Father Michael Higginbottom targeted two children separately while they boarded at St Joseph’s College, a school for students aged 12 to 18 in Upholland, Lancashire.

During a two-week trial at Burnley Crown Court, jurors heard that he “regularly, systematically and horrifically” abused the boys, with prosecutor David Temkin saying: “They were both threatened with violence and both were struck with a strap or a belt.”

After being convicted of five counts of buggery and seven of indecent assault, 76-year-old Higginbottom was jailed for 18 years, half in prison and half on licence.

Judge Andrew Woolman, sentencing Higginbottom on Tuesday, told him: “You were in the highest position of trust in relation to these boys, who you abused in a quite appalling way.

“I have no doubt that you specifically targeted these boys.

“These acts were accompanied, time after time, by threats or actual violence under the guise of a normal school punishment.”

Higginbottom was originally found guilty at Liverpool Crown Court in April 2017 of offences relating to the first complainant, but these convictions were quashed in November last year by the Court of Appeal.

It was ruled then that a retrial would be necessary as jurors had not been given full details of the complainant’s conviction for fraud by false representation, which were not available at the time of the original trial.

The…

That is according to a report by the Education Policy Institute which shows progress in closing the divide has come to a standstill.

Christian charity, Transforming Lives for Good (TLG) which helps churches support struggling children says while this is nothing new, it’s good for the issue to be back in the spotlight.

Explaining the reasons for the gap on Premier’s News Hour, one of the directors of TLG, Paul Chenery said: “They measured it by children receiving school meals, so that is linked to kids in poverty, you have children with special educational needs, you have children that are being looked after by child services, in foster families etc and children in different demographic areas will all cause this divide and make it harder for children academically.”

The Government has defended its record helping disadvantaged school children in England.

School standards Minister Nick Gibb said the Department for Education spends £2.4bn per year dedicated to supporting poorer pupils, students that receive free school meals.

He says that the gap for both primary and secondary schools was narrower than in 2011.

But, Labour’s shadow education secretary Angela Rayner says this report “is the latest evidence that inequality continues to rise under the Tories, with the most disadvantaged students losing out.”

Paul Chenrey says the answer is not just about throwing money at…

71 year old Christine Ford, who was a regular member of St Leonard’s Church, was found dead at her home in the village of Flamstead on Saturday.

A man from Flamstead has been arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with the investigation and is currently in police custody.

Police found her with multiple fatal injuries just before 9pm when they arrived at the house.

Her family had reported her missing earlier in the day.

The Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit has launched an investigation and is conducting extensive enquiries into the circumstances around her death.

Detective Superintendent Joanne Walker, from the BCH MCU, said: “This is a tragic incident and our thoughts are very much with Christine’s family at this difficult time.

“They are being supported by specially-trained family liaison officers and we are doing everything we can to determine the events that led up to her death.”

Christine Ford, a retired hairdresser with two sons, regularly tended to the gardens at her parish church, a stone’s throw away from her house.

Rev Tom Sander, the local vicar, 32, told the BBC: “She was a very keen gardener and a very nice person.

“She was a committed member of the church family and regularly looked after the roses in the churchyard.”

He told The Times: “She was a very neat and tidy person. She was very quiet and unassuming. She was…