The life raft for fishing vessel Nicola Faith which went missing off the coast of Colwyn Bay on 27th January has been recovered. The raft was found off the coast of Kirkcudbrightshire by HM Coastguard and has been positively identified by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch as being from the Nicola Faith. The raft will be transported to the MAIB in Southampton for further investigation and analysis.

The investigation into the causes and circumstances surrounding the vessel’s loss is ongoing. The search for the vessel which is being co-ordinated by the MAIB is continuing. MAIB has been working with underwater search experts to cover a wide area including all of the vessel’s historic operating area.

The next of kin have been informed of this development.

Passengers travelling internationally from Monday 8 March 2021 will need to carry a new form that sets out their trip is permitted under the stay at home restrictions.

The simple form must be downloaded, signed before travel, and carried or downloaded onto a mobile phone.

Carriers will be checking the forms have been completed before boarding, either at check-in (online or at the check-in desk) or the departure gate. Passengers who do not have a valid form may be denied access to their booked service. Carriers will also be legally obliged to set out on their website that the form must be completed before travelling.

Police have been stepping up their presence at ports and airports in recent weeks. Officers will be conducting spot checks and have the power to ask travellers to produce a completed form. It will be an offence to fail to produce a completed form and individuals could face a £200 fine.

Stay-at-home rules are still in place, which means it is illegal to travel abroad without a permitted reason, such as for education or work.

The police will undertake spot checks at UK ports across the country to ensure passengers are complying with domestic lockdown rules. Passengers who are identified by police as attempting to travel internationally for reasons that are not currently permitted will be asked to return home and risk receiving a fixed penalty notice for breaking stay-at-home rules. These fines start at £200 and ladder up to a maximum of £6,400.

The Home Office announced an additional £60 million for police in February – including £2 million to cover the costs of extra activity by police at airports and ports – which brought the total amount of funding available to forces since the start of the pandemic to nearly £200 million.

The government has already put in place a range of tough measures to minimise the risk of COVID-19 transmission at the border, including the:

All international arrivals must also take a COVID-19 test on both day 2 and day 8 of their self-isolation period – with genome sequencing included within the cost of the testing bundle.

All measures will be kept under review and further action may be taken to protect the public.

The Prime Minister and Defence Secretary Ben Wallace are pleased to confirm that Chief of the Defence Staff General Sir Nicolas Patrick Carter GCB CBE DSO ADC Gen will be extended in his post until the end of November 2021.

Chief of the Defence Staff General Sir Nick Carter said:

It is a great honour to be asked to stay on as Chief of the Defence Staff. There is much to do. Last year’s substantial settlement of £24.1-billion for defence, announced by the Prime Minister in November, gives us the stability and confidence to modernise the armed forces to meet the challenges and seize the opportunities that will be laid out in the Integrated Review.

It is a great privilege to be at the heart of this and to play my part in ensuring that our soldiers, sailors, aviators, space and cyber warriors have the skills and equipment they need to win.

General Sir Nick Carter has been central to setting the vision for our future armed forces. The Prime Minister has asked General Carter to remain in post to ensure continuity and stability while the conclusions of the Integrated Review are implemented following the £24.1-billion settlement for defence announced last year. The Integrated Review will be published on 16 of March and the Defence Command Paper will be published on 22 of March. The selection of General Carter’s successor as Chief of the Defence Staff will begin in the autumn.

The Chief of the Defence Staff is the professional head of the armed forces and the principal military adviser to the Defence Secretary and the Prime Minister. The average tenure of a Chief of the Defence Staff has been 3 years, although several have served less, and a small number have served for 4 years. The longest any Chief of the Defence Staff has served is 6 years, when Admiral of the Fleet Earl Mountbatten held the role from 1959 to 1965.

General Sir Nick Carter has been in post since June 2018, when he took over from Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach GBE KCB ADC DL. Prior to his appointment as Chief of the Defence Staff, General Sir Nick Carter was Chief of the General staff, Head of the British Army, for four years. Joining the Army in 1977, he commissioned from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst into The Royal Green Jackets and has served in Germany, Cyprus, Bosnia, Kosovo, Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan.

A man who robbed a disabled victim has had his sentence increased following intervention by the then Solicitor General, Rt Hon Michael Ellis QC MP.

Derek Brian, who has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair, left his front door slightly open after letting his cat out on 18 November 2019. A few seconds later, Amaraze Khan, 34, entered the property through the front door and questioned Mr Brian as to what he could steal.

Mr Brian manoeuvred his wheelchair towards his side table, attempting to reach his mobile phone. Khan quickly leaned over him and took the mobile phone. He then tipped Mr Brian out of his wheelchair and onto the floor before leaving the property. Mr Brian managed to call the police who assisted him back into his wheelchair and Khan was later arrested.

On 7 January 2021, Khan was sentenced to 3 years and 6 months’ imprisonment at Sheffield Crown Court. Following a referral to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence (ULS) scheme by the then Solicitor General, on 5 March the sentence was found to be unduly lenient and has been increased to a sentence of 5 years’ imprisonment with a 3 year extended licence.

After the hearing at the Court of Appeal, the now Attorney General, Rt Hon Michael Ellis QC MP, said:

Khan targeted a vulnerable victim who could not defend himself. His cowardly actions have caused psychological harm to the victim and I welcome the Court of Appeal’s decision today.