Thames Valley Police have launched a major investigation after a woman was gang raped in the grounds of St Mary's Church in Banbury, Oxfordshire. The attack occurred in the early hours of Sunday, September 28, with police confirming the victim, a woman in her 30s, was assaulted by multiple men in the churchyard and surrounding town center area. Detective Sergeant Mark Personius described the incident as a "horrific crime" and confirmed specially trained officers are supporting the victim.

Investigators are making a specific appeal to locate a woman who they believe attempted to intervene during the assault. DS Personius stated: "I am making a public appeal to a specific witness, a woman, who we believe may have tried to help the victim. At this stage we don't have a description of this Good Samaritan, but if you believe you are the woman, please contact police as you may have vital information." Police have not released descriptions of the attackers beyond indicating one was described as white.

Authorities are urging anyone who was in Banbury town center between midnight and 2:30 am to review any available footage from CCTV, dashcams, or mobile phones. A dedicated webpage has been established to allow direct uploading of potential evidence. The church canceled Sunday's parish Eucharist following the attack, with church officials confirming they are praying for the victim as forensic teams maintain a cordon around the crime scene.

Community leaders expressed shock at the violent incident, with local councillor Dr Chukwudi Okeke telling media that the attack has deeply affected the community. "I know this will have shocked the community," Okeke said. "I would like to reassure all residents that the police are doing their best to ensure that Banbury remains a safe place to live and visit." Police continue to conduct house-to-house enquiries and encourage anyone with information, regardless of how insignificant it may seem, to come forward by calling 101 and quoting incident number 43250495078.

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.