Public excluded as bishops gather for conference

Hundreds of bishops and archbishops from around the world are gathering at Canterbury Cathedral for the Lambeth conference, the ten-yearly gathering of the Anglican Communion from around the world that opens tomorrow (Ruth Gledhill writes).

All 650 of them will be cloistered inside the cathedral, a world heritage site with the finest 12th century stained glass in the country. During the conference the public will be excluded from both the historic building and from the cloisters.

Making sure that the public cannot get into the cathedral – and the bishops cannot get out for two days – will ensure that the Church’s bickering is kept private.

This separation of the Church from the world has been instigated by a beleaguered Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, who is struggling to maintain church unity as other bishops argue over gay sex. Of the 880 bishops who were invited, 230 are staying away, most in protest at the liberalisation of the Western church.

Bail bond plan for illegal immigrants

Illegal immigrants will be able to avoid detention while waiting to be deported by paying a bail bond and agreeing to be tagged, the Government announced yesterday (Richard Ford writes).

Under the most sweeping changes to immigration and citizenship rules for 37 years, the cash will be held by the Home Secretary and forfeited if bail conditions are breached.

The draft immigration and citizenship Bill also outlined plans for a new fund to help to pay for education and healthcare in areas that attract large numbers of immigrants. It will be funded by fees from citizenship applications.

Chess girl’s mother is questioned by police

The mother of a child chess prodigy who plunged to her death has been questioned over allegations that she plotted to kill her former husband.

Angela Gilbert, whose former husband was acquitted of raping their daughter Jessica, was told last week by police that they had received information that she had tried to hire a hitman to kill him. In 2004 Jessica died aged 19 after falling from a hotel window weeks before she was to have given evidence against her father.

Dr Gilbert, 54, of Reigate, Surrey, said that the allegations against her were “totally baseless”.

Surrey Police said: “A woman was interviewed under caution. No further action has been taken.”

Fraud in tax credits

Tax credits are still open to significant fraud and error, with up to £1.5 billion wrongly paid out by Revenue & Customs last year, the National Audit Office said. Tim Burr, head of the office, said that he could only issue a “qualified opinion” on the tax credit accounts because of the failure to stem the losses.

Rabbit infected water

The contamination of a water supply that left more than 250,000 people without clean water has been blamed on a rabbit. Anglian Water said that its treatment works at Pitsford, Northamptonshire, was infected with cryptosporidium, a parasite that causes diarrhoea, after the rabbit entered a tank last month.

Double murder charges

A second man has been charged with the murders of two French students at a London flat. Daniel Sonnex, 23, of Deptford, southeast London, was remanded in custody by Wimbledon magistrates accused of the murders of Gabriel Ferez and Laurent Bonomo, both aged 23. They suffered multiple stab wounds before their flat was burnt. Nigel Farmer, 33, of no fixed address, was remanded in custody last week.

Heir on drug charge

The heir to the Tetra Pak carton empire and his wife have been charged with drugs offences. Hans Kristian Rausing, 45, and Eva Rausing, 44, of Chelsea, West London, were charged with possession of Class A drugs. Mrs Rausing was also charged with possession of a Class C drug. They were bailed to appear at City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court on July 29. The family are seventh on The Sunday Times Rich List.

Bug found in mummies

The earliest known cases of a stomach bug have been found in the mummies of a man and a boy buried in about 1350 in northern Mexico, researchers said in BMC Microbiology. It is the first time that Helicobacter pylori has been found to have caused gastric infections that predate Columbus’s landing. It appears to end debate on whether Europeans introduced the infections in the 15th and 16th centuries.

Tramp leaves £34,000

A tramp who lived for nearly 40 years on the central reservation of a ring road left £34,000 in unclaimed pension money. Josef Stawinoga, 86, could have withdrawn the money at any time but shunned worldly possessions and preferred to live in a tent on the road in Wolverhampton before his death from pneumonia last October. The Treasury Solicitor has advertised for any relatives to come forward to claim the money.

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