A former Northumbria Police detective, Sue Thorpe, has been given a suspended prison sentence after a court found her guilty of stalking her ex-boyfriend and misusing police computer data to harass him. The 44-year-old bombarded surfing instructor Barry Henderson with abusive messages and falsely accused him of serious crimes, including being a paedophile, in a year-long campaign following their breakup.

Newcastle Crown Court heard that Thorpe's actions were part of a deliberate attempt to damage Mr. Henderson's reputation and his surfing business. She not only sent abusive voicemails, texts, and emails but also used the Police National Computer to illegally access information about him. Thorpe's false allegations were spread to his friends, family, and new partner, and she even set up fake social media accounts and email addresses to further her campaign.

The court sentenced Thorpe to two years in prison, suspended for two years, and ordered her to complete 120 hours of unpaid work and 20 rehabilitation activity days. A 10-year restraining order was also imposed, prohibiting any contact with Mr. Henderson. The judge highlighted the seriousness of Thorpe's misuse of police resources, noting the potential to erode public trust in law enforcement.

In a victim impact statement, Mr. Henderson described how Thorpe's actions had left him feeling 'physically sick' and as though she was 'on a mission to destroy' him. The case sheds light on the severe consequences of stalking and the abuse of power by those in positions of authority, underscoring the importance of accountability and the protection of individuals from such malicious campaigns.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting has announced an urgent independent inquiry into maternity services at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, describing himself as "shocked" by families' experiences of "repeated maternity failures in Leeds - made worse by the unacceptable response of the trust." The decision comes after years of campaigning by bereaved families who reported feeling "gaslit, dismissed and even blamed" for what went wrong at one of Europe's largest teaching hospitals. Mr. Streeting emphasized the "stark contradiction between scale and safety standards" at the trust, which official data shows "remains an outlier on perinatal mortality."

The inquiry follows a June downgrade by the Care Quality Commission, which rated maternity services at the trust as "inadequate" and identified serious risks to women and babies. Inspectors highlighted a deep-rooted "blame culture" that made staff reluctant to raise concerns about incidents. Brendan Brown, chief executive of LTH NHS Trust, apologized to bereaved families and expressed hope that the inquiry would provide them with "answers." He stated the trust is "determined to do better" and is already taking significant steps to improve maternity and neonatal services following reviews by regulatory bodies.

Families affected by the failures have welcomed the inquiry but are calling for rigorous leadership, specifically requesting that midwife Donna Ockenden chair the investigation. Fiona Winser-Ramm, whose daughter Aliona died in 2020 after an inquest found multiple failures, emphasized the importance of ensuring the inquiry is "the best and most thorough that it can possibly be." She described how families have been "thrust into this life that none of us should be living," noting that their shared grief should never have brought them together under such circumstances.

Serious questions are now being raised about what Sir Julian Hartley, who led the trust for ten years until 2023 and now heads the Care Quality Commission, knew about the poor maternity care. In a statement, Sir Julian expressed being "truly sorry" for families' suffering and said that while he was "absolutely committed to ensuring good patient care across all services, including maternity," this commitment "wasn't enough to prevent some families suffering pain and loss." Lauren Caulfield, whose daughter Grace died in 2022, called it "completely unacceptable that nothing has been done to date" to examine Sir Julian's role, expressing hope that the inquiry will address this gap.