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A community area devastated by an explosion at a cannabis factory which left a man and a seven-year-old boy dead has been described as "relieved but still in pain" following the end of the court case.

Reece Galbraith, 33, of Gateshead, was jailed for 14 years for the blast at Violet Close in Benwell, Newcastle, in October 2024 which killed Archie York and Jason Laws and forced 120 people from their homes.

Cornerstone Community Centre provided emotional support and co-ordinated donations of clothes, toys and essential items for those displaced.

Its operations manager Amy Sturdy said the sentence offered "some closure, but it doesn't take away the pain or the lasting effects of the tragedy".

Mrs Sturdy said: "The mood in the area is a mix of relief and lingering anger.

"No sentence can truly replace what was lost."

Those evacuated in the hours after the blast on 16 October had now been rehoused or returned to Violet Close, Newcastle City Council said.

Thinking back to the aftermath of the blast, Mrs Sturdy said people were in disbelief, deeply shocked and sad.

"It was something they had never anticipated."

The hub on Armstrong Road received thousands of donations from across north-east England, and Mrs Sturdy said: "The sense of community spirit was heartwarming and showed the true heart of the North East."

• 'My son was killed by criminals making cannabis'

She thanked the people who donated at the time and those who "tirelessly" volunteered.

"The generosity and compassion has been heartwarming," she said,

"The community spirit in Benwell has been incredible, as it always is."

Police in Aberdeen are appealing for witnesses after a man was found with serious head injuries in the city's Mastrick area.

The 49-year-old was found badly injured on Strathmore Drive at about 03:40 on Friday morning.

He was taken by ambulance to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary where medical staff describe his condition as critical.

The man had earlier been seen using an E-scooter which was missing when he was discovered.

A singer will be performing at Latitude Festival with her former job centre adviser, seven years after he told her not to give up on her music.

Peonie Gage signed up for a meeting at Colchester Job Centre, aged 18, after she could not earn enough of a living through performing.

She met adviser Wallace Rice, who happened to be a part-time musician with his band Monster Florence, and he told her to keep at it.

Gage said: "[Other] people were trying to help me find corporate jobs and things in retail… who knows what path I would have gone down [if she had not met Rice]."

The pair will perform together at Latitude Festival in Suffolk this summer.

'No work'

Gage, who went to school in Ipswich, is no stranger to big crowds, and she previously sang both the UK and US national anthems in front of millions at the O2 Arena when Floyd Mayweather fought Geordie Shore's Aaron Chalmers.

Now 25 years old, she admitted her future might have looked different if she had been advised by somebody else.

"He ended up giving me so much advice about music, and what to do and where to turn to and how to keep going," she said.

Normally used to seeing Rice's name on job centre appointment slips, Gage experienced deja vu when she saw that familiar name written on a different form.

Years later, they were put down to play at the same BBC Introducing stage at Henham Park, – a festival which usually draws a crowd of approximately 40,000.

"I was so excited," Gage said when she saw his name.

"Also, it's so nice that we're both from Colchester and that we're both trying to put Colchester on the map."

The pair will reunite and perform together at Latitude in July.

Two men who used fake Scottish bank notes to buy items in shops before returning the purchases for a cash refund have been jailed.

Patrick Ward, 22, of Coole Park, Galway, Ireland, and Jason Ward, 20, of Radharc Na Freine, Galway, both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to have a counterfeit currency note, passing counterfeit currency and converting criminal property.

Patrick was sentenced to 30 months in prison, while Jason was sentenced to 28 months in a young offender institution on 23 May at Leeds Crown Court.

A third man, William Browne, 19, of St Finbars Terrace, Galway, was also charged but failed to appear at court and a warrant has been issued for his arrest, West Yorkshire Police said.

Patrick and Jason were arrested in Wakefield on 21 January after officers found items in their car that had been bought from various stores in Wakefield, Barnsley, Sheffield and Chesterfield.

Officers said the pair had used counterfeit Clydesdale bank notes to buy the items and then refunded them for cash at other branches of the shop.

They said further offences linked to the group were found in the Thames Valley, West Midlands, West Mercia, Warwickshire, Staffordshire, Northamptonshire and Leicestershire police force areas.

Det Sgt Craig Twycross said: "This was a complex investigation which has prevented fake notes circulating around the country and leaving businesses with worthless cash."

He said the pair "came to the UK from Ireland with a view to using fake cash to fund their lifestyles, and it is right that they have been successfully prosecuted for their offending".

Neil Harris, head of the national counterfeit currency unit at the National Crime Agency said: "This investigation targeted a criminal enterprise where the suspects committed crimes across numerous police force areas.

"However, with the participation of police officers from all of the identified policing areas, the full scale of the offending could be placed before the courts by West Yorkshire Police."

West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds

Invasive plants such as Japanese knotweed and Himalayan balsam could increase the risk of flooding in West Yorkshire, a council warned.

The non-native species can spread rapidly but die back in the winter, leaving bare ground that floodwater moves across quickly, a Calderdale Council spokesperson said.

People are encouraged to report any sightings of invasive plants and to clean their boots after walking in the countryside to stop species from spreading.

Scott Patient, the council's member for climate action and housing, said: "Managing invasive species is crucial for reducing flood risk and creating a more biodiverse Calderdale."

Invasive plants can cause a particular problem in Calderdale, the council said, as water can flow rapidly down its steep hillsides and into the borough's rivers.

Japanese knotweed and giant hogweed require professional treatment, it added, but Himalayan balsam could be easily removed.

Boot cleaning stations have been installed at Jerusalem Farm in the Luddenden Valley in a bid to protect endangered white-clawed crayfish from invasive species.

The population is under threat due to the introduction of the non-native North American signal crayfish – which spread a disease which kills the native white-clawed crayfish.

The cleaning stations have also been put in place at Baitings, Ryburn, Withens Clough and Scammonden reservoirs.

Patient added: "Simple steps like using boot cleaning stations or reporting sightings of the most problematic invasive species can make a big difference."

West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds

A mental health trust still requires improvement in relation to its adult wards, an investigation has found.

The Care Quality Commission said it found "pockets of improvement" when it visited wards at Dorothy Pattison Hospital in Walsall but said leaders still have work to do.

The Black Country Healthcare Trust had already been told to improve its mental health inpatient services after safeguarding issues were raised following an inspection in February 2023.

The trust's chief nurse, Carolyn Green, said she recognised some improvements were needed and was pleased the inspectors had noted some improvements.

The trust's chair stood down in October after a critical report by leadership firm Xytal found distrust among staff at all levels.

This latest unannounced inspection was carried out in May 2024. The CQC apologised for the delay in publication and said it was due to a large-scale transformation programme which resulted in problems with systems.

"The amount of time taken to publish this report falls far short of what people using services and the trust should be able to expect and CQC apologises for this."

It added any immediate action would not have been affected.

The inspection was prompted by concerns raised around the management of the medical team and a poor culture where staff could not speak up.

Inspectors said this had not been substantiated.

The overall rating for the service, and the rating for how safe the service is, has again been rated as requires improvement.

The rating for how well-led the service is has improved from requires improvement to good.

Some staff had not completed mandatory training including basic life support, inspectors said. The trust said all staff were booked in to complete this.

Inspectors also found some wards to be cluttered and some areas "shabby" and "damaged".

People were allowed to smoke in garden areas which led to a "a large quantity of cigarette ends and litter" and there were also exposed sharp edges on doors which people could use to hurt themselves, the report stated.

However, inspectors found staff felt supported and listened to and were confident in raising concerns.

Andy Brand, CQC deputy director of operations in the Midlands, said: "We clearly saw that Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust had made improvements in how management oversaw the service since our previous report.

"However, leaders still have work to do to make changes to support the trust's caring staff with good processes and systems to support them to keep people safe and wards running effectively."

"We recognise that some improvements are needed, and we are committed to deliver these, to provide the best possible service for our patients and working environment for our staff"," Ms Green said.

She said the hospital trust is launching a new approach to 'smoke-free' in summer.

Here's our weekly roundup of stories from across local websites in the West of England.

We have a daily round up as well. Make sure you look out for it on the website and the local section of the BBC News app.

What have been the big stories in the West this week?

At the start of the week Bristol woke up to the news of a death at the half marathon event on the weekend.

ITV West Country reported 28-year-old rugby player Jon Devereux, from Chester, died after after collapsing and falling ill at the Great Bristol Run.

Bristol Live's article on the sudden closure of part of the Co-op car park in Westbury-on-Trym and some walls installed there also gained a lot of attention this week. Nearby residents are now calling for an investigation after the area was cordoned off with blue walls.

The body found in the search for missing 16-year-old Athrun got a lot of reaction from ITV West Country and Bristol Live audiences. Searches had been ongoing in the West Shore area of Llandudno following the sighting of a body on Tuesday.

Finally, news from The Dorset Echo, Somerset Live and ITV West Country on the temporary closure of Yeovil's maternity unit gained a lot of traction this week. In a statement the hospital trust told ITV West Country, it "cannot currently safely run the unit" or "safely provide care during labour and birth".

Top six stories for the BBC in the West

A man will appear in court in July charged with the murder of a nine-year-old girl in Lincolnshire.

Lilia Valutyte died after being stabbed as she played with a hula hoop in the street outside her mother's shop in Boston town centre on 28 July 2022.

On Thursday, a hearing was held at Lincoln Crown Court.

Deividas Skebas, 25, formerly of Thorold Street, Boston, is due at the same court on 28 July – the third anniversary of the stabbing.

Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds latest episode of Look North here.

Soon after Jess gave birth to her first baby, she ran out of freezer space.

"I was producing so much breast milk my husband couldn't fit the food in the freezer," said Jess, a 30-year-old mother from South Derbyshire.

It was then that she found out about the option of donating surplus breast milk to a local milk bank.

"I knew that poorly and premature babies in the neonatal unit were fed with donated milk. So I thought why not give them some of mine?"

Jess said donating her milk was easy, adding: "I phoned Birmingham milk bank and they sent me a blood test in the post."

She added that other than dropping off the blood test at the hospital, she did not have to leave the house to donate.

"They sent me all the bottles and equipment," she added. "It was all free."

She said her first donation was 10 litres (two gallons) of breast milk.

Jess described her 13-week-old baby Lucas as a "big chunky baby" weighing nearly a stone.

She added: "I thought he's got loads of my milk, so I'm going to help make chunky babies all over the nation!"

Jess's milk was transported from her house to the human milk bank Birmingham Women's and Children's Hospital by Derbyshire Blood Bikes – a charity which provides a medical courier service for NHS hospitals across the county.

"The Blood Bikes were so good," says Jess. "They came right to the door and gave me the cooler bags they transport the milk in.

"I literally just had to take it out the freezer and give it to them."

"It created space for more food, actually. My husband was happy!"

A spokesperson from the Birmingham Women's Hospital milk bank team said: "We'd like to say a huge thank you to all of the generous women who donate their breast milk to help protect tiny babies.

"Donations are crucial, they play a huge part in providing the necessary care for our unwell babies in our neonatal unit, as breast milk is vital at protecting extremely sick babies.

"We know that many hospitals are in need of human milk for their neonatal services which is why we supply milk to surrounding hospitals throughout the UK."

How does it work?

On its NHS trust website, the milk bank at Birmingham Women's and Children's Hospital said it was providing donor breast milk to its own neonatal babies as well as to other hospitals across the region and beyond.

Donor breast milk, it says, can be offered to support mothers while they are establishing their own milk supply, or if they are unable to provide their own milk due to geographical separation or maternal illness.

Eligible donors would have established breastfeeding with their own baby and find they have surplus milk to their baby's requirements.

Blood tests are done before donations to ensure infections will not be passed on via the milk, and certain reasons will exclude people from becoming donors such as smoking or taking certain prescribed medicine.

Last month, Royal Derby Hospital used donor breast milk to feed babies on their neonatal unit for the first time.

The first batch of donor milk came from the human milk bank in Birmingham, which was delivered by a Derbyshire Blood Bikes volunteer.

Mark Vallis, Operations Manager at Derbyshire Blood Bikes, said: "It means mothers at the hospital can rest assured that the neonatal unit will be able to get milk to them. In all instances that will be milk from the Birmingham bank, delivered to Derby free of charge by Blood Bikes."

Jess said the move was "amazing", adding: "I see on Facebook groups mums asking for spare milk, and that's obviously not right. So it's really important they can get it from a safe source."

A spokesperson for the University Hospitals Trust of Derby and Burton said: "We offer expert advice and breastfeeding support to women, however, where expressing milk is not an option, donated breastmilk is a more suitable way to support pre-term baby's development.

"We are pleased to be working with Birmingham Milk Bank so that some of our families, with neonatal babies, can access donor breastmilk."

Fire crews will take part in a training exercise at Lincoln County Hospital to help prepare them for high-rise emergency situations.

The sessions will be carried out in an area currently under refurbishment and synthetic smoke will be used to emulate real-life scenarios.

Fifty firefighters and six fire engines will be involved later and on Thursday, and Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue has urged people not to be alarmed.

Matt King, head of response at the fire service, said: "It's a brilliant opportunity for us to test our plans and preparedness."

He added: "It's really about making sure that we are well prepared for real-life emergencies.

"We really want to reassure people that there will be a lot of activity going on, there will be a lot of fire appliances, but there is nothing to be worried about.

"There is no fire involved, and it is just us in a training environment."

Firefighters will be on site from 19:00 to 21:00 BST, and on Thursday from 13:30 to 15:30 and 19:00 to 21:00.

Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds latest episode of Look North here.