Published: 12 December 2011

Coleen Rooney was subjected to a £5,000 blackmail plot involving hundreds of personal family photos on her stolen camera, a court has heard.

Jennifer Green, 25, and Steven Malcolm, 42, both from Manchester, are accused of demanding the cash from the celebrity wife of Manchester United and England striker Wayne Rooney.

Both defendants, who deny the charges, were arrested after Coleen Rooney's mobile phone went missing while at a concert at the MEN Arena in Manchester in May 2010. Green's partner, Lee Platt, has already admitted handling stolen goods and blackmail, the jury at Manchester Crown Court heard.

Deborah Gould, prosecuting, said: "The prosecution case is that these two defendants together with Lee Platt, who is the partner of Jennifer Green, came into possession of the camera and the memory card, and then sought by unlawful means to make money out of the situation.

"It would have been obvious to anyone who saw the contents of the memory card who the images on it were of and that they were personal family photographs of the Rooney family. Most importantly however, they would have realised, and did, that their contents had a commercial value because of the fact of Coleen and Wayne Rooney's celebrity.

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Published: 11 December 2011

The board of Lloyds Banking Group is expected to decide this week whether chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio is fit enough to return to work.

The Portuguese banker, who was signed off work last month with exhaustion, has already had one-to-one meetings with some non-executive directors about continuing in his post.

More discussions are set to take place this week before Thursday's board meeting, when a decision on Mr Horta-Osorio's future may be made, the Sunday Times said.

UK Financial Investments, which manages the Treasury's 41% stake in Lloyds, is also understood to have told the bank it is happy for him to carry on.

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Published: 11 December 2011

Millions of Christmas shoppers hit the stores this weekend, helping to boost dwindling retail figures.

Retailers across the UK slashed their prices to entice shoppers into stores over what is traditionally one of the busiest shopping weekends of the year.

More than 1.5 million shoppers flooded London's West End, spending £180 million on Saturday, the New West End Company, which represents 600 traders in Oxford Street, Regent Street and Bond Street, said.

The company anticipates that a further £100 million will go through the tills on Sunday, with people taking advantage of weekend-only discounts and give-aways - and the added incentive of traffic-free streets on Oxford Street and Regent Street.

Richard Dickinson, chief executive of the New West End Company, said: "Christmas has really gone off with a bang this weekend. Based on past experience we were confident that despite the slow start to seasonal spending, shoppers would get the tills ringing over the next two weeks but this weekend has exceeded expectations.

"Compared to VIP Day last year, when Sunday saw traffic come back into the area, retailers are reporting significant rise in sales, with winter fashion and technology the most popular items.

"It's a real shoppers market out there with stores offering discounts of up to 50% and the tactic is working with £20 million going through the tills in the first three hours of Saturday's trading."

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Published: 01 December 2011

The owner of Hungry Horse and Loch Fyne Restaurants has said that 3,000 new jobs are on the menu as it gears up for more growth in the eating-out market.

Suffolk-based Greene King wants to create the roles over three years as part of plans to boost its estate to 1,100 managed pubs and restaurants, up from the 950 it has now.

The expansion has been driven by strong food sales as consumers trade down from more expensive restaurant-only competitors.

Greene King said new sites and strong demand helped total food sales jump 16.3% in the first six months of its financial year. Overall revenues were a record £527.5 million, up 9% on a year earlier, and meant profits for the group lifted by 5.6% to £73.1 million in the six months to October 16.

The company said there were more opportunities for growth.

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Published: 27 November 2011

A political blogger has been summoned to appear before the Leveson Inquiry into press standards after evidence from former Number 10 communications chief Alastair Campbell was leaked online.

Mr Campbell submitted papers containing a string of potentially-damaging claims to lawyers ahead of his appearance before Lord Justice Leveson next week.

But a link to the 16-page document today appeared on the Order-order website run by Paul Staines, under the name Guido Fawkes. Writing on his blog, Mr Staines highlights contentious elements in Campbell's evidence and claims to have obtained the papers legally.

A statement issued by the Leveson Inquiry read: "Lord Justice Leveson was extremely concerned to hear that, on November 27 2011, a copy of the evidence that Mr Alastair Campbell intended to provide to the inquiry was published on the 'Guido Fawkes' website.

"The website asserts that this statement was obtained by 'legal means' but Lord Justice Leveson will be enquiring further into this claim and Mr Paul Staines will be required to give evidence."

Mr Campbell, a former Daily Mirror journalist and spin doctor to Tony Blair, said he was "genuinely shocked" to see his evidence in the public domain.

His statement will now be published on the inquiry website on Monday, rather than on Wednesday following his appearance as would be the norm.

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Published: 20 November 2011

Ministers are to order a review of the nursery school free milk scheme claiming abuse of the system means the Government is being billed up to £1 a pint.

Internal Department of Health audits revealed middlemen are charging around double the retail cost under a "scam" that is costing taxpayers an extra £10 million a year.

A loophole in the system means the Government is obliged to pick up the bill, regardless of cost, submitted by firms that are acting as schools' go-between with suppliers.

Government sources insisted every eligible child will continue to receive their free milk despite the planned shake-up of the service next year. One option that will be considered is setting up a system of national suppliers to cut out the middlemen.

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Published: 19 November 2011

Allowing tenants to buy their council homes for as little as half the value will not solve the housing crisis, Labour has claimed.

Prime Minister David Cameron and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg are due to unveil the Government's housing strategy on Monday, which is expected to include offering right-to-buy discounts of up to 50%.

The maximum reduction currently allowed is £38,000 but that would rise to £76,000 in areas with the highest property prices, according to the Times. On average, council home discounts would double from £26,000 to £52,000. Other measures in the package, which is aimed at reviving he housing market and solving the UK homes shortage, include restoring rules allowing first-time buyers to be able to apply for 95% mortgages, it was reported.

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Published: 16 November 2011

British Gas is planning to cut around 850 jobs after reviewing resource levels in its services business, the company has announced.

The cuts, revealed just hours after grim new unemployment figures, will focus on management and support roles, said the firm.

A statement said: "Household budgets are stretched, customers are looking for maximum value for money, and if we are going to remain competitive and offer the best prices for our customers, we need to reduce our costs.

"We have therefore reviewed resource levels in our services business, and are now proposing a reduction of around 850 roles.

"We will work to ensure continued high levels of service for our customers. We will now move into a consultation period to discuss these proposals in more detail with our people and their representatives.

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Published: 10 November 2011

The Duke of Cambridge will fly search and rescue helicopter missions in the Falkland Islands next spring, the Ministry of Defence has announced.

William, a Flight Lieutenant with the RAF, will be posted to the remote outcrop in the South Atlantic from February to March for six weeks.

His deployment was announced in the summer but it has taken until now to work out when he could serve on the British overseas territory.

The 30th anniversary of the Falklands War will be commemorated next year and the duke's arrival may inflame relations between the British and Argentine Governments.

President Cristina Kirchner accused David Cameron in the summer of "mediocrity bordering on stupidity" when the PM said the islands should remain a British territory, if that was the wish of its inhabitants. She has insisted Argentina and Britain should negotiate over the South Atlantic islands, over which the two countries fought a 10-week war in 1982.

Based at RAF Valley in Anglesey, north Wales, the Duke of Cambridge qualified as an RAF Search and Rescue Force helicopter co-pilot last September. In recent months he has been intensifying his work with the aim of qualifying for a captaincy.

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Published: 10 November 2011

A second operation to clear travellers from legal settlements at Dale Farm may be necessary, a council leader has said.

Speaking as the operation to secure the UK's largest illegal travellers' site neared completion, Basildon Council leader Tony Ball said two keys challenges remained.

The first was to ensure that travellers did not reoccupy the six acre illegal half of the site in Crays Hill, Essex.

The second was to stop travellers over-occupying adjacent legal plots. Some 50 caravans are thought to be on the legal site at present, exceeding planning regulations.

Mr Ball said: "Although the majority of the 400 people who lived on Dale Farm have moved on and there have been no complaints of trespass linked to them, it seems many have moved on to the legal side of the site.

"This may exceed planning regulations and we will be looking at the extent of that. Also, because the caravans are packed very tight, it poses a health and safety risk.

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