The News Matrix: Wednesday 12 June 2013

Boyfriend denies murder of woman, 55

The boyfriend of Pamela Jackson, the 55-year-old grandmother whose body was found in a shallow grave, has denied murdering her. Adrian Muir, 50, from Halifax, West Yorkshire, was charged with her murder before her body was found but appeared in court for the first time yesterday.

Marco Pierre White in restaurant battle

Marco Pierre White has become embroiled in a High Court battle over his name being associated with a restaurant. He claims he is out of pocket because two business partners breached an agreement relating to the running of The Yew Tree in Highclere, Berkshire.

Suicide bomber kills 17 as attacks persist

A Taliban suicide bomber struck outside the Supreme Court yesterday, killing 17 people in the deadliest attack in Kabul in more than 18 months. It was the second consecutive day of attacks, undermining the ability of Afghan forces to keep security without help from NATO troops.

Legal aid cuts will harm poor, says QC

A senior barrister has attacked cuts to the legal system as exploiting the poorest and most vulnerable people in society while the Government bankrolls the wealthiest. Michael Turner, QC, chairman of the Criminal Bar Association, said bank fraud cases cost the taxpayer hundreds of millions and yet the Ministry of Justice is cutting legal aid by £220m in the next 12 months.

Baby boomers stopped us going bust

Britain’s baby boomers have been credited with helping rescue the economy, challenging presumptions they are a drain on the taxpayer. According to research, the grey generation kept the UK from going bust in the past 10 years by working as much as any other age group.

Makeover for Hitler’s Bavarian retreat

Adolf Hitler’s mountain retreat in Bavaria is getting a makeover, with a £14m renovation project that will enlarge the historical information centre now there. The Bavarian government said that building should begin in 2015 and last until 2018. The Alpine village was a second centre of power after Berlin for the Nazis.

Fake severed hand fools neighbours

A fake severed hand that was left on a doorstep in Nottingham as a practical joke caused havoc when residents of the street contacted police believing it to be real. Patrick Plumber, an amateur make-up artist who had planted the hand to scare his niece, was left red-faced when officers cordoned off the area.

Statues taken from temple are returned

Four decades after being taken from a jungle temple and secretly shipped out of the country, a pair of 10th-century stone statues were returned to Cambodia yesterday. It was the first instance of antiquities allegedly looted from the country being willingly returned; experts say there could be thousands more. MORE

Dead man ‘had signs of life’ at mortuary

Mortuary staff in Scotland rang 999 after they thought a dead body had shown possible signs of life, it emerged yesterday. The incident, which saw staff at the facility in Inverness attempt to resuscitate a man after paramedics had already pronounced him dead, is being investigated by NHS Highland.

Mumford and Sons bassist has surgery

The bassist for the folk band Mumford and Sons was taken to hospital to have an operation to remove a blood clot from his brain. Ted Dwane reportedly felt unwell for a few days before being rushed to emergency services while on tour with the band in the US on Monday.