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Chelsea Blackwell, 27, made around 115 calls to Emmanuel Callender-Scott, an inmate at Aylesbury Young Offenders Institution (inset), some of which lasted more than two hours. She even tried to call him five times after his phone was seized in a cell search. Blackwell, of Bootle, Merseyside, was handed an eight-month jail term today after admitting misconduct in a public office.

Carolann Gallon joined the gang aged 17 and was responsible for luring other girls into its clutches. She has admitted three offences of trafficking children for the purposes of exploitation and will be sentenced next month. Frightened neighbours in a local authority owned block of flats have been trying to get Gallon removed since she was charged in 2015.

The war of threats between President Trump and the North Korean dictator, Kim Jong-Un, is setting global nerves on edge. We’re used to blood curdling propaganda from Pyongyang, but an American president using the same kind of language – ‘fire and fury’ – is a new departure. The threat of nuclear war in East Asia is suddenly alarmingly close. But before this hysterical rhetoric reaches a climax, Western leaders must consider what history and strategic analysis teaches us about how to avoid calamity – or how best to contain it.

Tens of thousands of North Koreans have come out in a show of defiance following US President Donald Trump's threats of 'fire and fury'.  The North Koreans gathered for a massive rally at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang on Wednesday with photos showing citizens holding propaganda placards and waving their fists in the air. Footage shows thousands of North Korean workers dressed in white shirts as they angrily marched through the square brandishing flags. 

A police chief has urged British communities to do more to shame sexual predators after an 18-strong gang was convicted of crimes against up to 108 girls. In another appalling grooming scandal, a total of 17 men and one woman were convicted of rape, sexual assault, human trafficking and inciting prostitution. Shocking details of the large-scale Asian sex gang operation could be revealed for the first time after reporting restrictions were lifted yesterday. A court heard the group spent four years plying vulnerable young girls with drink and drugs at 'sex parties' in Newcastle. The case has raised huge controversy after a convicted rapist was paid almost £10,000 of taxpayers' money to spy on parties where under-age girls were intoxicated and sexually abused. Northumbria Police Chief Constable Steve Ashman said sexual exploitation is the 'challenge of our generation' and must be considered socially unacceptable in all communities.

Thirty cats and a ferret were rescued from a bungalow(left, right, inset) in Hillsway, Shirebrook, which was 'waist-high' in animal faeces, a court heard. An RSPCA inspector visited the property in March this year after a member of the public contacted the animal welfare charity with concerns. Inspector Deborah Scotcher said: 'Initially I looked through the window and saw what looked like an extremely messy room cluttered with furniture and general rubbish.'

Be prepared is the Scout motto — and that once meant being tied up and lowered off a bridge. No doubt such stunts would bring today’s elf ’n’ safety zealots out in spots, especially given the story reported by the Mail last week about the Scouts banned at a jamboree in Detling, Kent, from eating while sitting on the grass in case they got ill. Yet, as these pictures show, Scouts and Guides were once allowed to enjoy the great outdoors without being wrapped in cotton wool.

Former members of royal staff who worked with Princess Diana rounded on her brother Earl Spencer (left) yesterday after he said of her death: 'I wish I could have protected her.' In a US TV interview, the aristocrat said that in the days after she was killed in a car crash in Paris on August 31, 1997, he was haunted by the thought he could have done something to save his sister (right). Speaking at Althorp, the family's ancestral home in Northamptonshire, Charles, the 9th Earl Spencer, said he was 'furious' she had died as a result of being driven at high speed by a drunken chauffeur while being chased by paparazzi. But his words, in an ABC documentary to be broadcast this week, provoked a furious reaction from some of those who worked with Diana. The princess's former chef, Darren McGrady, said on Twitter (inset): 'This makes me want to throw up! Where were you when she needed you?'

Speculation about who will succeed Theresa May if she is ousted as leader has been rampant following her humiliation in the General Election. But a new survey of Conservatives has found that most are fed-up with the same old faces and want to skip a generation in the leadership race. The poll by ConservativeHome found that 34 per cent of those surveyed picked 'other' when asked who they wanted to be the next part leader.

Health bosses had earlier refused to fund the operation for Oliver Cameron’s extremely rare heart condition as it is not available in the UK. But they have now changed their mind and agreed to meet the £150,000 cost. Six-month-old Oliver has cardiac fibroma, a large tumour in the heart. His is one of only three known cases in the UK and 200 around the world. His parents Lydia and Tim were told it was ‘near impossible’ that the NHS would pay for surgery abroad. Last night the couple, from Wantage, Oxfordshire, told of their relief at the U-turn. They wrote on social media: ‘It appears due to generous public support... and the persistent support of Oliver’s consultant that this change of decision has been confirmed.’

Bennet von Vertes, 32, was found guilty of killing Alex Morgan, 23, whom he met while both were studying at London's Regent College, during a drug-infused evening in Switzerland. He was also found guilty of raping a woman in London and sexual coercion. He was sentenced to 12-and-a-half years in total for the crimes, nine years for the killing and an additional three-and-a-half years for rape and sexual coercion. However, his lawyer says he plans to appeal the sentence and does not believe he is capable of contracting guilt because of the heavy influence of drugs during the attack. Left, Vertes, and right, Mr Morgan.

4(pictured), 98, choked back tears as he was given the moving salute from a sell-out audience at the jampacked Cineworld theatre in Stevenage, Hertfordshire. The great-grandfather had to bite his lip when the lights went up at the end of Christopher Nolan's new all-action blockbuster (inset), Dunkirk, and staff introduced him over the tannoy. Mr Clark served with the Royal Army Service Corps' 7th Field Dressing Station (left) as an ambulance driver throughout the biggest and bloodiest conflict of all time from 1939 to 1945. The heroic ex-serviceman said he was thrilled to have lived to a ripe old age after serving for all six years of the Second World War - and fighting his way across Europe to help defeat Hitler's Nazis.

Former West Yorkshire and Merseyside chief constable Sir Norman Bettison (main image) came face-to-face with victims' family members as he arrived to appear at Warrington Magistrates' Court today including Michelle Miller (holding picture), Christine Burke (far left) and Louise Brookes (in red). Retired police officer Donald Denton, solicitor Peter Metcalf, former Sheffield Wednesday secretary Graham Mackrell and ex-police officer Alan Foster (pictured, in an artist’s impression) also face charges. No formal pleas were entered, but lawyers for the five men said they intend to plead not guilty when they appear before crown court.

Alan Kent, 38, (pictured right) locked himself and his wife Louise (left) inside their home (inset) in Colchester, Essex, before threatening to kill himself because she had cheated on him. Officers spent a number of hours negotiating with Kent, who was hanging out of an upstairs window, and reportedly had two children inside the house at the time. The stand-off took place shortly after Kent appeared on ITV's Jeremy Kyle Show, after suspecting his 26-year-old wife was having a three-month affair behind his back. Kyle described him as 'his favourite guest ever' due to his smart three-piece suit, accompanied with trainers, and laid back attitude.

'Chopper copper' Adrian Pogmore (bottom inset) would visit Sheffield swingers' club La Chambre (right), which has a sex dungeon, Kama Sutra room and playrooms where guests can 'take part in orgies'. The 51-year-old has been jailed for a year for filming a couple having sex in their back garden (left) and naked women sunbathing at their homes using South Yorkshire Police's £2million helicopter (top inset). He was branded 'deviant' by his colleagues and sacked by the force after admitting misconduct in a public office.

Marissa McLean, 27, from Redditch, claimed she had been left with nausea and diarrhoea from an all-inclusive Thomas Cook holiday in Egypt but her partying Facebook posts caught her out. She shared images in her white bikini before she went to parties and took pictures as she drank rum and coke by the pool. She insisted they had been taken to make an ex-boyfriend back at home jealous while she went on the six-day trip to Sharm-el-Sheikh with a female friend. A judge ruled her claim 'dishonest' and ordered her to pay costs of more than £2,000 in three weeks. Left, McLean outside court today, main, on holiday in Kos last year. Inset left, her post of her passport on the day she flew to Egypt, and right, the 27-year-old in a recent social media image.

As dark skies dumped torrential downpours on the country yesterday, tornado-like funnels were seen spiralling from the thunder clouds. An Atlantic storm brought flash flooding to vast swathes of the country, with up to a month’s worth of rain falling on parts of south and east England and turned roads into rivers. The funnel clouds were spotted in Kent, Cornwall and South Wales, while further north emergency services scrambled to rescue hundreds of people caught up in flash floods in parts of East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. Drivers had to abandon their cars in the deluge and residents of the seaside town of Withernsea, East Yorkshire, woke up to water 3ft deep in places.

In an astonishing waste of time and money, three magistrates, four lawyers, two firemen and an expert witness were dragged into court to resolve a row between neighbours over a lightbulb that was too bright. Lesley Simkin's neighbour in Lytham, Lancashire, complained to the local council that his children couldn't sleep because a garden light at the back of her cottage shone constantly into their bedroom.   Environment officers investigated in October and told the 66-year-old company director to remove the light.

A PAC-3 Patriot missile unit has been moved in to a compound at the Defence Ministry in Tokyo, Japan (main and top right) after officials said they could shoot down North Korean rockets if they pass overhead. Sales of bomb shelters in Japan are said to have increased as tensions continue to rise in the region while officials in Seoul have vowed to bolster their defences. But South Korean citizens - long accustomed to its neighbour's fearsome rhetoric - are staying remarkably calm as the crisis unfolds, it has been reported. Officials in Hawaii, meanwhile, say they are working on how to warn its 1.4million residents in the event of an attack. Top left: A U.S. Air Force F-16 fighter jet lands on the runway at the Osan base in Pyeongtaek, South Korea this morning.

Spain, Germany and Poland have all suffered thunderstorms on Thursday, another extreme following temperatures of around 40 degrees at the weekend. The Spanish island of Ibiza (inset left) recorded an estimated 3,000 lightning bolts in just three hours late yesterday afternoon, with 20mm of rain within an hour. Emergency services in Lodz, Poland, (top right) had to be called to help clear up fallen trees as streets in residential areas were flooded on Thursday.

Italian playboy Gianluca Vacchi, 50, who has 11 million Instagram followers, had a yacht and properties seized by creditors - much to the amusement of the Internet. The tattooed, body-building heir to an industrial empire fills his social media(right, inset left) with a cash-rich, work-free existence dedicated to the pursuit of pleasure. But now his lavish lifestyle is being remorselessly parodied(main, left).

Police say an alleged jihadist cell tried to target a high speed rail line used by Russia's Sapsan 'bullet' trains at Farforovskaya railway station close to St Petersburg, Vladimir Putin's home city. They were aiming to disrupt the Confederations Cup tournament last month, a precursor to the FIFA World Cup hosted by the Russian President next year, it is believed. When the bid failed to cause a high speed rail horror, potentially killing and wounding hundreds of people, they switched tack and aimed to drive a truck loaded with explosives into a crowd in the same city, say FSB sources. An attack was penciled for July 30 in St Petersburg, when Putin was leading celebrations of the annual Russian Navy Day commemoration, but was thwarted, it is claimed. Footage recently released by the FSB - the Federal Security Service once headed by Putin - shows how armed agents detained seven suspects, reported to be from central Asia, on July 27.