“I want to go knowing that I have left a legacy for Jack and Paul”: Domestic abuse survivor’s fight to make family courts safer
Claire Throssell whose two sons were killed by their own father is backing a Women's Aid campaign to keep children safe from domestic abuse.
Jack, 12 and Paul, nine, were murdered by their father after he trapped them in the attic of the family home, in Penistone, Sheffield, and set it on fire.
Darren Sykes, who also died in the house fire, was awarded unsupervised access access to his children by a family court.
“Judges have to stop this presumption that it's in the child’s best interest to see both parents. Strangers are making decisions that affect the rest of their lives," says Claire, 51, an ambassador for Women's Aid.
After the death of her sons, Claire began working with the domestic abuse charity to implement changes to the family courts and keep “children at the heart of every decision”.
Claire's children died at the hands of their father after she had suffered years of abuse and finally left the family home. She took her sons and moved in with her mum. In the custody that followed Claire fought for residency orders through the family court. She says: “Their father had the right to see his children. But Jack and Paul didn’t have the right to say they didn’t want to see him.
“What people don’t realise is the time after leaving, which is called post-separation, the abuse ramps up. It’s the most dangerous time because your abuser no longer has control over you.
“Cafcass are supposed to be advocates for children in family court. They’re supposed to keep children at the heart of every decision made. Somewhere in this fight between the separation and the abuse, children in the middle, their voice gets lost. It’s Cafcass’ job to make sure those children are safe."
Claire believes the courts only perpetuate the power an abuser has over a survivor of domestic abuse. “You believe that a court is a safe place but it is one of the most humiliating and degrading places to be," she says. "You think you’ve fled the fear and oppression. When you walk into a family court, and the fear and oppression is right there, you go right back to being a piece of dirt underneath their shoes.”
Claire was forced to sit only four seats away from her abuser and had to listen to him hurl insults at her while the judge did nothing to stop him. She told the court and the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) the boys would not be safe if their dad was given contact with them.
After a long battle with the judge and Cafcass, the court ruled that the boys would have five hours of unsupervised contact with their dad. "It took only 15 minutes for him to take away their futures," says Claire.
On their final visit, the boys’ dad took them to the attic and set fire to the house, in Penistone, Sheffield, trapping them inside. Paul passed away shortly afterwards, in his mum's arms, after being taken to Barnsley Hospital. Jack spent five days in Manchester Children's Hospital fighting for his life but during surgery, he went into cardiac arrest after developing sepsis and doctors were unable to save him.
A year later, Claire became an ambassador for Women’s Aid and together they launched a new campaign to protect children in the future. “I remember meeting Women's Aid for the first time. I walked into a café feeling very down, I’d just been told that I couldn’t challenge the serious case review for the boys, where my boys were referred to as Child A and Child B. Things were looking very bleak indeed.”
After walking into the cafe, two members of staff from Women's Aid ran over to Claire, held out their hands, and have never let go since. They talked about the recent research Women’s Aid had carried out, which revealed 19 children between 2000 and 2014 had died at the hands of a known perpetrator of domestic abuse. “They said, will you become the front of the Child First campaign? Will you help us go to Parliament and challenge the piece of legislation underneath the Children’s Act to stop the presumption of contact to make family courts safer,” says Claire.
That afternoon, the Child First campaign was born. The petition quickly gained 20,000 signatures in two months and was taken to parliament for the first time within just a year of being launched. “None of this would have been possible without Women’s Aid," says Claire. "They gave it a platform, they gave it a purpose.
“And that’s what Women’s Aid do, they make a difference. There’s people that watch documentaries or read newspaper articles about their work. If just one bit of it makes them think, oh, that’s happening to me, that’s happening to my child and they do something about it, then that’s a life saved that we don’t know about.
“There’s nothing more powerful than women empowering women. There’s nothing more powerful than a country empowering a country empowering a country because changes get made, differences are made.”
Now, alongside the Child First campaign, Women’s Aid and Claire are launching a new campaign to push for mandatory training for judges on how to handle domestic abuse cases. Claire believes this training should be essential for all judges who are making life-changing decisions in family courts and that judges need to be held accountable for their actions.
“The boys always used to say wherever I was, was home," says Claire. "But where they were was home for me. I haven’t got a home right now. One day, I will go home. But I want to go knowing that I have left a legacy for Jack and Paul.”
This year marks the 50th anniversary of Women's Aid. You can find the Child First petition here and the family courts petition here.
The number of Sheffield primary schools working towards a Food for Life School Award reaches 110
The program is funded by Sheffield City Council and works in Primary, Secondary and Special schools across the region to promote healthier eating in both the canteen and classroom.
Beck Primary School is the 110th school to enrol on the Food for Life Schools Award programme, delivered as part of the Eat Smart Sheffield programme, and part of a city wide strategy to improve nutrition and food education across the city.
Sheffield Programme Manager Lisa Aldwin said the campaign began in 2019 and was due to run for five years, but she hopes the council will renew the program in August so they can continue their work.
She said: "When we started we were targeting schools in more deprived areas of the city because that's where we felt the need was most for this but it soon became obvious that schools from across the city wanted to take part.
"We were never going to turn them away. Any school that wants to engage with us can do, the more the merrier."
Although the scheme was initially aimed specifically at helping schools in deprived areas learn about nutrition and healthy eating, it is now running in around 70% of Sheffield primary schools working and the organisation is working with parents in the local community.
Miss Aldwin said: "They're the ones who are making the decisions around what the children are eating and what they're buying.
"The cost of living isn't helping either and we know that healthy food is more expensive than unhealthy foods. I think everyone knows you should be eating your 5 fruit and veg a day but in reality not everybody can afford it."
The program also works with Food for Life, an organisation that works to deliver school awards for food education and culture.
Schools can submit evidence of their food provision, culture and education to the organisation to achieve a bronze, silver or gold award and over 30 schools across Sheffield have achieved their bronze awards so far with the rest continuing to work towards this.
Women’s Aid push for judges to have compulsory domestic abuse training
Spice Girl Mel B has joined forces with Women’s Aid in a campaign to keep children safe from domestic abuse.
Melanie Brown, who fled her own ten-year abusive relationship is pushing for judges to receive mandatory domestic abuse training.
“Judges need to wake up and learn about domestic abuse – the family courts can be as bad as the abusers,” said the pop star, from Leeds, West Yorkshire
Melanie, 48, is also calling on courts not to assume contact with children should be granted to an ex-partner if the relationship has been an abusive one.
She said: “I’m a Spice Girl and a TV presenter, but I am also a Women’s Aid patron and a survivor of an abusive marriage. I want to use my voice to make a change on behalf of the many whose voices are not listened to. I will shout from every platform I have until survivors of abuse are safe.”
The new petition is calling on the government to act on the recommendations of the 2020 Harm Panel Report, which called for significant changes in the way child victims domestic abuse are handled.
The report said victims believe there is a lack of understanding in the Family Court system which leads to minimisation of the abuse and re-traumatisation.
Despite being published nearly four years ago, some changes have not yet been implemented and are desperately needed.
Appearing in the Family Court can be an incredibly difficult challenge, with many domestic abuse survivors explaining they feel like they are the ones who are on trial and are scared to even sit in court.
Teresa Parker, Head of Media Brand & Relationships at Women’s Aid, said: “Survivors don’t feel safe within the system, don’t feel represented, and feel like this process is an extension of the abuse.”
“There’s a huge negative effect on a survivor's mental health when they tell you: ‘‘I’ve done, on paper, all the right things, yet I’m being blamed, I’ve been the victim but it’s all been spun around and I am exhausted’.”
Women’s Aid, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, believe the problem starts with judges and the training, or lack of, which they receive. This can stem from the background which they come from or simply naivety to what victims and survivors experience each day.
Ms Parker said the stigma about what domestic abuse is and what we think a victim looks like needs to change.
“Victims still say to us: ‘I know it’s not a good relationship, but he hasn’t hit me’,” said Ms Parker. “When some judges themselves don’t understand coercive control, it is so deeply unhealthy in terms of justice.”
Between March 2022 and March 2023, only 6.8% of all domestic abuse related crimes brought to court ended in a charge of summons, according to the Office for National Statistics. Women’s Aid explained this leads to many women believing there isn’t any point in taking their case to court.
Ms Parker added: “When you look at experiences in the family courts and at low conviction rates in criminal courts, survivors often think is it worth doing it?
“One thing that has been effective with our work with patrons and ambassadors, including Mel B; she is the opposite of what many people think a survivor of domestic abuse is. By showing different people, with very different personalities – including some of the most absolutely, amazingly, outwardly strong women – can experience abuse and you don’t experience abuse because you’re almost like a victim by nature. I think that by busting those myths, and the work we’re doing right now with Mel, with you openly says: ‘I’m Scary Spice. If this can happen to me, literally, it can happen to anybody.’ It cuts through that conversation.
“You think of “Little Mo” Mitchell from EastEnders, you think of somebody who’s meek, so that storytelling is so powerful.”
Women’s Aid has worked closely with Claire Throssell, a domestic abuse survivor, from Penistone, Sheffield. Her two sons, Jack, 12, and nine-year-old Paul, were killed by their father in 2014, in a deliberate house fire at the family home after a judge allowed her unsupervised contact visits in his home.
Following the tragic loss of her children, Claire became an ambassador for Women’s Aid and is backing the campaign for mandatory training for judges.
More information about the petition can be found here.
Manchester Utd vs Sheffield Utd: Wilder realistic about side’s chances as relegation looms
Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder says big decisions regarding selection are to be made ahead of his side's clash with Manchester United on Wednesday.
United desperately need a win to stave off the inevitability of relegation to the Championship after a 4-1 home defeat to Burnley on Saturday left the club rooted to the bottom of the table 10 points from safety.
Wilder, who was critical of his team's attitude after their latest loss, said: "The feeling among the squad was low as its been [after the Burnley game]. The goals we conceded on Saturday are just part of a catalogue of really poor goals we've conceded this season.
"Big selection decisions will be made ahead of the Man Utd game, and the disappointment we are feeling at the moment can only be rectified by our performance on Wednesday."
The Blades must realistically win all of their remaining five fixtures if they are to have a chance of survival, a likely impossible task with the side registering only three victories so far this season.
Wilder remained tight-lipped about whether goalkeeper Ivo Grbic would keep the No.1 shirt over Wes Foderingham, with the Croatian's performances coming under criticism since his January arrival from Atletico Madrid.
The manager said: "I know there was talk of subbing Ivo at half-time on Saturday. I obviously want all the players to do well, whether they arrived in January or have been here before I was, but we need to keep the standard high."
The pressures of managing a limited Premier League squad in a relegation battle is another issue hampering Wilder as he seeks to motivate his team to produce an unlikely result against 7th-placed Man Utd.
"It's difficult because we have players that are injured, players that are out of contract, loan players and young players just trying to find their feet, so there are a lots of moving parts that bringing together on matchday is a challenge."
Wilder confirmed that fan favourite Jack Robinson would remain sidelined for the trip to Old Trafford, with the centre-back having missed the last two games with an ankle injury.
The Blades will be hoping to capitalise on possible fatigue among their opponents after Man Utd endured a taxing FA Cup semi-final against Coventry City on Sunday, ultimately progressing to the final on penalties.
Wilder said: "People have been talking about Man Utd negatively but it's a huge football club with a fantastic group of players that play risk and reward football.
"We'll be looking for every advantage, it was tough afternoon emotionally for them on Sunday but they came through it."
With 88 goals conceded already this season, the Blades will be keen to avoid breaking the unwanted record of most Premier League goals conceded in a 38-game Premier League season, with the record currently standing at 89 [Derby County in 2007/08].
On the side's defensive woes, Wilder said: "Defending is something we have to get so much better at, too often we've gone too quickly from one to two to three mistakes within games this season."
Manchester Utd vs Sheffield Utd takes place at Old Trafford at 8pm on Wednesday.
Theatre Deli Sheffield shuts amid rising costs
Theatre Deli Sheffield has announced plans to close its current venue on Arley Street, citing rising costs and the “economic reality” of running a small charity in 2024.
Though the London-based non-profit said that it will continue to operate a base in the north, its future in Sheffield remains uncertain, said CEO and Executive Director David Ralf.
He said: “We've gone from opening this space in March 2023 to looking at closing it at the end of May 2024 and that feels terrible. It’s awful for the team.
“The Deli as a whole is not shutting but this venue in Sheffield is."
Founded in 2008, Theatre Deli turns empty spaces in city centres into creative hubs for communities. Though it had envisioned its current home in Highfield as a “long-term home”, Ralf said that it was no longer economically viable.
“Because of the economic reality of a small charity we don’t have big reserves,” added Ralf. “If something’s not working we don’t have a year to find that out.”
Tributes poured in for the venue on Instagram following the news.
“Thanks for making an inclusive, vibrant space while you could,” wrote one user, while another called it “one of my favourite spaces in my new home town.”
Ralf said that while the venue’s “basic model has always been more precarious than resilient”, its closure is symptomatic of an industry-wide problem he explained.
“What happens with small venues is a bellwether,” he said. “We are seeing lots of organisations that are really struggling, that are not getting the funding that they would normally be able to rely on and that are finding traditional funders turning down a lot of applications that they previously would have funded.”
Theatre Deli has been active in Sheffield since 2014. During its tenure on Arley Street it has offered affordable spaces to 89 different companies, programmed 72 different productions and supported 46 different artists with free space and research and development time.
“The impact that we’ve managed to have even though we’re having to leave the space is something that we’re really really proud of,” said Ralf. “[The future of Theatre Deli in the north] could look like anything. We'll be letting people know as soon as we have an idea of what it will be.”
Interview by Q Cummins.
19-year-old Lloyd Martin enters the Guiness World Records
This weekend in London, Lloyd Martin has just finished and has become the youngest ever person with Down’s Syndrome to complete a full marathon.
Breaking down barriers and stereotypes made this young boy a record breaker.
The teenager was running to marathon to raise funds for Special Olympics Great Britain.
At this date he rose over £6'000.
Link for donations: https://www.justgiving.com/page/lloyd-martin-1706052022785
Police officer appears in Sheffield Magistrates’ Court over charge of common assault
A member of Doncaster's neighbourhood policing team appeared in Sheffield Magistrates court this morning over a charge of common assault.
PC Connor Smith, 28, appeared before district Judge Gould and is accused of assaulting Aaron Cameron on 19 July 2023. He plead not guilty.
Unconditional bail has been imposed and the case has been adjourned until 21 May when PC Smith will appear before Leeds Magistrates' Court.
Meadowhall: World’s largest wealth fund set to take control of £750m mega-mall
The largest sovereign wealth fund in the world is acquiring Meadowhall shopping mall in a transaction that values the facility at £725 million.
Norway's national wealth fund will run Meadowhall, an indoor retail mall in Sheffield, currently ranked among the top five shopping destinations in the United Kingdom.
Negotiations are well advanced for Norges, Norway's £1.3 trillion sovereign wealth fund, to purchase British Land's 50% stake in Meadowhall for about £363 million, including debt.
The retail district welcomes over 24 million tourists every year and hosts over 250 stores, including Apple, Zara, Hugo Boss, and Flannels.
The deal would bring the massive Sheffield mall's value to £725 million, said Norges Bank Investment Management.
In 2012, Karsten Kallevig, Chief Investment Officer for NBIM said: "The purchase gives us exposure to one of the largest and most dominant shopping centres in the UK."
According to The Times, British Land, the owner of mixed-use commercial buildings close to London's Paddington and Liverpool Street stations, intends to invest £150 million of the Meadowhall sale's proceeds in retail parks.
Norges has substantial property assets in the West End of London, notably a twenty-five percent interest in The Crown Estate's extensive portfolio on Regent Street and a twenty-five percent investment in Shaftesbury Capital, the company that owns Covent Garden.
The sovereign wealth fund and British Land also share ownership of the West One shopping centre, which is close to Bond Street station.
‘Sheffield Life, Loss and Death’ Festival set to take place this May
The event is set to take place throughout all of May and will host free events across Sheffield to explore conversations on why life, loss and death matter.
It will take place in locations ranging from community centres, woods and places of worship, where people can enjoy participating in workshop exhibitions, creative sessions, and poetry writing.
A representative of the organiser, Compassionate Sheffield said: “It’s important to talk about death, dying and loss because it’s something we all experience, its one thing we all have in common, yet we often hide away from it. It impacts us all, yet it has become taboo to talk about.
“By being more open about the topic and exploring it in a compassionate way, we can build our confidence in how to navigate and support each other through this important part of life.”
The 'Sheffield Life, Loss and Death' Festival is intended to help participants explore the topic of death, such as introducing the concept to young children or helping those who have lost loved ones contemplate personal experiences.
A participant from last year’s festival which was titled 'Dying Matters' said: “Being part of this has radically changed how I think about living, dying and communicating with others about death."
Another participant added: “I have been struggling quite a bit lately with fear of my own mortality and not knowing what happens when we die but this session really helped to diminish my worries.”
The first event is called “The Gifts We Leave” and is set to take place on 5 May. The event encourages participants to bring keepsakes and share anecdotes of grief. The event will be led by singer-songwriter Yunn. The festival will then finish with 'Sheffield Life, Loss and Death Festival Closing Event' on the 31 May.
To make a booking, please visit: www.compassionate-sheffield.co.uk/life-loss-and-death-festival
Barnsley mum heartbroken after Cinderella carriage at daughter’s grave stolen
Wendy Ogley is urging for cemeteries to increase their security, after her a number of items were stolen from her daughters' grave.
A Cinderella carriage, which was gifted from her brother Stephen, was stolen, and a bench was also smashed.
She said: “Something needs to change because I can’t take it anymore.
“It’s heart-breaking, it shouldn’t happen to anyone’s grave, never mind a child’s.”
Read the full story here.
‘Invest in Sport’ petition calls for greater sports funding at the University of Sheffield
A petition has been set up urging the University of Sheffield to put more funding into its sports facilities, including renovating the 60-year-old Goodwin gym and restoring the previously closed swimming pool.
The 'Invest in Sport' petition is part of Sport and Wellbeing Officer, Annie Henderson's, plans to develop student participation in sport.
The student union officer said that the call for greater funding was aimed at making sports more accessible for students as well as for improving facilities.
She said: "We have such an expanding programme of sports here at Sheffield and it is just not big enough to facilitate everyone, so putting more money into the facilities will allow the sport programme to keep growing at Sheffield."
As part of her role as Wellbeing Officer for Sheffield Student Union, Miss Henderson also emphasised the importance of sports to mental health.
She said: "Being able to take part in sport is not only great for physical health but mental health as well. It provides a chance to have a break away from studies and try something new."
As part of this, Miss Henderson also hopes to place an emphasis on mental health services, through potentially using funding to introduce services such as a wellness hub.
One of the petition’s main aims is also to lobby for a new swimming pool, after the university's previous one was closed in July 2023 due to safety concerns.
In a statement posted on Facebook, when the pool was closed, staff said: “We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused by this situation.
"Although this news is disappointing we want to assure you that we are working to develop a plan for the future.”
Since these closures last year, the University of Sheffield has been the only Russell Group University not providing direct access to a swimming pool for its students.
Miss Henderson said: “It is a shame this year that the pool had to be shut down. It’s not only affected our clubs, but it’s affected students here who used it.
“It's had a massive impact in the local community. We used it to teach other school kids how to swim, so we’ve had to send them elsewhere.”
Katie Oxley, who signed the ‘Invest in Sport’ petition, said: “The closure of the pool has meant that I have to pay a lot more money to swim in Ponds Forge.
“This is not sustainable for me, so it’s reducing the number of months I can swim a year.”
Alongside refurbishing the swimming pool, the campaign also hopes to improve the gym’s other sports facilities, through investing into a bigger gym and sports hall as well as also increasing the number of studios available to members.
Hema Chopra, who also signed the petition, said: “Sheffield needs much more modern and better sports facilities.
“We are a bit shocked at how poor they are compared to other Russell Group Universities.”
The University of Sheffield did not comment at this point on plans to put more funding into their sports facilities.
The petition aims to achieve a thousand signatures, and is currently just below this number.
To sign the petition visit: https://www.change.org/p/invest-in-sports
Sheffield student launches running club to combat loneliness among women
A Sheffield student has been overwhelmed with responses after starting a women’s running club aimed at tackling loneliness and encouraging fitness.
Libby Holmes, 26, a PhD student in biophysics at the University of Sheffield, began Run For Fun Sheffield earlier this month and 25 women attended their first run.
Miss Holmes said: “It’s been phenomenal, I put out a story on my Instagram and I was like ‘oh my god’, I thought there would be only like six people, but we now have 250 people in our whatsapp group.”
After moving to Sheffield from Wolverhampton, Miss Holmes found it difficult to make friends, an experience shared by other women.
Miss Holmes said there are now 250 women in the club's WhatsApp group. Credit: Libby Holmes
She said: “I moved here and didn’t know anyone except my boyfriend so I was looking to get my own friends. I have been running for about a year and a half mainly on my own and I saw a lot of run clubs up and down the country and thought it would be really cool to be involved in them.
“A lot of them focus on pace and can be quite intimidating and I wanted to create a community of slower runners and get outside and start running and meet like-minded people because it’s quite difficult to meet people in your 20s.
As well as helping to keep fit and make new friends, Miss Holmes said running has benefits for people’s mental health, and for women in particular running as a group can make them feel safer.
Miss Holmes, who is running the Leeds half-marathon next month, said: “I am not alone in saying that a lot of people suffer with mental health issues and I started running about a year and a half ago and it makes me feel really good and I feel so much healthier now. For PhD’s you can be inside quite a lot, so I can run off some steam, When it’s cold and dark and disgusting outside the run club comes in handy to get me out the house.
The next run will take place on 28 April. Credit: Libby Holmes
“When it gets really dark a lot of women don’t want to run in the dark and I wanted to make it a super safe and secure environment for people.”
While the women involved so far are largely fellow students, Miss Holmes said women of all ages are welcome and hopes more will join in the future and get the running bug. After their run the women grab a coffee to chat and make friends.
For anyone interested in joining you can check out their Instagram page @runforfunsheffield.