Tuesday, 17 June 2014

Peaches Geldof 'begged bereaved father to keep her name out of friend's death'

The father of Freddy McConnel, who died of a drug overdose, tells how Peaches Geldof begged him not to tell her father of her involvement

'My wife and I saw the signs': Freddy McConnel and his father James - The evil drug menace that killed Freddy McConnel cannot go unpunished

Freddy McConnel (Lt) and his father James Photo: DAVID ROSE

12:19PM BST 09 Jun 2014

The father of a teenage drug addict who died of an overdose has told how Peaches Geldof begged him not to tell anyone about her involvement, fearing her family would be “furious”.

James McConnel, whose son Freddy died of a heroin overdose in 2011, said he had felt “terribly sorry” for Miss Geldof, who worried her father, the singer Bob Geldof, would be angry.

_{Peaches Geldof (PA)}

Saying he felt “no poetic justice” following her death earlier this year, he added: “I know the acute pain her father is going through right now.”

Mr McConnel’s son was found dead from an overdose in his London flat aged 18, surrounded by drug paraphernalia.
Months earlier, he had written in his diary: “Peaches is coming over later and I am going to inject for the first time. Perhaps I will die. I hope I don’t.”
In an interview with the Sunday Times Magazine, Mr McConnel and his 19-year-old daughter Daisy have now spoken of Freddy’s life and legacy.
Speaking of the day a family friend discovered his body, after police broke into the flat fearing the worst, Mr McConnel said: “It sounds awful, but I had the most appalling sense of relief.
“I feel guity saying those words, but every time my phone rang, I though ti t would be bad news.
“The horror was immeasurable, but it was marginally lessened because we were expecting it. Daisy was in floods of tears. She played Chopin at his funeral. I was just numb."
He added: "Peaches telephoned me the day after Freddy died, begging me not to mention her name bcause her father would be furious.
“I felt terribly sorry for her then and I had absolutely no sense of poetic justice when she died in April.
“I know the acute pain her father is going through right now.”
The family have now contributed to a Channel 4 documentary, Addicts Orchestra, which will see them write a score for ten drug addicts to perfect and perform with the London Symphony Orchestra.
The idea was inspired by Freddy, who before his death had suggested his father set up a music treatment centre for addicts.

Dead Woman Gets New Orleans Funeral Party With Her Corpse Holding Beer & Cigarettes [Photos]

NEWS, PHOTO OPS, GALLERY

» by Cecil Lennox Jun 13 2014, 2:58pm

A 53-year-old New Orleans woman known as party animal amongst her friends and family, was thrown a funeral party that resembled the way she said lived her life.
Miriam Marie Burbank died on June 1 and her two daughters wanted to send their “Mae Mae” home in style. Together with the Charbonnet Funeral Home, they called up their friends and had her mummified with beer and cigarettes in her hands as the guests danced by her on looking corpse.
Reports WGNO:

With a case of Busch beer by her side, a menthol cigarette in her hand, and a disco ball flashing overhead Miriam Burbank attended her last party.
Burbank’s two daughters, who call their mom Mae Mae, said she was full of life and they wanted her funeral to reflect that. So they told the funeral home directors at Charbonnet Funeral Home what she liked and came up with this.
As side from the beer and menthol cigarette, Burbank is sitting at a table in a living room type setting. Also the Saints lover has her fingernail painted black and gold.
Burbank’s daughters said other family members seemed to enjoy this fitting goodbye.
Burbank is not the first New Orleanian to have an unusual send off. In April, philanthropist and socialite Mickey Easterling causally sat on an iron bench and greeted guests with champagne and a magnificent hat.

They probably could have just held a reception with a picture of Burbank hanging up, but to each their own.
Take a look at the flicks from the New Orleans funeral party in the gallery below and let us know your thoughts on it in the comments. As Phonte says, it was “Weekend At Bernadette’s.”

- See more at: http://hiphopwired.com/2014/06/13/dead-woman-new-orleans-funeral-party-beer-cigarettes-photos/?utm_source=outbrain&utm_medium=cpc&utm_content=widget&utm_campaign=hiphopwired.desktop.global#sthash.gHOsJJH1.dpuf

Dead Woman Gets New Orleans Funeral Party With Her Corpse Holding Beer & Cigarettes [Photos]

NEWS, PHOTO OPS, GALLERY

» by Cecil Lennox Jun 13 2014, 2:58pm

With a case of Busch beer by her side, a menthol cigarette in her hand, and a disco ball flashing overhead Miriam Burbank attended her last party.
Burbank’s two daughters, who call their mom Mae Mae, said she was full of life and they wanted her funeral to reflect that. So they told the funeral home directors at Charbonnet Funeral Home what she liked and came up with this.
As side from the beer and menthol cigarette, Burbank is sitting at a table in a living room type setting. Also the Saints lover has her fingernail painted black and gold.
Burbank’s daughters said other family members seemed to enjoy this fitting goodbye.
Burbank is not the first New Orleanian to have an unusual send off. In April, philanthropist and socialite Mickey Easterling causally sat on an iron bench and greeted guests with champagne and a magnificent hat.

Rania Alayed case: Wife murdered by 'jealous' husband

A mother of three from Manchester was murdered by her "jealous" husband because he believed she was "too westernised".

Rania Alayed was killed by Ahmed Al-Khatib, 35, from Gorton, whom her uncle Ali Aydi described as a "murderous monster".
She went missing last June. Her body has not been found.
Det Ch Insp Peter Marsh, who has led the search for her body, said he will not "be comfortable until we've found her".
Abbie Jones reports.

Protests over Thameslink rail franchise

Protests were held in London, Sussex, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire

Rail campaigners have held protests in London and Sussex after the Thameslink rail franchise was awarded to Govia.

Unions said people would see "flashy" new trains but safety would be at risk - while Govia said it never compromised on safety and the government said the unions were scaremongering.
The new Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern (TSGN) franchise will run for seven years from this September.
Protests were also held in Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire.
Nick Child, from the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association, said: "They [passengers] might see flashy new trains, more carriages, but they're going to get less personal service. There'll be less staff on trains. Trains will be less safe."
'Busiest stations staffed' Unions including the RMT have claimed fares in London will go to subsidise fares in France because Govia is a joint venture between French company Keolis and Go Ahead.
They also said the government was allowing cuts in the number of guards on trains, introduction of driver-only trains and reductions in station staff.
But a spokeswoman for Govia said: "We never compromise on safety. The safety of passengers and staff is always of paramount importance."
She said many services were already "driver only", and the new franchise would see the busiest stations staffed from the first to last train.
A Department for Transport spokesman said: "This is irresponsible scaremongering by the rail unions and their actions show no regard for passengers."
He said the franchise would see 1,400 new electric carriages, providing 50% more capacity and 10,000 extra seats every weekday into London during the morning peak by the end of 2018.

Fire-fighters strike causes toast ban at hospital

Managers at 1,000-bed University Hospital of North Staffordshire decided to switch off toasters in every kitchen ward - for fear of triggering a fire alarm - during the 24-hour walkout

University Hospital of North Staffordshire Photo: Paul Pickard/ Alamy

By Tom Brooks-Pollock

8:10PM BST 17 Jun 2014

8 Comments

Toast was taken off the breakfast menu for hospital patients as a unexpected consequence of last week's fire-fighter strike.

Managers at 1,000-bed University Hospital of North Staffordshire decided to switch off toasters in every kitchen ward - for fear of triggering a fire alarm - during the 24-hour walkout.

Patients were forced to opt for cereal, porridge, or simply go without, while the fire service ran a reduced service as a result of a dispute over pensions.

Antony Wood, who was being cared for on the hospital's cardiac ward, was denied his favourite-toast and-marmalade by staff, who said toasters were not being used on 'health and safety' grounds.

A spokesman for the hospital said that its fire safety manager had decided to switch off the toasters as a precaution during the strike.

Aspirin can't help a million heart patients

Previous NHS advice is reversed as people with a common heart condition are told not to take aspirin to guard against stroke

The National Institute of Health and Care says a new generation of drugs is far better than aspirin at reducing the danger for such patients and is less likely to cause side effects Photo: Alamy

By Laura Donnelly, Health Editor

10:00PM BST 17 Jun 2014

Comments

More than than a million people with a common heart condition have been told not to take aspirin to guard against stroke, in a reversal of previous NHS advice.

New medical recommendations warn that the pills are ineffective in reducing the danger for those suffering heart rhythm disorders and that the risk of side-effects outweighs their benefits.

Up to 7,000 strokes and 2,000 premature deaths a year could be prevented if patients were put on new drugs instead, experts said.

Until now, adults suffering from atrial fibrillation have been advised to take a daily dose of aspirin – a blood thinning drug – as the heart condition often causes clots, leading to a risk of stroke that is five times higher than in other people.

But revised guidance from the National Institute of Health and Care (Nice) says a new generation of drugs is far better than aspirin at reducing the danger for such patients and is less likely to cause side effects including internal bleeding.

Patients are advised to seek advice from their GP before stopping their current medication, but the guidance recommends that anticoagulant drugs which prevent clots forming should be prescribed instead.
Several of the medications have only recently been recommended for NHS use, and medical advisers said thousands of lives could be saved if patients were switched to them. The advice recommends so-called “novel oral anticoagulants” including dabigatran etexilate and rivaroxaban as the best medication for those suffering from atrial fibrillation.
The condition becomes more common in later life, with one in 10 pensioners diagnosed with the disorder. It occurs when electrical impulses in the heart become jumbled, so that blood is pumped less effectively, increasing the chance of clots, which can cause strokes.
However, experts said aspirin remained the best drug for thousands of other patients, such as 1.5 million heart attack survivors, who are usually prescribed it alongside other medications, and for heart disease sufferers assessed with a high risk of stroke.
Prof Mark Baker, Nice’s director of clinical practice, called for significant changes in prescribing to save thousands of lives.
He said: “We know that around 7,000 strokes and 2,000 premature deaths could be avoided every year through effective detection and protection with anticoagulant drugs that prevent blood clots forming. Unfortunately only half of those who should be getting these drugs are.
“This needs to change if we are to reduce the numbers of people with AF who die needlessly or suffer life-changing disability as a result of avoidable strokes.”
Dr Campbell Cowan, chairman of Nice’s guideline development group, said: “Aspirin has been a bit of a smokescreen to anticoagulation. We now know it is not safer and it’s questionable whether it has any effect at all.” Nice said atrial fibrillation led to an estimated 12,500 strokes each year.
“Any stroke occurring in a patient with atrial fibrillation is a tragedy because it was preventable,” Dr Cowan said.
He said that patients with the heart problem should not take themselves off aspirin, but should make an appointment with their GP to find out which treatment is best for them.
The Nice guidelines, updated for the first time since 2006, suggest some patients with atrial fibrillation could still be given Warfarin, an earlier anti-coagulant. However, it suggests many patients will benefit from the new drugs, which need less monitoring and many of which have been introduced in this country since 2012.
Amy Thompson, senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said: “The new Nice guidelines reflect the growing body of evidence that warfarin and the newer anticoagulants are much more effective at preventing stroke than aspirin.
“But this does not mean aspirin is not an effective means of preventing heart attacks and strokes in other circumstances.”
The charity stressed that the advice from Nice relates specifically to the impact of aspirin on patients with atrial fibrillation, who have a high risk of clots within the heart, where anticoagulant drugs have been found to be more effective. Aspirin is still effective in reducing the risk of strokes from other causes, they stressed.
The drug is recommended by GPs for heart disease sufferers at high risk of stroke. However it is not usually advised for those assessed as low risk, because it can cause ulcers and bleeding.
The causes of atrial fibrillation are not fully understood.
The condition affects more men than women, becoming more common with age, and in those with other heart conditions such as high blood pressure or clogged arteries.
Most sufferers will have some symptoms ranging from palpitations to dizziness but as many as a third have no obvious signs of the condition, research for the new guidelines showed.