Source: Ofsted published on this website Monday 16 March 2025 by Jill Powell

Ofsted has announced that it is piloting a new way of involving more serving education leaders in the inspections of schools and further education providers.

Inspections already bring together the expertise of Ofsted’s full-time His Majesty’s Inspectors (HMI) and the real-time sector knowledge of contracted Ofsted Inspectors (OIs). This new pilot is exploring how Ofsted can enhance that crucial blend with even more shared insight into the context, challenges and day-to-day realities providers face, and how inspection can support improvement.  

This is part of Ofsted’s commitment to making sure inspection teams include people with relevant, sector‑specific experience, who are best placed to understand the part of the system they are inspecting. 

Currently, most OIs join Ofsted as individuals and their interaction with other OIs and HMI is largely limited to their inspection work. While this has worked well for inspection, it can restrict chances for two-way professional reflection and shared learning. The pilot is developing structured engagement opportunities for OIs, provided by the Ofsted Academy, to help forge an even deeper and more enduring connection between Ofsted and the education sector.

The scheme, which is already underway, involves OIs joining Ofsted as groups of peers drawn from the professional organisations and networks they’re already part of, such as multi-academy trusts, local authorities, dioceses, local school networks, independent learning providers and general further education colleges.

OIs recruited in this way will form a professional community with each other and with HMI. Ofsted will ensure they have regular opportunities to share feedback collectively and to reflect on what they’re seeing and learning day-to-day. Their experiences will then feed directly into how Ofsted continuously improves inspection.  

Source: Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) published on this website Thursday 12 March 2026 by Jill Powell

An e-bike cyclist who killed an elderly man while riding on the pavement has been sentenced to 15 months imprisonment suspended for two years for his manslaughter in what is thought to be the first case of its kind in the country.

Clifford Cage was riding an e-bike along City Way in Rochester on 6 July 2023 when he hit 91-year-old James Blackwood, who was crossing the pavement back to his house, after putting rubbish out.

James was taken to the hospital with stomach pains and scans later revealed a small bleed on his brain and damage to his liver. His condition worsened and he passed away on 13 October 2023.

Following his death, multiple injuries were found, including a brain injury, consistent with the time of the collision.

Joe Pullen, Senior Crown Prosecutor from the Crown Prosecution Service, said:

“This case, which is a legal first, tragically highlights how exceptionally dangerous it can be to cycle on the pavement and the reason it is illegal.

“James Blackwood went from being fully mobile before the collision to being bedbound and immobile afterwards, eventually resulting in his death.

“Clifford Cage has made it clear that he never intended to cause the victim any harm, but the risk he took in cycling on an e-bike on the pavement should have been obvious to him. 

“Instead, Cage admitted he had never thought about the danger he could pose to others. It was that simple lack of thought that led to James’ death.

“We hope today’s sentencing brings some comfort to James’ family and sends a strong message to everyone about stopping this potentially deadly practice on our footpaths.”

Similar cases to this have been prosecuted, but as wanton and furious cycling, not manslaughter. Cycling on the footpath is prohibited under Section 72 of the Highway Act 1835.

Source: Crown Prosecution Service Prosecution Service (CPS) Published on this website Friday 13 March 2026 by Jill Powell

A woman from Tewkesbury who kept another woman captive for over 20 years and forced her to carry out labour in her home has been sentenced to 13 years imprisonment.

Amanda Wixon, 56, was convicted by a jury at Gloucestershire Crown Court in January of two counts of forced or compulsory labour, one count of false imprisonment and three counts of assault.

During her more than 20-year imprisonment, the victim was repeatedly beaten while being forced to clean and sweep the floors of Wixon’s home and get her children ready for school.

She told the police that the assaults she was subjected to included being hit, being strangled into unconsciousness while her head was forced into a toilet and being force-fed cleaning products.

Wixon assumed responsibility for the victim and moved her in with her own family in 1996. She was found by police in March 2021, following a call from one of Wixon’s sons who was concerned about her welfare. At the time of her discovery, she was malnourished, her hair had been forcibly cut, and all of her teeth had been removed.

Rachael Scott of the Crown Prosecution Service said:

“The victim in this case was subjected to decades of torment, exploitation and control. She was denied her freedom, made to live in appalling physical and emotional conditions, and forced to act at the whim of the woman who imprisoned her.

“Over the years of captivity, which she was only able to track by the passing of each Christmas, she was left to live off the crumbs that Wixon provided, while suffering unimaginable abuse and experiencing no acts of kindness at all.

“Despite all of this, the progress she has made since finding freedom is remarkable and a true testament to her strength.

“Our thoughts remain with her, and I hope that today’s sentence brings her some comfort as she continues to rebuild her life.”

Source: Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) published on this website Wednesday 11 March2026 by Jill Powell

A doctor who exploited patients by sexually assaulting them and secretly filming them during routine examinations has been sentenced to six years in prison.

Dr Timothy Girling, 55, of West Molesey, Surrey, carried out intimate physical examinations at at a medical centre in Bournemouth.

During one appointment, he conducted a sexual health examination that went far beyond what was clinically required, touching a patient’s genitals without consent.

The patient believed at the time that this was part of the medical procedure, and trusted that Girling was acting in a professional manner.

At a later appointment, the same victim heard the sound of a mobile phone beginning to record from behind a curtain and saw an iPhone partially concealed in Girling’s pocket.

Prosecutors proved his crimes were not isolated incidents, but part of a wider pattern of a horrific pattern of abuse.

When officers examined Girling’s phone, they found intimate images of other patients, including one man who had attended the clinic over the course of a year.

The investigation also uncovered instances of Girling encouraging a patient to send intimate images by email.

Lucy Paddick, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “A doctor’s duty is to care for patients, not exploit them, and Timothy Girling repeatedly violated that fundamental trust.

“These sexual offences, carried out under the guise of legitimate medical practice, were deeply calculated.

“He manipulated vulnerable individuals and exploited them in clinical sittings – a place where they should feel safe and secure.

“In court, we showed how he used his professional position to facilitate this offending and secretly record intimate examinations.

“We hope these convictions demonstrate that such abuse of authority will be robustly prosecuted by the Crown Prosecution Service.”

Further investigation uncovered a secretly recorded video of another young patient, filmed without consent during a brief appointment.

Dorset Police also recovered covert intimate recordings from inside Girling’s home address. These videos had no medical purpose and were taken solely for his own sexual gratification.

After being convicted by a jury of the voyeurism offences, Girling later pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children. A number of these were, including Category A photographs – the most serious possible – were found on his laptop.

Detective Constable Kit Little, of Dorset Police, added: “Timothy Girling was in a position of trust as a sexual health doctor and exploited this by inappropriately touching and making recordings of his victims.

“We have worked tirelessly since the initial report was first made in August 2023 to investigate Girling’s offending, identify further victims where possible and bring him to justice.

“This would not have been possible without the strength and courage of the victims, who supported our investigation and the court process to ensure Girling was ultimately held to account.

“I want to thank them as well as the health services involved who have supported our comprehensive investigation.”