New York Birthday Horror

Birthday celebrations turned to tragedy as a British woman celebrating her 40th birthday drowned when she and her family plunged into a New York river inside a tourist helicopter. The three survivors were removed from the water and taken to Bellevue Hospital nearby but Sonia Marra Nicholson was trapped inside the vehicle for almost two hours after it crash-landed and sank to the bottom of the East River, off the coast of Manhattan. Her mother, Harriet, and girlfriend, Helen Tomaski, were in a 'very critical' condition last night after escaping and being pulled unconscious from the water by rescuers. Her 72-year-old father, Paul Nicholson, was stable after being treated at the scene and taken to hospital. He was later released. The group's American pilot, Paul Dudley, escaped without injury after swimming to safety. The group was preparing for a tour of the Manhattan skyline.

Hello Sailor!

Crowds of families and friends have welcomed Royal Navy frigate HMS Monmouth back to her base port of HM Naval Base Devonport following a six-month anti-piracy deployment. More than 500 people packed the jetty to mark the arrival of the Type 23 frigate following her successful maritime policing patrol in which she was engaged in fighting piracy, smuggling and terrorism east of Suez.

Prison Work Expands

A prison in Bristol is piloting increasing the number of hours inmates work in its workshops by 50%. Thirty prisoners working at HMP Bristol's Waste Management Unit now do 33.25 hours per week instead of 22, in a move towards lengthening their working day and eventually introducing full working weeks. A similar pilot is also being trialled at the prison's laundry unit, with a group of 15 prisoners. Nikki Secker, Head of Business Development at the Category B prison, explains that working longer hours gives the prisoners more time to gain skills that they can use in the outside world on release.

She also believes the pilots show it is possible to innovate in any prison establishment - even those that hold more high risk offenders: "We're a Category B prison, and if we can successfully implement longer working hours here, then it means it can happen elsewhere too."

(BMcC/CD)