Author: USA Facts News

Sarah Hall has insisted that her partner of 27 years, Simon Vickers, would ‘never harm’ their tragic daughter Scarlett intentionally, despite him being found guilty of her murder.

The 50-year-old was sentenced to life in prison and will serve a minimum of 15 years behind bars after a ‘play fight’ between him and the teenager turned sinister.

Scarlett suffered a 11cm-deep wound after a knife was plunged into her chest in the kitchen of her family home in Darlington and died from ‘catastrophic bleeding’.

Vickers maintained his innocence throughout his trial, insisting he did not mean to kill his daughter and that he thought he’d grabbed kitchen tongs rather than a blade.

The dad – who had been drinking wine, watching the Euros football and had smoked cannabis earlier in the day – and his daughter were initially throwing grapes at each other for fun.

Speaking to the BBC, Hall recounted the details of what went down on that fateful day, and how a ‘fun fight’ had ended in devastation.

The mother, who was the only other person present, said she thought it was ‘absurd’ that Vickers had been found guilty of the crime, which all stemmed from the family ‘mucking about by the back door’.

She explained that although he could have pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter and received a lesser sentence, the dad was determined to ‘stand up in court and tell them that he would never, ever harm’ Scarlett.

Hall said she ‘thought she’d misheard’ the verdict when it was read out, saying that her partner of almost three decades ‘never had a flash of anger’ and was ‘understanding, comforting and very supportive’.

“I was there that night,” the mum continued. “There were no arguments. There was no temper, no shouting.

“It’s just been a never-ending nightmare. How can I blame him for an accident when I know he’s in as much pain as I am?

“If I thought he’d done it deliberately then no, I wouldn’t have been here [doing this interview]. I would have protected her with my life, as would he.”

Vickers’ sentence will be reviewed by the Court of Appeal after Solicitor General Lucy Rigby KC said she believed it was ‘unduly lenient’.

“It is now for the court to decide whether to increase the sentence,” a spokesperson for the Attorney General’s Office said previously.

Hall had told Teesside Crown Court how Scarlett had then snipped at her father with the kitchen tongs and called him ‘wimpy’ when he said it hurt.

The mum claimed she then turned away to continue preparing food, before she then heard Scarlett yelp out in pain, only to turn around and see her bleeding profusely.

The parents insisted the 14-year-old’s death was a result of a ‘freak accident’, but a pathologist said that it was ‘practically impossible’ for the fatal injury to have been caused in the way Vickers claimed.

He was found guilty of murder, with the jury passing up the lesser charge of manslaughter, although the dad maintains that he accidentally swiped the knife across Scarlett’s chest without ill intent.

Hall – who was also initially charged with murder, before the case against her was later dropped – has continued to support her other half and back up the version of events he provided to police.

Scarlett’s grandfather also said Vickers would ‘never in a million years have hurt her deliberately’ after he was sentenced last month.

Her relatives have also attempted to reconstruct the crime scene in the hopes of working out how the young girl ended up being stabbed.

Hall remains adamant that her partner did not intend to take Scarlett’s life and how she will continue to stand by Vickers throughout his life sentence.

The PM made the revolutionary move this morning (13 March) in an announcement live on television with an audience surrounding him in Hull.

Sir Keir, who arrived in Downing Street last summer after beating Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives in the 2024 general election, said the move was partly due to previous governments and their approach to NHS England and how it should be run.

But it also came down to money and how the taxpayer’s cash was being sent on public services, with almost half of patients not seeing a doctor within 48 hours of asking for an appointment, according to data from the Nuffield Trust.

The latest NHS A&E waiting times also show things are slowly getting worse, with 12 hour waiting times in winter impacting 500,000 patients.

Why has Keir Starmer abolished NHS England?

First and foremost, NHS England is not the NHS. The prime minister is not axing the health care system used by millions every single day that is free at the point of use.

NHS England is the public body responsible with making sure the NHS runs smoothly in England, with a focus on training staff, keeping waiting times down, and improving the health of people living in the country.

But Sir Keir has said the body is now ‘overstretched, unfocused, trying to do too much, doing it badly’.

He said that previous Tory governments had made the wrong decision in moving NHS England away from central government.

What does NHS England do?

NHS England has a variety of functions, including ‘overseeing the delivery of safe and effective NHS services’ which involves making sure staff are trained and driving best practice forward.

It also decides how £134 billion of funding is distributed among the NHS, from hospitals to GP surgeries and outreach clinics, with a focus on ‘best value for the taxpayer’.

It also monitors and supports the performance of nearly 7,000 NHS organisations, holding them to account for service delivery, quality and safety.

NHS England is regularly involved in the country’s vaccination programme; a system it says helps save 10,000 lives a year. Innovative cancer treatment is also available to more than 100,000 patients through the Cancer Drugs Fund.

What will the future of the NHS in England look like?

Sir Keir said he wants to make sure money is meant spent in the areas that need it the most.

NHS England will be abolished, with management of the NHS in England brought back under government control.

He said there will be less bureaucracy with the money saved from that spent on ‘nurses, doctors, operations, and GP appointments’.

Questions are now being asked as to what the NHS in England will look like under government control, which will no doubt see Sir Keir be judged on whether he can make the NHS better for patients – and overstretched staff – under this radical move.

Will there be job losses?

Yes, thousands of jobs are being cut.

Sir Keir said that there was ‘duplication’ across NHS England in roles that staff carry out on a daily basis. He said that money saved from redundancies would be reinvested in the frontline of the NHS, not absorbed as a saving.

“Among the reasons we are abolishing it is because of the duplication,” he said. “So, if you can believe it, we’ve got a communications team in NHS England, we’ve got a communications team in the health department of government; we’ve got a strategy team in NHS England, a strategy team in the government department. We are duplicating things that could be done once.

“If we strip that out, which is what we are doing today, that then allows us to free up that money to put it where it needs to be, which is the front line.”

It comes after the Government confirmed earlier this week that the NHS England workforce will be cut in half, with its 13,000 workers reduced to 6,500. Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the abolition of the public body will ‘fix our broken NHS’.

The US came to an agreement with Ukraine on 11 March, as the two countries were on board with a 30-day ceasefire with Russia.

America also said they would be resuming military aid and intelligence with Ukraine.

However, Vladimir Putin’s appears to have ruled out what they are referring to as a short term fix.

“We believe that our goal is a long-term peaceful settlement, we strive for this, a peaceful settlement that takes into account the legitimate interests of our country, our well-known concerns,” Yuri Ushakov, an aide to the Russian President, told the Russia-1 TV channel.

“It seems to me that no one needs any steps that imitate peaceful actions in this situation.”

Trump previously said there could be a ‘very bad’ punishment for Putin if he didn’t accept the ceasefire with Ukraine.

He warned that the US could take actions ‘that wouldn’t be pleasant in a financial sense’ for Russia.

“We could do things very bad for Russia. Would be devastating for Russia. But I don’t want to do that because I want to see peace,” the 78-year-old explained.

“They never took anything from me. They took them from Obama and Bush, and they took from sleepy Joe Biden.

“With Biden, they wanted to take the whole country, but I think I’ve stopped that, but we’ll see.”

Sir Keir Starmer – who has just announced the abolishment of NHS England – called the agreement between the US and Ukraine a ‘remarkable breakthrough’.

Prior to Russia’s dismissal, the Prime Minister said: “I warmly welcome the agreement today in Jeddah and congratulate President Trump and President Zelensky for this remarkable breakthrough.

“This is an important moment for peace in Ukraine and we now all need to redouble our efforts to get to a lasting and secure peace as soon as possible.”

He added: “As both American and Ukrainian delegations have said, the ball is now in the Russian court. Russia must now agree to a ceasefire and an end to the fighting too.”

Trump has also said he would welcome Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy back into the Oval Office following their public spat last month (28 February).

The pair were sat in front of the cameras discussing the ongoing war in Russia, and a minerals agreement.

Although, it didn’t take long for things to boil over.

Vice President JD Vance told Zelenskyy that he should express gratitude for US’s military support to Ukraine.

Zelenskyy attempted to respond while highlighting the ongoing challenges his country still faces.

This is when Trump went on to criticise him, warning that Ukraine was ‘gambling with world war three’ without US support.

A man who suffered with stomach pains for months was told by GPs that it was just a case of gallstones or constipation.

After Kev Coles’ symptoms were dismissed by doctors last July, the 46-year-old was left stunned when he was eventually diagnosed with bowel cancer in September.

What is bowel cancer?

Bowel cancer, also known as colon cancer, is one of the most common types of the disease in the UK and can be found anywhere in the large bowel.

Cancer Research UK has also reported that bowel cancer rates are increasing amongst adults between 20 and 50, averaging to be up 7.3 per cent each year for in 30 to 39 year olds.

Father-of-seven Kev – from Stoke-on-Trent – was diagnosed with stage four cancer following a number of visits to the GP.

Wife Kayleigh Coles said Kev was prescribed laxatives and repeatedly sent home. However, in August last year, he started sweating ‘like he was under a shower’ and his skin turned yellow.

“He started to sweat like someone was tipping water over him and when he looked at me I noticed that he had gone completely yellow. Then he just vomited,” the 36-year-old said.

A scan later revealed that the cancer had spread to his liver, which was causing his skin to change colour.

Despite beginning chemotherapy in October, Kev has now suffered liver failure he has been told that he only has ‘weeks to a few months to live’.

Bowel cancer symptoms

According to the NHS, symptoms of bowel cancer may include:

• Changes in your pooing habits

• Blood in your poo (may look red or black)

• Bleeding from your bottom

• Feeling like you need to poo even if you’ve just been to the toilet

• Tummy pain

• A lump in your tummy

• Bloating

• Losing weight without trying

• Feeling very tired for no reason

Kayleigh added: “He didn’t have any of the other symptoms. The bowel cancer itself was symptomless, we only noticed once it spread to his liver. He never got blood in his stool like in the TV adverts.

“It has just been a shock to everybody. Even now it feels like a story. It doesn’t feel real most of the time. How can you get your head around something that happens this quickly.

“Just five months ago we were on holiday splashing each other in the sea, now he can’t stand up unaided. Life has been extremely hard. I am just making sure that I have as many seconds with him as I can.”

The non-departmental public body will be dismantled so that the NHS can be put back in its rightful place ‘at the heart of government, where it belongs’, the Labour leader said.

Starmer announced the bold new plans earlier today (13 March) while delivering a speech during a visit to Hull.

He promised that getting rid of NHS England will allow the health service to ‘focus on patients’, battle less bureaucracy and free up ‘more money for nurses’.

For those who don’t know, NHS England is the organisation which leads and manages the NHS in England to ‘ensure the provision of high-quality healthcare services’.

The repetition of those two words probably wasn’t the best choice for a name, as it’s quite likely that loads of Brits will wrongly presume that our publicly-funded healthcare system is going kaput.

But in the words of Starmer, NHS England really was something of an unnecessary ‘duplication’ of our beloved NHS – and the excess funds freed up from it’s demise can now be funnelled into frontline services instead.

According to the UK government website, NHS England works in tandem with NHS organisations to ‘deliver better outcomes for our patients and communities and provide value for taxpayers’.

This includes overseeing the budget, planning, delivery and day-to-day operations of the NHS, as well as directly commissioning general practitioners, dentists, optometrists and some specialist services.

But this description will likely be changed in the coming days, if it doesn’t completely vanish altogether, following Downing Street’s announcement about ditching NHS England.

And according to Sir Keir, the move could mark a huge turning point for our cash-strapped national health service.

Discussing his motivations, the PM explained: “I can’t in all honesty explain to the British people why they should spend their money on two layers of bureaucracy.

“That money could and should be spent on nurses, doctors, operations, GP appointments. So today, I can announce we’re going to cut bureaucracy, focus government on the priorities of working people, shift money to the frontline.

“So I’m bringing management of the NHS back into democratic control by abolishing the arms-length body, NHS England.”

Starmer said that decisions about billions of pounds of taxpayers money should not be taken by an ‘arms-length’ body.

He explained one of the biggest motivations for abolishing NHS England was the ‘duplication’ of services he mentioned.

Detailing just how similar both bodies were, Starmer said: “If you can believe it, we’ve got a communications team in NHS England, we’ve got a communications team in the health department of government.

“We’ve got a strategy team in NHS England, a strategy team in the government department. We’re duplicating things that could be done once.

“If we strip that out, which is what we’re doing today, that then allows us to free up that money, to put it where it needs to be, which is the front line.”

NHS England will be brought back into the Department of Health and Social Care instead – which is news that was welcomed by health secretary Wes Streeting.

“This is the final nail in the coffin of the disastrous 2012 reorganisation, which led to the longest waiting times, lowest patient satisfaction, and most expensive NHS in history,” he said of the plans.

“When money is so tight, we can’t justify such a complex bureaucracy with two organisations doing the same jobs.

“We need more doers, and fewer checkers, which is why I’m devolving resources and responsibilities to the NHS frontline.”

It comes just a month after NHS England boss Amanda Pritchard, who served as Chief Executive since 2021, resigned from her post.

Natalie ‘Nadya’ Suleman – commonly referred to as ‘Octomom’ – was already a mother of six when she had 12 embryo IVF treatments that allowed her to give birth to eight more children on 26 January, 2009 – bringing her brood to a total of 14.

Despite carrying eight babies at once, she shockingly claimed that the pregnancy had ‘zero complications’ – even though her swollen stomach was that big, it broke her ribs before she went into labour.

New docuseries I Was Octomom: The Natalie Suleman Story documents events from the mother-of-14’s own perspective. Take a look at a sneak peak below:

Following immense backlash when she went public with her controversial journey to motherhood, the California resident went back to her ‘old profession as a therapist working 40 hours a week’ in 2013.

Ahead of the docuseries on Lifetime, the 49-year-old told PEOPLE that taking her family out of the spotlight helped her deal ‘with her social anxiety’.

“Nobody knows – they look and they look away,” she said.

“It doesn’t draw any attention because people don’t want to look and stare.”

Natalie also would go out head-to-toe in protective clothing to not only shield herself from harmful UV rays, but people.

Natalie added: “The reality is I didn’t take time to sit and feel and process emotion because that’s when healing begins, when we sit in the pain and we sit in that uncomfortable feelings we don’t want to feel, that’s when we can start healing and growing and changing.

“My family and I are taking our life back. That was really stolen from the tabloid media in particular.

“They tried to destroy me, but they didn’t know. No one really knew anything about who we were as a family, who I am as a mother.”

A film about Natalie’s life, titled I Was Octomom: The Natalie Suleman Story, came out on 8 March, and saw Kristen Lee Gutoskie star as the controversial mother.

Then two days later, six-part documentary Confessions of Octomom released.

“It’s really sharing new experiences and new perspectives, and it gives new insights into the history and our present day life,” she explained. “We are a loving family and we’re there for each other. All of my kids are just very humble, grounded, kind people with good hearts

“I wasn’t happy as an only child, and clearly I projected my dream onto my kids and wanting a big, well, not this big of a family, but I did want seven kids.

“But it’s not enough to say I wanted a big family because I was lonely. There is an amalgamation of factors. I wanted kids to create maybe a safe and predictable little world that I lacked growing up. So then of course, I projected onto my future family.”

Kimberly Sullivan was arrested this week after a man identified as her 32-year-old stepson told police he intentionally set a fire at the house where the horrifying acts had allegedly happened.

The 56-year-old woman is now facing a number of charges, including assault, kidnapping, and unlawful restraint.

Police said in a statement that responders in Waterbury, Connecticut, responded to reports of an active fire in February where they rescued the man.

Sullivan was able to evacuate safely but he had suffered smoke inhalation and exposure to the fire and was placed in the care of emergency medical services.

While he was receiving treatment, police say he revealed he had intentionally started the fire in his upstairs room, telling them: “I wanted my freedom.”

He went on to allege that his stepmum had held him captive since he was about 11 years old.

Following these ‘alarming’ allegations, authorities launched an extensive investigation and came to a harrowing conclusion.

“Detectives determined that the victim had been held in captivity for over 20 years, enduring prolonged abuse, starvation, severe neglect, and inhumane treatment,” police said. “He was found in a severely emaciated condition and had not received medical or dental care during this time.”

It was also found that he had been provided with ‘only minimal amounts of food and water’, leading to him being in a ‘extremely malnourished condition’.

The victim told police that the situation got worse when his father died last year.

Sullivan appeared in court for arraignment yesterday (12 March), were prosecutors explained the man lit the fire with hand sanitiser and paper from a printer.

“He lit that fire very well knowing he could die, but he had been locked in the room for 20 years, and for 20 years he’d been trying to get out of that room,” they described, per WFSB-TV 3.

The woman has been charged with assault in the first degree, kidnapping in the second degree, unlawful restraint in the first degree, cruelty to persons, and reckless endangerment in the first degree.

She was ‘stunned to hear the allegations’ and denied them, according to her attorney.

“What she indicated to me was that they were absolutely not true, and as we get more information we intend to put up a vigorous defence,” Kaloidis said, per the Independent.

“But she’s adamant she did not do the things that she’s accused of.”

Waterbury Police Chief Fernando Spagnolo said in a statement: “The suffering this victim endured for over 20 years is both heartbreaking and unimaginable. This case required relentless investigative effort, and I commend the dedication of our officers and the Waterbury State’s Attorney’s Office. Their unwavering commitment ensured that justice is served, and the perpetrator is held fully accountable for these horrific crimes.”

Kev Coles was suffering for months with stomach pain as he suspected he was suffering from gallstones or constipation.

However, the 46-year-old was left completely shocked when he eventually received a cancer diagnosis.

The Stoke-on-Trent man’s wife, Kayleigh, encouraged him to first visit the doctors last July, where she claims he was sent away.

But Kev’s pain only worsened, and the dad-of-seven visited the GP several more times, apparently only being prescribed laxatives and repeatedly sent home. And on the 22 August, things took a turn for the worst.

“He started to sweat like someone was tipping water over him and when he looked at me I noticed that he had gone completely yellow,” Kayleigh recalled. “Then he just vomited.”

The couple spent ‘weeks’ insisting he had an immediate scan which led to doctors finding a nine-centimetre tumour in his bowel. It was also revealed that the cancer had spread to his liver, causing his yellow skin.

This came as a total shock to the couple after the ‘bowel cancer itself was symptomless’.

Kev then started chemotherapy in October. However, after sadly having now suffered liver failure, he has been told he only has ‘weeks to a few months to live’ and is receiving end of life care at home.

“It is so upsetting that he was sent away countless times with laxatives,” Kayleigh said.

She described life as a ‘whirlwind’ since his diagnosis, adding it’s ‘such a shame’ the cancer wasn’t found earlier.

“It should have been taken more seriously when he first came in with stomach pain. It was a silly mistake, and a deadly one,” she added.

“It is now incurable. There isn’t anything that can be done to save him. I am having to lose my best friend because people didn’t listen to him.”

Kayleigh noted that they ‘only noticed’ the cancer once it spread to his liver, with him never having ‘blood in his stool like in the TV adverts’.

Since his diagnosis, Kev has lost 35kg has been struggling with his mobility.

“Life has been extremely hard. I am just making sure that I have as many seconds with him as I can,” his wife added.

A GoFundMe page has now been set up to help with the family’s expenses and to help Kev keep his independence.

“There needs to be more awareness. If you have a stomach-ache then get it checked out, and please don’t feel that you are being overbearing,” Kayleigh urged.

A spokesperson for University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust said: “We would encourage Mr Coles to speak to our Patient Advice and Liaison Team to raise any concerns about care at UHNM so we can fully investigate.”

The White House has been a revolving door of European leaders over the last month, and Micheál Martin is the latest one to sit in the hot seat in the Oval Office, with him meeting with the president yesterday (12 March).

Trump has welcomed a host of heads of state in recent weeks, including UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, but Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy probably had the most memorable one.

Thankfully, Martin’s sit down wasn’t half as explosive… but of course, it didn’t exactly go off without a hitch either.

The Taoiseach – which means leader – presented the US President with a shamrock bowl during the St Patrick’s Day reception, which is a tradition between the US and Ireland that dates back to 1953. And after graciously receiving the gift, Trump decided to reciprocate by doling out a series of bizarre backhanded compliments to a bemused-looking Martin.

The pair quickly got down to business after getting the usual pleasantries and photo ops out of the way, and began to discuss the contentious topics of tariffs and trade.

The European Union – which Ireland has been part of since 1973 – announced it will impose retaliatory duties on the US in response to the introduction of tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports.

Trump didn’t seem phased about going toe to toe with the 27-member bloc, as he told reporters in the Oval Office: “Whatever they charge us with, we’re charging them.”

“We have been abused for a long time, and we will be abused no longer,” the 78-year-old added, while claiming that the EU ‘treats[the US] very badly’.

“The EU was set up in order to take advantage of the United States,” Trump fumed.

Poor Martin probably wanted the ground to swallow him up at this point – but little did he know, things were about to get a hell of a lot more awkward.

After claiming the EU exploits the US, Trump was then asked whether he thinks Ireland does too.

Without missing a beat, he responded: “Of course they are. I have great respect for Ireland, for what they did and they should have done just what they did. But the United States shouldn’t have let that happen. We had stupid leaders, we had leaders who didn’t have a clue.

“All of a sudden Ireland has our pharmaceutical companies, this beautiful island of five million people has got the entire US pharmaceutical industry in its grasp.”

Trump pointed out that he has property in Ireland and ‘loves’ it there, but says he still isn’t happy about Martin’s nation supposedly getting one over on the US.

He went on: “For instance, when the pharmaceutical companies started to go to Ireland, I would have said ‘that’s OK if you want to go to Ireland, I think it’s great, but if you want to sell anything into the United States I’m going to put a 200 percent tariff on you so you’re never going to be able to sell anything into the United States’.

“You know what they would have done? They would have stayed here.”

The Republican was then quizzed about how worried the Taoiseach should be about tariffs, to which Trump replied: “Well he doesn’t look nervous. And if he was nervous, he wouldn’t show it.

“We do have a massive deficit with Ireland. Because Ireland was very smart. They took our pharmaceutical companies away from presidents who didn’t know what they were doing. The Irish are smart. They’re smart people. We don’t want to do anything to hurt Ireland, but we do want fairness and [Martin] understands that.”

The Taoiseach told the commander-in-chief that the pharmaceutical companies ‘are doing very well in Ireland’ and suggested a deal could be discussed.

“I think there’s room for those companies to grow in America and many of them, by the way, have already announced fairly significant manufacturing investments now [in the US],” Martin said.

Still, I guess any White House meeting which doesn’t emulate Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s is considered a huge success, eh?

Trump also said that he ‘loves the Irish’, adding: “We’re always going to have that special friendship. The bond between our nations is as old as our country itself.”

While holidaying in Egypt and mucking around with his GoPro in the Red Sea, this bloke ended up picking up a highly venomous sea creature.

But he didn’t have a clue that he was handling an ocean dweller with deadly potential until a few months later when he shared a snap of it on social media.

The snorkeller, who is said to be named Frank, shared the image in a few animal-related threads on Reddit in the hopes of identifying the stunning ‘shell’ which he had found.

He explained: “I thought I just found a very pretty seashell and was thinking about taking it home as a souvenir.

“But I noticed it’s still alive, feeling some weight and movement inside, so I decided to at least take some pictures of it.”

Frank said he was informed months later that grasping a random item from the seabed is a ‘very bad idea’, so he was keen to find out exactly what he’d been clinging onto.

In an appeal to social media users, he added: “Could you help me ID exactly what it was and what kind of danger I was really in? Was it realistically a threat to my life?”

The short answer is yes – as although it might look like a standard shell with an interesting pattern, it’s actually something of a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

It might be lovely to look at, but the last thing you want to do is touch one…as it’s a textile cone snail, not a pretty shell.

These are ‘one of the most venomous creatures on earth’, according to non-profit Aquarium of the Pacific, which strike their prey with their harpoon-like hollow teeth.

It warns that they ‘rapidly jab’ their gnashers into their target to deploy toxic venom, which can cause severe pain, paralysis, and death.

Cone snails tend to live in the sand ‘beneath the coral and rocks in shallow waters’ and typically attack humans when they are stepped on in the ocean or picked up from the water.

Which just goes to show how you’re inquisitiveness could cost you your life, or at least a hospital trip, if you are not careful.

Aquarium of the Pacific adds: “The venom of the textile shell is very toxic and the sting is known to have caused human fatalities.”

Social media users couldn’t believe their eyes after seeing Frank’s holiday snap and flooded his post with comments reminding him just how lucky he is.

One person wrote: “Dodged a NUKE.”

A second said: “You’re lucky and you’re also foolish.”

A third added: “I’ve heard that most of the deaths from cone snails have happened when people put shells into their pockets to take home. You are SO lucky.”

A fourth joked: “Are you dead yet?”

While a fifth said: “Ok so now you know – DON’T TOUCH while scuba/snorkelling. This is a very good general rule not just for your safety (there are plenty of other unpleasant things that can happen besides death) but also necessary for health of the ecosystem that you’re enjoying.”

In response to the backlash, Frank explained that he was a tourist from an unspecified landlocked country who was more concerned about sharks and jellyfish than cone snails.

“I didn’t think for a moment about danger from this,” he added. “I’ll certainly never pick one up again.”

If you were wondering what could have happened to Frank if he had been stung, apparently it’s a seriously agonising experience.

The National Library of Medicine explains that each case depends on the species of snail and the victim themself, but the pain can range from ‘a sharp pricking sensation to unbearable pain’.

The sting can lead to local numbness or it can spread to ‘entire regions of the body’, causing some pretty concerning symptoms.

It can result in ‘initial weakness, sweating and visual changes to generalised muscle paralysis, respiratory failure, cardiovascular collapse and coma’, to name a few.

The National Library of Medicine also warns: “If a patient is untreated, death is rapid and often occurs within one to five hours.

“Less severe envenomations, resulting from contact with a molluscivore and vermivorous species, are milder in their toxic effects. These effects are also variable and may include numbness, paresthesias, and limb immobility.”

So next time you see a pretty shell, it’s probably best to admire it from a distance rather than having a full photoshoot with it like Frank.