Council failings a factor in death of foster carer run over by child, inquest finds
Failings by a local council contributed to the death of a woman who was killed when a 12-year-old boy she was fostering ran her over with her own car, an inquest has found.Marcia Grant, 60, suffered catastrophic injuries as she tried to stop the boy taking her car outside her home in the Greenhill area of Sheffield in April 2023.The boy, referred to as Child X, was jailed for two years in November 2023.He pleaded guilty to causing her death by dangerous driving, after a murder charge was dropped.On Tuesday, the South Yorkshire coroner Marilyn Whittle recorded a narrative conclusion after an inquest into Grant’s death.
She said the circumstances that led to the fatal incident “were contributed to by the failings of the Rotherham metropolitan borough council to have appropriate systems and processes in place when placing foster children, including but not limited to the lack of accurate and complete documentation, failure to communicate risks and concerns appropriately, failure to conduct appropriate risk assessments and failing to safeguard those in their care”.The coroner said she would be writing a prevention of future deaths report, addressing issues including the council’s lack of documentation and failure to complete forms as well as a shortage of placements, although she said this was a national issue and not limited to Rotherham.The inquest heard Grant had been fostering for seven years and she and her husband, Delroy, were highly regarded by the council’s fostering team.They were caring for another child, referred to as Child Y, when the council put out a call for an emergency placement for Child X.The inquest heard the couple volunteered to take him despite them being categorised as only able to take in one child at a time because of Child Y’s complexities.
The inquest heard that Child X had a youth caution for possessing a knife and had at times talked about wanting to be part of gang culture, but this information was not included on the “deficient” initial placement referral form, and that Grant’s decision to take him “was made without her full knowledge of Child X’s risks”,After the inquest, Grant’s son Shaun Grant said his mother deserved better and would not have taken Child X if she had known his full history,He said the family “wholly welcome the coroner’s findings that our mum was failed on numerous fronts and that these failures directly contributed to her death”,“We have been on an agonising journey to uncover the truth behind the events and systemic failings that led to the death of our beloved mum, Marcia Grant,” he said, reading a statement alongside his sister Gemma Grant,“What has become evident over the last few weeks leaves us with no doubt that our mum was failed, our family was failed, and so too the foster child that was in our long-term care.
”He added: “Whilst this leaves us with a sense of vindication, it also serves to reinforce to us how badly she was failed,.If not for these failures, our mum would still be with us here today.”
How to turn veg scraps into a delicious dip – recipe | Waste not
My friend Hayley North is a retreat chef whose cooking is inspired by the Chinese “five elements” theory: fire, earth, metal, water and wood. Each element corresponds to a colour and an organ in the body (earth, for example, is yellow and linked to the spleen). Years ago, Hayley made me the most deliciously vibrant and earthy bright-red dip from kale, and today’s recipe is a homage to her nourishing, elemental approach, while also saving scraps from the bin.I love the adage “eat the rainbow”. Yes, it’s a bit corny, but it works, and sometimes the simplest advice is really the best
Frittata, ‘egg and chips’ and a bean feast: Sami Tamimi’s brunch recipes from Palestine
What better way to welcome the weekend than with the smell and sound of herb-loaded ijeh frying? This is a thick, delicious frittata-like mixture of courgettes, leeks, peas, herbs and eggs, and in Palestine it’s often made with finely chopped onions, too. I always keep a couple of tins of ful (fava beans) in my pantry for those times when I crave a quick and satisfying late breakfast or weekend lunch. When simple toast and butter won’t do the trick and I’m in need of something more substantial and savoury, that’s when fava beans come to the rescue.You can substitute the eggs with feta for an extra-creamy and salty touch. Alternatively, the dish works beautifully as a vegan dish without the eggs
Jam tarts and summer pudding cake: Nicola Lamb’s recipes for baking with mixed berries
First up, a crostata-inspired jam tart that’s perfect for afternoon tea or nibbling throughout the day. Fennel seeds in the buttery pastry give a subtle flavour surprise, although you could omit them, or try coriander seeds or ginger instead. A small batch of jam is surprisingly quick to make, but you can, of course, use shop-bought, or make use of one of those jars living rent-free in your cupboard. Then, a summer pudding-inspired cake that makes a delightful centrepiece – the juices from the berries absorb into the top third of the sponge, giving it a gorgeous, ombre tone that looks as beautiful as it tastes.Use a mixture of whatever berries are plentiful; frozen will work well, too
Georgina Hayden’s recipe for spiced crab egg fried rice
Crab deserves to be celebrated, but that doesn’t mean it has to be a super-fancy, laborious meal. Crab midweek? Yes, please, and fried rice is my fallback whenever I am in a dinner pickle. That’s not to belittle its deliciousness, complexity or elegance, though, because this spiced crab version can be as fancy as you like. That said, the speed and ease with which I can create a meal that I know everyone will love is the winning factor. Plus, I often have leftover cooked, chilled rice in the fridge, anyway, which is always the clincher (cooked rice has a better texture for frying once chilled)
Rukmini Iyer’s quick and easy recipe for courgette linguine with trout, lemon and dill | Quick and easy
This is such a lovely, summery dish: it takes under 30 minutes from start to finish, and I found it immensely reviving after a long day. The grated courgette melts into the pasta, and works perfectly with the lemon, trout and a hit of chilli. If you have one of those multi-nut and seed mixes (the M&S 35-plant one is excellent), by all means add a scoop to finish; otherwise, a scattering of toasted pine nuts will add a welcome crunch. An elegant dinner for two.Prep 10 min Cook 20 min Serves 22 trout fillets 2½ tbsp olive oilSea saltJuice and finely grated zest of ½ lemon, plus 2 lemon slices180g linguine 2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely grated1 tsp chilli flakes1 large courgette, trimmed and coarsely grated10g fresh dill, roughly chopped 4 tbsp pine nuts, or 4 tbsp omega nut and seed mixHeat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6
Bangkok Diners Club, Manchester M4: ‘This will soon be one of Manchester’s hottest dining tickets’ – restaurant review | Grace Dent on restaurants
Bangkok Diners Club feels a bit as if it’s tucked down a humid Rattanakosin sidestreet in the Thai capital’s old town, rather than in a room above a pub 6,000 miles away in Ancoats, Manchester. Husband-and-wife team Ben and Bo Humphreys have brought their joint skills to the Edinburgh Castle, an elegantly restored 19th-century pub with an upstairs restaurant that in recent years has made quite a name for itself; before the Humphreys’ arrival, this same space was the lair of Winsome’s Shaun Moffat, where plaudits and gongs were in ready supply, but then Moffat got his hands on his own place and this upstairs room needed a pair of cool, capable hands to take over.Look no further than Ben and Bo, who have a pedigree in forward-thinking Thai cuisine. Bo was born and raised in Thailand’s north-eastern Isaan region, before moving to Bangkok in her teens, while Ben has cooked at Manchester’s Thai fusion restaurant District and, before that, at Tattu, Rabbit in the Moon and Lucky Cat. After the closure of District in 2022, the couple spent three years eating their way across Thailand and the US, picking up inspiration for dishes in which authentic Thai flavours, and occasionally Bo’s family-favourite recipes, could merge with the Korean and Mexican barbecue flavours of Miami smokehouses
US adds 147,000 jobs in June, surpassing expectations amid Trump trade war
Reeves’s fearsome challenge: to balance backbenchers and bond markets
AI helps find formula for paint to keep buildings cooler
Google undercounts its carbon emissions, report finds
India bat England into submission as Stokes’ threadbare attack drags its feet | Andy Bull
Jack Draper knocked out of Wimbledon by inspired comeback kid Marin Cilic