Suicidal teen warned mental health hospital staff ‘slept on shifts’

A suicidal teenager revealed that staff “slept on shifts” and said the scandal-hit mental health hospital she was being held in should be “shut down” in a note she wrote before her death, an inquest has heard.

Ruth Szymankiewicz, 14, died on 14 February 2022 after she was left alone at Huntercombe Hospital, near Maidenhead in Berkshire, despite requiring constant one-to-one observation, Buckinghamshire Coroner’s Court was told.

In the 15 minutes she was left alone, Ruth, who had an eating disorder, made her way to her room, where she self-harmed. She was found and resuscitated before being transferred to hospital, but died two days later from a brain injury.

In a note written before she died, which was read aloud on Tuesday at the inquest into her death, Ruth said there was a lack of therapy at the hospital, which she said had an “unsafe number of staff”.

It read: “I don’t really know who this is really directed to… Huntercombe, it doesn’t deserve a capital H.

“It is the s***test mental health institution you could get… the unsafe number of staff, how the place makes you worse, the staff literally sleep on their shifts. I don’t want this to happen to any other patients ever. My suggestion is, shut this place down.”

On 7 February, days before her fatal self-harm incident on 12 February, Ruth had been able to self-harm in a similar way, the court heard.

On Monday, the court heard that the support worker responsible for monitoring Ruth was working under a false identity and had completed just a day or a day and a half of online training the day before his first shift at the children’s psychiatric hospital.

Evidence presented at the inquest also revealed that on the day of Ruth’s death, he was working on another ward in the hospital, but had been assigned to Ruth as Thames Ward, where she was being cared for, was short-staffed.

According to evidence submitted by Thames Valley Police, the worker is thought to have entered the country under his real name, which police did not disclose, and later assumed his fake identity, Ebo Achempong.

Sergeant Francesca Keen, of Thames Valley Police, who investigated the careworker, told the inquest he had been employed at the trust through an agency called Platinum Care.

Sgt Keen confirmed that a fake passport had been found at the home of another suspect as part of a fraud investigation launched after Ruth’s death.

According to Sgt Keen, the agency contacted referees provided by the careworker; however, it is not clear whether the referees provided photo verification in respect of his identity. He attended the agency’s office in person following his training, and showed a passport.

The inquest previously heard that the careworker “just left” Ruth after his shift ended, meaning she was left alone for 15 minutes, during which time she was able to self-harm.

On Tuesday, the court heard that although he had left Ruth alone, he was still on the premises when the ambulances arrived after other staff found her.

He returned to the hospital the next day to give a statement, but later left the country for Ghana “never to be seen again”.

The Huntercombe Hospital in Maidenhead, also called Taplow Manor, closed in 2023 after a joint investigation by The Independent and Sky News. It was part of a group of institutions, formerly run by the Huntercombe Group and now taken over by Active Care Group.

The inquest continues.

If you are experiencing feelings of distress or are struggling to cope, you can speak to the Samaritans in confidence on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch. If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call or text 988, or visit 988lifeline.org to access online chat from the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. This is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you are in another country, you can go to befrienders.org to find a helpline near you.

For anyone struggling with the issues raised in this article, eating disorder charity Beat’s helpline is available 365 days a year on 0808 801 0677. NCFED offers information, resources and counselling for those suffering from eating disorders, as well as their support networks. Visit eating-disorders.org.uk or call 0845 838 2040

Farage not ready to be PM, Gove says in withering assessment of Reform

Michael Gove has given a withering assessment of Nigel Farage’s election chances, saying the Reform leader is not ready to be prime minister and – still won’t be in four years’ time.

The senior Tory, a cabinet minister for many years during the Conservative government, praised the former Ukip leader, saying he admired “his skills as a communicator”.

But he said: “I don’t believe that he is a plausible prime minister”.

He added: “Because if at this stage you’re saying that Reform should be the government – I know we’re four years away – he doesn’t have the team, or the policies or programme that would make me believe that he would govern effectively.”

Mr Farage declared his party as the main opposition to Labour in May, after it won 676 seats and overall control of 10 councils at the local elections, which also saw the Tories lose 15 councils and 674 seats.

But, in an upcoming interview with the Politics Inside Out podcast, with former Labour MPs Gloria de Piero and Jonathan Ashworth, Mr Gove said that Reform’s success was “not because they’ve developed a compelling story about how the country can be different”.

It was because “they’re the repository of anger at the failure of the political classes to do what they said they would do”.

He also revealed that Mr Farage had been “personally grateful” to him when he helped to resolve an issue between the then-Ukip leader and The Times newspaper, where Mr Gove was working at the time.

He insisted his feelings about Mr Farage were “very powerfully ambivalent” but he praised his skills as a communicator.

He said: “I think that he does have, which Boris [Johnson] had in a different way, an intuitive feel for how parts of the country think at any given time, and he is not burdened or constrained in the way that some of the rest of us are by thinking that’s unrespectable, or that’s outside the Overton window, or that would never work in government”.

He added that one “underplayed element” of the Reform leader, however, was that “he is, in effect, a bulwark against greater extremism”.

In a high-profile row with billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk, who was earlier this year working in a specially created post as Donald Trump’s ‘first buddy’ in the White House, Mr Farage refused to endorse far-right activist Tommy Robinson, saying: “My view remains that Tommy Robinson is not right for Reform and I never sell out my principles.”

Last month, a leading pollster suggested that support for Reform had “topped out” and that the momentum that was leading the party to soar in the polls had ground to a halt.

Conservative peer Robert Hayward told The Independent that the results of recent council by-elections, which Reform lost while defending seats, and national polling figures, suggest that the march of Mr Farage to Downing Street at the next general election could be facing a setback.

Why Musk’s $29bn Tesla payout is a blessing in disguise

It is commonly believed that Elon Musk owns the Tesla car company. He doesn’t. First, Musk only owns about 16 per cent of the company’s shares – even with the approximately $29bn (£22bn) additional share allocation he’s just received – so he is actually a minority shareholder.

Second, Tesla isn’t strictly a car company, even though it obviously makes them. It is principally a tech company, so its valuation and business model are radically different, and are based on its lead on autonomous (or self-driving) transportation.

Only recently, Tesla boasted that a customer in Austin, Texas, had their Model Y delivered to them directly from the assembly line, with the car driving itself for the half-hour trip. Tesla is built on self-driving technology, and that, in turn, is predicated on the continuing genius of Elon Reeve Musk.

So that explains a lot in respect of this headline-grabbing story about his “$29bn pay packet”. Such an outrageous package was proposed for, and by, Musk some years ago – but, given the objections of some shareholders, a court ruled it out. It actually amounted to some $50bn in 2018, but times change, and it seems as though Musk and his company have been devalued by his more recent adventures in Magaland.

In any case, a more ingenious method of turning capital into income was devised so that the richest person in the world could be just that little bit more loaded. Before the share deal, he was worth around $400bn, so he’s going to be a bit less than 10 per cent better off once the new shares have been sorted out. Enough to rub along.

This story, then, tells us a few things about Musk and Tesla. It certainly seems to be a further signal that he is moving away from politics and back to business. The Doge episode and the association with Donald Trump didn’t serve him, or his business interests, well.

Contrary to hopes/fears that having him hanging around the Oval Office and Mar-a-Lago as “First Buddy” would lead to some lucrative government contracts, now Trump is threatening to cut him off – which is especially bad news for SpaceX.

Musk has also gone a bit quiet about the “America Party” he has been planning in an effort to block Trump’s ruinous Budget by winning key seats in Congress in elections next year. Maybe Musk will press on with that, but it seems less likely he’ll do much more than provide lavish funding.

It’s just as well. The Doge project, for all the hype, is over, and it may have done more harm than good to the wellbeing of the American people (and, undeniably, the wider world) in destroying the US international aid agency.

The ill-advised salutes, the nutty tweets (as some of us still insist on calling them), and all the whooping about at the Trump rallies made Musk look more idiotic than evil, and were a grievous distraction. Not even he was able to help run the US, SpaceX, Tesla, and whatever else is going on simultaneously.

Musk was at risk of being the formerly richest man on Earth who overstretched himself and failed spectacularly in politics and in business. As the old Rolling Stones song – so popular at those Trump-Musk rallies – goes, “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”.

Tributes to ‘role model’ father who fell to his death at Oasis gig

A man who fell to his death during Oasis’s Saturday night gig at Wembley has been named as Lee Claydon.

The father from Bournemouth fell from the upper tier balcony of the London stadium during a sell-out concert by the Gallagher brothers.

Describing him as a “loving family man” who loved fishing and outdoor activities and a “role model” to his son, Lee’s brother Aaron Claydon said: “We will miss him so very much.”

Aaron paid tribute to his brother on a GoFundMe page set up to support Lee’s partner, Amanda, and their family.

In the post, he said Lee was “the man I have always looked up to” who “would have done anything for any of us”.

“Our family has been turned upside down and are struggling to deal with this devastation and unexpected loss,” Aaron wrote.

“Lee leaves behind his son, dad, partner, brothers, sisters, nephews and niece.

“Lee was a loving family man who was a role model to his son Harry and was loved so much by all his family. Lee would have done anything for any of us and he was taken from us far too soon and we will miss him so very much.

“Lee loved all outdoor activities, one of his favourite hobbies was fishing. He also loved music and his guitar. He also really enjoyed going to watch and support the boys and his nephew at their football games.

“Amanda and the boys have our full support at this very sad time, which is why we would love to be able to help them financially as well as emotionally.

“Please help us raise as much funds as we can to take one worry off Amanda and family right now as they are going through any family’s worst nightmare.”

Aaron also took to Facebook to pay tribute to his brother, writing: “Still in shock and cannot believe I am writing this, but sadly over the weekend I lost by best mate the man I looked up to and the man I was lucky enough to call my brother Lee Claydon.

“This is gonna be a tough long journey and I have set up this GoFundMe page to help and support his loved ones. Please read and share.

“Until we meet again Rkid.”

Lee’s cousins, Shannon Gabrielle and Richard Norris, also paid tribute to Lee on the social media platform and shared the fundraiser.

“Absolutely shocked and gutted to hear about our cousin Lee Claydon,” Mr Norris wrote, describing the incident as “heartbreaking beyond words”.

“Please consider supporting the fundraiser to help his loved ones during yet another incredibly difficult time,” he said.

Shannon Gabrielle wrote Lee had died “after no doubt having the time of his life at the Oasis concert this weekend”.

She added his death had “devastated the whole family” and said any donations would help support his “closest knit” relatives.

“You just don’t fathom you will go out for a night of amazing fun and not come home at the end of it,” she wrote.

In a statement issued on Sunday, the Metropolitan Police said: “A man – aged in his 40s – was found with injuries consistent with a fall.

“He was sadly pronounced dead at the scene.

“The stadium was busy and we believe it is likely a number of people witnessed the incident, or may knowingly or unknowingly have caught it on mobile phone video footage.

“If you have any information that could help us to confirm what happened, please call 101.”

The Gallagher brothers also said they had been left “shocked and saddened” by the news of the death following their show.

On Sunday, a spokesperson for Wembley said: “Last night, Wembley Stadium medics, the London Ambulance Service and the police attended to a concert-goer who was found with injuries consistent with a fall.

“Despite their efforts, the fan very sadly died. Our thoughts go out to his family, who have been informed and are being supported by specially trained police officers.

“The police have asked anyone who witnessed the incident to contact them.”

MP encourages constituents to ‘embrace’ AI version of himself

A Labour MP has helped to create an AI politician – encouraging his constituents to “embrace” an artificial intelligence version of himself.

Mark Sewards, the Labour MP for Leeds South West and Morley, said it was “the UK’s first virtual MP”.

In a message urging local residents to “give AI Mark a try”, the MP, who was elected for the first time last year, said the “AI revolution is happening and we must embrace it or be left behind.”

Mr Sewards said he worked with the company Neural Voice, based in his constituency, on the AI MP.

Neural Voice stood a candidate, AI Steve, at the last general election, suggesting he could put trust back into politics, with constituents proposing and voting on what AI Steve should do as a local MP, with the chair of the firm Steve Endacott appearing in parliament to enact what they decided.

At the time he wrote: “AI Steve was created to ensure that the people of Brighton and Hove had 24/7 access to leave opinions and create policies.”

Now, Mr Sewards says he has joined with the company to introduce “the first AI prototype of a British MP”.

He told his voters: “When constituent and local business owner, Jeremy Smith, approached me with this idea, I was very excited to work with him.”

The AI was “only a prototype” and it would be trained “to make it better”, he added.

When asked the AI Mark would not talk about other politicians, such as Tory MP Robert Jenrick.

Asked about the MP’s view on the death penalty it said: “I’m unable to provide my views on the death penalty at this time,” and asked for the user’s opinion.

Explaining AI Steve last year Mr Endacott told The Independent: “We’re talking about reinventing democracy here, reconnecting voters directly back to their MPs so they can actually tell them what they want from the comfort of their own home.

“The difficulty is a lot of people react against it before they have read it and just think Skynet [the AI that created the Terminator in the Arnold Schwarzenegger film franchise]. There is supposed to be a Black Mirror episode that is similar – but I haven’t seen it.

“I’m very centrist, very practical. Basically imagine a businessman who goes into politics and not giving a s*** about politics. I don’t care about ego.

“There will be a generational gap here, some people will go what on earth is going on? We are trying to reinvent democracy, it’s serious it’s not a joke or a PR stunt. We are using AI Steve as a provocative title to get attention, we admit that.

“You can’t replace MPs. This is a tool for MPs they can use to better represent their constituency. We’re not aiming to make decisions by computer.

“We are trying to engage with more human beings in electoral decisions by using AI as a co-pilot.

“We’re serious. You have to be honest. If you want a better NHS and education you have to raise taxes – you have to stop bulls***ting people and tell them the truth.”

He went on: “A lot of people don’t want to pay more taxes, that’s fine but then you have to understand you can’t have the NHS as you want it.”

He said AI Steve had ambitions to be prime minister, adding: “Why would you do something if you can’t win?”

Britain urged to let Afghans bring families to UK after data leak

The government has been urged to let hero Afghans granted sanctuary in Britain bring their loved ones to the UK after a major data breach put the lives of up to 100,000 people at risk from the Taliban.

More than 50 refugee charities and lawyers have written to Yvette Cooper, urging her to make it easier for Afghans who were allowed to relocate to the UK due to British links to bring family members – many of whom are at risk of reprisals – with them.

The pleas come after revelations that a “catastrophic” data leak occurred at the Ministry of Defence in February 2022, which led to the details of thousands of Afghans who said they were in danger from the Taliban and had applied for sanctuary in Britain being shared online.

The dataset, inadvertently sent out by a member of the armed forces, included the personal details of applicants to the MoD’s Arap resettlement scheme, which allows Afghans who supported British troops to seek sanctuary in the UK. The leak was covered up by a superinjunction, which was lifted in July this year after The Independent challenged the draconian legal order at the High Court.

Ms Cooper has now been told that the government “has no time to waste” if it “wants to prevent the worst possible consequences of the data leak becoming a dire reality”.

Charity workers and solicitors, including representatives from Asylum Aid and modern slavery charity Kalayaan, told Ms Cooper: “The UK government has a moral responsibility to the Afghan people who continue to suffer, including now as a result of the data leak, and have no choice but to seek safety elsewhere.

“The 2022 data breach directly exposed Afghans still in the country to a risk of reprisals they were not even aware of, and the High Court, in lifting the superinjunction, recognised that its imposition may have increased the risks these people face.”

The letter continued: “Poor decision-making could yet again have exposed Afghans to serious harm, with many of these people having clear UK family ties.” It added: “It is essential that those who were resettled under Arap and ACRS are able to live in safety and are given a fair opportunity to reunite with their families.”

Unlike those who apply via asylum routes, Afghans applying under the Arap scheme cannot sponsor family members to come to the UK under refugee reunion rules. The same applies to those who are relocated under ACRS, which is designed to help those who supported British values, such as journalists or women’s rights activists. However, some applicants may be able to make a separate immigration application.

But charities and rights groups say these family routes are very restrictive, and that the application process can often involve “extremely costly application fees and require copious, specific documentation”. Decision-makers often refuse these applications from Afghan families, which leads to lengthy appeals.

Liberal Democrat MP Wendy Chamberlain, chair of the all-party parliamentary group for Afghan women, said: “There is already anecdotal evidence of reprisals on family members by the Taliban – the Home Office has no time to waste if the government wants to prevent the worst possible consequences of the data leak becoming a dire reality.

“The Home Office desperately needs to take a pragmatic and compassionate approach to allowing Afghans resettled in the UK to be reunited safely with their families. It is clear that these schemes have been seriously mishandled, culminating in the recent exposure of the 2022 data leak.”

In one recent case highlighted by The Independent, a security guard who worked for the British embassy in Kabul for almost two decades has been unable to bring his two eldest sons to the UK.

Hamidullah Fahim and his wife Zaghona were brought to Britain with their two youngest children in December 2023, but they couldn’t bring their two eldest sons, who are now in their twenties.

Mr Fahim said that his family is struggling with being separated, saying: “We want to do whatever we can to be reunited with them, and to let the Home Office know of the injustice that has been carried out in our case.”

Isaac Shaffer, at Refugee Legal Support, said it is “critical” that the government speed up decision-making on Arap cases in light of the data breach.

He explained that most of the people he is helping “have waited over a year for a final decision on their Arap application and have remained in hiding throughout, in constant fear, and in extraordinarily precarious circumstances”, adding: “Knowledge of this data breach has only exacerbated this fear and uncertainty.”

James Tullett, CEO of the charity Ramfel, who helped coordinate the letter, said: “The government has acknowledged that the people they have resettled need protection, and yet this offer of support comes with the heavy price of separation from family.

“Allowing Afghan families to reunite won’t solve all the problems associated with the data leak, but it will make a monumental difference for the affected families.”

The Home Office has been contacted for comment.

Putin ‘unlikely to bow’ to Trump’s sanction threat as ceasefire deadline looms

US president Donald Trump is reportedly considering imposing new sanctions on Russia’s “shadow fleet” of oil tankers if Vladimir Putin does not agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine by Friday.

Moscow’s “shadow fleet” – vessels whose ownership is secret – transport oil around the world to evade western sanctions. White House sources say the sanctions would an easy first step to try to force Mr Putin into a truce, according to the FT.

But sources close to the Kremlin say Mr Putin is unlikely to bow to the sanctions ultimatum.

The US president has threatened to hit Russia with new sanctions and impose 100 per cent tariffs on countries that buy its oil, of which the biggest are China and India.

Mr Putin’s goal is to fully capture the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, which Russia has claimed as its own, and then to talk about a peace agreement, a source told news agency Reuters.

US special envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to visit Moscow on Wednesday in an attempt to convince Mr Putin to sign a ceasefire agreement with Ukraine.