Source: Metropolitan Police published on this website Monday 29 September 2025 by Jill Powell

The parents of multiple children have thanked the Met Police for “giving them a voice when they didn’t have one” on the day a woman is jailed for abusing them at nursery.

Roksana Helena Lecka, 22 (13.10.2002) of Avro Place, Hounslow appeared at Kingston Crown Court on Friday, 26 September where she was sentenced to eight years in prison. She was previously found guilty of 21 counts of child cruelty after a Met Police investigation uncovered months of abuse she had inflicted on infants, while working in nurseries.

Detective Inspector Sian Hutchings of Met Police’s Public Protection Command said:

“Today’s sentencing concludes a complex and emotional investigation. The victims in this case are just babies, with the youngest being just 10 months at the time of the offences. Something which our officers have found shocking throughout this investigation is Roksana’s lack of accountability and her inability to explain her unjustifiable actions. As a result of the hard work from our dedicated investigation team and our partners, this woman will no longer be able to harm children.”

Met officers were called to a nursery in Twickenham in June 2024, following concerns from members of staff about Lecka’s behaviour.

As enquiries unfolded, it was revealed that Lecka had been abusing children while working at two separate nurseries between October 2023 and June 2024. CCTV showed Lecka repeatedly pinching and hitting children, shoving them to the floor, pulling their hair, kicking them in the face and vaping towards their cots.

Fast paced enquiries continued with officers reviewing 300 hours of footage within 10 days. Statements were also taken from the children’s parents, some of whom provided images of injuries found on their children.

After these enquiries had taken place, Lecka was arrested at her home on 5 July on suspicion of child cruelty offences. During interview, she answered no comment to all questions after providing a prepped statement and refused to acknowledge her actions when shown the CCTV footage. She was released on bail and suspended from work while officers within the Met’s Child Abuse Investigation Team continued enquiries.

She was further arrested and interviewed after more evidence came to light and charged on 25 July 2024 with 12 counts of child cruelty, 12 counts of actual bodily harm and one count of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm with intent.”

Following an initial appearance in court, this indictment was amended to 24 counts of child cruelty against 24 separate children.

Lecka was convicted on Monday, 16 June of 21 counts of child cruelty. The jury found her not guilty on three counts.

She was sentenced to eight years in prison on Friday, 26 September and barred from working with children.

Detective Inspector Sian Hutchings added:

“I want to commend the strength of the parents throughout this investigation. I can’t imagine how horrendous it’s been to sit in court and listen to the abuse that Lecka inflicted on their children.

“Despite this, they have acted with grace and dignity and even took the time to record a thank you video directly from the children to DC Geoff Boye and DC Eloise Hand and other partners who supported. In this video, they thanked officers for giving their children a voice when they didn’t have one.

“These parents put their trust in Lecka to care for their children as well as the other staff at the nursery did. Lecka abused this trust and today’s sentence hold her accountable for this.

“I know that our officers have found this a challenging and disturbing case to investigate, and I would like to comment Detective Constable Eloise Hand and Detective Sergeant Geoff Boye for their dedication, compassion and attention to detail which has put this dangerous woman behind bars and protected vulnerable children.”

Source: Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) published on this website Thursday 25 September  2025 by Jill Powell

Paul Flowers, former Co-Operative Bank Chairman, Labour councillor in Rochdale and Bradford, and Methodist minister stole from his friend Margaret Jarvis whilst she battled Alzheimer’s.  On her death he continued to steal from her estate, abusing his position as executor of her will.

Over several years Paul Flowers, 75, wrote himself cheques, withdrew cash and stole the pension of his victim.

Today, the Crown Prosecution Service secured a Confiscation Order for £184,862.

Prosecutors also secured a Compensation Order in the sum of £184,862, which means Flowers’ victims will receive all the money from the Confiscation Order.

Flowers pleaded guilty to multiple counts of fraud in July 2024 at Manchester Crown Court and was jailed for three years. 

He could face two-and-a-half years being added to that prison sentence if he does not pay the full amount ordered today within three months.

Margaret Jarvis had known Flowers for decades. In 1995, before her illness had progressed, she gave Flowers power of attorney over her financial affairs. She also made him executor of her will. Flowers redirected her pension payments to a bank account he controlled and, after she died, failed to inform her pension provider so he could continue to steal from her estate. Margaret Jarvis bequeathed gifts to several charities as well as £10,000 to both of her two nieces. Neither the charities nor one of her nieces received the funds due to them from the estate.

Flowers used his victim’s money to fund his lifestyle, withdrawing cash to pay for extravagant holidays, events, alcohol, and home improvements.
 
Charles Clayton, Specialist Prosecutor, CPS Proceeds of Crime Division said:

“Paul Flowers abused the trust his friend placed in him, preying on her vulnerability. He stole a large amount of money from her, depriving charities and her niece of gifts that were bequeathed to them. We are pleased to have secured a Compensation Order that will right that wrong.   

“Flowers took advantage of Margaret Jarvis’ illness; he knew she wouldn’t realise he was stealing and even continued to steal from her after her death.

“Today CPS Proceeds of Crime Division ensured that Flowers cannot continue to benefit from his ill-gotten gains and his victim’s final wishes for her estate will finally be fulfilled.

“In the last five years, over £478 million has been recovered from CPS obtained Confiscation Orders, ensuring that thousands of convicted criminals cannot profit from their offending. £95 million of that amount has been returned to victims of crime, by way of compensation

Source: The Law Commission published on this website Friday 26 September 2025 by Jill Powell

Disabled children across England will benefit from clearer legal rights and more consistent support under comprehensive reforms published by the Law Commission today.

The recommendations are the culmination of a two-year review and follow extensive consultation on proposals to modernise the fragmented legal framework governing social care for disabled children. Currently, families and local authorities navigate a complex web of overlapping laws from the 1970s and 1980s that create confusion and inconsistent provision across the country. The new proposals would ensure the law in this area is fairer, simpler and up to date. 

The Law Commission recommends keeping disabled children within existing Children Act protections while introducing a discrete set of rights and entitlements for disabled children into that Act. This new, unified framework should be accompanied by dedicated and comprehensive guidance setting out the rights and responsibilities of disabled children, families and local authorities. This guidance should include material which helps local authorities to ensure that there is a more appropriate balance struck between identifying and meeting the needs of disabled children and their families in a non-stigmatising way, and safeguarding them from harm and abuse. 

The unified legal framework would establish national eligibility criteria, ending the current postcode lottery where a disabled child in one part of the country will have their needs met but a child in another part of the country with identical needs will not. As a first step toward this national system, the Law Commission recommends that the Government carry out further work – involving disabled children, families and local authorities – to decide what the eligibility criteria should be and ensure that they are financially sustainable. 

Other key reforms include giving disabled children express rights to request social care assessments and ensuring they receive independent advocacy when needed, to make sure that their voices are heard. The proposals would also strengthen transition planning to adulthood and improve cooperation between health, education and social care services.  

The recommendations aim to balance meeting disability-related needs whilst maintaining essential safeguarding protections.  

These recommendations represent a crucial step towards ensuring disabled children receive the support they need, when they need it, regardless of where they live. The current system, built on legislation from decades ago, has become unnecessarily complex and is no longer working for children and families.

Our proposals would create a simpler, fairer and more accessible framework that puts the child’s best interests at the heart of decision-making whilst maintaining vital protections. The reforms would end the unacceptable situation where a child’s eligibility for support depends more on their postcode than their needs.

By establishing national eligibility criteria and clearer legal pathways, we can ensure every disabled child has access to consistent, appropriate support. These changes would also empower children by giving them direct rights to request assessments and access independent advocacy when they need it most.

Commissioner for Public Law, Alison Young

“Disabled children’s social care law” is the body of legal rules covering:  

• whether a disabled child can get help from social services to meet their needs;  
• what help they can get; and   
• how they get it.   

The reforms are likely to affect over half a million disabled children in England. Implementation would require government approval and new legislation to be introduced in Parliament. 

The full report and recommendations are now with government for consideration. 

The full report and a summary are available here.

Source: Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) published on this website Wednesday 24 September 2025

Dr Alison Cave, Chief Safety Officer at the MHRA, said:

Patient safety is our top priority. There is no evidence that taking paracetamol during pregnancy causes autism in children.   

Paracetamol remains the recommended pain relief option for pregnant women when used as directed. Pregnant women should continue to follow existing NHS guidance and speak to their healthcare professional if they have questions about any medication during pregnancy. Untreated pain and fever can pose risks to the unborn baby, so it is important to manage these symptoms with the recommended treatment. 

Our advice on medicines in pregnancy is based on rigorous assessment of the best available scientific evidence.  Any new evidence that could affect our recommendations would be carefully evaluated by our independent scientific experts. 

We continuously monitor the safety of all medicines, including those used during pregnancy, through robust monitoring and surveillance. We encourage anyone to report any suspected side effects to us via the Yellow Card scheme.