Matthew Jakes, 37, of Camm Drive, Milton, took the £125 styling tool from the Lamarsh Road store in Oxfordshire on August 29, 2025.

He admitted to the theft, as well as driving without insurance and a valid licence on Walton Street, Oxford, on August 4, 2025. He was driving a while Ford Focus at the time of the driving offences. 

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Jakes was fined a total of £160, ordered to pay a £64 victim surcharge, and must pay through deductions from his benefits.

He was also given six penalty points on his driving record.

The case was consolidated with existing offences, and Jakes was ordered to pay £20 per month starting May 13, 2026.

In December of 2025, Cllr Lubna Arshad for Blackbird Leys (Labour), a former lord mayor and the council’s cabinet member for a safer Oxford, accepted a visit to Istanbul paid for by President Erdoğan’s party, the AKP.

Cllr Arshad has now explained her reasons for taking the party-funded trip, describing it as “non-political” while acknowledging concerns about the party’s human rights record.

The travel for an “International Women in Local Governments Summit offered by Justice and Development Party (AK Party)” has been listed with an estimated value of £1066 in her registered interests as a gift or hospitality.

The Turkish president, who has been in power since 2014, attended the conference, and Cllr Arshad posed for group photos with him in images shared by the party’s official social media accounts.

President and Party Chairman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan attended International Summit on Women in Local Administrations. pic.twitter.com/CnapTcYyho

— AK Party (@akpartyenglish) December 5, 2025

President Erdoğan’s government has a recent record of restricting online platforms and free speech, and has been described by Amnesty International as having a “massive crackdown on human rights”.

Clllr Arshad described her experience on the summit, saying it “brought together women leaders from different countries to share experiences, challenges, and best practice in local governance”.

She said: “I attended in my capacity as a councillor and cabinet member for safer Oxford.

“It was an opportunity to engage with other women in leadership roles, exchange ideas, and learn from different approaches to community safety and local government areas directly relevant to my work in Oxford.

“Throughout my time in public office, I have consistently focused on community safety, safeguarding, and tackling issues such as violence against women and girls, exploitation, and inequality.

“Engaging in international forums can provide valuable insight to strengthen this work locally.

“I am aware of wider discussions and concerns around human rights, and I take these seriously.

“My decision to attend was based on the specific focus of the summit and my responsibility to deliver the best possible outcomes for residents.”

The council cabinet member added that she saw the engagement as a “non-political engagement in terms of international matters”, saying that it “should not be seen as an endorsement of any political party or government”.

She stated: “As part of my role, I regularly engage with a wide range of organisations and communities to ensure balanced perspectives and inclusive decision-making.”

Among the Oxfordshire schools to have closed within the last 12 months is Carrdus School in Banbury, owned by leading girls’ school Tudor Hall.

Carrdus School, a preparatory school near Banbury, officially closed in July 2025, following a decision in December 2024 to shut down at the end of the summer term.

This was due to financial instability, driven by the government’s decision to introduce VAT on fees and increased employers’ National Insurance contributions.

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Our Lady’s Abingdon (Image: Our Lady’s Abingdon)

Another private school in the county which has permanently shut its doors in the past year is Our Lady’s Abingdon, which had been operating for 160 years.

The governors at Our Lady’s Abingdon said: “A range of economic pressures has led to this outcome, mainly the introduction of VAT on school fees, higher National Insurance contributions, the ending of business rates relief for independent schools, and rising operational costs.”

Rendcomb College, near Cirencester across the border from Oxfordshire, announced this year that it will permanently close this summer.

This will bring an end to a 106‑year history of educating day pupils and boarders in the heart of the Cotswolds.

The independent day and boarding school opened in 1920 and has around 380 pupils on its roll.

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Rendcomb College in the Cotswolds will shut down after 100 years teaching (Image: Saffron Blaze / Wikimedia Commons)

It said that current and projected pupil numbers, combined with the economic climate facing fee‑paying schools, mean it is no longer financially viable.

In a statement, governors said they had “reluctantly” agreed the college must close at the end of the 2025‑26 academic year, after exploring “every other feasible option”, including potential mergers, alternative owners and additional sources of funding.

“Despite Rendcomb College’s extremely strong track record as a school, the reality is that current and projected pupil numbers, alongside the economic situation facing independent schools across the country, do not make the school financially viable in the future,” read the statement.

“It has therefore reluctantly been decided that the school will close at the end of the academic year.

“The staff and governors have done everything to make Rendcomb College an excellent school, and its closure is highly unfortunate but sadly unavoidable.

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“For many years, the college has benefited from significant funding from the Rendcomb College Foundation.

“Whilst this has made the operation of the college possible until now, the enormous increase in the deficit for the current year, and the anticipated financial picture for next year, mean that such support is unsustainable.

“This is a very sad decision to have taken and follows the exploration of every other feasible option, including mergers and other forms of funding.

“Our focus now will be on helping pupils find appropriate alternative provision and assisting our highly professional and dedicated staff to find posts elsewhere.”