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We have a curated list of the most noteworthy news from all across the globe. With any subscription plan, you get access to exclusive articles that let you stay ahead of the curve.
We have a curated list of the most noteworthy news from all across the globe. With any subscription plan, you get access to exclusive articles that let you stay ahead of the curve.
We have a curated list of the most noteworthy news from all across the globe. With any subscription plan, you get access to exclusive articles that let you stay ahead of the curve.
The tenure of Max Scherzer with the Blue Jays’ pitching rotation faces uncertainty following another challenging performance on Friday, compounded by the potential return of some sidelined pitchers.
At 41, Scherzer rejoined the team with hopes of redemption after their Game 7 World Series defeat last season. However, his recent outings have been less than stellar, struggling significantly in three of his five starts thus far.
Friday’s game against Cleveland saw Scherzer exit after just 2 1/3 innings, having surrendered seven runs on six hits. His performance included three walks and three home runs, culminating in an 8-6 loss on home turf.
Max Scherzer is struggling to open the 2026 season. Kevin Sousa-Imagn Images
Strikingly, Scherzer failed to strike out any batters during this game, following a similarly weak showing against the Diamondbacks where he managed only one strikeout.
Expressing his disappointment, Scherzer remarked, “It just stinks to lose this one. All of the other guys in the clubhouse did their job.”
“The offense fought. The bullpen came in and stepped up to cover some innings there. It stinks to have a clunker out there. I’ve got to watch the tape tomorrow and get back to work.”
Making matters more pressing for Toronto is that Trey Yesavage, Jose Berrios and Shane Bieber are all starting to circle dates to returrn from their respective injuries.
Yesavage could come back from a shoulder impingement as soon as this week against the Red Sox.
He’s set to meet with the Blue Jays over the weekend to decide next steps after a rehab assignment with Triple-A Buffalo.
Max Scherzer lasted just 1/3 innings against the Guardians on Friday. AP
Berrios (right elbow stress fracture) has a rehab start Tuesday in Buffalo, which could be his last as well.
Bieber is not quite as far along, with a return expected in late May, but he too will only be out so long.
Scherzer’s 9.64 ERA is by far the highest in the Blue Jays’ current rotation, so if someone needs to be bumped out, it seems likely that it would be him.
He’s dealt with forearm tenditis this season too, but insisted his struggles don’t have anything to do with a recurrence.
“No, I would not characterize this start as the fault of my forearm,” Scherzer said.
As the first light of day emerges, the solemn sound of the Last Post echoes through the early morning air at Canberra’s Australian War Memorial.
A solitary bugler stands vigilantly by the Stone of Remembrance, bathed in gentle light, with the poignant inscription beside him: “Their name liveth for evermore.”
Anzac Day occupies a revered position in the hearts of Australians, serving as a time for the nation to collectively pause and pay tribute to those who have served in wars and military operations.
Many Australians view the Anzac spirit, shaped during the Gallipoli campaign—an eight-month-long unsuccessful effort alongside British forces to seize Constantinople (now Istanbul)—as a reflection of the values they hold dear: courage, camaraderie, and selflessness.
However, in recent years, this day of remembrance has sparked deeper reflections and more challenging questions about accountability, military culture, and the true nature of what the nation is being asked to commemorate.
In 2020, the landmark Brereton Report found credible evidence of 39 unlawful killings by Australian special forces in Afghanistan, sending shockwaves through the country and prompting a broader reckoning over Australia’s conduct in war.
Then, earlier this month, came the arrest of former Australian Special Air Service corporal Ben Roberts-Smith, Australia’s most decorated living soldier, who was charged with five counts of the war crime of murder. Roberts-Smith strenuously denies wrongdoing and has vowed to fight the charges.
His public fall from celebrated war hero to accused war criminal strikes at the heart of a country that has long elevated its soldiers as symbols of national virtue.
As Anzac Day commemorations unfold today, his arrest raises an uncomfortable question: Can Australia honour military service while confronting alleged wrongdoing committed in its name?
Reckoning or betrayal?
The answer exposes a deep divide.
Supporters of Roberts-Smith — including Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart, and One Nation leader Pauline Hanson — have been quick to publicly back the former SAS corporal, framing the case as a betrayal of veterans.
“I don’t understand how it can be justified to spend more than $300 million to try for years to bring SAS veterans, who have served our country, towards criminal proceedings,” Rinehart said.
Ben Roberts-Smith was charged with five counts of the war crime of murder. He vehemently denies wrongdoing and will fight the charges. Source: AAP / Bianca De Marchi
Hanson reiterated her “steadfast” support for the Victoria Cross recipient, saying she would not “abandon him like so many other politicians”.
Former prime minister Tony Abbott issued a more measured statement but questioned how an alleged “culture of brutality” had gone undetected by senior officers for more than a decade.
“It’s wrong to judge the actions of men in mortal combat by the standards of ordinary civilian life,” he said.
Others argue the opposite — that accountability is essential to preserving the military’s integrity.
Writing for the News Corp tabloids, conservative commentator Andrew Bolt asked those “angrily defending” Roberts-Smith if they were okay with Australian soldiers shooting unarmed prisoners.
“Defending Roberts-Smith is being made a test of our patriotism. But my patriotism is not measured by my loyalty to a Victoria Cross winner who may — or may not have — committed the five war crimes in Afghanistan for which he was charged,” Bolt wrote.
Greens foreign affairs spokesperson David Shoebridge said Roberts-Smith’s arrest was a “moment of accountability” and that “no one should be above the law”.
“From the Brereton Report onwards there has been a gaping hole in the accountability for what happened in Afghanistan,” he said.
Many others, including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, declined to comment, saying they did not want to prejudice criminal proceedings.
Speaking after Roberts-Smith’s arrest, Australian Federal Police commissioner Krissy Barrett said the investigation had been “undertaken thoroughly and meticulously”.
“The alleged conduct related to these charges is confined to a very small section of our trusted and respected ADF (Australian Defence Force),” she said.
“The overwhelming majority of our ADF do our country proud.”
A complex legacy
Among veterans who fought in more recent military campaigns, including Iraq and Afghanistan, the debate is less ideological and more personal.
Many are torn between dissonant feelings of pride for their service and dismay for the results.
The Iraq War, launched by the United States in 2003 with Australia as a coalition partner, has been broadly criticised for being driven by false claims that Iraq possessed “weapons of mass destruction”.
The outcomes of the US-led invasion of Afghanistan two years prior have also been queried. The invasion was launched in response to the September 11 terror attacks in 2001, with the primary objective of destroying the Islamist militant organisation al-Qaeda and overthrowing the Taliban regime.
Eamon Hale is an RSL Victoria state executive and a veteran of both wars.
Eamon Hale is proud of the work he and his fellow soldiers did in Afghanistan. Source: Supplied / Defence department
He acknowledges the complex legacy of both but stands by the conduct of his fellow veterans.
“I think if [the public] understood what we were doing over there and how remarkable the Australian soldiers were, they’d be really proud of us,” he tells SBS News.
He points to the work Australian troops did helping Afghan girls attend school.
“That’s now been taken away from them, and I think about that a lot,” he says.
I’ve got a four-year-old daughter now; if we were in Afghanistan, she wouldn’t be entitled to education. She wouldn’t be entitled to the sort of things that we take for granted.
The 2021 withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan brought the 20-year conflict to an end, creating a power vacuum that the Taliban quickly filled.
Since then, the hardline Islamist group has implemented what the United Nations described as the world’s “most repressive” regime for women, with girls being barred from education beyond the age of 12.
Following the fall of Kabul, Hale says some veterans “questioned their service and questioned what we did over there”.
“For me, it comes back to my pride in what my mates and I did. I still think it was worth it. I think what we did was remarkable,” he says.
Commemorating a ‘tough day’
Many current and former Australian service personnel, like Hale, also consider Anzac Day a time to remember colleagues who have died in the line of duty.
He says the commemoration is “sombre” but also a celebration.
“That’s a little bit controversial for some people, but I think about my mates who are no longer with us, these amazing men and women, whether they died overseas or died after coming home,” he says.
“I celebrate them … those of us who are still here have to live up to the standards they set, and those standards are the Anzac legend.”
Eamon Hale (far right) with fellow soldiers at the Australian Embassy compound in Baghdad, 2010. Source: Supplied / ADF/Aaron Curran
Approximately 40,000 Australians served in Afghanistan and 17,000 in Iraq.
According to the Australian War Memorial, 47 Australians were killed in Afghanistan and five in Iraq.
More than 940,000 people were killed by direct violence in post-9/11 war operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as Syria, Yemen and Pakistan, between 2001 and 2023, according to Brown University’s Costs of War project.
Phil Pyke, a 34-year veteran of the Australian Army, sees the day differently.
Pyke, who worked in strategic communications in Iraq, says for many years he avoided Anzac Day events, though he would still watch the broadcasts on TV.
“I’ve only now just started to get to feel more comfortable with it, and this year, I’m a guest speaker at a country service,” he tells SBS News.
Phil Pyke says there is value in educating Australians about conflict and its consequences. Source: Supplied
He believes the day has become “jingoistic” and takes exception to the historic exclusion or marginalisation of Indigenous soldiers’ service during Anzac Day commemorations.
But he sees value in educating Australians about the reality of war.
It’s not about glorifying war. War is one of the most insidious acts that mankind can undertake.
Professor Andrea Phelps is the deputy director of Phoenix Australia Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health, which offers mental health support for veterans.
She tells SBS News Anzac Day can be a “tough day” for veterans.
“The memories and emotions are usually kept at bay, or at least not front of mind, and that comes to the fore,” she tells SBS News.
“I think it can also play a really important role in emotionally processing traumatic experience, really helping people to come to terms with what they’ve experienced.”
The evolution of the ‘Anzac legend’
For Hale and Pyke, Anzac Day carries pride but also discomfort, raising questions about how military service is remembered.
That discomfort is not new, argues Nicole Townsend, a lecturer in war studies at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Canberra. She says the current debate reflects a much older divide in Australian history.
Anzac Day was first commemorated in 1916, a year after the Gallipoli landings in Türkiye, where thousands of young Australian and New Zealand soldiers were killed fighting for the British Empire during World War One.
She says the earliest commemorations were a “solemn, commemorative experience around grief and loss”, but the meaning of the day has shifted over time.
Public support for Anzac Day reached a low point during the Vietnam War before resurging in the 1980s and 1990s, driven by films such as Gallipoli and growing numbers of Australians making pilgrimages to overseas battlefields.
Today, the Anzac legend sits at the centre of Australian national identity, with Gallipoli often framed as the birthplace of modern Australia.
That characterisation, however, has not been without its critics.
Published in 2010 to significant controversy, What’s Wrong with ANZAC? by historians Marilyn Lake and Henry Reynolds argued that the focus on the Anzac legend distorted Australian history, elevating military sacrifice above other defining achievements such as democracy, labour reform and social progress.
Townsend says there had long been resistance to what has become known as the “black armband” view of history — a term describing an overly negative interpretation of Australia’s past.
“There’s the idea that we need to focus on the good and not necessarily … the bad,” she tells SBS News.
“That’s not going away, but it doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t take a more critical lens to things.”
Townsend says the reverence lent to the Anzac legend made it harder to have honest conversations about war, military culture and the consequences of conflict.
A national survey conducted by UNSW Canberra last year found Australians overwhelmingly believed Anzac Day was important, with nearly two-thirds of respondents having attended at least one Anzac Day service, but few regularly engaged with Anzac Day activities.
But while Anzac Day remains important, awareness of Australia’s involvement in recent conflicts is far less widespread.
Just 56 per cent of respondents were aware of Australia’s involvement in Afghanistan, while only half were aware of its role in Iraq.
Brad Manera, a senior historian and curator of the Anzac Memorial in Sydney, says fewer Australians had direct contact with military service, making it more important than ever to explain the significance of Anzac Day.
“There isn’t a veteran that … can tell war stories to the next generation in every house, and as a consequence … we’re having to teach people why there are still war memorials on the corner in every suburb in every country town,” he says.
Accountability or persecution?
That same debate over the legacy of military service and its centrality to Australian nationhood is now playing out against the background of the Brereton Report and the Roberts-Smith case.
Cameron Niven, a former ADF military police officer and lawyer with Soldier’s Legal Counsel, is a supporter of Roberts-Smith and acknowledges the case is “divisive”.
“I don’t think any [ADF member] would ever want to reflect on their service and be associated with members who have committed war crimes,” he says.
But he says it was a “far reach” to suggest that Roberts-Smith had committed war crimes because he lost his civil defamation case against Nine newspapers, which first published the allegations.
In the 2023 ruling, the Federal Court found on the balance of probabilities — a lower standard of proof than in criminal proceedings — that Nine’s reporting that Roberts-Smith was responsible for the unlawful killing of unarmed Afghan detainees was substantially true.
Roberts-Smith has not been convicted of any criminal offence and is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a criminal court.
Niven criticises the broader Brereton inquiry and says Roberts-Smith’s supporters want a “fair judicial process” and greater transparency about how evidence was gathered.
“I think there is a lot wrong with how the Brereton Report was conducted. I think there is a lot wrong with how investigators undertook their duties and the techniques and methodologies used to extract information,” he tells SBS News.
Niven says many veterans feel abandoned by senior leadership and he knows of a “large number” handing back medals and boycotting Anzac Day because they no longer want to show support for the ADF.
I cannot foresee that any person who is aware of the proceedings involving Ben Roberts-Smith … could ever comfortably join the defence force and think that their interests and their well-being will be well represented and protected.
When the Brereton Report was released in 2020, Australian National University international law expert Donald Rothwell described it as the “most significant” inquiry of its kind in modern Australian history.
The 3,255-page document followed a four-year investigation by the inspector-general of the ADF into allegations of misconduct by special forces in Afghanistan between 2005 and 2016.
It found credible evidence of 39 unlawful killings involving 25 Australian soldiers, as well as a culture of secrecy, cover-ups and “blooding” — a term to describe commanders ordering junior soldiers to execute Afghan prisoners to achieve their first kill.
Rothwell tells SBS News the Brereton inquiry remains globally significant.
“In terms of war crimes investigations, Australia is seen by many other countries who take these matters seriously to be setting the gold standard,” he says.
The report led then-prime minister Scott Morrison to establish the Office of the Special Investigator in 2021 to investigate possible criminal conduct and refer cases for prosecution.
Former SAS soldier Oliver Schulz became the first Australian soldier charged with a war crime under Australian law in 2023 over allegations he executed an unarmed Afghan man in Afghanistan.
Roberts-Smith is now the second and potentially not the last.
‘It’s not easy’
As Australians gather for dawn services and marches across the country today, the allegations of war crimes from the Brereton Report and Roberts-Smith’s case may cast a long shadow over commemorations.
Returned and Services League of Australia national president Peter Tinley tells SBS News Anzac Day is almost a “civic religion” for some Australians, carrying different meanings to different people.
“It’s very much how the individual sees the world and how they see the nature and character of what it is to be Australian and how that reflects in their Anzac spirit,” he says.
Tinley says criticism of the reverence lent to the Anzac tradition is valid, arguing the national story should continue to evolve.
“I’m a member of the council that runs the war memorial here in Canberra, and very proud to be on that, but I know that only tells one part of the Australian story,” he says.
He encourages Australians to use Anzac Day not only to honour sacrifice but also to reflect on the kind of nation they want Australia to be.
“It’s not easy, and nor should it be,” he says.
“But from it, you get a very good, cogent understanding, a sense of balance in our community, that actually provides resilience.”
President Donald Trump has been informed about the puzzling series of incidents involving missing and deceased scientists, which has now expanded to include ten cases. Addressing this unsettling trend upon his arrival at the White House on Thursday, Trump responded to questions from FOX News regarding whether these events were coincidental or interconnected. “Well, I hope it is random,” Trump remarked, adding that more clarity would emerge in the coming days. “I just left a meeting on that subject, so pretty serious stuff. Hopefully, coincidence… but some of them were very important people, and we are going to look at it.” These scientists, connected to NASA, nuclear research, aerospace programs, and classified initiatives, have been a cause of concern since 2023.
The individuals involved, including experts from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Los Alamos National Laboratory, held access to critical information concerning space exploration, nuclear advancements, or sophisticated defense systems, leading to speculation about potential links. The president’s comments followed a White House briefing on Wednesday, during which Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt addressed inquiries about the ten individuals associated with space or nuclear secrets who mysteriously disappeared or died. “I haven’t spoken to our relevant agencies about it. I will certainly do that and will get you an answer,” stated Leavitt.
Leavitt further mentioned, “If true, of course, that’s definitely something I think this government and administration would deem worth looking into. So let me do that for you.” This troubling pattern began when retired Air Force General William Neil McCasland went missing on February 27. He was last observed departing his New Mexico residence without his phone, wearable technology, or glasses, and only carrying a firearm, as his wife reported to 911 that it seemed he intended “not to be found.” The eerie circumstances of McCasland’s disappearance mirror four other cases between May and August 2025 in the Southwest. Alarmingly, all four incidents have connections to McCasland through his work at the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, which has long been rumored to investigate extraterrestrial technology since the Roswell UFO incident in 1947.
While at Wright-Patterson, McCasland oversaw and reportedly approved the funding for scientist Monica Jacinto Reza’s work on a space-age metal for rocket engines called Mondaloy. Reza (pictured), 60, disappeared while hiking with friends in California on June 22, 2025. She had just become the director of the Materials Processing Group at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The three other disappearances all involved workers at some of America’s most important nuclear facilities, and all three were last seen walking out of their homes without their phones or keys, just like McCasland. Steven Garcia, 48, vanished without a trace on August 28, 2025. He was last seen leaving his Albuquerque, New Mexico home on foot, carrying only a handgun. An anonymous source told the Daily Mail that Garcia was a government contractor working for the Kansas City National Security Campus (KCNSC), a major facility in Albuquerque that manufactures more than 80 percent of all the non-nuclear components that go into building the military’s nuclear weapons.
Anthony Chavez (pictured) and Melissa Casias both worked at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), one of the nation’s most important nuclear research sites. Chavez, 79, worked at the lab until his retirement in 2017, although his role there has not been made clear. Casias, 54, was an active administrative assistant at the facility and is believed to have had top security clearance. All three were last seen leaving their homes in New Mexico on foot, leaving behind their cars, keys, wallets and phones before disappearing without a trace. Police have not had any updates in the cases since last year. In addition to the string of disappearances, five scientists in key areas of research have died over the last three years, including two who were murdered in their own homes. Nuclear physicist Nuno Loureiro and Astrophysicist Carl Grillmair were both shot to death in their homes in recent months.
Independent investigators have noted that Loureiro’s (pictured) revolutionary work in nuclear fusion may have made him a target of a greater conspiracy against US scientists, as his work may one day upend the energy industry. Grillmair’s work with NASA’s NEOWISE and NEO Surveyor has also been linked to the Air Force, as the telescopes used the same systems the military relies on to track satellites and missiles. Meanwhile, NASA scientists Michael David Hicks and Frank Maiwald, who also worked at the Jet Propulsion Lab, died from unknown circumstances at an early age. Maiwald, 61, was the lead researcher on a breakthrough that could help future space missions detect clear signs of life on other worlds just 13 months before he died in 2024.
Hicks, who passed away just a year after leaving JPL at age 59, had been involved with the DART Project, NASA’s test to see if humans could deflect dangerous asteroids away from Earth. NASA’s JPL has not commented on the deaths of Maiwald or Hicks, and did not reply to the Daily Mail’s inquiries into the nature of the scientists’ work before their deaths. In another mysterious incident, Jason Thomas (pictured), a pharmaceutical researcher testing cancer treatments at Novartis, was found dead in a Massachusetts lake on March 17, 2026, after disappearing without a trace in December 2025. Local police have claimed there was no foul play suspected.
A group of women, often referred to as ISIS brides, along with their children, have departed from a camp in northern Syria, with hopes of finally returning to Australia. This comes after an unsuccessful repatriation effort earlier this year.
The Australian government has provided passports to four women and nine children, allowing them to leave the harsh conditions of Syria’s Al-Roj camp, potentially for the last time.
Lana Hussein, the coordinator of the camp, stated that there is a security process in place, which can take up to 72 hours, before the individuals can be deported.
A group of so-called ISIS brides and their children left a camp in Northern Syria today, hoping to return to Australia following a failed repatriation attempt earlier this year. (9News)
Just under three months ago, a group of 34 Australian citizens in the camp attempted to return home, but their efforts were thwarted by Syrian government forces.
It seems that this time, they have successfully navigated past those previous obstacles.
“The co-ordination was perfect,” Al-Roj camp director Hakmiyeh Ibrahim told the ABC through a translator.
“It was done between us and the Syrian Government to be able to fly back these families to their country.”
The Australian government is required to issue passports to its citizens.
This group is no exception but the government says assistance to bring them back stopped there.
A group of so-called ISIS brides and their children left a camp in Northern Syria today, hoping to return to Australia following a failed repatriation attempt earlier this year. (9News)
“The Australian government is not repatriating those people from Syria,” Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said.
Only one of the women who has been living at the Syrian camp has been temporarily banned from entering Australia.
No other exclusion orders have been issued.
“Tony Burke himself has said ‘We do not want them here’,” Shadow Home Affairs Minister Jonno Duniam said.
“You are in government, you can do something about it.”
A group of so-called ISIS brides and their children left a camp in Northern Syria today, hoping to return to Australia following a failed repatriation attempt earlier this year. (9News)
When terror group Islamic State retreated in 2019, families linked to its fighters were taken to decrepit camps.
The move was something their children had no choice in.
This group’s departure leaves another 11 Australian women and children in Al-Roj.
The camp says there are no plans yet for their return.
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When Timothy Jones Sr. discovered his grandchildren were nowhere to be found, an overwhelming sense of dread took hold — he suspected the worst: that his own son had taken their lives.
“I remember telling my wife, ‘I’m certain he’s killed them,’” the grandfather recounted with tears to Fox News Digital. “I couldn’t explain where they were, but in my heart, I just knew. I could feel it.”
In a chilling confession, Timothy Jones Jr. revealed he had murdered his five children, aged between 1 and 8, in their home in Lexington County, South Carolina, back in August 2014. He then drove around with their bodies in his SUV for nine excruciating days before disposing of them in five separate garbage bags on a hillside near Camden, Alabama.
A photo taken on September 11, 2014, shows Smith County Sheriff Charlie Crumpton observing as Timothy Ray Jones Jr. is led out of the Smith County Jail by law enforcement, headed for Lexington County, South Carolina. At that time, Jones, who was 37 years old, had been charged with the murder of his children, aged 8, 7, 6, 2, and 1, in their Lexington home. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
Jones Jr.’s arrest followed a traffic stop in Smith County, Mississippi, where an officer detected the unmistakable smell of decomposition, according to the Associated Press.
His case is now being examined in an episode of Investigation Discovery’s (ID) true-crime series “Evil Lives Here: My Child the Killer.” It focuses on parents forced to confront the unthinkable: that the children they raised and loved have become capable of monstrous acts.
Before the murders came to light, Jones Sr. said he hadn’t heard from his son. Then came a call from his grandchildren’s school, concerned about their absence. When he reached out to one of his son’s friends, he learned that Jones Jr. hadn’t been seen in the last day or two at work.
The episode “The Sins of Our Son” from ID’s “Evil Lives Here: My Child the Killer” premieres April 28 at 9 p.m.(Investigation Discovery)
“Then the police officer called me from Mississippi,” said Jones Sr. “I tell him, ‘I just want to make sure he is OK, and the children are with him.’ He said, ‘What children? There are no children with him. We found a little bit of blood in the car, and we’re having it checked. It could be animal blood.’”
Panicking, Jones Sr. begged to see his son. At the trial, authorities testified that they allowed the meeting, hoping a face-to-face confrontation might break Jones Jr. and reveal what had happened to the missing children.
When Jones Sr. entered the interrogation room, he was stunned by what he saw. He said it was like staring at a wild animal.
“Evil Lives Here: My Child the Killer” features a new emotional interview with Timothy Jones Sr.(Investigation Discovery)
“He’s just a blubbering mess,” said Jones Sr. “I’d never seen this person before. I didn’t know that boy. But I just wanted to know where my babies were. And he was all over the place.”
That’s when Jones Sr. said his son suddenly jumped up and snarled, “I could kill you right now.”
“I told him, ‘You can’t kill me. I love you,’” said Jones Sr. “He was going to put his hands around my throat. He never did. He just sat back down and started crying. But I just didn’t have a good feeling. I’m trying to get him to tell me anything.
The Lexington County Sheriff’s Department released these photos of the victims. Top, left to right: Gabriel Jones, Abigail Elizabeth Jones, and Nahtahn Jones. Bottom, left to right: Merah Gracie Jones and Elias Jones.(The Lexington Conty Sheriff’s Department)
“One cop got p—-d off a little bit, jumped up, and said, ‘There’s a substantial amount of blood in that damn car. I want to know what the hell is going on.’ I just looked at him in shock, like, ‘What? You just told me there was a little bit of blood, and you were going to test it.’”
Jones Sr. offered to go with his son to find the children.
“I begged him, ‘Son, please, those children are out there by themselves with animals,’” said Jones Sr. “He told me, ‘You can’t go with them.’ I said, ‘That’s fine. Just take them to those kids.’”
Timothy Jones Jr. was sentenced to death.(Investigation Discovery)
Jones Jr. eventually led authorities to the bodies of his five children.
“And of course, my life’s changed ever since,” said Jones Sr.
“I knew he killed them. But how could he? What man could possibly do this to their own children?”
Timothy Jones Jr. was raised by Timothy Jones Sr., a single father who described himself as doting while juggling multiple jobs to make ends meet.(Investigation Discovery)
As a child, Jones Sr. remembered his son as “a good little boy” who grew up without his mother. Raising him on his own, Jones Sr. worked multiple jobs but still made sure to be there, fixing him breakfast, taking him to school and spending long afternoons by his side.
But looking back, there were signs that something wasn’t right.
11th Circuit Solicitor Rick Hubbard delivers closing arguments showing pictures of the Jones children while pushing for the death penalty during the sentencing phase of Timothy Jones Jr.’s trial in Lexington, South Carolina, on June 13, 2019.(Tracy Glantz/The State/Pool)
“He was just a normal boy,” said Jones Sr. “I didn’t have any trouble with him until he was about nine. Then he shot the neighbor in the back of the leg with a BB gun, which I got him for Christmas. He had this little puppy that he slapped and swore at. It seemed unusual. But I talked to him about it, and we never had that issue again.”
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Timothy Jones Sr. is seen with his son, Timothy Jones Jr. during happier times. “He was a good little boy,” the patriarch told Fox News Digital.(Investigation Discovery)
In high school, Jones Jr. became increasingly angry, worrying his father.
“We got in a few tussles and got into arguments,” said Jones Sr. “But I thought it was no more than any other teenage kid.”
In 2001, Jones Jr. was charged with a crime spree that included burglary, car theft and forged checks. He was sentenced to seven years in prison. When Jones Jr. was released, he was seemingly a changed man.
Timothy Jones Sr. told Fox News Digital he tried to give his son a loving upbringing. But as Timothy Jones Jr. grew older, he struggled with anger issues.(Investigation Discovery)
“We used to go to church,” said Jones Sr. “But when he came back [from prison], he’s all hell-bent on living by the Bible. I told him, ‘Son, I understand what you’re trying to do, but you’ve got to remember, the Bible is the guideline of life. You can’t follow every rule in there because you can contradict yourself, and it’s just too tricky.’ But he was convinced that that’s the way it was going to be.”
“I went to church with him a few times,” he said. “He would get up and act crazy. I didn’t expect it. I almost felt like he was in a cult. He was talking in tongues.”
Deputy Solicitor Suzanne Mayes questions Amber Kyzer during the sentencing phase of the trial of her ex-husband, Timothy Jones Jr., in Lexington, South Carolina, on June 11, 2019. Jones was found guilty of killing their five young children in 2014.(Tracy Glantz/The State/Pool)
Jones Jr. married Amber Kyzer in 2004. The union was highly tumultuous, especially in the years leading up to the killings. The relationship deteriorated into a contentious custody battle, with Jones Jr. having primary custody. They divorced in 2012.
Lawyers for Timothy Jones Jr. (right) claimed that stress from a failed marriage while struggling to raise his children alone exacerbated his mental illness. They said in court he tried to medicate himself with alcohol and synthetic marijuana, which pushed him over the edge.(Investigation Discovery)
“In the beginning, he was a great father,” said Jones Sr. “Seemed like a good husband. We would do everything we could to help with the kids. But when they divorced, I just thought, ‘My God, it’s going to be really hard for one man with five children who has to work.’ We really wanted to help. We tried.”
“I pleaded with him, ‘Let us help you. You have family who could help. I’m here.’ But all he said was, ‘It’ll be all right.”
On their last Christmas night together, the two men got into a heated argument.
Timothy Jones Sr. told Fox News Digital he offered to go with his son to search for his five grandchildren. “I just wanted to find my babies,” he said.(Investigation Discovery)
“He told me how I never loved him, never cared for him,” said Jones Sr. “Now, at that point, this had been going on many, many times. He would tell me how I didn’t love him. I finally said, ‘I gave up my life for you, raised you by myself. I did everything I possibly could. I tried to give you the best life I could. How am I a bad dad? What did I do? Tell me what I did now, and maybe I can fix it.’ And he just said, ‘I never want to see you again. You can go f— off.’”
Jones Sr. said he would reach out to his son, hoping he could see him and the kids.
Tim Jones Sr. listens as defense attorney Casey Secor delivers closing arguments during the death penalty sentencing phase of Tim Jones Jr.’s trial in Lexington, South Carolina, on June 13, 2019.(Tracy Glantz/The State/Pool)
“I remember he said, ‘Would you like to talk to the children?’ Now I was supposed to see him the next day. So I said, ‘You know what, Timmy? Let’s surprise them. They’ll be really happy because they loved coming over to ‘papa’s big house,’ as they called it. I built a pool and everything for them. But the next day, he went missing.”
A jury convicted Timothy Jones Jr. of five counts of murder for the 2014 killings.(Investigation Discovery)
“That’s always been my biggest regret, not speaking to the babies one last time,” he tearfully said.
During the trial, Jones Jr.’s defense team argued that he suffered from mental health issues. Defense lawyer Boyd Young claimed the prosecution ignored evidence that proved Jones Jr. was insane. However, prosecutors maintained that Jones Jr. knew what he was doing. The jury convicted him of five counts of murder and sentenced him to death.
Jones Sr. said he hasn’t spoken to his son.
Tim Jones wipes his eyes as his ex-wife, Amber Kyzer, testifies during the sentencing phase of his trial in Lexington, South Carolina, on June 11, 2019.(Tracy Glantz/The State/Pool/USA TODAY NETWORK)
“I just can’t,” he said. “I’m falling apart. I’ve lost my business. I damn nearly lost my home. I knew he was sick. But after the trial, he called and just acted like it never happened. I’m here falling apart, and he’s just laughing, giggling. I couldn’t do this anymore.”
Jones Sr. admitted he will always carry guilt with him for the rest of his life. He still wonders what he could have done to help his son and grandchildren.
According to investigators, Timothy Jones Jr. drove the bodies of his five young children (four are pictured here) around for a week, burying them in Alabama. He was arrested in Mississippi.(Investigation Discovery)
“There’s no way I cannot blame myself,” he said. “Those babies should be here. I should have done something before it went too far. I knew he was going to have a hard time with five children. I knew all these things. I should have done more. I’ll regret that until the day I die.”
Stephanie Nolasco covers entertainment at Foxnews.com.
Ty Simpson’s entry into the NFL with the Los Angeles Rams was already off to a rocky start, but the situation became even more complicated with an unexpected message from Kelly Stafford, the wife of the team’s starting quarterback, Matthew Stafford.
Heading into the 2026 season, the Rams were seen as strong contenders for the Super Bowl. However, their decision during Thursday night’s NFL Draft to select Simpson, a quarterback from Alabama, in the first round stirred surprise. Many experts had anticipated he would be chosen on the draft’s second day.
The choice of Simpson at the 13th spot raised eyebrows, especially since he had only 15 starts with the Crimson Tide. Head coach Sean McVay seemed less than enthusiastic when addressing the press on Thursday. He reassured that Stafford would remain the definitive starter for the team and was reluctant to even designate Simpson as the main backup. Instead, he mentioned that Simpson would be competing with Stetson Bennett IV, a 28-year-old with limited NFL experience, for the backup role.
By Friday, McVay attempted to clear the air with reporters, affirming his satisfaction with the draft choice and his alignment with Rams general manager Les Snead.
Despite these reassurances, Simpson’s situation became even more intriguing when he was asked if he’d spoken to Stafford, the 38-year-old quarterback who is both a Super Bowl champion and the reigning NFL MVP.
‘I have not,’ Simpson told reporters on Friday. ‘Kelly has actually texted me on Instagram and welcomed me and told [me] to hit her up if we need anything but I can’t wait to talk to Matthew. I’m super ecstatic because I just want to pick his brain about everything.’
What was already an awkward introduction to the NFL for Los Angeles Rams rookie Ty Simpson has only grown more so with an unexpected text message from Kelly Stafford
Matthew Stafford and wife Kelly have been together since attending the University of Georgia
Fans couldn’t help but laugh at the optics of a backup quarterback getting a direct line to the starter’s wife.
‘Have you heard from Stafford?’ one fan wrote in an imagined dialogue on X.
‘No, but I heard from his wife,’ they responded, adding: ‘lmao what a boss move.’
Another fan asked: ‘Could this be considered “sneaking into your DMs?”‘
Others had a similar question.
‘Did he just say that Stafford’s wife slid into his DMs and said hit her up?’
Kelly was not genuinely being accused of trying to have an affair with one of Stafford’s teammates, but fans were quick to remember when she dated his backup while at the University of Georgia.
Rams head coach Sean McVay seemed to know very little about Ty Simpson
As Kelly revealed on her podcast in 2022, she dated a second-string quarterback at Georgia while she and Stafford were in an off-and-on stage of their relationship.
‘I dated the backup to piss him off,’ she said. ‘Like, that was the type of situation we were in.’
Many were quick to recall this admission following Simpson’s revelation on Friday.
‘Kelly Stafford going after another one of Matt’s teammates,’ one fan joked. ‘SOMEONE STOP THIS WOMAN.’
The decision to take Simpson appeared to belong to Rams GM Les Snead (pictured)
As for Simpson, the 23-year-old backup hopes to learn as much as possible from Stafford in 2026 and, potentially, beyond.
‘Matthew Stafford throws the ball with conviction and doesn’t care what happens,’ Simpson said. ‘He might throw a pick the drive before, and he’s coming back and throwing the same type of ball.
‘That dude is an assassin. As a quarterback, that’s the type of mentality you have to have. Being able to learn from him and learn how he’s doing those things on a daily basis, I can’t wait to soak it all up.’
The decision to take Simpson may have belonged to Snead, who has a connection with the quarterback’s father.
According to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, Snead and Jason Simpson, Ty’s father and the head coach at the University of Tennessee-Martin, have been close for years. Snead even advised the Simpsons on Ty’s choice to declare for the draft, Breer wrote on X.
Renowned ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith recently discovered firsthand why French is often dubbed the language of love.
During Friday’s broadcast, Smith, known for his sports analysis and occasional political insights, stirred up attention after confessing that he felt “turned on” when his colleague, Chiney Ogwumike, spoke French.
“Allow me to get a bit personal here,” Smith began, setting the stage for a moment of lighthearted awkwardness. “I’ve had a pretty good life and am quite content, but I’ll admit, I’ve never dated a French woman. Hearing Chiney speak French, I found myself thinking, ‘What have I been missing all this time?’ That language, it really got to me.”
The episode of “First Take” on Friday took a surprising turn, reminiscent of a playful dating show, when Ogwumike, originally from Texas but well-versed in international relations from her Stanford days, commented on the Timberwolves’ victorious Game 3 against the Nuggets, seamlessly transitioning into French.
Addressing Smith with a cheerful “Bonjour, Stephen A.,” the former WNBA player praised Rudy Gobert’s stellar performance in the series, using the French term for “magnificent” to describe his play.
Friday’s “First Take” went off the rails and transformed into what resembled an old MTV dating show when Ogwumike — who is from Texas, although she did study international relations at Stanford — discussed the Timberwolves’ Game 3 home win over the Nuggets with a dialogue in French.
The former WNBA star said, “Bonjour, Stephen A.” before mentioning how Frenchman Rudy Gobert’s play in the series has been magnificent, using the French term for the word.
“I hope I did all the French people proud there with my pronunciation, I’m more of a Spanish girl,” she said, before Smith responded loudly: “You did. You did me proud.”
Ogwumike said she’s in “awe” of how Gobert has slowed down Nikola Jokic, holding him to just 15-of-46 shooting across the last two games, both Timberwolves’ wins.
“The Frenchman has taken this matchup personally,” she said of Gobert. “You have to give a lot of credit to the Frenchman for rising to the occasion in this moment.”
Stephen A. Smith admitted to being “kinda turned on” hearing a French accent. @awfulannouncing/X
After Smith admitted to being aroused, he quickly tried to get back on track but repeated several words.
“Anyway, anyway, let me get back to the focus at hand,” Smith said. “I got, I got to tell ya, when ya, when ya, when ya look at Jokic in all seriousness…”
ESPN then cut to host Shea Cornette, who had her hand on her head in an “Oh, my God” expression.
Shea Cornette could not believe where the discussion veered. @awfulannouncing/X
The Nuggets and Timberwolves battle in a critical Game 4 on Saturday night in Minnesota, with Denver needing a win to avoid a 3-1 series hole and a potential early offseason.
One can assume after Smith’s comments Friday morning that perhaps he’s already thinking about a trip to France once his downtime begins.
CHICAGO (WLS) — A collision in downtown Chicago early Saturday morning resulted in four people, including two police officers, being hospitalized, according to Chicago police.
The incident occurred shortly after 4:45 a.m. near the intersection of South Wabash Avenue and East Ida B. Wells Drive in the Loop area.
ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch
Authorities believe the crash happened when a black Jeep SUV, traveling west on Ida B. Wells Drive, ignored a traffic signal and collided with a marked police squad car that was moving south on Wabash Avenue.
The SUV’s driver, a 26-year-old man, attempted to escape the scene on foot but was quickly apprehended by officers and taken into custody. He was transported to Northwestern Hospital with a head laceration but is reportedly in good condition.
Inside the SUV were two passengers. A 26-year-old woman, who sustained minor injuries, was also taken to Northwestern Hospital and is in stable condition. Another passenger, a 25-year-old woman, declined medical attention at the scene.
ABC7 was on the scene when firefighters cut out the squad car’s door in order to remove one of the police officers, who appeared to have been pinned inside of the vehicle.
Firefighters put the officer onto a stretcher and transported them to a hospital.
Police said both officers were transported to a local hospital in good condition.
Charges are pending, and area detectives are investigating.
Authorities did not immediately provide further information.
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Legislators in New York are currently evaluating a set of proposed laws that opponents argue could result in the release of notorious criminals, including mass murderers and serial offenders.
During a press conference on Friday, officials from Suffolk County and victims’ families highlighted cases such as Joel Rifkin, a serial killer responsible for the deaths of nine to 17 women; Colin Ferguson, who targeted commuters on the Long Island Rail Road, killing six and injuring 19; and Payton Gendron, a White supremacist who live-streamed his attack that claimed 10 lives in a Buffalo supermarket situated in a predominantly Black area.
The proposed legislation could see many other violent offenders freed as it seeks to introduce an elder parole initiative along with other measures that would grant early parole to convicted killers.
Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney expressed his concerns to Fox News Digital, stating, “We are dealing with individuals responsible for the most heinous acts, posing significant danger to society. They represent a minuscule fraction of the population yet are responsible for a disproportionately large share of crime, violence, and theft.”
Ray Tierney addressed the media during a news briefing in Riverhead, N.Y., on June 6, 2024, about Rex Heuermann, the architect from New York who later admitted to murdering women near Gilgo Beach on Long Island. (Seth Wenig/AP)
Joining Suffolk County officials at a news briefing Friday was Theresa Bliss, whose 25-year-old son David was murdered in 2021 outside a pizzeria in Port Jefferson after an argument with strangers.
“I have a question for every New York lawmaker pushing the Earned Time Act, Fair and Timely Parole Act, Elder Parole and Second Look Act, does our pain mean anything to you?” she asked. “How do you fight so aggressively for the early release of murderers, yet dismiss the families whose lives were shattered?”
The victims don’t get second chances, she added.
The man who shot her son received a sentence for 40 years to life in prison. Under the proposed reforms, parole could come much sooner.
“When you pass laws that prioritize criminals over victims, you’re not reforming the system — you’re erasing us,” she said.
The briefing came days after Tierney secured a guilty plea from another Long Island serial killer, Rex Heuermann, who is expected to be sentenced in June after admitting to torturing and killing eight women.
Tierney has been a frequent critic of the state’s recent bail reform laws, which allowed a group of people suspected of dismembering a body and littering the remains around Long Island’s south shore to go free before police had enough evidence to also charge them with killing the victim.
And earlier this month, he sidestepped the state’s sanctuary laws in order to make sure Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents took custody of a Guatemalan man accused of raping a child.
Rex A. Heuermann pleads guilty to murdering seven women and admits to an eighth killing during a hearing in Suffolk County Court in Riverhead, N.Y., on April 8, 2026.(James Carbone/Newsday via Pool)
“While these bills are often framed as reforms and have innocuous titles, in reality, they will push thousands of New York’s most violent criminals out onto our streets,” Tierney warned.
Some key issues Tierney and Suffolk County Executive Edward Romaine, both Republicans, slammed at a news briefing Friday:
One bill would cut all sentences less than life in prison by half and prevents prison assaults and stabbings from being deducted from credits for good behavior. Since the proposed reduction applies retroactively, it would “result in the immediate release of thousands of New York’s most dangerous inmates.”
“These people are where they are because they richly deserve it,” Tierney told Fox News Digital. “Every second of whatever sentence they receive, they’ve earned.”
Tops gunman Payton Gendron listens as he is sentenced to life in prison without parole for domestic terrorism motivated by hate and each of the 10 counts of first-degree murder by Erie County Court Judge Susan Eagan, in Buffalo, N.Y., Feb. 15, 2023.(Derek Gee/Pool via REUTERS)
Another bill would block the state’s parole board from considering the nature of the original crime when weighing parole — “no matter how horrible.” This specifically benefits murderers and rapists, the officials said, and implies that parole is automatic, not something earned.
“It turns parole upside down — it prohibits consideration of the seriousness of the crime and even the defendant’s remorse or lack of it,” Tierney said.
In the Bliss case, the killer was seen on home security video shortly after the shooting laughing about it. At future parole board hearings, the people deciding his fate would be unable to consider that behavior if the bill passes.
A third would impose a California-style elder parole in New York, and take the concept one step further, the officials warned. The Empire State’s version would abolish life without parole, “even for serial killers, cop killers and racist murderers.” It applies to inmates who have served at least 15 years of a sentence, including a life sentence, and are older than 55.
“Once [Gendron] turns 55, every two years those families are going to have to go through the parole process again,” Tierney said. “Why?”
Serial killer Joel Rifkin in a courtroom in Mineola, Long Island, where he pleaded not guilty to murder, July 15, 1993.(Rick Maiman/Sygma via Getty Images)
The fourth bill gives felons a chance to petition a judge for a sentence reduction. The judge cannot be the same one who imposed their sentence to begin with. There is no limit on the number or frequency of petitions, and if one is denied, the inmate can immediately file another with a different judge.
Colin Ferguson arrives in court surrounded by court officers and wearing a bullet-proof vest on Dec. 10, 1993, for his initial hearing. He was later convicted of a mass shooting on a Long Island Rail Road train.(POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
“These bills are an insult to every law-abiding citizen, the law enforcement community and especially the victims of these crimes,” said Romaine, the top elected official in Suffolk County, a suburb of New York City. “Use common sense and do not pass these bills.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the Clean Slate Act in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Nov. 16, 2023, allowing certain criminal records to be sealed years after sentencing or release if no further convictions occur.(Susan Watts/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul)
Fox News Digital has reached out to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office for comment.
Every bride dreams of her wedding day, filled with eager anticipation and excitement. For Gemma Monk, this moment had been nearly two decades in the making, as she prepared to marry Ken, her childhood sweetheart.
On a bright spring day, Gemma stood in her wedding dress, soaking in the serene moment before her walk down the aisle. Little did she know, drama reminiscent of a soap opera was about to unfold, complete with unexpected twists.
In the midst of her joyful occasion, there was no dramatic interruption from the pews with protests of ‘just cause or impediment.’ Instead, the disruption came in a more outrageous form.
The chaos erupted when Gemma’s sister-in-law, embroiled in a long-standing family dispute, hurled a pot of black paint at her, leaving Gemma’s stunning £1,800 gown in shambles. The act not only marred her dress but splattered black paint over her and two bridesmaids, resembling a scene from a mud-wrestling match.
At 35, Gemma could only stand aghast at the unfortunate turn of events, a stark contrast to the blissful day she had envisioned.
That the act of sabotage was intended to wreck the happiest day of Gemma’s life is undisputed. Why it was carried out, however, has been harder to fathom.
As the Daily Mail has discovered, the roots of this family saga run deep. And it’s safe to say that no big family reunions are planned any time soon.
As for the bride, pictures of Gemma – shaking, sobbing and covered in paint in the register office car park – were shared around the world, after her sister-in-law, Antonia Eastwood, 49, narrowly escaped jail when she appeared at Maidstone Crown Court to face charges of criminal damage.
Gemma Monk, 35, on her wedding day after having black paint thrown on her
Gemma Monk is seen moments after her sister in law Antonia Eastwood had covered her wedding dress in black paint
The court heard how mental health worker Gemma, in a case of true British pluck, managed to scrub herself clean and, changing into a borrowed dress swiftly fetched by a church usher, was ready to take her vows two hours later – to cheers from admiring guests.
‘We’d waited so long for that day. Nothing was going to stop me,’ Gemma, a mother-of-two from Herne Bay, Kent, told the Mail.
‘I didn’t think twice. I would have walked down the aisle in my knickers and with black paint over my face if I had to.’
But why on earth did Antonia do it? And, more to the point, is she sorry?
Speaking exclusively to the Mail, hairdresser Antonia – or Toni as she’s known – gave her version of events of that day in May 2024.
And while she’s sorry for the notoriety she’s brought on herself, she has little remorse for what she did to Gemma.
‘I feel ashamed of myself,’ she said. ‘It’s not me. I’ve never been in trouble with the police before. Ever.
‘I had a full-blown panic attack on the day I was sentenced. I was petrified I’d go to prison. It has all taken its toll.’
She claims to be as bemused about her own motives as anyone, saying: ‘I don’t know why I did it.’ It was, she insisted, a ‘spur of the moment thing’.
Gemma’s sister-in-law Antonia Eastwood claims Gemma tried to sabotage HER wedding
Gemma after the wedding, with her £1,800 dress which was ruined in the incident
But we can reveal this is a family riven with divided loyalties and petty rows that escalated, Toni claims, after she beat Gemma down the aisle the previous year and Gemma tried to sabotage HER wedding.
As a result of the bad feeling, neither Toni nor her husband Ashley – one of Gemma’s four brothers – had been invited to Gemma and Ken’s wedding at Oakwood House register office, in Maidstone, but decided to turn up anyway.
Toni wanted to give Gemma ‘a piece of my mind’, she says.
She blamed Gemma for ruining her own wedding the previous year by trying to trip her up as she walked down the aisle, something Gemma has dismissed as nonsense.
And the paint? It was in the car by coincidence, she insists.
‘My daughter Hollie had just given birth to our first grandchild and I’d been using some black paint to do our new granddaughter’s handprints and footprints,’ she said.
‘It was child-friendly, watered-down black paint in a tub of around 200ml and it happened to be in the side pocket of the car.
‘I saw her [Gemma] get out of her car – she was a few yards away. Then I just shouted to her and threw the paint. It hit the back of her dress.’
After that, all hell broke out. Punches were thrown. Hair was even pulled out in a wedding scene worthy of an episode of EastEnders. Gemma ended up literally smeared in paint.
Antonia, known as Toni, at her wedding to Gemma’s brother Ashley
After the paint was thrown, all hell broke out. Pictured, Gemma with Ken Monk at their wedding after a costume change
‘Later I realised I also had a bald patch where the hair had been ripped out of my head,’ says Toni.
The melee spiralled into farce. Father of the bride Jason, having dropped Gemma off at the door, had been parking his Range Rover when he saw what was going on and raced over – accidentally leaving the car in reverse and sending it crashing into a brick wall.
Then Toni and Ash, 37, fled to Greater Manchester, where Toni’s family live, and where the couple now live.
Needless to say, there were a few angry phone calls that night.
Ash says: ‘My mum rang to say, “What the hell, Ash? You didn’t need to do that!” Other people were threatening us – saying they’d burn our house down.
‘We were warned not to go near anyone or they’d kill us.’
At Maidstone Crown Court last week, Antonia Eastwood was given a ten-month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, and ordered to carry out 160 hours of unpaid work after pleading guilty to two offences of criminal damage.
She was also handed a ten-year restraining order and told to pay £5,000 in compensation: £4,000 to Gemma and £1,000 to Oakwood House.
Her claim that the paint-throwing was an impulse act was also discredited.
Judge Oliver Saxby KC clearly disbelieved it, saying she had obviously set out to ‘wreck’ Gemma’s day. He labelled it ‘horrid and nasty and mean’.
Gemma (pictured with Ken after the incident) and her brother Ashley admit there was bad blood between her and Antonia
According to Toni, animosity between the two women started to build as soon as she and Ashley became a couple in 2023.
They’d met in Murcia, Spain, where Ash, a builder, was working on Toni’s uncle’s house, and she had come to visit him.
Both had been in previous relationships, which they say were petering out.
‘Both our relationships were effectively over and we began spending more and more time together. It was true love – we’re real soulmates,’ says Toni. ‘We travelled back to the UK in April 2023 and we were married five months later.’
But not everyone was delighted when they announced their wedding plans.
Ash believes Gemma was riled because she was not yet married: ‘It was all about her and how she’d been with her partner (Ken) for 20 years, yet he’d never asked her to tie the knot.
‘It was a jealousy thing, I think, because she wasn’t getting married. And she just didn’t want me to be with Toni, either.’
Gemma hadn’t exactly welcomed his new fiancee to the family, Ash claims. The only girl among five siblings, Gemma likes to ‘take centre stage’ and does not enjoy being usurped, he says.
And when Toni and Ash set a date for their wedding, it seemed to act as a catalyst for her fury.
‘After that, Gemma started coming round and talking about Ash’s past girlfriends,’ says Toni. ‘She’d say: “Aren’t you bothered about all those other girls?”
‘I kept telling her I wasn’t jealous of Ash’s past. I knew what she was doing wasn’t right, but she was part of my soon-to-be husband’s family.’
Gemma’s dress after the wedding. She was able to change into another and still get married
Gemma, too, concedes that there was ‘bad blood’ between them.
‘I didn’t warm to her all that much,’ Gemma has admitted, adding, ‘The first time I met Toni she was telling me how she left her husband and children to be with Ashley, who in turn had left his wife and children too. It was like she was splitting up two families.’
Matters only worsened when both sets of couples went for a night out together in Maidstone, says Ash.
‘We went for something to eat and then back to a hotel where Gemma and Ken had a massive row. She started shouting at Ken about why he hadn’t married her,’ recalls Ash.
In the ‘awkward’ aftermath of the disastrous evening, the group dispersed early – but not before Ash had asked Ken to be best man at his wedding; an offer he accepted.
Then, just four or five weeks before they were to marry, Ken backed out.
‘He messaged me to say he couldn’t do it,’ says Ash. ‘Apparently Gemma wouldn’t let him. She said she didn’t want to sit on her own while he was up at the front.’
Ash’s 16-year-old son stepped into the role.
But Toni and Ash’s wedding didn’t pass without incident. ‘It was a nightmare,’ says Toni. ‘We got married at 4pm and everyone had gone by 8pm.’ There was a massive bust-up between two of the guests: another brother and his girlfriend.
But, according to Toni, the worst moment was when Gemma tried to trip her up as she walked down the aisle.
‘You could see she had her foot in the aisle as Toni walked past. It left us thinking: was she trying to trip her up?’ says Ash.
Gemma denies she did anything of the sort, describing the claims as ‘delusional’.
‘I’m about 5ft tall. My legs aren’t long enough to trip her even if I wanted to,’ she said.
‘I told them they were ridiculous for accusing me. I’ve since looked back at their wedding video and it shows Toni walking past me without any incident at all.’
But Ash and Toni remain convinced Gemma was behind the bad feeling that day.
‘The ceremony went ahead and we were very happy, but as we went into the reception, my brother and his partner were still shouting at each other and it seemed to be because Gemma had been stirring up trouble,’ says Ash.
‘Everyone was distraught because of the arguing and eventually I went outside and told them, “Enough is enough. Don’t let Gemma get to you!” But the day ended abruptly.’
The next day, Ash, still fuming, rang Gemma and told her she had ruined their wedding day.
And Gemma’s take on it all?
‘I’d always been close to Ashley. So all I can think is that Toni was jealous of that. I believe he and Toni were looking for someone to blame for their wedding day going wrong,’ she says.
‘They said nothing to me on the actual day, and to be honest we enjoyed ourselves. We gave them money as a gift and were the first couple to join them on the dance floor.’
Whatever the truth of the matter, neither woman has fared well since.
Gemma, who had a cancer scare before her wedding (fortunately the tumour was benign), says she’s suffered from depression and been unable to work. ‘It has made me question whether I had done something really bad,’ she said.
And although Toni says she is ‘not looking for pity’ and admits she knows she’s done wrong, Ash says she has lost weight and suffered mental health problems and sleeplessness.
‘She regrets what she did and wishes she could turn back time,’ says Ash, adding that they no longer have anything to do with his family.
‘It was a family feud and that’s how it should have stayed.’
There is some good news for Gemma and Ken, however.
