A man who subjected a woman to a campaign of abuse has been sent to prison after his sentence was referred to the Court of Appeal by the Solicitor General, Alex Chalk QC MP.

Over a period of more than two and a half years, Tatenda Nyagumbo, 22, subjected the victim to a campaign of abuse, and controlling and coercive behaviour. The offending began in January 2017 after Nyagumbo met the victim while they were both living in a care home. Nyagumbo frequently strangled the victim, as well as carrying out other assaults. The victim sustained a broken nose during one of the attacks and the offender also threw water and dog faeces at her, as well as filming her when she was distressed and threatening to share the recordings.

Nyagumbo was abusive and controlling throughout the relationship. He stopped the victim from seeing her family and locked her in the house. The offender prevented the victim from reporting the incidents and stopped her from returning to the care home until her bruises had diminished.

On 18 October 2021, at Croydon Crown Court, Nyagumbo was convicted of controlling or coercive behaviour. He was sentenced to 2 years’ imprisonment suspended for 2 years. He also received a 40-day rehabilitation activity requirement and was ordered to carry out 140 hours of unpaid work.

Following the sentencing, the Solicitor General referred Nyagumbo’s original sentence to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence (ULS) scheme.

On 21 December the Court of Appeal found his original sentence to be unduly lenient and increased it to 24 months’ imprisonment.

Speaking after the hearing, the Solicitor General, Alex Chalk QC MP said:

Nyagumbo subjected his victim to a prolonged campaign of abuse and violent behaviour, even preventing her from seeing her family. His controlling and coercive behaviour will have a lasting impact on the victim. I hope the Court’s decision to impose a custodial sentence can bring some closure to the victim.

This job puts you at heart of authorising veterinary medicines for the UK market and plays a major role in assuring the quality and hence the safety and efficacy of these medicines.

You will lead the Quality team, one of three specialist teams within the Pharmaceuticals Section, which is in turn part of the Authorisations Division.

Job Title

Head of the Pharmaceutical Quality Team

Grade

Grade 7

Salary & Pension

£52,289 – £60,188 plus 5% supervisory allowance per annum with Pension Scheme

Annual Leave entitlement

Commencing at 25 days

Role

You will contribute to the VMD’s aims and objectives by leading the team of quality assessors to:

• deliver consistently high standards of assessment of applications
• deliver activities related to the VMD’s international activities
• deliver the VMD’s regulatory science strategy
• support the delivery of the VMD’s International strategy
• develop regulatory and scientific guidelines
• participate in delivery of wider cross VMD business activities

How to apply

You must make your application via Civil Service Jobs on GOV.UK where you will find a full job description including salary details.

Closing Date

16 January 2022

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said:

We want a constructive relationship with the EU, underpinned by trade and our shared belief in freedom and democracy. Resolving the current issues is critical to unleashing that potential.

The UK position has not changed. We need goods to flow freely between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, end the role of the ECJ as the final arbiter of disputes between us, and resolve other issues.

We must pick up the pace on talks in the New Year. Our preference remains to reach an agreed solution.

If this does not happen, we are prepared to trigger Article 16 safeguards to deal with the very real problems faced in Northern Ireland and to protect the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement in all its dimensions.

ENDS

Environment Secretary George Eustice has appointed Sarah Mukherjee and Mark Suthern as Non-Executive Directors to the Environment Agency Board. The appointments will begin on 10 January 2022 and will run for four years until 9 January 2026.

Board members provide non-executive leadership challenge and support to the Environment Agency’s executive through regular Board meetings, committees and groups. They also undertake individual lead roles on relevant issues and with local operational teams.

All appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. The appointments comply with the Ministerial Code of Governance on Public Appointments. There is a requirement for appointees’ political activity (if significant) to be made public. Both Sarah and Mark have not declared any political activity in the past five years.

Environment Secretary George Eustice said:

I look forward to welcoming Sarah and Mark to the Environment Agency Board. Their skills, experience and enthusiasm will be an asset as we work together to build back greener and improve the environment for future generations.

Emma Howard Boyd, Chair of the Environment Agency, said:

Sarah and Mark join us at a critical moment for the environment and nature in England. Last year, more than 76,000 incidents were reported to the Environment Agency’s incident management service, including flood, drought, fires, fish kills and pollution incidents. That’s one every seven minutes.

Alongside incident response, the Environment Agency is helping protect the nation against flood risk, regulating industry and farming to protect our air, water and soils, delivering the government’s ambition to Build Back Greener, supporting communities and businesses prepare for climate shocks, helping lead the way to net zero by 2050 and creating a nature positive future.

I know that Sarah and Mark’s experience and skills will help the Environment Agency’s Board to deliver environmental improvements for years to come and I am delighted they are joining us.

The new appointments are based on a time commitment of four days per month and receive a remuneration rate of £16,800 per annum.

Biographies

Sarah Mukherjee

• Sarah Mukherjee is the Chief Executive of the Institute for Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA).
• She was the BBC’s Environment Correspondent for many years, presenting on national and international BBC radio and television.
• Since leaving the BBC, Sarah has had leadership roles in utilities and agriculture. She was a panel member for the National Parks Review and sits on the National Food Strategy Advisory Panel. She is a Trustee of the Woodland Trust, a governor of Harper Adams University and is Co-Chair of the Oxford Farming Conference.
• In 2021, Sarah was awarded an MBE for her services to agriculture and farmer well-being.

Mark Suthern

• Mark is a Non-Executive member of the Rural Payments Agency Advisory Management Board and its Audit and Risk Assurance Committee.
• He is an external Advisor for FixOurFood and a member of The Ceres Agri-Tech Investment Committee.
• Mark is the Chair of the Board of Trustees for The Farming Community Network charity and Trustee for the Institute of Agricultural Management. Mark is also a Lay-Canon and member of the Chapter at Lincoln Cathedral.
• Previously, Mark has held the role of Managing Director, and National Head of Agriculture and Landed Estates at Barclays UK Plc. In this role, he focused on farming, agri-tech, sustainability, energy and the environment.

Further information

• The Environment Agency is a Non-Departmental Public Body set up under the Environment Act 1995 to take an integrated approach to environmental protection and enhancement in England. It has major responsibilities in flood management, water resources and quality, climate change, land quality, chemicals, pollution prevention and control, waste, conservation and biodiversity, fisheries conservation, air quality and navigation.
• The Board for the Environment Agency comprises a Chair and 12 members.