Simon de Bruxelles
The Times of London
United Kingdom
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Past articles by Simon:
Great-grandchild ‘heard fatal crash’ as van hit house
A woman aged 90 who was killed when a van crashed into her house had been on the phone to her great-granddaughter at the time, neighbours said yesterday.Two people have been arrested after the van hit a semi-detached house in a cul-de-sac in Clevedon, North Somerset, on Wednesday evening. They were → Read More
Salisbury clean-up after Skripal poisoning will take months
Decontaminating Salisbury after the nerve agent attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter will take several months, government scientists said today, as they revealed that the poison came in liquid form.Between 180 and 190 specially trained military personnel will take part in the operation, supervi → Read More
Elderly man died after 23-hour wait for an ambulance in Swansea
A man of 80 who had to wait 23 hours for an ambulance might still be alive if he had received swifter treatment, his family said.An investigation is being held into the death of John Williams, who collapsed in his kitchen. He died on Sunday, four days after being admitted to Morriston Hospital, Swa → Read More
Sea views guaranteed with a bed on the edge
It is probably not the best idea for sleepwalkers. An adventure company is inviting climbers to literally hang out all night on the side of a cliff above the Channel.Guests climb down with their sleeping bags, cuddly toys and other essentials to reach a contraption called a portaledge that is “anc → Read More
Hoarder had been living with dead mother for years
A woman found buried beneath piles of clutter in her cottage is believed to have been dead for as long as four years.Gaynor Jones, 87, was found after her daughter Valerie, who is believed to have lived there with her, collapsed. Neighbours told police they had not seen her mother for years.The body → Read More
Sylvia Plath’s daughter sells relics of a lost love
Mementoes from the tumultuous six-year marriage of Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes will be auctioned today.The items are being sold by the couple’s only surviving child, the artist and poet Frieda Hughes. Her brother, Nicholas, killed himself in 2009 at the age of 47.AlamyHughes and Plath in Massachuset → Read More
Toddler died after mother’s car rolled into River Teifi
A two-year-old girl has drowned after her mother’s car rolled into a freezing river.Kiara Moore was strapped into the car, which her mother, Kim Rowlands, had left outside an outdoor activity centre owned by her father while she popped in to get some money.When she came out to find the car gone, Mr → Read More
Bond villain Goldie pleads guilty to Glastonbury Festival assault via Facetime on phone
The actor, musician and James Bond villain Goldie is believed to have become the first person to plead guilty to a crime by Facetime.Goldie, whose real name is Clifford Price, admitted assaulting a bouncer who had blocked access to a backstage VIP area during Glastonbury Festival.A district judge at → Read More
Russian spy Sergei Skripal was easy to find at pub, restaurant or railway club
For anyone wishing to harm Sergei Skripal, the former Russian double agent, he was simple enough to find. Pictures obtained by The Times show him and his daughter, Yulia, smiling and drinking at The Mill, a 16th-century pub in Salisbury now at the centre of a massive police investigation, and at oth → Read More
Sergei and Yulia Skripal were slumped in trance minutes after shop stroll
It was just before 4pm on a quiet Sunday and shops in the Maltings, a small modern precinct in the centre of Salisbury, were preparing to shut. At 3.47pm a CCTV camera outside Snap Fitness in Market Way, a shop-lined passage between the market square and the Maltings, recorded a man in his mid-60s a → Read More
Weary travellers trapped on South Western train danced to Madonna to get warm
Rail passengers who spent 14 hours trapped in carriages overnight criticised a train company yesterday, claiming that they received no heating, food, water or information.Some tried to sleep on overhead luggage racks while others wrapped jumpers around their legs to keep warm. One claimed a driver l → Read More
Time running out for traditional breeds of dog, warns Kennel Club
By the mid-1970s pesticides and persecution had all but finished off the otter in the English countryside. A ban on otter hunting in 1978 did the same for its nemesis, the otterhound.Since then a clean up of England’s rivers and official protection has allowed otters to return from the brink and mun → Read More
Burglar on a bicycle raided 130 homes to pay gambling debts
A privately educated former foreign exchange dealer became one of the south of England’s most prolific burglars — but could not steal bulky items because he travelled everywhere by bicycle.David Adams, 33, pedalled his way through villages in the New Forest taking meticulous notes on possible target → Read More
‘Fake beggar’ shaming clears town of vagrants
Businesses in a seaside town have started naming and shaming beggars they believe to be “fake” as part of a campaign to drive them off the streets. A group cal → Read More
Here comes spring: first British strawberries are on the shelves at Tesco and Aldi
The earliest ever crop of British-grown strawberries has gone on sale at supermarkets as the UK suffers the arrival of a blast of icy air from Siberia.Punnets h → Read More
Father is cleared as lack of evidence halts FGM trial
Police and prosecutors were criticised yesterday after the collapse of a trial of a man accused of allowing his young daughter to undergo female genital mutilat → Read More
Broken teapot sells for £575,000
Many people would have been tempted to throw the broken teapot in the bin. One collector is glad he did not.The blue and white teapot he bought at auction for → Read More
Teenager Gaia Pope died of hypothermia days after disappearing
Police officers who failed to find a 19-year-old woman whose body was discovered 11 days after she was reported missing will be forced to explain themselves t → Read More
Teenagers arrested after baby death in Southampton
Two teenagers have been arrested on suspicion of the murder of a six-week-old baby boy.The baby died in hospital after emergency services were called to a hous → Read More
Last WWI airfield at Stow Maries honours its heroes
Traces of the Great War are everywhere at Stow Maries, the only intact First World War airfield left in Britain.The most poignant of all is a break in the hedge → Read More