Body In Well: Seven Bailed In Murder Inquiry

Seven men arrested over the discovery of a body in a well in Surrey have been bailed by police.

The body was recovered by specialist police officers on Saturday.

Two workmen made the discovery as they were doing clearing work in the front garden of a large house in Audley Drive, Warlingham, Surrey, which stands in an acre of grounds in an affluent area.

The seven held on suspicion of murder are aged between 21 and 27. They have been bailed to a date in late December, pending further investigation, a Scotland Yard spokesman said.

A post-mortem examination is due to take place today at East Surrey Hospital mortuary.

Detective Chief Inspector Cliff Lyons said on Saturday: "It is a murder investigation. As far as I am concerned, when a body is found in a well it either fell in there or was placed in there, and the evidence is apparent that the body was placed in there."

He said the body presented a number of logistical challenges, requiring a police marine diving team with breathing apparatus to recover it intact to preserve forensic evidence.

"The well is two feet in diameter, it is seven feet deep to the water line, and the water is approximately four feet deep," he said.

He said it was not possible to be sure of the body's gender, but judging by the size it was most likely to be an adult. The person was white.

Mr Lyons told reporters at the scene: "It's not been there for an extended period of time; it will be a matter of weeks at the most."

He was not prepared to discuss who lived in the house or a suggestion that the body was wrapped in carpet. He could not confirm whether the body was intact.

Asked about claims by local residents that there had been quite a bit of trouble in the past couple of years with the people who lived in the house, and that police had been called many times, he said: "The residents have expressed concern, there is intelligence to support that notion, yes."

He appealed for anyone who had concerns about a person who has gone missing, especially if they had connections to that area, to come forward.

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Strictly Come Dancing Venue Hit By Theft

Police are investigating the theft of items from a dressing room being used by Strictly Come Dancing stars.

Detectives say jewellery, an iPad and phone were taken from the female dressing room of Blackpool Tower Ballroom, where the show was filmed on Saturday night.

Lancashire police would not say who owned the stolen items, but they said the large room was being shared by dancers and contestants.

"We are investigating a theft that has occurred this evening at the Tower Ballroom at Blackpool," police said.

"It was reported to us at around 9.45pm that some items had been taken from a dressing room within the building.

"Officers are investigating the theft and are making a number of enquiries to trace the person or people responsible."

Cohen took part in Saturday night's show

Police said it was not clear how the thieves managed to gain entry to the room.

Detectives are appealing to anyone who may have seen anything suspicious around the building to contact them.

The BBC programme is usually filmed Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire, but was hosted in Blackpool this weekend.

The contestants on this year's show include model Abbey Clancey, actress Natalie Gumede, singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor, BBC presenter Susanna Reid and rugby player Ben Cohen.

Gumede, who recently had back problems and missed the previous week's show, scored the joint top score of the programme.

The former Coronation Street actress and Reid were both awarded 39 out of a possible 40 points.

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Doris Lessing: British Nobel Author Dies At 94

The Nobel Prize-winning British author Doris Lessing has died at the age of 94, her agent said.

The Golden Notebook novelist died peacefully in the early hours of Sunday.

"It was a privilege to work for her and we shall miss her immensely," her long-time friend and agent Jonathan Clowes said.

In more than 50 works of fiction, nonfiction and poetry, Lessing explored topics ranging from colonial Africa to dystopian Britain, from the mystery of being female to the unknown worlds of science fiction.

She won the Nobel Prize of Literature in 2007. She was praised for her "scepticism, fire and visionary power" by the Swedish Academy.

More follows...

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Antibiotics Warning: Resistance 'Growing'

By Enda Brady, Sky News Reporter

The world faces "unimaginable setbacks" unless it tackles the growing threat of resistance to antibiotics, according to an international group of experts.

The latest research by the 26-strong group predicts major problems unless governments work together immediately.

Antibiotic resistance happens when bacteria evolve mechanisms to withstand the drugs which are used to fight infection.

Lead author Professor Otto Cars, of Uppsala University in Sweden, said: "The causes of antibiotic resistance are complex and include human behaviour at many levels of society.

"The consequences affect everybody in the world.

"Within just a few years, we might be faced with unimaginable setbacks - medically, socially, and economically - unless real and unprecedented global co-ordinated actions to transform the way antibiotics are regulated and developed are taken immediately."

In the UK, research is focusing on how plant chemicals keep insects at bay

In September, the UK Government announced plans for a five-year strategy to tackle the problem, setting aside £4.5m.

Recent decades have seen vast increases in the use of antibiotics across medicine and agriculture, but the scientists argue that without adequate regulatory controls and better patient awareness, the huge global surge in antibiotic resistance will continue.

They say the problem is compounded by a desperate shortage of new drugs to treat multi-drug resistant bacterial infections.

Prof Cars added: "Antibiotic resistance is a complex ecological problem which doesn't just affect people, but is also intimately connected with agriculture and the environment.

"We need to move on from 'blaming and shaming' among the many stakeholders who have all contributed to the problem, towards concrete political action and commitment to address this threat.

Prof Laura Piddick says more funding is needed to develop new treatments

"Consumers and providers of antibiotics alike need to be empowered to tackle antibiotic resistance, as well as ensuring that those in need benefit from affordable, effective antibiotics."

One of the British scientists who helped compile the report said that alarm bells have been ringing - and ignored - for many years.

"For a long time there has been a sense of crying wolf over this," said Professor Laura Piddock, from the University of Birmingham.

"Science has been telling us about this problem for years. We need more academic research and funding. New treatments have been hampered by a lack of funding. It has always been viewed that this is something that the pharmaceutical industry should do."

At the John Innes Centre in Norwich scientists are going back to nature for the answers, studying how plants like eucalyptus trees produce chemicals to keep insects at bay.

"Plants have a distinct disadvantage in that they can't move out of the way of predators," Tony Maxwell, the centre's head of biological chemistry, told Sky News.

"And they have no end of predators, large and small animals, insects and bacteria. They have to produce a whole array of chemicals to defend themselves. What we are trying to work out is how we can use those chemicals for our own usage in antibiotics."

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British Pair Killed In Plane Crash Named

A man and a woman who died after a light aircraft crashed near a runway at an Airbus UK factory have been named by police.

Gary Vickers, 58, and Kaye Clarke, 42, both from the Chester area, died following the accident involving a twin-engine aircraft at Chester Hawarden Airport in North Wales on Friday.

A North Wales Police spokesman said Mr Vickers was pronounced dead at the scene and Ms Clarke was taken to the Countess of Chester Hospital where she died.

A spokesman for Airbus said the crash did not involve one of its aircraft.

The runway at the airport, close to the English border, is next to the Airbus factory and manages business and private flights.

Airport owner Aviation Park Group said it could not comment on the crash and referred all queries to the police.

Police said: "We are working with the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) to establish what caused the plane to crash.

"The AAIB will lead the investigation."

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Prince Charles' Bid To Curb Gang Violence

The Prince of Wales is launching a campaign aimed at increasing the number of young people doing voluntary work in a bid to tackle gang violence.

Charles believes that street murders can happen due to the lack of organised activities for youngsters.

In an article in the Mail On Sunday, he says he often reflects on the courage shown by Barry and Margaret Mizen, whose teenage son Jimmy was murdered in 2008.

"The Mizens are convinced - as I have been for the past 40 years - that part of the solution is in providing more structured activities for young people.

"In my opinion, tragedies such as the murder of Barry and Margaret's son are the extreme result of too many young people no longer guided through a rite of passage; young people who would benefit from the guidance and help of organisations such as the Guides, Scouts, cadets and other youth organisations.

"However, these are all groups which are hampered in their growth by a lack of adult volunteers."

Speaking with the Mizens and members of Families United - a group for parents whose children have been killed by gang violence - made him even more determined to start a long-term leadership campaign.

"This kind of initiative can help to provide a constructive team-based substitute for destructive gang violence, so that no more families like the Mizens should have to suffer such untold misery in the future."

The Prince was determined to act after speaking to Jimmy Mizen's parents

Charles said that this week at Buckingham Palace he would join other influential figures including the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister and the leader of the opposition, plus 50 young people, to launch a pledge campaign called #iwill, through a collaborative youth initiative called Step Up 2 Serve.

Those taking part will pledge to support young people take every opportunity to help others.

"At present, just 29% volunteer regularly, although more may do so informally," the Prince wrote.

"The campaign proposes that we should support and inspire 50% of all those aged between 10 and 20 to take part in practical action in the service of others by 2020.

"Young people have an immense contribution to make to society, but we are failing to do enough to unlock their talent to help tackle all sorts of challenges.

"Young people are the solution to so much and yet, too frequently, they are seen as the problem.

"If you think that all over our country there are thousands of lonely old people who need company, younger children who need alternatives to hanging about on street corners, crucial  environmental work that needs doing, and local causes that need espousing, it is not difficult to see how any small voluntary contribution can help."

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Age Of Consent: No 10 Rejects Calls To Change

Downing Street has rejected a call from a leading public health expert to consider lowering the age of consent for sex to 15.

Professor John Ashton, president of the Faculty of Public Health, said society sends "confused" signals about when sex is permitted.

But a No 10 spokesman said: "We reject the call to lower the age of consent.

"The current age is in place to protect children and there are no plans to change it."

Prof Ashton's intervention comes against a backdrop of official figures which suggest that up to a third of teenagers have sex before the present age of consent of 16.

He told Sky News: "The problem we have got is we have got this massive sexualisation and pornographication of childhood and early adolescence.

Lowering the age would make it easier for 15-year-olds to get contraception

"Huge commercial interests - pop music, fashion, internet pornography everywhere, social media.

"There doesn't seem to be any real appetite among politicians and leaders to address this.

"In the meantime, our young people are becoming sexually active at younger and younger ages.

"If we are not going to create an environment where they are not sexualised, then we need to address their needs."

He added: "What we know from other European countries that have lower ages of sexual consent, I am thinking here particularly about the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark, is that very often what that leads to is where there's an atmosphere of discussion within the family, within the school, within the social environment, they actually defer putting off sex, even though the age of consent is lower, and that they have lower teenage pregnancy rates.

"It also means if they are not indulging in what's illegal activity, they won't be frightened to come forward for help if they are getting involved in a dangerous situation with an older male who's grooming them or what have you.

"We have got this conundrum. Where you have got illegal activity which large numbers of people are engaging in, you are creating an environment of risk, potential abuse, potential exploitation.

"We need to do something about the sexualisation of childhood, and we need to do something about responding properly to the needs of young people who are becoming sexually active, perhaps with somebody of a similar age where it is part of a normal maturing process into adult life, but also so that we can begin to tackle this problem of girls particularly, being exploited by older males."

The Faculty of Public Health, part of the Royal Colleges of Physicians, gives advice to ministers and civil servants although it is independent of government.

David Tucker, head of policy at the NSPCC, said he would be happy to have a debate on the issue but said he would want to see the evidence for Prof Ashton's claims.

He said: "Has there really been a significant change in the amount of young people having sex over the past 20 or 30 years?

"If it has changed, then is reducing the age of consent the most sensible way to deal with it?"

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Luton: Man Stabbed After Confronting Burglars

A man woken by burglars forcing their way into his home was stabbed when he went to investigate.

The 47-year-old, named locally as Tony Abrahams, suffered serious injuries after confronting the intruders when he heard a noise on the landing.

Three men, described by Bedfordshire Police as black and aged between 14 and 20, are believed to have forced their way into the family home in Wellfield Avenue, Luton, at about 3am on Saturday.

It is believed Mr Abrahams was stabbed three times as he tried to apprehend the burglars and protect his wife and daughter.

The suspects then fled on foot towards Ashwell Avenue and were seen getting into a black car, believed to be a Vauxhall Astra.

Mr Abrahams, said to be in a serious but stable condition, was taken to Luton and Dunstable Hospital after the alarm was raised by his family.

His daughter told Sky News that her father was doing "remarkably well".

Detective Constable Mo Hussain has urged local people to come forward with information.

"This was an appalling attack on a family man within his own home and I would urge anyone with information to come forward and speak with us," he said.

"While the victim has suffered some very nasty injuries, he is in a stable condition and has responded very well to treatment."

Police also stressed that should people find intruders in their home, it was best to call 999 rather than try to apprehend them.

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Lib Dems Warn Tories Over 'Union-Bashing'

A Liberal Democrat Cabinet minister has warned he will not tolerate a Government-backed inquiry into the conduct of industrial disputes being used for "union-bashing".

David Cameron ordered the independent review into the tactics used by the unions in the wake of the bitter dispute which almost led to the closure of the petrochemical plant at the Grangemouth oil refinery in Scotland, amid accusations of bullying and intimidation.

Lib Dem Business Secretary Vince Cable has already made clear he only agreed to the inquiry, headed by the industrial relations lawyer Bruce Carr QC, on the basis that it would also examine the practices of employers as well.

This was echoed by his party colleague Danny Alexander, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, in a further sign of strain with their Conservative coalition partners.

And he indicated that the Lib Dems will only agree to any recommendations to change the law if they were convinced they would lead to an improvement in industrial relations.

Striking a conciliatory note, Mr Alexander pointed out that industrial relations had been "reasonably benign" despite cuts to public spending.

He told Sky News' Murnaghan programme: "What this review is going to look at is not just unions, but employers too.

"It's right to say that in circumstances where there have been various reports of tactics that are underhand being used in those industrial disputes, that we should have an independent review.

"We should look at both sides, employer and employee, at what's been going on and take a view."

He added: "If there are measured, sensible, prudent reforms that could help to improve the industrial relations landscape in this country yet further, I'd be up for that.

"What I'm not up for is a bunch of union-bashing."

The review follows claims the Unite union adopted so-called "leveraged" tactics in an attempt to intimidate executives from Ineos, the refinery's owners, including sending "mobs" of demonstrators to protest outside their homes.

The move follows the dispute at Grangemouth

The Conservative Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude, also interviewed on Murnaghan, acknowledged that industrial relations in the UK were generally good, but said that key facilities like Grangemouth had to be protected.

"At Grangemouth we were talking about the energy supplies to much of Scotland. This is part of Britain's critical national infrastructure so we can't be relaxed about that," he said.

"It is a balanced and impartial inquiry looking into what goes on in industrial disputes to see whether the law is adequate.

"This is not saying that everything is wrong. It is saying there's been some evidence provided, some allegations made and so-called leveraged practices which involve in some cases quite unpleasant examples of intimidation against fellow workers and against management. That's not acceptable.

"We need first of all to establish the facts and then to see whether the law needs changing."

But Sarah Veale, TUC head of employment rights, dismissed the inquiry, insisting that it was clearly "politically driven".

"It is a completely disproportionate response to one or two instances. It is really quite disgraceful that the Government is pretending that there is a real public interest concern here. There isn't," she told Sky News.

She also defended Unite's tactics in the Grangemouth dispute - including reportedly sending demonstrators brandishing a large inflatable rat to protest outside the home of one Ineos executive.

"There is a long-established tradition in a civilised democracy like the UK that people can express their views in a peaceful, law-abiding way. That's what the union is doing," she said.

"They are simply disseminating information. Intimidation is a ridiculous word to use. I wouldn't be intimidated by being given a leaflet or by people standing with a large plastic rat near to my house."

Ministers have said they want Mr Carr - who will sit with two assessors, one representing the employers and one from the unions - to complete his report within six months of starting.

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Former Co-op Chairman 'Bought Illegal Drugs'

A former chairman of the Co-operative Bank has been suspended by the Methodist Church after he was allegedly filmed buying illegal drugs.

In a statement, the Revered Paul Flowers said he did things that were "stupid and wrong".

The Mail OI Sunday said the Methodist minister was filmed buying the substances just days after he was grilled by the Treasury Select Committee over the bank's disastrous performance.

The Rev Flowers, who chaired the Co-operative Banking Group and the Co-operative Bank for three years, issued a statement which said: "This year has been incredibly difficult, with a death in the family and the pressures of my role with the Co-operative Bank.

"At the lowest point in this terrible period, I did things that were stupid and wrong.

"I am sorry for this and I am seeking professional help, and apologise to all I have hurt or failed by my actions."

A Methodist Church spokesman said: "We expect high standards of our ministers and we have procedures in place for when ministers fail to meet those standards.

"Paul is suspended from duties for a period of three weeks, pending investigations, and will not be available to carry out any ministerial work.

"We will also work with the police if they feel a crime has been committed."

The Co-op has been trying to plug a £1.5bn gap in finances which was discovered following the purchase of the Britannia Building Society and abortive plans to buy hundreds of Lloyds branches.

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