That changed
this week as the stories were lead by the disappearance of 15-year-old schoolgirl
Megan Stammers from Eastbourne.
She had been
reported missing after eloping away from the country with one of her
schoolteachers, Jeremy Forrest.
Sussex police
worked very hard with counterparts across Europe to find the pair, while her
devastated family members made heart-warming appeals for Megan to come home.
CCTV pictures
were released of the couple boarding a ferry hand-in-hand and it ended in
relief on Friday afternoon, when French police found them in Bordeaux.
Maths teacher
Forrest has been arrested by police in France on suspicion of child abduction
and made a brief court appearance in the country. He is due back in court on Tuesday and is likely
to be extradited to the UK shortly after that.
If he is found
guilty of not only that but having an indecent sexual relationship with a
student then the law book is likely to be thrown at him and rightly so.
Yesterday,
Megan boarded a plane to head home and will be reunited with her family soon.
Although
it will be difficult, I would hope the media allow her and the family to return
to a normal life as they possibly can, fully away from the public spotlight.
Where’s the consistency?
Sport made
the news on Thursday when the Football Association found former England skipper
John Terry guilty of racially abusing QPR’s Anton Ferdinand.
Terry was
charged by the FA earlier this summer, despite having been cleared by a court
of law in July.
He has been
handed a four game ban and a £220,000 fine.
A written statement is likely to be released this week and after that,
Terry will have 14 days to appeal against the decision.
It is
difficult to have much of a view on this case but what I will say is that the
lack of consistency from the FA is startling.
Last season,
Luis Suarez was banned for eight games after the Liverpool striker was found
guilty of racially abusing Patrice Evra in a match against Manchester United.
The FA then
banned Joey Barton for 12 games in the summer, after his disgraceful behaviour
on the final day of last season as a QPR player. Barton elbowed Carlos Tevez, and then head
butted both Sergio Aguero and Vincent Kompany.
So why does
Barton get 12, Suarez get 8 and Terry get 4?
Where’s the consistency? It can’t
be right! For once, I agree with Barton’s
reaction about the FA being clueless.
Also, it took
11 months to sort out – as the Terry/Ferdinand incident happened on October 23
last year. While it is difficult to talk
about the legalities without knowing the process, surely this could have been
dealt with quicker.
A chequered career
Lastly on
Friday morning, the Formula One world was stunned as Lewis Hamilton announced
his decision to leave behind the McLaren team that has nurtured him since he
was a young child.
Hamilton will
move to Mercedes GP on a three-year deal for 2013 to partner Nico Rosberg. This means that seven-time world champion
Michael Schumacher has been booted out to make way for the Brit.
McLaren have
reacted quickly and brought in the talented Mexican Sergio Perez as Jenson
Button’s team-mate for next year.
 |
| Lewis Hamilton is taking a big gamble in moving to Mercedes |
Hamilton has
had a chequered career, which has brought him one world championship but that
was back in 2008. Since then, he has
come close but not quite close enough.
Pitstop
blunders, a lack of reliability and some costly accidents mean chances of winning
the title in 2012 are now slim to nil.
Add in his
feud with Felipe Massa last season, a management company that only is
interested in money, his high maintenance relationship with X-Factor judge
Nicole Scherzinger and ‘Twittergate’ when he published telemetry at Spa of
secret McLaren data information and a move was on the cards.
While change
is needed for all parties, McLaren have got one of the best young racers on the
grid in Perez and as for Hamilton, I hope he enjoys midfield mediocrity because
that is all Mercedes will provide him in the short-term.
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