Boy, 3, Is Third To Die In Devon House Fire

A three-year-old boy has died of his injuries following a house fire which also killed two teenagers, police have said.

The child was being treated at Frenchay Hospital in Bristol following Friday's blaze in the Honiton area of Devon but was pronounced dead on Saturday afternoon.

Devon and Cornwall Police earlier confirmed the deaths of a 17-year-old girl and an 18-year-old man.

A spokesman said: "It is with great sadness that police can now report that the three-year-old boy, who was taken to the specialist burns unit at Frenchay hospital, has today been pronounced deceased.

"Our thoughts are with the family at this time and the investigation to establish the cause of the fire is ongoing."

Officers were alerted to the fire in Lee Close shortly before 8am and a total of five people were taken to the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital with the three-year-old later transferred to hospital in Bristol.

A six-year-old boy and a man in his 30s were also treated for smoke inhalation.

Seven members of one family and another person were in the property when the blaze broke out.

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Cameron: Welfare Reforms 'Put Fairness Back'

The Prime Minister has insisted that welfare reforms are "putting fairness back" into Britain as a poll suggests six out of 10 people think state handouts are too generous.

David Cameron has given a staunch defence of the controversial benefit shake-up in an article for The Sun newspaper.

As the welfare state overhaul continues to fuel an increasingly bitter political row, the Prime Minister said Government is on the side of "each and every hardworking person in our country".

He suggested it was "crazy" that claimants could have a bigger income on benefits than work and argued it is "fair that we all play by the same rules".

Mr Cameron pledged to "always help" the most vulnerable but insisted "those who can, should" as he warned that the system was causing "resentment" across the country.

He wrote: "We are putting fairness back at the heart of Britain. We are building a country for those who work hard and want to get on. And we are saying to each and every hardworking person in our country: we are on your side.

"This is a Government for hardworking people: and that's the way it will stay."

Over the last week widespread welfare and tax changes have come into force including a below inflation 1% cap on working-age benefits and tax credit rises for three years.

Around 660,000 social housing tenants deemed to have a spare room will lose an average £14 a week in what critics have dubbed a "bedroom tax" and trials are due to begin in four London boroughs of a £500-a-week cap on household benefits.

An opinion poll for The Sun found six out of 10 voters believe benefits are too generous and 79% back the Government's plan to cap a family's benefit at £26,000 a year.

Mr Cameron said the system had "lost its way" and had become a "lifestyle choice for some".

He wrote in The Sun: "It was designed to bring us together, but is causing resentment. I think the British people are about the most fair and generous people on the planet - but no-one wants to work hard every day and see their hard-earned taxes being used to fund things they themselves cannot afford or keep generations dependent on welfare.

"So this month we are making some big changes. They are changes that have a simple principle at their heart: we are restoring the fairness that should lie at the very heart of our tax and welfare systems."

Speaking on Sky's Murnaghan programme former Labour Chief Whip and MP for Newcastle East Nick Brown, said: "It is morally wrong to demonise the poor.

"Within my constituency I have 7,500 people on Job Seekers Allowance - out of work, looking for work - and the number of job vacancies in the region is 10,000. There is a grotesque mismatch between those seeking work and the number of jobs available.

"The correct thing to thing to do is to intervene with the private sector to create jobs and to help them into obtaining them."

Meanwhile there are suggestions that Labour is planning a significant shift in its approach to welfare.

Detailed work is under way on possible policy proposals that would mean benefit payments to those out of work or on low incomes would vary according to their past contributions, according to The Observer.

It quotes a Labour party source saying: "The problem at the moment is that you have a person aged 50 who has worked all his life and then becomes unemployed getting much the same as the person next door who has never worked. It is about linking what you take out to what you have put in."

In an article for the newspaper shadow work and pensions secretary Liam Byrne said: "There are lots of people right now who feel they pay an awful lot more in than they ever get back.

"That should change."

Treasury chief secretary Danny Alexander said Labour's plans on welfare showed they were "out of touch".

He told Murnaghan on Sky News: "I think it is extraordinary today that the Labour party has come forward with its proposals to increase the cost of the welfare system.

"From the shadow work and pensions secretary, who was the person who left a note for my predecessor saying there is no money left, to now come forward with ideas to spend even more money on the welfare system just shows how out of touch with reality the Labour party are."

However, Mr Alexander said that he didn't think it was "helpful" to link the case of Mick Philpott, who was last week jailed for killing his children in a house fire, to the problems with the welfare state.

The Chancellor, George Osborne, linked the Philpotts case to the benefits reform in the days after the trial ended, in a move supported by Mr Cameron.

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Magic Mushroom Depression Trials Stalled

A trial that could lead to the use of magic mushroom treatments for depression has been stalled because of "absurd" regulations restricting the use of illegal drugs in research, it has been claimed.

Study leader Professor David Nutt, who was controversially sacked from his role as the Government's chief drug adviser in 2009, says "archaic" rules obstructing scientific progress should be abolished.

His team at Imperial College London has uncovered evidence that the hallucinogen psilocybin may combat severe depression which resists conventional treatment.

The problem is that psilocybin is the psychoactive ingredient in so-called "magic mushrooms" and is banned as a Class A drug.

Although the Medical Research Council has awarded a £550,000 grant for the trial, Professor Nutt said it has not yet been able to proceed.

Speaking ahead of the British Neuroscience Association's Festival of Neuroscience in London, he said: "We're not allowed to go and pick the mushrooms anymore and finding a company to provide this illegal drug in a way that can be prepared for trial use as yet has proved impossible.

Professor Nutt was the Government's chief drug adviser

"We are between a rock and a hard place, and that's very unfortunate because if this is an effective treatment, as it may well be for some people, then they are obviously being denied that possibility."

Under the law, academic researchers are not allowed to manufacture their own Class A drugs and must obtain them from external sources.

Companies that could supply the drugs have to go through "regulatory hoops" to obtain the necessary Home Office licence, Professor Nutt said.

This can take up to a year and triple the cost, he maintained.

Other major hurdles were the EU guidelines on Good Manufacturing Practice, which sets daunting standards for potential suppliers, and rules on storage.

Only four hospitals in the UK currently have a licence to hold psilocybin, making it difficult to roll the drug out as a prospective treatment.

Professor Nutt added: "We are the first people ever to have done a psilocybin study in the UK, but we are still hunting for a company that can manufacture the drug to GMP standards for the clinical trial, even though we've been trying for a year to find one.

"We live in a world of insanity in terms of regulating drugs at present. The whole field is so bogged down by these intransigent regulations, so that even if you have a good idea, you may never get it into the clinic."

Researchers discovered that when healthy volunteers are injected with the drug it shuts down a region of the brain known to be over-active in depression.

Professor Nutt was asked to step down from his role as chair of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs in 2009 after claiming that alcohol and tobacco were more harmful than LSD, ecstasy and cannabis.

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Planning Changes Put Greenbelt 'At Risk'

By Adele Robinson, Midlands Correspondent

Green campaigners have claimed thousands of hectares of previously protected English countryside will be wrecked when planning laws are relaxed.

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) came into full force this week after a 12-month transition period for local councils.

There are concerns that a very low percentage of councils have so far managed to prove that they have enough land to meet a five-year housing plan.

Campaigners are concerned it will mean planning applications may be forced through on greenfield and potentially even greenbelt land.

Sir Andrew Motion, president of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), says the policy is proving groundbreaking in all the wrong ways.

He said: "This is a charter for builders and truly irreversible damage is already underway. It is urgent that something is done about it.

"Developing greenfield sites is unnecessary and with inadequate local consultation is entirely the wrong way to make sure that we get the new homes the country so badly needs."

The Government wants to build more affordable housing and encourage economic growth. It has defended the new planning laws.

A spokesperson for the Department of Communities and Local Government said the NPPF safeguards greenbelt land.

It added: "The National Planning Policy Framework has placed local plans in pole position and has introduced new local protections for valuable green spaces."

They also said that red tape had been cut and nearly nine in 10 planning applications are now approved - a 10-year high.

Residents and the local council in Tetbury in Gloucestershire is applying for a judicial review after Communities Secretary Eric Pickles overturned a decision to refuse applications to develop greenfield land in the town.

The land is on the doorstep of Prince Charles' Highgrove House and could be turned into a housing estate.

Campaigner Neil Cook said it was a test case that needed to send the right message to the government.

He said: "These sites are precious. We are in an area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and part of that beauty is these greenfield sites.

"If you build on them you'll never unbuild them. So if you're going to have areas of outstanding natural beauty you have to keep them ... and build on the brownfield sites".

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Four Teenagers Arrested Over Man's Death

Four teenagers have been arrested in connection with the death of a man in a town centre on Saturday night.

They were held after reports of an assault at around 7.30pm in Bridge Street, near its junction with Central Avenue and Ryton Street in Worksop, Nottinghamshire.

The 40-year-old victim, yet to be formally identified, was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead. A post-mortem examination is due to be conducted to find out the cause of death.

A murder inquiry is now under way, Nottinghamshire Police said.

The four boys - three aged 15 and one aged 16 - remain in custody.

Police asked anyone with information on the assault to come forward.

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Mick Philpott's Derby Home To Be Demolished

Derby City Council plans to demolish the home of Mick and Mairead Philpott, where six children were killed in a fire started by the couple.

Mick Philpott, 56, was jailed for life on Wednesday after being convicted of manslaughter over the deaths of the children in the blaze last May.

His wife Mairead, 32, and friend Paul Mosley received 17-year sentences.

The charred shelll of the Victory Road house has been empty since the fire

The council is attempting to take legal possession of the three-bedroomed semi-detached house, as well as of the adjoining one.

Council leader Paul Bayliss said: "Who would want to live in a house where six children have died and why would you want to live next door to a house where six children have died?"

The council wants residents in the area to decide what to do with the property, and an online petition has called for a memorial garden to be built on the site.

However, Sky's Frazer Maude said many neighbours are opposed to the idea of a memorial.

He said: "They've told me they just want to move on, and they fear a memorial garden could become a tourist attraction."

The case shocked Britain

CCTV footage has emerged showing the Philpotts at a local pub just days after the fire, drinking and enjoying a karaoke session.

Mick Philpott is seen singing Suspicious Minds, the Elvis Presley hit, as he dons Blues Brothers-style sunglasses.

The Philpotts hatched a plan to start the fire at their home in order to frame Lisa Willis, Mick Philpott's former girlfriend who had left the house taking their children with her.

They planned that he should break in by the back door and rescue the children.

In the early hours of May 11, they poured petrol in the hallway of the property to start the blaze.

But the plan went wrong as fire ripped through the council house in Victoria Road.

At one point 11 children lived in the house

Mick Philpott, described as the "driving force" behind the plan, has been ordered to serve a minimum of 15 years in prison.

The Philpotts and Mosley were found guilty of six counts of manslaughter, one for each of the victims: Jade Philpott, 10, John, nine, Jack, eight, Jesse, six, Jayden, five, and Duwayne, 13.

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Grand National: Auroras Encore Wins At Aintree

Ryan Mania has won on his first ride in the Grand National as he guided outsider Auroras Encore to a shock victory at Aintree racecourse in Liverpool.

The Scottish jockey gave a perfect ride to the 66-1 chance, beating home Welsh duo Cappa Bleu (12/1) and Teaforthree (10/1).

Auroras Encore showed stamina was his forte when he powered clear at the final fence and stormed up the run in to win by nine lengths.

"He gave me a dream ride, he's brilliant. I had the choice of two horses to ride, I wasn't sure which one to go for," said Mania.

"He loved every second of it, just class - he was second in the Scottish National last season. He made a couple of little mistakes then learned from them."

Auroras Encore's trainer Sue Smith was just the third woman to train a National winner.

"It's unbelievable, he gave him such a good ride," she said.

"I knew the ground was right for him and hoped everything else was. He stayed down the middle and had a bit of luck in running.

Seabass, ridden by Katie Walsh, was the favourite

"I just feel sorry for the previous owners, who were wonderful and sold him because of ill health."

Mrs Smith, 65, trains 1,000ft up in the Yorkshire Moors in partnership with her husband, former British Olympic showjumper Harvey Smith.

After the shock victory, Mr Smith, said: "It's superb, absolutely spot-on."

Auroras Encore was also a local win as one of the three owners, Jim Beaumont, is from Liverpool.

"I used to work as a bell boy at the Adelphi Hotel. I was employed by the porter and not by the hotel, so I used to make a lot of money for the hall porter and can remember the Grand National winners coming up the hotel steps," said Mr Beaumont, who now lives in Edinburgh.

He said he never thought he would ever own a horse "never mind anything else".

Twenty-three of the 40 horses failed to finish the steeplechase

A sell-out crowd of more than 70,000 gathered at Aintree racecourse to watch the 40 runners and riders compete in the world's most famous steeplechase.

Katie Walsh's hopes of becoming the first woman rider to win the Grand National looked promising midway round the second circuit on 11-2 favourite Seabass.

Two other well-backed horses, On His Own under Katie Walsh's brother Ruby and Colberts Station with AP McCoy onboard, were among the 23 fallers.

The Grand National is worth £975,000 in prize money, making it one of the richest jump races in Europe.

Changes were made to the famous fences after four horses died in the last two years.

After the race, an Aintree spokesman said: "Forty horses and jockeys returned safe and sound following the John Smith's Grand National."

But a spokesman for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) said: "No horses died today, but two this week is two too many.

"Little Josh and Battlefront died for nothing more important than an afternoon's amusement."

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India Houseboat Murder: 'Dutch Man Confesses'

By Alex Rossi, India Correspondent, in Kashmir

Police sources tell Sky News that a Dutch man they have been questioning over the murder of a British woman has now confessed.

Sarah Groves, 24, was found in a pool of blood inside the houseboat she had been living on for up to two months on the Dal Lake in Srinagar, Kashmir.

Officers have named the suspect as Richard de Wit, 43, and said he claimed to have been under the influence of drugs.

He had been staying on a neighbouring boat. When he was arrested 60 miles away he was carrying only his passport and was not wearing shoes. His shoes had been found outside the door of Miss Groves' room, along with hers.

The victim was staying on a houseboat on picturesque Dal Lake

Local police said Miss Groves, from Guernsey, had been stabbed at least 25 times with what was described as a "mountain knife".

The door to her room had also been forced open.

Her body is being sent for medical examination to determine whether she was sexually assaulted before being killed.

Deputy General Inspector Ahafadul Mujtaba told Sky News: "He has told us he killed the girl - we don't know why. He also says he had taken drugs, cannabis.

Shoes sit outside the door of the houseboat where Sarah Groves was staying

"We have taken his blood samples and have sent them away for testing. We have also not ruled out a sexual motive but there was no direct evidence at the scene. We are awaiting medical results."

Under Indian law a confession to a police officer is not admissible in a court of law.

The police say de Wit will be held in custody for the next 14 days whilst they continue to gather evidence.

Miss Groves' brother, Tom, posted on his blog, Justice for Sarah, that his sister had been on the houseboat because she was the girlfriend of the owner's son.

An RIP Facebook site has been set up for tributes to Miss Groves

He wrote: "The media are reporting that Sarah was just a tourist on the houseboat, who had become friends with the owner's son. The truth is that she went up there as his girlfriend."

Samir Shoda, one of the sons of the house boat owner, has been helping the police with their inquiries after finding the body.

Owner Hafeeza told Sky News: "She was very dear to me, she was just like my daughter."

Friends have paid tributes to Miss Groves on Facebook. Underneath a photograph of her smiling, Charlene Carter said: "That beautiful smile I will never forget."

Donna Stacey said: "Waste of a beautiful life just goes to show the world we live in."

Kim Paiva wrote: "I cannot believe it. Such an amazing vibrant friendly person. Your smiling face will be missed. Rest in peace sweet lovely girl."

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Jockey Ryan Mania Airlifted To Hospital

Grand National-winning jockey Ryan Mania has been airlifted to hospital after he suffered a fall in a race this afternoon.

Mania was conscious as he was taken to RVI hospital in Newcastle for further assessment on neck and back injuries.

He was reported in stable condition, though he was described as very sore after what appeared to be a kick between his shoulder blades.

His fall at Hexham occurred a day after he won on his first ride in the Grand National at Aintree racecourse in Liverpool.

Clerk of the course James Armstrong said: "All I can say at the moment is he's conscious and talking, and he is being taken to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle for further assessment.

"Hopefully all will be fine but we won't have any more news until later."

Mania posing with Auroras Encore just hours before the accident

The Scotsman, who steered Auroras Encore to a famous 66-1 success, was linking up once again with trainer Sue Smith in the St John Lee Handicap Hurdle.

However, his mount Stagecoach Jasper came down early on the final circuit.

Some 25 minutes after the race, the 23-year-old Mania was still being attended to on the track by medics.

With the covers up, there was a delay to racing following the arrival of the air ambulance.

Mania was seen being put into the air ambulance on a spinal board before being taken to hospital.

Mania was riding at Hexham just hours after posing for photographs with Auroras Encore at his stables in West Yorkshire.

The jockey had to leave the photocall before the horse's traditional trip to the local pub in order to get to the Hexham meeting on time.

Mania was scheduled to ride in two races.

As well as the horse that fell, he was booked to partner Twice Lucky in the Primary Websites Handicap Chase at 4.25pm.

Ewan Whillans took over the ride on Twice Lucky.

More follows...

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Teen Crime Commissioner In Offensive Tweet Row

Britain's first youth police commissioner has refused to step down after it was revealed she had posted a string of offensive comments on Twitter.

Paris Brown, 17, who took up the post just days ago, wrote homophobic and racist comments on her Twitter account and boasted about getting drunk.

She also appeared to condone violence in a tweet in which she said she was pleased that her brother had thumped someone who "gave his tiny little friend a black eye".

The messages were all posted before she took up the one-year post - which has a £15,000 salary funded by the taxpayer - for Kent Police last week.

The disclosure of the tweets has prompted a Twitter backlash against Miss Brown, while Keith Vaz, Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, has led calls for her to step down from the post.

An emotional Miss Brown after giving interviews about her Twitter posts

Miss Brown said she "sincerely" apologised for the remarks and for any offence caused, but she told Sky News she would not be resigning and felt she could still do the job.

She said: "I don't want to be judged on tweets that were written a long time ago, before I found out I had the job.

"I don't think it should affect my future, my career. I still want to be the voice of young people. I still think I can be.In a way it shows I am - those tweets are horrible obviously - but I am just a normal teenager.

"Everybody's got a regret, maybe it's a tweet, maybe it's a status but out of 4,000 tweets, there's only a few that have been picked up upon."

In her tweets, the teenager, who turned 17 two days ago, refers to immigrants as "illegals" and gay people as "fags".

In one message she admits "Im (sic) either really fun, friendly and inclusive when Im drunk or Im an anti social, racist, sexist, embarrassing a*******. often its the latter."

Another said: "Been drinking since half 1 and riding baby walkers down the hall at work oh my god I have the best job ever haha!!"

In another she wrote: "I really wanna make a batch of hash brownies."

Miss Brown told Sky her tweets contained the language of youth and that "fag" was not a term of homophobic abuse, but actually meant silly or idiotic.

Kent police commissioner Ann Barnes with Miss Brown after the revelations

Speaking on Sky News' Boulton & Co after her appointment on Friday, Miss Brown had said: "Being a young person today you feel like you have got to sort of show that you are growing up, that you are a grown up, even when you are as young as maybe 13 or 14.

"You are growing up at a faster rate in today's time and people might feel I am being patronised or I am being intimidated and that's why the are acting like they are in certain situations."

Miss Brown, whose appointment was to be a trail blazer for other youth commissioners across the country, reports directly to the newly elected Kent Police and Crime Commissioner, Ann Barnes.

The police and crime commissioners' roles, which command salaries of up to £100,000, have themselves been controversial, largely because they put inexperienced commissioners in charge of the budget, policing and choosing the chief constable.

Mrs Barnes has said Miss Brown's job was safe.

She said: "I absolutely do not condone the content and language of Paris' tweets. I suspect that many young people go through a phase during which they make silly, often offensive comments and show off on Facebook and Twitter.

"I think that if everyone's future was determined by what they wrote on social networking sites between the ages of 14 and 16 we'd live in a very odd world.

Miss Brown with her 'boss' Ann Barnes announcing her appointment

"I also suspect that thousands of parents would be at best surprised and at worst deeply shocked and ashamed if they looked into the social networking of their children."

Miss Brown, who lives with her parents in Sheerness on the Isle of Sheppey, has a full-time apprenticeship role as an office junior at Kent's Swale Borough Council.

She said she had put off doing A-levels for a year while she undertakes the job as commissioner.

Miss Brown has removed her @vilulabelle account from Twitter following the revelations. She now tweets under an official account.

Reports of her deleted remarks have attracted criticism from many Twitter users, including Alex Cahill, who wrote: "Well Paris Brown (@vilulabelle) is a shining example of young people ..."

Paul Davies wrote: "God help us and our police!!!"

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