GV Hale news

19/06/25

A woman who fraudulently claimed more than £20,000 in disability benefits by exaggerating the effects of multiple sclerosis (MS) was exposed through her own Facebook posts about running.

Sara Morris, 50, from Stone, Staffordshire, was diagnosed with MS in 2005. In a 2020 claim for Personal Independence Payment (PIP), she stated that her condition had left her unable to stand at the cooker, affected her balance, and made it difficult to get out of the bath without help. She also reported experiencing severe anxiety when leaving the house, including trips to the pharmacy.

21/05/25

A 19-year-old driver who struck a pedestrian after inhaling nitrous oxide behind the wheel has been jailed.

Louisa Tunstall was filmed using the substance—commonly known as laughing gas—via a balloon while driving her Fiat 500 in Wigan in May last year. Moments later, she lost control and veered onto the pavement, hitting a 51-year-old woman and leaving her with serious leg injuries.

25/04/25

Nerys Bethan Lloyd, 39, the owner of a paddleboarding company, has been sentenced to 10 years and six months in prison after admitting to four counts of gross negligence manslaughter. The charges stem from the deaths of Paul O'Dwyer, 42, Andrea Powell, 41, Morgan Rogers, 24, and Nicola Wheatley, 40, who drowned during a paddleboarding excursion on the River Cleddau in Haverfordwest, south-west Wales.

20/03/25

A British couple who discovered an illegal migrant hiding under a bike-rack cover on their motorhome after returning from a holiday in France have been fined £1,500.

Adrian and Joanne Fenton had just arrived home in Heybridge, Essex, when they found the stowaway—a Sudanese national—concealed at the rear of their vehicle. Despite immediately reporting the discovery to authorities, the couple, both in their 50s, were later fined by the Home Office for failing to "check that no clandestine entrant was concealed in the vehicle."

26/02/25

CCTV footage has captured the moment suspected thieves made off with a £4.8 million golden toilet from Blenheim Palace. The fully functional, 18-carat gold lavatory was stolen in a daring raid in the early hours of September 14, 2019, lasting just five minutes.

Jurors were shown footage of a stolen Isuzu truck speeding across the palace lawn before stopping at the 20 steps leading to the entrance. Moments later, a second stolen vehicle, a VW Golf, pulled up alongside it. At 4:50 a.m., three men approached the building, two wielding sledgehammers, while two drivers remained in the vehicles.