Last updated 11:55, Saturday, 12 April 2008

A SECOND strike by coastguard workers over pay closed almost half the UK’s rescue centres yesterday and left the rest staffed by managers, according to union leaders.THE partner of Shannon Matthews’ mother was refused bail by magistrates yesterday on charges of possessing child pornography.LETTERS which tell the story of a passenger on the ill-fated Titanic fetched £19,129 when they went under the hammer yesterday.LETTERS written by James Bond creator Ian Fleming that reveal a close relationship with his typist Jean Frampton, who has been dubbed his Miss Moneypenny, sold for £14,340.KATE Middleton looked on proudly yesterday as her boyfriend Prince William was awarded his “wings”.PLANS to detonate a 1,500lb Second World War German mine which washed up on a beach were due to resume today after bomb disposal experts faced technical difficulties.A MEMORIAL service for former Manchester Chief Constable Michael Todd, 50, heard yesterday that he told his wife he loved her and was sorry just hours before killing himself.

The Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) said hundreds of its members at the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) walked out for 24 hours from 7am in protest at pay levels said to be “way below” other emergency services.

Another stoppage will be held on April 24, when up to 100,000 civil servants and thousands of teachers will also go on strike in separate rows over pay.

Shannon: Stepdad refused bail

Craig Meehan, 22, appeared before magistrates in Dewsbury, accused of possessing 140 indecent images of children. The case against Meehan was adjourned until April 18 when he will next appear before magistrates in the town.

Shannon Matthews went missing on February 19 and was found 24 days later. Several members of her family have been arrested in connection with her disappearance.

Titanic letter fetches £19,000

Businessman Charles Jones, who worked for Colgate toothpaste company in New York, sent the letters to a friend immediately before he died on the liner’s maiden voyage in 1912.

The letters were sold at Duke’s auction house in Dorchester, Dorset, to an American telephone bidder.

Bond notes raise £14,340

The entire collection, which included four signed letters by Fleming, was sold to a UK-based private collector over the telephone, the auction house said, and the price included the buyer’s premium.

William receives his wings

The young royal was joined at the ceremony by girlfriend Kate Middleton, who made her first appearance at an official engagement for more than two years. The couple were pictured walking together after the ceremony, held at the RAF’s spiritual home, RAF Cranwell in Lincolnshire.

The move will fuel speculation that William, 25 and Kate, 26, who rekindled their romance a few months after splitting last April, are permanently back together and could be heading towards marriage.

William earned his wings after more than 12 weeks training with the RAF – a feat which saw the Prince became the fourth successive generation of the monarchy to become an RAF pilot.

Four life sentences for rapist A SERIAL rapist, who subjected a mother-of-three to a terrifying knifepoint sex ordeal, was given four life sentences yesterday at London Crown Court.Powerfully-built crack addict Stephen Tanner, 44, lured her into his apartment and then kept the sobbing woman prisoner for two days.Convinced she would end up being murdered, she clambered barefoot from his fourth-floor balcony to the next apartment over a 50 ft drop to enter another flat and phone the police.Tanner, of St James’s Crescent, Brixton, south-west London – whose 27-year criminal career included more than 60 previous convictions – swaggered from the dock.

German mine washes up

The 10ft, 26-inch diameter bomb was washed up some seven miles from Hinckley Point nuclear power station, at Bridgwater Bay Nature Reserve. It is believed to be an explosive dropped from German aircraft to disrupt shipping lanes during the war.

German mine washes up PLANS were in place last night to detonate a 1,500lb Second World War German mine after it washed up on a beach.The Royal Navy, HM Coastguard, Natural England and Avon and Somerset Police, set up a one-mile exclusion zone around the 10ft, 26-inch diameter device after it was spotted by a fisherman in mud on Stert Island, Somerset.

Police chief sent love message

Carolyn Todd, 47, her voice breaking with emotion, spoke at the memorial service for her husband at Manchester Cathedral attended by more than 1,000 Vips, said: “My husband said to me in an email written on the Sunday evening before he died. ‘I know that I love you, sounds hollow but I do and I’m sorry’.”

Mr Todd was found dead on a Welsh mountainside last month.