All posts tagged: Cruel

Cruel father who killed five-week-old baby daughter jailed for life | UK | News

Cruel father who killed five-week-old baby daughter jailed for life | UK | News

Published by Sam Flores

A father who murdered his five-week-old daughter by causing her a brain injury and more than 40 rib fractures in repeated assaults when he lost his temper has been jailed for life. Both of baby Darcy-Leigh Jefferson’s legs were also fractured in the 10 days before she died on March 29, 2022, a seven-week trial at Stafford Crown Court heard. Her father, 35-year-old Sean Jefferson, who was found guilty of murder and two counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent, was handed a minimum term of 22 years on Thursday. Darcy-Leigh’s cocaine-taking mother, Amy Clark, 34, was found guilty of causing or allowing the death of a child and two counts of causing or allowing serious harm to a child after charges of murder and manslaughter against her were dropped by prosecutors during the trial. Clark, who was cleared of two counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent, was sentenced to seven years in prison. A woman in the public gallery called Clark “scum” when her sentence was passed by the judge. Sentencing …

Only Fools and Horses episode ‘banned’ for 20 years for being too ‘cruel’

Only Fools and Horses episode ‘banned’ for 20 years for being too ‘cruel’

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture email Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Only Fools and Horses star Tessa Peake-Jones has said modern sitcoms should be as heartwarming as the BBC sitcom – but the series almost tarnished its own loving reputation back when it first aired. In a new interview, the actor, who played Del Boy’s wife Racquel, said Only Fools’s enduring appeal is down to the writing having “so much heart”. She told The i Paper. “Some of the comedy today seems to be having a go at other people – it can be quite cruel in a way that I don’t find funny personally.” While Only Fools and Horses featured jokes made by entrepreneurial market trader Del Boy (Sir David Jason) at the expense of his hapless brother Rodney (Nicholas Lyndhurst), one controversial episode was “banned” for featuring a scene too “cruel” to air. ‘Only Fools and Horses’ episode was too …

Holly Humberstone: Cruel World review – Taylor Swift fave trades gothic melancholy for pop glow-up | Music

Holly Humberstone: Cruel World review – Taylor Swift fave trades gothic melancholy for pop glow-up | Music

Published by Sam Flores

As a profession, pop stardom has been in existential crisis for some time. It used to be simple – a hit single was the only real qualification – but in a post-monocultural world, the job title is often bestowed as a result of more piecemeal success: a Brit rising star award and Taylor Swift support slot here, 4m monthly Spotify listeners and a Top 5 album there. Cruel World album artwork. This, specifically, is the CV of Lincolnshire’s Holly Humberstone, who has established herself in the pop sphere without ever troubling the singles chart. While an undeniable banger has eluded the 26-year-old, her sound is faultlessly chart-friendly. Like Swift, Humberstone delivers earnestly wordy lyrics in intimate, near-ASMR tones atop 80s synth-pop decorated with a deluge of hooks. For this second album, she has dropped the hint of gothic melancholy that accompanied her debut, Paint My Bedroom Black. Cruel World is peppy bordering on euphoric: inordinately sunny break-up song To Love Somebody is powered by a stadium-ready pre-chorus, while the brilliantly catchy White Noise plugs into …

Savannah Guthrie taunted by cruel ransom note claiming mom Nancy is alive in Mexico

Savannah Guthrie taunted by cruel ransom note claiming mom Nancy is alive in Mexico

Published by Daniella Wilson

Savannah Guthrie returned to the Today desk on Monday after a two-month absence, amid the ongoing investigation into her mother Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance. However, the day was overshadowed by an update in the case. Reporters at media outlet TMZ received two more ransom notes upon Savannah’s return to TV, asking for money in exchange for information on her whereabouts. According to the outlet, the ransom notes came from the same person who sent them notes in February. In the first note, the writer alleged that they saw Nancy “alive with them in the state of Sonora, Mexico,” yet the second note claimed she was dead. © WireImageNancy went missing from her home in Arizona on February 1 “It’s unbelievable that millions have been wasted and yet here I am willing to deliver them on a silver platter since the 11th of February for a bitcoin, but I am disregarded as a scam,” the note continued. “They are free and the case is frozen, but the egos remain hot when it comes to me. Arrogance at …

How ‘cruel’ friendship fraudsters are scamming older people | UK News

How ‘cruel’ friendship fraudsters are scamming older people | UK News

Published by skeptic

Older and vulnerable people are being targeted by “cruel” friendship fraudsters online, one of the UK’s biggest banks has warned. TSB said criminals are preying on people’s loneliness and desire to make a connection. People often make just one payment in such scams, but in one case, 60 payments had been made over four years, the bank said. In this case, a customer in their late 60s was contacted on a message board, where the scammer posed as a young person looking to flee an abusive family and needing financial help. The relationship spanned four years before it was reported. Image: Criminals are preying on lonely older people. File image: iStock In another case, a customer in their late 70s lost more than £4,000 after being targeted on social media. After forming a friendship, the individual said they were unwell and urgently required help with medical bills. As a result, the customer sent a series of payments and gift cards, before contact fizzled out and they realised it was fraud. In a third case, a …

Kent meningitis outbreak a cruel reminder young people are most at risk | UK News

Kent meningitis outbreak a cruel reminder young people are most at risk | UK News

Published by skeptic

Meningitis is thankfully rare, but the outbreak in Kent is a cruel reminder that the disease is still with us, and that young people are most at risk. Health authorities are yet to identify the exact strain that has killed two students – one a sixth-former in Canterbury, the other studying at the University of Kent – and left 11 others seriously ill. But we know we are dealing with the bacterial form of meningitis. Thankfully, not as common as it once was, but no less devastating. Follow latest: Hundreds of masked Kent university students queue for antibiotics Image: Pic: CNRI/Science Photo Library “There’s been less and less disease thanks to the effectiveness of vaccines, which are now available on the NHS”, said Dr Tom Nutt, chief executive of charity Meningitis Now. “So to get a big cluster like this in Canterbury, I think, is pretty shocking and pretty unusual.” Babies, children and young adults are most at risk, and the bacterial infection – sluggish compared to respiratory viruses like colds and flu – has …

New mum’s heartbreak as mother dies from rare cancer before meeting grandchild: ‘It just feels so cruel’

New mum’s heartbreak as mother dies from rare cancer before meeting grandchild: ‘It just feels so cruel’

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the Well Enough newsletter with Harry Bullmore for tips on living a healthier, happier and longer life Get the Well Enough email with Harry Bullmore Get the Well Enough email with Harry Bullmore A new mother has spoken of the profound grief she feels that her own mother never met her baby, describing it as “really cruel that she didn’t get to be a grandmother” and lamenting that the chance to “share that motherhood journey together was ripped away”. Despite the heartache, a supportive community of “motherless mothers” has provided her with strength. Seona Wells, 34, from Aberdeen, welcomed her daughter Mara into the world in June 2025. However, the joy of new parenthood has been inextricably linked with the sorrow of losing her mother, Christina, to cancer in November 2024. Christina, who was 58, received a diagnosis of a rare, aggressive sarcoma in March 2024. The family quickly learned the cancer was untreatable, and Christina spent her final months receiving palliative care. “We were so close, we spoke every day, my mum and …

Kelly Osbourne forced to respond to ‘cruel’ comments about her new look at BRITs

Kelly Osbourne forced to respond to ‘cruel’ comments about her new look at BRITs

Published by Daniella Wilson

Kelly Osbourne joined her mother, Sharon Osbourne, at the BRIT Awards on Saturday night, but the mother-daughter outing was soured by comments from fans that the 41-year-old was forced to address after the show aired live on ITV. “There is a special kind of cruelty in harming someone who is clearly going through something. Kicking me while I’m down, doubting my pain, spreading my struggles as gossip, and turning your back when I need support and love most,” Kelly penned on her Instagram Stories. © Billboard via Getty ImagesKelly and Sharon Osbourne attended The BRIT Awards 2026 held at Co-op Live “None of it proves strength; it only reveals a profound absence of compassion and character. I’m currently going through the hardest time in my life. I should not even have to defend myself. But I won’t sit here and allow myself to be dehumanized in such a way.” Kelly reacts to fan comments The former star of The Osbournes reacted to the harsh comments that appeared on social media during the ceremony, calling her …

The cruel experiment that explains Punch the Monkey’s attachment to a plushie

The cruel experiment that explains Punch the Monkey’s attachment to a plushie

Published by Daniella Wilson

Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more A baby macaque monkey named Punch has gone viral for his heart-wrenching pursuit of companionship. After being abandoned by his mother and rejected by the rest of his troop, his zookeepers at Ichikawa City Zoo in Japan provided Punch with an orangutan plushie as a stand-in mother. Videos of the monkey clinging to the toy have gone viral worldwide. But Punch’s attachment to his inanimate companion is not just the subject of a heartbreaking video. It also harks back to the story of a famous set of psychology experiments conducted in the 1950s by US researcher Harry Harlow. The findings from his experiments underpin many of the central tenets of attachment theory, which positions the bond between parent and child as crucial in child …

Why Kind People Join Cruel Crowds: Risk of Collective Sadism

Why Kind People Join Cruel Crowds: Risk of Collective Sadism

Published by Jenni Sidey

Sadists are those people who take pleasure in the pain others experience. Although sadism has been recognized as a behavioral concern for over 100 years (Krafft-Ebing, 1898), Millon (2011) identified four distinct expressions of sadism, each driven by different psychological needs. Understanding these forms helps us recognize how cruelty shows up in everyday life and in broader social movements. Spineless sadism is marked by insecurity, false bravado, and cowardice. Tyrannical sadism is driven by the desire to use and abuse power. Enforcing sadism is expressed by individuals who take pleasure enforcing punishment on those they feel “deserve” it. Explosive sadism shows up in people whose cruelty erupts in unpredictable ways, and their fury can spill over everyone in their vicinity. Is there a Normal Level of Sadism? Not every spectator at a paramilitary operation or UFC match is a sadist, but many people do possess mild sadistic tendencies. The “everyday sadist” exhibits a willingness to go to some effort to cause suffering for another (Buckels et al., 2013). They may make jokes at others’ expense, …