Tributes to Timmy Matthews who died after Swansea pub incident
Mr Matthews was described as a "loving character" by his family, who said "everyone in the community is in shock at what has happened".He will be deeply missed by his daughter, sister, and all his friends in Swansea, they added.
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Man, 76, charged over poisoning of children at summer camp
A trustee who runs a Christian charity has been charged over the poisoning of children at a summer camp. Jonathon Ruben, 76, was arrested on Monday after eight children under his care fell ill during a trip to Stathern Lodge in Leicestershire. The pensioner, of Ruddington in Nottingham, is the secretary of the charity running the three-day holiday camp, which was attended by about 45 children last weekend. Police received reports that several children were unwell on Sunday, but officers and paramedics did not attend until Monday. The group of campers are understood to have been dining at a nearby pub in the village of Plungar when emergency services arrived at about 3.30pm. Chaotic and 'stressful' scenes followed as the children and charity workers were taken to the village hall, which was used as a makeshift triage centre, for examination. Eight children, all boys aged between 8 and 11, and one adult were taken to hospital, but have all been discharged. Ruben was arrested in the pub car park on Monday on suspicion of administering poison or a noxious substance with intent to injure, aggrieve or annoy. He was charged on Friday evening with three counts of wilful ill treatment of a child, relating to three of the children. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has authorised prosecution of Ruben for child cruelty offences. Janine McKinney, the chief crown prosecutor for CPS East Midlands, said: 'This has been an extremely upsetting and shocking moment for the community, and especially for the children and parents most directly affected.' Ruben will appear at Leicester magistrates' court on Saturday. Ruben and his wife run the Stathern Children's Holiday Fund, which organises subsidised holidays at the lodge for children from disadvantaged areas of Nottingham. The charity calls its summer camps 'safe havens for fostering friendships, building skills and sparking potential'. It welcomes children of all faiths. Campers enjoy outdoor activities at the lodge, which has games rooms, as well as the park, zip wire and bouncy castles. Children who have attended have said their favourite features are the tuck shop and 'delicious food'. In its annual reports, the charity suggested volunteers have struggled to cope with the demands of caring for a large number of children, a significant proportion of whom have 'moderate to severe behavioural, learning or medical conditions'. The report in 2023 said: 'Even though we have a large number of volunteers, we do need a higher ratio of adults to children than legally required to care effectively for these youngsters.' The trustees previously agreed to limit the length of the stays to three days and reduce the number of children in each group 'because four days appeared too exhausting for the volunteers'. Ruben qualified as a primary school teacher before working as a locum and a youth worker at his church. Plungar residents described upsetting scenes as children were taken for medical assessments before their parents started to arrive. Leicestershire police referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct over its initial handling of the incident. The watchdog will investigate its delayed response.
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Eight 'monsters' involved in kidnap, rape and murder of girl, 13, held her underwater 'until bubbles stopped'
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After being snatched from her mother's car, Measles was taken to River Road in New Milford, Connecticut where her known attackers - Keith Foster, Dorothy Hallas, Maggie Mae Bennett, Alan Walter, Jeffrey Boyette, Ronald Rajcok, Deaneric Dupas, and June Segar - began beating her. The three women who participated in the murder were said to be angry that the teenager had sex with their boyfriends. Measles, however, had been a victim of statutory rape. Although she broke away and ran for help, she was chased down by one of the perpetrators, Segar, and dragged back to her death. It was years before her friends and family members found out the truth about what happened Recounting hearing how his late friend Measles died, a man named Scott said in the documentary: 'Them beating on her and raping her and holding her under the water until the bubbles stopped, that's probably the comment that haunts me the most. 'Until the bubbles stopped.' 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27 minutes ago
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Cocaine smugglers jailed for more than 82 years in total
A gang of drugs smugglers who led the Border Force on a 28-mile chase after their cocaine-laden boat was spotted by officers have been jailed for more than 82 years in total. Peter Williams and Scott Johnston, both from Havant, and Edwin Yahir Tabora Baca, of Barcelona, were arrested after their boat ran aground on Gwynver Beach near Penzance in Cornwall, in September. They had been trying to smuggle cocaine worth £18.4m into the UK, throwing packages of the banned substance overboard during the pursuit. Six large bales, weighing around 230kg, of high-purity cocaine were recovered from the sea. After their boat ran aground, the men ran off but were quickly caught by officers who chased them on foot and arrested them. Alex Fowlie, of Chichester, Bobbie Pearce, of Brentwood, Michael May, of Brentwood, and Terry Willis, of Chelmsford, were convicted after National Crime Agency (NCA) officers used CCTV footage, call data and phone messages to identify the quartet. Johnston, 38, was sentenced to 24 years in jail at Truro Crown Court, while Willis, 44, and May, 47, have been handed sentences of 21 years and eight months, and 19 years, respectively. Tabora Baca, 33, has been given 17 years and seven months in jail. Williams, 43, and Pearce, 29, will be sentenced on 21 August. Fowlie, 35, will be sentenced on 5 September. All seven men initially denied the charges, and Tabora Baca even claimed to be a tourist who had accepted an invitation from two strangers - Williams and Johnston - to go fishing. But officers recovered messages from his phone discussing the group's plans and sharing a photo of the cocaine onboard their rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RHIB). Five of the men later pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import Class A drugs, including Willis, who also pleaded guilty to money laundering and possession of a firearm - relating to a revolver and ammunition found at his home address by NCA officers. May and Johnston, who pleaded not guilty, were found guilty of conspiracy to import Class A drugs, following a two-week trial at Truro Crown Court in June.
