England v Mexico Reaction Live

I've been reporting live from St Geroge's Park Graves in Sheffield at an EVO football session for reaction to England's remarkable win versus Mexico at the World Cup.

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Sheffield Siege

I've been reporting from Sheffield Crown Court as a man who threatened to blow up an apartment block during a 33 and a half hour police siege in Sheffield city centre has been sentenced to 7 years in prison. In February last year, Yaqub Younis triggered an evacuation of The Gateway apartment block, falsely telling residents and armed officers he had guns and explosives. I recorded a report for radio bulletins, helped write this article for the BBC News website and then put together this TV report...

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Smartphones Ban in Schools

I've been reporting at the biggest secondary school in Sheffield, Ecclesfield School as a ban on smartphones in schools in England comes into force making individual schools and trusts legally responsible for being phone-free throughout the day.

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Heat

I reported from South Yorkshire this week as temperatures reached more than 30 degrees celsius. We filmed at Wales High School and Byron Lodge care home to see how they're coping in the heat.

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Volunteers

I've been filming with people who give up their time to volunteer in South Yorkshire as data shows there's been a drop in the number of people volunteering in our region. In 2020, 1.7 million adults volunteered at least once a month in Yorkshire and the Humber but that's now fallen to 1.4 million last year. I’ve been filming at Wentworth Woodhouse, the Sheffield and Tinsley Canal and Gleadless Scout Group to find out how volunteers make such a difference.

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Abdullah Murder Sentencing

This week I reported from Sheffield Crown Court on the sentencing of a driver who killed a 16-year-old boy in Sheffield when he mounted the pavement and hit him with his car. Abdullah Yaser Abdullah Taleb died when he was struck by an Audi driven by Zulkernain Ahmed in Sheffield a year ago.

The month after his death, I interviewed Abduallah's heart-broken and dignified family.

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West Street Shooting

I covered the shooting to death of an innocent bystander on West Street in Sheffield this week.

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Waterton's Wall

I had a really enjoyable trip to the first nature reserve in the world...in Wakefield! Two hundred years ago the environmentalist Charles Waterton created a nature reserve in the grounds of his home at Walton Hall. Waterton was instrumental in protecting wildlife, in particular providing habitats for 123 species of birds. He had a three-mile-long wall erected around the parkland which, 200 years later, volunteers are working hard to preserve.

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Longshaw Birds

I had a lovely day at the Longshaw Estate near Sheffield where the National Trust has installed two new bird box cameras to capture the brilliantly named, pied flycatcher! My story went on BBC Look North and on BBC Breakfast...

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Schools Threat

I covered a story in Huddersfield about a man being arrested after two schools in Kirklees were put into lockdown when they received malicious emails.

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Power & Glory

I had a very enjoyable trip to Wentworth Woodhouse as a biopic about the most famous British scientist of the 19th Century is being filmed in South Yorkshire. The film is called ‘Power & Glory’ and tells the story of chemist and physicist Michael Faraday, who transformed the study of electricity and magnetism.

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Patricia Hall Inquest

The sister of a Leeds woman who went missing 34 years ago has said the opening of an inquest into her presumed death is a "tremendous milestone". Patricia Hall vanished in 1992. Her husband Keith Hall was tried for her murder but found not guilty after an alleged taped confession that he had strangled her was ruled inadmissible at his trial.

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Flooding Mental Health

I've been working on a story to do with the impact of flooding on mental health. Unlike other news providers, local and regional journalists are in our communities year round. Rather than just turning up when a big story breaks, like when there is devastating flooding, we are here long after the flood waters have receded. That is why stories like this are so important. Click here for the online article and my TV report is below.

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York City Promotion

I had a really enjoyable day covering the joyous promotion of York City back to the Football League after a decade in obscurity. I put together a report on the incredibly dramatic way they gained promotion and then reported live from the LNER stadium in York with three top guests...

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Asbestos

I've been to film with the widow of a former Kirklees Council joiner who died from asbestos-related cancer who's received a settlement of more than a million pounds following his death. 67-year-old Rick Oakes from York, died after being diagnosed with the cancer mesothelioma after being exposed to asbestos while working decades earlier. Click here for the online story and this is my TV report...

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Anti-Social Behaviour

I've been reporting from Doncaster where the council, police and Frenchgate Shopping Centre have won a national award for the way they’re tackling anti-social behaviour. I wrote this story for the BBC News website and put this TV report together...

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Restaurant Disruption

The owners of a restaurant in Halifax say the’ve lost £60,000 in takings due to building works has been taking place right outside their premises. Cousins Lino and Antonio Massimo have run the Italian restaurant Sapore in the town centre for nine years say the disruption of building work has been a nightmare. Calderdale Council says major roadworks will make journeys for pedestrians, car drivers and cyclists quicker and safer through Halifax town centre.  

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Youth Unemployment

I've been filming in Leeds and York on the issue of youth unemployment which is at a ten year high in Yorkshire and the Humber. It was a shock to interview eloquent, enthusiastic and impressive young people like Coburn who had applied for more than 100 jobs and was still without his first job. I co-wrote this story for the BBC News website and put this TV report together...

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Orgreave Inquiry

I've been reporting on the start of the Orgreave Inquiry... 

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Shoplifting

I've been investigating the crime of shoplifting and finding out how shop-owners and the police are trying to tackle the problem. I wrote this story for the BBC News website and made this TV report...

Assisted Dying

The Prime Minister has been warned by more than 100 Labour MPs that failing to pass assisted dying legislation would undermine trust in politics. Spen Valley MP Kim Leadbeater introduced the bill to Parliament and says the delay to the bill is ‘undemocratic'.  The current bill to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales was passed by the Commons in June last year but has been stalled in the House of Lords for months and is now unlikely to pass.

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Burial Space

A family have shared their devastation after having to bury loved ones outside their local area because the cemetery was full. Mahboob Hussain, 84, died in January, with his family told the last remaining space for Muslim burial at Dewsbury Cemetery had been filled the day he died. Sahil Hussain, his grandson, said about 30 of his relatives were buried at the cemetery, but they were forced to bury his grandfather away from his local community in Heckmondwike. I wrote this story for the BBC News website and I filmed and edited this story for TV...

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The Deep Sleepover

Can you imagine how exciting it’d be to have a sleepover in an aquarium? Well that’s exactly what one hundred and fifty Beavers and Cubs from the 20th Sheffield Scout Group did at The Deep in Hull. It was organised to mark a special year of celebrations for the Scouting Movement of 110 years of Cubs, 40 years of Beavers and 5 years of Squirrels.

Here's the BBC Look North TV report...

And the story featured live on BBC Radio Sheffield...

markansell · The Deep Sleepover on BBC Radio Sheffield

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Food Waste Recycling

I've been filming in Hebden Bridge, Halifax and Doncaster covering a story about food waste recycling. Only four of the fifteen councils in our region will meet the deadline to collect food waste from households from April this year. However, nine of these local authorities, including the whole of South Yorkshire, were granted a transitional agreement by Government, allowing a much later start date for the service. Click here for the BBC News article I wrote and here's the TV report...

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Hebden Bridge Flood Defences

An eighty-one million pound flood defence scheme for Hebden Bridge has been approved. The plans were drawn up after the devastating Boxing Day floods of 2015. The scheme aims to bolster flood defences in the area by building new, higher, walls among other measures. But many businesses are worried the four years building the defences will have a negative impact on trade. 

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Wuthering Heights

The new adaptation of Wuthering Heights is in cinemas across the country.  It’s the latest Hollywood film to be shot in North Yorkshire. Although Emily Bronte's classic novel written in 1847 was set in the Yorkshire moors, the new film was filmed in the Dales. I went travelling around the Yorkshire Dales to report on the story.

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Joro Michelin Star

A Sheffield restaurant has been awarded a Michelin Star – the first to gain the accolade in the city for ten years. Two years ago Joro moved from the Kelham Island area of the city to a former paper mill in Oughtibridge.

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County Lines Drugs Raid

I spent a very early morning with the West Yorkshire Police team tackling county lines crime on a drugs raid. Operation Phoenix has been set up to disrupt county lines drug networks in West Yorkshire. The Home Office has given the force more than a million pounds as the county has been identified as one of the largest exporters of county lines drug running in the country. 

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Corrupt Prison Officer

I've been reporting on the sentencing of a prison officer who struck up a relationship with an inmate at HMP Lindholme in Doncaster. Charlotte Winstanley also smuggled a range of contraband material into the prison for prisoner Jabhari Blair including a mobile phone which they used to send intimate photos and videos. 

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Abdullah Darnall Defence

A driver who struck and killed an innocent teenager who was walking along a pavement in Sheffield says he feels deep remorse and didn’t intend for it to happen. Zulkernain Ahmed admits the manslaughter of 16-year-old Abdullah Yaser Abdullah Taleb but denies murder. 

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Princess of Wales Yorkshire Visit

This week I've been standing in the cold and rain reporting on the visit of Catherine, Princess of Wales, to Yorkshire...

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Roger Leadbeater Inquest

I covered the deeply disturbing story of the killing of Sheffield pensioner Roger Leadbeater by a woman who had absconded from a mental health unit. Click here for the online story and this is the TV version...

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Gambling Addiction

I've been to meet recovering gambling addict Stacey Goodwin in Chesterfield to hear about her story of how betting ravaged her life. Stacey has come out the other side and is now helping others with gambling addiction.

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Tour de France Femmes Live

I reported live from Sheffield where, it's been announced, Stage 2 of the Tour de France Femmes 2027 will be finishing. I interviewed three-time Olympic gold medalist Ed Clancy who is the Active Lives Commissioner for South Yorkshire...

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Ice Swimming

I've been to report on the Really Cold Swimming Championships at Rother Valley Country Park. It was absolutely freezing on land - let alone in the water! Click here for the online story and here's the TV version...

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Crash ID Mix-up Live

I've been reporting live on South Yorkshire Police mixing up the identities of an 18-year-old killed in a car crash with another teenager who survived the collision in Rotherham.

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Dentist Autism

I've been filming a story about the challenges of autistic children cleaning their teeth. Nearly one in four autistic children having tooth decay by the age of five – similar to the wider childhood population – but they’re less likely to visit the dentist and twice as likely to need dental treatment under general anaesthetic. Following research by University of Leeds, academics have created a new website to empower parents of young autistic children to look after their dental health – and reduce levels of tooth decay and surgery. I wrote this story for the BBC News website and made the following TV report...

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