Friends of landscape architect killed by Vincent Tabak tell murder trial jury how Yeates planned to spend weekend baking Joanna Yeates had been her usual “jovial” self on the night she was allegedly murdered by her next door neighbour, Vincent Tabak, friends have told a jury. The Bristol landscape architect visited a pub in the early evening, where she told one work colleague she planned to spend the weekend baking and had a jokey bet with a second over who would win the TV programme The Apprentice. She then walked home and was allegedly murdered by Tabak, her next door neighbour, shortly after getting back to her flat in Clifton, Bristol. Tabak, 33, denies murder but has admitted manslaughter. The first witnesses to give evidence at Tabak’s trial told how Yeates spent the early part of the evening of 17 December in the Ram pub on Park Street, near Bristol city centre. Darragh Bellew, a colleague, said Yeates bought him a pint of beer at the Ram and told him she was planning to bake cakes and bread over the weekend. Bellew said Yeates had been in good spirits. When the prosecution barrister Nicholas Rowland asked him whether she was drunk, Bellew told the jury: “Not at all, just jovial, her usual self.” Bellew told how colleagues and friends from an Irish Gaelic football team were joining them in the pub, which was packed with Christmas revellers. When asked whether she left before other drinkers, Bellew said: “She would always leave before most of us – when we would go on drinking she would go to be with Greg [Reardon, her boyfriend] really.” Bellew said he had asked her what she had planned for the weekend. “She replied that she was going to bake some cakes and bread over the weekend because Greg was away,” he told the court. “We had a joke and said she was going to bring them into the office on Monday morning.” In a written statement, Michael Brown, who also worked with Yeates, said he had spoken to her in the Ram about her plans for Christmas and about who would win the final of The Apprentice, which was being aired on the Sunday night. In a statement read to the jury, the architect Samuel Huscroft said he had planned to go to the Ram but he was not feeling well and went home. He said that later on he received a text from Yeates, which said: “Where are you this fine evening?” Huscroft texted back but did not receive a reply. The trial continues. Joanna Yeates Crime Steven Morris guardian.co.uk
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Friends of landscape architect killed by Vincent Tabak tell murder trial jury how Yeates planned to spend weekend baking Joanna Yeates had been her usual “jovial” self on the night she was allegedly murdered by her next door neighbour, Vincent Tabak, friends have told a jury. The Bristol landscape architect visited a pub in the early evening, where she told one work colleague she planned to spend the weekend baking and had a jokey bet with a second over who would win the TV programme The Apprentice. She then walked home and was allegedly murdered by Tabak, her next door neighbour, shortly after getting back to her flat in Clifton, Bristol. Tabak, 33, denies murder but has admitted manslaughter. The first witnesses to give evidence at Tabak’s trial told how Yeates spent the early part of the evening of 17 December in the Ram pub on Park Street, near Bristol city centre. Darragh Bellew, a colleague, said Yeates bought him a pint of beer at the Ram and told him she was planning to bake cakes and bread over the weekend. Bellew said Yeates had been in good spirits. When the prosecution barrister Nicholas Rowland asked him whether she was drunk, Bellew told the jury: “Not at all, just jovial, her usual self.” Bellew told how colleagues and friends from an Irish Gaelic football team were joining them in the pub, which was packed with Christmas revellers. When asked whether she left before other drinkers, Bellew said: “She would always leave before most of us – when we would go on drinking she would go to be with Greg [Reardon, her boyfriend] really.” Bellew said he had asked her what she had planned for the weekend. “She replied that she was going to bake some cakes and bread over the weekend because Greg was away,” he told the court. “We had a joke and said she was going to bring them into the office on Monday morning.” In a written statement, Michael Brown, who also worked with Yeates, said he had spoken to her in the Ram about her plans for Christmas and about who would win the final of The Apprentice, which was being aired on the Sunday night. In a statement read to the jury, the architect Samuel Huscroft said he had planned to go to the Ram but he was not feeling well and went home. He said that later on he received a text from Yeates, which said: “Where are you this fine evening?” Huscroft texted back but did not receive a reply. The trial continues. Joanna Yeates Crime Steven Morris guardian.co.uk
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Government says increase in state pension age to 66 will happen in October 2020 – six months later than was planned Women who would have endured a two-year increase in their state pension age will now wait 18 months instead, following an amendment to the pensions bill. The welfare secretary, Ian Duncan Smith, has announced that the timetable included in the bill currently going through parliament will be changed, with the rise in the state pension age to 66 delayed until October 2020. The increase was previously planned for April 2020. The move should go some way towards mollifying the 500,000 women born in 1953 and 1954, who previously faced a speeded up increase in their state pension age to 65 by November 2018, followed by a further one-year increase to 66 by April 2020. Some 40,000 faced a two-year delay before they could claim the state pension, compared with their previous expected state pension age. The previous Labour government had intended to equalise the state pension age for men and women at age 65 by 2020 before raising the age for both to 66 by 2026, but the current government’s Pensions Bill outlined plans to bring forward those changes. Both men and women will now benefit from the six-month delay. Iain Duncan Smith: “We have listened to the concerns of those women most affected by the proposed rise in state pension age to 66 and so we will cap the increase to a maximum of 18 months. We have always made clear that we would manage any change fairly and ensure any transition is as smooth as possible.” Campaigners have bombarded ministers, MPs and the media with letters demanding that the decision to speed up a rise in the state pension age be deferred. They argue that the affected women, most of whom are aged 57, need more time to plan their finances or ensure they have work to cover any shortfall in retirement income caused by the later pension payments. The minister for pensions, Steve Webb, said: “We want to end the uncertainty for women waiting to learn what their State Pension Age is and we will be communicating with those affected so that they can properly plan for their future.” 13 October is the last day that amendments could be tabled for the bill. The Report Stage and Third Reading of the Pensions Bill are scheduled for 18 October. In a statement, the government said it had brought forward the increase in state pension age to 66 because of dramatic increases in life expectancy and the need to ensure that no unfair burden is placed on the next generation. It added that it would spend £45bn extra on pensioners by 2025 because of the triple guarantee to uprate the basic State Pension by the highest of earnings, prices or 2.5%. When the State Pension Age was set at 65 in1926 there were nine people of working age for every pensioner. There are now three people of working age for every pensioner and that is set to fall to nearer two by the end of this century. Michelle Mitchell, the charity director of Age UK, said: “We welcome the changes that have been made, they have listened to our concerns and we appreciate that it is a significant financial commitment from the government at a difficult time. This will give a much needed six-month respite to all the women who would have had to work an extra two years. “We would have liked the changes being made to have gone further. Having faced uncertainty twice already these women must not be affected by any further changes to their state pension age again without sufficient notice.” Retirement age State pensions Pensions Work & careers Retirement planning Employee benefits Family finances Jill Insley guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Cornish student who stole family yacht jailed after mother presses charges
October 13, 2011 No Comment
Annabel Sloley says decision to report son Oliver for joyride in £10,000 yacht was horrible, ‘but you have to do what is right’ A student who stole his family’s £10,000 yacht and needed to be rescued by a lifeboat crew has been jailed for nine months after his mother reported him to police. Oliver Sloley, 22, took the 9m (30ft) vessel before getting into difficulty off the coast of Cornwall. Lifeboat crews found him after he fired a flare and he was towed to shore, where he faced the wrath of his mother. Sloley, who was in his second year studying geology at Plymouth university, was jailed for nine months at Truro crown court after admitting taking the yacht without consent and a string of other charges. Speaking after his conviction, Sloley’s mother, Annabel, 47, of Penzance, Cornwall, said she felt duty-bound to go to the police but described the decision to do so as “horrible”. “That’s the only way I can describe it, absolute hell,” she said. “It’s not what you want as a parent but have to do what you feel is right. “It’s not even the fact it was my boat, it was the fact the lifeboat crew got involved and spent three hours searching for them when they should be saving people’s lives who have got in difficulty through no fault of their own.” Mrs Sloley was away for the weekend when her son took the boat from its moorings at Restronguet, near Falmouth, south Cornwall, last August despite the engine being faulty. Sloley and a friend – neither of whom had any sailing experience or lifejackets – managed to sail several miles along the coast and navigate around the treacherous Lizard peninsula. They got into a difficulty a few hours later and called for help but were unable to read their global positioning system and tell rescuers where they were. A lifeboat located them when they fired a flare and the yacht was towed back into Newlyn harbour. The boat, which had been in the family for seven years, was in a state of disrepair at the time and has now been sold. Mrs Sloley added: “The Lizard is not a place to play. Had someone fallen in it could have been very different. I was not in Cornwall at the time and it was quite a shock to be told your son has stolen your boat and had to be rescued. “I know it was August, the sun was shining and the wind may have died down but there is no excuse. Taking him to court was very difficult. It was horrible, but I am of the mind that once my mind is made up then that’s it.” Asked about her relationship with her son, she added: “We are fine about it. It’s been dragging on for 14 months so we’ve got used to it. We will be fine. He has accepted he was in the wrong and that’s it as far as we’re concerned. I told him ‘sorry mate, but I’m going to have to report this’. He accepted it, what else could he do?” When the boat was brought ashore two stolen outboards and two fuel tanks were found on board, for which he pleaded guilty to two counts of receiving stolen goods. He also admitted stealing two cheques from his mother and making off without payment for food and drink from four pubs in Cornwall. Philip Lee, prosecuting, told Monday’s hearing: “The last thing Mrs Sloley wanted to do was to see her son prosecuted, but as a sensible mother she felt it right to make a complaint.” Joss Ticehurst, defending, said: “He has wasted his future to a very great extent.” Sentencing him, Judge Christopher Elwen said: “For some reason best known to yourself you decided to wreck your life, and possibly your prospects for the future. The most serious thing you did was to take your mother’s boat to sea without her permission and as a result of your inexperience the Penlee lifeboat had to be launched and you had to be rescued.” The judge imposed jail sentences totalling nine months to be served concurrently. Crime Steven Morris guardian.co.uk
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• Trade deficit came in at £7.8bn, down from £8.2bn in July • Exports rise to £25.5bn • Goods to non-EU countries behind the rise • US remains the biggest export market Britain’s exporters shrugged off the global downturn to push sales of goods to a record high in August, news that will be a welcome boost to chancellor George Osborne. Britain’s trade deficit with the rest of the world narrowed more than expected as exports rose and imports fell slightly, reflecting softer domestic demand. The deficit came in at £7.8bn, down from £8.2bn in July and well below economists’ consensus forecast for £8.8bn. The Office for National Statistics said export values stood at £25.5bn, up 0.6% from July and the highest since monthly records began in 1998. That will bring some respite to the government as it looks to exports to pick up the slack from lacklustre domestic demand. The data contrasts with business surveys suggesting export orders have been softening as key trading partners in the eurozone grapple with the sovereign debt crisis and stalling growth. Economists cautioned against reading too much into one month of trade numbers, which can be volatile, but said there was no denying the positive surprise. “The UK’s trade numbers are very strong,” said James Knightley at ING Financial Markets. “Goods exports have risen to an all-time high, despite intensifying recession fears, while imports fell marginally. We struggle to see this lasting given intensifying recession fears in the eurozone and a generally weak global growth environment, but it is good news for now.” The ONS said the rise in exports of goods was driven by exports of fuels to non-EU countries, followed by exports of intermediate goods such as components and unfinished products and then food, drink and tobacco, mainly to EU countries. The British Chambers of Commerce welcomed the data. “The figures provide a welcome contrast to the steady flow of negative news we have recently,” said BCC chief economist David Kern. “However we cannot underestimate the challenges ahead for exporters, particularly in the face of the serious problems facing the eurozone, which remains our major trading partner. “The government must support a national export drive. Unless we accelerate the pace of export growth and we gain market share from imports in the domestic market, it will be difficult to sustain UK growth. The government must strengthen its backing for SME exporters in key areas such as trade finance, insurance and promotion … On their part, Britain’s exporters must make every effort to diversify their sales towards fast growing economies such as India, China and Brazil.” The United States remained by far the biggest export market for the UK in August and exports to the US continued to rise. But exports to the next three biggest partners – Germany, France and the Netherlands – fell in value terms. It was Ireland that saw the biggest rise in UK export values during the month, with an increase of £0.2bn. International trade Economics Global economy European debt crisis Katie Allen guardian.co.uk
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Second phase of the giant Clair field, west of the Shetland Islands, forms part of £10bn being spent on four projects by BP and its partners BP said the story of North Sea oil still has a “long way to run” after the company today received the go-ahead for a major £4.5bn project. The second phase of the giant Clair field, west of the Shetland Islands, forms part of £10bn being spent on four projects by BP and its partners from Shell, ConocoPhillips and Chevron over the next five years. At £4bn, BP’s involvement represents the highest level of annual investment the company has made in the UK North Sea. BP chief executive Bob Dudley said: “Although it began over 40 years ago, the story of the North Sea oil industry has a long way yet to run. “BP has produced some five billion barrels of oil and gas equivalent so far from the region and we believe we have the potential for over three bn more.” At their peak, it is expected that the projects will provide 3,000 UK oil and gas supply jobs and play a part in sustaining the more than 3,500 jobs already existing in BP’s North Sea operations. Prime minister David Cameron said the Clair Ridge project, which received the go-ahead from the government today, would provide “a massive boost for jobs and growth”. Scotland’s first minister Alex Salmond said: “This massive new investment by BP and its partners is extremely welcome and confirms that the offshore industry has a key role to play in generating jobs, skills and revenue for decades to come. “With up to 40% of oil and gas reserves still to be extracted and well over half of the revenues still to be generated, the UK government needs to give more certainty to the industry and restore confidence that has been badly dented by the Treasury’s conduct this year. “As today’s announcement demonstrates, there is plenty of life left in the industry. Indeed, if it had not been for the Budget blow, it would be at the centre of an unprecedented boom in jobs and investment, not just in the west coast frontier area but in the marginal and brownfield places hardest hit by the tax hike. “Concern remains over lost jobs and investment in the more challenging and mature fields and David Cameron should take the opportunity of his visit to Aberdeen to promise that at long last there will be a substantive response to the Scottish government proposals sent to the Treasury in June, suggesting options to incentivise activity, particularly a rate-of-return allowance.” BP Oil Oil and gas companies Energy industry Peak oil guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Second phase of the giant Clair field, west of the Shetland Islands, forms part of £10bn being spent on four projects by BP and its partners BP said the story of North Sea oil still has a “long way to run” after the company today received the go-ahead for a major £4.5bn project. The second phase of the giant Clair field, west of the Shetland Islands, forms part of £10bn being spent on four projects by BP and its partners from Shell, ConocoPhillips and Chevron over the next five years. At £4bn, BP’s involvement represents the highest level of annual investment the company has made in the UK North Sea. BP chief executive Bob Dudley said: “Although it began over 40 years ago, the story of the North Sea oil industry has a long way yet to run. “BP has produced some five billion barrels of oil and gas equivalent so far from the region and we believe we have the potential for over three bn more.” At their peak, it is expected that the projects will provide 3,000 UK oil and gas supply jobs and play a part in sustaining the more than 3,500 jobs already existing in BP’s North Sea operations. Prime minister David Cameron said the Clair Ridge project, which received the go-ahead from the government today, would provide “a massive boost for jobs and growth”. Scotland’s first minister Alex Salmond said: “This massive new investment by BP and its partners is extremely welcome and confirms that the offshore industry has a key role to play in generating jobs, skills and revenue for decades to come. “With up to 40% of oil and gas reserves still to be extracted and well over half of the revenues still to be generated, the UK government needs to give more certainty to the industry and restore confidence that has been badly dented by the Treasury’s conduct this year. “As today’s announcement demonstrates, there is plenty of life left in the industry. Indeed, if it had not been for the Budget blow, it would be at the centre of an unprecedented boom in jobs and investment, not just in the west coast frontier area but in the marginal and brownfield places hardest hit by the tax hike. “Concern remains over lost jobs and investment in the more challenging and mature fields and David Cameron should take the opportunity of his visit to Aberdeen to promise that at long last there will be a substantive response to the Scottish government proposals sent to the Treasury in June, suggesting options to incentivise activity, particularly a rate-of-return allowance.” BP Oil Oil and gas companies Energy industry Peak oil guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Second phase of the giant Clair field, west of the Shetland Islands, forms part of £10bn being spent on four projects by BP and its partners BP said the story of North Sea oil still has a “long way to run” after the company today received the go-ahead for a major £4.5bn project. The second phase of the giant Clair field, west of the Shetland Islands, forms part of £10bn being spent on four projects by BP and its partners from Shell, ConocoPhillips and Chevron over the next five years. At £4bn, BP’s involvement represents the highest level of annual investment the company has made in the UK North Sea. BP chief executive Bob Dudley said: “Although it began over 40 years ago, the story of the North Sea oil industry has a long way yet to run. “BP has produced some five billion barrels of oil and gas equivalent so far from the region and we believe we have the potential for over three bn more.” At their peak, it is expected that the projects will provide 3,000 UK oil and gas supply jobs and play a part in sustaining the more than 3,500 jobs already existing in BP’s North Sea operations. Prime minister David Cameron said the Clair Ridge project, which received the go-ahead from the government today, would provide “a massive boost for jobs and growth”. Scotland’s first minister Alex Salmond said: “This massive new investment by BP and its partners is extremely welcome and confirms that the offshore industry has a key role to play in generating jobs, skills and revenue for decades to come. “With up to 40% of oil and gas reserves still to be extracted and well over half of the revenues still to be generated, the UK government needs to give more certainty to the industry and restore confidence that has been badly dented by the Treasury’s conduct this year. “As today’s announcement demonstrates, there is plenty of life left in the industry. Indeed, if it had not been for the Budget blow, it would be at the centre of an unprecedented boom in jobs and investment, not just in the west coast frontier area but in the marginal and brownfield places hardest hit by the tax hike. “Concern remains over lost jobs and investment in the more challenging and mature fields and David Cameron should take the opportunity of his visit to Aberdeen to promise that at long last there will be a substantive response to the Scottish government proposals sent to the Treasury in June, suggesting options to incentivise activity, particularly a rate-of-return allowance.” BP Oil Oil and gas companies Energy industry Peak oil guardian.co.uk
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Fox says he is concentrating on defence issues amid fresh claims over the financial affairs of his friend Adam Werritty Liam Fox has insisted he is focusing on his job amid mounting questions over the financial affairs of his close friend and self-styled adviser, Adam Werritty. New claims that wealthy backers of Fox had funded Werritty’s work and travel appeared to “blow a hole” in the defence secretary’s position, Labour said. Werritty will be questioned for a second time by senior civil servants investigating his relationship with Fox either on Thursday or Friday. The defence secretary, who pulled out of a keel-laying ceremony for a new submarine in Barrow scheduled for Thursday, said he had been attending a meeting of the National Security Council. He said t he fall of the last pro-Gaddafi stronghold of Sirte was “getting very close” in Libya, potentially bringing the conflict to an end. “That is what I have to focus all my attention on,” he told reporters as he arrived at the Ministry of Defence. “I’m continuing to do what is needed at the moment which is that the defence secretary focuses on defence issues.” It has been reported that Werritty was being bankrolled by a number of wealthy private clients who shared his and Fox’s strong Atlanticist views. Werritty, whose links with the politician are being investigated by the UK’s leading civil servant, was remunerated for “political and strategic advice”, he said. The shadow defence secretary, Jim Murphy, said that if Werritty was being paid as an unofficial adviser – something denied by the Conservatives – it would constitute a “clear breach” of ministerial rules. Liam Fox Liam Fox and Adam Werritty links guardian.co.uk
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• Editor-in-chief Alan Rusbridger introduces the new Guardian iPad app • A free trial is now available from the App Store For those of you addicted to print, the Guardian just got smaller. For those of you wedded to reading the paper on your mobile phone it just got bigger. Welcome to the Guardian iPad edition. Size matters. Some Guardian readers want to be able to spread the paper across the breakfast table and browse it. Others, crammed like sardines into a commuter train or bus, need to be able to read the “paper” on a very small screen. More than 15 million people worldwide now own an iPad, and a good proportion of them want something that not just fits their screen, but has been designed with it in mind. Step forward Mark Porter, the designer of the Berliner-format Guardian newspaper and considered by many of his peers to be the most thoughtful and elegant news designer in the business. He led an in-house team of digital and print designers and developers who worked out how to transform the appearance and ordering of a newspaper so that it made sense on this revolutionary device. The quick and easy answer would have been to do something that looked like a pdf file of the newspaper. Mark wasn’t having that. He wanted to create something that had the “feel” of a newspaper – legibility, browseabilty, a sense of hierarchy – with the tactile functionality of the iPad. The result is something that defies easy pigeon-holing. It is, much more than the browser version of the Guardian, a digital newspaper. The design is clean, modern, luminous, fresh and immensely readable. The navigation is intriguingly simple. Each section (national news, international, comment, sport etc) can be scanned in two swipes – up or across. So there’s never that feeling of losing your way that can mar some iPad conversions from print. Our first iPad app – the Eyewitness app – was launched on the day the first iPad was born in April 2010, and was immediately acclaimed by Steve Jobs in one word: “cool”. This Guardian iPad edition is launched to coincide with Apple’s Newsstand. One feature of this is that the Guardian will automatically download on to your device while you sleep. Simply grab your iPad as you leave the house and you will find the Guardian waiting for you. (Some of you are still lucky enough to have old-fashioned newsagents who do this. The Guardian iPad edition will not wake the dog as the paper snaps through the letter box. Nor will you have to stand for an eternity by your front door waiting for a creakingly slow download. No names, but you know who you are). The app will not please everyone. We’ve consciously set out, with this version, to deliver the Guardian newspaper edition, something that will work for some of our most loyal and passionate readers. It’s a reflective once-a-day Guardian, designed and edited for iPad. The Guardian is many other things. You can now watch, listen to and join in with the Guardian. You can literally follow it minute by minute around the clock as it reports, mirrors, analyses and gives context to the shifting patterns and rhythms of the world’s news. It’s Android when it wants to be, Kindle when it chooses. Other Guardian tablet apps will do different things. But I know many of you will love this particular incarnation of the Guardian – just one step on a long road that first saw the paper printed on one gigantic, folded sheet of newsprint in 1821. The pricing is extremely competitive – £9.99 a month. And, if you are a six- or seven-day subscriber for the paper, you can get it completely free. I hope you’ll get the free trial and that, for many, it becomes second nature to read the paper in this latest format. Do let us know what you make of it and how we can improve it … And happy reading. iPad The Guardian Apps Apple Guardian iPad edition Digital media Alan Rusbridger guardian.co.uk
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