Business

A cafe owner has been sentenced for fraudulently claiming £150,000 in Covid bounce back loans from the government.

Mehmet Akyuz, 36, from Conway Street, Brighton, East Sussex, made three applications for two businesses which were not operating at the time.

He was given a 20-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, at Hove Crown Court on Monday, after admitting three counts of fraud by false representation.

He was also ordered to complete 300 hours community service, has been banned from being a company director for five years and faces a proceeds of crime hearing in September.

Each of the three loans was for the maximum amount of £50,000, and were for Akyuz's companies Green and Hove Limited, a food and grocery shop with a cafe, and Leather Wear Limited, an importer of bags and belts.

Both firms had been incorporated in 2019 with him as sole director.

He claimed the cafe had a turnover of £270,000, and the import firm between £215,000 and £225,000.

However, the cafe had filed dormant accounts between 2020 and 2021, and the import firm between 2020 and 2022.

David Snasdell, chief investigator at the Insolvency Service, said: "Mehmet Akyuz's actions in fraudulently applying for three bounce back loans he was not entitled to were completely unacceptable.

"This was taxpayers' money designed to support small businesses through the pandemic and should not have been exploited in such a cynical manner.

"The Insolvency Service remains committed to investigating these cases and bringing fraudsters such as Akyuz to justice."

A proceeds of crime hearing is due to take place at Hove Crown Court on 18 September.

A one-year-old toddler who was seriously injured in a crash has died.

Four people – including two boys aged five and one – were injured after their grey Skoda Karoq collided with a white Peugeot 208 on the eastbound A303 in Amesbury on 28 March.

The family of the toddler has now confirmed that he died in hospital from his injuries.

The Peugeot was being driven by a woman in her 20s who suffered serious but not life-threatening injuries, as did the five-year-old boy.

After colliding with the Skoda, the Peugeot then spun onto the westbound carriageway and crashed head-on with a silver Volvo V70 near the Bulford junction.

The driver of the Volvo, a man in his 70s, suffered minor injuries.

Wiltshire Police has asked anybody with relevant information about the crash, which happened at about 17:30 GMT, to get in touch.

Paige Williams is desperate to pass her driving test.

Her three-year-old son sometimes has "meltdowns" on public transport, where he might scream, cry or throw himself on the floor, she says. She just wants to be able to visit family and go on day trips more easily.

But the 28-year-old single mum, from Barnsley, is having to drastically cut back on how much she spends on food, gas and electricity to be able to afford her £35-an-hour lessons, which she's been having since September.

"It's literally scrimping and scraping to be able to manage to get one lesson a week," she says.

As the cost of driving lessons continues to rise alongside an already high cost of living, experiences like Paige's may be becoming increasingly common.

The BBC has spoken to more than a dozen learners and parents of learners who say they're frustrated by how much they have to pay – and also to instructors who argue that the prices are justified.

Driving instructors can charge what they like, and the DVSA does not release official statistics on average lesson costs.

But a DVSA survey completed by more than 5,000 approved driving instructors (ADIs) in September shows how prices have shot up in recent years.

In the survey, the most common price bracket for an hour lesson was £36 to £40 per hour.

Just 31.5% of driving instructors said they charged £35 or less per hour – that number had halved since the DVSA's June 2023 survey.

While 20.8% said they charged more than £40 an hour – nearly triple as many as in June 2023.

For many people, driving is essential for taking their kids to school, going to work or carrying out caring responsibilities.

Public transport might be unaffordable, inaccessible or simply not available for some people.

Two-thirds of people in Great Britain who commute to work drive in, and 45% of five-to-10 year olds are taken to school by car, Department for Transport figures from 2023 show.

Faustina Kamara, a 23-year-old in Birmingham, needs a licence for her dream job – being a runner in the media industry.

But the £60 cost of her two-hour driving lessons means she's only having them once a fortnight, which isn't as frequently as she'd like, and means it will delay when she can take her test.

She says she'd love to have lessons weekly but it would mean she'd have to cut back on spending money seeing her friends.

Other people also say that the high cost of driving lessons means it's taking them longer to learn to drive.

Rather than having the two lessons a week she would have liked, Sandra Onuora, a 30-year-old civil servant in Newcastle, had three per month until she passed her test in March.

"That was all I could afford," she says. And even then, "I had to take a lot of money from my savings" for her £39-an-hour lessons, she adds.

Because she had to space out her lessons more, she had to wait longer until she felt ready to take her test.

She'd spend hours every week travelling between her home, her son's childminder's and her office, taking six buses every weekday.

"It was a rough year," says Sandra. She would return home "so exhausted".

And just as driving lessons become more expensive, some learners are also finding they're having to take more of them.

That's because of a huge practical test backlog, which means learners are having to take lessons for longer to keep up their skills.

Keith Rose hasn't been able to book a driving test near where he lives in Bridgwater, Somerset, for his 17-year-old son, Brandon.

The best option he could find is an hour's drive away in Newport, Wales, and isn't until September.

Keith says that his son is ready to take his test, but will need to keep taking lessons at a cost of £76 for a two-hour session to maintain his skills.

"We're being forced into spending money that we don't need to," Keith says.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander has acknowledged that waiting times for tests are too long and pledged to reduce the average waiting time for a driving test to no more than seven weeks by summer 2026.

Instructors say that they have little choice but to charge these kind of rates if they want to make a profit.

"Prices for driving lessons are where they should be, having been probably under-priced for many years," says Stewart Lochrie, the owner of a driving school in Glasgow and chair of the Approved Driving Instructors National Joint Council (ADINJ).

"I think the price was overdue a reset."

Stewart notes that the UK's more than 41,000 approved driving instructors are having to pay more for the expenses associated with their jobs like buying or leasing a car, fuel, insurance and maintenance.

"We have costs to cover as well and if the things that we need to run our business go up, then our prices will have to go up as well," he says.

The rising price of lessons "isn't really translating to a pay increase in our pockets," adds Terry Edwards, a driving instructor in Ashford, Kent.

His expenses include around £280 a month on fuel, £135 on insurance and £440 on car payments.

Other costs include servicing, repairing and cleaning his car.

Terry charges £39 an hour, but offers a discount for buying in bulk. While customers "don't generally push back" against his prices, some "try and be a bit cheeky" and ask for discounts, he says.

For Amy Burnett, a pharmacy advisor in Glasgow, the prices are so high that she's avoiding learning for the time being. The only instructors she'd found with availability charge between £50 and £60 an hour, she says.

"I'm living pay cheque to pay cheque as it is," the 22-year-old says.

But she sees being able to drive as an investment in her future – she'd have more freedom and she's had to limit her previous job searches to roles accessible by public transport, she says.

Amy hopes to pass her test by the time she's 24 – if she can find a more affordable instructor with availability in her area, she says.

Paige, the mum in Barnsley, is sure her frugality will be worth it in the end. Being able to drive would make it much easier for her to return to work, she says.

And it would make journeys with her son much less stressful, she says. Most of all, she wants to take her two children to the seaside.

"It'd be so good for my son Ronald, with his sensory needs," Paige says. "Getting to go on the little arcade rides and seeing his little face would be lovely."

Original Coronation Street star Philip Lowrie has died aged 88.

Lowrie, who appeared in the first episode of the ITV soap in 1960 as the original bad boy Dennis Tanner, died on Friday, his publicist Mario Renzullo said.

"My client and very dear friend, Philip Lowrie, the beloved actor renowned for his role as Dennis Tanner on Coronation Street, passed away yesterday," he said.

"His death marks the end of an era for the world's longest-running soap, where he became a cornerstone of its storytelling."

Lowrie was born in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester.

When the soap started more than six decades ago, Lowrie's character was seen as a national heartthrob thanks to his roguish role.

Dennis was introduced as the son of Elsie Tanner, and moved in with his mother after being released from prison.

Lowrie had originally auditioned for the role of Ken Barlow prior to the show's launch, and appeared in the first episode at the age of 24.

William Roache was soon cast as Ken for the beginning of the soap and became a regular sparring partner for Dennis.

He left the Street in 1968, when he married Jenny Sutton and moved to Bristol, and did not return until 2011.

Corrie reappearance

According to Mr Renzullo, Lowrie was presented in September 2011 with a certificate by the Guinness World Records for being the person with the longest gap between television appearances as the same character in the same show.

Dennis soon got back in touch with newsagent Rita Sullivan (Barbara Knox), who was his sweetheart when she first appeared in the show in 1966, and they tied the knot when he came back.

He left the soap again in 2014 and was later killed off without making another appearance on screen.

Varied career

Lowrie's mother saved for his fees to go to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (Rada) in London after he left school.

After graduating three years later, he soon received his first parts in the West End, appearing with Dame Margaret Rutherford and Peggy Mount in the play Farewell, Farewell, Eugene.

He also appeared on Victoria Wood's comedy shows, such as Victoria Wood's All Day Breakfast, Victoria Wood, Pat and Margaret, Live In Your Own Room, and We'd Quite Like To Apologise.

His later stage lead roles in the 2000s and 2010s included being in Dame Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap, The Case Of The Frightened Lady and The Lady Vanishes.

A multi-storey car park was transformed into an urban art gallery to empower young people to find their voice through creativity.

Southampton's West Quay car park became Multi-Stories Chapter 3, an event which hosted a variety of creative workshops.

It included chalk and tape art, a graffiti canvas creation, skateboarding lessons and a live art wall design competition.

Organisers said this year's "connections" theme aimed to explore how art brings people together, both physically and emotionally.

Beyond the bold colours and striking visuals, Multi-Stories also plays an important role in supporting the mental health and wellbeing of young people.

The event last weekend encouraged young attendees to explore their emotions through art and social interaction.

Rebecca Baldwin is a 16-year-old artist, born in China before moving to Southampton aged nine.

"When I paint, I'm not really thinking about anything else," she said

"I'm just thinking about what's going on the canvas, on the board and I think it takes my mind off my anxiety with GCSEs."

She explained how painting has allowed her to bring aspects of other cultures to Southampton.

"Being part of the painting community is the same no matter where you are in the world," Ms Baldwin said.

She added: "I decided to paint a koi fish which is the symbol for friendship and love from Japan."

Alongside the artwork, members of the public were invited for skating sessions on temporary ramps placed outside the car park.

This was led by Get Up skating school, the only female-led skate school on the south coast.

Its founder Ida Kavitz said: "Skateboarding has come a really long way but it is still predominantly male dominated.

"We want people to not question whether they're welcomed and supported in our environment; we're very loud and proud about making everybody feel supported.

"Skateboarding gets people outside, gets people away from screens, and it creates a sense of community and belonging, which isn't there when you're doom-scrolling through Instagram."

Ozzy Crawley skates with We Skate Sotton, a women-led skate community which aims to make the sport more accessible.

"It just didn't seem as intimidating as it could have been. When you picture a skate park I'm thinking of the guys in their baggy shorts and they all look super cool and they all make it look so easy.

"But communities like this, you're never not going to be welcome regardless of if you just want to come and watch or join in," they said.

Jennifer Mon, 24, from Portugal, is a collage and graphic designer, who found a community in Southampton through art.

"I moved to Southampton during the pandemic for uni and art has become a really big part of my life," she said.

"There's something quite freeing about turning off your phone because social media these days is not just about communicating, it kind of creates this brain overload, like this information overload in your head and making art just sort of makes it a little bit quieter.

"I think everybody should definitely turn off their phone and do something with their hands.

"A lot of artists have made art because of their pain or to express it, so it's a very natural process for you to think, oh I have this feeling, I don't know how I'm feeling yet, let me make some work."

Multi-Stories celebrated its third year and the goal is to turn the car park into a permanent urban art gallery by the end of 2025.

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The day Germany's new leader entered office will now forever be remembered for a very public failure.

Friedrich Merz's initial, shock defeat – in his bid to become chancellor – sparked hours of chaotic uncertainty.

A man who'd been working to project strength and purpose instead became mired in political intrigue and division.

Merz may have won on the second try, but today's messy path to power raises serious questions about the future government.

If he couldn't muster the votes amongst coalition colleagues – at such a key moment – how will he fare when trying to push through any contentious legislation?

It comes as Germany faces a prolonged recession, fractious arguments on immigration, potentially seismic decisions on defence spending and a surging far-right political force.

But Merz's allies insist the situation can quickly be recovered and reject the idea that Merz emerges irreparably damaged.

"Now we are looking in front and forward," says Gunther Krichbaum, a veteran of the Christian Democratic Party (CDU) and Germany's new Europe Minister.

"So I think we will have a very, very good and also stable government," he told the BBC.

"This is not only necessary for Germany but also Europe."

Berlin's allies have been impatient to see an effective administration, after the bickering that characterised the last, collapsed coalition government.

But Merz now heads off for his planned trips to Warsaw and Paris on Wednesday in the shadow of a tumultuous Tuesday.

There's speculation aplenty as to which MPs, in the secret ballot, didn't back Merz on the first round – and why.

Disgruntled people, passed over for government jobs, is one theory.

Did members within the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) decide that they had to protest at the political compromises struck with Merz's centre-right party?

Or did the forthright Merz – and ambitious SPD Vice-Chancellor Lars Klingbeil – struggle to rally their own ranks?

Figures from both sides were quickly keen to suggest that the other was chiefly to blame.

Whichever MPs did the deed they were, it seems, willing to risk making Merz and his acolytes sweat.

Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD), who are suing Germany's domestic intelligence service for classing the party as extremist, had a ringside seat for the whole show.

Following February's election, the AfD is the main opposition party and pounced on events as evidence of the fundamental weaknesses within a coalition made up of the centre-right CDU/CSU parties and centre-left SPD.

"It is very clear that this government… will be a very, very unstable one," says Beatrix von Storch, the AfD's deputy group leader.

She also echoed claims that it was all further proof that the so-called "firewall" of non-cooperation with her party will not last.

"This has shown that this firewall has to fall if you want to have a shift in politics in Germany," von Storch told the BBC.

Also watching on from the Reichstag's visitors' gallery was Merz's old political rival from within the CDU, former chancellor Angela Merkel.

He once lost out to her in a power struggle but returned later to politics – to try and realise his long-held dream of taking the top job.

This can't have been the way in which Merz envisioned entering office.

But, more importantly, the spectacle leaves his claims of being ready to provide firm government, significantly undermined on day one.

Searches are continuing for a 72-year-old man reported missing after going sailing on a dinghy off the Solway Coast.

Alistair Turnbull, from Gatehouse of Fleet, was last seen at about 13:00 on Tuesday.

His dinghy was later found in the nearby Wigtown Bay area.

Police said they were working with the coastguard, mountain rescue teams, drones and air support units to continue searching the coastline.

Supt Alison Wilson said: "Extensive inquiries are continuing and teams have been deployed across various areas in efforts to trace Alistair.

"We would also ask members of the public to report any information which may assist our inquiries to come forward."

It was 20 years ago that video-gaming Irish sports fans had their prayers answered.

Fifa, Pro Evolution Soccer, Madden NFL – back in 2005, these were the sports games dominating living rooms. Indeed, some still are today, helping to make the sports video game industry a £17bn-per-year behemoth.

But while most sports, from snooker to bizarre basketball superstar kung-fu tie-ins, had a title to offer, fans of Ireland's national sports – Gaelic football and hurling – had never seen their heroes in pixelated glory.

That is until Gaelic Games: Football dropped in November 2005.

The highly anticipated release, which saw eager gamers queued outside one store in Belfast, became one of Sony's biggest selling games in Ireland.

And, as was the pre-peak online gaming style at the time, those who wanted to beat their mates had to invite them over and gather around a defiantly non-flat screen TV.

One of those was Peadar McMahon, then a student in Belfast, who remembers "big sessions playing the game, having a laugh with friends".

The game was not well-received.

"Seriously flawed" declared the Sunday Times in a dismayed 3/10 review. "Devastatingly awful" condemned Irish culture website Joe.ie in a 2018 lookback piece.

Peadar is a little more diplomatic – "not a great game" he recalled – but he has reason for diplomacy since, poor or not, Gaelic Games: Football gave him an idea: What more could a game like this do?

The making of a Gaelic football video game

"I took the game as impetus to go and do something about it because I'm doing computer science, loved games from no age – and maybe I could do something?"

Two decades, one career in financial software and a £30k Kickstarter later, Belfast studio Buck Eejit Games, formed four years ago by Peadar, is set to be the first to dive back into the Gaelic games market since that ill-fated series.

Buck Eejit is one of about 40 firms active in Northern Ireland's burgeoning video games industry, a scene non-existent when Peadar graduated from Queen's University.

And the dozen-strong team – a tiny group compared to the huge numbers working at behemoths like EA – are in crunch time to get Gaelic Football '25 finished for a summer release: 16-hour days every day and not much time for anything else, including three kids in Peadar's case.

"It's a lot to undertake, you're putting a lot aside to get the game – the dream, the passion project – over the line," he said.

The scale of the challenge is not lost on him.

While the likes of football, F1 or golf can tap into a huge video gaming fan base, Gaelic games are niche sports – huge in Ireland but with a relatively limited global market.

In other words, a "risk", said Peadar, given the amount of hours and expense required to make a game.

It also means nailing the concept for both die-hard GAA fans and non-fans, said Úna-Minh Kavanagh, a video games producer with the Irish studio Gambrinous who has written extensively about games and the industry.

"For a global audience, it would be a 'new' sport for them to learn and jam with," she said.

"It could easily gain a following if key Irish influencers hop on board, and I think they may do because it's such an Irish thing – especially given the lacklustre response to the original game."

For her, the biggest failing of the original – and its sequel – was it didn't capture the "tribalism, excitement and thrill of being at a GAA match or even playing in one".

What went wrong for Gaelic Games: Football?

Created by defunct Australian studio IR Gurus, who used their pre-existing Australian Rules football game as a template, its development was beset by issues according to an oral history by Irish news site Journal.ie – a small team, working on a shoestring, recreating a sport they had no familiarity with.

The game did sell, but copies soon became a common sight in second-hand stores.

When Irish YouTuber PKMX, real name Matt Murphy, decided to review the game, he found copies so easy to find he now has what he believes is the world's biggest collection of the series – 18 copies, costing a grand total of €15 (£12.50).

"Put GAA in a video game, people are going to pick it up," he said. "But after people realised it was terrible, they (game copies) were everywhere."

PKMX's review of Gaelic Games: Football was not kind, but Matt has some sympathy for the "overworked and underfunded" studio behind it.

"They had their hands full. They'd never seen a match, had a tiny budget. It was never going to work out."

As for the new effort, he can see some similarities between IR Gurus and Buck Eejit in terms of team size – but what the Belfast studio lacks in resources it can make up with passion and feel for the sport.

"They grew up with the GAA, they understand the thrill of the game.

"The pressure is on for players not to experience déjà vu – people don't want to be disappointed again."

That "cultural nuance" could be key, agrees Úna-Minh.

"There's something special knowing the team understands what GAA is all about. Whether it works out or not is another question, but it's a solid foundation."

So what does this solid foundation mean for Gaelic Football '25?

What features will Gaelic Football '25 include?

For one thing, Peadar said, with a laugh, of the team of 12 there's probably only a couple, including him, who grew up with the Gaelic games.

But they're keeping the focus on playability above all else.

That means some minor modifications to Gaelic football's basic rules – for instance players are allowed six steps when carrying the ball rather than the mandated four as it simply played better, said Peadar.

Meanwhile, sweeping new rules introduced in the sport won't be in the final game as they came in the middle of its development cycle.

A lack of resources also meant some tough choices.

There will be no online mode and, despite about 18 months of conversations with the Gaelic Games Association (GAA), no official licences meaning no real player names.

Inspired by Pro Evolution Soccer's approach in decades past, the game will instead feature extensive editing capabilities so players can change names and counties as much as they want.

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These decisions can be revisited via updates or, if things go well, sequels – in the meantime, said Peadar, the focus is on finishing the game for a summer release.

Is he feeling any pressure?

There's a lot riding on the team, he acknowledged, but if he's fazed by the prospect the game "gets panned and nobody buys it", it doesn't show.

Instead he seems like a man content that the best effort had gone towards making the best game the team could make.

Reaction at a playtest for punters at GamerFest Dublin in May garnered a positive response. And the finish line is in sight.

"We've been at this coming up to three years so it's about time we got this off our table and into people's hands."

And when they do, said Matt, people will definitely buy it – and maybe more.

"If it gets buzz on social media that it's actually good….then the sky's the limit."