A woman from the Czech Republic who was lured to England and made to work as a prostitute was raped in a Lancashire restaurant, a court has heard. Eleven people have appeared at Preston Crown Court charged with trafficking and controlling prostitution in connection with the case.

At least one child aged five or under is expelled from school every week and dozens more are suspended as bad behaviour among pupils soars.

The stress of everyday life is threatening a global epidemic of cardiovascular disease, a report by international health experts has warned. High blood pressure is a “silent condition” which is “grossly underestimated” by patients, their families, medics and politicians, according to the study unveiled at the European Parliament in Brussels.

A schoolboy hanged himself from his bunk bed after the driver of his school bus regularly joined bullies to taunt him, an inquest was told yesterday. Ben Vodden, 11, was found unconscious by his father, Paul, with shoelaces round his neck.

One of the UK’s most senior police officers has called for new laws that would compel the public to give information to the police about gun crime – whether they want to or not.

Four Plymouth women who goaded toddlers into fighting and filmed it have been given 12-month suspended sentences. The four, who cannot be named, admitted child cruelty charges before sentencing at Plymouth Crown Court on Friday.

One in 30 foetuses aborted for medical reasons is born alive, a 10-year study at 20 UK hospitals has found. Most of these babies with disabilities were born between 20 and 24 weeks of pregnancy and all lived for no more than a few hours.

A grief counselling programme for families bereaved by suicide does not reduce grief or depression, but may help to prevent perceptions of blame among close relatives and spouses, finds a study published on bmj.com.

Decisions about building casinos in the UK have not given enough weight to the potential health effects, argue two doctors in this week’s BMJ. In March the House of Lords threw out government proposals to build the UK’s first Las Vegas-style super casino in Manchester and build 16 other casinos around the country.

Every 15 minutes someone dies as a direct result of physical inactivity. Yet just 30 minutes of activity a day will help stave off heart disease and other illnesses, the British Heart Foundation says today as it launches a new poster campaign.