The Times - UK (2021-11-10)

2 2GM Wednesday November 10 2021 | the times

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The mother of a corporal who served in

the special forces has criticised the

“casual and incompetent” care he re-

ceived before his suspected suicide.

Corporal Alexander Tostevin served

with the Special Boat Service (SBS) and

was mentioned in dispatches for his

gallantry in fighting the Taliban in

Afghanistan.

He was permanently scarred by the

events he witnessed during his first tour

of duty in 2010, including seeing child-

ren with bombs strapped to them.

His mother, Alison Tostevin, wept as

she told his inquest yesterday how his

mental health deteriorated in the years

that followed and he became a “shell” of

himself, mired in debt and drink and

drug problems. She claimed the Minis-

try of Defence had failed to provide ad-

equate support even when it knew he

had sat in a darkened flat with a “noose

around his neck”.

Tostevin was a serving marine until

he was found dead in Poole on March

18, 2018. His mother, a teacher, said: “I

didn’t know there was a problem with

Alex’s care before I got the files ... The

Mother of dead corporal

attacks MoD’s ‘lack of care’

Larisa Brown Defence Editor thing that disturbed me and trauma-

tised me the most is that everyone

knew for two days before my son died

— the MoD knew, the welfare officer

knew — that my son had sat in his flat

in a darkened room with a noose

around his neck, contemplating whe-

ther to kick away the chair.”

She added: “Welfare officer, I re-

minded you in an email confirming that

everyone knew that’s what my son had

done... Our precious son is gone, and

his care was casual and incompetent

and careless, and you have destroyed

us.”

Tostevin, from Guernsey, survived

being shot in the head when a bullet

skirted the inside of his helmet during a

firefight in Sangin, Helmand province,

in July 2010. He was knocked to the

ground but then got to his feet and, dis-

missing the wound as a “scratch”, re-

turned fire, enabling two of his com-

rades who had been pinned down to

make their escape.

His citation said: “Tostevin remained

steadfast at his sentry position. He only

sought medical assistance once the

patrol was out of danger.” The inquest

at Bournemouth town hall continues.

Extra lay-bys

for new smart

motorways

Ben Clatworthy

Transport Correspondent

More than 80 miles of smart motor-

ways under construction will be fitted

with additional emergency areas.

National Highways, the agency re-

sponsible for the motorways, is assess-

ing where extra lay-bys can be fitted to

make the schemes safer. Between 2014

and 2019, 38 people were killed on

smart motorways.

Grant Shapps, the transport

secretary, said last year that new smart

motorways should have refuges —

where cars can stop in the event of

breakdown — at intervals of no more

than a mile. At present, the lay-bys are

1.5 miles apart, which safety campaign-

ers say is unsafe.

“We are actively looking at where we

can build additional emergency areas

on motorways currently under con-

struction,” David Bray, National High-

ways smart motorways programme

director, said. “We have listened to driv-

ers’ concerns about being able to find a

safe place to stop in an emergency.”

Dozens of foreign criminals due to be

deported to Jamaica today were

removed from a chartered flight at the

last minute after last-ditch appeals

from human rights lawyers.

A father of four who swallowed razor

blades to avoid being deported on a

similar flight in August was one of 50

offenders who the Home Office

originally booked on the flight.

The man, in his thirties, was convict-

ed of actual bodily harm (ABH) but

claimed he would die of destitution if he

was removed to Jamaica because he

does not know anyone there, having

come to the UK as a child.

He was one of four individuals still

due to be deported last night who

migrated to the UK before they were 12

years old. Another arrived when he was

aged just three months and faced being

deported to a country that he had no

memory of.

All but 13 of the 50 due to be on the

chartered flight had been removed as of

last night after legal appeals on the

grounds that they would be victims of

modern slavery or face human rights

abuses. Those on the original flight list

Criminals escape deportation

flight after last-minute appeals

Matt Dathan Home Affairs Editor have served combined prison

sentences of more than 135 years for

crimes including rape, paedophilia,

firearms and drug offences, ABH, GBH

and kidnapping.

The flight was due to take off from

Birmingham in the early hours of this

morning and was scheduled to land in

Kingston, Jamaica, by lunch time.

Others who were booked on the

flight included a grandmother and her

daughter who overstayed their visas.

Activists blocked the road outside

Brook House, an immigration deten-

tion centre near Gatwick, in an attempt

to prevent the deportations yesterday.

Campaigners have accused the

government of breaching a deal signed

with Jamaica last year to stop deporting

criminals who came to the UK aged

under 12. However, Home Office

sources said the deal only related to a

specific deportation flight last Decem-

ber and said the UK Borders Act 2007

passed by the last Labour government

allowed the deportation of individuals

who came to the UK as minors.

The Home Office has said there has

been a huge increase in the number of

late claims by individuals due for

deportation over the past year. There

has been a particular increase in the use

of the Modern Slavery Act by victims

who use provisions under the law to

claim they have been, or risk becoming,

victims of modern slavery if they are

deported. The number of foreign

national offenders who have been

referred as potential victims of modern

slavery has more than quadrupled

since 2018 — from 19 per month to

85 per month this year.

The Home Office refused to com-

ment on individual cases. A spokesman

said: “Those with no right to be in the

UK and foreign national offenders

should be in no doubt that we will do

whatever is necessary to remove them.

This is what the public rightly expects

and why we regularly operate flights to

different countries.

“We are committed to tackling the

heinous crime of modern slavery, but

we will not tolerate those who seek to

abuse the system to prevent their lawful

removal.

“That is why we fully review all cases,

with many going through the courts, to

ensure there are no outstanding legal

barriers — such as modern slavery or

trafficking claims — that would

prevent removal from the UK.”

Ministers will block an inquiry from

investigating the lawyers involved in the

subpostmasters miscarriage of justice

scandal because it would “slow down”

proceedings, campaigners have claimed.

A legal academic has told the

Williams inquiry into the Horizon

computer fault, which resulted in

hundreds of subpostmasters being

wrongly prosecuted, that it should

investigate the role of lawyers that

represented the Post Office.

It is understood that Post Office

executives have indicated that the

company would consider waiving

professional privilege so that its lawyers

DAB RADIO l ONLINE l SMART SPEAKER l APP

To day’s highlights

7.20am

11.40am

2pm

8.30pm

10.30pm

Sajid Javid, the health secretary

Andy Burnham, right, the mayor of Greater

Manchester

Mariella Frostrup chats to Ed Balls about his

new documentary, Inside the Care Crisis

The writer and former I’m a Celebrity winner

Giovanni Fletcher on her new book, Walking

on Sunshine

Carole Walker’s MPs’ panel review the

day’s political news

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TODAY’S EDITION

Gove targets

Grenfell firms

Michael Gove has

indicated he will go

after big building

materials companies

whose products were

used on Grenfell

Tower to help fund

work on unsafe

buildings. Page 33

Trafficking

suspects held

A 41-year-old man
educated at a public
school has been
arrested after Albanian
migrants were found in
the boot of his car as
he returned from what
he claimed was a
romantic break. Page 18

Stream of

Netflix lawsuits

Netflix faces lawsuits

from the subjects of

some of its biggest hits.

Among them is the

former grandmaster

Nona Gaprindashvili,

who says her portrayal

in The Queen’s Gambit

was sexist. Page 31

BREAK THE SPELL

Wicked fans don’t
want James Corden

in musical film

PA G E 2 0

TRAVIS SCOTT

The $60m rapper

whose concert

ended in tragedy

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HADRIAN’S VILLA

Tiles shed light on

richly decorated

Roman palace

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COMMENT

Lord Frost should take the EU offer on the table

and not expect MPs to back another fiasco

DANIEL FINKELSTEIN, PAGE 23

COMMENT 23

THUNDERER 24

LEADING ARTICLES 27

MARKETS 42

REGISTER 49

COURT CIRCULAR 51

SPORT 55

CROSSWORD 66

TV & RADIO TIMES

could give evidence, but that no com-

mitment has been given. Campaigners

have told The Times that they fear that

the Department for Business, Energy

and Industrial Strategy will attempt to

stymie that strand of investigation by

claiming that the lawyers’ role was pe-

ripheral.

There are also concerns that minis-

ters will argue that investigating law-

yers would sap the inquiry’s resources.

In April the Court of Appeal quashed

the fraud convictions of 39 subpost-

masters in the UK’s biggest miscarriage

of justice. Post Office executives were

accused of ruining hundreds of lives —

with some subpostmasters having

served jail sentences — after they intro-

duced the Horizon computing system

into branches 22 years ago and then

brought private prosecutions based on

its faulty evidence.

In July appeal judges quashed

another 12 convictions and the inquiry,

led by Sir Wyn Williams, a retired High

Court judge, was established in Sep-

tember. It is expected to take evidence

over the next year.

Richard Moorhead, a professor of law

and professional ethics at Essex Uni-

versity, said it was crucial that the in-

quiry investigate whether “lawyers did

the bidding of the Post Office in ways

found by the High Court to be oppress-

ive and misleading, and the appeal court

found to be an affront to public justice”.

Post Office lawyers ‘must face scrutiny’

Jonathan Ames Legal Editor

Banca do Antfer

Telegram: https://t.me/bancadoantfer

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