Sun: "Trusting criminals with people's financial details is incredibly naive. Burglars will know who to target when they are released."

HMP Drake Hall has been a prison for women since the 1970s, while HMP Oakwood, which is now run privately by security firm G4S, is a prison for men.

The MOJ announced plans to pay prisoners to work in call centres last year to enable them to learn new skills.

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Bolton: Pensioner Dies After Intruder Attack

An 87-year-old man who was robbed and beaten in his home by an intruder has died from his injuries in hospital.

Frank Worsley was attacked when he was woken up by a man who broke into his home on Longfield Road, Bolton, in the early hours of August 3.

He was taken to hospital after suffering a stroke and bleeding to his brain, but died there yesterday afternoon.

The grandfather, whose wife Mary died last September, was described as a "solid, dependable guy".

His wife had suffered from multiple sclerosis and he had nursed her for 25 years until her death.

They had two children and were also grandparents.

Mr Worsley, who used to work for the Co-operative Society, was active in his local church, St Bede's in Bolton, until his wife's illness meant Reverend Malcolm Bristow would visit their home to give communion.

Mr Bristow said: "The church has been praying for Frank and people have been asking how he is. He was cared for and an active Christian in his life.

"He was dedicated to his church and his wife and his faith. He was a solid guy, he was a dependable sort of guy.

"Whenever anything like this happens in a local community, people are shocked and concerned and worried.

"It's a sad enough time when somebody loses a loved one at whatever age, but when a loved one is lost in tragic circumstances such as this, it just intensifies the situation. It is extremely sad."

Senior Investigating Officer Andy Tattersall, from GMP's Major Incident Team, said: "Our thoughts and sympathies go out to Frank's family at this devastating time for them, after he sadly passed away in hospital yesterday.

"We will do all we can to support them.

"Our investigation into this case is ongoing and we are appealing for anyone that may have seen a suspicious person or vehicle in the Longfield Road area of Bolton in the early hours of Saturday 3 August, to contact us."

A 24-year-old man, of no fixed address, has been charged with robbery in connection with the incident.

He is due to appear at Bolton Crown Court on Friday.

:: Anyone with information is asked to call police on 0161 856 2448 or the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.

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Female Inmate Left In Isolation For Five Years

A female prisoner has been left in segregation in a "squalid" cell for more than five years, it has emerged.

The chief inspector of prisons, Nick Hardwick, made the discovery during an unannounced visit to HMP Bronzefield near Ashford, Surrey, in April.

In the inspection report, Mr Hardwick said: "We were dismayed that the woman who had already been in the segregation unit for three years in 2010 was still there in 2013. Her cell was unkempt and squalid and she seldom left it."

Frances Crook, chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: "This shocking case of treatment, which appears to amount to torture, in an English prison should shame ministers who tolerate the over-use of custody for women and consequent poor treatment."

Mr Hardwick added: "Although more activities had been organised for her and better multi-disciplinary support was available, she still had too little to occupy her. Her prolonged location on the segregation unit amounted to cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment - and we use these words advisedly.

"The treatment and conditions of other women held for long periods in segregation was little better. Much of this was outside the prison's direct control and required a national strategy for meeting the needs of these very complex women - as exists in the male estate. However, Bronzefield itself needed to do more to ameliorate the worst effects of this national failure."

There are 446 women on remand or serving sentences ranging from a few weeks to life at the prison. It has a small number of "restricted status" women, some of whom have severe personality disorders.

It is not known what the woman was jailed for.

The report calls for a policy to help manage women "with complex needs who cannot be supported in the prison's normal location".

This should include providing a humane environment and regime for those women, as well as for restricted status women in this category, it says.

Ms Crook said: "Her Majesty's chief inspector is absolutely right that specialist care outside of the prison walls needs to be developed for the handful of women who pose particular challenges."

Mr Hardwick said: "This inspection took place while the Government was conducting a review of the women's custodial estate. HMP Bronzefield illustrates some of the challenges that review should address.

"It is a credit to the managers and staff at Bronzefield that they meet these challenges as well as they do. There is more that can be done locally, but some of the issues identified in this report require a fundamentally different approach to the imprisonment of women at national level."

Juliet Lyon, director of the Prison Reform Trust, said: "The Chief Inspector reports that staff are doing their best to respond to the needs of women at Bronzefield, many of whom are in poor mental and physical health, addicted to drugs and drink and traumatised by separation from their children.

"But why in this day and age are women with such complex needs transported like cattle and dumped in prison, where one of the most damaged women is left to rot in some form of solitary confinement for five years?

"We are quick to condemn cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment of people in prison in other countries, now government must act to put right failings in our own women's justice system.

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Lifeguards Rescue Children At Treyarnon Beach

A group of nine people, including six children, who were trapped on a beach in Cornwall have been saved by lifeguards.

The group, who were stranded on Treyarnon beach by the incoming tide, huddled together on a small platform above a gully as water began to rush in.

A RNLI spokesman said it was "too dangerous" for crews to reach them by lifeboat as 5ft (1.5-metre) waves lashed the rocky coastline, forcing two lifeguards to abandon their inflatable and swim towards the gully.

One of the lifeguards involved in the rescue spots the stranded group

Zahli Lowe and Dan Lee, who are based at nearby Constantine, swam the youngsters, aged between seven and 12, to a safe part of the bay, where they were picked up by an inshore rescue boat.

They also helped a weaker adult swimmer to safety, while two adults made their own escape from the gully.

"It was a very difficult and long process, made even worse by the time pressures of the incoming tide and a building swell," Mr Lee said.

Two of the youngsters are taken to shore in an RNLI inshore rescue boat

"Thankfully we all know this beach and stretch of coastline very well and were able to read the waves and get them all out safely."

Treyarnon, near Padstow, is popular with families during the summer, when up to 200 swimmers and surfers can be in the water at any time.

A large cave at the end of the gully in which the group was trapped can be explored at low tide.

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'Bongo Bongo Land' MEP Attacks Women

The UKIP MEP Godfrey Bloom has sparked fresh controversy by declaring women are more suited to "finding mustard in the pantry" than driving cars.

Mr Bloom, who previously caused a row by claiming foreign aid was being sent to "bongo bongo land", made the comments in a blog about quotes for women in business and politics.

Writing on politics.co.uk, the politician also called 20th Century feminists "shrill, bored, middle class women of a certain physical genre".

And he said men who had supported them were "slightly effete, politically correct chaps who get sand kicked in their face in the beach".

Mr Bloom, the MEP for Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire, described himself as an "alpha male" who "would not be caught dead at a birth of a baby".

He argued it was important to recognise that the sexes were different, claiming only women cared about the toilet seat being left up or making the bed.

"Men and women are different yet there is no golden rule," he wrote.

"Most women can find the mustard in the pantry quicker than a man and most men can reverse a car better than a woman.

"My female French colleague is a phenomenal car parker in tiny spaces in French cities but it is not the norm."

He added: "Most wives do not regard putting petrol in the car as any part of their responsibility. Men cannot see the point in making the bed if you are going to get back in it tonight."

The MEP insisted the idea that women needed help to get into positions of authority was "nonsense", citing the example of Margaret Thatcher and businesswoman Kate Smith.

He also claimed women had produced "few great works" despite years of "training in art and music and significant leisure time in the 18th and 19th Centuries".

The comments come days after UKIP treasurer Stuart Wheeler said women were "nowhere near as good as men" at games like chess, bridge and poker.

They follow the departure of UKIP chief executive Will Gilpin this week.

Mr Gilpin was brought in to make the eurosceptic party more professional but is leaving after just eight months in the role.

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Queen's Swan Found Cooked Near Windsor Castle

A swan owned by the Queen has been found barbecued on the banks of the Thames in the shadow of Windsor Castle.

The Royal bird was found on Baths Island, in the middle of a picnic area popular with children and tourists.

It had been cooked with its feathers still attached, and meat had been stripped from its carcass.

Park wardens made the gruesome discovery in Windsor, Berkshire, at 3pm on Sunday, and called Swan Lifeline, which cares for sick or injured birds along the Thames.

Wendy Hermon, treatment centre co-ordinator for Swan Lifeline, told Sky News Online: "They were in the middle of their walkabout when they phoned us to say we've found what looks like the remains of a cooked swan.

"It's absolutely disgusting doing something like that. We've heard for years that sort of thing goes on; we've never actually seen it.

The Queen has the right to own any swan in the UK she chooses

"But to barbecue a swan and leave its body in the centre of Windsor with all the tourists and children about is absolutely disgraceful."

She added: "We have shot swans from time to time, and swans attacked by dogs and foxes, but that's nature and we accept it.

"But when it's something like this it's disgusting. It was so so selfish and wrong just to leave it there in the middle of the grass.

"They'd stripped the meat off it, they'd carved the breasts off the bones. There were no remains of a fire, but they're always having barbecues up there even though they're not allowed.

"And I think that's why the park wardens had gone up there, to tell people not to barbecue."

She said the carcass was taken back to the Swan Lifeline centre to be cremated.

The first record of the swan as a Royal bird dates back to the 12th century

David Barber, The Queen's Swan Marker, said he was appalled by the incident.

"It's an absolutely shocking situation and as far as I'm concerned the police are investigating this," he told Sky News.

"All swans are considered by people to be Royal birds and it's quite a shock to people to see this in a middle of a picnic lawn in a public area."

He said all swans on the Thames belong to the Queen, apart from those owned by the Vintners and Dyers livery companies.

The suspects face a maximum six months jail sentence and £5,000 fine because wild swans are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

But Mr Barber said if the dead swan is claimed by the Crown, the suspects could also be prosecuted for damaging Crown property.

The first written record of the swan as a Royal bird dates back to the 12th century.

Cygnets were highly prized for their gourmet qualities and were often served at banquets. Anyone caught stealing the birds was severely punished.

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Lennon's Tooth: Plans For Beatle Clone

A dentist, who owns a tooth once belonging to John Lennon, has said he plans to decode its DNA in the hopes of cloning him.

Dr Michael Zuk bought the tooth in 2011 for more than $30,000 (£19,100) at an auction in Britain.

The ex-Beatle had originally given the rotten tooth to housekeeper Dot Jarlett in the 1960s.

Since then, it had done the rounds being sold via various charity outlets until it arrived in Dr Zuk's hands.

Under his ownership, the dentist has big plans for the tooth, believing if he - with the help of scientists - could just work out the DNA, then a full-blown Lennon clone could be next.

Mark Chapman pictured after his arrest. He remains in prison

"If scientists think they can clone mammoths, then John Lennon could be next," the Canadian dentist told told The Examiner.

"To potentially say I had a small part in bringing back one of rock's greatest stars would be mind-blowing.

"I am nervous and excited at the possibility that we will be able to fully sequence John Lennon's DNA, very soon I hope.

"With researchers working on ways to clone mammoths, the same technology certainly could make human cloning a reality."

While the Canadian dentist awaits the return of Lennon, who was murdered by Mark Chapman in 1980, he has been using the tooth to promote cancer awareness.

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Taxi Crash: 'Devastated' Father Flies To US

The father of a British woman who had part of her leg severed by a New York taxi says the family is "devastated" by what happened.

Sian Green, 23, suffered the leg injury when a yellow taxi mounted the pavement in the centre of New York and struck her.

Sian Green was with a friend when she was hit. Pic: Instagram

"We are a really close family we are all devastated by what has happened," her father Jason told the Leicester Mercury.

"We don't know what to say.

"We just want to be at our daughter's side right now," he said, adding that he is flying to New York to keep a bedside vigil.

He added: "She is in recovery now, and they have had to amputate what's left of her foot."

A street vendor helps by packing the severed foot with ice. Pic: NBC

The cab hit a cyclist and then ploughed into Ms Green in front of a fountain outside the Rockefeller Center at 49th Street, news reports say.

Ms Green was walking down the road with her friend, eating a hot dog she had just bought nearby, when she was hit, according to the New York Post, which cited witnesses.

Among those who helped the victim was also celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz, who records his talk show in a nearby studio.

Dr Mehmet OZ and plumber David Justino. Pic. Facebook

Dr Oz said emergency medical crews were already treating the injured woman.

A plumber who was working in the area, David Justino, used his belt to make a life-saving tourniquet for Ms Green's leg.

Mr Justino said: "I just grabbed my belt, went over, lifted her up, put it on and held it.

"From the shin down, (her leg) was gone."

He added: "I just worried about the blood, there was too much blood."

A friend witnesses the accident. Pic: NBC

Mr Justino told the New York Daily News that she "was conscious the whole time, the poor thing. I wished she would have passed out".

A street vendor reportedly raced to put her severed foot on ice. She was then transport to the hospital.

Sergeant John Buthorn of the New York Police Department said: "The circumstances are still under investigation, whether it was some sort of rage or an accident.

Ms Green is taken to hospital on a stretcher. Pic: NBC

"It looks like her leg or part of it was severed during the accident."

Reports said Ms Green is being treated at Bellevue Hospital, where she underwent surgery to reattach her leg.

According to the New York Daily News, the cab driver was issued a summons for being an unauthorised driver, but was then set free.

Ms Green, 23, had reportedly just started her holiday. Pic: Instagram

Both the driver and the cyclist were treated for injuries, police said.

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: "We are aware of a traffic incident involving a British national in New York City.

"Staff at the British Consulate General in New York are providing consular assistance at this difficult time."

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Arthur Hutchinson Appeals Whole-Life Term

A triple murderer has become the first Briton to challenge his whole-life tariff following a European court ruling that it breaches human rights.

Arthur Hutchinson, who murdered the parents and brother of a bride hours after her 1984 wedding, has appealed to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

The 73-year-old was jailed for stabbing to death Basil and Avril Laitner and their son Richard at their home in Dore, Sheffield, before repeatedly raping another wedding guest.

The ECHR in Strasbourg ruled last month that it was "inhuman and degrading" for prisoners to face death in jail.

The initial case was brought following an appeal by three killers including Jeremy Bamber, who shot dead five members of his family in 1985.

Some 49 prisoners are currently in British jails serving whole life tariffs.

The family of Hutchinson's victims said the judges due to rule on the case should "be thrust into our position" before making a decision.

A spokesperson for the Laitner family told ITV News: "Whenever even the name Arthur Hutchinson rears its ugly head, it does nothing but create fear and distress to the victims of this heinous crime.

"Let the Human Rights judiciary members be thrust into our position for just a day and maybe they would understand this.

Jeremy Bamber, Peter Moore and Douglas Vinter brought a case to the ECHR

"We are confident that justice will be done and more importantly, be seen to be done, so that this matter can finally be put to rest."

Justice Secretary Chris Grayling said: "I have repeatedly made clear how profoundly I disagree with the recent ruling by the European Court.

"Our judges should be able to tell those who commit the most heinous crimes imaginable that they may never be released.

"To be told this breaches human rights is absurd - and an insult to those who wrote the original Human Rights Convention. What about the rights of the victims and their families?

"I continue to strongly believe that whole life tariffs are appropriate for the worst murder cases. This is why I want wholesale reforms to our human rights laws."

The Daily Telegraph reported the Government has been asked to provide a full response to Hutchinson's claim and could face a full hearing next year.

The newspaper said if the claim was backed, 73-year-old Hutchinson could be released from prison.

Five years ago, Hutchinson had a domestic appeal against whole-life tariffs kicked out by the Court of Appeal.

The judge at Hutchinson's original 1984 trial at Sheffield Crown Court ruled that he should serve 18 years but then home secretary Leon Brittan later ruled he should face the whole-life tariff.

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