Latest news with #Ealing
The Sun
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
I'm A Celeb star hits out after her group are ‘dress coded' and shamed over ‘visible knickers' in London pub
I'M A Celeb star Shappi Khorsandi has hit out after her group were 'dress coded' and shamed over 'visible knickers' in a London pub. 2017 campmate Shappi, 52, claimed her friend was called out by female staff at The Grange in Ealing because the outline of her underwear was visible through her skirt. 5 5 The comedian, who is currently studying for a Master's in Gestalt Psychotherapy, went on to allege things turned physical when she tried to challenge the remark. Posting a now-deleted rant on Instagram, Shappi said she and her fellow students had popped in for an end-of-term drink when the incident unfolded. She wrote: "I'm at The Grange pub in Ealing for the last time because they told my friend off because her skirt showed the outline of her knickers in a certain light. And she was told that it was a family pub.' "We're never coming back here again because in the summertime at The Grange pub, you're not allowed to wear summer clothes. Otherwise you get shamed. But the bar staff have all got their bra straps showing.' Shappi said her friend was too upset to appear on camera. She explained: 'We were just mature students having a pint, not a threat to anyone's 'family values'. She was wearing a completely normal summer outfit.' The TV personality also questioned how closely the staff must've been looking, asking: 'How hard was she staring??? I couldn't see it. The bar manager's bra straps, also underwear, were visible. She got quite annoyed when we respectfully pointed this out.' Shappi said she approached another member of staff to calmly point out how unfair the situation was - but claimed she was met with aggression. She wrote: "I (mildly sunburnt, drinking shandy responsibly) calmly pointed out to a (again, female) member of the bar staff that this was ridiculous and was promptly shoulder-barged in a strop. Goodness. Good job my weeble frame bounced me back up.' "We came for an end of term drink. Not a morality tale. Shappi Khorsandi struggles with The Chase buttons as she takes her finger off too soon 'Congrats @thegrangeealing — you've upset a beautiful human for not being a nun, and just lost the loyal post-class trade of your local college. We'll take our pints (and our freedom to wear cool clothes) elsewhere.' The Grange is part of the Young's Pubs chain. When contacted for comment, a spokesperson said: 'We recognise that on this occasion, our manager may have misjudged the situation in her interpretation of the smart casual dress code we respectfully ask customers of the Grange to adhere to, and we have apologised to the impacted party for any offence caused. "We are working with the team at the Grange to ensure the pub remains an inclusive place for all, a key priority for us.' 5 5 5
Daily Mail
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Shappi Khorsandi claims bar staff at London pub humiliated her friend for having a visible panty line before 'shoulder barging' comedian in now-deleted rant
Shappi Khorsandi has claimed her friend was humiliated by female staff at a London pub for having a visible panty line - and that she was then 'shoulder barged' after challenging the bar tender who made the comment. The TV comedian, 52, is a regular on comedy panel shows including Have I Got News For You and 8 out 10 Cats. But she took to Instagram on Monday to post a now-deleted rant about an alleged incident at The Grange in Ealing, and declared she would be boycotting the venue. 'I'm at The Grange pub in Ealing for the last time because they told my friend off because her skirt showed the outline of her knickers in a certain light,' she fumed. 'And she was told that it was a family pub.' Shappi continued: 'We're never coming back here again because in the summertime at The Grange pub, you're not allowed to wear summer clothes. 'Otherwise you get shamed. But the bar staff have all got their bra straps showing.' The TV comedian, 52, is a regular on comedy panel shows including Have I Got News For You and 8 out 10 Cats (Seen in August 2024) Shappi explained she wouldn't show her friend - who she described as 'young' and 'a beautiful human' - on camera because 'she's too upset' by what had happened. The comedian, who starred in ITV 's I'm a Celebrity! in 2017, is currently studying for a Master's in Gestalt Psychotherapy. She was at the venue - owned by Young's Pubs - with her fellow students to enjoy a drink to celebrate the end of term. 'We were just mature students having a pint, not a threat to anyone's "family values",' she continued in the caption. 'She was wearing a completely normal summer outfit.' Shappi added of the female manager's complaint over her friend's VPL: 'How hard was she staring??? I couldn't see it. 'The bar manager's bra straps, also underwear, were visible. She got quite annoyed when we respectfully pointed this out.' Shappi, who has long used her platform to champion women's rights and challenge sexism, said she calmly challenged the decision. But upon on doing, Shappi claimed she was physically shoulder-barged by another female member of staff. 'I (mildly sunburnt, drinking shandy responsibly) calmly pointed out to a (again, female) member of the bar staff that this was ridiculous and was promptly shoulder-barged in a strop,' she added in the caption. 'Goodness. Good job my weeble frame bounced me back up.' The comic said she would not usually 'name and shame' a venue but that the experience had crossed a line. 'We came for an end of term drink. Not a morality tale,' she continued. 'Congrats @thegrangeealing - you've upset a beautiful human for not being a nun, and just lost the loyal post-class trade of your local college. 'We'll take our pints (and our freedom to wear cool clothes) elsewhere.' MailOnline has contacted The Grange and Young's Pubs for comment. Shappi revealed last year that she was studying alongside fellow mature students on a Gestalt Psychotherapy programme.
Daily Mail
06-07-2025
- Daily Mail
Moment sleeping driver who was exhausted after music festival ploughs into pedestrian and left him fighting for his life: Man, 27, jailed
This is the shocking moment a driver ploughed into a commuter and put him in a coma after falling asleep at the wheel. Abdelrahman Awadalla, 27, has been jailed after he dozed off and charged into project manager Martin Gartlan who was on his way to work at 7.30am in Victoria Road, Ealing, in August last year. Awadalla had spent the weekend at the Boomtown Music festival near Winchester, Hampshire smoking and drinking booze, Southwark Crown Court heard. It is said he was probably not under the influence but may have been sleep deprived when he was caught on CCTV accelerating towards Mr Gartlan. Mr Gartlan was left fighting for his life and suffers with life changing injuries, needing daily care following the horror crash. Awadalla can be seen zooming through the road out of nowhere as he hits the father who flies onto his bonnet - and injures another pedestrian along the way. Steven Molloy, prosecuting, said: 'The defendant was parked in a stationary position for at least 30 minutes from 7.30am onwards on the morning of August 13. 'Victoria Road was a busy street at that time, with numerous vehicles and pedestrians crossing in front of the defendant's vehicle. 'Martin Gartlan was on his way to work and CCTV footage shows him emerging at the side of the defendant's vehicle. Mr Gartlan later walked alongside, paused at the curb, before crossing Victoria road. 'Four seconds later, the defendant's black BMW suddenly accelerated towards the victim, colliding with Mr Gartlan. 'Mr Gartlan was propelled onto the bonnet of the vehicle,' said Mr Molloy. 'The defendant made no attempt to stop or slow down, and continued to drive his vehicle until it collided with two lamp posts and a tree. Mr Gartlan ended up on the floor close to the tree. 'He had just bought a coffee and was walking when the car came out of nowhere. 'The defendant's airbags were deployed, and the front of his car was crumpled. 'The defendant got out and stared at the victim, without saying or doing anything. He approached Mr Gartlan, and put something underneath his head. 'But the defendant then returns to his vehicle, turned off his car alarm, collected his belongings, and left the scene. 'He walked away along Victoria Road, despite members of the public trying to stop him.' CCTV footage played in court showed the horrific collision and members of the public rushing to help the victim. An air ambulance attended and Mr Gartlan was rushed to St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, when his heart suddenly stopped, the court heard. Mr Gartlan was transferred to an intensive care unit and put on a ventilator. 'He suffered catastrophic injuries, including fractures to at least ten of his ribs, blood clots in his lungs, and a fracture to his right hip. 'After leaving hospital, Mr Gartlan was left in a wheelchair'. In a victim impact statement read out in court, Mr Gartlan said: 'I was placed in an induced coma for 10 days. 'I went through surgery, and it was only through the grace of God that I survived. 'During my time in hospital, my family were by my side. My daughter, who is a nurse, took weeks off work to help my recovery. 'I am unable to move around freely now, as I have blood clots in my lungs. I find it hard to sleep at night due to the pain and flashbacks. 'I have worked hard my whole life, and I can't understand why I couldn't just go to work safely that morning. 'Prior to this, I was a very active person. I played football with my work mates, and I often travelled abroad to meet up with friends. 'But now, these activities are heavily curtailed.' Imdadul Kader was also hit and suffered a badly bruised elbow. He said in his impact statement read in court: 'I saw the car crash into Mr Gartlan, and I saw him bleeding badly on the floor. 'Before the accident, I was a very talkative person. Now I feel like I've lost the joy inside me. 'I enjoyed London and studying here, but now I don't know how I will do these things as I have lost my confidence.' Wearing a black suit, Awadalla admitted causing serious injury by dangerous driving, and assault causing actual bodily harm. Awadalla, of Acton, had 16 previous convictions for 31 offences including possessing an offensive weapon and assault by beating, the court heard. Kane Sharpe, defending, said Awadalla's actions were down to his lack of sleep rather than his use of alcohol and cannabis at the festival over the weekend. 'He didn't use it as a weapon, this wasn't a deliberate act. Whilst it is right he fled the scene having heard police sirens, he remained on the scene afterwards for around 6 minutes during which time he was seen trying to help Mr Gartlan. 'Although he fled, he later came back to the scene to see if Mr Gartlan was okay. He accepts complete responsibility.' Sentencing, Judge Sally-Ann Hales QC told Awadalla: 'On August 13, you fell asleep behind the wheel of your car. 'Your car suddenly accelerated at speed. Mr Gartlan was thrown onto the bonnet and was dragged as the car continued, before your car collided with two lamp posts and hit a tree. 'Mr Gartlan and Mr Kadar were in the wrong place at the wrong time. How it happened and why it happened remained something of a mystery until you admitted that you fell asleep. 'Mr Kader got away lightly. Nothing was broken but it was extremely painful. For him, the worst part was seeing how injured Martin Gartlan was. 'Mr Gartlan must have daily help for everyday activities which we take for granted. He has had to endure a very long period of pain which is nowhere near from over. 'You drove back from a festival with little sleep for days. You parked in a side road because you no doubt appreciated that you were not fit to drive. 'Because of the way the car was operated, it became a highly dangerous weapon.' Judge Sally-Ann Hales QC jailed Awadalla for 27 months and banned him from driving for three years.
Daily Mail
05-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE EXPOSED: The boat migrant fixers all over Britain making a mockery of Starmer's claim to be smashing the gangs - including one we found on TikTok plying his shameful trade from a west London restaurant
To the hordes of passers-by, the neatly coiffed man taking a call outside a smart Middle-Eastern restaurant looks like any other proprietor taking care of business during a busy evening shift. Even the well-heeled clientele inside the establishment, in the heart of a wealthy London suburb, appear oblivious to the sinister dealings going on around them. For Pavel Vinto, 36, the boss of this swish Iraqi-Kurdish restaurant, helps 'hundreds' of migrants enter the UK illegally by laundering cash from his kebab house in Ealing, west London, for people traffickers in northern France. And he does so right under the noses of affluent locals – and the police. But today, rather than chatting to another lucrative customer, as he believes he is doing, the Iraqi money man is spilling his secrets to an undercover Mail on Sunday reporter. Shocking footage, filmed with a hidden camera inside Vinto's thriving diner, reveals how underground banking networks are syphoning hundreds of millions of pounds a year to facilitate record Channel crossings – while operating in plain sight on Britain's high streets. Sir Keir Starmer has made stopping the flow of money that facilitates people trafficking a key tenet of his vow to 'smash the gangs'. But The Mail on Sunday tracked down Vinto's enterprise with astonishing ease, begging the question as to how he has been able to operate so brazenly. Our undercover investigation also shines a light on the 'hawala' system, an untraceable means of money exchange favoured by smugglers and migrants that protects them from the authorities. The National Crime Agency (NCA) has said that hundreds of millions of pounds are being transferred to and from the UK using this method, with restaurants, car washes and even carpet stores acting as fronts. To unearth these secretive networks, the MoS first made contact with an Iraqi trafficker based in Dunkirk, who was advertising his services on TikTok. Our undercover reporter said he and four friends were travelling from Albania and were seeking passage to the UK. The smuggler, who gave his name as Asoo, told the reporter to go to Hotel de Bretagne outside Dunkirk train station – an area notorious for migrant gatherings – but that payment should be made beforehand to a contact in London. 'I give you a shop in London,' the smuggler said. 'You put the money there as a guarantee. When you get to the UK, I take the money. 'If you don't get to the UK, you go and take your money back. No problem. But if you have cash, no problem – pay me before you get in the boat. 'If you have money in Turkey, no problem. Afghanistan, Iraq, London – anywhere.' Our reporter said he had a friend in London who could make the payment there. The smuggler then sent an address for a Middle Eastern restaurant in Ealing, which we are not naming for legal reasons, and a telephone number for a man named Pavel. In a phone conversation to set up a meeting, Pavel sought to reassure his prospective client that it wasn't a scam. 'Brother, it is not only you,' he said. 'I have one hundred people.' A second undercover reporter met Pavel at his restaurant at 8pm on a balmy Saturday evening. It appeared to be doing good business, with customers on red leather sofas chatting. Pavel's slicked-back hair and bulging biceps were enough to let anyone know he meant business. At one point, he was seen clasping a pair of pliers as he grinned menacingly at our reporter. Soon, it was time to talk cash. The payment was agreed at £1,500 per person. For the proposed five migrants, this came to a total of £7,500. 'You know brother, I am dealing with all the people,' Pavel explained. 'It's like insurance.' He continued: 'It [the money] is going to stay until they arrive. I'm going to wait for a call from you. 'So, they're going to come to London. They're going to disappear for two, three days. They'll be taken to a hotel... Then they call you saying we are here. Then you're going to call me back. 'Pavel, they are here, safe.' Then I'm going to transfer the money to them [the smugglers] in France. That's how it's going to be.' He added that there would be a £100 fee per person to transfer the money. In most hawala exchanges, however, cash is never physically transferred. Instead, it is a transfer of debt. Usually, the money is first paid to the hawala agent in the UK to facilitate the crossing. Once the migrants have arrived in England, the UK broker then owes this money to the smuggler in Dunkirk. If money needs to be sent in the opposite direction, the debt evens out and the agents take a percentage of the transaction as a fee. The system is legal in the UK, provided a broker registers with the Financial Conduct Authority, and is commonly used by immigrants to send cash home to their families. But the informal process makes it attractive to criminals, who leave no trace, and to the migrants, as it acts as a guarantee and protects them from being scammed. The NCA has described this process as 'criminal escrow'. As a Somalian hawaladar admitted in a UN report last year: 'In the hawala system, we don't ask questions. We only offer the service.' But Vinto's description of the arrangements suggests he knew just what the money was for: facilitating the record 20,000 small-boat migrants who have reached Britain in the first half of this year. Vinto told our reporter he has run his restaurant for only two-and-a-half years, the same amount of time he has lived in England. Before that, he lived in Germany, but prefers it here, he said. No surprise, given his current residence in Kingston upon Thames, an affluent area of south-west London. Astonishingly, NCA officers had previously arrested a Kurdish man connected with the same restaurant on suspicion of money-laundering offences. The arrest was not connected to Vinto. The Ealing restaurant is far from the only high-street establishment to be acting as a money exchange for people smugglers. An Iranian carpet business in London was found to be operating as a front in a network of bankers transferring money for people traffickers following an NCA investigation. Asghar Gheshalghian, 48, was jailed for eight years after phone evidence revealed his links with at least eight Iranian migrants who later arrived in the UK by boat or lorry and claimed asylum. And a car wash franchise in Caerphilly, Wales, was busted after the NCA discovered it was a front for a people-smuggling ring. The Prime Minister has claimed that freezing the assets of those who aid illegal migration will allow the UK to 'break' their business model. The Government is set to introduce a new sanctions regime by the end of this year, designed to stop individuals using the UK to launder cash for smugglers. Announcing his plans in January, Sir Keir said: 'If you're going to smash a gang that is driven by money, follow the money.' But critics have argued the measures are too minor to stop small-boat crossings. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: 'Labour is allowing people smugglers and their money men to operate right under their noses with impunity. 'Their laughable claim to smash the gangs lies in tatters. Labour's tinkering around the edges is making no difference. So far, 2025 has been the worst in history for illegal immigrants crossing the Channel. 'Only a removals deterrent will actually stop this – so every illegal immigrant arriving here is immediately removed to a location outside Europe.' An NCA spokesman said: 'Tackling organised immigration crime, including that facilitated via the hawala banking system, remains a top priority for the NCA because the criminal groups involved put lives at risk and threaten the UK's border security. 'We have around 80 investigations ongoing into the highest harm people-smuggling networks impacting the UK and are working with partners at home and abroad to disrupt and dismantle them. 'We'd like to thank the Mail for providing this information, which we are examining more closely.' A Home Office spokesman said: 'Criminal hawaladars are not welcome in the UK. They should be in no doubt they will face the full force of the law. Illegal money laundering for people smugglers can result in 14 years in prison.'
The Sun
05-07-2025
- The Sun
Floor was slick with blood, screams echoed in tunnel, I felt every human emotion, says 7/7 survivor on 20th anniversary
ON the morning of July 7, 2005, journalist Peter Zimonjic and his wife Donna set off from their West London flat to catch a train into the city. It was a seemingly ordinary day, much like any other – but it would turn out to change Peter's life for ever. 7 7 7 For he was about to witness the worst terror incident since the 1988 Lockerbie disaster – and the first suicide bombings that the UK had ever seen. That morning, just before 9am, three al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorists detonated devices on Tube trains in central London. An hour later, a fourth device was set off on a No30 bus near Euston station. The 7/7 bombings killed 52 people and injured over 770. Peter and Donna had caught a train at their local station in Hanwell, near Ealing. But when they had to change trains, Donna chose to take a different route from Peter's, as she was heavily pregnant and thought she would be unlikely to find a seat on the busy Circle Line. So Peter got on without her – and was caught up in one of the deadly explosions that has haunted him ever since. Tomorrow there will be a service of commemoration at St Paul's Cathedral for those who were killed or injured on the city's transport network. But for Peter, 52, it will be too heartbreaking to return. Here, he explains why. MY wife, Donna, was eight months pregnant with our first child on the morning of July 7, 2005. She had slept poorly, which meant so did I. At Paddington I kissed her goodbye, watched her train disappear into the tunnel, and marched to the Circle Line. I stood in the crowded carriage as the train accelerated towards Edgware Road. Around the same time a bomber got on at that station. As his train passed mine in the tunnel, he detonated his bomb. There was a sudden loud smashing noise which reminded me of the metal on metal of one car hitting another in a high-speed accident. I thought two trains had clipped one another as they passed in the tunnel. The thought of it being a bomb was an alien one. When the emergency lighting returned in the carriage, smoke was beginning to sting our senses. 'Clothes shredded' A family nearby comforted their terrified children. A man to my left grasped at the sealed doors to escape. Panic spread. From the carriage behind, a person asked for help. When a man in front of me moved towards the calling voice, I followed. The coach on the parallel track lay in darkness, but through the sliding doors we could see a leg and an arm wiggling into our train. The limbs belonged to a man trying to force his way through a hopelessly narrow crack in the doors — his clothes shredded, his skin dripping with blood, his face frantic. 7 7 The man I'd followed into that carriage, who I would later learn was named Tim Coulson, worked with me in a vain attempt to release the door. We smashed the window and jumped across the track into the darkened carriage of the neighbouring train. I climbed through the window frame and slid on a floor that was slick with blood. Bodies, some moving, some frozen, lay strewn about the dim carriage. Screams echoed through the tunnel, all pleading for help. Some were close, some seemed very far away. All were filled with a deep terror. It was a sound I'd not heard before or since. Stepping back and looking down the carriage, I could see a man in a suit trying to revive a woman lying prone on the carriage floor, her clothes almost blown off, with chest compressions. The outcome of that effort had been decided long before he got there. My heart raced, my breathing shortened, my head swelled — I didn't know what to do next. I was experiencing every human emotion at once — I was overwhelmed, incapable, impaired. I felt a hand on my leg, and when I looked down I saw a man lying on his back. He pointed below his waist where I could see he only had one leg. The stump that remained had been tied off with the remnants of a white collared shirt. I took off my suit jacket, folded it and put it under his head. I took off my shirt and ripped it into bandages, strengthening the tourniquet. For more than an hour I lurched through the carriage looking for people I could help, feeling that whatever I did was not enough. When we finally walked through the tunnel into daylight, I phoned Donna. I did not know if she was the victim of another bomb on another train. For 20 years I've lived my life trying to only think of the terror of that day on its anniversary Peter Zimonjic When I heard her voice I broke down for the first time. She had thought it was some kind of fault or disruption. When I told her it was a terror attack, she kicked into survival mode and helped me get home. I wrote an account of my experiences that ran in the Sunday papers immediately following the attacks. A man named Andrew Ferguson who recognised my description of him, of his efforts to help save people that day, reached out to me and we went for a pint. It was like meeting a lost brother. Help people connect For the Tube staff and the emergency service workers, the bombings happened at their place of business, alongside colleagues. But the passengers were all strangers, alien to one another. I set out to fix that and created to help people connect and fill in the blanks of the day. Many became the subject of my book: Into The Darkness: An Account Of 7/7, a retelling of the day we were trapped in the hellish scenes together. When I moved back to Canada two years later, Tim and his wife Judy came to stay with us and over the years we kept in touch. When I flew back for the tenth anniversary of the attack, they sat right behind us in St Paul's Cathedral. We embraced and smiled, so happy to see one another alive and well again. 7 7 For 20 years I've lived my life trying to only think of the terror of that day on its anniversary. The grandest resistance to that horror and death, I have always felt, is to live and to find joy, to love my wife and daughter Anja, now 20, born two weeks after the bombs, and my son Jakob, now 18. As this anniversary approached, I decided not to come back to London to mark the occasion. I wanted to, but I couldn't. Earlier this year the world lost Tim. I wouldn't be able to sit in St Paul's and feel that empty space behind me. The July 7 bombings taught me life is fleeting — which is one thing to know and another to really feel in your bones. Marked by the horror of the day, I was fortunate not to have faced the terrible injuries some survivors have had to bear, or the unfathomable loss of loved ones that others still live without. Most fortunate was that I was able to walk out of that tunnel and into the arms of my wife, that I was able to witness the birth of my children, that I was able to grasp the sunlight and pull myself out of that tunnel to live and love and survive. I GOT ABUSE DUE TO MY MUSLIM FAITH WHEN the first Tube bomber set off his device on the eastbound Circle Line train between Liverpool Street and Aldgate, Muslim passenger Mustafa Kurtuldu was sitting in the next carriage. After the blast he had an agonising 45-minute wait for emergency services to lead him to safety – and then went on to receive abuse because of his religion. Mustafa, now a designer, said: 'My bag was searched after we were rescued from the Tube, and when I was outside it was searched again after an officer asked my name. 'I sat next to a Spanish guy while I was being transported to hospital on a bus, but I felt as though he was treated differently to me and was given more sympathy. I was only 24 years old and had the burden of being an 'unelected official' for the Muslim community. 'I had the anxiety of explaining that I wasn't the 'bad guy'. 'In the weeks following the bombings I was attacked at knifepoint, and was made to condemn the attacks as a Muslim. 'If someone is a victim of any other kind of crime, they wouldn't be asked to condemn it. 'It's so irrational. You are held to a higher level of accountability. 'It still happens. I was on a flight back from Canada and was pulled to the side with other Asian men. 'When the flight attendant saw I was in business class, she apologised, so I asked if terrorists don't travel business class. It's ridiculous.' And 20 years on, Mustafa is still suffering. He added: 'I used to go to the memorial in Hyde Park and break down. 'I had such survivor's guilt. It has seriously affected me. 'Over time, you learn to pretend that it doesn't impact you. I tried to talk to others about it but people don't understand.'
