Man Jailed For Murder Of Toddler Roxie Archer

A man has been jailed for a minimum term of 18 years after murdering a toddler he was looking after.

Roxie Archer, aged 23 months, suffered a fatal brain injury after she was "forcibly and repeatedly punched" by Ben Raftery, 21.

He was looking after the toddler for his girlfriend, who had flown out to New York for her 21st birthday.

Raftery called 999 in the early hours of March 10 and claimed that Roxie had fallen down the stairs at her home in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester.

She died in hospital the next day but staff found she had also suffered serious bruising and retinal haemorrhaging.

The post-mortem examination concluded the injuries were non-accidental and inflicted while the defendant was in sole charge of Roxie.

Raftery was "manipulative and controlling", said Sophie Archer

Extensive bruising to the face, head and limbs were also consistent with prodding or nipping having taken place, said medical experts.

Manchester Crown Court heard that Raftery first seemed to bond with the girl after moving in with her mother, Sophie Archer, but then started to engage in "cruel behaviour" towards her, such as holding her upside down by her ankle to "toughen her up".

Miss Archer said she had also been the victim of violence at the hands of her former boyfriend, but had been persuaded to let him look after her daughter for one night because he said he wanted to bond with her.

Raftery must serve at least 18 years of his life sentence before he can apply for parole.

The judge, Mr Justice Saunders, told Raftery: "It was an appalling crime which involved a grown and powerful man inflicting a number of hard blows on a toddler which were sufficiently forceful to cause devastating brain damage from which she died."

He added: "How the defendant caused any of the injuries to Roxie is not clear. But the jury have clearly rejected the defendant's account that they were caused by an accidental fall down the stairs."

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April Jones: Frantic Mum 'Searched In Bins'

CCTV footage has been released showing Mark Bridger's car and what is thought to be April Jones inside the vehicle on the evening she vanished.

The Land Rover is seen in the top right hand corner of the video passing a garage in Machynlleth, mid-Wales, around 7.20pm on October 1 last year.

Bridger, 47, has denied abducting and murdering the five-year-old, who went missing from her estate in the town some time after 7pm, a court heard.

But he admits running her over and says he does not remember what he did with her body.

According to the prosecution, Bridger told police when he was arrested that he had parked on the estate at 7.10pm and shortly afterwards he ran over April, found her unconscious, put her into the car and then drove off.

April Jones in a leisure centre a couple of hours before she vanished

Sky News crime correspondent Martin Brunt said: "The image released to the jury is about 10 minutes after that - so by Mark Bridger's own admission when that image was taken of his car driving out of Machynlleth, April was in his car.

"And according to what he told police, she was either dead by then or dying."

It comes as the jury in Bridger's murder trial heard of the frantic moments when April's parents learned their daughter was missing.

The police statements of Coral and Paul Jones were read to the court by prosecutor Elwen Evans QC, who outlined the family's day on October 1.

After April was collected from school, she was taken by her mother for a swimming lesson before they returned home for a tea of spaghetti on toast.

April watched a Disney film and then asked to go out and play on her bike with a friend, her mother said.

April, five, went missing on October 1 last year

Mrs Jones, 43, said: "Paul and I said no, she wanted to take her bike to her friend's next door. She kept on and on and had a little tantrum and I eventually gave in so she went next door to play.

"I told her I didn't want her out for long. I think it was about 7pm and that was the last time I saw her."

Twenty minutes later, Mrs Jones sent April's older brother out to collect his sister as "it was getting dark and a little colder".

"Within a very short time he came running home and he was in a hysterical state. When I calmed him down he said that April's friend had seen her getting into a car with a man and that she had gone.

"I immediately went over and asked April's friend what she had seen. I was told that April had got into a car with a man and he had driven off."

Mark Bridger denies abducting and murdering April Jones

Mrs Jones called the police straight away. She said: "I went out and searched around the estate, everywhere I could think of. I even looked in the bins."

In his statement, Mr Jones, 41, said: "We rang the police and Coral went out to search. I felt so helpless. I went to speak to April's friend who said something about a van.

"When she said that, I went around the corner to look. I then went back home and I just paced. I think that I just paced up and down, waiting for any news, for about 24 hours."

The jury was also shown other CCTV images of the five-year-old before she went missing.

And video said to show her alleged killer's movements in the hours before and after her disappearance was also played in court.

A CCTV camera picked up April, in a white top, and a friend, in a blue top, in the foyer of a leisure centre in Machynlleth, where the five-year-old had gone swimming.

Another sequence shows April and her sister leaving a cafe at the complex and then going towards the changing rooms. They are later seen leaving the changing rooms.

The two are then pictured departing the centre with April's mother Coral and the youngster's friend at 5:40pm, about a couple of hours before she vanished.

The jury was also shown a series of CCTV clips allegedly tracking Bridger's movements in his Land Rover on the day April went missing, and the following morning, walking from the Dyfi bridge direction to Machynlleth.

He is also apparently shown getting on to a bus, then walking his dog near his home around mid-morning.

The trial at Mold Crown Court in North Wales has been adjourned for the day and is due to resume next week.

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Drug Gang Jailed: Smugglers Made Millions

The mastermind behind a drug smuggling gang which brought tens of millions of pounds worth of high-purity cocaine into the UK hidden in lorries has been jailed for 28 years.

Convicted armed robber John Reed and his men imported hundreds of kilogrammes of the Class A drug from the Netherlands over the space of at least 18 months, a court heard.

Some of the seized cocaine

The 65-year-old and four members of the gang were arrested in January last year, when police found 24lb (11kg) of cocaine with a street value of around £1.5m in a raid at a haulage firm.

Police believe the gang were bringing in £25m per year from their illicit operation.

Reed, 65, and minor gang member Kevin Jones, 51, were jailed at Kingston Crown Court for conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.

Judge Nicholas Price QC told them: "This conspiracy was so long-running and concerned so many kilograms of cocaine it was truly off the scale."

Reed, of Capstan Way, Southwark, London, led the gang with haulier Daniel Cheevers, the court heard, using Cheevers' Northamptonshire business as cover for taking money to the continent and bringing back up to 11kg of the drug at a time.

The court heard that significant amounts of money had been deposited in bank accounts in Dubai. A further £24,000 in cash was found at his home when it was raided by police.

From left: Jones, a minor gang member, and Cheevers, who worked with Reed

The gang brought back on average 7.5kg of uncut cocaine on each trip, the court heard. It was worth up to £70,000 per kilo - more when it was cut from 92% purity to a street strength of below 20% purity.

Two drivers made multiple trips, bringing back up to 300kg of the drug back every year, Prosecutor Mark Gadsden said.

Reed's barrister Ian Winter QC claimed there was no evidence that his client had played any more than a minor role in the drug smuggling but the judge rejected his argument.

The court heard Reed was previously jailed for 17 years in 1987 for his role in an armed robbery in London in which police officers were shot at.

McCorry and Greenhill were jailed for 19 and 12 years respectively

Former lorry driver Jones, of Douglas Road, Welling, Kent, acted as a go-between and messenger with the gang and was jailed for 15 years.

Cheevers, 47, of Troon Crescent, Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, was jailed for 25 years last month.

Two others - Joseph McCorry, 52, of Northumberland Avenue, Welling, and Robert Greenhill, 62, of Ivy Close, Dartford, Kent - were jailed for 19 and 12 years respectively at the same time.

All had denied conspiracy to supply cocaine but were found guilty at an earlier trial.

Christopher Mealey, Lee Smith and Jamie Spring are wanted by police

:: Scotland Yard has issued an appeal to trace three other men.

Jamie Spring, 40, also known as Jamie Hall, Christopher Mealey, 37, and Lee Smith, 40, have not been seen since the other gang members were arrested.

Spring and Mealey are the sons-in-law of Reed and, along with Smith, have connections to Spain and Cyprus but police said this week they "retain an open mind" as to their whereabouts.

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NHS 111: Patient Deaths Under Investigation

The deaths of three people are under investigation in connection with the NHS 111 non-emergency phone line, according to a report.

The general practitioners trade magazine Pulse reported that at least 22 possible "serious untoward incidents" (or SUIs) related to NHS 111 have been reported since the launch of the service.

Those incidents included three where a patient died, the magazine has claimed.

Two of the deaths occurred in the East Midlands, and one in the West Midlands.

The deaths reportedly include the case of a 47-year-old who died from a suspected overdose.

That death occurred after relatives contacted NHS 111 requesting mental health assistance, Pulse reported. 

A further 19 possible SUIs have been recorded by providers or commissioners, the magazine added.

Rolled out across most of the country last month, the NHS 111 service is for people urgently seeking medical help or advice but who are not in a life-threatening situation.

The service was introduced to replace NHS Direct in England and is meant to ease pressure on emergency 999 call centres.

NHS England said it could not verify the data reported in Pulse, however it issued a statement in response to the magazine's report.

"The safety of patients must be our paramount concern and NHS England will keep a careful eye on the situation to ensure NHS 111 provides not only a good service to the public, but one which is also safe," the statement read.

Earlier this week, NHS England announced a review of the 111 service.

A spokesman said: "The performance standards which have been introduced for NHS 111 represent a gold standard which the majority of NHS 111 services in England are now meeting, though in some areas performance is still unacceptable, especially at weekends.

"Some local providers of NHS 111 have not provided the prompt, reliable service the public need and want.

"NHS England's board is determined to ensure that the public have access to a gold standard NHS 111 service wherever they live in England."

But Clare Gerada, chairwoman of the Royal College of General Practitioners, raised concerns about the free-to-call advice line.

"It is extremely worrying that there is still so much uncertainty around the delivery and reliability of the advice provided by NHS 111 in some areas.

"We are also concerned that patients are losing confidence in the new service before it is even fully up and running.

"We call on NHS England to provide more reassurance about its effectiveness and ability to deliver the necessary standards of care for all patients using the service, right across England."

Mrs Pooja Virk from Hornchurch, Essex, contacted Sky News after her nephew was taken ill recently. His ears ached, he had a high temperature and was feeling breathless.

She said: "I called my doctors and got the answer message to call 111.

"I explained his symptoms and the lady on the other end said 'oh take him to the chemist, not life threatening symptoms'."

When she got to the pharmacy she says the pharmacist laughed at the advice she had been given and said he needed to get urgent medical help.

Mrs Virk took him to a local hospital. She said: "They checked him straight away and said you are so lucky you brought him in on time he is suffering from an asthma attack.

"If you had left it any longer you would have been rushing in an ambulance with him!"

She added: "Soon there is going to be a very bad public clash with the NHS if it's not sorted."

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Smartphones: Debit Cards Of The Future?

By Liz Lane, Sky News Reporter

Smartphones could soon become an even greater part of our lives as networks join forces to let us pay for high street goods with our mobiles.

The battle to dominate the market for "virtual wallets" is heating up, but with it come concerns about how thieves and fraudsters could take advantage.

Britain's big-three mobile networks - EE, Vodafone and O2 - are creating an opt-in service that will allow all bank, credit and loyalty card details to be stored on a phone SIM.

The customer will be able to swipe it on a card reader in a shop and instantly pay for goods.

David Sear, chief executive of Weve, the company managing the project, said: "You'll be able to pick up your goods from the counter - your sandwich or whatever it might be, on a small transaction - and simply swipe your phone, rather than having to get your card out of your wallet."

He is hoping to get retailers to sign up later this year, with the promise of advertising opportunities.

Stores will be able to send special offer alerts to customers' phones as they walk past in an effort to tempt them in.

Google, Barclays, Mastercard and Paypal have all come up with their own versions of the virtual wallet, but they have not caught on in the UK.

The contactless payment market as a whole has yet to take off, with only 6% of people in the UK having made such a transaction with a credit or debit card.

Bryan Glick, editor of Computer Weekly Magazine, describes it as a chicken and egg situation.

He said: "Retailers aren't going to offer this as a means of paying unless they know they're going to use it, but people aren't going to use it unless they know there are a lot of retailers they can use it at."

As for security, the new system will have a limit on how much can be spent on a phone without entering a Pin code.

However, cyber security expert Jason Hart said he would take further precautions before using it - including having his smartphone, and the payment system itself, password-protected.

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Bank Holiday Monday Weather 'Best For Years'

Britain is expected to bask in one of the best May bank holiday Mondays in years, with temperatures set to reach 21C in some parts.

But forecasters have warned that the overall forecast for the weekend is not as good as it was with cloudy skies and even some rain at various points over the weekend.

Earlier, some had been predicting the hottest days of the year so far taking place over the weekend, but that has now been scaled back.

Sky weather presenter Isobel Lang said: "The early spring Bank Holiday can be rather cool and mixed, as we have seen in recent years.

"This year looks to be a pretty good one with many places set to be fine and dry with Monday looking the warmest of the days.

"After cloudier skies with showers at first on Saturday, it should brighten up well for most in the afternoon with just northwest Scotland staying damp. It'll feel quite cool in the breeze.

"Sunday will feel warmer again with lighter winds and cloud breaking to give some sunny periods. Western Scotland should see some rain again.

"For Bank Holiday Monday, apart from rain in the North West again, most places should be fine with warm sunshine developing.

"Highs of around 21C are likely in the South East and nearer 17C in the North West."

This Monday is predicted to be one of the best May Bank Holidays for years

This year's expected sunny Bank Holiday will be a big improvement on last year, which saw rain and a temperature high of just 16C at Exeter Airport.

The warmest Bank Holiday Monday in recent years was in 2008 when London reached 23C and even the coldest part of Scotland got up to 14C, with much of the country seeing sunshine.

This year looks similar for England, Wales, central Scotland and Northern Ireland with temperatures ranging into the mid and high teens across most areas with plenty of sun.

The recent warm weather and earlier good forecasts have led to a wave of optimism, with people around the country planning barbecues and other events.

Supermarkets and other stores have reported large quantities of barbecue foods being sold and also increased sales of items like nail varnish.

The fine weather, however, is not good news for hay fever sufferers, who the Met Office said are likely to struggle through the weekend, with high levels of pollen expected across England.

Norfolk saw blue skies and fine weather last week

The pollen count will increase as temperatures heat up and the worst conditions are expected on Sunday and Monday, according to forecasters.

Alexander Burkill, of the Met Office, said tree pollen would be more significant than grass pollen until the middle of May.

He said the tree pollen count will be high towards the end of the weekend, adding: "Today we've got a fair bit of cloud and the rain coming down, so it's going to go down to moderate.

"On to Sunday and Monday in places, especially across England and especially in the south east, you're looking that it could get up to high."

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Bournemouth Hospital Recalls Breast Patients

Around 250 women have been recalled for further breast cancer screening after concerns were raised about assessments carried out by a junior doctor.

The Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has invited around 250 patients who attended its breast clinic between January 2011 and July 2012 to come for a further examination.

They were initially told they did not require a follow-up appointment .

The hospital said in a statement: "This is because the consultants who run the breast clinic have recently raised concerns regarding a junior doctor, who is no longer working in the trust, and the way in which an initial assessment of some patients may have been carried out.

"We have no evidence of any harm to the patients seen by this junior doctor.

"However, as a precaution, we are bringing some patients back for an assessment by a consultant."

Tony Skene, consultant breast surgeon, said: "The vast majority of patients who have attended the breast clinic at Bournemouth during this time remain unaffected.

"We do however realise that for those patients that we do recall this may lead to additional anxiety and we apologise for the distress that this may cause."

He added that patients would be offered a prompt appointment and access to a support telephone line in the interim.

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Philip Hammond Unsure About F-35 Order

By David Bowden, Defence Correspondent

British operational military pilots have begun flying what is being touted as the world's most advanced stealth fighter jet, the F-35.

But even as they take to the skies, Defence Secretary Philip Hammond has given the clearest indication yet that the UK may not now buy all the jets it had planned. 

Speaking exclusively to Sky News, Mr Hammond pledged that the first 48 aircraft on order at a cost of around £100m each would be bought to service the new Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers from 2020.

But he would not commit to a further 90 planes, which had originally been proposed.

He said: "It's dependent on politics, money and the state of the world, but it's also dependent on what is not yet clearly known, what the mix between manned fighter jets and unmanned aircraft is going to be."

Mr Hammond said there were two trains of thought, one suggesting an 80/20 split of manned to unmanned aircraft in future, the other suggesting the exact opposite.

He said the final decision would determine how many manned F-35s the UK could buy.

The Defence Secretary interrupted a visit to Washington to meet his recently-appointed US counterpart Chuck Hagel and fly to the Naval Air Station at Patuxent River in Maryland where the F-35, or the Lightning II as it will be known in Britain, is being tested.

Philip Hammond inspected the F-35 after meeting US counterpart Chuck Hagel

Mr Hammond looked on as former Harrier pilot Pete "Wizzer" Wilson, who now works for defence contractor BAE Systems, which is part of the project team for the F-35, demonstrated the 'B' variant of the aircraft, which is capable of a short take-off and vertical landing.

In Florida, at Eglin Air Force Base in the northwest of the state, the first UK military operational pilots began flying the F-35B just six weeks ago.

There are only two of them - Lt Commander Ian "Tidders" Tidball from the Royal Navy and Squadron Leader Frankie Buchler from the RAF.

Both have vast experience on other types of fast jets - Lt Cdr Tidball on Sea Harriers and F-18s, Sqn Ldr Bulcher on the Jaguar and latterly Typhoon aircraft.

After frustrating delays due to problems with the test aircraft and then the weather, both British pilots are now qualified to fly the F-35.

Lt Cdr Tidball told me after his qualifying flight: "Having come back from the Harrier and F-18, the aircraft handles absolutely exceptionally, very responsive even in these bumpy conditions."

Sqn Ldr Buchler is also a fan of the new jet, parts of which are still classified and Sky News was not allowed to film.

He said: "It's awesome, a boyhood dream. I've always wanted to fly the best fast jets in the world and here we are with a fantastic platform and I'm lucky enough to be one of the first guys from the UK flying it.

"It's better than working for a living."

The new jet is designed to replace Britain's reliance on aging Harrier jets

The British pilots fly two of the three UK jets so far delivered. But it will be another five years before the first squadron, based at RAF Marham, is set up on UK soil.

In the meantime, 17 Squadron will be the first UK unit to fly the F-35B out of Edwards Air Force base in California from next year.

The F-35 programme comprises three variants in all.

The A model is the "base" model and will be flown predominantly by the US Air Force, the B variant, which the UK is buying, will also be flown by the US Marine Corps, while the C or carrier variant, is adapted with "cat and trap" equipment to fly on and off American aircraft carriers.

The bulk of the projected orders will come from the US - close to 2,500 planes - with the UK originally due to buy 138 in total and the other "partner" nations, Canada, Italy, the Netherlands, Turkey, Australia, Denmark and Norway, due to buy about 500 between them.

The projections from Lockheed Martin, the lead contractor, suggest that including sales to other "coalition" countries there will be 3,922 F-35s sold during its planned 30-year production run.

That's good news for the UK economy too, because 15% by value of each sale comes to these shores, largely through the contribution of BAE Systems in Lancashire, where much of the tail of every F-35 is manufactured.

The biggest danger to the programme at the moment is the immense cost, estimated at £2.5bn so far, given that defence budgets across the world - particularly in the West - are being slashed.

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David Cameron Told To 'Reconnect With Voters'

The Conservatives must "break the impression of being privileged and out of touch" if they are to stand a chance of winning the next general election, former leadership contender David Davis has warned.

Speaking after the party suffered heavy losses to the UK Independence Party in the local council elections, the MP for Haltemprice and Howden said David Cameron should stop surrounding himself with fellow Old Etonians and show he understood the concerns of ordinary people.

He issued the same warning in 2005 during a Sky Tory leadership debate when he said it was paramount voters understood that the Conservatives were "not a privileged elite interested only in ourselves", but "that actually we're on their side".

With the Tories losing 340 councillors and the control of 10 councils, some Tory right-wingers have called on the Prime Minister to firm up his commitment to holding a referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union to counter the appeal of UKIP.

Local county council election results

However, Mr Davis said the priority for Mr Cameron - who recently appointed Old Etonian Jo Johnson to head the No 10 policy unit - was to reconnect with voters who thought the Conservatives lived in a different world to them.

"The fact is that if we want to win the next election, we have to break this impression of being privileged and out of touch," he said in an article for The Daily Telegraph.

"The British public are neither snobs nor inverted snobs, but they do expect the Government to understand their problems and do something about it.

"That means more straight talking and fewer focus groups; more conventional Tory policies, not because they are Tory, but because they work; less pandering to metropolitan interest groups; and please, please, no more Old Etonian advisers."

Home Secretary Theresa May, who has been touted as a possible future Tory leader, refused to be drawn on the argument, and insisted the party was focused on "bringing people back to voting Conservative".

David Davis (L) lost the contest to become Tory leader to David Cameron (R)

She told Sky News: "The Government has shown that it understands some of the problems that hard-working people are facing - the efforts we've taken to helping local councils freeze their council tax, hold down fuel duties, two million people have been taken out of paying income tax, and an income tax cut for 24 million people.

"There are other areas we know the task is a sizeable one - controlling welfare and immigration. We are already on the right track in dealing with these issues."

She added: "What we will be doing over the next couple of years is working hard to bring people back to voting Conservative - showing them what we are doing in those areas ... and how the choice in the next election will be Conservatives who will control welfare and immigration and deal with the deficit, and the same old Labour Party who will just ask for more spending, more borrowing, more debt."

Former Tory councillor Rory Love, who contested the Folkestone South seat for the first time and finished second with 989 votes behind UKIP's Robert Neaves who polled 1,006 votes, dismissed the row as "nonsense".

"This isn't about Old Etonians, about public schools ... if you want to get into that sort of nonsense, Nigel Farage, I understand is a public schoolboy.

"The issue is about the policies, about how we can better demonstrate to the public that what we are doing is the very thing ... they asked us to do ... and that is to look again at our relationship with the European Union, the effects of mass immigration from eastern Europe ... that's what we need to concentrate on."

UKIP leader Nigel Farage said the elections marked a 'game-changer'

UKIP's gains of 131 councillors in the council elections were dubbed a "game changer" by leader Nigel Farage.

While Labour made gains - picking up 268 councillors and taking control of two councils - analysts said they fell short of the numbers needed to show that Ed Miliband was on course for Downing Street.

For the Liberal Democrats it was another grim set of results with the loss of 110 councillors while crashing to a humiliating seventh place in the South Shields parliamentary by-election, just ahead of the Monster Raving Loony Party.

Mr Cameron pledged to work really hard to win back voters who abandoned the Conservatives for the UKIP, promising action to turn round the economy, cut immigration and sort out the welfare system.

Having previously derided UKIP as "fruitcakes, loonies and closet racists", the Prime Minister adopted a softer approach, promising to show "respect" for those who voted for them.

Mr Miliband insisted that Labour had made "good gains" but acknowledged there was "more work to do".

"These elections show many people have lost trust in David Cameron's ability to change Britain. But our task is to win the trust of the people we haven't yet persuaded that Labour can make the difference," he said.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said the Lib Dems' poor showing reflected their journey from "a party of protest to a party of government".

"I have always said it is understandable why it is that people might be attracted to the simple answers that the UK Independence Party is offering to deal with this country's complex problems," he said.

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Baby Delivered From Injured Car Crash Mother

A heavily pregnant woman whose baby had to be delivered by emergency caesarean section after a car crash is fighting for her life, police have said.

The 29-year-old mother suffered head and chest injuries in the accident at is undergoing surgery.

Police said the woman's baby, who was delivered in hospital during an emergency operation following the crash, continues to make "good progress".

Several other people were seriously injured following the collision in Manchester on Friday night and a 19-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the incident.

Police Sergeant Danny Byrne from the Serious Collision Investigation Unit said: "This is a horrific set of circumstances in which several members of a family, including a woman who was nine months pregnant, and a pedestrian have been badly injured.

"The woman's baby was delivered by emergency C-section at hospital and although he is making good progress, unfortunately his mother remains in a critical condition.

"We are carrying out a full investigation to establish the exact circumstances leading up to this incident and are keen to hear from anyone that saw the 51-plate silver Volkswagen Golf driving along Great Ancoats Street prior to this collision, or in the nearby area, to contact us."

Officers said the collision happened at the junction of Great Ancoats Street and Redhill Street at around 10.45pm.

At the time of the collision, a black cab carrying three passengers was turning from Great Ancoats Street into Redhill Street.

A silver VW Golf, which was travelling along Great Ancoats Street, undertook another vehicle and collided with the taxi as it turned, police said.

The collision caused the taxi to spin on to the footpath and hit a pedestrian, trapping him between the taxi and the railings.

The 29-year-old man suffered serious injuries to his legs, pelvis and hips.

The three passengers in the rear of the taxi were all seriously injured.

A 23-year-old man suffered chest injuries and is in a serious condition and a 31-year-old woman suffered a suspected fractured shoulder and facial injuries.

The driver of the taxi suffered minor injuries to his legs.

The driver of the Golf, a 19-year-old man, was not injured during the collision.

He was arrested at the scene on suspicion of causing serious injury by dangerous driving and other driving offences. He remains in police custody for questioning.

:: Anyone with information is asked to directly contact officers at the Serious Collision Investigation Unit on 0161 856 4741.

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