From Westminster to Washington… Follow trusted coverage of the stories that are shaping our world. | | Valerie Kneale died in the care of Blackpool Victoria Hospital in 2018 |  | Albert Tait News Reporter | Valerie Kneale, a 75-year-old grandmother, was admitted to Blackpool Victoria Hospital in 2018 after suffering a stroke.
She appeared to be making a good recovery, only to slip into a coma and die.
A post-mortem examination revealed that she had been sexually assaulted while on the ward with such force that it had caused severe, fatal blood loss.
Lancashire Constabulary immediately launched a murder investigation but, seven years on, the force has stopped searching for who was responsible for attacking Mrs Kneale.
Her death – and the failure to find a culprit – is but one tragedy in a hospital that appears to be in disarray.
A weeks-long Telegraph investigation has shed light on multiple horrific crimes at Blackpool Victoria dating back almost a decade.
As well as the fatal assault on Mrs Kneale, these have included “corrupt” nurses jailed for drugging patients to keep them compliant, and a heart surgeon imprisoned for groping the breasts and bottoms of female colleagues.
Catherine Hudson (left) and Charlotte Wilmot were jailed for the unlawful sedation of patients. Vile messages between the pair reveal the extent of the horrific conditions. Police are also investigating the deaths of eight patients on the stroke ward.
Over the course of our investigation, we spoke to family members of victims whose lives have been damaged, destroyed – and in some cases lost – while they were being treated at the hospital.
They told us that only a public inquiry could answer their questions.
The fact that such horrific crimes could happen in plain sight raises fundamental questions. What kind of NHS tolerates failings in the treatment of our most vulnerable? How could a culture become so rotten that such abuse could seemingly go unchecked?
Continue reading ➤ |  | Charles Hymas Home Affairs Editor | As David Lammy struggles to contain the growing crisis over prisons, The Telegraph can reveal 90 violent criminals or sex offenders have been mistakenly released from prison in the last year.
The Justice Secretary has had three criminals – two migrant sex offenders and a British fraudster – wrongly released on his watch, but the true scale of the problem has now become public.
The data was there and this publication’s brilliant data hound, Ben Butcher, sniffed it out. The results are devastating. In just a year, the number of violent criminals accidentally released increased eight-fold – from just 11 to 87. Three sex offenders were released by mistake, up from two previously.
The number of burglars or thieves wrongly freed trebled from 17 to 52, as did those jailed for possession of weapons, which rose from five to 18. It is the first time there has been a breakdown of the types of offences, which overall saw the number of mistakenly released prisoners more than double, from 115 to 262 in a year.
No wonder Mr Lammy admitted on Thursday he had a “mountain to climb”. But that’s not his only problem. His refusal to disclose details to MPs on Wednesday by giving a statement to the Commons has given an air of cover-up at worst, and lack of transparency at best.
Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, said: “David Lammy refused to provide the information, but thanks to The Telegraph, we now know the number of violent prisoners accidentally released has exploded in the last year. It begs the question: what else is he hiding?”
A loose explanation of what went wrong and a general defensiveness – “I have only been in the job for two months”– means the opposition is smelling blood. The Deputy Prime Minister cannot afford a fourth bungled release.
Read the full story here ➤ | | David Frost The Institute of Economic Affairs spearheaded the Thatcher reforms. Britain needs similarly radical change today – and that is why I am proud to take the think tank’s helm Continue reading ➤ William Sitwell We must ban the public sale of fireworks Continue reading ➤ Rowan Pelling Sir Becks might be a nice chap – but he’s no gentleman Continue reading ➤ | Sharpen your talking points. Explore incisive opinion from Britain’s leading comment writers. | | Artyom Radaev was sent to the front despite being disabled since childhood – and was then purportedly tied to a tree for refusing to fight | | Russia’s desperation in Ukraine may be reaching new extremes: mentally disabled soldiers are being sent to the front line, with some killed and others tied to trees and left to die after struggling to meet the terrifying demands of war. The harrowing stories raise urgent questions about military strategies that breach human rights – as well as just how far Russia will go in its attempts to achieve victory. Continue reading ➤ | |  | | Spoilers may have leaked online ahead of broadcast (and if you want to avoid any then don’t click here!) – heads will surely roll – but that didn’t prevent a predicted 15 million viewers enjoying the Celebrity Traitors final. The watercooler phenomenon has been autumn’s most talked-about TV hit and its twist-packed climax didn’t disappoint. It had heartbreak, human drama and slapstick hilarity. Relive all the treacherous action with Michael Hogan’s in-depth recap. After seven murders and nine banishments, did we get a worthy winner? And what next for Claudia Winkleman’s castle crop? Continue reading ➤ | | | | | There are many reasons why housebuilding in London has ground to a halt, but one major factor is often overlooked: no one is buying new homes. Just 19 new flats were sold across the whole city in May – the month after the stamp duty holiday came to an end. New properties in London cost £306 per square foot more than older ones. As one expert says, this is “simply not attractive or affordable to the vast majority of London residents”.
Continue reading ➤ | | Three years ago, Annabel Fenwick Elliott left the UK with her growing family in search of a better life. Having tried Iceland and Mauritius, she thought her latest move – to Italy – would be where they’d find it. But while the country delivered good food, warm weather and a sense of optimism absent in Britain, it hasn’t been all sunshine and roses. She explains why they are already planning their exit.
Continue reading ➤ | | | After a spinal injury left her in a wheelchair, Tracy Wells’s life changed drastically. But with the help of Canine Partners, one of four charities supported by this year’s Telegraph Christmas Charity Appeal, and her assistance dogs, Chloe and then Smartie, she regained independence, confidence, and purpose. Continue reading ➤ | | | A new study has linked insomnia with an increased risk of dementia. So what does this mean for the millions of exhausted midlifers who struggle to sleep? Writer Miranda Levy, whose severe insomnia started after the sudden end of her marriage and lasted for eight years, speaks to neurologists to find out if she can reverse the “damage” and protect her brain health. Continue reading ➤ | | | Is lime or parmesan more acidic? You would be forgiven for answering “lime, of course!” – but in fact, parmesan is the true culprit. The acidity of our diet has nothing to do with taste and instead refers to the amount of acid or alkaline that foods produce in the body after digestion and metabolism. Over the years, experts have linked a high dietary acid load with multiple chronic conditions, so understanding which foods contribute to this is important for our health. Can you spot the worst offenders? Take our quiz. Continue reading ➤ Below are two more articles I hope you find helpful: | | Predator: Badlands, starring Elle Fanning, tells a tale of an alien hunter and an unlikely ally | Film
Predator: Badlands ★★★★☆ This film is absurdly good fun. Ever since the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger classic, we’ve known that the Predators are a species of hyper-evolved, ugly alien huntsmen. But you’ve never seen them like this before. Sympathetic predators who talk and have daddy issues? Elle Fanning as a legless android who babbles like ChatGPT? The makers of this belated addition to the franchise take outrageous risks – and they pay off in irresistible style, says Tim Robey.
(In cinemas now)
Books The Drums by Mike Joyce ★★☆☆☆ Mike Joyce, the 62-year-old former drummer of The Smiths, is widely held to be one of the nicest men in music. So, it should come as no surprise that his new autobiography dishes little dirt on his former bandmates and declines to point the finger of blame over the band’s break-up in 1987, just as the ink was drying on a major new record deal. The Drums is, rather, an unapologetic “love letter” to a group whose influence can still be felt almost 40 years later, and an entertaining snapshot of a bygone era in British pop, writes James Hall. Television Death by Lightning
Netflix ★★★★★ According to our critic Anita Singh, this four-part drama from Game of Thrones’ creators David Benioff and DB Weiss will leave you with two things: greater knowledge of an obscure period in US political history, and a renewed appreciation for the talents of Matthew Macfadyen. The English actor delivers a peach of a performance as Charles Guiteau, the delusional loser who assassinated James Garfield, the 20th president of the United States (Michael Shannon) in 1881, after only six months in office. Read the review here. | |
The Duchess of Sussex – better known as Meghan Markle in Hollywood – will be returning to acting after a hiatus of how many years? | Time travelling in style Every weekday, Orlando Bird, our loyal Reader Correspondent, shares an off-piste topic that has brought out the best of your opinions and stories. Orlando writes...
I’ve been enjoying your responses to Anthony Peregrine’s article about holidaying during the 1960s and 1970s. What a time, when you could light up a cigar to go with your mid-flight scotch. That’s a sense of occasion.
Spectacularly laissez-faire air travel has been a recurring theme. Susan Firth recalled “the days when pilots invited anyone who wanted to see the cockpit while airborne to form a queue. My 11-year-old son politely waited until last, and was allowed to remain there during landing”.
Well, I came along far too late for any of that – though as a train-obsessed child in the 1990s, I was once, after much petitioning, allowed to sit in the driver’s cab. Would that ever happen now?
Anne Mackenzie, meanwhile, told how, “in the 1970s, our family used to pile into our Vauxhall Viva and drive from Sussex to Kensington Olympia. We drove on to a Motorail service and took the overnight sleeper to Inverness for the summer holidays. The dog came too. It was a great adventure sleeping on the train in the bunk beds with my sisters. Then on to Ullapool, and the ferry to the Western Isles for three weeks”.
Smoking was another thread running wispily through your stories. Victoria Morgan’s most vivid memory was of “the smell of the Paris Metro in 1964. It was the first time I had come across garlic and Gitanes in a combined fug, and I nearly passed out. Above ground it was great. I had a fringe and short hair, and everywhere people pointed at me and shouted ‘un Beatle!’” I’d love to hear more of your travel stories. Send them to me here, and my favourites will feature in a future edition of From the Editor PM, for which you can sign up here. | Plan your day with the telegraph | Set your alarm to catch up with journalists on the Your Say page and listen to their analysis on our latest podcasts.
| | Find as many words as you can in today’s Panagram, including the nine-letter solution. Visit Telegraph Puzzles to play a range of head-scratching games, including PlusWord, Sorted, and Quick, Mini or Cryptic Crosswords.
The solution to yesterday’s clue was DEVIATION. Come back tomorrow for the answer to today’s puzzle. | | Thank you for reading. Have a fulfilling day and I hope to see you tomorrow.
Chris Evans, Editor
P.S. I’d love to hear what you think of this newsletter. You can email me your feedback here. | |
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