Paul Gascoigne Arrested Over 'Drunken Assault'

Paul Gascoigne has been arrested after an alleged drunken assault at a train station.

The former football star, who left rehab in the US earlier this year, was held after the incident in Hertfordshire.

A Hertfordshire Police spokeswoman said: "Police were called to a report of a man allegedly being drunk and disorderly at Stevenage railway station at 10.30pm on Thursday July 4.

"Officers attended the location and arrested a 46-year-old male on suspicion of common assault and being drunk and disorderly."

He was taken into custody but was not charged, police said.

The Mirror reported that Gascoigne had grabbed a security guard by the throat before attacking ex-wife Sheryl Gascoigne when she tried to step in.

According to the newspaper, he was bailed after being held in a police cell for 12 hours overnight.

Earlier this year, Gascoigne said he wanted to "get back to reality" after the latest health scare in his battle with alcohol addiction.

In March, the ex-England and Newcastle player told Sky Sports News: "When I'm drinking I forget about everyone.

"I don't realise the hurt I'm doing to others but, you know, I've got to think about the hurt I was doing to myself.

"People come up (and say) 'never touch a drink again'. I don't know (if) I'm going to touch a drink again. I just know that I'm not drinking today."

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Father Charged With Daughter's Murder

The father of an 11-year-old girl found strangled at her home has been charged with her murder, police have said.

Rebecca Thompson was discovered at the house in Holmefield Road, Bushey, Hertfordshire, on Saturday, June 22.

Her father Simon Thompson, 52, was taken to hospital after being involved in a car crash in the early hours of the same day.

He has now been charged with murder and will appear at Hatfield Magistrates' Court this morning.

Rebecca's headteacher paid tribute to the schoolgirl.

In a statement, Rita Cooper, head of Sacred Heart Primary School, said: "It is with great sadness that we heard of the death of Rebecca who was in Year Six at Sacred Heart.

"Rebecca was a lovely girl who was hard-working and did well in her learning. She was looking forward to secondary school.

"The whole school is very distressed by this tragedy and our thoughts are with her family and friends."

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Madeleine McCann: New UK Police Investigation

By Michelle Clifford, Senior News Correspondent

Detectives are targeting 12 British potential suspects as they launch a new investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

A Metropolitan Police team says they are among 38 "persons of interest" in the case and they are working on the assumption that Madeleine - aged three when she went missing in 2007 - may still be alive.

Officers have completed a two year review of the stalled Portuguese inquiry and say they are moving to an "investigative stage".

They now intend to pursue further information on the dozens of individuals they want to speak to over the suspected abduction of Madeleine from her family's holiday villa in Praia da Luz.

Kate and Gerry McCann said they "warmly welcome" the latest development in the search for their missing daughter.

The Met intends to apply to issue formal requests to Portugal for evidence to be gathered and to allow a team of British officers to be present during the process.

The working relationship between UK and Portuguese police is now said to be "positive and focused" after previous attempts at cooperation faltered amid intense interest in the case.

Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood, who is heading up the inquiry, calls this "a critical moment" in the the search for Madeleine.

Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry say they "warmly welcome" the new probe

He said: "We have been in a unique position over the last two years in drawing together three strands - Portuguese, UK and private investigators' material.

"From that vast quantity of material analysed we have identified 38 persons of interest and 12 who are UK nationals, and it is from that position that we are able to move from review to investigation."

DCI Redwood added: "There is no clear, definitive proof that Madeleine McCann is dead.

"On that basis I genuinely believe there is a possibility she is still alive. And so I would like to ask the public to continue to look for her."

Madeleine vanished from her bedroom in the Portuguese resort in May 2007 as her parents dined with friends nearby.

The local police investigation was called off a year later, yielding few clues into her disappearance or whereabouts.

In 2011, the Met launched its review of the case and earlier this year it was reported that around 20 "persons of interest" had been identified.

The Home Office said in June that it was prepared to fund any continuing investigation.

Met detectives have made 16 visits to Portugal and officers have met and shared their findings with key members of both the Policia Judiciaria and the judicial authorities.

A spokesman for the McCanns said: "Kate and Gerry warmly welcome the shift in the Met's emphasis from review to investigation.

"It is clearly a big step forward in establishing what happened and, hopefully, towards bringing whoever is responsible for Madeleine's abduction to justice."

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James Bulger's Parents 'Horrified' Over Ruling

The father of Merseyside toddler James Bulger has said the announcement that one of his killers is to be freed from prison "fills him with terror".

Ralph Bulger, in a statement issued through his solicitor Robin Makin, said the family was "disappointed and dismayed" by the decision to release Jon Venables.

He said: "In 2011 the Parole Board determined that it was 'not safe' for Jon Venables to be released. It is not known what has changed. No reasons for the decision have been given.

"The decision to release Jon Venables is misguided and fills Ralph with terror.

"Ralph fears that an innocent person may be mistaken for Jon Venables and be injured or even killed.

James Bulger was tortured and left dead on railway tracks in Liverpool

"If such occurs then Ralph will feel guilty of not having done enough to have prevented such an obvious tragedy.

"For Ralph and his family the living nightmare continues and is exacerbated by the problems now created by the reckless decision to free Jon Venables without any publicly disclosed safeguards."

Venables, now in his 30s, was jailed in 2010 after admitting downloading and distributing indecent images of children while on parole from his life sentence for killing two-year-old James.

He was originally jailed for life alongside 10-year-old classmate Robert Thompson in 1993 for the abduction, torture and murder of James in Bootle. This year marks the 20th anniversary of James's murder.

The two boys were released on licence with new identities in 2001.

James's mother Denise Fergus is dismayed by the decision to free Venables

Earlier this year James' father and mother, Denise Fergus, both addressed Venables' parole hearing and pushed for him to remain in prison.

Mrs Fergus, who broke the news of Venables' release on her Twitter page, said: "I got a call from the Probation Service, but they only told me that the parole has been approved and that preparations are being made for his release.

"I have not been told what conditions they are going to impose and even whether he will still be banned from entering the county of Merseyside."

She added: "I've been fighting for justice for James for 20 years now and I will continue to do so."

A spokesman for the Parole Board said today: "We've had confirmation that all parties have been told and we can confirm that it was a release decision. He (Venables) will be released."

Ralph Bulger addressed Venables parole hearing earlier this year

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: "The re-release of life-licensed offenders is directed by the independent Parole Board once they are satisfied they can be safely managed in the community.

"Their life licence lasts for the rest of their lives, and they may be recalled to prison at any time for breaching their licence conditions.

"Additionally, they will be subject to strict controls and restrictions for as long as their risk requires them."

Venables' former solicitor Laurence Lee said: "My thoughts go out to Denise Fergus and the rest of James Bulger's family.

"But the Parole Board have decided that he can be freed and he can't be kept inside forever.

"Jon Venables may be at liberty but he will never be free."

Mr Bulger released a book - titled My James - earlier this year in which he described blaming his former wife for letting their son out of her sight.

He also said he drank two bottles of whisky a day to escape the pain and that he considered suicide after his son's murder.

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Adult And Child Found Dead At South Wales Home

The bodies of an adult and child have been discovered at a home in South Wales, police say.

Officers found the pair dead after being called to the property in Church Street in Troedyrhiw, Merthyr Tydfil, at around 4.20pm.

The area has been cordoned off and house-to-house inquiries are under way.

Police have yet to confirm the age or sex of the two victims.

Borough councillor Gareth Lewis said he found out about the incident on Twitter, and said it would be wrong to speculate on the nature of what had happened.

"All we know is that a child and somebody else, perhaps a young adult, have lost their lives," he said.

"It is a very close-knit community, the people are very nice and will help the police as much as possible with their inquiry.

"The information started to spread online, and it will have a big impact on this community and its people."

Troedyrhiw is part of an old coal mining area, which Mr Lewis described as a "typical, traditional Valleys community".

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Prisoners To Be Moved To Jails Near Home

A network of 70 resettlement jails that will prepare offenders to be released into the area in which they live has been unveiled by the Justice Secretary.

Existing prisons up and down the country will function as resettlement prisons, with a trial starting in northwest England in the autumn, as part of a prisons shake-up.

Justice Secretary Chris Grayling hopes the move will cut the risk of reoffending.

Mr Grayling has also announced plans to build a £250m super-prison in North Wales as well as revealing a raft of prison closures covering some 2,600 inmate places in January.

Mr Grayling said: "Rehabilitation in the community must begin behind the prison walls and follow offenders out through the gates if we are to stand a chance of freeing them from a life of crime.

"Currently a local area could expect to receive offenders from dozens of prisons across the country - this is hopeless.

"It is little wonder we have such high reoffending rates when you have a prisoner leaving HMP Liverpool, given a travel permit to get them home to the south coast, and then expected to simply get on with it.

"This approach is a significant step forwards in our reforms to tackle reoffending and lays the groundwork for building a genuine nationwide network of 'through the gate' supervision and support for all offenders."

The Government wants every offender released from custody to receive statutory supervision and rehabilitation in the community.

Mr Grayling hopes the move will cut reoffending

The Offender Rehabilitation Bill currently before Parliament will extend statutory supervision to 50,000 short-sentenced offenders each year, who will serve their time in custody in a resettlement prison and come out to a tailored package of supervision and support.

The women's estate is subject to a separate review announced by the Justice Secretary in January, which will report later in the summer.

Paul McDowell, chief executive of crime reduction charity Nacro and a former governor of Brixton Prison, welcomed the move.

He said: "We are still sending too many people to prison when they could be better dealt with in the community - especially many of those serving short prison sentences.

"But putting communities at the heart of the criminal justice system through the development of resettlement prisons is a step in the right direction."

Shadow justice secretary Sadiq Khan said: "The idea of resettlement prisons is a good one - prisoners being integrated back into communities where they have family and friends could lead to reduced re-offending and fewer victims of crime.

"However, this is another example of reality being very different from rhetoric. These plans amount to a substantial reorganisation of our prisons system, and it's not clear how it will be funded. Nor is it clear what will happen in London where there is an estimated shortfall of 8,000 places."

Juliet Lyon, the director of the Prison Reform Trust said: "Resettlement and rehabilitation do matter, but until and unless you reserve prison for serious and violent offenders, you cannot hope to cut sky-high reoffending rates or maintain safe and decent regimes."

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Reserve White Paper: Hammond In TA Shake-Up

By Alistair Bunkall, Defence Correspondent

The Defence Secretary is due to announce that £1.8bn will be invested in a restructured reservist force over the next decade.

Philip Hammond will set out a new package for reservist soldiers and their employers when he unveils the Reserve White Paper in the House of Commons.

He is expected to announce a major expansion in the part-time force and unveil plans for a special £42m equipment budget.

Training will also be boosted, with more exercises held overseas and smaller firms given financial incentives to let staff join up.

Details about which Territorial Army regiments are to disband are due to be revealed, although defence sources point out that new ones will also be created.

The White Paper will also confirm a change in name with the TA, which senior military officers feel has a Dad's Army connotation, becoming The Reservists.

Philip Hammond says employers will benefit from the changes

Thirty-six TA centres will also be "vacated", although that is far less than the 88 predicted based on early calculations.

They will not be sold off, but instead used for other purposes. A total of £80m will be spent refurbishing the remaining centres, with 68 major units for the reserve force.

Companies will also be given more notice of training and deployments so they can plan for the temporary loss of staff.

Mr Hammond will promise to listen to the concerns and views of businesses to ensure their co-operation.

Speaking to Sky News, he defended the changes, saying: "The White Paper allows us to set out our vision for the future of reserves. We need the support of employers to make this work.

"But we also need to make sure that the benefits of reservist training, the skills that reservists learn, can be properly recognised and deployed in their civilian workplace to make them better employees.

"An additional financial incentive over and above the reimbursement of costs that we already provide is our way of recognising that pressure that it puts particularly on smaller employers."

But Neil Carberry, the Confederation of British Industry's director of employment and skills, said small businesses were willing to work with the MoD but fear being told what to do.

"What we want to see is not a 'thou shalt do this' when you employ a reservist from the MoD, but rather a 'let us tell you how we can work together' to make employing a reservist a really enjoyable experience," he said.

The Ministry of Defence needs to dramatically increase the size of The Reservists. The total reserve force, made up of all three services, currently stands at around 22,000, of which around 19,000 are in the Army.

But the aim is to expand it to 35,000 members, 30,000 in the Army. A big marketing drive has been put in place including a recent series of adverts broadcast live from Camp Bastion in Afghanistan.

The Head of the Army, General Sir Peter Wall, admits the key challenge will be recruiting the numbers needed, but is confident that will be achieved.

"There is a cultural shift required here, there is a sort of experimental nature here, but we need to remember that historically we had a big reserve and when I joined the Army a few decades ago it was over 100,000 in the reserve," he told Sky News.

"We also need to remember that other nations make far more use of reserve manpower than we do, particularly the American army, which you wouldn't necessarily associate as being that situation and if we emulate what they've been doing then I think we'll be fine."

The Reservists will train alongside the regular troops. There will be more overseas exercises for them and both the reserve and regular force will train together ahead of deployments.

Sergeant Gary Shepard is a lorry driver and a member of The Reservists. He foresees no problem with a closer working relationship.

"I'm actually an ex-regular soldier, but when I joined 1 Para we integrated very easily and within a few weeks they actually forgot we were part-time," he told Sky News.

"What we do is 'beat-up' training prior to going and joining them (the regulars) so that we're on the same level as they are." 

However, the restructuring is not out of choice but financial pressures. The regular Army is being cut to 82,000 personnel, the lowest level for more than a century.

Although the MoD escaped the worst of the budget cuts in the recent Spending Review, the military is still undergoing a major restructuring following the Strategic Defence and Security Review a few years ago.

There will be a fourth and final round of redundancies early next year which will largely affect the Army.

Dan Jarvis, a former soldier and now a Labour MP, has his doubts. He said: "Let's be clear, these decisions are being made not about capability, but about saving money.

"The Government has considerable challenges ahead to recruit the number of reservists it needs.

"We accept and understand that changes do have to be made, but it will be a difficult a process to make all those changes happen smoothly and effectively."

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Health Tourism: Foreigners Face £200 NHS Levy

Foreigners face being charged around £200-a-year for using the NHS in an attempt to tackle so-called health tourism.

Ministers will outline plans to introduce the charge for foreign workers and students who come to the UK for more than half a year.

The Department of Health said it would make sure migrants contributed towards healthcare costs without adding to NHS red tape.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt is expected to announce a public consultation on the move as part of a raft of changes to immigration laws.

He will say: "We need to ensure that those residing or visiting the UK are contributing to the system in the same way as British taxpayers, and ensure we do as much as possible to target illegal migration.

"We have been clear that we are a national health service - not an international health service - and I am determined to wipe out abuse in the system.

"The NHS is a national treasure and we need to work with the entire health system to develop plans and make sure it is sustainable for years to come."

He will also outline plans to end free access to GPs for short-term visitors and pledge to cut the bill for treating tourists, which currently stands at £200m.

But he has already made clear foreign patients would not be refused treatment in an emergency. In those cases, efforts to recoup the money would be made later.

The changes are part of a Government-wide push to cut down on abuse of British services, but doctors warned they feared becoming a "form of immigration control".

Clare Gerada, chair of the Council of the Royal College of General Practitioners, said: "I don't think we should be turning the GP surgery into a border agency."

Dr Gerada also warned immigrants with highly infectious conditions could end up "wandering around for fear of being charged" or going to more expensive emergency units, which could cost more.

And she accused the Government of failing to "find the facts" about the actual cost of NHS use by immigrants and launching a "rushed consultation".

"We need to make sure that what comes out the other end is sensible, proportionate and fair and doesn't cost us all much more money and put us at much more risk than the current situation which is one that, even at the worst estimates, is a tiny proportion of NHS costs," she said.

Earlier this year, Prime Minister David Cameron said immigrants could not expect "something for nothing" in the UK.

But shadow health minister Liz Kendall said: "In its three years in power, the Government has a poor record on announcing policies that sound good, but prove to be completely unworkable.

"We will have many questions to ask about the details when they are published, but the key tests for their proposals are: can they be properly enforced and will they save more money than they cost to put in place?

"The public and NHS staff must be confident that any new measures are about getting taxpayers a better deal and ensuring fairness, not playing politics with our NHS."

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Child Sex Abuse Live Streaming A Bigger Threat

Child sexual abuse streamed live online through services like Skype has been highlighted as an emerging threat by experts.

Figures show an increasing number of offenders have been targeting vulnerable families overseas to set up live access to children over webcams in exchange for payment.

The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre's (Ceop) annual report also warned that fears were growing of child sexual abuse in Brazil ahead of the country's influx of visitors for the World Cup and Olympic Games.

In 2012, Ceop received 8,000 reports of indecent images of children being shared - with a two-fold increase in the total number of images and videos on previous years to 70,000.

Ceop chief executive Peter Davies said: "Our assessment shows that, sadly, there are still too many children at risk and too many people who would cause them serious harm.

"We should all practice zero tolerance to child sexual exploitation and abuse."

The report said live streaming emerged as a key method of producing and distributing indecent images last year, a tactic that it said presents a particularly high risk in the developing world.

Sex offenders are targeting families and children in areas with extreme poverty, rising levels of access to the internet and poor child-protection policies, the centre said.

Concerns were also raised about the use of the so-called hidden internet - heavily encrypted forums and pages that allow abusers to cover their tracks when accessing indecent images online.

The number of UK users connecting to secret or encrypted networks each day increased by two thirds, one of the largest annual increases globally, the report said.

A total of 20,000 daily UK users of such networks are expected by the end of this year, although not all of these will use the hidden internet for criminal means.

Ceop found that there has been a 70% increase in the number of female victims under 10 years old.

The report comes shortly after after five members of a seven-man sadistic paedophile ring found guilty of grooming vulnerable underage girls were given life sentences at the Old Bailey.

Two other defendants were both jailed for seven years.

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Shipley: Man Arrested Over Murder And Stabbing

A man has been arrested on suspicion of the murder of an 84-year-old woman and the stabbing of a nine-year-old boy in a skate park in West Yorkshire.

Officers found the pensioner's body in a bedroom at her home in Prospect Mount, Shipley.

It followed reports the boy had been attacked in the town's Carnegie skate park.

West Yorkshire Police said the woman, named as Louisa Denby, had suffered "numerous stab wounds".

The man, aged 26, was arrested at 4.10am on Tuesday in nearby Idle on suspicion of murder and attempted murder, a police spokesman said.

Another 26-year-old man has also been arrested on suspicion of murder and remains in police custody.

The other local men aged 18, 24 and 29 have been arrested over the incident in the skate park, the spokesman added.

The boy suffered chest and arm injuries when he was attacked at around 4.40pm on Monday.

He was taken by air ambulance to Leeds General Infirmary where he is expected to undergo surgery this morning.

He remains in a stable condition, police said.

After the attack on the boy, police launched a hunt for a white man, in his twenties.

He was wearing a cap and glasses and was believed to be carrying a walking stick.

Any witnesses or anyone with information is asked to contact the non emergency number 101 or Crimestoppers in confidence on 0800 555 111.

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Smethwick Fire: Massive Blaze At Recycling Plant

More than 100 firefighters have been tackling a massive blaze at a plastic recycling factory in the West Midlands.

About 50,000 tonnes of recycling material and a factory unit are on fire in Smethwick on the outskirts of Birmingham.

West Midlands Fire Service said they had more than 35 fire engines at the scene, just off Dartmouth Road.

Paramedic Huw Jones tweeted that he was at the scene of the "large industrial fire".

It is understood there are no plans to evacuate residents from nearby homes.

The fire service said its control centre had received more than 145 calls about the fire.

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Rotavirus: Babies To Get 'Vomiting Bug' Jab

By Rhiannon Mills, Sky Reporter

A vaccination programme aimed at protecting babies against one of the most common causes of diarrhoea in young children begins today.

The rotavirus vaccination will be given to all infants aged between two and three months.

According to Public Health England, it will protect more than 675,000 babies from the highly infectious bug which causes diarrhoea, vomiting, abdominal pain, fever and dehydration.

At the moment, almost every child will have had the viral infection by the age of five and it is the most common cause of gastroenteritis in infants and very young children.

The vaccine is already routinely used in many other countries

Children will receive the vaccine orally as two separate doses of liquid drops,.

Dr Paul Cosford, medical director at Public Health England, said: "Rotavirus is a highly infectious and unpleasant illness that affects thousands of young children each year.

"While most recover within a few days, nearly one in five will need to see their doctor, and one in 10 will end up in hospital as a result.

"Although good hygiene measures can help prevent spread of the disease, the best way to protect your baby from catching rotavirus is to get them vaccinated."

Vaccination experts believe the immunisation programme will halve the number of vomiting and diarrhoea cases caused by rotavirus, meaning fewer children end up going to their GP or to hospital.

Dr Sarah Jarvis, a GP, told Sky News: "The vaccination has been routinely used for many years in other countries. Overall it looks extremely safe.

"It's given by a couple of drops in the mouth and it's a weakened form of the virus which you'd be exposed to anyway, but this way you're being exposed to a weakened form so you don't get the symptoms but you do build up an immunity."

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