News
SAD! Popular actor’s mother and husband found d3ad at home
By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
The son of a Scottish woman who was found dead along with her husband in France has said his family is mourning the couple’s loss.
Dawn Searle’s son, the Hollyoaks and Netflix actor Callum Kerr, issued a statement on social media on behalf of couple’s four shared children.
The bodies of Dawn and Andrew Searle, who were in their sixties, were discovered by a neighbour on Thursday at their home in south west France. They moved to the area from Scotland a decade ago.
The local mayor, Jean-Sébastien Orcibal, told French television that the deaths were “clearly a homicide”.
Andrew and Dawn Searle had moved to France from Scotland about 10 years ago
The statement, posted on the actor’s Instagram, said: “At this time, Callum Kerr and Amanda Kerr are grieving the loss of their mother, Dawn Searle (née Smith, Kerr) while Tom Searle and Ella Searle are mourning the loss of their father, Andrew Searle.”
He requested that the family’s privacy was respected during this “difficult period”, adding that they would provide updates as appropriate.
Mr Kerr has appeared in Netflix’s Virgin River and played PC Kiss in the soap opera Hollyoaks.
He has also released a number of country songs.
The 30-year-old walked his mother down the aisle as she married Mr Searle at a ceremony in France in 2023.
On social media, he wrote at the time: “Not many people can say they walked their own mother down the aisle. What a pleasure. I love you mum.”
The couple’s bodies were found at about 12:20 on Thursday at their home in the hamlet of Les Pesquiès, in a rural area north of the city of Toulouse.
The discovery was made by a neighbour, who went to check on them when they failed to turn up for a planned dog walk.
The area around their detached house has been sealed off while investigations take place, and local police have called in expert help from Toulouse.
Forensics officers spent Thursday searching the scene of the crime, with a helicopter, a drone, criminal investigation technicians and a forensic doctor deployed to the site.
No criminal case has been opened so far, and police say there is no preferred theory about how the couple died.
The bodies were discovered early on Thursday afternoon
Forensics officers have been carrying out investigations at the scene
Mr Orcibal, who represents the Villefranche-de-Rouergue area, told BBC News the cause of the death was still unclear.
He had previously dismissed speculation the deaths were due to a burglary “gone wrong”, and said “no knife was found”.
Mr Orcibal also said the couple had become “very well integrated” in the village and used to regularly invite neighbours, many of them fellow expats, for a drink.
According to his LinkedIn page, Mr Searle had worked in financial crime prevention at companies including Standard Life and Barclays Bank during his career.
Mrs Searle grew up in Eyemouth in the Scottish Borders, and Mr Searle was originally from England.
The couple lived in Musselburgh, near Edinburgh, before they moved to Les Pesquiès, which is south of Villefranche-de-Rouergue.
A spokesperson for the UK’s Foreign Office said: “We are supporting the family of a British couple who died in France and are liaising with the local authorities.”
Source: BBC
The Supreme Court has placed on hold its verdict on an appeal by the All Progressives Congress, APC, filed to nullify the outcome of the local government elections held in Rivers State on October 5, 2024.
A five-member panel of the Supreme Court, led by Justice Uwani Abba-Aji, okayed the matter for judgement, after all the parties adopted their final briefs of argument.
While the APC, through its lawyer, Mr. J. B. Daudu, SAN, urged the Supreme Court to set aside the November 21, 2024, judgement of the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal, which declined to invalidate the election, Mr. Yusuf Ali, SAN, who announced appearance for Governor Siminalayi Fubara and Chief Chris Uche, SAN, who is counsel to the
Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission, RSIEC, urged the court to dismiss the appeal.
It will be recalled that the appellate court vacated the judgement that barred the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from releasing the voter register to the RSIEC for the conduct of LG polls.
A special panel of the appellate court had faulted the Federal High Court in Abuja for barring security agencies from providing security during the elections.
The Justice Onyekachi Otisi-led panel had, in a unanimous decision, held that the lower court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain a suit against the Rivers State LG elections.
According to the appellate court, section 28 of the Electoral Act does not cover elections conducted by states but only federal elections, governorship, and area council elections in the Federal Capital Territory.
Justice Peter Lifu of the high court had, on the strength of a suit that was filed by the APC, stopped the conduct of the Rivers State LG election.
The trial court held that the RSIEC erred by fixing a date for the conduct of polls in the 23 local government areas without strict compliance with relevant laws guiding such elections.
Besides, he held that the update and revision of the voters register to be used for the election ought to have been concluded before any valid date could be fixed for the polls.
Justice Lifu ordered INEC not to make the certified voters register available to RSIEC, pending when the relevant laws were complied with.
He further barred RSIEC from accepting any voters register from INEC or using the same for the purpose of the LG polls.
Vanguard
A family clash which occurred Saturday morning at the funeral rite of 78-year-old Emmanuel Agbozo, popularly known as “Nil oo Nii”, in Nkurakan, Yilo Krobo Municipality, Eastern Region, made it impossible for the deceased to be buried.
As the funeral took a dramatic turn, it took the police’s intervention and escort for the deceased’s body, which was lying in state, to be returned to a private mortuary at Huhunya, a nearby community.
According to Ghana Web, an attempt to prevent one of the deceased’s children from participating in the funeral rites led to the clash.
Family members accused the individual of abandoning his now-deceased father during his illness and failed to visit him.
Also, the late Agbozo, before his demise, had explicitly instructed the family not to allow the son to attend his funeral.
The violent confrontation stemmed as the family members attempted to enforce this directive by the deceased, leading to a clash with the son who brought some young men to fight the family.
This led to property destruction, and injuries before Police reinforcements were called in to restore order.
The Police, in order to ensure peace and prevent further escalation, ordered the body to be returned to the mortuary, and the funeral was suspended indefinitely.
Suspects involved in the clash are currently assisting the police with investigations. (Nigerian Tribune)
A five-man panel of the Supreme Court led by Justice Uwani Abba-Aji has quashed the appeal filed by the Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara, challenging the leadership of the Rivers State House of Assembly led by Martin Amaewhule.
Justice Uwani Abba-Aji while dismissing the appeal awarded a cost of two million naira against the governor payable to the Rivers State House of Assembly as the first respondent and Martin Amaewhule as the second respondent.
The dismissal of the appeal by Fubara was hinged on the withdrawal of the suit by his counsel, Yusuf Ali.
Details shortly…
[Channels TV]
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