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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
National
Abigail Nicholson

Murder latest, teacher's incurable condition, and councillor expelled

Good evening, these are the latest ECHO headlines on Sunday, April 17.

'Screams and shouts' heard before internet café murder

A shop worker said that she heard 'screaming and shouting' coming from a city centre internet café where a teenager suffered fatal injuries yesterday.

READ MORE: Police incident at city centre restaurant involved 'two members of staff'

The emergency services were called out to the café, on London Road, at around 5.50pm on Saturday following reports that an 18-year-old man had been 'assaulted'. The man was taken to the Royal Liverpool Hospital were he was pronounced dead.

Today Monument Place was sealed off by police as forensic officers worked inside the Mobiles Junction & Internet Cafe. The ECHO saw a forensic officer showing photographs of the scene to a detective.

A woman who works nearby said: "I heard screaming and shouting coming from the café. The next thing the police turned up. That is all I know." Other locals seemed baffled by the incident which happened in broad daylight.

There was a large police presence at the Royal hospital last night. Police confirmed this was linked to the fact that the victim was taken there.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL STORY.

Teacher with back pain diagnosed with incurable condition

Michelle da Silva Willis, pictured with her late partner Craig, was diagnosed with endometriosis after suffering with pain and bowel problems for years (Michelle da Silva Willis)

A teacher who suffered chronic pain every day worried she had ovarian cancer before being diagnosed with an incurable condition.

Former English teacher Michelle da Silva Willis, 43 and from Toxteth, worried she'd be seen as a "hypocrite" lecturing students on attendance while taking time off work due to a "really painful lower back" and an unsettled stomach. She put off visiting the GP until two years later when the doctor suggested irritable bowel syndrome or a kidney infection, but she suspected it was something more serious.

The symptoms robbed Michelle of intimacy with her partner Craig, and they got worse after he died in 2019. Later that year when a scan revealed a mass that turned out to be ovarian cysts. But it took until last summer to finally be diagnosed with endometriosis, a condition where tissue similar to the lining of the womb grows elsewhere in the body, sometimes causing fertility problems along with bleeding and chronic pain, particularly during periods.

Affecting one in ten people assigned female at birth in the UK, endometriosis is almost as common as breast cancer, but most people with the condition are undiagnosed. It takes an average of seven years from the start of symptoms to diagnosis, meaning some suffer much of their teens, twenties and even into their thirties before knowing the cause. Their symptoms are often dismissed as a normal painful or heavy period, or put down to other conditions.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL STORY.

Labour Party kicks out rebel Liverpool Councillor

Liverpool Councillor Alan Gibbons has been expelled from the Labour Party. (Liverpool Echo)

Liverpool Councillor Alan Gibbons has been expelled from the Labour Party.

Cllr Gibbons represents the Warbreck ward and was suspended by the party in February, along with five other city councillors, after they signalled their intent to vote against the Labour group's council budget plan. The group went on to break the whip and vote against the budget, stating that they would not vote in favour of further cuts.

This weekend, the group of suspended councillors delivered an ultimatum to Labour bosses, telling them to make a decision on their future or they would take their own action. It has been widely rumoured that the suspended councillors will join with other ex-Labour members to form a new grouping on the council.

But ahead of an expected announcement, Cllr Gibbons has been informed that he has been expelled from the party altogether. However, the party said the decision was not related to the budget rebellion that he played a leading role in.But ahead of an expected announcement, Cllr Gibbons has been informed that he has been expelled from the party altogether. However, the party said the decision was not related to the budget rebellion that he played a leading role in.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL STORY.

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