Female teacher charged with assault

A female PE teacher has been charged with indecently assaulting a former schoolgirl.

Detectives in Lancashire charged Joanna Miller, 37, with a string of indecency offences and one of cruelty against a former schoolgirl.

The charges date back to the 1990s when Ms Miller taught at a school in Skelmersdale.

She has since moved to teach at Montgomery High School in Blackpool. She is due to appear before Ormskirk magistrates later on Tuesday.

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Fears for missing angler

A search is under way for an angler who has not returned from a fishing trip.

Michael Jackson, 28, from Barrow-in-Furness, in Cumbria, set off 24 hours ago in his 16ft boat named the Endeavour.

He was sailing from Walney Island to fish in Morecambe Bay but the alarm was raised around midnight when he failed to return home.

Coastguards have been searching all night and at first light a helicopter from RAF Valley joined the hunt along with a Lancashire police helicopter.

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Man arrested over court gunshot

A man has been arrested in connection with a shot that was fired outside Luton Crown Court.

Thirty officers, including eight armed police, searched the town centre after court security officers reported hearing a gunshot behind the court building.

The incident happened shortly after 1300 BST on Monday.

The man was arrested on Monday night, and he is due to be interviewed on Tuesday.

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UK armoury closing down

The UK's last small arms manufacturer has announced it is to close with the loss of up to 400 jobs.

Royal Ordnance, part of BAE Systems, says it will close its factory in Nottingham at the end of next year.

The factory makes field artillery pieces but was badly affected when the British Army awarded a contract to upgrade its standard issue rifle, the SA80, to Germany.

Around 200 employees will be offered transfers to other BAE Systems operations in Cumbria and Leicester.

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Shed blaze inquest reopens

An inquest into the deaths of three teenagers trapped in a burning garden shed is due to resume on Tuesday.

Fishmonger Matthew Collins, 17, and Blake Mountney and Chris Williams, both 14, died in March in a shed at the rear of a house in Chingford Road, Kingstanding, Birmingham.

Reports at the time of the tragedy said the three friends were sleeping in the hut, which they had converted into a den, when the fire broke out.

The hearing is due to take place at Birmingham Coroner's Court.

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Prison race case dismissed

Four black men who said they endured a "living hell" of racist abuse while in prison have lost their £1m plus damages claim against Home Secretary Jack Straw.

Marnon Thomas, Nigel Johnson, Hopeton Falconer and Patrick Campbell said they were taunted by fellow prisoners from the moment they arrived on remand at Swansea Prison.

They said prison officers did nothing to stop the abuse. But a High Court judge ruled that the prison authorities had not acted negligently or abused their power.

False imprisonment charges against the four, who come from the Birmingham area, were eventually dropped.