Phillip Schofield has released a public statement after his brother was found guilty of sexually abusing a teenage boy over a three-year period.
The TV presenter – who viewers will know has been absent from his regular gig on ITV‘s breakfast show This Morning over the last couple of weeks – has spoken out after his brother, Timothy Schofield, was charged with 11 sexual offences involving a child between October 2016 and October 2019 following a trial at Exeter Crown Court.
Timothy Schofield denied the charges against him, but after nearly six hours of deliberating, jurors returned majority verdicts yesterday (Monday 3 April) and found him guilty of all counts.
The 54-year-old was charged with three counts of causing a child to watch sexual activity, three of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child, three of causing a child to engage in sexual activity, and two of sexual activity with a child.
Philip Schofield has branded his brother’s actions as “despicable crimes”.
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Phillip and his brother Timothy Schofield / Credit: Phillip Schofield (via Instagram)
Breaking his silence, and taking to his Instagram Stories to address the trial and speak out after the verdict, Phillip claimed “I no longer have a brother”.
His statement reads in full: “My overwhelming concern is and has always been for the wellbeing of the victim and his family, and I hope that their privacy will now be respected.
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“If any crime had ever been confessed to me by my brother, I would have acted immediately to protect the victim and their family. These are despicable crimes, and I welcome the guilty verdicts.
“As far as I am concerned, I no longer have a brother”.
The TV presenter has spoken out after his brother was found guilty of sexual abuse / Credit: ITV & Phillip Schofield (via Instagram)
As mentioned, former civilian police worker, Timothy, denied all charges against him and most-notably denied performing sex acts on the teenager – who who alleged the offending started when he was 13 – however he did tell the jury that he watched porn with the boy and they had masturbated while sitting apart.
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Despite what the teenager was alleging, Timothy insisted the boy was over 16 at the time.
He did, however, admit searching for terms on a legal pornography website including “young boy teen sex” and “gay teen torrents”, telling the court he believed this would return results showing men aged between 18 and their early 20s.
Timothy testified that he told his brother Phillip that he and the complainant had watched pornography together in September 2021, but the TV presenter claimed in a written statement provided to the trial that Timothy “made it sound like a one-off”.
Phillip claims that he had told his brother that “it must never happen again”, Sky News reports.
Timothy Schofield has now been remanded him in custody ahead of sentencing at Bristol Crown Court – which is due to take place on 19 May.
Featured Image – Avon and Somerset Police
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NHS to start screening patient health records in a bid to catch one of the most ‘lethal’ cancers
Emily Sergeant
Hundreds of GP practices will begin combing patient records to offer urgent tests to those most at risk of one of the deadliest cancers.
It’s all in a bid to catch pancreatic cancer sooner rather than later.
Pancreatic cancer is the fifth most-common cause of cancer deaths in the UK each year, with only 7% of people living for five years or more after diagnosis.
Most people with pancreatic cancer only recognise symptoms when their disease is at a late stage, so this is why the NHS wants to reach out to people as early as possible through its new screening initiative so they can get the best treatment available to them.
GP teams are set to start scouring online patients records to identify people over 60 who have the key early warning signs of pancreatic cancer – including being recently diagnosed with diabetes and sudden weight loss, as it’s said that around half of those diagnosed with pancreatic cancer have been diagnosed with diabetes recently.
The symptoms of pancreatic cancer are usually not noticed until it’s at an advanced stage, so we need to find new ways to pick it up.
We’re working to seek people out who might be unwell without any symptoms, so we can provide people with the most effective treatment. https://t.co/6rlFVGN6UW
Even if a patient’s weight is not recorded, GP teams will reach out to patients to check they have not ‘unexpectedly slimmed down’ and offer them tests if they have new onset diabetes.
More than 300 GP practices across England will begin using the initiative – with dozens rolling it out now, and the rest due to be up and running in the autumn.
While GP teams already know the signs to look for, this new screening scheme provides almost £2 million in targeted funding to help practices reach out to those most at-risk and give patients the best chance of being diagnosed earlier.
NHS is starting to screen patient health records in a bid to catch one of the most ‘lethal’ cancers / Credit: RawPixel
When the practices taking part in the three-year pilot find the signs and symptoms they’re looking for, they will then contact patients and send them for urgent blood tests and CT scans to rule out cancer.
“Pancreatic cancer is responsible for so many deaths, because patients don’t usually notice symptoms until the cancer is at an advanced stage, which is why we need to find new ways to pick it up,” commented Professor Peter Johnson, who is the NHS’s National Clinical Director for Cancer.
Health Minister, Karin Smyth, added: “As someone who has faced cancer personally, I know all too well the fear that comes with a diagnosis and the precious value of catching it early.
“This targeted approach to identify people at risk of one of the most lethal cancers could give more people a fighting chance and spare the heartbreak of countless families.”
Featured Image – RDNE (via Pexels)
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Chester Zoo named one of England’s most popular tourist attractions with 1.9m visitors
Emily Sergeant
Congratulations are in order, yet again, for Chester Zoo… as this time it’s been named one of England’s most popular attractions.
Merely months after being named the UK’s best zoo for the second year running, thanks to receiving more than 11,000 ‘excellent’ reviews from TripAdvisor, Chester Zoo has now got itself another prestigious title, as a major VisitEngland (VE) report has ranked it the third most-visited ‘paid for’ attraction in England – and the most visited outside of London.
The national tourist board for England gathered information from a total of 1,373 attractions across the country, and ranked the UK’s biggest charity zoo as the third overall in terms of popularity, with a whopping 1.9 million visitors in 2024 alone.
The Tower of London took top spot with 2.9 million visitors, while the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew was second place with 2.3 million visitors.
When it comes to free attractions, on the other hand, it wad the British Museum that claimed the top spot with 6.5 million visitors, while the Natural History Museum (5.9 million visitors) took second place, and the Tate Modern (4.6 million visitors) got third.
So as you can see, the south and London in particular is a pretty dominating force in England’s tourism industry – which is why it’s even more impressive to see Chester Zoo ranked so highly.
The new VE title also comes after the zoo was recently given £4 million of lottery funding to help ‘transform’ the local environment and restore wildlife habitats across the Cheshire and wider North West region.
Not only that, but if course follows Chester Zoo’s unveiling of its new immersive experience named Heart of Africa, which is the the largest zoo habitat ever created in the UK and is home to 57 iconic African species.
Chester Zoo has been named one of England’s most popular tourist attractions with 1.9m visitors / Credit: Chester Zoo
“As a major international wildlife charity, everything we do is focused on supporting global conservation,” commented Chester Zoo’s Commercial Director, Dom Strange.
“Whether it’s caring for highly-threatened animals and plants, making scientific discoveries, influencing Government environmental policies, impacting the National Curriculum to better connect young people with nature, or our conservation efforts in around 20 countries, we’re fully committed to protecting endangered species for the future.
“But none of this would be possible without our visitors.
“Every person who comes to the zoo for a fun and inspiring day out is helping to fund our vital work, so we want to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone who has supported us and helped us to rank so highly in VisitEngland’s latest report.”
Emily Sergeant -
4th April 2023 
