Latest news with #CorbyBoroughCouncil
ITV News
11-07-2025
- Politics
- ITV News
Lawyer who represented families in toxic waste scandal calls for public inquiry
The lawyer representing the families in the Corby toxic waste scandal is joining MPs in Corby and Kettering in their calls for a public inquiry into what happened. The scandal involved a series of birth defects in children born to mothers living near the former steelworks in Corby. Following the closure of the steelworks in the 1980s, the area was redeveloped and millions of tonnes of toxic waste were moved, often in open lorries. Now the town's two labour MPs Lee Barron who represents Corby and Rosie Wrighting, who is the MP for Kettering are backing the call for a government inquiry. Des Collins, senior partner at Collins Solictors, is the lawyer who represented the families in the 2009 high court case. He along with Lee Barron MP and Rosie Wrighting MP have sent a letter to North Northamptonshire council demanding they reveal where they got rid of the waste. 'Tell us where this stuff is buried' Des said: "We think the majority of the waste was put into landfill, the suggestion being made at the moment is they didn't know to bury the waste properly. "We are going to ask the council against the background of the 2009 judgement to tell us exactly where this stuff is buried and if they don't know, why they don't know. 'I think Corby has been badly let down' "There should be a public inquiry into Corby because that's something we believed should be addressed by government, because it doesn't stand up to scrutiny that they know stuff was moved and moved badly. "The way to sort this out is for the council to say this is how it's buried, this is where it's buried, this is testing we have done to show that there is nothing wrong here but this is not what they are doing." What did the high court case find? The case which involved 18 families, conclusively showed that the birth defects seen in children and babies living in the town was because of airborne waste. It also found that Corby Borough Council did not dispose of the waste correctly and that they were negligent in managing it. It also established that the material had been in the ground and that the waste could cause embryonic birth defects. Toxic Town The scandal has been brought more into public attention through the Netflix show Toxic Town which tells the stories of a group of mothers who joined together to fight for justice. The drama centres around three of the mothers at the centre of the scandal who fought for justice after their children were born with birth defects. Most of the children were born with missing fingers or toes - a phenomenon referred to at the time as "Corby Hand" - and some of the babies died. Des said: "Around 30 or 40 families have come to us since Toxic Town with concerns about birth defects such as leukaemia."
What's On
27-03-2025
- Entertainment
- What's On
5 of the best new TV shows to stream this Eid long weekend
If your travel destination this long weekend is your living room… Then you need this list. New television content drops every single day, and in times of such a high-volume influx, it's easy to get intimidated by the overwhelming powers of excess choice. We're here to make sure you don't get scared by the 125626 new titles on your Netflix explore page and run back to that one show you watch on repeat. 'Tis the season for renewal, and this list of the best new TV shows will tell you exactly what you need to choose to cut the noise and get to the good stuff. You're welcome. Adolescence Stream on: Netflix The bearer of some massive recent hype, Adolescence is brand new on Netflix and already receiving rave reviews. This is the kind of show that will make our skin crawl, and you wonder how a barely-there teenager is able to make you feel so uncomfortable, but that is Jamie Miller for you. Ordinary school boy in an ordinary British town with an ordinary family and life – except he's just brutally murdered a girl for rejecting his romantic advances. The plot of the show is less about whodunnit and more about the turbulence and confusion of the teenage, and how when unmonitored, these vulnerable youngsters can be radicalised on far-flung corners of the Internet. Shot in one-take style, this masterpiece takes on incel culture and growing online misogyny with shaky bravery, and so will you have to. Severance Stream on: Apple TV Severance isn't new, per say, but suddenly started showing up on everyone's social media feed. The reason being? A new season dropped, and the popularity was renewed, with a 96 per cent score on Rotten Tomatoes. The first season came out in 2022, and the second one recently, and about five people have given us recommendations to watch it. The plot follows Mark, who leads a team of office workers whose memories have been surgically divided between their work and personal lives. When a mysterious colleague appears outside of work, it begins a journey to discover the truth about their jobs. Toxic Town Stream on: Netflix When dozens of babies in Corby are born with disabilities, their mothers embark on a battle to hold those responsible to account. The limited series is based on a true story – one of the biggest environmental scandals to take place in the UK. It's a story about justice, the fight for it, and the brave women who made it a reality. The women at the heart of the series are fighting a true battle as they seek accountability from the Corby Borough Council, and several parts of the series are dramatised accounts of real legal battles. The ensemble cast of Jodie Whittaker, Rory Kinnear, Robert Carlyle and more is one reason to watch, but so is everything else. A redemption of sorts, long time coming. The Pitt Stream on: HBO Max The Pitt is what one would call a comfort watch – it has all the ingredients of the gripping, medical drama formula and tried-and-tested techniques and tropes that you're sure are going to hit every single time. Each episode of the series is styled as one hour of a single 15-hour emergency department shift at the fictional Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Hospital. The show hopes to highlight the challenges faced by frontline healthcare workers, problems very specific to the American healthcare system, as seen through the lens of the workers themselves. Overworked, understaffed, berated (sometimes physically) by patients and facing grim conditions, the ER team under the watchful eye of Dr. Michael 'Robby' Robinavitch must tackle all that comes their way. Reacher: Season 3 Stream on: Prime Video For some good, old-fashioned, always-hits-the-spot action, the third season of Reacher will satisfy all those cravings. Based on the insanely popular Jack Reacher boos series by Lee Child, Reacher is everyone and their mother's hero a self-proclaimed vagabond and former U.S. Army military police officer with unmatched skills – the man always takes down the bad guy; no matter big or bad the villain is, Reacher is always bigger and badder. The third season is based on the 2003 novel Persuader and follows Reacher as he delves into the dark heart of a rug-importing business which is a front for a vast criminal arms trafficking enterprise when he attempts to rescue a DEA informant, where he also comes across a formidable enemy from his past. Pure, American action. @netflixuk, @appletv, @streamonmax, @primevideo Images: Socials > Sign up for FREE to get exclusive updates that you are interested in
BBC News
09-03-2025
- BBC News
What we learnt in the BBC's Toxic Waste Scandal podcast
One of the UK's biggest environmental scandals, the Corby toxic waste case, is back in the spotlight thanks to the Netflix drama Toxic tells the story of families fighting for justice after children in the Northamptonshire town were born with birth defects, believed to be caused by industrial 2009, after a long legal battle, the High Court ruled Corby Borough Council was negligent in managing the Radio Northampton has produced an eight-part podcast, In Detail: The Toxic Waste Scandal, which offers a deep look into the real-life have we learnt from the podcast series? The verdict is still disputed The civil court hearing was told the heavy metal cadmium was identified on the former steel site, and a medical expert cited research linking it to birth defects in the three-month hearing, Justice Akenhead ruled in favour of the claimants – 18 families from speaking to the media for the first time, Dr Rick Smith, a clean-up consultant geologist for the council, says he believes the cluster of cases was not down to the transportation of the toxic said that while he agrees there was "cadmium in the stuff we transported", he disputed it would have caused the birth defects."I find it very hard to accept there was sufficient exposure of this very small number of members of the public to contaminants to have caused these distressing defects," he says."It defies any sort of logic. The whole thing is a mystery."He says the dust which was coming from the lorries was "not considered a health hazard by anyone at that time".Dr Smith added his colleagues were affected by the criticism following the ruling against the council. He said they were "hounded", and some never worked again. Not all the families were in court The podcast is hosted by George Taylor, who was born in 1992 with a unilateral upper limb defect, and whose family was one of the claimants in the they missed the verdict at the High Court because they were on holiday in Majorca."My dad would not be swayed – he said we deserved a holiday," George Danielle Holliday, a trainee solicitor at Collins Law at the time, was able to call the mother, Fiona, recalls that she "just broke down in tears" when she heard the verdict as she sat on the father, Brian, says he "just got up and walked along the beach, crying".When the family returned to the hotel the case was on the television, including pictures of George, but he says he was "more interested in wrestling my younger brother" at the pool. It was almost not a cluster Prof Sir David Spiegelhalter is emeritus professor of statistics in the Centre for Mathematical Sciences at the University of the time of the court case, he wrote a blog about the cluster of birth defects, and he speaks about it for the first time in the podcast."The number of birth deformities in Corby that were considered in the judgement was not especially unusual," he says."Using the calculations presented by the prosecution, we can estimate there are around 30 areas in the UK about the size of Corby that had more extreme clusters over that period just by chance variation alone."But there well may have been affected births – and of course I have every sympathy for the families. I'm only looking at the very technical issue of whether the data passed this established threshold."And it was very marginal. If there had been one birth defect less in the data considered in the judgement, there would not have been enough effect births to conclude there was an affected cluster." The council boss still cannot talk Chris Mallender, the then-chief executive of Corby Borough Council, was prominent during and following the court case, but once the settlement was reached he did not speak about it team behind the podcast attempted to contact him for an interview, and after weeks of trying he eventually got in touch by calling BBC Radio Northampton's public phone-in the settlement, Mr Mallender signed a non-disclosure agreement, but it was hoped there were still things he was able to talk about on the producer Sarah-Jane Muddiman called him back and spoke to him for 24 minutes, but he said he was not able to be interviewed and did not want details of the conversation to be revealed. The compensation has helped Families affected won an undisclosed financial settlement in 2010, held in trust until the children turned now 32, says he is not allowed to say how much it was."What I can say is when you've got chronic pain, a hole in your hand and three largely useless fingers, it's handy to have a few quid to help with adaptations, taxis to hospital and pain relief."It's also good to thank your mum and dad for dressing your wounds and keeping you sane."He has also revealed he is "playing host to another tumour, my third one, in my shoulder".It is 13cm across and he could lose his arm, but he adds: "I just want to live my life." BBC Radio Northampton's eight-part documentary series In Detail: The Toxic Waste Scandal is available for download from BBC Sounds. Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Yahoo
Quizzing mums over toxic waste 'made things worse'
The barrister who represented Corby Borough Council in the toxic waste court hearings says the questions he put to parents of children with birth defects "probably made things worse". Stephen Grime KC has spoken out for the first time about his role in the case for a BBC audio documentary series released to coincide with the release of a Netflix TV drama based on the story. Mr Grime said cross-examining mothers had been "the worst aspect" of the case. A group of Corby parents took the council to court in 2010 over birth deformities linked to the clear-up of the town's steelworks. During the court hearings, Mr Grime told the High Court the numbers of children with deformities in Corby was "normal" for the town's size. He also told the court there was a danger in being seduced by the idea of "clusters of cases". Looking back for the BBC series In Detail: The Toxic Waste Scandal, Mr Grime said the "worst aspect was having to cross-examine mothers of the children - women who suffered deeply. "In some instances, I had to suggest to them that their memories about the dust or what the lorries were doing - things like that - were wrong." He added that his role was particularly difficult "when one knows very well that the witness you have is an honest person who's had a terrible time; whose child is injured; whose whole family's had a terrible time. "The questioning probably did make things worse." He revealed that he had since read some parts of the court transcript but "this is one bit that I just haven't felt that I wanted to go back to because I feared I would find that maybe I had been somewhat brusque or somewhat difficult when maybe I shouldn't have been. "But you can't change things after so very long." Mr Grime prepared 140 points of appeal against the court's decision that the council was negligent, but a settlement was reached with the families and the appeal was dropped. He said the appeal document was not only the longest he had ever drafted, but also the longest he had ever seen. Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. 'He was born navy blue': Real-life stories behind Toxic Town Netflix series Netflix shines light on true story 'that's been buried for a long time' What is the story behind Netflix's Toxic Town?
BBC News
05-03-2025
- BBC News
Corby toxic waste case KC says quizzing mums 'made things worse'
The barrister who represented Corby Borough Council in the toxic waste court hearings says the questions he put to parents of children with birth defects "probably made things worse".Stephen Grime KC has spoken out for the first time about his role in the case for a BBC audio documentary series released to coincide with the release of a Netflix TV drama based on the Grime said cross-examining mothers had been "the worst aspect" of the case.A group of Corby parents took the council to court in 2010 over birth deformities linked to the clear-up of the town's steelworks. During the court hearings, Mr Grime told the High Court the numbers of children with deformities in Corby was "normal" for the town's also told the court there was a danger in being seduced by the idea of "clusters of cases".Looking back for the BBC series In Detail: The Toxic Waste Scandal, Mr Grime said the "worst aspect was having to cross-examine mothers of the children - women who suffered deeply."In some instances, I had to suggest to them that their memories about the dust or what the lorries were doing - things like that - were wrong." He added that his role was particularly difficult "when one knows very well that the witness you have is an honest person who's had a terrible time; whose child is injured; whose whole family's had a terrible time."The questioning probably did make things worse."He revealed that he had since read some parts of the court transcript but "this is one bit that I just haven't felt that I wanted to go back to because I feared I would find that maybe I had been somewhat brusque or somewhat difficult when maybe I shouldn't have been."But you can't change things after so very long." Mr Grime prepared 140 points of appeal against the court's decision that the council was negligent, but a settlement was reached with the families and the appeal was said the appeal document was not only the longest he had ever drafted, but also the longest he had ever seen. Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
