News

SAFE Newsfeed

Investigation into charities run by designated person results in over £1.3m redistributed to good causes

Source: The Charity Commission published on this site Monday 27 April 2026 by Jill Powell

The Charity Commission has concluded its statutory inquiries into the Kantor Foundation and Kantor

Charitable Foundation, finding neither charity remained viable after the designation of the charities’ founder, Dr Vitacheslav Kantor.

Both charities were set up to provide grants to projects and causes in any part of the world as long as they were exclusively charitable. The charities shared a sole corporate trustee, which was a private limited company known as Kantor Trustees. One of the company’s directors, sole member, and the charities’ primary funder was Dr Kantor.

Background

In April 2022, the UK Government named Dr Kantor as a ‘designated person’ under the UK’s Russia Sanctions regime. This meant that it was now a criminal offence for funds or economic resources in the UK to be made available to Dr Kantor.

In the same month, the Commission opened inquiries into charities connected to Dr Kantor, these were: the Kantor Charitable Foundation (KCF), Kantor Foundation (KF) and the World Holocaust Forum Foundation (WHFF). The regulator froze charity bank accounts and prevented the trustee from parting with any of the charity’s property without the Commission’s prior consent. In May 2022, the regulator removed Dr Kantor as a trustee of WHFF meaning he was automatically disqualified from being a trustee and ceased to be a director of Kantor Trustees.

Findings

In June 2023, the inquiries concluded that the Kantor Foundation and Kantor Charitable Foundation were no longer viable and that they should be wound up and dissolved. The inquiries reached this view having taken into consideration that Dr Kantor was the sole donor and it would be unlikely that either charity could secure future funding. There were also no trustees to run the charities following Dr Kantor’s designation and subsequent resignation of the other directors from the Kantor Trustees company.

The inquiries also determined that reputational damage arising from the designation, meant that it would be unlikely that the charities could resolve these matters through fundraising or recruitment.

The inquiries found that Dr Kantor was responsible for misconduct and/or mismanagement in the administration of both charities for failing to proactively resign following his designation.

Dr Kantor’s failure to cooperate with the regulator’s investigation also amounted to misconduct and/or mismanagement.

Recovery of funds

In May 2022, the regulator appointed Interim Managers to both charities as there were no longer any trustees running the charity. As part of their work to wind up the charities, they identified a number of outstanding Gift Aid claims were owed. After settling the charities’ liabilities, the Interim Managers distributed the remaining funds via charitable grants to several organisations, in line with the charities’ purposes. The total figure distributed to support charitable causes amounts to £1,388,000.00.

The Interim Managers also recovered a violin made by Italian violin maker, Riccardo Antoniazzi, which had been on loan from the Kantor Foundation. The violin – valued by the Foundation in 2019 as being worth £150,810 – has since been gifted to a registered charity. The terms of the gift stipulates that the violin must be used to promote musical education for the public benefit.

The charities have both been wound up and have since been removed from the public Register of Charities.

Joshua Farbridge, Head of compliance and visits and inspections at the Charity Commission, said:

“Once designated, an individual cannot legally act as a trustee. Dr Kantor’s failure to step down immediately, his decision to ignore the Commission and failure to cooperate, amounted to misconduct and/or mismanagement. It also fell below our expectations of trustees. As a result of our investigations, we have now wound up both charities. We are pleased some good can come to other charities and causes as a result of our intervention. Instead of assets lying dormant, or owed Gift Aid lost, we’ve been able to see a much-needed boost of over £1.3m into the sector, and a culturally significant musical instrument gifted to a charity furthering musical education.”

Met wins judicial review over use of Live Facial Recognition

Source: Metropolitan Police Service published on this website Friday 24 April 2026 by Jill Powell

The Met has won a judicial review into the use of Live Facial Recognition across London. The Court concluded that the Met’s policy complies with human rights law, recognising that it contains clear, precise and effective safeguards.

Sir Mark Rowley, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service, said:

“This legal judgment is a significant and important victory for public safety. It confirms that the Met is right - and acting lawfully to use the best modern technology to reduce crime and keep pace with the evolving threats we face.

“Live Facial Recognition works and is one of the biggest break throughs for policing. It is actively removing thousands of dangerous and wanted offenders from London’s streets, including individuals who pose a serious and ongoing threat to our communities - those wanted for the most serious offences, such as rape, domestic abuse, and child sexual offences. Our data shows that the technology is highly accurate and we have already made more than 2,100 arrests. Last year alone, more than three million faces walked past the cameras, resulting in just 12 false alerts, none of which led to an arrest. Crucially, every alert is reviewed by trained officers before any action is taken.

“The court has been clear: our use of Live Facial Recognition is lawful and supported by strong safeguards. The judgment confirms that we are deploying this technology responsibly and with care. It shows that fairness, accuracy and accountability were part of the design from the beginning. It also recognises that the Met has strong oversight and safeguards in place. These include checks to ensure use is proportionate and that people’s rights - such as privacy and freedom of expression are protected in a way which does not breach human rights.

“The public is firmly on our side. Around 80 per cent of Londoners support the use of Live Facial Recognition to help keep them safe. Yet a small number of campaign groups continue to argue that police should be prevented from using a proven tool that helps us catch paedophiles, rapists, violent criminals and those wanted by the courts. That position is increasingly out of step with both public opinion and the realities of both modern communities and policing.

“This is not secret surveillance. Deployments are clearly signposted and highly visible, and technology never replaces professional judgement. Trained officers assess alerts on the ground and decide what action, if any, is necessary.

“LFR technology is a key part of our determination to accelerate the use of smart policing tools to better protect London’s communities while making the best possible use of limited resources. It helps us catch more criminals quickly and precisely, saves officer time, and ultimately saves money.

“The courts have confirmed our approach is lawful. The public supports its use. It works. And it helps us keep Londoners safe. The question is no longer whether we should use Live Facial Recognition - it’s why we would choose not to.

“Technology is advancing at record speed, and policing cannot afford to stand still – criminals won’t. Facial Recognition is transformational for policing. Government and Parliament will want to carefully consider how they continue to enable, rather then over‑regulate, the use of technologies that help us prevent crime and protect the public as proven today."

Investigation into the provider of Telegram and its compliance with duties to protect users from illegal content under the Online Safety Act 2023

Source: Ofcom published on this website Wednesday 22 April 2026 by Jill Powell

Ofcom are investigating whether the provider of Telegram, Telegram Messenger Inc. has failed, or is failing to comply with its illegal content safety duties under the Online Safety Act 2023 in respect of Child Sexual Abuse Material.

Part 3 of the Online Safety Act 2023 (‘the Act’) imposes illegal content safety duties (‘Illegal Content Duties’) on providers of regulated user‑to‑user (‘U2U’) services. In summary, these duties require providers to operate their services using proportionate systems and processes designed to:

prevent individuals from encountering priority illegal content – including Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) – by means of the service;
effectively mitigate and manage the risk of the service being used to facilitate the commission of a priority offence, including offences around the sharing of CSAM; and,
minimise the length of time for which any priority illegal content is present and swiftly take it down when they are made aware of its presence.

Regulated U2U service providers can comply with the Illegal Content Duties by implementing measures recommended in Ofcom’s illegal content Codes of Practice for user-to-user services issued on 24 February 2025 (the ‘Codes of Practice’), or through alternative measures.

These duties came into effect on 17 March 2025.

Ofcom has on 21 April 2026, opened an investigation into Telegram Messenger Inc., as the provider of Telegram, to investigate whether it has failed, or is failing, to comply with the Illegal Content Duties in respect of CSAM pursuant to Section 10 of the Act.

They have gathered evidence regarding the alleged presence and sharing of CSAM on Telegram, including from their own assessment of the platform, and from the Canadian Centre for Child Protection.

Ofcom’s Online Safety Enforcement Guidance sets out how Ofcom will normally approach enforcement under the Act. This includes our approach to information gathering and analysis and the procedural steps Ofcom must take to fairly determine the outcome of the investigation.

Where Ofcom identify compliance failures, they can impose fines of up to £18 million or 10% of qualifying worldwide revenue (whichever is greater). In the most serious cases of non-compliance, and where appropriate given risks of harm to individuals in the UK, they can seek a court order to require third parties to take action to disrupt the business of the provider. This may require third parties (such as providers of payment or advertising services, or Internet Service Providers) to withdraw services from, or block access to, a regulated service in the UK.

Ofcom will provide an update on this investigation in due course.

Former teacher guilty of sexual abuse at a children’s home in the 1970s

Source: Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) A man has been found guilty of sexual assaults on young boys at a children’s home in Hastings in the 1970s.

Roland Simmons worked as a teacher at Guestling House, a residential home.

Four victims, who were placed into care at the property, and are now all in their 60s, came forward to report that they had been abused.

Catherine Wear, Senior Crown Prosecutor from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “Simmons was supposed to be caring for these boys, but instead he abused the trust placed in him, knowing that the boys would struggle to speak out and report what was happening to them.

“One victim woke to find Simmons abusing him. Simmons then claimed that he had been dreaming and everything was fine. Another victim described Simmons as “persistent” after he first abused him, saying that Simmons would ask him to go out in his car alone, but he kept refusing.

“The trauma of sexual abuse can stop victims from making complaints for many years, but these men had the courage to come forward and report what happened to them and by doing so, have ensured that Simmons has been brought to justice for his appalling crimes.”

Following a trial at Lewes Crown Court, Roland Simmons [25/01/1949] was convicted of 10 charges of indecent assault on a male person relating to four victims between 1974 and 1979.

UPDATED WITH SENTENCE: Nursery worker jailed and company fined after death of toddler

Source: Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) published on this website Tuesday 21 April 2026 by Jill Powell

A nursery practitioner has been jailed for the gross negligence manslaughter of a 14-month-old toddler who died after being suffocated while staff tried to make him fall asleep.

Toddler Noah Sibanda died at Fairytales Day Nursery on 9 December 2022 having been physically restrained face down on a cushion, with a blanket over his face and a leg placed over him.

Nursery practitioner Kimberley Cookson, 23, was today jailed for three years and four months at Wolverhampton Crown Court after previously pleading guilty to gross negligence manslaughter. This related to her conduct in making Noah sleep.

Fairytales Day Nursery Limited was fined £240,000 after it previously admitted one count of corporate manslaughter and a Health and Safety at Work Act offence. It was also ordered to pay £56,000 in costs.

Director and business owner Debbie Latewood, 55, was sentenced to six months' imprisonment, suspended for two years. She previously admitted a Health and Safety at Work Act offence on the basis that she did not know children were being put down to sleep in this dangerous way, though should have known. She was also disqualified from being a director for seven years.

The incident was captured on CCTV at the nursey, and showed Noah was tightly wrapped in a sleeping bag, had a blanket placed over his head, and was laid face down to sleep by Cookson.

She held him in place face down on a soft cushion and restrained him with her leg for some of that time, in what appeared to be an effort to make him sleep when he did not want to. After a considerable duration, it was noticed that he was not breathing, and the emergency services were called. Noah was pronounced dead at hospital.

Alex Johnson, Senior Specialist Prosecutor within the Crown Prosecution Service’s Special Crime Division, said:

“This case has been deeply distressing and represents every parent’s worst nightmare whenever they leave their young child at a nursery. Noah Sibanda should have been safe in the care of professionals entrusted with his wellbeing. He lost his life as a result of reckless and dangerous sleeping practices which posed an obvious and serious risk of harm.

“The evidence in this case, including CCTV footage and expert medical findings, showed that Noah was placed to sleep in a way that severely restricted his ability to breathe and move. The prosecution case was that these practices created a suffocating environment, from which a 14-month-old child, was clearly unable to escape.

“Fairytales Day Nursery Limited has now accepted criminal responsibility for the systemic failures that led to this tragedy, and Deborah Latewood has also acknowledged that the failings occurred under her management and oversight. Kimberley Cookson has also taken responsibility for her harmful actions.

“Nursery providers have a fundamental duty to protect the children in their care. This case underscores the devastating consequences of what happens when that duty is breached. Our thoughts remain with Noah’s family, who have endured an unimaginable loss.”