Local News

An unexploded bomb from the Second World War which forced thousands to evacuate their homes in Plymouth has been detonated at sea.Around 30 of the Armed Forces' most experienced bomb disposal experts led the "highly complex disposal operation" on Friday after the 500kg bomb was discovered on Tuesday, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said. Police had been called to a property in St Michael Avenue in the Keyham area of […]

A former Tory MP's conviction for a racially aggravated public offence has been overturned on appeal. Bob Stewart, who now sits as an independent, was found guilty last year after he got into an argument with an activist outside the Foreign Office's Lancaster House in Westminster. Mr Stewart was convicted after telling Bahraini refugee Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei to "go back to Bahrain" during the incident in December 2022.The MP, who […]

Downing Street has condemned protesters for projecting "from the river to the sea" onto Big Ben during a pro-Palestinian rally on Wednesday night. The demonstration took place in Parliament Square as MPs debated calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, which led to chaotic scenes in the Commons. Politics live: Why Speaker appears safe for nowThe prime minister's official spokesperson said it was "wrong" for the controversial phrase to be […]

A left-wing anarchist has been found guilty of preparing acts of terrorism by compiling and sharing a bomb-making manual, after declaring that he wanted to kill at least 50 politicians.Jacob Graham, 20, from Norris Green, Liverpool, dedicated his manual, called the "Freedom Encyclopaedia", to "terrorists past and future, anarchists etc" and buried bomb-making chemicals in a secret woodland hide.He wrote a document called "My Plan" in which he said he […]

A shipment of £450m worth of cocaine has been seized at Southampton Port in a "huge hit" to crime cartels.It's the largest-ever seizure of a haul of class A drugs in the UK, with National Crime Agency (NCA) and Border Force officers finding 5.7 tonnes in a container carrying bananas from South America on 8 February. This far eclipses the previous record of 3.7 tonnes discovered at the same port […]

A best-selling author who detailed her experience with dementia has announced her own death in a posthumous blog post.Wendy Mitchell, 68, authored acclaimed books on her condition after she was diagnosed with early-onset vascular dementia and Alzheimer's in July 2014, at the age of 58."If you're reading this, it means this has probably been posted by my daughters as I've sadly died," she wrote in her final blog post."Sorry to […]

Overturning the convictions of guilty sub-postmasters to exonerate all those unfairly prosecuted due to the Horizon scandal is a "price worth paying", according to the government.Under new legislation, the government says it will "quash all convictions which are identified as being in scope". The Post Office minister says that possibly exonerating people guilty of crimes is a "price worth paying" to ensure innocent people are cleared.Politics latest: Starmer 'categorically' denies […]

A collection of 122 Anglo-Saxon pennies found by two metal detectorists have sold at auction for more than £325,000.Discovered near Braintree in Essex, it is thought the coins were buried in 1066, the year of the Battle of Hastings which saw William the Conqueror take the throne of England from Harold II. Coin expert Bradley Hopper said the coins amounted to around 12 shillings, which he said was a "considerable […]

Police chiefs are calling for new powers to allow officers to instantly disqualify drink or drug-drivers at the side of the road.They say the new powers would allow police to take drivers who pose a risk to others off the road "immediately". Currently, drivers charged with drug or drink-driving offences are banned following a sentencing hearing at a magistrates' court.But these hearings can take weeks to get to the court, […]