SARAH EVERARD S shock disappearance while walking home in south-west London has sparked a huge debate about women s safety - especially in the capital.
BBC News
By Pritti Mistry
image captionPawel Relowicz displayed predatory behaviours of a sexual offender
Pawel Relowicz has been convicted of raping and murdering student Libby Squire. But she was not the first woman he targeted. In the months before her death, he prowled the streets of Hull committing a string of increasingly serious sex crimes. His first known victim has described her encounter with the peeping Tom who became a killer.
Sarah (not her real name) was sharing an intimate moment with her boyfriend.
It was a July evening in 2017, and the window of her downstairs bedroom at the front of a shared student house was opened slightly. Suddenly, the room brightened with the light from an outside street lamp, and she looked up to see the terrifying sight of a man s hands and face poking through the curtains.
DOMESTIC abuse rose by 10 per cent in a year, although overall crime was down during the Covid-19 pandemic, official figures show. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), 842,813 domestic abuse-related offences were recorded by police forces in England and Wales in the year ending September 2020 - up from 769,611he previous year. Last March, life as we knew it completely changed as the UK was plunged into a national lockdown which rose concerns over domestic abuse victims. Since then, the country has been plunged into more lockdowns and tier systems and support networks have had to adapt to adhere to social distancing guidelines.
BBC News
Published
image copyrightVisit Blackpool
image caption We are a family town, said councillor Adrian Hutton, the chair of the licensing committee
Blackpool is aiming to crack down on the number of adult entertainment venues in the town to boost its reputation as a family resort.
Councillors are being asked to approve plans to eliminate lap dancing clubs and allow only one sex shop to trade.
Its existing four clubs would be allowed to continue operating under the plans, but once licences lapse, they would not be renewed.
Venue regulations will also be tightened under the revised policy.
Licensing bosses said the move would enhance Blackpool s aim to be a family resort, reports the Local Democracy Reporting Service.