Kevin Gopal

Jan 16, 2025 | national.thelead.uk | Kevin Gopal

Three Manchester men convicted of conspiring violent revenge for the death of their friend in a case where prosecutors used drill music lyrics and social media messages as evidence of their gang membership will be freed after a successful appeal. But appeals by four others among the so-called Manchester 10 were rejected in a Court of Appeal judgement yesterday [15 January] described by campaigners as “bittersweet”.

Dec 10, 2024 | national.thelead.uk | Kevin Gopal

It’s a tense enough moment on its own. HOPE not Hate’s undercover journalist Harry Shukman is filming covertly inside an Athens restaurant, hoping, over a dry plate of fish, to extract the name of a Silicon Valley funder of the European far right. Then, his handler Patrik Hermansson decides he too needs undercover pictures of the dinner, and strolls past the restaurant windows shooting from the hip on his phone. The tension ratchets up.

Nov 23, 2024 | teesside.thelead.uk | Leigh Jones |Kevin Gopal

Here it is, the moment all round-dodgers have feared… Part of this, the tenth edition, will be behind a paywall. If you have a free subscription, you’ll still receive the newsletter every Wednesday and Sunday, however, part of your weekend edition will now be for paying subscribers only.

Nov 21, 2024 | national.thelead.uk | Kevin Gopal

Barry Lanza was given just minutes to pack his bags and leave the Blackpool flat he’d called home for 36 years when the building was condemned. The 72 year old, who has a brain tumour, prostate cancer and COPD, was forced to pack his medication and head to a guest house with his two chihuahuas, before paying for two nights in a Travelodge at his own expense and then staying with friends. “It’s a nightmare,” says Lanza.

Nov 12, 2024 | teesside.thelead.uk | Kevin Gopal

By Kevin Gopal, first published 20 March 2024Michael Gove has given Lord Houchen six months to put his house in order – but that assumes the Teesside mayor will still be in power. Houchen, ennobled in Boris Johnson’s resignation list in 2023, faces an election in May to gain a third term. Although the controversial mayor won 2021’s election with a huge 73 per cent of the vote, he’s likely to take his share of the backlash facing the Conservatives nationally.