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A CANCER survivor is locked in a bitter battle with his local council who are demanding he pay thousands of pounds of tax on his utility room because it has a “food preparation area”.
Andy Fields says a valuation officer visited his farmhouse in Tiverton in Devon and insisted the boot room was a separate dwelling because it has a sideboard and sink.
They also pointed to an outside toilet which Andy and wife Anja put in for beekeepers who use part of his 20 acre wildlife haven.
The former internet business owner, 61, has now been threatened with debt collectors over around £3,000 in current and backdated council tax.
Andy, who has contacted his local MP Rachel Gilmour over the issue, said: “The woman from the valuation office saw the house and I could tell it was envy, she thought, ‘he can afford it’.
“But I’m skint, I earn £10-a-day.
“It’s ridiculous, it’s not a separate dwelling, you have to go through my front door to get into it.
“The only food preparation we do there is for the birds and animals.
“I told her everyone around here has utility rooms and she said ‘give me their names and I will do them as well’.
“I told her that the utility room had existed for 150 years and she even suggested that they should backdate the payments for 150 years as well then.
“I couldn’t believe it.”
Andy said the decision could set a dangerous precedent for homes across Britain which have utility rooms attached to their homes.
After being diagnosed with head and neck cancer in 2018, Andy quit his internet business and temporarily set up the utility room to live in while he was ill so he could be close to the kitchen.
After beating the disease the couple briefly advertised it online for people to stay in despite it having no washing facilities.
Two years ago he converted the room, which has an upstairs storage area, back into a utility room for use in their house.
But he says someone working for the council spotted the B&B listing and he was hauled into a Valuation Office Agency hearing last December which he did not attend.
He was deemed to have lost the case and the council is now demanding he coughs up.
The plot, called Bradford Farm, was built in 1881 and is valued at around £1million.
It also has a children’s nursery onsite run by Nanny Bears, and has a bee keeping club.
Andy said that after beating cancer “you look at things a bit differently” and decided to turn his land into a nature reserve which now hosts otters, water voles and a nesting stork.
He added: “All I try and do is help and give back and be friendly.
“It’s utter lunacy that they are trying to charge me for this utility room.
According to the government’s website, a property will be banded for council tax if it “qualifies to be a dwelling” – which is seen as a self-contained accommodation used as a home.
And to be classified as a dwelling, the local council will check to see if the property is either “habitable or capable of repair”.
It also adds: “If a property is occupied, it’s generally assumed to be habitable and the band will not be deleted, even if significant repair or renovation works are underway.”
In some circumstances a council tax band could be deleted.
This means the property will not have a council tax band and the taxpayer will not pay any council tax “until the property is entered into the list again following completion of work or service of a completion notice by the local authority.”
Check your Council Tax band in England and Wales or Scotland.
If you have any concerns regarding the assessment of your Council Tax band contact the VOA.
“I’m not going to pay, they can take me to court.
“The room shares heating, water, and electricity with the main house, so it doesn’t qualify as a separate dwelling.
“I’ve checked dozens of local new builds, and every one of them has utility rooms with food prep areas, an external door and even microwaves – none of which are taxed separately.
“If this approach becomes policy it could set a worrying national precedent, triggering a widespread backlash.”
A spokesperson for the Office of Rachel Gilmour MP said: “We are supporting our constituent in their complex casework.
“We are hoping for a speedy resolution which is able to let all parties move forward with clarity and a suitable settlement to this matter.”
A spokeswoman for the Valuation Office Agency told The Sun last night: “We can’t comment on individual cases.
“If a self-contained unit of a property is capable of being used as separate living accommodation it must be given its own Council Tax band.
“Customers can contact the VOA if they think part of their property has been banded incorrectly and we will review their case.
“If they are unhappy with our decision they can appeal to the independent Valuation Tribunal.”
Andy previously made headlines when he was embroiled in a row with a neighbour over a fence.
Andrew and Anja wanted to build a car park as they turned their farm into a nature reserve, but neighbours Michael and Sandra Blakemore opposed the move, saying the lights from cars using it would shine directly into their bedroom.
The Blakemores, of Bradford Barn, built a wooden fence which restricted Andy’s right of way but were later ordered to tear it down and pay compensation.
LOTTERY winner Joshua Winslet was found dead in his home after his £11million prize caused his life to spiral out of control.
The Australian plumber was just 22 years old when he landed the fortune in 2017, but he blew it all in just three years after he was crippled by addiction.
His parents tried to help him manage the eyewatering sum of cash by stashing it in a trust fund, but tragically, that wasn’t enough to save him.
In 2022, he died at home from health complications caused by excessive drug use.
His death was not reported by New Zealand or Australian press at the time.
His tragic end came shortly after he was arrested and sentenced to three years and nine months in prison for supplying drugs and possessing a firearm.
A friend of Josh spoke of his death and told the MailOnline: “It was such a shock and absolutely devastating, but sadly a lot of us were so worried this is what it was coming to.”
Looking back at his lottery win, she said: “When I found out he won through the grapevine, I thought, ‘Oh, wow, that’s extraordinary.’
“I was so happy for him. Out of everyone from our school, and after all the bullying he copped, he deserved it more than anyone,” she added.
Another said how he called her and her boyfriend to break the news of his Powerball winnings.
She said that she initially thought he was joking, but after he sent her a screenshot of his Lotto app, she realised he was being serious.
But how did the hardworking tradie’s life take such a drastic turn?
Josh was living on New Zealand’s South Island at the time and had suffered severe bullying over his ‘physical deformities’ that were caused by Duane syndrome and Goldenhar syndrome.
Duane syndrome stops the eye muscles from developing properly, which affects eye movement.
Goldenhar syndrome causes abnormalities in the formation of the bones in the face and head.
It can also cause spinal issues and benign cysts to form on the eye, as well as impacting internal organs.
He’d had a string of surgeries as a child to treat the syndromes.
Josh was also born with a singular horseshoe-shaped kidney and an irregular heartbeat, stopping him from playing contact sports.
The torment inflicted on him by his peers was so severe that when he was in Year 10 he left school and studied at Adelaide University Senior College in South Australia.
He studied for around six months before leaving to do a plumbing apprenticeship.
When he was 20, he moved to New Zealand’s South Island to look for work.
Around this time, he used the last £9 ($19) in his bank account to buy a last-minute ticket for the Powerball draw and won £11million ($22milion).
But the cash began to burn a hole in his pocket, and he soon started splashing it on a-class drugs.
In 2020, cops raided the “party house” and found an unlicensed firearm Mauser handgun and ammunition hidden in his bathroom.
A horde of illegal substances, including 28.3 grams of MDMA and 2.27g of cocaine, was also seized.
Investigators received a tip-off the lottery winner was allegedly manufacturing drugs at the property.
Josh, who was 27 at the time, pleaded guilty to supplying MDMA and possessing a firearm without a licence.
He was sentenced to three years and nine months, with a non-parole period of 18 months.
The sentence was suspended on a two-year good behaviour bond, with supervision.
Shocking images released by South Australia’s District Court showed the inside of his trashed New Port mansion at the time.
Empty bottles of booze, bongs, bags of MDMA, cocaine and marijuana appeared to be littered around the bachelor pad.
Nitrous oxide canisters, cigarettes and half-drunk glasses of wine were also seen strewn across a marble table.
Another snap showed a large bowl filled with a mystery white powder inside his fridge, alongside a pack of Red Bull cans and beer boxes.
Chaotic jumbles of rubbish and clothes were left dumped on the floor in an “appalling” state.
Judge Heath Barklay said that Josh had “lost motivation” for life and had adopted a “hedonistic lifestyle”.
He said: “Because of the money that you had won, there was no motivation on your part to work or do anything other than enjoy yourself.
“You had lots of money so you could afford to buy large amounts of drugs, which you would use yourself and supply to your so-called friends from time to time.”
If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, please call the Samaritans for free on 116123.
SOMETIMES, in the midst of disaster, miracles happen.
Just moments after taking off, Air India Flight AI171, bound for Gatwick, came plummeting to the ground in a terrifying fireball killing all on board – save one lone survivor.
Astonishing footage showed Brit Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, who sat in seat 11A, walking away from the crash before rescue workers greeted him in astonishment.
He was even able to produce his boarding pass before being whisked off to hospital, where he is being treated for minor injuries to his chest, eyes, and feet.
Given the scale of disaster when plane crashes happen, it is very rare only one person makes it out alive.
There are only a handful of people who can say they were lucky enough to be the sole survivor.
But many are left with scars – both physical and mental – traumatised by memories of plummeting from the sky, and haunted by the sudden loss of their family members.
Speaking to the media shortly after his miraculous survival was confirmed, Vishwash said: “Thirty seconds after take-off, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed.
“It all happened so quickly. When I got up, there were bodies all around me. I was scared. I stood up and ran. There were pieces of the plane all around me. “
Dr Marianne Trent, clinical psychologist and author of the Grief Collection, said Vishwash is likely to suffer from survivors guilt.
She said: “There’s no real sense why that should have been the one seat where the sole survivor sat.
“People often swap seats on planes and he might have a sense of ‘why me?'”
Vishwash isn’t the only person to have walked away from a plane crash, losing family members in the process.
At just four years old, Cecelia Crocker became the sole survivor when Northwest Airlines flight 225 crashed just moments after taking off from Detroit, in 1987.
The other 154 people on board were killed, as were two people on the ground.
But Cecelia Crocker survived – becoming known as “America’s Orphan”.
“I think about the accident every day,” said Crocker, now 42.
“It’s kind of hard not to think about it when I look in the mirror. I have visual scars, my arms and my legs and I have scars on my forehead.”
Though Cecelia doesn’t remember the incident herself, her mum, dad, and six-year-old brother David were all killed.
It is believed that Cecelia’s mum, Paula, shielded her.
“When I realised I was the only person to survive that plane crash, I was maybe in middle school, high school maybe,” Crocker said.
“Being an adolescent and confused, so it was just extra stress for me. I remember feeling angry and survivor’s guilt. Why didn’t my brother survive? Why didn’t anybody? Why me?”
Dr Trent added that these feelings can linger on for years and affect every aspect of their lives.
“You might not feel worthy of people’s good thoughts and sympathy because you’re not the one who died,” she said.
There’s a black hole between the moment when I was seated in the plane and the moment I found myself in the water
Bahia Bakari
“People with survivor’s guilt withdraw into themselves, their world becomes smaller, there’s an impact on their functioning, their ability to get things done.”
Back in 2009, a Yemenia Airways flight plummeted into the Indian Ocean with its engines at full throttle.
All 152 on board were killed – except 12-year-old Bahia Bakari, who was on the way to her grandfather’s wedding.
She was left drifting in the water for hours with “the taste of jet fuel” in her mouth, and only a piece of debris to cling on to.
Speaking to a French court, she recalled the moment things started to go wrong.
“I started to feel the turbulence but nobody was reacting much, so I told myself it must be normal,” said Bahia.
“I felt something like an electric shock go through my body. There’s a black hole between the moment when I was seated in the plane and the moment I found myself in the water.”
She remembers trying to climb up on to the wreckage, but lacked the strength to do so in the choppy waters.
It was only in the hospital that she was told she was the lone survivor.
Others who survived found themselves not in the water but in thick jungle – yet just as far from civilisation as anyone stuck in the ocean.
Juliane Koepcke was flying over the Peruvian rainforest with her mother in 1971 when her plane was struck by lightning.
Aged just 17, she survived not only a two-mile fall to the ground but a ten day trek through the Amazon.
After flying into a dark cloud, her plane became engulfed by lightning, she recalled.
I was in freefall. I could see the canopy of the jungle spinning towards me
Juliane Koepcke
“My mother and I held hands but we were unable to speak. Other passengers began to cry and weep and scream,” she told the BBC.
“My mother said very calmly: ‘That is the end, it’s all over’. Those were the last words I ever heard from her.
“The plane jumped down and went into a nose-dive,” added Juliane.
“It was pitch black and people were screaming, then the deep roaring of the engines filled my head completely.
“Suddenly the noise stopped and I was outside the plane. I was in freefall. I could see the canopy of the jungle spinning towards me.”
Alone with a broken collarbone and deep cuts to her legs, and wearing only a short, sleeveless mini-dress and white sandals, she began to walk.
Only a small bag of sweets kept her from total starvation.
Initially thinking she was hallucinating, Juliane came across a boat and a hut where she spent the night, pulling maggots out of a wound in her upper arm, before finally a group of men found her the next day and took her back to civilisation.
Juliane’s story has parallels to that of Annette Herfkens, who, aged 31, spent eight days in the Vietnamese jungle by herself awaiting rescue.
After Vietnam Airlines flight 474 dropped from the sky in 1992, killing the other 30 people on board, Annette was left with twelve broken bones, her jaw hanging off and a collapsed lung.
THOUGH lucky to be alive, Brit Vishwash Kumar Ramesh may struggle with the mental impact of yesterday's Air India crash for decades, Dr Marianne Trent, clinical psychologist, told The Sun.
“Post trauma people often struggle to sleep, have intrusive thoughts and there will be triggers such as noises and smells of the fire, the smoke, booking future holidays,” she said.
“All those stories of the people he met along the way, or maybe those he didn’t take the time to talk to, will be replaying in his mind. He will be second guessing everything he did.”
Dr Trent said he may even feel guilt that he walked away with minor injuries.
She said: “He may just feel grateful to survive and have walked away but it’s very strange that only one person survived.
“We need to allow him to feel what he’s feeling. Survivors of fatal car crashes who escaped with minor injuries might wish they’d broken a leg or had something physical to show for their life changing experience.
“They might ask ‘why don’t I look different.. How can I look like the same person?’ It’s harder for people to empathise if you look the same way too.”
Dr Trent added that memories of his brother might be forever entwined with the horror of the crash.
“His experience will be overlapped by grief and trauma.
“Usually if you think of a brother there are thoughts about songs you might have heard growing up together, or things you did, nice memories.
“But when someone dies the whole relationship changes and those thoughts can make you feel really awful and send you right down into the depths again.
“The fact this is all being played out on an international stage will also be extremely hard for him and he will need a lot of psychological help to come to terms with what has happened.”
Her plane had crashed into a mountain ridge and she now lay surrounded by the ripped-apart fuselage, with a dead stranger across her.
“That’s where you have fight or flight – I definitely chose flight,” she told the Guardian.
“I stayed in the moment. I trusted that they were going to find me. I didn’t think, ‘What if a tiger comes?’ I thought, ‘I’ll deal with it when the tiger comes.’ I didn’t think, ‘What if I die?’ I thought, ‘I will see about it when I die.’”
Crawling along by her elbows, she managed to capture water with parts of the plane’s insulation until a rescue party carried her down in a hammock.
In all these cases, only one passenger made it out alive.
But when the plane’s pilot is the sole person spared death, the feelings of survivor’s guilt can be even worse.
The bad voice says, ‘No, stay here, have another shot of liquor’
Jim Polehinke
Jim Polehinke was co-pilot aboard Com Air flight 5191, which crashed seconds after takeoff from Lexington, Kentucky in 2006.
“I’ve cried harder than any man has ever cried, or any man should be able to cry,” he said.
“My wife was there to support me to where I could just put my head on her shoulder and cry.
“It’s that constant struggle where my inner voice wants to keep going forward.
“The good voice says, ‘Yeah, come on, you have the inner strength to do that,’ but the bad voice says, ‘No, stay here, have another shot of liquor.’”
Dr Trent also highlighted how harmful behaviours can become a crutch for people to deal with survivor’s guilt.
She said: “Sometimes people become a risk to themselves through non intentional self injury, drinking too much, not showing and looking after themselves, taking recreational drugs to cope.”
AROUND 100 Poundland stores face the threat of closure after the discount retailer was sold for just £1 yesterday.
However, before this announcement, the chain had already planned to shut 18 sites.
Of these, 14 branches have already shut down this year, with four more set to close permanently by August.
Poundland’s store in Barrow in Furness closed yesterday (June 12), with the retailer launching a 70% off sale to shift stock.
The Union Gate store in Bristol is the next location scheduled to close, with the branch set to shut its doors on June 20.
The Flint branch is scheduled to close the following day, on June 21, while the store in Cowes, on the Isle of Wight, is expected to shut at an unspecified date in July.
The branch on Bank Street in Newquay is the latest confirmed closure and will cease trading on 1 August.
Heartbroken locals have launched a petition in a bid to save the store.
Sharon Gill, who launched the petition, wrote: “Many residents count on Poundland for their everyday needs.
“The reality for most of us is that we don’t have the luxury of a car to travel to nearby towns.
“The nearest alternatives in St Austell or Truro are inconveniently far away, and public transport means hours of commute for essentials that should be easily accessible.”
A spokesperson for Poundland, which issued redundancy notices to staff at the branch, said at the time: “It’s correct our Newquay store is sadly set to close on August 1 as we’ve been unable to agree terms that would allow us to keep trading there.
“We’d obviously like to thank customers for their continued support over the next couple of months.
“It goes without saying whenever we close a store in circumstances like these, we do all we can to look for other opportunities for colleagues and that work is now underway.”
Along with these upcoming closures, it’s thought that around 100 stores are at risk along with thousands of high street jobs.
This is the full list of stores that have closed, or are set to close in the coming months:
Poundland still has 800 stores trading across the UK.
The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury's hike to employer NICs will cost the retail sector £2.3billion.
Research by the British Chambers of Commerce shows that more than half of companies plan to raise prices by early April.
A survey of more than 4,800 firms found that 55% expect prices to increase in the next three months, up from 39% in a similar poll conducted in the latter half of 2024.
Three-quarters of companies cited the cost of employing people as their primary financial pressure.
The Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has also warned that around 17,350 retail sites are expected to shut down this year.
It comes on the back of a tough 2024 when 13,000 shops closed their doors for good, already a 28% increase on the previous year.
Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the CRR said: “The results for 2024 show that although the outcomes for store closures overall were not as poor as in either 2020 or 2022, they are still disconcerting, with worse set to come in 2025.”
Professor Bamfield has also warned of a bleak outlook for 2025, predicting that as many as 202,000 jobs could be lost in the sector.
“By increasing both the costs of running stores and the costs on each consumer’s household it is highly likely that we will see retail job losses eclipse the height of the pandemic in 2020.”
The bargain retailer was sold to Gordon Brothers for ‘just £1’ earlier this week.
Gordon Brothers, the ex-owner of Laura Ashley, agreed to provide up to £80million in financing to Poundland.
However, the deal puts thousands of high street jobs at risk with the parent firm planning a major restructure.
More details on what the restructuring plan will involve will be revealed “in due course”, Poundland said.
Poundland is expected to close around 100 of its roughly 800 stores and ask for rent reductions from landlords as part of the process.
It’s unclear what will happen to the 16,000 Poundland staff members.
However it’s been confirmed the business will continue to operate under the Poundland brand in the UK.
Pepco Group had owned the retail chain since 2016.
The retailer was put up for auction in March, with Homebase owner Hilco then reported among the bidders.
Poundland’s boss Barry Williams said yesterday: “Poundland is a UK and Ireland retailer of real significance, serving 20million customers each year with a much-loved brand.
“I’d like to thank Pepco for its stewardship of the business.
“We welcome Gordon Brothers and look forward to working with them as we implement our turnaround plan.”
Last month, Poundland reported revenues dropped by 6.5% to 985million euros (£830 million) for the six months to March, compared with a year earlier.
RETAILERS have been feeling the squeeze since the pandemic, while shoppers are cutting back on spending due to the soaring cost of living crisis.
High energy costs and a move to shopping online after the pandemic are also taking a toll, and many high street shops have struggled to keep going.
However, additional costs have added further pain to an already struggling sector.
The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury’s hike to employer NICs from April will cost the retail sector £2.3billion.
At the same time, the minimum wage will rise to £12.21 an hour from April, and the minimum wage for people aged 18-20 will rise to £10 an hour, an increase of £1.40.
The Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has also warned that around 17,350 retail sites are expected to shut down this year.
It comes on the back of a tough 2024 when 13,000 shops closed their doors for good, already a 28% increase on the previous year.
Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the CRR said: “The results for 2024 show that although the outcomes for store closures overall were not as poor as in either 2020 or 2022, they are still disconcerting, with worse set to come in 2025.”
It comes after almost 170,000 retail workers lost their jobs in 2024.
End-of-year figures compiled by the Centre for Retail Research showed the number of job losses spiked amid the collapse of major chains such as Homebase and Ted Baker.
It said its latest analysis showed that a total of 169,395 retail jobs were lost in the 2024 calendar year to date.
This was up 49,990 – an increase of 41.9% – compared with 2023.
It is the highest annual reading since more than 200,000 jobs were lost in 2020 in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced retailers to shut their stores during lockdowns.
The centre said 38 major retailers went into administration in 2024, including household names such as Lloyds Pharmacy, Homebase, The Body Shop, Carpetright and Ted Baker.
Around a third of all retail job losses in 2024, 33% or 55,914 in total, resulted from administrations.
Experts have said small high street shops could face a particularly challenging 2025 because of Budget tax and wage changes.
Professor Bamfield has warned of a bleak outlook for 2025, predicting that as many as 202,000 jobs could be lost in the sector.
“By increasing both the costs of running stores and the costs on each consumer’s household it is highly likely that we will see retail job losses eclipse the height of the pandemic in 2020.”
Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing money-sm@news.co.uk.
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IT’S the child abuse trial which rocked the showbiz world and saw a pop legend hauled up in court on a slew of heinous charges.
Now, 20 years on, we can reveal the drama behind the headlines which saw Michael Jackson rushed to hospital with horrific injuries and convinced he would be MURDERED in prison.
The frail star, who faced charges of abuse against teenager Gavin Arvizo, famously turned up to his trial in pyjamas – before being acquitted of all 14 charges on June 13, 2005.
Over four months Michael, then 46, watched 15-year-old Gavin accuse him of sexual abuse, supported by claims from brother Star and mum Janet that his family was held captive at Michael’s Neverland Ranch – famed for its funfair and zoo.
In the decades since the trial, further claims have been made regarding Jackson’s alleged horrific abuse at the estate, notably by Wade Robson and James Safechuck in the 2019 documentary Leaving Neverland.
The singer’s lawyer, Brian Oxman, believes the torment of the 2005 trial led to MJ’s death four years later from a drug overdose – and reveals the late night calls from the terrified Thriller star.
“Michael rang at all hours of the night, dozens of times,” Brian tells The Sun.
“He kept asking ‘Why? I treated them so well – and they make up these lies’.
“He could never fathom it until the day he died.”
He adds: “We would talk about it for long hours about ‘the evil’ that went on to destroy him. He did not understand.
“No matter what I did, he could not understand and my firm belief is that this prosecution destroyed him.”
He also reveals Michael felt “betrayed” by shamed BBC star Martin Bashir for painting him as a paedophile in a controversial documentary which “started a stampede” towards abuse allegations.
And he believes the King of Pop knew he would have died in prison if he had been convicted.
“If Michael went to jail, he would probably have died. He knew that,” he says.
“Child molestation is the worst of all crimes in our jail system. Those people are looked down on and abused by their fellow inmates.
“They are beaten, hurt and treated horribly.”
At the height of the trial, in March 2005, the iconic photo of the star sporting baggy pyjama bottoms, a white T-shirt and a giant suit jacket made headlines around the world and became Time Magazine’s Photo of The Year.
It also cemented the reputation for eccentric behaviour which saw him dubbed “Wacko Jacko”.
But the truth behind the bizarre look was a frantic dash from the hospital where he’d been admitted hours before with suspected broken ribs after a shower fall at his Neverland home.
The singer’s court absence prompted Judge Ronald L Whyte to fear the defendant had absconded – forfeiting a $3m bail.
Despite lawyers’ assurances, the judge ordered the star to be back in court within an hour or be sent to jail until the trial’s end for a bail breach.
He’d plead guilty to assassinating Abraham Lincoln
Brian Oxman, Lawyer
The order sent Brian and long term pal Joe – Michael’s dad and manager of the Jackson 5 – into a panic.
“The prosecution was elated because they knew that if he forfeited his bail, he was going to jail, and he would never, never be able to live in jail,” says Brian.
“The prosecutors knew he’d plead to anything to get out of jail.
“He’d plead guilty to assassinating Abraham Lincoln.
“They knew he’d do anything to limit or stop his incarceration.”
Defence attorneys frantically called Michael’s security, warning of the jail threat, which led to a desperate dash up the 101 freeway towards Santa Maria – pursued by dozens of fans.
“They were doing 110 miles an hour and the fans followed,” says Brian.
“That freeway had a dirt centre divider, which had potholes and was horribly dangerous. All someone had to do was to hit one of those potholes and it would have flipped and somebody would have been killed.”
Arriving an hour and 10 minutes later, the star had his bail forfeited but escaped jail.
Father Joe – who Michael famously accused of child abuse and bullying – was vital in convincing the sickly star to leave the hospital.
“Joe said, ‘Michael, I’m your father. You listen to me – you have got to get to court, no excuses.’”
Brian insists Michael “loved” and “respected” Joe dearly despite the claims of a feud.
“In the car MJ said, ‘I can’t walk in just with my pyjamas’ so a huge bodyguard named Keith handed over his black jacket.
“It is Time Magazine’s picture of the year – if not picture of the decade.
“And who’s right next to him in that picture? His dad, Joe, who saved his life.”
Brian insists Michael was not faking his injury or looking for sympathy as the lawyer saw a “huge welt” on the right side of his body.
“He showed me on his chest this huge welt and says ‘Brian did I break a bone?’
“And I felt his chest and I said ‘I can’t tell for sure’.
“I felt a terrible lump but there was a huge injury there.”
Michael was first accused of child abuse by Jordan Chandler in 1993, but the case was settled out of court, with the star paying his accuser $15m.
But in December 2003, Michael was charged with 14 offences in relation to Gavin Arvizo, including four counts of molesting a child, four counts of getting a child drunk so that he could molest him, one count of trying to molest a child, and one count of secretly planning (conspiring) to hold the boy and his family captive.
Brian, an early member of the trial defence team, helped pull together over one and a half million pages of documents and 120 subpoenas.
He sent a 15-page dossier with 700 exhibits of evidence to devastated MJ showing the strength of their case in late 2004.
“He called me from the ranch and there was no voice. (I said) ‘Michael is that you?’
“He couldn’t catch his breath,” says Brian.
“He said, ‘Why, Brian? Why are they doing this to me?’”
Despite numerous allegations that have surfaced since the star’s death, Brian insists there was no evidence for the criminal charges, citing that Michael was not at Neverland on days when Gavin claimed he was abused at the estate.
Michael’s mental health was also rocked by “the betrayal” of TV interviewer Martin Bashir, with whom he’d plotted a comeback through a documentary about his life, in 2003.
But the Living With Michael Jackson series prompted worldwide controversy after he openly boasted about sleeping with children in his bed at Neverland.
Cameras caught cancer survivor Gavin leaning his head on MJ’s shoulder, discussing their close bond.
Brian claims the BBC journalist – who was later found to have falsified documents to persuade Princess Diana to agree to an interview – manipulated Michael and set up the disturbing scenes.
Brian raged: “Bashir used the fact Princess Diana trusted him for the Panorama interview to get in with Michael – who at that time had no idea that he had deceived Diana.
“Gavin wasn’t in Michael’s life when he filmed, but Bashir and his team asked to meet one of the kids he had helped.
“Bashir talked to Arvizo before the interview and then during the recording he rested his head on Michael’s shoulder and held his hand.
They knew he’d do anything to limit or stop his incarceration
Brian Oxman, Lawyer
“Michael said afterwards: ‘That never happened before and I didn’t know what to do. I don’t know him. And I haven’t seen him for a year and almost a half. Why was he acting like my bosom buddy?’
“Michael believed that Bashir may have told Arvizo to do that but no-one knew what really happened.
“Bashir told Michael he wanted to show the real man in a fair way, but when asked about sleeping with children he was so rattled.
“It was a shambles. Why his managers didn’t stop it I will never know.
“That show set a stampede in motion which led to the trial. It was the beginning of the end for him.”
Bashir later took the stand as the first prosecution witness and Brian says after the verdict, the reporter strolled over and apologised, saying: “Nothing personal Michael.”
“Michael could not believe it, because inside he was fuming,” he says.
“Michael simply stared back, said nothing and turned away.”
Despite the acquittal, many people believe the star behaved inappropriately with young boys.
In the summer of 2005 a Gallup Poll reported that 80 per cent of the US public believed Michael was guilty of abuse.
“It damaged Michael beyond repair,” says Brian.
“He was utterly numb. He was mentally, emotionally exhausted.
“Michael said: ‘I’m an entertainer. I depend upon the people, 80 per cent of them think I’m guilty?’”
MJ fled to Bahrain as a guest of Sheikh Abdulla Bin Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa, the king’s son, with the promise of a comeback concert and album.
That plan fell apart within a year, leading him into a semi-nomadic life with his three kids, Prince, now 31, Paris, 29 and Bigi, 24.
Drowning in debt, he committed to a London O2 residency This Is It. But, in constant pain after a serious back injury he sustained when a stage collapsed at a Munich gig in 1999, he was already hooked on painkillers and anaesthetic Propofol.
He died in LA on June 25 2009 – days before the sellout comeback – after suffering a cardiac arrest from a Propofol and benzodiazepines overdose.
Fresh allegations have since emerged.
In 2019 documentary, Leaving Neverland, Wade Robson and James Safechuck accused the star of sexually abusing them for years, from when they were respectively seven and 10 years old.
But Brian says it was the 2005 trial that pushed him over the edge.
“That was the start of the end,” says Brian. “He was in pain, depression and constantly harassed with accusations.
“Think about it. ‘Wacko Jacko, crazy, child molester.’ How much can one human being take?
“It was too much for him. I told him he would come through and his mettle would be stronger because of the fire. And in certain ways, that was true, but in other ways, it started this spiral down. It meant the end for Michael.”
PETROLHEADS were overjoyed to discover the ‘Holy grail’ of car graveyards in a quiet corner of the UK.
The impressive find was a barn, brimming with a huge collection of iconic classic motors.
The cars, including a Jaguar E-Type and Volkswagen LT Camper, had all been left to rust on an abandoned farm.
YouTuber The Bearded Explorer came across the site and was particularly blown away by one car.
“There is a Jaguar E-Type in here, but that would be my favourite car. That is absolutely stunning,” he said on the video.
He pointed out the unusual number plate, which reads TC30.
“If you saw that rolling down the road you would stop, look, and you would keep on looking until it disappeared,” he added.
A rare Cadillac Fleetwood, which was a name given to bespoke models.
Cadillac first started selling Fleetwood bodies from 1934 onwards, appearing on cars such as the Series 70.
They are incredibly rare and sought after, especially in the UK, so to find one in an old barn is almost unheard of.
It’s not clear why the cars had been dumped or who originally owned them.
Alongside the Cadillac, there was the Jaguar E-Type, which Ferrari founder Enzo Ferrari apparently called “the prettiest car ever made”.
In the video clip, the E-Type looks in poor condition, but it had outlasted some of the other cars stored inside the barn.
The YouTuber also found an Suzuki Jimny SUV amongst the decay.
This isn’t the first time that classic cars have been left to rot in a barn.
Over 40 abandoned motors from manufacturers such as BMW, Ford, Rover and Volvo were found in an open barn in the UK.
A fleet of dilapidated fire engines covered in mould and peeling red paint were also found.
The images were taken by urban explorer Kyle Urbex during his 220th exploration at Brian’s Vintage Car Collection in Chester.
Kyle found the graveyard hidden away behind dense vegetation near the home of elderly couple Brian and Barbara.
Other images show old tractors and JCBs scattered across the property, giving it an eerie abandoned atmosphere.
He also found a BMW 635 CSI, once a sign of luxury, slowly being reclaimed by nature.
With iconic styling and nicknamed ‘shark nose’ the motor was very much the symbol of the BMW range after being introduced in 1978.
Kyle’s visit took an unexpected turn when he stumbled upon Brian himself who revealed his hopes for the future.
He said: “Brian has full intentions of one day being able to restore this high car collection, but given his age of 70+, I highly doubt he will get around to restoring all the cars and fire trucks.
“He has been victim to some of the cars being smashed to bits by youths.”
STEVE SMITH was left gagging as his finger appeared to be hanging after dropping a catch against South Africa.
The Aussie batter fumbled a chance to take the wicket of Temba Bavuma on the third day of the ICC World Test Championship Final.
Smith, 36, was presented with the chance when he was standing in the slips after the batter edged off from Mitchell Starc.
However, he misjudged the flight of the ball and put down the chance.
Immediately afterwards, it was realised that Smith had done more damage to himself than the dropped catch.
The Aussie could be seen showing his injured finger to the dressing room as he dragged himself off the turf.
As he looked at the crooked digit, he could be seen gagging in his reaction.
Smith then took off his helmet and was taken to the pavilion for medical checks.
It has been confirmed that the injury was a compound dislocation on his little right finger.
A statement read: “Smith is currently being assessed in the dressing room. Likely to go for scans.”
Fans spotted the nasty injury as they reacted on social media.
One posted: “Get well soon.”
A second wrote: “If the catch was taken, the result was different.”
A third commented: “Dear Smith gett well soon.”
A fourth said: “Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.”
Another added: “Well caught Smudger.”
The injury could rule Smith out for up to 12 weeks, which would rule him out for much of the summer.
England Test captain Ben Stokes will be keeping an eye out on his recovery ahead of the Ashes down under this winter.
