Bernard Matthews will not face court

Bernard Matthews will face no charges over sloppy biosecurity identified during the avian flu outbreak in Holton, Suffolk (Valerie Elliott writes). Opposition politicians are to demand an urgent explanation from David Miliband, the Environment Secretary, for the decision, especially as standards at the factory where the deadly H5N1 strain infected turkey chicks were condemned by an official government report.

A source close to the outbreak told The Times that the company may have escaped prosecution to spare any embarrassment by the Government over the handling of the outbreak.

Experts have been unable to find the link between the avian flu outbreak in geese in Hungary and Holton. A final veterinary report next week will suggest the precise route of infection may never be known.

Killing was incited

A husband was found guilty of ordering his mistress to kill his wife with a carving knife. Stephen Marsh, 36, of Gorseinon, Swansea, South Wales, was convicted at Swansea Crown Court of orchestrating the killing of Jaspal Marsh, 37, by Rebecca Harris, 29. Sentencing was adjourned for three weeks.

Sentence reduced

A nurse serving life for murdering her partner by injecting him with insulin has won a reduction in the minimum term she must serve. Marie Whiston, now 62, was convicted in May 1997 of murdering Eric Lloyd, 60, in June 1994. Mr Justice Owen reduced her original 16-year minimum term by two years.

Drink-driver jailed

A teenage passenger was killed by a drunk driver days before he was due to receive compensation for an earlier accident. Nicholas Chlebko, 18, from Chipping Sodbury, South Gloucestershire, died after his friend Daniel Pope, 18, drove into a lamppost in December. Pope was jailed for five years at Bristol Crown Court.

Toddler left in car

A mother has been given a police caution after leaving her 18-month-old child locked in her car while she went to have her hair done. The 21-year-old woman returned from the appointment just as police were about to break into her car in Boldon Colliery, South Tyneside, and rescue the crying toddler.

Driver, 71, banned

A woman has been banned from driving for a year after her daughter phoned police from the passenger seat to tell them that her mother was drunk. Kathleen Williams, 70, of Middleton, Greater Manchester, was giving her daughter, Helen, 31, a lift. She was disqualified by magistrates in Manchester and fined £140.

Serial killer inquiry timewaster jailed

A fantasist who claimed that he faced death threats because he had been questioned after the murder of five prostitutes in Ipswich, Suffolk, was jailed yesterday after admitting wasting police time.

The district judge at South East Suffolk magistrates’ court said that police checks would have revealed that Andrew Purdy, 44, from Baylham, had a record for lying.

Purdy claimed to have befriended street prostitutes to try to get them off drugs.

Police later questioned him for three hours but he denied knowing anything about the murders. He then told police he had received threatening calls and text messages that his home would be firebombed and he would die.

Prisoners to move

Five hundred prisoners are to be moved from closed to open jails during the next few weeks to tackle the prison overcrowding crisis. The first inmates will be switched to open prisons by the end of the week as the Government tries to stop prisoners being held in cells under courts around England and Wales.

Police shake-up

Police officers should get performance-related pay and training from a Sandhurst-style senior staff college, the Conservatives will say today. Directly elected police commissioners should replace police authorities, and more civilian and private sector staff should be employed to free up officers for frontline work.

Teachers deterred

Teaching risks becoming the preserve of the middle classes as working class students are deterred by the prospect of tuition fees and mounting student debt, the Association of Teachers and Lecturers said. One in six student teachers expect to start their teaching careers with more than £20,000 of student debt.

Epidural register

Doctors have called for a national register to log the health problems of having an epidural for pain relief. The injections are associated with childbirth but can also be used after surgery to reduce pain or inflamation. A study published in Anaesthesia found that some patients suffered meningitis or blood clots after the injection.

Schoolboy murder

Two teenagers were convicted of beating a boy to death with a stick because he was from a rival estate. Lee Conman, 15, was walking to a shop with a friend when he was attacked by a gang in the doorway of a Chinese takeaway. Lee Young and Leon Clarkson, both 17, from Bransholme in Hull, were found guilty of murder.

Timewaster jailed

Andrew Purdy, who said that he faced death threats because he had been questioned after the murder of five prostitutes in Ipswich, was jailed for wasting police time. The district judge at South East Suffolk Magistrates’ Court said that checks would have shown that Purdy, 44, from Baylham, Suffolk, had a record for lying.

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