The appointment of Sir John Holmes, British Ambassador to France, as the UN Undersecretary-General for humanitarian affairs yesterday took aid groups by surprise (James Bone writes).

Sir John, a former private secretary of Tony Blair who has twice hosted his family on holiday, had been proposed by Britain for the UN’s top political job. But Ban Ki Moon, Secretary-General of the UN, confirmed Sir John in the humanitarian role despite an apparent paucity of experience. Five charities had written to Mr Ban appealing to him to appoint a strong defender of civilians at risk.

Shop stabbing

Police have questioned a 31-year-old man over the fatal stabbing of a woman in a busy clothing store. The 26-year- old victim, who has not been named, was attacked at TK Maxx at in Thurmaston, Leicestershire, just after 8am yesterday. She was taken to hospital where she died a short time later, police said.

Extremism warning

Racial hatred among young Asian men threatens to turn northern towns with large ethnic populations into breeding grounds for extremism, Sohail Nawaz, a community leader in Preston, Lancashire, said. Ignoring the views of Muslims towards other ethnic groups could lead to violence on the streets.

Briton's 'last' letter

A British man accused of murdering his American wife and baby was sent to a psychiatric hospital after prison guards found a letter reportedly saying it could be his last, giving instructions for his burial, US police said today. Neil Entwistle, 28, wrote that he had “nothing to look forward to”.

Spelling it out

Spelling and grammatical errors ruin the chances of millions of jobseekers finding work, according to a survey by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation. It said people looking for secretarial and clerical jobs were most likely to make mistakes. The worst offenders were in the 21 to 25 age group.

Navy officer bailed over child sex case

The former commanding officer of a Royal Navy warship appeared in court yesterday charged with asking two children for sex acts.

Commander Craig Gilmour, 38, who once commanded HMS Newcastle, appeared at Portsmouth Magistrates’ Court charged with inciting two girls, aged 13 and 10, to engage in sexual activity in Portsmouth, in October.

The married naval officer has already been charged with 19 offences of making indecent images of children and one offence of possessing 359 indecent images of children.

He is also accused of exposing himself to an 11-year-old girl, and to two 15-year-old girls on another occasion.

Yesterday he was released on conditional bail for a committal hearing due to take place on January 8.

Shopper restrained

Sir Terry Leahy, chief executive of Tesco, called in police when an infatuated shopper began sending him love letters. Judith Atkinson, 56, drove more than 100 miles to his office in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, on three occasions in an attempt to see him. Magistrates in Lincoln issued a restraining order.

Car crash confessor

A businessman who wrecked a £65,000 Ferrari in a dispute over cash at a garage reversed his pick-up truck into the 199mph car then phoned police and admitted what he had done. David Higgins, 48, from Northwood, northwest London, was fined £1,000 and ordered to pay £700 costs by a judge at Harrow Crown Court.

Stabbed youth dies

Stephen Boachie, a 17-year-old Ghanaian, has died after being stabbed in an apparently random attack in Barking, East London, on New Year’s Eve. Detectives are keeping an open mind as to whether the attack was racist. Stephen, from Dagenham, died in the Royal London Hospital despite emergency surgery.

Green route finder

Sat-nav may soon be able to identify the greenest route as well as the quickest, according to a report. A version tested in Sweden may reduce fuel consumption by 8 per cent, New Scientist reports. The system takes into account road width, speed limits and traffic, but researchers said it had problems locating jams.

BBC ‘risked’ babies

Child protection officers have accused the BBC of putting babies at risk in a reality TV show featuring inexperienced teenage couples looking after other people’s children. Children from 6-month-old babies to 14-year-olds were used in BBC Three’s The Baby Borrowers, starting next week.

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