Body found in Thames after girl entered the water

Kent Police have said they've recovered a body in the search for a missing girl. Yesterday (May 30), His Majesty's Coastguard confirmed it had been called to a report of two children struggling in the water.

The boy was rescued and taken to the hospital. His condition was later confirmed to be stable.

Now, Kent Police have found a body in the search for the girl. They said: "Kent Police's Marine Unit and H.M. Coastguard continued the search of the water and river bank this morning.

"At around 11.40am, a body was recovered from the river near Gravesend with the assistance of the RNLI. Formal identification by the missing girl's next of kin has taken place.

"The death is not being treated as suspicious at this stage and a report will be prepared for the coroner."

Kent Police was originally called at 1.46pm on Friday, May 20. Police, ambulance, the coastguard, and the RNLI all attended.

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Fare evasion costs Transport for London whopping £130m a year

Around one in 29 public transport users in London do not pay the correct fare, figures show. Transport for London (TfL) said 3.5 per cent of passengers across its network evade fares, costing it £130 million annually.

The figure has fallen from 3.8% in the 2023/24 financial year. In April, TfL announced new measures aimed at slashing the figure to 1.5% by the end of the decade.

These include targeting the most prolific fare evaders and using advanced technology. Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick posted a video on social media on Thursday in which he confronted people who forced their way through the ticket barriers at Stratford station in east London.

He asked one person "do you think it's all right not to pay" and challenged another to "go back through the barrier and pay". Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live on Thursday, Mr Jenrick said staff "weren't doing anything" to tackle evasion when he was at Stratford to film the video.

"They weren't either trained or didn't have the self-confidence to take action, and I think that's the issue sometimes," he said. London Underground and Overground services operate from Stratford, as well as mainline rail services, the Elizabeth line and the DLR.

Interventions with fare dodgers are involved in around half of reported incidents of violence and aggression towards frontline staff, according to TfL. Trade union the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association (TSSA) appeared to accuse Mr Jenrick of "trying to score points" with the clip.

It said in a statement: "This incident was not only inappropriate but also potentially dangerous for passengers, staff and the individual involved. Fare evasion is a serious issue, but it must be tackled with professional, trained enforcement, not MPs trying to score points or social media clout on their daily commute."

Siwan Hayward, TfL's director of security, policing and enforcement, said the "overwhelming majority" of passengers pay the correct fare, but there is "a minority who do attempt to travel without a valid ticket, which is a criminal offence". She went on: "Fare evasion is unacceptable. That is why we are strengthening our capability to deter and detect fare evaders, including expanding our team of professional investigators to target the most prolific fare evaders across the network.

"This builds on the work of our team of more than 500 uniformed officers already deployed across the network to deal with fare evasion and other anti-social behaviour, keeping staff and customers safe. Fare evasion is not a victimless crime. It robs Londoners of vital investment in a safe, frequent and reliable transport network and we are committed to reducing the current rate of fare evasion to 1.5 per cent by 2030."

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South London primary school that was 'falling apart' set for new upgrade to complete expansion

A primary school in South London is set for another upgrade to complete its major expansion. Burlington Junior School, in New Malden, won permission from Kingston Council in 2022 to rebuild its crumbling main building - described as "falling apart" by its chair of governors.

The development, which was completed in April, increased the school's capacity from 480 to 600 pupils across Year 3 to 6. It involved demolishing the school's main building for a new three-storey teaching block, so that it could expand from four to five forms of entry.

The new block has classrooms, group rooms and teaching spaces. It also has a sports hall, available to locals outside of school hours, along with an artificial grass pitch and games areas.

The school has expanded its capacity from 480 to 600 pupils (stock photo) (Image: Getty)

The school had to build on an existing play area to complete the development, leading it to submit separate plans to change the use of land at a neighbouring site to provide extra playing fields.

A new report by council officers recommended this application for approval, ruling: "The proposal would support the provision of education facilities in the form of additional school playing fields for an existing local school, which is afforded great weight in support of this proposal."

The land is part of the empty Hobkirk House and Noble Centre site, a former care home and physiotherapy practice, with both buildings due to be demolished. The council rejected plans to replace Hobkirk House with 34 flats in 2024, which the developer is currently appealing.

Stephen Arbuthnot, chair of governors at Burlington Junior School, previously told a council meeting, ahead of the school's expansion, that it was "falling apart". He said: "In 2017... [we] discovered that the CLASP building, as we call it, was falling apart and we live in fear that any day something’s going to happen, someone’s going to inspect it and it’s going to get condemned and we’re not going to have the school that we want."

During a tour of the school in 2019, he said "there was a bucket, or a big plastic bin" in every room and hallway "because the roof was leaking".

Mr Arbuthnot continued: "It’s not leaking as much anymore because the council spent a lot of money repairing it, but the school is still falling down."

The council is expected to make a final decision on the school's application for new playing fields soon.

Got a story? Email charlotte.lillywhite@reachplc.com

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Heathrow boss had phone on silent mode as fire unfolded, inquiry finds

Attempts to tell Heathrow airport’s sleeping chief executive that the airport had been closed because of a power outage failed because his bedside phone was on silent, an inquiry has found.

Thomas Woldbye was in bed as senior Heathrow staff decided to suspend operations because of a fire at a nearby electrical substation. No flights operated at the west London airport until about 6pm on March 21 because of the blaze which started late the previous night. More than 270,000 air passenger journeys were disrupted by the incident.

Heathrow commissioned an inquiry into what happened, led by former transport secretary Ruth Kelly, who is an independent member of the airport’s board.

The Kelly Review found that Mr Woldbye “was not involved” in the decision taken by the airport’s chief operating officer Javier Echave at 1.15am on March 21 to suspend operations until 11.59pm.

Mr Woldbye’s mobile was “on his bedside table” but he was unaware of multiple attempts to alert him to the situation as the device was on silent mode, the Kelly Review said.

Alerts known as F24 alarms were sent to Mr Woldbye’s mobile at 12.21am and 1.52am to activate emergency procedures, and Mr Echave tried to call him several times.

The report stated: “Although his phone was on his bedside table, Mr Woldbye reported that it did not alert him to the F24 alarms or to Mr Echave’s other calls because the phone had gone into a silent mode, without him being aware it had done so and he was asleep at the time.”

It added: “Mr Woldbye first became aware of the incident at approximately 6.45am on March 21, and received a debrief from Mr Echave.”

Mr Woldbye expressed “his deep regret at not being contactable during the night of the incident”, the review said.

The review recommended that Heathrow considers having a “second means of contact” to notify key individuals about critical incidents.

It concluded that the decision to suspend operations after the power outage was “correctly made” as this was “essential to protect the safety and security of people, as well as the integrity of the airport and the UK border”.

The report stated that on March 21, Heathrow began accepting limited flight arrivals from 4pm and departures from 8pm, before fully reopening on March 22.

The inquiry found there “may have been opportunities to open parts of the airport slightly sooner” on March 21 but this “likely would have been only by a maximum of a couple of hours or so”.

Ms Kelly said: “The evidence confirms that Heathrow made the right decisions in exceptionally difficult circumstances.

“Whilst the disruption was significant, alternative choices on the day would not have materially changed the outcome.

“The airport had contingency plans in place, and the report highlights that further planned investment in energy resilience will be key to reducing the impact of any similar events in the future.”

Mr Woldbye said: “Heathrow exists to serve our passengers and airlines, which made the decision to close the airport in March because of the North Hyde substation fire tough, but necessary.

“We hope that all our stakeholders understand this was done to protect the safety of passengers and colleagues.

“We’re truly sorry for the disrupted journeys, and we understand the impact this had on so many of our customers.”

The National Energy System Operator (Neso), which is also investigating what happened, published an interim report earlier this month which stated the cause of the fire remains unknown.

It is expected to publish its full report by the end of June.

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North London teacher sacked after petition to remove headteacher leads to police at school gates

A North London teacher has been banned from the profession after a petition to oust the headteacher led to police officers being stationed outside the school gates. Joshua Adusei, 31, who taught PE at the Harris Academy in Tottenham, encouraged Year 10 students to sign the petition which called for the headteacher to be sacked.

He encouraged students in the playground to sign the petition in April 2021, after he had told the headteacher he would “get him out” if he did not resign, a Teaching Regulation Agency panel heard.

The Change.org petition, which received more than 6,000 signatures before it was ended, said the headteacher had permanently excluded three black students from the school after one month in the role and had introduced “a zero tolerance behaviour policy that disproportionately affects BAME and SEN students”. His name was removed from the petition after the Metropolitan Police received reports of four death threats from the school, the Guardian reported.

His name was removed from the petition after the Metropolitan Police received reports of four death threats from the school, the Guardian reported.

Giving oral evidence to the panel, the headteacher said Mr Adusei came to his office on April 19 2021 and informed him that he and others did not think he was doing a good job, and that he had come to request his resignation.

He said there was no attempt by Mr Adusei to specify his grievances or the basis upon which he was asking him to resign at the meeting, but that he said “If you don’t resign I am going to start a petition to get you out”, which left him feeling threatened.

Another witnesses told the panel that the following day, they saw Mr Adusei and another member of staff in the playground with around 10-20 students stood around them, which was “unusual” as he should not have been on duty for their lunch.

A Year 10 pupil who was stopped by the witness after walking past with their phone out – which was against school policy – said: “Not gonna lie sir, a member of staff has told me to get it out to sign a petition”. Mr Adusei was suspended the same day.

Addressing the claims in the petition, the headteacher told the panel he had only been directly involved in excluding two students and that the decision was taken in consultation with various other management staff. He said there was “no basis” for asserting that his actions disproportionately affected BAME or SEN students.

The panel heard both parents and pupils were confused by Mr Adusei’s actions, which led to plain clothes police officers being placed at the school gates. The Metropolitan Police also contacted the teacher who Mr Adusei called to resign about enhanced protection measures.

The panel found Mr Adusei had made “deliberate and pre-determined decisions to publish untrue and/or misleading comments about Colleague A (the headteacher) and then to manipulate the actions of children for his own private purposes”, which it considered to be “an abuse of his position and an abuse of trust.”

Further allegations that Mr Adusei had failed to complete welfare calls to 26 pupils in his tutor group and failed to teach online lessons on two occasions in January 2021 were also found to have been proven. Mr Adusei, who had been employed at the school since 2019, provided no mitigation to the panel or evidence of material insight or remorse for his actions.

The panel found Mr Adusei’s actions impacted the focus of the children on education and undermined the school. It added: “Mr Adusei had not provided evidence of insight and/or remorse and had not engaged in the process at all or, apparently, taken responsibility for his actions in any way save, in very limited terms.”

On May 15 the panel banned Joshua Adusei from teaching for a minimum of five years.

This mean he is prohibited from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England

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Pictures show Crystal Palace trophy parade through Croydon as 'fans hang out of windows'

The first photos are in as Crystal Palace FC parade their FA Cup trophy through Croydon. It comes after The Eagles beat Man City 1-0 last Saturday (May 17), securing their first ever major piece of silverware.

The parade started at 12.45pm on Norwood's Whitehorse Lane and at 1.45pm fans entered Selhurst Park with stadium event beginning at 2.15pm. Photos show fans - young and old - waving flags and holding signs whilst the players smiled and waved off the tour bus.

Fan Chris told MyLondon: "The streets around Selhurst Park were a sea of red and blue. Crowds so deep that countless people could only get as close as the side roads with barely a chance of seeing the bus pass, but nobody cared.

"It was all a celebration. Fans were hanging out windows, climbing on top of walls and young children sat on shoulders to cheer on the team as the bus approached."

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Empty South London two-bed house being auctioned for £180K but it comes with a big challenge

A two-bedroom house in South London can be bought at auction for just £180,000 - which is far below the average price of a flat in the capital. But when things seem too good to be true, they probably are.

The end terrace property is located in St Paul's Cray in Orpington, nestled between London and the Kent countryside. Close to local shopping facilities, it's approximately one mile from St Mary Cray Railway Station, with trains to London Victoria and London Blackfriars.

It boasts two rooms, a kitchen and a separate toilet on the ground floor, and two bedrooms and a bathroom with toilet on the first floor. There's also a fenced front garden and rear garden with rear access. The house has a freehold title, which includes other individual sections of land close to the property

According to property website Rightmove, the average price of a house in the area on the outskirts of Bromley is £584,800, making this freehold home a real bargain. So what's the catch?

Well, it needs a complete refurbishment. The floors, ceilings and walls appear to be severely damaged in most rooms.

However, based on the photos and video, the exterior doesn't look in such terrible shape. And all the rooms seem to be a decent size.

The auction will end on Thursday, June 12 (Image: Clive Emson Land & Property Auctioneers)

Auctioneer website Clive Emsom stated: "It's now in need of a complete program of refurbishment. But it is considered to have scope for re-configuration of the accommodation, further enhancing the future potential for either resale or rented accommodation."

The house is located at 1 River Cottages, Main Road, Orpington BR5 3HL. Find out more information about the auction here.

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