Charges dropped against England goalkeeper Keating

A court case against England goalkeeper Khiara Keating has been dropped nearly a year after she pleaded not guilty to possessing canisters of nitrous oxide. The 20-year-old Manchester City goalkeeper was charged with possession of a Class C drug on 18 June last year after an investigation by Greater Manchester Police.In July, Keating appeared at Manchester and Salford Magistrates Court alongside her mother Nicola Keating, 48, who also denied the same offence, and both were granted unconditional bail.Greater Manchester Police has confirmed the case has been discontinued.In a statement given exclusively to BBC Sport, Keating said: "I'm relieved the charges have been dropped. As I've always said, I did nothing wrong. "It's been a difficult time, but I've always known the truth. Now I'm just looking forward to focusing fully on the Euros and spending time with my family."Nitrous oxide was made a Class C drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act in November 2023.Possession with the intention of wrongfully inhaling it for a psychoactive effect became an offence, but it is still possible to use the gas for legitimate reasons, such as in catering or pain relief during labour.Keating has not made an appearance for England's senior team yet but is part of the 23-player squad selected to compete at Euro 2025 next month.She became the youngest player to win the Women's Super League Golden Glove award last year, after keeping nine clean sheets in 22 league games.
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Daily Mirror

an hour ago

• Daily Mirror

England women's star cleared of drugs charge ahead of Euro 2025 - 'I'm relieved'

England and Manchester City goalkeeper Khiara Keating has seen charges of drug possession dropped by Greater Manchester Police. Charges of drug possession against England goalkeeper Khiara Keating have been dropped by Greater Manchester Police. The Manchester City keeper, 20, was charged last June along with her mother, Nicola Keating, 48, with possession of cannisters of the Class C drug nitrous oxide. Both pleaded not guilty at Manchester Magistrates' Court and were granted unconditional bail. The Crown Prosecution Service duly discontinued the case, Greater Manchester Police confirmed. ‌ Both women had been charged with possession of a Class C drug on 18 June last year following a police investigation. The pair appeared at Manchester and Salford Magistrates Court in July, where they denied the offence and were granted unconditional bail. ‌ At a second hearing in September, they reaffirmed their pleas, and a trial was scheduled for November 2025 but the case has now been dismissed. Keating, who is part of England's European Championship squad, said in a statement to the BBC: 'I'm relieved the charges have been dropped — as I've always said, I did nothing wrong. 'It's been a difficult time, but I've always known the truth. Now I'm just looking forward to focusing fully on the Euros and spending time with my family.' Nitrous oxide was made a Class C drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act in November 2023. Possession with the intention of wrongfully inhaling it for a psychoactive effect became an offence. The gas can still be used for legitimate reasons, such as in catering or pain relief during labour. Keating will travel to the Euros as a back-up to England's new first-choice keeper Hannah Hampton. Keating has yet to make her senior England debut but was included in Sarina Wiegman's 23-player squad despite her lack of experience. She played just 12 times for City in last season's Women's Super League, conceding 18 goals and keeping four clean sheets. The previous year she became the youngest player to win the Women's Super League Golden Glove award, keeping nine clean sheets in 22 league appearances. Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.

Times

an hour ago

• Times

Palestine Action group shows no signs of slowing down

'We are tired of being ignored. It is up to all of us to stop this complicity' were the words that launched Palestine Action almost five years ago. Founded by Huda Ammori, who has Palestinian and Iraqi heritage, and Richard Barnard, a veteran left-wing activist, the fledgling group said direct action should be taken against Elbit Systems, a weapons manufacturer that they claim 'profits from Israel's war crimes'. Two months later, in September 2020, they did just that. Activists occupied a factory in Shenstone, in Staffordshire, smashing windows, drilling holes into ceilings, throwing air conditioning units to the ground and dousing the building in red paint. The demonstration marked the start of co-ordinated attempts to damage both the defence firm facilities and finances across the country, which have propelled the group on a path towards proscription. Throughout 2021 Palestine Action widened its activities, occupying a drone factory in Leicester. The occupation lasted six days, and ten arrests were made for conspiracy to commit criminal damage and aggravated trespass. The defendants were cleared after the trial judge instructed the jury to consider the common law defence of Necessity. After launching their Scottish branch, they targeted Thales, another defence firm. Having infiltrated its Glasgow facility in 2022, the activists allegedly caused more than £1 million of damage. Five were jailed after members of the group threw a smoke bomb into an area where staff were being evacuated. Protesters in red suits and balaclavas also caused hundreds of thousands of pounds of damage to an electronics plant in Wales that year, which they believed was making circuit boards for Israeli drones. The group's activities ramped up after the October 7, 2023 attacks. As Israeli forces announced a 'full siege' on Gaza, Palestine Action published a list of over 50 targets 'complicit in Elbit's murderous arms trade'. A few days later they sprayed the headquarters of the BBC — which wasn't on the list — with red paint to 'symbolise complicity in genocide'. Protestors also blockaded Lockheed Martin in Bedford, smeared red paint over the Foreign Office and targeted the headquarters of aerospace firm Leonardo, at which two men were arrested for what the Met called racially aggravated criminal damage. Their actions began to go beyond scaling roof tops and breaking factory windows. Members of the campaign group allegedly used a modified prison van to ram the entrance of Elbit's Bristol HQ last summer. Once inside they dismantled weapons, allegedly caused £1 million in damage and assaulted two officers were with a sledgehammer, police said. Eighteen people were charged and held on remand over the break-in. Less than a month after members of Just Stop Oil threw tomato soup at Vincent van Gogh's Sunflowers painting, two Palestine Action members squirted tomato ketchup at a statue of former prime minister Arthur Balfour. The former foreign secretary has been a focus of activist anger as he was the signatory of the Balfour Declaration, a 1917 document that pledged support for the establishment of a 'national home for the Jewish people' in Palestine. In March 2024, the group used blades to slash a painting of Lord Balfour hanging in the University of Cambridge. Seven months later — to mark the declaration's anniversary — they reportedly stole two busts of Israel's first president from the University of Manchester's chemistry building. As Palestine Action grew in notoriety and numbers, the British state also became a target. Early in 2024, six members were arrested for allegedly plotting to prevent the London Stock Exchange from opening. Activists have inevitably attracted the attention of authorities and received jail time. Among the first to be hauled before the courts were five members in November 2022, who had covered Elbit's Kingsway offices in their, now signature, red paint. They were, however, acquitted by a jury of 'conspiracy to commit criminal damage' and the offices later closed. Palestine Action declared a victory for this and for the closure of an Elbit factory in Oldham, where their sustained protests had resulted in 36 arrests. In August 2024, five members of the group were handed custodial sentences for protest action. It took two years for the courts to hand out suspended prison sentences and order the protesters to pay more than £5,000 in compensation after seven activists broke into the Bristol headquarters of Elbit to destroy equipment. Zoë Rogers turned 21 in prison. She had been charged with criminal damage, violent disorder and aggravated burglary in relation to the Bristol incident after telling her mother, Clare, that the pro-Palestine marches 'weren't working'. She was denied bail and is on remand with a trial set for November 2025. Fatema Zainab was arrested and charged as part of the same operation. As the court system caught up in December 2023, two members of a group known as the Elbit Eight, Genevieve Scherer and Jocelyn Cooney, were acquitted on charges relatingfrom July 2020 to January 2021. Their defence had argued that they were justified in 'working to disrupt manufacture of Israel's weaponry'. Richard Barnard was convicted of one count of criminal damage at the now-closed Elbit factory in Oldham.

BBC News

an hour ago

• BBC News

Rural crime gangs 'scoping out' farms to steal equipment, NFU says

Organised crime groups are "scoping out" farms in order to steal equipment including quad bikes and 4x4s, Wales' leading farming union has said."They know where these items are and they often know where the keys are kept, so it can be very intrusive," said Abi Reader, National Farmers' Union (NFU) Cymru's deputy cost of rural crime fell across the UK in 2024 except in Wales where it rose by 18% to £2.8m, NFU research shows – however this was also one of the lowest figures across the Police said it was aware of the worry caused by rural crime, and would continue with operations and targeted patrols across the force area. As well as organised crime, rural crime issues include livestock theft, dog attacks and fly tipping, according to Reader, 43, described it as an "enormous issue" in Wales, ranging from everyday items being stolen to livestock attacks by dogs and damage to crops caused by also said the theft of quad bikes, which can cost several thousand pounds, was a particular issue."They seem to be high on the list of organised crime, and there are a lot of them in Wales."We're a livestock nation, and they're essential for day-to-day working life, so when they're stolen it has a huge emotional and financial impact."She added farmers were also concerned about the potential for thefts to happen "again and again and again"."These things come in waves, and we know organised crime groups are operating in communities. They're scoping out farms and they know where these items are," she said. Some farmers are increasing their own security by installing CCTV and placing trackers on their vehicles, but Ms Reader said police needed to place more resources on rural by the NFU said the total cost of rural crime in the UK fell by 16.5% last year from £52.8m in 2023 to £44.1m in 2024, praising the "power of collaboration" between farmers, police and figures show a fall in the cost of rural crime in all parts of the UK except in Wales, where it increased from £2.4m to £2.8m, a rise of 18%.Wales had the third lowest cost for rural crime in the UK in 2024, with only Northern Ireland (£1.8m) and Scotland (£1.2m) being lower, while the Midlands was the region with the highest cost at £8.1m. Garry Williams, 55, who runs a farm near Llangadog, Carmarthenshire, said he had had equipment such as chainsaws, farm tools and fencing materials stolen, as well as said organised crime groups will steal "anywhere between 12 to 15 quad bikes in the area, and that could be all over Carmarthenshire". "They'll strike in one area, and then move somewhere else," he said, adding there were concerns that some of these groups were becoming "more determined" and more willing to use violence."It does cause mental stress... it's not a nice feeling someone coming onto your farm, your property, at night," he Williams added livestock theft was also an issue, some of which was "farmer-to-farmer"."They'll load them up in the night and steal them and try and pass them onto an abattoir or the livestock market," he issues he raised were fly-tipping, particularly in remote areas, as well as dog attacks on livestock resulting from improved access to footpaths in rural areas."You can have the nicest dog in the world, but people often don't want to put them on a lead, and if they attack they can cause some really nasty injuries," he said. Mr Williams said he believed police resources was an issue when it comes to tackling rural he was positive about collaboration with Dyfed-Powys Police, including a recent meeting with the police commissioner, he urged the force to put more resources into the issue including having an inspector dedicated to tackling rural crime."It works when the infrastructure is in place, when there are officers who know about rural crime, but it can feel like a postcode lottery. What we want is consistency of that structure," he Police said it was "aware of the significant impact that crimes of this nature have on victims and the worry it can cause to the wider community".A spokesperson said officers from its rural crime team visited farms to conduct "crime prevention audits", while also providing DNA-marking kits to help protect "valuable equipment and machinery"."We will continue with operations and targeted patrols across the force area, however given the huge area we cover, it is difficult to be everywhere," they said.