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Arooj Shah case: Police make second arrest

Arooj Shah case: Police make second arrest

POLICE arrested a second man in connection with an arson attack on a council leader's car, reported the BBC.

A 22-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of committing arson with intent to endanger life, the report added.


A 23-year-old previously held on suspicion of the same offence has been released on conditional bail.

The vehicle of Oldham Council leader Arooj Shah, the first Muslim woman council leader to lead a northern authority, was firebombed in the early hours of Tuesday (13).

The car was damaged following the incident, which also destroyed a neighbouring property, reports said.

Firefighters put out the blaze and nobody was hurt. Police later confirmed it had been started deliberately, the BBC report said.

Detective chief inspector Wesley Knights, of Greater Manchester Police, appealed again for anyone with information to come forward.

He said: "This second arrest hopefully sends a message that we will not rest until the circumstances around this incident are fully understood, and we have found and brought to justice those responsible for this reckless act."

Shah has been leading the local authority since May after the previous leader Sean Fielding lost his seat.

Calling the incident a “cowardly attack,” the Labour peers and politicians across Greater Manchester town have strongly condemned the incident.

Shah has lived in Glodwick, one of England’s poorest wards, her whole life after her parents reportedly moved to the UK from Pakistan in the late 1960s.

After being elected leader of the council in May, she has spoken of her struggles battling racism and misogyny, as well as the opposition she had faced from traditionalists within her community.

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Lancashire warned health pressures ‘not sustainable’ without stronger prevention plan

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  • Lancashire’s public health chief says rising demand on services cannot continue.
  • New prevention strategy aims to involve entire public sector and local communities.
  • Funding concerns raised as council explores co-investment and partnerships.
Lancashire’s public sector will struggle to cope with rising demand unless more is done to prevent people from falling ill in the first place, the county’s public health director has warned.
Dr. Sakthi Karunanithi told Lancashire County Council’s health and adult services scrutiny committee that poor health levels were placing “not sustainable” pressure on local services, prompting the authority to begin work on a new illness prevention strategy.

The plan, still in its early stages, aims to widen responsibility for preventing ill health beyond the public health department and make it a shared priority across the county council and the wider public sector.

Dr. Karunanithi said the approach must also be a “partnership” with society, supporting people to make healthier choices around smoking, alcohol use, weight and physical activity. He pointed that improving our health is greater than improving the NHS.

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