The Times - UK (2022-05-24)

the times | Tuesday May 24 2022 5

News

A nurse has been arrested after a child
she was treating as a patient died from
a suspected poisoning.
Detectives from West Midlands
police questioned the 27-year-old
woman after the death last week in the
intensive care unit at Birmingham
Children’s Hospital.
She was arrested at her home last
Thursday, hours after the child’s death
and questioned on suspicion of admin-
istering poison with intent to endanger
life. She has been released on bail pend-

The school attended by an 11-year-old
boy who had his finger amputated after
an attack by racist bullies closed for
safety reasons yesterday.
Pupils at Abertillery Learning Com-
munity secondary school were told to
stay at home amid fears of a protest.
The school said that pupils studied
remotely and were expected to be able
to return to classes today.
Raheem Bailey, who had allegedly
been bullied since starting at the school
in September, was pushed to the ground
and kicked last week. As he tried to flee
he climbed over a fence and severely in-
jured his finger. He waited five hours for

A

nneka Rice

will be

strapping on

her 1990s

Lycra and

enlisting the support of

Dave the soundman as

Challenge Anneka

returns to television

after a 15-year hiatus

(Jake Kanter writes).

Channel 5 has revived

the BBC1 programme

for a four-part series and

Rice has promised fans

that the reboot will be

faithful to the original.

The format featured

Rice, 63, dashing around

the nation in a blue

lorry completing

altruistic challenges for

communities and

persuading people and

companies to donate

their time and

resources. Challenge

Anneka was piloted

during Children in Need

in 1987 before the first

full series was broadcast

two years later. It ran for

seven seasons and was

revived for two special

episodes by ITV in 2006

and 2007. Channel 5’s

version will be the first

full series since 1995.

Rice said she had

considered several offers

to return to the show

but was won over by the

vision of Ben Frow,

Channel 5’s chief

content officer, to go

back to basics. “He

didn’t want to change

anything. He wanted it

analogue. He wanted

Dave [Chapman] the

soundman, the truck,”

Rice told Today on BBC

Radio 4. “That has

absolutely powered this

whole thing really,

because before we were

sort of confused. Should

we make it a comedy

programme? One

broadcaster wanted me

to do it with a comedian.

I don’t think it needs it

because, at the end of

the day, it’s about

community.”

Filming is yet to begin

and Rice said she

wanted members of the

public to submit projects

for the show. She added:

“The last few years have

shown us all the power

of community and how

it’s good to be part of

something bigger than

ourselves.”

Channel 5 has

undergone big changes

under Frow’s leadership,

evolving from a reliance

on American imports

and Big Brother to

attracting household

names including Sir

Michael Palin and

Andrew Marr. The

broadcaster, owned by

Paramount, the US

media giant, has been

opportunistic, picking

up unwanted BBC

brands such as Eggheads

and Cash in the Attic.

Channel 5 enjoyed its

best ratings since 2009

last year, bucking the

trend of declining

TV consumption. Its

share of viewing

increased by 5 per cent

and its primetime

audience was up 11 per

cent.

Back to the 1990s, Times

Fifteen years on,

Anneka Rice is back

for a new challenge

Anneka Rice in

the original show.

She says the new

series will stick

to the basics

AAn

tth

SSh

sse

tto

ALAMY

School of bullied boy who lost finger tells pupils not to come in

an ambulance and then spent six hours

in surgery. Doctors decided the finger

could not be saved and amputated it.

Blaenau Gwent council has said that

the bullying incident is being investi-

gated and the police are involved.

A GoFundMe campaign set up by his

mother, Shantal Bailey, 28, has raised al-

most £100,000. She said she had been

“appalled” by the school’s reaction since

her campaign was widely publicised.

“They’ve sent out a generic message to

all the parents , which I received as well,

saying they are concerned because of all

the media coverage for their staff and

pupils’ safety. Well my child is a pupil of

theirs and he was damaged.

“He was running away because he

was so tired of being picked on every day.

I mean some of the things he has said to

me, it’s just massively, massively dis-

gusting and I don’t know how

any teachers that are meant

to be protecting my child

have not seen or heard

anything at all.”

She started the

fundraising page to

help raise money for

a prosthetic finger

and “any additional

cost to get him on the

road to recovery”. Her target was

£10,000. Jadon Sancho, the Manchester

United footballer, and Anthony

Joshua, the heavyweight

boxing champion, have

sent Raheem messa-

ges of support.

Bailey said she

was “truly grateful”

and that support-

ers were helping

to raise awareness

of bullying and

racism.

Blaenau Gwent

council said: yester-

day: “Due to the serious

nature and content of

some of the social media activity over

the past few days, a decision was made

on Sunday evening on health and

safety grounds to move all Abertillery

Learning Community campuses to

blended learning on Monday 23 May.

“The safety and wellbeing of all

learners and staff remains paramount.

We have continued to closely monitor

the situation and can confirm that all

campuses at Abertillery Learning

Community will be open to learners as

normal on Tuesday, 24 May.”

A spokesman for Abertillery Learn-

ing Community said it was working

with Gwent police to establish exactly

what had happened to Raheem.

Anti-racism hotline, page 21

Laurence Sleator

Raheem Bailey spent six

hours in surgery but his

finger could not be saved

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Nurse held over child’s death from ‘poison’

ing further inquiries. The arrest is said

to have sent “shock waves” through the

hospital. The Nursing and Midwifery

Council said it would act if evidence

was found against the woman, who has

been suspended.

Police began the investigation after

the Birmingham Women’s and Child-

ren’s NHS Foundation Trust reported

concerns about the child’s sudden

death and potential breaches of its safe-

guarding policy. Police said they were

waiting for test results and the family of

the child were being supported.

A source told The Sun that the

hospital would be examining any other

deaths of patients treated by the

nurse.

“This has sent shockwaves through

the trust. This is incredibly rare and dis-

turbing. It’s incredibly serious. The

nurse has been suspended and this will

now mean a major investigation. No

doubt the hospital will also be looking

at previous cases she has been involved

in. Cases like these are horrendous,” the

source said.

The trust runs the hospital, which is

one of the top paediatric centres in the

country and cares for 90,000 children

each year. A spokesman said: “Follow-

ing the death of an infant at our paedi-

atric intensive care unit at Birmingham

Children’s Hospital, we have asked

West Midlands police to examine what

has happened, in line with our own

safeguarding policy.

“The staff member involved has been

suspended by the trust after following

the national process on the sudden un-

expected death of a child.

“We are supporting the infant’s

family at this distressing time and ask

that privacy is respected during this

process.”

Neil Johnston

Birmingham Children’s Hospital is one

of the country’s top paediatric centres