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A school academy trust has been fined £20,000 after a woman was seriously injured by a falling tree branch.

Gillian Gardner, 68, suffered several broken ribs as gardener Nicolas Thépot used an unsafe method to fell a tree on West Road, Newcastle, in 2022.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Bishop Bewick Catholic Education Trust had made no checks on Thépot, who had no training or qualifications in arboriculture.

Thépot, 44, pleaded guilty to health and safety breaches and was handed a suspended jail sentence.

HSE said Thépot had been contracted by the trust to fell two trees in the grounds of St Cuthbert's Catholic High School on Gretna Road on 9 August 2022.

Thépot used a chainsaw to remove branches of a trunk and had a rope on the branches, which his young apprentice would pull inside the school boundary as they fell.

HSE said then the "rope snapped, causing both it and the falling branch to crash into Mrs Gardner and her dog".

Mrs Gardner was knocked into the path of incoming traffic in the road, HSE inspectors said.

No experience checks

An HSE investigation found that Thépot, trading as The Green Yem, had no training or qualifications in arboriculture or in the use of chainsaws and used an "unsafe method to fell the tree".

Meanwhile it was found that Bishop Bewick Catholic Education Trust had made no checks on Thépot's experience, competence or qualifications.

HSE said the trust "did not stop the work after the incident" and Thépot continued working on the tree the next day using the same method.

In a statement, Mrs Gardner said it "took about a year to totally recover" and she was unable to leave the house for several weeks.

"I still can't carry anything heavy," she said.

"I feel like it has all been downhill since my accident and I've lost confidence in what I can and can't do," Mrs Gardner.

'Completely avoidable'

Bishop Bewick Catholic Education Trust pleaded guilty to breaching its duty under the Health and Safety at Work Act to make sure persons not in their employment were not exposed to health or safety risks.

It was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay £4,344 in costs at Newcastle Magistrates' Court on 17 April.

Thépot, of Netherwitton Way, Newcastle, pleaded guilty at South Tyneside Magistrates' Court on Wednesday and was given a 12-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months.

HSE inspector Stephen Garner said it was "completely avoidable" with it being "particularly concerning" that "the work continued by the same method the very next day".

Dorset Day is being marked in celebration of the county's heritage and beauty, with events taking place throughout the day.

The yellow and red county flag, known as the Dorset Cross or St Wite's Cross, and the county civic flag have been raised at County Hall in Dorchester.

The Feast of St Wite, the county's patron saint, also falls on Sunday.

The saint's origins are unknown but she is understood to have been a local woman from the west of the county who worked tirelessly for the local community.

According to local tradition, she lived as a hermit on the cliffs near a sacred well and offered a light to ships at sea. It is believed that she was killed defending the local people against a Viking raid, said Dorset Council.

To mark the day, BBC South has been finding out why people love living in Dorset.

'Lovely community, lovely people'

Vikki Mitchell, 34, has moved back in with her parents in West Stour, near Shaftesbury.

Moving to Dorset with her family when she was 11, Ms Mitchell stayed until heading to Birmingham for university and then on to London for work.

"I lived in London for about seven years, which is where I met my ex-partner and then we decided to move up to Manchester," she said.

After her relationship ended, she said she decided to move back to her parents' home in Dorset for "a bit of countryside" and the lovely greenery".

She said: "I absolutely love it around here, it's so nice, lovely community, lovely people.

"I said I'll just stay three months, get my head sorted – a year and a half later, I'm still here."

With her family all close by and her favourite spot, Durdle Door, just an hour away, she said it was hard for her to imagine leaving again just yet.

"We've got a WhatsApp group saying 'Vikki won't move out', so that says it all," she added.

'Not much has changed since 1948'

Janet Mowles, 77, has spent her entire life in the seaside town of Weymouth, apart from one brief summer living in France.

"My Mum was born in Dorchester, my dad was born in Sturminster Marshall, my brothers were born in Dorset. I was born in Weymouth in 1948, and I've lived here ever since," she said.

Ms Mowles' brother owned The Prince Albert pub, now called Finns, where she lived and worked for many years.

"I was 15 when I first moved down [to the pub]," she said, explaining that she washed glasses in the bar.

"Someone said I was too young to be behind the bar so they moved me to the hall," she added.

"I started my family off here. I got married and came to work for my brother.

"My mum and dad would look after [my daughter and son] upstairs while I worked in the bar."

Ms Mowles said not much had changed in the county in her lifetime, besides "some shops closing down", adding that she was proud of Dorset and the place she has called home for 77 years.

Fire crews are tackling a blaze which has broken out on moorland in West Yorkshire.

Large plumes of smoke can be seen coming from the fire on land off Greenfield Road in Holmfirth, which led to the temporary closure of the A635 earlier.

West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service (WYFRS) said 12 crews were sent to the scene at about 14:00 BST, adding that the blaze was spreading north towards Marsden and also into the Greater Manchester area.

A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) said the fire covered about 12 hectares of moorland and crews remained at the scene.

The GMFRS spokesperson said three specialist wildfire units and one fire crew were using specialist wildfire equipment to prevent the fire from spreading.

Crews from both fire services worked together to tackle the blaze at its peak, with a WYFRS spokesperson confirming its crews had been stood down at about 17:45.

It is the second fire to break out on moors in West Yorkshire within the past week.

Crews were called to a blaze near March Haigh Reservoir in Huddersfield on Thursday.

West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has denied he is trying to change the constitution so that he can stay on when his term ends in three years' time.

Erdogan has led Turkey for 22 years, first as prime minister from 2003 and then as its elected president since 2014. But he cannot run again unless the rules are changed or he calls early elections.

"We want the new constitution not for ourselves, but for our country. I have no interest in being re-elected or running for office again," he told reporters on Thursday.

And yet Erdogan's recent remarks and actions have heightened speculation that he wants to remain president after his term ends in 2028.

Last January he was asked by a singer if he was up for running for another term and he said, "I am, if you are." The next day his party's spokesman confirmed the issue was on their agenda: "What is important is that our nation wants it."

While many Turks will be keen for Erdogan to continue as president, he is trailing in the opinion polls behind the opposition mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, who was arrested in March and remains in jail.

Imamoglu's arrest on alleged corruption charges, which he denies, has been widely seen by his supporters as politically motivated and has sparked some of the biggest protests Turkey has seen in more than a decade.

Polls suggest that support for the mayor has risen since he was detained in prison in Silivri, west of Istanbul.

Authorities have succeeded in blocking his social media feed on X inside Turkey and they have continued to target his city administration, detaining at least 18 staff on suspicion of corruption in recent days, including the municipality's public relations chief Taner Cetin.

Teachers in England have said they would be willing to strike over the government's proposed 2.8% pay rise this year.

The offer was rejected by 93.7% of members of the National Education Union (NEU), England's largest teaching union, who took part in an informal ballot.

And 83.4% indicated they would be willing to strike in the vote, which aimed to gauge teachers' mood.

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said "any move towards industrial action by teaching unions would be indefensible".

The vote does not mean teachers are about to strike.

They have to support industrial action in a formal ballot before that can happen, and enough of them have to vote.

A vote on the next steps will take place at the annual conference of the NEU in Harrogate next week.

Any formal ballot would be likely to take place in summer.

A drug user was being investigated on suspicion of stabbing a family member when he murdered a "low-level" cannabis dealer, a judge has heard.

Yasar Hussain, 27, of Cades Close, Luton, was told he must spend at least 21 years in jail after being convicted of 53-year-old David Dosa's murder.

Jurors at Luton Crown Court heard how Mr Dosa, a grandfather, died after being stabbed in the neck outside his flat in Farley Court, Luton, on 15 August.

At the sentencing hearing, the prosecution barrister told judge Michael Kay that Hussain had been arrested on suspicion of stabbing his step father, Azam Hussain, in April 2024.

Sean Larkin KC said Hussain had been released on bail pending further investigation when he killed Mr Dosa.

He said the stabbing allegation "remained outstanding".

Judge Kay said the case would be considered at a further court hearing on 30 May.

Hussain had denied murdering Mr Dosa but was found guilty by a jury earlier this week.

Jurors found him not guilty of possessing a bladed article.

He said he had gone to Mr Dosa's home to buy cannabis. He claimed he was not armed with a weapon and fled because Mr Dosa hit him.

Mr Larkin said Mr Dosa chased Hussain brandishing a walking stick after being attacked – shortly before collapsing and dying.

Police said Hussain tried to "cover his tracks" by resetting his mobile phone and destroying the sim card.

They said he left his home and moved to Aylesbury, in Buckinghamshire, after Mr Dosa died.

Judge Kay had told jurors at the start of the trial that Mr Hussain had been "diagnosed with a learning disability".

The judge said evidence suggested Hussain had "low intellectual functioning" – and an intermediary sat with Hussain during the trial to help him understand what was being said.

But the judge told Hussain on Friday: "There is little, if anything, to suggest there was any mental disorder which reduced your culpability."

The judge said he was sure Hussain had taken a knife, or bladed article with him, when he travelled to Mr Dosa's home.

He said Hussain had either "intended" to commit an offence or had the knife "available".

The judge said evidence suggested that Mr Dosa was a "low-level" cannabis dealer.

Mr Dosa had two sons, the judge was told.

One son, Adam, told the judge in a victim impact statement that his parents had separated and his father had turned to "alcohol and drugs" to "numb the pain".

He said he thought his father had been lonely.

"[My father's] last words to me were 'I love you son. I am so proud of you'," he said.

"I often beat myself up thinking I could have done more to help him."

Barrister Maria Karaiskos KC, who represented Hussain, told the judge there was no evidence of a "motive" for the murder, no evidence of planning or premeditation and no "intention to kill".

Two women have died and a man has been seriously injured after a crash in Moray.

The accident happened on the A98 between Buckie and Fochabers, near Enzie, shortly before 12:30 on Tuesday. It involved a Vauxhall Insignia and a Peugeot 2008.

The 32-year-old driver of the Vauxhall and the 77-year-old female passenger of the Peugeot were pronounced dead at the scene.

The 77-year-old male driver of the Peugeot was flown by air ambulance to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, where his condition was described as serious but stable.

Easter weekend has "traditionally" been a busier time for the NHS in Devon and Cornwall, Devon's chief medical officer has warned.

Peter Collins said the regions' services would "remain open" and would "provide emergency services for those in need".

But he stressed a rise in holidaymakers could result in longer wait times over the weekend and people should be aware of alternatives to going to hospital.

He said: "It is a busy period for us but all of our services have robust plans to make sure we have the right capacity to see people."

Mr Collins also advised those on long-term medication to ensure they are stocked up ahead of the weekend and to utilise their community pharmacist if they do need assistance.

"We ask people who have less urgent illnesses consider using 111 services and refer to our websites," he added.

"There may be some waits and we ask for patience for those people who are hard-working and delivering our services but there is enough capacity to see all those in need."

A heritage campaign group fighting to save a derelict pub thought to be about 300 years old from demolition have offered to take over the management of the site.

The Tithebarn in Preston, Lancashire, called last orders in 2016 and the building is now "beyond viable repair", the city's council has said.

The authority, which owns the building close to Preston bus station, has deemed it unsafe and recommended it for demolition.

However, Glenn Cookson of Preserving Preston's Heritage (PPH) said the building had "rich history" and was exploring the viability of turning it into a museum. Councillor Martyn Rawlinson said the council "would be happy to work with the group if the project was feasible".

'Passionate'

Mr Cookson, director of marketing and communications at PPH, said he would be "really saddened" if the city was to lose the building, which is attached to Grade II-listed mill building next door, formerly known as Aladdin's Cove warehouse.

He said it is was one of the first things passengers see when they arrive at the bus station and the group were "passionate" about protecting it.

Mr Cookson said the group was looking at setting up a community interest company and was in the early stages of exploring taking over the site, with an idea to use it as a heritage centre or people's history museum.

Rawlinson, the Labour councillor for Fishwick and Frenchwood, who is the main spokesman for the Tithebarn site, said the council welcomed the offer and it would be part of the considerations when making a decision on its future at a cabinet meeting on 18 June.

If demolition is approved, bulldozers would move in over summer and, under another plan being considered, the site could make way for a new public green featuring trees, shrubs, grassed areas and seating.

Underwater searches are under way at a West Yorkshire reservoir following reports a teenage girl had fallen in.

Police were called to the dam at Baitings Reservoir near Ripponden just after 13:15 BST following reports of a person in the water.

West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service said five crews were initially sent to the scene, aided by a crew from Littleborough in Greater Manchester, and two remain at the location. Ambulance crews are also in attendance.

West Yorkshire Police said: "Initially police, fire and ambulance were deployed to the scene, but the teenage girl could not be located. Searches are continuing this evening by underwater search teams, to try and locate her."

Officers appealed for anyone with information that could assist the search to get in touch.

West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds