EXCLUSIVE How your compost heap can hide a lethal superfungus that destroys lungs and kills 85 per cent of those infected. Doctors warn of growing threat as sufferer Lisa says: 'My life was stripped away.' Special report by JOHN NAISH
For the past 13 years she's had to take highly toxic medication to keep the potentially lethal fungus at bay – including one drug so poisonous that no one can be in the room with her when she administers it.
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Sky News
3 hours ago
- Sky News
Post Office scandal: Victims say government's control of redress schemes should be taken away
Post Office scandal victims are calling for redress schemes to be taken away from the government completely, ahead of the public inquiry publishing its first findings. Phase 1, which is due back on Tuesday, will report on the human impact of what happened as well as compensation schemes. "Take (them) off the government completely," says Jo Hamilton OBE, a high-profile campaigner and former sub-postmistress, who was convicted of stealing from her branch in 2008. "It's like the fox in charge of the hen house," she adds, "because they were the only shareholders of Post Office". "So they're in it up to their necks... So why should they be in charge of giving us financial redress?" Jo and others are hoping Sir Wyn Williams, chairman of the public statutory inquiry, will make recommendations for an independent body to take control of redress schemes. The inquiry has been examining the Post Office scandal which saw more than 700 people wrongfully convicted between 1999 and 2015. Sub-postmasters were forced to pay back false accounting shortfalls because of the faulty IT system, Horizon. At the moment, the Department for Business and Trade administers most of the redress schemes including the Horizon Conviction Redress Scheme and the Group Litigation Order (GLO) Scheme. The Post Office is still responsible for the Horizon Shortfall scheme. Lee Castleton OBE, another victim of the scandal, was bankrupted in 2007 when he lost his case in the civil courts representing himself against the Post Office. The civil judgment against him, however, still stands. "It's the oddest thing in the world to be an OBE, fighting for justice, while still having the original case standing against me," he tells Sky News. While he has received an interim payment he has not applied to a redress scheme. "The GLO scheme - that's there on the table for me to do," he says, "but I know that they would use my original case, still standing against me, in any form of redress. "So they would still tell me repeatedly that the court found me to be liable and therefore they only acted on the court's outcome." He agrees with other victims who want the inquiry this week to recommend "taking the bad piece out" of redress schemes. "The bad piece is the company - Post Office Limited," he continues, "and the government - they need to be outside. "When somebody goes to court, even if it's a case against the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), when they go to court DBT do not decide what the outcome is. "A judge decides, a third party decides, a right-minded individual a fair individual, that's what needs to happen." Mr Castleton is also taking legal action against the Post Office and Fujitsu - the first individual victim to sue the organisations for compensation and "vindication" in court. "I want to hear why it happened, to hear what I believe to be the truth, to hear what they believe to be the truth and let the judge decide." Neil Hudgell, a lawyer for victims, said he expects the first inquiry report this week may be "really rather damning" of the redress claim process describing "inconsistencies", "bureaucracy" and "delays". "The over-lawyeringness of it," he adds, "the minute analysis, micro-analysis of detail, the inability to give people fully the benefit of doubt. "All those things I think are going to be part and parcel of what Sir Wynn says about compensation. "And we would hope, not going to say expect because history's not great, we would hope it's a springboard to an acceleration, a meaningful acceleration of that process." 11:28 A Department for Business and Trade spokesperson said they were "grateful" for the inquiry's work describing "the immeasurable suffering" victims endured. Their statement continued: "This government has quadrupled the total amount paid to affected postmasters to provide them with full and fair redress, with more than £1bn having now been paid to thousands of claimants. "We will also continue to work with the Post Office, who have already written to over 24,000 postmasters, to ensure that everyone who may be eligible for redress is given the opportunity to apply for it."
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
DR MAX PEMBERTON: Why we can't expect Kate to get back to 'normal' any time soon
It doesn't matter how much money you have, how famous you are, how luxurious your life appears to be, being diagnosed with cancer is never easy. It affects every aspect of your life, not just your health. Thankfully, more of us are surviving what was once a dire prognosis, however recovery time does take much longer than people anticipate. And it's not always an easy ride.
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
April Jones's evil killer is attacked in jail AGAIN - as five-year-old's family declare 'he deserves it'
The evil killer of five-year-old April Jones has been attacked in prison for a second time - as her sister says 'he deserves it'. Mark Bridger was targeted by another inmate at HMP Wakefield last week which left him with grazes to his hand, according to The Sun. While on the first attack, which occurred shortly after he was jailed, he was slashed with a knife made out of a razor and needed stitches on his face. The Prison Service said his assailant was on report ahead of a hearing to decide his punishment. Last night, April's half-sister, Hazel, told The Sun: 'He deserves everything he's getting. He literally deserves it all. 'I've got kids myself now and it's scary to know there are people like that living on your doorstep. 'I am glad he's in prison for life. He's going to carry on getting hurt.' She added that her father died never knowing where April's body was. The young girl was killed by paedophile Bridger in October 2012 after he abducted her in his car in Machynlleth, Powys, Wales. Her disappearance led to the largest missing person search in UK police history. Bridger was interviewed by police following April's disappearance, and initially claimed he had run the child over while she was riding her bicycle with a friend, and that he did not remember disposing of her body because he was drunk. But police doubted Bridger's version, due to the fact his car showed no sign of having experienced a collision, and the absence of blood in the car. Crucially, Bridger's version differed from April's seven year old friend, who had been out playing with her, and saw the five-year-old girl willingly hop into a car. Search of Bridger's house also found April's blood in his bathroom and living room. They also found a cache of child porn on his computer, including Facebook pictures of April and other local girls. Bridger was charged with child abduction, murder, and attempting to pervert the course of justice on October 6 2012, five days after her disappearance. After a five-week trial it took the jury just four hours to decide he was a fantasist, obsessed with child murder and child pornography, who had lured disabled April into his car, before killing her. He has always refused to reveal what he did with her body, but it is believed he burned her in his fire and dumped some of her remains in a river close to his home. Bridger was sentenced on 30 May 2013 to life imprisonment with a recommendation that he should never be released.
