I've been reporting on an alarming case at Cardiff family court.

It's been one of the most nightmarish experiences imaginable for two parents who did nothing wrong.

Their baby was taken away for six months because of a bruise that was not their fault. Several months after the baby's birth, a health visitor raised concern over a 2.5cm bruise to his torso.

The parents weren't able to give a definitive explanation for the bruise, which they said could have been from rolling on a toy or accidentally being held too firmly.

This is a very ordinary street of student houses in Cardiff.

Here is the story of how it became entangled in an international money-laundering network, a £50million fraud against the taxman, and a bomb plot against a group of lawyers 🧵 Earlier this year my interest was caught by three businesses on HMRC's name and shame list of tax evaders.

The three Cardiff-based firms had dodged more tax than almost anyone else on the list, but that wasn't the only curious thing about them.

A few days ago I came across a bed and various possessions on the pavement of a busy Cardiff roundabout.

No one was around. But when I returned at night-time I met the couple living there, Ladislav and his five-months pregnant partner Nada... Ladislav and Nada, who are both from the Czech Republic, have been together for five years.

They'd been living next to the roundabout (which is under Central Link flyover) for a month and a half since leaving a Cardiff Council hostel.

This is a bonkers piece of money-laundering.

Rhos Road is a quiet, nondescript street in the suburbs of Swansea.

It also happens to be where 36 fake companies have been registered in the last few weeks.

A thread... Rita and Brian Davies have lived on Rhos Road for 40 years. In recent weeks they've been getting strange letters from Companies House.

The letters congratulate various people on setting up companies — which have been registered to the Davies' home without the couple's knowledge.

This woman from Wales was recently prosecuted for not paying her TV licence.

She made clear she'd been in an abusive relationship and relying on foodbanks, but was now able to pay in full.

The case went ahead and she got a £146 court bill and criminal record.

🧵 TV Licensing says prosecution is a "last resort" and vows to support those "making payments towards a licence so the prosecution can be withdrawn"

This disabled single mum from Llanelli was charged three weeks after an inspection despite starting payment plan. Court bill of £214

Recently I went undercover working at a door-to-door sales operation. I'd heard claims of exploitation and cult-like practices, so I got a job there to investigate

Wearing a hidden camera I gathered evidence of lies, pressure-selling and a network of linked offices around the UK I worked at an office above a former Poundland in Cardiff. Two firms operated there, owned by men aged 22 and 25. I was trained to “trick” people in pitches for charity sign-ups, and advised to spend time with colleagues rather than family members after shifts.

THREAD: Here's a handy list of Tory MPs who said Boris Johnson had to go in July and are now saying he should be PM. It's been quite the journey for some... Lee Anderson said it was wrong for Johnson to appoint Chris Pincher despite a sexual misconduct complaint, and to claim he had forgotten about the allegations. "I cannot look myself in the mirror and accept this" said Mr Anderson, adding that "integrity should always come first".

The murder of 18-year-old Lily Sullivan by Lewis Haines has not prompted a huge amount of coverage, but the sheer casualness of this 31-year-old man's evil is terrifying. A man who killed a woman because she rejected him.

These are the words read in court from Lily's mum Anna: "I suffered 14 miscarriages prior to Lily being born. I had almost resigned myself to not having any children so when Lily was born it felt amazing. She gave purpose to my life, she was my little bit of normal.

Lewis Haines has been jailed for a minimum of 23 years and four months for the brutal murder of Lily Sullivan, 18, after she rejected him. Updates from the sentencing walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-new…

Barrister strike having an impact at Cardiff Crown Court.

Dangerous driver due to be sentenced today has no barrister.

He looks bemused as the judge tells him: "There won't be one who can pick up your case for quite some time." #BarristerStrike Asked if he knew about the strike, defendant says: "I thought it was all over and we were getting it done today."

Judge says he has option of a solicitor, but defendant replies: "No, I want a barrister please."

Powerful words from Jonathan Rees QC at Cardiff barristers' picket. He says colleagues have been "driven out" of the jobs they love because they could not afford to stay, and describes junior criminal barristers' median income of just £12,200 a year as "scandalous" Striking barristers in Cardiff warn that real-terms decline in pay at the criminal bar is causing an exodus from the profession and years of delays for justice. "We have made our case over and over again to government but our warnings have fallen on deaf ears."

A really alarming update on this. Bristol Council has banned local democracy reporters from attending Mayor Marvin Rees' media briefings.

https://twitter.com/ConorGogarty/status/1539235395896020993

"Bristol City Council has now reiterated that local democracy reporters are not welcome to attend the mayor’s fortnightly media briefings."

More here bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-n…

Wow. Bristol Council comms boss suggests that BBC-funded local democracy reporter @AlexGSeabrook shouldn’t be asking Mayor Marvin Rees about flying 9,000 miles to speak on climate change. She says Alex is not “a journalist from a newspaper” This was Alex’s question

On the same night Boris Johnson drank at Lee Cain's leaving do, a student was seen at a gathering in a Cardiff flat. The teenager said he was there to look after an unwell friend. Police found "this excuse did not seem reasonable" as the student was carrying a can of alcohol. Not only was the Prime Minister photographed raising a toast that night, but he was surrounded by two bottles of champagne/cava, four bottles of wine, and half a bottle of gin.

You join me at Bristol Magistrates' Court, where Piers Corbyn has just arrived in a cream Volkswagen. He's accused of a lockdown breach.

He's slightly late, which he says is because of his Sat Nav. I'll have live updates here bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-n…

I witnessed a really powerful moment today in court. A judge read the harrowing words of a junior doctor to a man who had been on a mass protest against lockdown. The truly brilliant District Judge Lynne Matthews was addressing a 53-year-old man who had marched against lockdown with 400 other Covid sceptics in Bristol.

Grim update on Bristol hospitals. The system is "under extreme pressure" as Covid cases rise - 242 patients are fighting the virus in the city's hospitals Latest Bristol City Council update says case increase is "largely due to Christmas mixing, but also the new variant of Covid-19 which is extremely infectious".

Got an FOI response almost three years late... a short thread Back in December 2017, when I was a reporter for the Gloucestershire Echo, I went to a knife crime event where a police officer gave a talk mentioning he'd been running undercover stings on local shops - sending in underage teens to see whether the store would sell them knives.