Latest news with #IanHughes
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Yahoo
‘Why did it happen to us?': Family in fatal crash near Denver airport speaks
Commerce City, Colo. (KDVR) — Ian Hughes had just landed in Colorado for a family reunion. Now those plans are on hold as they are dealing with a horrible family tragedy. 'Our roots run deep here, and it is unfortunate that this had to happen when we were trying to come visit and enjoy a place that we love so much,' Hughes said. FOX31 Newsletters: Sign up to get breaking news sent to your inbox Life can change in an instant. Ian Hughes was riding to a rental car lot with members of his family visiting from Oregon when the unthinkable happened. 'One quick decision caused a lot of pain for a lot of people. It is tough to wrap your head around. It is tough to figure out why. Why did it happen to us,' Hughes said. Their bus was slammed by a pickup truck at the intersection of Tower Road and 81st Street. Multiple people were ejected from the bus, including Hughes grandfather, who passed away on the scene. 'I have been thinking a lot about the impact that he had on everyone around him. He was the kind of person who made a place better anywhere he went. He was happy, he was hardworking, he was willing to go above and beyond to help people,' Hughes said. Hughes was close with his grandfather, going to his house often growing up and working on projects together. Hughes' brother and father were also injured. His brother with a compound fracture in his leg and his dad suffered a skull fracture, vertebrae fracture, and a severe concussion. He is currently at UChealth University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora. 'He is not even quite sure where we are right now. So we are just kind of taking the steps slow with him, trying to keep him as calm as we can trying to relax him,' Hughes said. What was supposed to be a time to be together as a family now forever changed. 'Just take a moment, take a breath, and think before you do,' Hughes said. Hughes said he is sharing his story in hopes that drivers think twice before speeding and understand that one wrong move, one split-second decision, could change lives forever. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Mint
11-07-2025
- Mint
Why Britain's police forces have taken to cultivating cannabis
'All we care about is having the best-quality evidence," says Detective Chief Inspector Ian Hughes, sitting in a poky office with a smile on his face. He is explaining why Essex Police has invested thousands of pounds in the past three years in cultivating cannabis. Given the success of Mr Hughes's little operation, other forces may soon follow. To grasp what he is up to, you need to know about the Proceeds of Crime Act of 2002. That law, known to British coppers as POCA, enables police forces to confiscate assets bought with illegal profits, such as houses or cars, and keep up to half of the money for themselves. In court, proving ill-gottenness is hard. But when it comes to drug seizures, forces can take the street value of their haul from a dealer's other assets—to deter future misdeeds. Authorities have become pukka at using POCA. Many now have specialist teams. Police wires light up with news of spectacular catches: gold watches, Ferraris, Surrey mansions. Over the past six years police forces have recovered around £300m ($400m) a year from criminals in this way. The money goes back into fighting crime, or funds community projects. There was a hiccup, though. When the police bust a cannabis farm, they often seize plants that have yet to fully mature. That means the crop is still wet, weighs more and doesn't contain the concentrated THC that gets smokers high. Dealers with good lawyers were able to argue successfully against confiscation orders, claiming that plants were 'mouldy", and therefore worthless, or that the yield had been estimated inaccurately. This is where Mr Hughes's scheme comes in. When Essex Police busts a weed farm, it now nurtures and dries the plants it keeps for evidence, in a 'bespoke facility". A team of six officers have learned to do it 'just as well as the criminals", says Mr Hughes, ensuring they harvest as much as the dealers would have. It's a busy job: the team deals with around 1,000 busts each year. Last month a Colchester drug dealer was ordered to pay £53,000 or face prison. Essex Police is not alone. Several other large forces are rumoured to be tending the herb. One is using a converted shipping container. Essex has adapted a portakabin with climate and temperature controls. The public can celebrate the spirit of entrepreneurialism or bemoan clumsy laws that divert the police into pointless pot-cultivation. Or, perhaps, do both. Asked for a tour, Mr Hughes demurs, though he does say the facility and incinerator are located securely, next to an armed police unit, lest anyone get ideas. Connoisseurs might lament all that lovely crop going up in smoke. For Mr Hughes, however, the whole scheme gives quite a high. For more expert analysis of the biggest stories in Britain, sign up to Blighty, our weekly subscriber-only newsletter.
The Sun
08-06-2025
- Health
- The Sun
I have to tuck my belly into my pants after fat jabs made me tiny but other crazy side effects will cost me £9K to fix
FINISHING an eight-mile run, Tracy Hughes walks into her bathroom and turns on the shower. Wearing her form-fitting exercise kit, the mum-of-four has a svelte size 10 body that women half her age would be envious of. 8 8 8 But as Tracy, 47, peels off her leggings, she reveals a secret - her jelly belly - five pounds of loose and wobbly skin. 'I have lost seven stone in just eight months using fat jabs, ' she says. 'I used to weigh 20st and now I tip the scales at just 13st.' However, while Tracy is thrilled with her new physique, she admits her weight loss has come with plenty of unwanted side effects. 'Topping the list is my jelly belly and it has to be packed into my knickers and trousers every day,' she says. 'I have learnt no amount of exercise will make your body's skin shrink and ping back to normal. 'Now I have five pounds of loose skin on my stomach. The top of my thighs is also covered in flabby folds despite running eight miles a day, three days a week and working out at the gym.' But it isn't just her loose skin that is causing an issue for Tracy. 'I've also seen my feet and hands shrink dramatically and I now have a turkey neck, ' she adds. 'To fix these side effects, I'm planning on forking out more than £9,000 on plastic surgery, including a tummy tuck, face lift, liposuction, as well as filler and Botox. 'No one tells you about these side effects.' Regional childcare manager Tracy is married to Ian, 50, a postman and lives in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex. The pair have four daughters aged 30, 25, 21 and 14 and three grandchildren aged between three and five months old. Growing up, Tracy was slim but after she had her first child in 1995 she saw her weight creep up. 'I went from a svelte size 12 to an uncomfortable size 20,' she admits. 'I ballooned during pregnancy and couldn't shift the weight. 'After each child, I'd diet and exercise, but the weight never seemed to shift. 'If I did lose a few pounds, I'd pile it back on again. 'The food noise in my head was overwhelming, and I couldn't find an eating plan that worked for me,' she says. 8 8 Over the past 25 years, Tracy tried milkshake diets, low-fat eating, calorie counting, soup diets, juicing, even the Atkins eating plan and Keto diets to lose weight. 'I managed to lose five stone on the Cambridge Diet, but I couldn't control the food noise long enough and the weight piled back on again,' she says. 'I have been on a diet, or thinking about what diet to try next, for the past 25 years. It's been overwhelming.' At her biggest, Tracy was a size 20, tipping the scales at 20st and had a BMI of 45.4, making her obese and at risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease. 'My family and I would spend £350 a month on greasy takeaways, I loved kebabs, burgers and curries,' she says. 'But I was covered in stretch marks and hated myself and my body.' Tracy admits her weight gain was also worsening her menopause symptoms. 'I couldn't sleep properly or get comfortable. I was constantly turning in bed. 'My husband made me sleep in another room, complaining that I was so hot it was like sleeping next to a radiator. 'Whenever I felt down, I was stuffing my face with McDonald's takeaways, Chinese and kebabs.' However, last September when the couple celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary with a vow renewal and a second honeymoon in Cyprus, it was breaking point. 'I looked back at the vow renewal photos and burst into tears. 'I just sobbed. I thought I looked like a whale. 'It was what I needed to make me determined to lose weight.' That was when Tracy decided to take the advice of a friend who'd attended her vow renewal. She recalls: 'When she arrived, I almost didn't recognise her. My pal had lost a huge amount of weight and was glowing. 'When I asked her what her secret was, she told me it was Mounjaro. 'So instead of relaxing on break in Cyprus, I ordered the weight loss jabs with a private prescription. 'The injections cost £170 a month and the month's supply arrived before we got home from our second honeymoon.' Tracy started taking Mounjaro in September last year and says within 24 hours she felt the food noise in her head stop for the first time in almost three decades. 'I woke up and wasn't wanting to eat or obsessing about food,' she says. 'I went for a walk that day and signed up to a gym.' 'I was thriving' Tracy lost a stone in the first month on Mounjaro and then each month after that the weight continued to drop off. 'Within a month, I was back running, slowly building up the distance day by day,' she says. 'I started going to the gym and training for a half marathon, my energy levels were through the roof. 'I was thriving, exercising. I was eating smaller portions. I no longer wanted a glass of wine, and I was only craving healthy foods like lean protein and vegetables.' However, in the last two months, Tracy admits she started noticing the unusual side effects while using the jab. 'As I lost the weight and was rapidly dropping dress sizes, I noticed my stomach was still flabby and floppy,' she says. 'It's when I hit the five-stone weight loss mark, I realised the skin wasn't going to ping back into shape even though I was running 24 miles a week and working out. 'Since then, the more I shrink, the more flab folds develop on my so-called 'Ozempic jelly belly'. 'It has to be packed into my tummy control knickers.' Tracy admits that her loose skin has put a stop to her wearing certain items of clothing. 'I can't wear a bikini until I have my 'Mounjaro plastic surgery makeover',' she says. 'I will have to wear a full swimsuit with tummy control pants to keep my belly folded into place.' Tracy is now planning on spending more than £9,000 on plastic surgery to iron out the side effects of her fat jabs. 'I know I need a tummy tuck liposuction, a breast uplift, and a thigh lift to deal with the loose skin left from the jabs,' she says. 'I tell people losing weight is only half the journey you have to start saving now for plastic surgery.' Everything you need to know about fat jabs Weight loss jabs are all the rage as studies and patient stories reveal they help people shed flab at almost unbelievable rates, as well as appearing to reduce the risk of serious diseases. Wegovy – a modified version of type 2 diabetes drug Ozempic – and Mounjaro are the leading weight loss injections used in the UK. Wegovy, real name semaglutide, has been used on the NHS for years while Mounjaro (tirzepatide) is a newer and more powerful addition to the market. Mounjaro accounts for most private prescriptions for weight loss and is set to join Wegovy as an NHS staple this year. How do they work? The jabs work by suppressing your appetite, making you eat less so your body burns fat for energy instead and you lose weight. They do this my mimicking a hormone called GLP-1, which signals to the brain when the stomach is full, so the drugs are officially called GLP-1 receptor agonists. They slow down digestion and increase insulin production, lowering blood sugar, which is why they were first developed to treat type 2 diabetes in which patients' sugar levels are too high. Can I get them? NHS prescriptions of weight loss drugs, mainly Wegovy and an older version called Saxenda (chemical name liraglutide), are controlled through specialist weight loss clinics. Typically a patient will have to have a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher, classifying them as medically obese, and also have a weight-related health condition such as high blood pressure. GPs generally do not prescribe the drugs for weight loss. Private prescribers offer the jabs, most commonly Mounjaro, to anyone who is obese (BMI of 30+) or overweight (BMI 25-30) with a weight-related health risk. Private pharmacies have been rapped for handing them out too easily and video calls or face-to-face appointments are now mandatory to check a patient is being truthful about their size and health. Are there any risks? Yes – side effects are common but most are relatively mild. Around half of people taking the drug experience gut issues, including sickness, bloating, acid reflux, constipation and diarrhoea. Dr Sarah Jarvis, GP and clinical consultant at said: 'One of the more uncommon side effects is severe acute pancreatitis, which is extremely painful and happens to one in 500 people.' Other uncommon side effects include altered taste, kidney problems, allergic reactions, gallbladder problems and hypoglycemia. Evidence has so far been inconclusive about whether the injections are damaging to patients' mental health. Figures obtained by The Sun show that, up to January 2025, 85 patient deaths in the UK were suspected to be linked to the medicines. One side effect which shocked Tracy was just how much her feet changed on the fat jabs. 'I went to put on my work sandals a month ago and they are too big,' she explains. 'I thought I was seeing things, so I pulled out a similar pair and my feet were too small for them as well. 'The weight loss jabs caused my feet to shrink and go down a shoe size. 'In the past my old shoes were tight due to my feet swelling but to realise my feet have actually shrunk from size nine to a size seven-and-a-half is jaw dropping.' Tracy says she has had to spend hundreds replacing all of her old shoes. 'I knew I'd be buying new clothes because I was losing weight but buying new shoes because you have gone down a shoe size is unheard of,' she says. 'I sold my old plus-size clothes on Vinted and have made £800. I was going to use that for a weekend away. Now I have had to use it for new shoes.' Tracy has had to have all her rings resized due to her shrinking fingers too. 'My engagement ring pinged off in the shower and I thought I'd lost it,' she says. 'Now after a seven-stone weight loss my husband has bought me a new wedding ring and engagement ring, and they are an entire size smaller. 'I didn't think the jab would mean I'd have to get new wedding rings, but it happened.' Tracy is now experiencing turkey neck – another side effect of the jabs. 'I noticed a month ago my neck skin stretches out and my under-chin skin is floppier,' she says. 'I have added that to my list of cosmetic surgery makeovers.' But even with the various side effects, Tracy says it was all worth it. "I feel amazing as thin Tracy,' she says. "I am more in control. I am addicted to Mounjaro. I don't want to stop the jabs as I know they are helping me so much," she says. "I know many people would complain about these weird effects. "For me it was a shock initially. "But I'd rather experience the odd shrinking foot and jelly belly to be half the woman I was.' 8 8 8
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
'We should be shouting about city's architecture'
A city's historic buildings are undergoing a revival and one local photographer, Ian Hughes, said: "We should be shouting about it from the rooftops." Talking about Wolverhampton, he admitted he was once "one of the naysayers who felt it was a dump" - but has found a love for the city's architectural history and said: "There's a lot to celebrate in Wolverhampton." Emma Purshouse, editor of the Black Countryman magazine, also believes the city has some amazing architecture. She said: "If it was Stratford or the posh parts of London, they'd have been preserved and made part of a tourist trail." Mr Hughes started going on walks around the city two years ago, taking photos of the buildings as he went. He has more than 10,000 images and said the city was now "definitely a phoenix rising from the ashes". One recent discovery which stuck in his mind was a large brick building near the canal. "Nobody seemed to know what it was," he said - but he eventually found it had once been a butter and cheese factory. Mr Hughes said it was a "lovely building, totally overgrown and desperately in need of repair" and he felt it had an interesting story to tell. Mr Hughes said he did not know why Wolverhampton "chose to knock things down" but it was nothing new or unique to the city. He said the Victorians "just swept everything away" to create the modern city centre and their buildings had in turn been replaced after World War Two. "In the 1950s, councils up and down the country did exactly the same," he added. But Mr Hughes is not angry about the city's lost history and said: "People made what they think were the right decisions at the time. "These buildings were never built to last forever and be part of history, they were built with a purpose and those purposes are long, long gone." Ms Purshouse said she believed it was "easier to knock things down than preserve them" but there were many examples of interesting architecture still in Wolverhampton. She said her favourites included the Great Western pub, with its cobbled street "because it feels like you've just stepped back in time into a little Victorian pocket of Wolverhampton" and the Lychgate Tavern off Queen's Square. While some old buildings were "hidden" behind modern shop fronts, with others it had been "easier to knock things down than preserve them", she added. Ms Purshouse was appointed Wolverhampton's first poet laureate during the coronavirus pandemic and, like Mr Hughes, spent a lot of time walking around the city. She said while some buildings had been lost, there were also good examples of historic buildings being preserved, such as the Albion Mill. The former corn mill has been turned into flats but its appearance has been preserved. She also hoped the city's former eye infirmary would be treated sensitively when the old NHS site was developed. There is planning consent to turn it into flats, a special needs school and an eating disorder clinic. The city council said the Victorian building and former nurses accommodation would be restored as part of that work and it was encouraging the owners to move the project forward. Ms Purshouse said she has happy to see buildings change their use if they can "keep the architecture and keep the feel of the things". Mr Hughes said there were also encouraging signs for the future of Wolverhampton, with projects such as the planned redevelopment of the former Beatties store. The site will be turned into a mixture of apartments and shops and the city council said it was in "regular contact" with the owners of this building too, "to offer support and encourage action to move things forward". The councillor responsible for development in Wolverhampton, Chris Burden, said the city was "full of beautiful architecture" and the council took the preservation and restoration of heritage buildings "extremely seriously". The authority pointed to a number of other buildings which have been brought back into use. They include the Grade II listed Civic Hall and Wulfrun Hall, now known simply as The Halls, which were refurbished at a cost of £48m. The former Royal Hospital, which closed in 1997, has also been brought back into use as flats for people over the age of 55. Other projects still in the works include turning the former Chubb Locks factory into a four-screen cinema and the restoration of the central library. The council said it was also working with the owners of the city's other empty buildings to bring them back into use and improve how they look from the outside. While it might be romantic to think Wolverhampton's forgotten buildings could all be brought back into use, Mr Hughes believes people should be realistic about the future of town centres. With shopping habits changing, he said: "Towns as we knew them are gone, they're never coming back." But he said if developers were prepared to put in the money and the effort, the centre of Wolverhampton "could become what it used to be". Follow BBC Wolverhampton & Black Country on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram. Photographer takes 12,000 city snaps in six months Local plan promotes 'brownfield-first approach' Major regeneration investment options on offer Plans approved to redevelop former Beatties store City of Wolverhampton Council
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
'We should be shouting about city's architecture'
A city's historic buildings are undergoing a revival and one local photographer, Ian Hughes, said: "We should be shouting about it from the rooftops." Talking about Wolverhampton, he admitted he was once "one of the naysayers who felt it was a dump" - but has found a love for the city's architectural history and said: "There's a lot to celebrate in Wolverhampton." Emma Purshouse, editor of the Black Countryman magazine, also believes the city has some amazing architecture. She said: "If it was Stratford or the posh parts of London, they'd have been preserved and made part of a tourist trail." Mr Hughes started going on walks around the city two years ago, taking photos of the buildings as he went. He has more than 10,000 images and said the city was now "definitely a phoenix rising from the ashes". One recent discovery which stuck in his mind was a large brick building near the canal. "Nobody seemed to know what it was," he said - but he eventually found it had once been a butter and cheese factory. Mr Hughes said it was a "lovely building, totally overgrown and desperately in need of repair" and he felt it had an interesting story to tell. Mr Hughes said he did not know why Wolverhampton "chose to knock things down" but it was nothing new or unique to the city. He said the Victorians "just swept everything away" to create the modern city centre and their buildings had in turn been replaced after World War Two. "In the 1950s, councils up and down the country did exactly the same," he added. But Mr Hughes is not angry about the city's lost history and said: "People made what they think were the right decisions at the time. "These buildings were never built to last forever and be part of history, they were built with a purpose and those purposes are long, long gone." Ms Purshouse said she believed it was "easier to knock things down than preserve them" but there were many examples of interesting architecture still in Wolverhampton. She said her favourites included the Great Western pub, with its cobbled street "because it feels like you've just stepped back in time into a little Victorian pocket of Wolverhampton" and the Lychgate Tavern off Queen's Square. While some old buildings were "hidden" behind modern shop fronts, with others it had been "easier to knock things down than preserve them", she added. Ms Purshouse was appointed Wolverhampton's first poet laureate during the coronavirus pandemic and, like Mr Hughes, spent a lot of time walking around the city. She said while some buildings had been lost, there were also good examples of historic buildings being preserved, such as the Albion Mill. The former corn mill has been turned into flats but its appearance has been preserved. She also hoped the city's former eye infirmary would be treated sensitively when the old NHS site was developed. There is planning consent to turn it into flats, a special needs school and an eating disorder clinic. The city council said the Victorian building and former nurses accommodation would be restored as part of that work and it was encouraging the owners to move the project forward. Ms Purshouse said she has happy to see buildings change their use if they can "keep the architecture and keep the feel of the things". Mr Hughes said there were also encouraging signs for the future of Wolverhampton, with projects such as the planned redevelopment of the former Beatties store. The site will be turned into a mixture of apartments and shops and the city council said it was in "regular contact" with the owners of this building too, "to offer support and encourage action to move things forward". The councillor responsible for development in Wolverhampton, Chris Burden, said the city was "full of beautiful architecture" and the council took the preservation and restoration of heritage buildings "extremely seriously". The authority pointed to a number of other buildings which have been brought back into use. They include the Grade II listed Civic Hall and Wulfrun Hall, now known simply as The Halls, which were refurbished at a cost of £48m. The former Royal Hospital, which closed in 1997, has also been brought back into use as flats for people over the age of 55. Other projects still in the works include turning the former Chubb Locks factory into a four-screen cinema and the restoration of the central library. The council said it was also working with the owners of the city's other empty buildings to bring them back into use and improve how they look from the outside. While it might be romantic to think Wolverhampton's forgotten buildings could all be brought back into use, Mr Hughes believes people should be realistic about the future of town centres. With shopping habits changing, he said: "Towns as we knew them are gone, they're never coming back." But he said if developers were prepared to put in the money and the effort, the centre of Wolverhampton "could become what it used to be". Follow BBC Wolverhampton & Black Country on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram. Photographer takes 12,000 city snaps in six months Local plan promotes 'brownfield-first approach' Major regeneration investment options on offer Plans approved to redevelop former Beatties store City of Wolverhampton Council
