Source: Crown Prosecution Service published on this website Friday 12 September 2025 by Jill Powell

A father and his two adult children have been imprisoned after being found guilty of inciting racial hatred through neo-Nazi music.

Robert Talland, 59, his daughter Rosie Talland, 34, and son Stephen Talland, 36, conspired to inspire racial hatred through the production and distribution of sound recordings.

A Neo-Nazi gig in 2019 at Leeds’ Corpus Christi Catholic Club featured Nazi flags which were paraded on stage and the entire crowd, including children, performed the Nazi salute.

Stephen and Rosie Talland were members of band and played at the event. They played racist songs, with references to a race war involving fighting, killing and riots.

Robert Talland ran ‘Rampage Productions’ a record label which produced and distributed music which encouraged terrorism and incited racial hatred.

All three were found guilty of conspiracy to incite racial hatred at Woolwich Crown Court on June 26 and were sentenced today.

Rosie and Stephen Talland were found guilty of inciting racial hatred. She was sentenced to an imprisonment of 18 months. He was sentenced to two years' imprisonment.

Robert Talland was also found guilty of providing a service which enabled others to obtain terrorist publications and possessing racially inflammatory material. His total sentence of imprisonment was five years with a one year licence period included.

Frank Ferguson, Head of the CPS Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division, said: “Although people have the right to robustly communicate and exchange views, even when they may cause offence, the encouragement of terrorist acts and racist abuse are criminal offences.

"The members of this family created hateful lyrics and music as an attempt to incite racial hatred, encourage white supremacism and promote the use of serious violence.

"These were not idle fantasies but designed to encourage real world violence. Each of these defendants have received prison sentences for their hateful actions."

Although public focus is often on prosecution decisions around using drill or rap music in cases of violent crime, any lyrics or words – text messages, plays, podcasts, poems or songs – can require analysis by the CPS and police.

While drill or rap are more often discovered during an investigation after a violent incident, and then interrogated to see if they shed light on the crime itself - perhaps by displaying insider knowledge, or explaining some of the build-up if used as taunts - other music or lyrics can be crimes in themselves.

In this case prosecutors concluded that the hateful lyrics were racially charged, that they encouraged terrorism, and that they were also directly likely to lead to racial hatred being stirred up in others.

Source: Ofsted  Care Quality Commission, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services and HM Inspectorate of Probation published on this website Wednesday 10 September 2025 by Jill Powell

Starting in the autumn of 2025, inspections will consider local areas’ multi-agency responses to child sexual abuse in the family environment. 

Ofsted, Care Quality Commission (CQC), HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) and HM Inspectorate of Probation (HMIP), have today published guidance for the second round of thematic inspections focusing on child sexual abuse in the family environment, as part of their programme of joint targeted area inspections (JTAIs).

Inspectors will look at how the police, children’s social care, probation services and relevant health services in a local area work together to:

• respond to children at risk of, or who are victims of, child sexual abuse in the family environment, at the point of identification  
• assess, plan and make decisions in response to notifications and referrals of children at risk of, or who are victims of, child sexual abuse in the family environment
• protect, support, and care for children at risk of, or who are victims of, child sexual abuse in the family environment
• prevent children from becoming victims of child sexual abuse in the family environment

Read the full guidance: Joint targeted area inspections of the response to child sexual abuse in the family environment

Inspectors will also evaluate how local agencies work with education and early years providers and the voluntary and community sector, to identify and respond to children who are victims of this kind of abuse.

Source: Students Loan Company published on this website Thursday 11 September 2025 by Jill Powell

In September, SLC will pay approximately £2.2billion in maintenance payments to almost one million students as they start and return to university. However, at this time of year, students can be targeted by scammers, with text message (SMS) fraud currently the most popular form of scam.

Alan Balanowski, Risk Director at SLC, said: “SLC’s mission is to support students to invest in their future and being at university is a very exciting time - but it’s vital that they also remain vigilant and aware of scams as they start or return to university.

“The methods used by fraudsters are constantly evolving, with more sophisticated and different technologies being used to target students. This is especially true around the start of the academic year, when the first payments are being made. Scammers are well aware that students will be starting to receive their maintenance loan from us and over the last two years we have seen a rise in attempts to defraud students, including people impersonating SLC or students via phone calls (vishing), contact by text message (smishing) or via emails (phishing). 

“We have a range of prevention methods that we use to identify and stop scammers and last year, we stopped £45.5m being stolen from students. We are committed to protecting students, however, it’s vital that they can spot signs of a scam and act to protect themselves and their money from falling into the wrong hands.  Our message to students is simple – think before you click.”

SLC’s top tips for identifying and stopping a scam

• Check the quality of the communication - misspelling, poor punctuation and bad grammar are often tell-tale signs of phishing.
• Keep an eye out for any emails, phone calls or SMS messages you think are suspicious, especially around the time you’re expecting a payment.
• Scam emails and text messages are often sent in bulk to many people at the same time and are unlikely to contain both your first and last name. These commonly start - ‘Dear Student’ - so be on guard if you see one like this.
• Messages that convey a sense of urgency are also unlikely to be genuine – for example ‘failure to respond in 24 hours will result in your account being closed’.
• Think before you click. If you receive an email or SMS that contains a link that you’re not sure of, then hover over it to check that it goes where it’s supposed to. If you’re still in any doubt don’t risk it, always go direct to the source rather than clicking on a potentially dangerous link.
• Scammers can use a variety of methods to try and get you to pay money or share personal details, including the use of fraudulent phone calls, social posts and direct messaging on digital platforms. If you are suspicious of being contacted, always use official phone numbers, your online account and official communication channels to verify the contact you received is genuine.
• Students should also be mindful of the information that they share about themselves on social media, and elsewhere online, to help guard against identity theft. Identity theft happens when fraudsters access information about a person’s identity, such as their name, date of birth, customer reference number, course information or their current or previous addresses to impersonate them online and over the phone.
• Check out our guide to identifying a scam at www.gov.uk/guidance/phishing-scams-how-you-can-avoid-them

SLC also has a range of methods to protect students, including sending a SMS to customers in England if a change has been made to their banks details and asking them to confirm the change. If a customer hasn’t changed their details but receives a message, they should log into their online account to review their information.

SLC will also never ask students to provide their personal or financial information via email or text message. If a student receives a suspicious message, they should report it to SLC’s Economic Crime Unit immediately by emailing report@phishing.gov.uk and calling the dedicated hotline on 0300 100 0059.  Neither SLC or Student Finance England (SFE) provide any services through WhatsApp and will never initiate contact with a student through social media channels to discuss their application or student finance entitlement. If a customer receives a communication from SFE that they are unsure of, they should log into their online account to verify if it’s genuine.

There is also a range of additional advice and information on recognising and avoiding scams from Action Fraud, the UK’s national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime, as well as Stop! Think Fraud, a campaign from the Home Office.

Source: Department of Science Innovation and Technology published on this website Tuesday 9 September 2025 by Jill Powell

Vulnerable people across the UK will be shielded from the most dangerous content online, as new laws are set to be introduced to prevent devastating self-harm material from reaching people of all ages.

The government has announced urgent action to toughen the Online Safety Act by putting stricter legal requirements on tech companies to hunt down and remove material that encourages or assists serious self-harm, before it can destroy lives and tear families apart.

While platforms already have to take specific steps to protect children from this dangerous self-harm content, the government recognises that adults battling mental health challenges are equally at risk from exposure to material that could trigger a mental health crisis or worse.

The new regulations mean that content encouraging or assisting serious self-harm will be treated as a priority offence for all users.

The change will trigger the strongest possible legal protections, compelling platforms to use cutting-edge technology to actively seek out and eliminate this content before it can reach users and cause irreparable harm, rather than simply reacting after someone has already been exposed to it.

Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said:

“This government is determined to keep people safe online. Vile content that promotes self-harm continues to be pushed on social media and can mean potentially heart-wrenching consequences for families across the country. Our enhanced protections will make clear to social media companies that taking immediate steps to keep users safe from toxic material that could be the difference between life and death is not an option, but the law.”