Two men die in 'absolutely tragic' early-hours crash
The driver of the car, a 25-year-old man from Smallwood, died at the scene. Cheshire Police said a passenger in the vehicle, a 47-year-old man from Rossett, sustained serious injuries and was taken to hospital for treatment.
He has since died from his injuries. Their next of kin have been informed and they are being supported by specialist officers, police said.
Officers are now appealing for anyone who witnessed the crash, which happened on Hill Road, to contact them.
A police spokesperson said: "Enquiries in relation to the incident are ongoing and anyone with any information is urged to get in touch." Sign up for the North Wales Live newsletter sent twice daily to your inbox
Inspector Steve Griffiths, of the Serious Collision Investigation Unit, said: 'This was an absolutely tragic incident, and our thoughts are with the families of the men involved.
'Enquiries in relation to the collision are ongoing and as part of our investigation we're keen to hear for anyone who witnessed the collision. The same goes for anyone with any video footage of which may aid the investigation.'
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The Guardian
9 hours ago
- The Guardian
Ghislaine Maxwell is talking – but what can she tell and can she be believed?
Early one afternoon in April 2016, Ghislaine Maxwell got so angry that she struck a table. Maxwell, who was facing a defamation lawsuit from the late Jeffrey Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre Roberts, was being deposed by attorneys and seemed to grow incensed during questioning. 'I am going to put on the record, Ms Maxwell very inappropriately and very harshly pounded our law firm table in an inappropriate manner,' said Roberts's attorney Sigrid McCawley. 'I ask she take a deep breath, and calm down. I know this is a difficult position, but physical assault or threats is not appropriate – so no pounding, no stomping, no, that's not appropriate.' 'Can we be clear, I didn't threaten anybody,' retorted the British socialite, who in 2021 was convicted of sex trafficking in relation to Epstein. Maxwell's attorney, Jeffrey Pagliuca, came to her defense: 'Stop, you made your record, there is no dent in the table. I don't see any chips.' The heated deposition would ultimately prove damaging for Maxwell. When she was charged in 2020 for inviting unsuspecting teen girls into Epstein's predatory orbit, she also faced two perjury counts for allegedly providing false information 'under oath' during litigation. Although prosecutors said they would drop these perjury counts if she didn't get a retrial in her sex-trafficking case, Maxwell's statements about Epstein – and whether they can be trusted – are once again at the forefront of national news. Twice this week, Maxwell met with the deputy US attorney general, Todd Blanche, as Donald Trump continues to contend with the political uproar over his justice department's handling of files related to Epstein, who died in jail six years ago as he awaited trial on sex-trafficking charges. Epstein, whom prosecutors said abused girls as young as 14, had for years counted numerous powerful men among his associates – including Trump and Prince Andrew, whom Roberts accused of sexual misconduct in relation to Epstein and who has denied any wrongdoing. Trump for weeks has faced political fallout over a justice department memo claiming there was no Epstein client list, and its decision not to release extensive case documents despite Trump's campaign promise to do so. Meanwhile, Congress – specifically the House's oversight committee – has also subpoenaed Maxwell to testify. As the controversy continues to swirl, report after report has shed light on Trump's friendship with Epstein, which reportedly ended several years before the financier was arrested on prostitution charges in Florida. But it is Maxwell – again – who finds herself at the center of a political and media firestorm, as Trump seeks to assure his Maga base that he is telling the truth when he says he had little contact with Epstein and was unaware of his crimes. What exactly Maxwell's meeting with the Department of Justice, or her testifying to Congress, will uncover remains unclear. It's also unknown whether Maxwell's sit-down will do anything to help her: she is serving a 20-year sentence for enabling Epstein's abuse. After the second meeting with Blanche on Friday, Maxwell's lawyer, David Oscar Markus, told reporters: 'Ghislaine answered every single question asked of her over the last day and a half. She answered those questions honestly, truthfully, to the best of her ability. She never invoked a privilege. She never refused to answer a question.' The attorney Alan Dershowitz, who represented Epstein in Florida criminal proceedings where he pleaded guilty to state charges including soliciting a minor for prostitution, said Maxwell was still key to understanding what exactly transpired. 'Maxwell knew Epstein intimately for many, many years. She was his girlfriend, she was his chief assistant,' said Dershowitz, speaking before Maxwell's meeting with the justice department. 'She would be the one who arranged the travel for people when I had to come down to argue cases for him or appear in front of the state attorney or the US attorney. 'She knows where all the bodies are buried.' He noted that prosecutors often exchange time in prison for information, including in organized crime cases. 'If they really want to get to the bottom of all this, they should make a deal with her – and the deal is an obvious one,' he said, describing it as a 'win-win for everybody' if she was freed, granted immunity and testified to Congress. While Maxwell does have intimate knowledge of Epstein, Dershowitz said this did not mean any meeting or testimony would implicate others. She could, for example, tell Blanche there were other accusers but that she believes them to be liars. Whether her evidence implicates people or appears to clear them, neither might be trustworthy by itself, he said. 'Whatever the inculpatory material is has to be checked and has to be verified. You can't just put out accusations.' Roberts and Dershowitz sued each other over Epstein-related allegations; in 2022, she dropped her suit, and both agreed not to sue again. Dershowitz has denied all allegations of wrongdoing in relation to Epstein. There are various ways Maxwell could receive a reprieve. Prosecutors could ask the judge to reduce her sentence for assisting with the prosecution of others, or Trump could commute her sentence or grant a pardon. 'I suspect it's really just window dressing or distraction to try to avoid having to release any significant Epstein-related documents,' said the defense attorney Jeffrey Lichtman. 'Maxwell had the opportunity to speak with the feds when she was under indictment and apparently chose not to because she claimed she was innocent. 'What is she going to be providing now, at this point?' Indeed, it remains unclear what Maxwell might tell authorities that could lift the veil on Epstein. Before her trial, her attorneys said so much time had passed that key witnesses had died and key evidence was inaccessible. Prosecutors also said in court that they had not offered Maxwell a plea deal – and that her team did not request one. Kevin Faga, a veteran defense attorney, said that if Maxwell wound up signing a cooperation agreement, then prosecutors could request a resentencing. While it's up to the judge, Faga said, 'in my experience, judges pay a lot of attention to these types of requests from the government' because they believe there's a public interest in providing assistance 'so that other wrongdoers can be prosecuted and punished'. In other words, if Maxwell were to simply tell authorities that prosecutors got the case wrong, that would probably not help her. 'Cooperation doesn't work that way,' Faga said. 'That's not providing substantial assistance to the government.' There's also the matter of Maxwell's problematic deposition – striking that table. 'If the government previously charged her with perjury, then it makes her a very questionable witness,' Faga said, 'and a witness that the government may deem just too unreliable to accept cooperation from.'
South Wales Argus
a day ago
- South Wales Argus
Airbnb host cancels booking after learning guest is Welsh
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BBC News
2 days ago
- BBC News
Church abuse victim stages quiet protest at General Synod
Jenny Read says she was abused as a little girl at a church in the north-east of England. Last week she protested outside a meeting of the Church of England's parliament as it signed off on a compensation scheme for abuse victims, which she says is too little, too late. It is 07:30 BST on a grey, humid July morning in city is hosting General Synod - the Church of England's parliament - which is about to approve the landmark compensation Read, who travelled from her north-east of England home because she "had to be here", has already set up says, as a child, she was "sadistically" abused over a number of years at her local church by her own father, and also by a male curate and a female church adulthood, she and her sisters, who also say they were abused as children by the same people, reported the allegations to the Church of England three times, but it never launched a formal investigation. Ms Read is at General Synod to protest. But she is not blocking traffic, nor is she chanting or shouting into a megaphone. She is sitting peacefully in a camping chair opposite Central Hall, where the event is being held, drinking a cup of tea and eating a is quiet, but she no longer feels silenced and her presence is her stands a banner she has made. In big red, black and green letters it reads: "Three sisters sadistically abused at a NE church still waiting for justice." Ms Read's appearance in the shadow of the chamber housing the most powerful figures in the Church of England is the day members of the public, bishops, clergymen and clergywomen approach her to ask what her story is. Some take over food and Read says she is here to tell Church leaders that there is an "urgent need" to treat people who report abuse allegations with kindness because "that hasn't been our experience".Her fight for answers has been re-traumatising, she says, but she has waived her right to anonymity in order to share her may have passed but the mental anguish caused by the abuse and the alleged "fobbing off" from Church leaders has not, she a face-to-face meeting with her in May, Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell, the interim leader of the Church, offered an "unequivocal apology" for the abuse she had experienced and "recognised that it will have affected her life in many ways".Last month, following a BBC investigation which revealed the Read sisters' story, the Church of England also said it was "truly sorry" for the response they received when they made their initial reports. 'Survivor focused' compensation The Church has put aside £150m for what it is calling the Redress Scheme, to which any victim of Church-related abuse can apply. It was agreed by General Synod, but still needs to be officially signed off by the Church says the scheme is "survivor focused" and "offers more than money".As well as financial compensation, which can range from £5,000 to £660,000, survivors and victims can also receive "a formal apology, acknowledgment, therapeutic support, and other forms of bespoke redress", it can be made via a designated website and "independently assessed by trained assessors" who will consider the type of abuse, aggravating factors and the impact on the victim, it will then decide the level of compensation and support given."This is about the Church facing its past failures with honesty and humility," it says. The Right Reverend Philip Mounstephen, who chairs the Church's Redress Board, says it is "a matter of great shame" that the scheme is needed. He has previously said it was unclear how many people would apply."I am confident the scheme will provide much needed redress to survivors," he says, adding it will be "bespoke" for each scheme has already been delayed by several years and, for Ms Read, it is too has already "spent so many hours and months" in therapy and does not want to "spend any more of my remaining years trekking to therapists", she says."Even if I got the highest award possible, that doesn't compensate for my trauma."Ms Read has been diagnosed with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder linked to her childhood abuse which has, at times, plagued her adult relationships have been affected and she has only ever been able to work part has panic attacks in religious buildings which make her feel "terrorised" to the point she "has to scream" and get out. Episodes of feeling suicidal mean she "has struggled to survive" on occasions. "Redress sounds good but, from past experience, I can't quite believe it," Ms Read says."It's really urgent to highlight the need for the Church to get safeguarding right, not just on paper but in actions."Her silent protest brought some closure and, after decades of her feeling dismissed, people have eventually listened, she says."I feel like my voice has finally been heard. I can now move on with the rest of my life." Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
