A retired policeman was two times over the drink-drive limit when he crashed his car in France, killing four people, including his wife and stepdaughter, French investigators said yesterday.
They have not decided whether to charge Keith Bridges, 49, with either causing death by dangerous driving or manslaughter. He is a former inspector with Avon and Somerset Police. Prosecutors hope to speak to him after the weekend.
Cameron 'failing'
David Cameron has been accused of failing in his duty to oppose the Government. Baroness Boothroyd, the former Speaker, told the BBC that she wanted “to see the Opposition much more on its mettle, much more attacking” in Parliament against Tony Blair and his ministers.
Sam's voted out
Sam, a pre-op transsexual best known for her love of massage and blusher, became the latest person to be evicted from the Big Brother house. She narrowly lost in a public vote against Nikki. Sam, 19, said after she was evicted: “A lot of people take living in the house too seriously.”
More NHS jobs go
About 1,100 jobs will be lost at the Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, in an attempt to reduce the pay bill by £18 million over two years, according to a spokesman for the trust. Redundancies could not be ruled out but they would not be on a large scale, the spokesman said.
Flight blunder
A British man who boarded a flight from Los Angeles to Manchester found himself more than 3,000 miles from his intended destination in Manchester, New Hampshire. Jim Hourihan, 52, thought that he would be home in Liverpool in a few hours when he got on the US flight.
Shell shock
A tortoise that crawled into a rubbish sack is recovering after being thrown into a dustcart pulveriser, passing through a rotating drum and being blasted by jets of air. The tortoise was spotted on a crusher’s conveyor belt at a recycling plant in Crayford, Kent.
3 ships hit by virus outbreaks
A luxury cruise liner stopped by a virus outbreak less than two weeks ago has been struck by another outbreak (Jonathan Richards writes).
The MV Van Gogh was cleared last Saturday but when she arrived at Harwich, Essex, yesterday 28 passengers had contracted the vomiting bug. Two weeks ago the ship was quarantined after more than 100 passengers and crew members were hit by a virus.
Outbreaks have also struck two other ships. Doctors boarded the HV Funchal as soon as she docked in Hull, while owners of the Black Prince said 116 passengers had contracted a virus. The Black Prince was carrying 412 passengers, some of whom paid £1,400, to Norway and is due back in Edinburgh today. Bill Gibbons, of the Passenger Shipping Association, said the industry was going through a “bad patch”.
PC cleared
A policeman was cleared by an Old Bailey jury of the manslaughter of two boys who drowned in a swimming pool that he was supervising. The boys, aged 14, died at Hendon Police Training School, northwest London, while PC Daniel Phillips, 43, helped an injured boy. He said that the case had ended his marriage.
Murrell murder
More than 20 years of conspiracy theories over the death of the anti-nuclear campaigner Hilda Murrell, 78, ended yesterday when the Court of Appeal upheld the murder conviction of Andrew George, 38. He was linked to the March 1984 killing by advances in DNA technology, and jailed for life last year.
Blunkett libel win
David Blunkett, the former Home Secretary, has won libel damages from Sky News over allegations that he had an affair with Sally Anderson, an estate agent. Sky News has now accepted that these allegations are false, and has agreed to pay damages to Mr Blunkett plus his legal costs. It will broadcast an apology.
Child porn case
Kenneth Leadbeater, the Conservative leader of Dartford Borough Council, Kent, until he resigned in March, pleaded guilty at Dartford Magistrates’ Court to 14 counts of making indecent images of children between 1997 and this year. His home was raided as part of an international operation.
Lowry million
A painting by L. S. Lowry, not seen in public for more than 30 years, was sold to an anonymous buyer for £1,072,000 at Christie’s in London. The Liver Building in Liverpool was painted in 1962. Two other Lowry works, The Quarrel and Procession in South Wales, Whit Monday, sold for £512,000 and £321,600.
Cervical cancer vaccine licence
A VACCINE with the potential to prevent most cases of cervical cancer could be licensed in Europe by the end of the year (Nigel Hawkes writes). The estimate follows approval by the US Food and Drug Administration.
Sanofi Pasteur MSD, a joint venture by Merck and Sanofi-Aventis, had filed Gardasil for approval by the European Medicines Agency in December. It protects against infection with human papilloma virus, the cause of cervical cancer. The vaccine and a rival product from GlaxoSmithKline are expected to cut cases dramatically.
Mike Watson, the director of development for Sanofi Pasteur MSD, said yesterday: “We would hope to have approval this year.” Gardasil would be priced at about £70 a dose, roughly the same as in the United States. The vaccine is designed as a three-dose series. The US approval covers patients aged from 9 to 26 years and the first American vaccinations could be as early as this month.
Murder inquiry
Cleveland Police have begun a murder inquiry after the death of Daniel Ransom, 16, whose life-support machine was switched off at a Middlesbrough hospital. He appeared to receive only minor damage in a street fight in Stockton, but had suffered serious head injuries, deteriorated the next day and was taken to hospital.
Quality water
Water quality at beaches in the UK has been praised by the European Commission as being better than ever. Of 565 beaches tested last year, 98.2 per cent met the EU minimum water quality standard. The report endorsed the Marine Conservation Society, which found a record number of beaches meeting minimum hygiene standards.
Actor cleared
Chris Quinten, 48, the former Coronation Street actor, was acquitted by a jury of raping a student at a nightclub. He had told the trial at Middlesex Guildhall Crown Court that the woman consented to sex at a birthday party that he organised for the motorcycle stunt rider Eddie Kidd at the 10 Rooms club in London last year.
