A mother has told how she was left stunned when she received an electricity bill for more than £3,000 after British Gas FORGOTTEN to charge her for more than two years.

Julia Shields, from Bristol, usually pays the energy huge around £130 per month for delivery gas and electricity.

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But earlier this month she received a bill asking for £3,264.20 to date back to October 2021, when the company took over People’s Energy’s supply after it went bankrupt.

The 45-year-old said: “I opened the letter and couldn’t believe the figure I was staring at. We usually only pay a fraction of that, so I thought it was an administrative error and put it aside, thinking I would call when I had time.”

A few days later Julia called British Gas and was told there had been no mistake.

She continued: “They told me I owed them thousands of pounds because they hadn’t charged us for the whole time they had been supplying us with electricity.

“I was terrified about what to do next soil I would find things like that money. It dated from two and a half years ago. In today’s climate, it’s hard enough to feed a large family, and yet just to find extra money to pay off that kind of debt.

“They admitted on the phone that it was their fault and asked me to set up a payment plan. I refused to do that because it didn’t feel right that I would be left with a huge amount of debt because of someone else’s mistake.

“We had given them the readings and someone had even come by to check the meter. We didn’t notice it the bill was for gas only, we have just received a bill with the British Gas heading at the top and paid the amount.

The concerned mum scoured the internet for rules and discovered that according to energy watchdog Ofgem’s website, if you haven’t received an accurate gas or electricity bill for more than a year, you may not have to pay for all the energy you’ve used. .

Ofgem’s website states: “Under back-billing rules, your supplier usually cannot bill you for the energy you used 12 months ago.

“The rules for retrospective invoicing do not apply if the supplier has sent you an invoice before the end of the year and you have not paid.”

Writer Julia, mother of squirter Will, 20, Ally, 16, Eric, 13, and ten-year-old Ted, said this was the first bill she had received.

She has now written a complaint to British Gas, detailing the ruling in Ofgem, and is waiting for a response.

A spokesperson for British Gas told The Sun: “We have contacted Mr Shields to reassure him that the bill, which includes previously unbilled electricity, will be recalculated under post-billing rules.

“We understand this is frustrating and we will continue to stay in touch with them as we update their account.”

An Ofgem spokesperson said: “Suppliers must comply with strict rules to protect vulnerable households, including repayment plans. While suppliers can issue a catch-up invoice if customers have been undercharged, they cannot reclaim charges that are more than twelve months old.

“If a customer is not satisfied with the service they have received regarding their billing, they can file a complaint with the Energy Ombudsman. More advice is available on the Ofgem and Citizens Advice websites.

It comes as British Gas has expanded an initiative to offer customers half-price electricity.

The energy supplier has postponed the closing date of its ‘Peak Save’ scheme from today to March 31.

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A Vermont driver who killed actor Treat Williams in a car crash has avoided jail after pleading guilty to a reduced charge at the request of the victim’s family.

Ryan Koss received a one-year deferred sentence, had his driver’s license revoked for one year and must complete a community restorative justice program.

Koss, 35, killed Williams, 71, after crashing his SUV into the victim’s motorcycle on the motorway in Dorset on June 12 last year.

“I am here to apologize and take responsibility for this tragic accident,” Koss said during an emotional hearing on Friday, where he also offered his condolences to Williams’ family and fans.

“I forgive you, and I hope you forgive yourself,” said Williams’ son Gill Williams, 32, as he addressed Koss in court and told him the family did not want to press charges or see him jailed.

But he also added, “I really wish you hadn’t killed my father.” I really had to say that.’

Koss, who worked as managing creative director of the Dorset Theater Festival in Vermont, had known Williams for years through his work and considered him a friend.

After the crash, he called Williams’ wife to tell her what happened and took responsibility for what happened, County Attorney Erica Marthage said.

Gill Williams said his father was “everything” to their family and was an extraordinary person who lived life to the fullest, and it is now difficult to figure out how to move on.

“It’s very difficult for this to happen because of someone’s negligence,” he said, urging people to take driving much more seriously and keep an eye out for motorcycles.

Statements from Williams’ wife, Pam, and his daughter, neither of whom attended the court hearing, were read out.

Pam Williams said in her statement that it was a tragic accident and that she hopes Koss can forgive himself.

“Our lives will never be the same, our family is torn apart and there is a huge hole that will be impossible to fill,” Pam Williams wrote in her statement.

Daughter Ellie Williams wrote in her statement that she was too angry and hurt at the time to forgive Koss, but hopes she will do so in the future.

‘I will never feel my father’s hug again; “I can get his advice again, introduce him to my future husband, walk him down the aisle, introduce him to my babies, and have him cry when I name my first son after him,” a victim’s attorney said as he read her. rack.

An eyewitness told DailyMail.com that Koss collided with the motorcycle, causing Williams to fly off his bike.

The TV star, who was wearing a helmet, was then left sprawled on the pavement a few meters from his motorcycle.

Reports released by Vermont State Police indicated Williams didn’t stand a chance when Koss’ Honda crossed into the northbound lane of V-30 in his 1986 Honda VT700c motorcycle around 4:53 p.m.

The police report states that “Williams was unable to avoid a collision and was thrown from his motorcycle.” It was also confirmed that Koss was not drunk.

The Golden Globe-nominated actor was taken to hospital with serious injuries before being pronounced dead.

Koss originally pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor count of gross negligence resulting in death. Had he been convicted of this charge, he could have been sentenced to up to 15 years in prison.

Williams’ nearly 50-year career included starring roles in the TV series “Everwood” and the film “Hair.”

He has appeared in more than 120 TV and film roles, including the films ‘The Eagle Has Landed’, ‘Prince of the City’ and ‘Once Upon a Time in America’.

A father who has been billed more than £20,000 by British Gas has expressed his anger after the company admitted to 'ignoring' his meter readings for months.

Keir Waugh, 38, from Whitby, North Yorkshire, received a handful of four-figure fines in 2023.

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But the utility giant reportedly rescinded those fees after local outlet ChronicleLive published a story detailing the problem.

However, charity worker Keir was given a final bill of £1,016.61, despite British Gas using the estimated meter reading six times between April 2021 and September 2023 – with the seventh not being read.

After filing a complaint, British Gas admitted that they had “ignored the meter readings”, according to ChronicleLive.

The company then re-charged Keir with the correct meter readings and deducted £405 from his account following their error.

Despite the total being reduced, Keir questioned why British Gas had not approved the payment.

“I paid in good conscience, I paid what the company told me I owed them,” he said.

“I have provided the meter readings, I have done what I am legally obliged to do as a customer.

“British Gas sent me a bill for that. It's not my fault two years later they made this catastrophic mistake and think they can collect it this way.”

Keir warned others to be vigilant and not get stung the way he did.

He continued: “It is very important to emphasize at this point that when you provide a meter reading and log into their app, you do not have to look at your bill.

“You don't see the word 'estimated' anywhere (on the app).

“They have a fundamentally flawed system and that may be naive on my part. But if they acknowledged my meter reading and then submitted a bill, why would I open it?”

“I am frustrated that there is still no apology for all the bills, but it is now a bigger concern because I have to go to the Ombudsman and they have given me 12 months to resolve it.

'I don't want to be sitting here in six months' time and them saying British Gas is completely wrong, but you still have to pay.

“They are the ones who failed, and there comes a point where as a utility you have to accept your own fault.”

“We spoke to Mr Waugh in January to apologise,” a British Gas spokesperson said in a statement.

“We have reduced his balance, offered a goodwill loan and are advising on any further help and support that may be available.”

A bruised but unbowed Christian Horner insisted on Thursday that he has the full support of former Spice Girl wife Geri, following allegations of 'controlling behaviour' by a female colleague.

He also stated that he will still be Red Bull team boss when the Formula 1 season starts in Bahrain on March 2.

The 50-year-old Englishman is among the most successful figures in the sport's history and held a series of media interviews at the team's car launch in Milton Keynes amid the biggest crisis of his career. He categorically denies the claims.

For the first time since the story broke last week, he talked about “business as usual.” That is of course not entirely true. This controversy overshadows preparations for Red Bull's upcoming title defense. Still, whatever else happened, Horner showed courage in sticking to his planned media engagements (although what would it have looked like if he had shirked his duties?).

To be honest, Horner was a bit ashen, and not his usual funny self. Normally on launch days like this he would have made a few jokes. Maybe he commented on someone's shoes or made a playful cut to the ribs. But even though he didn't joke at all during his lunch dates, he refused to be written off.

Ahead of the tests in Bahrain next week, ahead of the first race in the Gulf kingdom, he said: 'I have a very supportive family and a very supportive wife.

'My focus was on the track and the coming season.'

When asked if he would be in Bahrain, he replied: “Yes.”

There is no timetable for the completion of the investigation into his alleged conduct; a process is being conducted by an external lawyer, an English QC, whose name has not been disclosed. Horner argued his defense against him for eight hours last Friday.

Thanks to Red Bull, they kept their launch personal. Ferrari, on the other hand, put theirs on Zoom. They also failed to make a virtue of the exciting news that they have signed Lewis Hamilton for 2025.

Questions were censored and deflected. Signing the seven-time world champion was reason to shout from the rooftops. And Mercedes, even worse, performed a bloodless virtual launch that lasted nine minutes.

Although Horner showed up, the back and forth of evidence between prosecutor and defendant means he is advised not to discuss the intricacies of it all for now.

However, he said: 'There is a day's work that we have to work on. I feel the support within the company and our partners, and within the sector. It's overwhelming.

'There is currently a process underway. There have been some allegations made, which I completely deny, and I have fully complied with that process and will continue to do so until it is resolved.

“Moments of uncertainty bring us together and I have never seen a team more together and supportive than it is.

“Everyone is focused on one thing, which is the performance of that car to go out and defend both world titles that we have worked so hard for over the years.

“So everyone has invested in the car and I'm looking forward to seeing it in action in Bahrain next week.

“I am absolutely committed to this team. I've been here since the beginning. I built this team. There have been highs and lows along the way.

'We won 113 races. Won seven world drivers' championships. We have won six Constructors' World Championships. All in 19 seasons and that is in the history books.

“But it's what lies ahead that is important. So my focus is on the future. The intention is for Red Bull's powertrains to become a start-up engine company. We have an advanced technological business system that produces the first ever Red Bull track car. There's a lot going on on campus.

“I've been back to back in the office doing my work.”

Several key Red Bull figures were present in Milton Keynes – which employs 1,500 staff – for the launch, including those from the energy drinks company's headquarters in Salzburg, including director Oliver Mintzlaff, former CEO of football club RB Leipzig.

He and Horner spoke for a few moments. Mintzlaff also spoke briefly to Max Verstappen, Horner's star driver, who said relations with his team boss were 'as normal'.

There is some sense in suggesting that there is a move in Salzburg to clip Horner's wings, a plot that pits the Austrian contingent against Chalerm Yoovidhya, the Thai billionaire heir to the company (who was not in Milton on Thursday Keynes was, but probably a Horner financier).

Whatever the Horner investigation will reveal, Formula 1 has a penchant for vilification, making scheming Tory backbenchers look like Anchorite monks. But for now, Horner refuses to be deposed.

Opening her monthly expense spreadsheet on her laptop Rachel Taylor, 29, enters this month's bills.

Then the carer turns to her boyfriend of 18 months and reminds him he has £350 to pay in rent.

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Bar manager Joe Hutchins, 26, looks up and grimaces before transferring the money to his 'landlord girlfriend's account.

“I charge my husband rent and I wouldn't have it any other way. He may be my lover and baby daddy, but when it comes to finances I am all business,” Rachel tells Sun Money.

“This Valentine's Day we celebrate our love. I will also celebrate my tough approach to finances.

“It's my apartment and Joe has to pay rent. His Valentine's Day gift to me could be roses and paying his rent on time.”

“I know people will troll me. Others will tell me that my attitude is selfish. I'm sure some people will argue that I take advantage of my guy and that makes me a bad girlfriend!

“When I told some of my friends that I was charging my husband rent, they were honestly shocked. In fact, someone told me I was greedy.

“At first I was shocked, but I'm not a doormat. I want good relationship boundaries and a clinical-business approach to money is the best way to do that.

Rachel's no-nonsense approach to her landlord and friend getting her husband paid at the end of each month is not unusual.

Half of people would charge rent to their partner

A survey by TurboTenant found that 51% of people would charge their partner rent to move into a home they own.

The research found that three in five women (59%) would charge their partner rent.

While a third of respondents would like separate rental agreements if they are going to live with a partner.

The research shows that financial security and the fact that more single women are buying property themselves than ever before are two of the main reasons behind the rise in “partner rents”.

In Rachel's case, she bought her two-bedroom flat in Exeter, Devon, three years ago for £130,000, with a £19,000 deposit.

“From the age of fifteen I worked part-time on weekends as a nanny. When I left school I worked in administration and healthcare while studying for a consultant qualification,” she says.

“I have saved every penny to get on the property ladder. The flat is nothing special, but it is a certainty for my future.”

Rachel's mortgage is £600 a month and she charges Joe £350 and she pays the remaining £250.

“I think what shocks people the most is that I make him pay more than half of the mortgage in rent,” she adds.

The couple split their other expenses fifty-fifty, including council tax, heating and water bills.

“We all pay our own telephone bills. When we go out we share the costs. It works for us,” she says.

I was shocked by her no-nonsense approach

Rachel's partner Joe

Rachel met Joe on Tinder when she swiped on her husband's profile in April 2022.

Rachel traveled to Truro to meet Joe a month later.

“He worked there. We hit it off and I visited again two weeks later,” she says.

“I've had a number of different relationships. I wanted a guy who wasn't just about 'looks' and who was genuine.

“In my previous relationship I had been generous with money and two boyfriends left me with debts they had incurred on my credit card. This time I wasn't willing to let that happen,” says Rachel.

“Joe was three years younger than me. I thought he would be a 'jack the lad', but he turned out to be a real goalkeeper.”

Joe moved to Plymouth within three months of their meeting to work as a bar manager.

“I invited him to move in with me, but told him he would have to pay rent. I told him that my past relationships had made me wary of mixing love and money,” she says.

Rachel explained that she wanted them to love each other, but that they would initially keep their finances separate.

“I was shocked by her no-nonsense approach. But I understood.

“I didn't expect a free ride. I had friends who left me bills and I respected Rachel because she was so businesslike,” Joe says.

Within two months of moving in, Rachel discovered she was pregnant and the couple welcomed their first child, Arthur, in March last year.

“Being pregnant didn't change my 'landlord-girlfriend' approach. It made me happy that I was so financially savvy,” she says.

Now the couple split the costs for their son equally.

“It's a relief that we can talk so openly and honestly about our finances. It's not a love topic, but not everything can be a bed of roses,” Rachel explains.

The couple also have an agreement to each save £200 or more a month in separate accounts so they can buy a house together.

“We set goals together. I have my apartment and if we buy a house together, I will sell this property or keep it rented out.”

Joe, who admits he often enjoys spending money on clothes or a night out, admits his partner's no-nonsense approach to money has taught him to be a better saver and take control of his finances.

“Every month I know what my rent is. I know what savings goal I need to achieve and what costs I need to pay,” says Joe.

“It has made us stronger as a couple and with our little boy it means we feel secure about our future and his future.”

Joe admits that if he owned a house and Rachel moved in, he would charge her rent.

“It is logical. I see so many couples fall in love and the relationship ends because of arguments over money.”

'Rachel is not controlling, she is sensible. She has inspired me to know my worth and be a better saver.

According to Rachel, many people claim that her approach is 'unromantic' and takes the love out of her love life.

“That is not true. If anything, it makes our lives easier. We never argue about money,” she says.

“That means we are more relaxed and supporting each other's careers and raising our son.”

“I think if more single people did this, they would be single on Valentine's Day.

“Basically, charging your partner rent keeps you together.

“I know people will argue that it's a taboo thing to do. Some say if you love someone, you shouldn't make them pay the rent.

Others will say it means I don't trust the relationship to last.

“Those comments make me laugh. They're just old fashioned. I love my husband. I love our life and I know it is a forever relationship. But when it comes to money, I don't think with my heart, I think with my head.

“As long as Joe pays his rent on time and gives me some flowers for Valentine's Day, I'm happy.

“I would rather have him save more money for a house this month than spend money on February 14. Valentine's Day is one day, money and budgeting are forever.”

A FOOTBALL MANAGER addict has become the boss of a professional team that has been relegated twice in a row at just 27 years old.

Orri Thorisson claims he has spent eight percent of his life playing the computer game.

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And Icelandic fourth-tier side KV admit they have gone a “different route” by appointing the rookie to their top job.

Chairman Auounn Orn Gylfason agrees that Thorisson does not have a “magic wand”.

But he does have a wizard record on Football Manager.

Thorisson recently won his sixth consecutive Premier League crown with Leicester City – at least, on his keyboard and screen.

He logged 600 hours of playing time to achieve that feat… no doubt at the King Powered-up Stadium.

But that's not all it seems: until last year, he was a gamer of two halves.

Thorisson shared his love for Football Manager online with almost equal playing time on the pitch.

But hip surgery ended his physically active career, leaving him feeling like he had “lost something in my life.”

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But incredibly, Thorisson was quickly appointed head coach of sixth-tier Kria, thanks to his friends who owned the local club.

He immediately won promotion after 13 wins in 16 games, before agreeing to move to KV on a one-year contract.

Thorisson insists Football Manager has helped him in the dugout and in tackling personal demons.

He told Sports Bible: “I really believe it has had a positive impact on my real-life management skills.

“The game's intricate mechanics, strategic decision-making, and pressure-packed scenarios have allowed me to hone my analytical thinking and problem-solving skills.”

Thorisson also called the game a “therapeutic escape during more difficult periods in my life”.

He added: “I find solace and distraction playing the game and it allows my mind to disconnect from the problems of the real world.

“I know it sounds bad, but if I do well in the game, I feel like I'm doing well in life.

“For me it is the thrill of leading your favorite team to victory and the satisfaction of nurturing young talents.

The job could be a really good stepping stone… And having some extra income for my family, including my pregnant girlfriend, is huge.

Orri Thorisson

“Oh, and the 4-2-3-1 formation I've used throughout my FM career? I'll definitely be playing some form of that tactic in real life.”

Thorisson dreams of one day being able to match the levels he has achieved in gaming with real-life achievements.

He said: 'I took the job knowing it could be a really good stepping stone in my career.

“And to have some extra income to take care of my family, including my pregnant girlfriend, is huge.”

Club chief executive Gylfason admitted: “We know that success in Football Manager doesn't just happen with the wave of a magic wand.

“You have to understand the game well and time will tell if he can live up to our expectations in real life.”

After six months of waiting, hoping, worrying, the email finally arrived. I took several deep breaths to calm my racing heart before clicking on the attachment. Scanning through the opening paragraphs of HR jargon, I reached a paragraph bluntly entitled: ‘Rape’.

It read: ‘Despite trying, [we were] unable to speak to the alleged perpetrator.’ There were a few further lines noting that my experiences must have been ‘difficult’ and that I was ‘brave’ for taking part in the investigation.

And that, as far I could see, was that.

At work at the time, I was left sobbing in a corner of my office. I had upturned my life once more, torn open old wounds, gone over and over it — and for what? To be left feeling that what had happened didn’t matter; that I didn’t matter.

Seven years before, just eight days after my 18th birthday, I had been raped. A devastating ordeal that had triggered a spiral of shame and self-recrimination, impacted subsequent relationships and led to estrangement from my family and a suicide attempt.

My rapist had been a colleague from McDonald’s, where I had worked part-time. The email was from the fast-food giant after they conducted an investigation triggered by my writing about the attack in this newspaper.

I had felt compelled to speak out last summer when headlines abounded about the toxicity of the work culture at McDonald’s. Employees alleged that sexual assaults, racism and homophobia were rife. In a BBC investigation, one former employee alleged that a male co-worker would touch much younger female staff sexually, in the cramped confines of the kitchen.

Telling the world about the most vulnerable moment of my life was the scariest decision I had ever made, but when McDonald’s got in touch, wanting to investigate the ‘appalling and deeply disturbing’ allegations, I again summoned all the strength I could muster.

I endured a three-hour interview with the external lawyer McDonald’s had assigned to investigate, provided contact details for key witnesses, a recording of the harrowing two-hour police interview that had ultimately led to nothing and police screenshots of the text messages my rapist sent admitting he raped me.

Doing so was re-traumatising on many levels, but I told myself it was worth the pain if it finally resulted in some sort of justice. So to be dismissed via email felt bruising, to say the very least.

Tragically, my case is a single drop in an ocean of women let down by an inept judicial system. In the year to December 2021, there were 67,125 rape offences recorded — an all-time high. Only 5 per cent of those resulted in a charge, and it can be up to five years before cases actually reach court. I now know that the corporate world is no different.

I had just turned 17 when I joined McDonald’s while studying for my A-levels. Initially everything seemed normal. But over the next few months, there was a creeping sense of apprehension attached to shifts which I didn’t quite understand.

I was deemed young and pretty enough to be put in customer-facing roles: ‘t**s on tills’, as the unspoken rule decreed. I began to notice that male employees made up excuses to talk and flirt with me away from prying eyes.

My rapist often worked out of view of the main restaurant and kitchen. He would corner me in corridors, make up excuses to talk to me and send flirtatious online messages. I thought of him as somewhat over-friendly, but nevertheless kind. But when I told him I was leaving in late 2016, everything changed.

He claimed to be devastated, saying he’d had a crush on me since my first ever shift and had been terrified to tell me. He said he was determined to make me his girlfriend and, after weeks of coercion, I agreed to meet with him one morning, not long after my final shift. He insisted on coming to see me at my home.

Once there he assaulted me, forced me to carry out sex acts on him and raped me.

I am convinced this man felt he could act with impunity because of the grossly misogynistic attitude among male staff members that the BBC’s investigation found was pervasive across the whole corporation.

He may not have punched me or strangled me, but the pain I felt that day was the worst of my life.

I had never had sex before, so when he suddenly plunged his hand down my underwear and three of his fingers inside of me, my body clamped into a spasm of shock. I said all the ‘right’ things. I told him I didn’t want to. I told him he was hurting me. I said no. Reduced to desperation, I was left begging him to stop.

But he pushed me to the floor, was on top of me, and in a split second I knew there was nothing that I could do to stop him. Pure terror took over and I froze.

Afterwards, he acted as if nothing had happened. Petrified and still in shock, it wasn’t until hours later, when I phoned ChildLine in tears, that I began to realise what he had done to me. Desperate to rid myself of his lingering presence, I showered and threw my clothes in the wash — but in doing so I inadvertently destroyed vital DNA evidence. I never wore the clothes again.

The next day, my best friend and I sent a message confronting my attacker. I felt physically sick when he responded by claiming he ‘didn’t really understand’ when I told him no and begged him to stop.

It astounds me still that he didn’t ever deny that he had raped me. Instead, he said he ‘would never treat you like that ever again’, and ‘I care about you more than anything’.

It was ten days before I found the courage to tell the family member I was living with. Then I went to the police, recounting the attack in a gruelling video interview. I allowed them full access to phone records, employment history, school reports. Yet again, I did the ‘right’ thing.

But they submitted the file to the CPS five months later, by which time the CPS concluded there was not enough evidence to convict my attacker. The police took great care to explain that it was my fault it had resulted in no prosecution — despite the fact that they failed to interview witnesses until months after I reported the attack; they also repeatedly failed to turn up to scheduled interviews with them.

Because the rape had happened after the end of my contract, I never thought to report it to McDonald’s.

Meanwhile, the attack continued to take its toll on me. At university I became suicidal and was admitted to hospital after self-harming. A matter of months later I was again rushed to A&E after overdosing.

In the seven years since, I have rebuilt my life, forged a successful career as a writer and finally feel as if this attack no longer controls my life.

And after speaking out, publicly, McDonald’s took my allegations seriously, naming them ‘appalling and deeply disturbing’. The company said it wished to ‘investigate thoroughly and take the swiftest necessary action’.

It passed on a phone number for me to call, and a member of their team gave me the spiel about how McDonald’s was improving as a company and was keen to investigate the rape, the circumstances leading up to it, and the wider working atmosphere in the restaurant where I was employed.

A week later I was contacted by the law firm hired to investigate its failings. In a single three-hour interview, the KC told me he didn’t need to ask me many questions about the rape because I had provided him with the police documents.

Looking back at the two-hour tape of the police interview is one of the hardest things I have ever done. Watching my broken self, my blank stare, my sobs, my shock as I was asked question after question — ‘Who took off your underwear?’ ‘Did it hurt?’ ‘Did you tell him it hurt?’ ‘How many times did you tell him to stop?’ — is not something I would wish on anyone. Even him.

The only question the lawyer asked was whether it was ‘only the sexual intercourse’ I had not agreed to. I had to explain how I did not consent to anything that man did to me that day — and how, at each moment, I clearly expressed that lack of consent. I answered everything he asked about work practices in detail. I gave him phone numbers and email addresses for key witnesses, including my best friend.

I never spoke to the lawyer again, and although he did get in touch with some of my former colleagues to discuss the working environment, he never contacted anyone who knew I had been raped.

Nearly six months later, I received the outcome via email. A member of the HR team phoned me to discuss it four days later. To my surprise, she was under the impression I had been regularly updated throughout the process.

She was shocked when I told her I had had no contact with anyone in months. She later told me that they ‘had expected our investigators to maintain contact with people throughout the process’.

Since that call, I now know, emphatically, that there will never be any accountability or punishment for the man who did this to me — as they had been ‘unable to speak to the alleged perpetrator’.

It wasn’t until a subsequent email that McDonald’s explained what this meant. They had sent a single message to the email address they had for him on file, only to receive no response. They told me that in such a situation there was ‘nothing that we can do’ to force him to respond, as they do not have statutory powers to investigate crimes. The investigation into the rape ended.

Though the attack did not happen on McDonald’s premises, and took place after I left the company, I strongly feel that it was only possible because of my McDonald’s bosses turning a blind eye to predatory behaviour during my time in the workplace.

McDonald’s external lawyer found that ‘it was common for female employees to be placed in customer facing roles’ — in reference to the ‘t**s on tills’ tactic. He also found that, amongst other things, ‘in the past, some male crew members, on occasion, made comments to and about their female colleagues’.

They assured me that policies have since been updated to protect staff. Despite this, I believe the ‘investigation’ was a hollow display of concern for PR purposes. This had been my final chance at receiving any sort of recognition for what I have been through.

I held out the vain hope that, finally, my rapist would face some semblance of punishment. Or, at the very least, that my ordeal would be more fully acknowledged by those who failed to implement protective measures for their staff. Instead, I am left with an egregious sense of injustice. The pain of re-probing such a hopeless period of my life was, unequivocally, not worth this.

A McDonald’s spokesperson told the Mail: ‘Last year, Elizabeth contacted us to report an incident involving a former colleague, in a non-work environment, that occurred a few months after she finished her employment with us. We immediately ordered an independent King’s Counsel-led investigation pursuing every available line of inquiry.

‘These allegations came to light after both employees had left the business, limiting the KC’s powers of inquiry and recourse.

‘While we fully appreciate that the findings do not reflect the conclusion that Elizabeth was seeking, this does not in any way undermine her courage in coming forward. There is absolutely no place for harassment, abuse, or discrimination of any kind at McDonald’s; all proven breaches of our code of conduct will be met with the most severe measures we can legally impose, up to and including dismissal.’

In reference to the police investigation, a West Mercia Police spokesperson told the Mail: ‘We launched an investigation as soon as we received the report. An arrest was made within 24 hours, all available evidence was gathered, and a file submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service less than five months later. We commend Miss Haigh for her bravery in talking about her experiences and are sorry to hear she was unhappy with the handling of her case.’

Their words give me no comfort. My attacker stole years of my life. I didn’t have sex again for three years after the attack. I developed such severe vaginismus — where feelings of fear cause your vaginal muscles to uncontrollably tighten in response to attempts at penetration — that it was, for a time, impossible. Even to this day, relationships remain hard.

The attack still haunts my waking moments, reappearing in torrid nightmares. It will never leave me. Yet my rapist roams free.

Meanwhile, I must scrape together the remnants of my mental health and restart my life once again following this latest setback. I shared my story last year because I wanted someone to be held accountable. I am losing hope anyone ever will be.

• If you are affected by any of the issues in this article, contact Rape Crisis on 0808 500 2222, or the Samaritans on 116 123.

A self-proclaimed ‘messiah’ decapitated his 68-year-old father – then held up the victim’s head in a politically-charged YouTube video blasting the federal government and the Biden administration.

Justin Mohn, 32, is in custody in Pennsylvania after his father Michael was found by his wife, beheaded, inside the home that the trio shared in the quiet Philadelphia suburb of Levittown. 

Early Wednesday, the suspect was charged with murder in the first degree, abuse of a corpse and possession of an instrument of crime with intent.

Hours before his arrest, Mohn held up what he claimed was his father’s head during a politically charged rant in which he claimed that he was the president of the United State that he posted on his YouTube channel.  

Mohn said many saw him as the messiah, and wanted him as president, while urging relatives living with federal employees to murder them. He blamed the federal government for ‘woke mobs’ and migrants he claims are destroying the United States, and ranted against ‘globalists and communists’.

The appalling 14 minute clip – which remained on YouTube for six hours after it was posted at 5:30pm, before being taken down – sees Mohn hold up his father’s head in a bloodied plastic bag, having declared: ‘Violence is the only solution to the federal government’s treason.’

He says: ‘This is the head of Mike Mohn, a federal employee of over 20 years and my father. He is now in hell for eternity as a traitor to his country.’ 

DailyMail.com has been unable to confirm whether Mike Mohn was a federal employee. Retirement age for federal employees is typically 62 years old. 

DailyMail.com has chosen to obscure the disturbing images from the clip. Officially, police have called Michael Mohn’s death as ‘suspicious.’

LevitttownNow said Mohn was arrested after 9pm ET on Tuesday, in Fort Indiana Gap in central Pennsylvania, around two hours from his last known residence, driving his father’s car. He will be taken back to Bucks County, where his father was found dead. 

Police first located his car and then arrested the suspect nearby.  

They confirmed the victim had been beheaded and that the YouTube video was part of the same investigation. 

Police were first called to the house just after 7pm on Tuesday and found a headless body in its bathroom, said Chief Joe Bartorilla of Middletown Police Department.

‘We got called to the home and officers went in and discovered the father upstairs deceased,’ he said.

‘We’re getting contacted by some people in the community that know us, and know him and his family. 

‘And we’re hearing a lot. Obviously he’s well known in the community just by the calls we’re getting.’ 

Bartorilla said he had warned the family about the video.

‘I know he has siblings. We have told (the victim’s wife) to notify them before they see the video, or the video is sent to them,’ he added.

Mohn is listed as living there with his father; his mother Denice, 63; his brother Zachary, 35, and his sister Stephanie, 38. 

His father is believed to have owned two businesses – a cleaning company, and a literacy initiative, neither of which appear to be linked to the federal government. 

The video was posted on Mohn’s YouTube channel, where he had 115 followers. There are now only four videos on the channel, which feature him singing out of tune and playing music, with a photo of his face.

In the beheading clip, he rants about taxes, declaring that the economy is ‘near destruction’ and most Americans can ‘no longer afford the American dream.’

Mohn went on to say he was offering a $1 million bounty to anyone who could kill top officials including FBI Director Christopher Wray, Attorney General Merrick Garland and former Attorney General Bill Barr. 

He said there was a ‘globalist and communist’ plot against the United State, before ranting about the federal government and holding up his dad’s head in a silver bucket.

Mohn’s rant continued, addressing US postal workers, journalists, federal debt and the federal reserve, the border crisis, Antifa and the woke agenda.  

He said ‘the traitorous Biden regime’ wanted to send ‘America’s military overseas to fight for Ukraine and die in a Russian winter.’

Mohn ranted against ‘tax-evading big tech companies’ and those behind the U.S. prison system.

Mohn railed against a ‘network of evil’ he said was ‘plaguing’ America. 

He claimed to have worked as a contractor for Microsoft, and saw how the company was ‘evading billions of dollars in taxes’. He claimed he ‘whistleblew to the IRS about five years ago, but they simply looked the other way.’ 

Mohn said he had uncovered a scheme while living in Colorado, whereby the companies created ‘a constant level of unemployment, and a constant level of homelessness, and a constant level of crime, to fill up the prisons.’ 

Mohn said: ‘When I filed a complaint to the FBI of this labor racketing, they showed up at my door to threaten me with arrest.’ 

The deeply disturbed Mohn said ‘Satan wants America to fall so he can unleash his plan on the world.’

Mohn then proclaimed: ‘I and many other leaders know how to fix America, but we have to fight for it.’ 

He said many within the political parties saw him as the best candidate for president before the 2020 election – and said the former governor of Colorado, John Hickenlooper, and former governor of Ohio, John Kasich, would confirm his story, because their 2020 campaigns ‘were sacrificed for me’. 

Mohn said he felt he could have been ‘the first unanimously-elected candidate for both parties since George Washington.’ 

He added: ‘But I was betrayed by the FBI, the federal courts, and my own family, because there are people who believe I am the messiah. This belief that I am the messiah is why you have never heard this story on the news, because it would spread that belief.

‘I’m not saying I am the messiah, as I would never compare myself to Jesus Christ. I’m just saying, that’s why I was betrayed.’ 

And he ended by quoting the Bible at length, saying he had ‘a sacred task.’ 

Clues to Mohn’s downwards spiral are to be found in a legal battle against the United States government, with Mohn suing them for negligently providing him with a student loan which made him ‘an overeducated white man’, unable to find work.

Mohn, in a filing made shortly before Christmas, sought to blame the government for his woes. The filing was the fourth time Mohn attempted to sue, seeking $10 million in damages from the federal government – a case which has no legal grounds.

He said in the filing that he was a 2014 graduate of Pennsylvania State University, with a degree in agribusiness management.

According to his complaint, Mohn ‘began paying his monthly student loan six months later. But then Mr Mohn could not find a full-time job at some unpleaded later time. He obtained only part-time jobs.’

Mohn said he then moved to Colorado, to take a full-time job at a credit union, and later took a job with an insurance company.

But, according to his complaint, he saw ‘his work post-graduate years as ‘malemployment.”

In previous social media posts, Mohn ranted about a ‘civil war’ between him and his followers and what he calls ‘The Cult.’

In one unhinged post, he wrote: ‘Even my own family upholds this Cult belief and is willing to go to jail to prove it. Donald Trump, if this does not get fixed ASAP then you will also be in jail for the rest of your life after I sue you for everything you own – that’s not a threat that’s a promise b****.’ 

The alleged killer’s Facebook accounts appear to have been taken down as of Wednesday morning, and his name is not searchable on X. 

Mohn appears to have wanted to carve out a career as a musician.

On his YouTube page, he writes: ‘Justin Mohn released his first album, ‘The Story Of Humanity,’ in September of 2017. His second album, ‘Colofunkinrado,’ was released September of 2018. His music style is a blend of rock, funk, and hip-hop, using piano and organ as primary instruments along with explicit lyrics, drums, synthesized bass, and other synthesized instruments.’

Mohn also wrote poetry and conspiracy-laden manifestos. 

One of his books was entitled: ‘Poems I Wrote While Stoned: A Collection Of Poems’. 

Another, ‘The Punishing,’ is set in the year 2481, with Satan ruling the world.

‘After rejecting their Messiah and straying from the word of God, humanity falls under complete control of Satan and his minions – a race of artificially modified humans, who no longer call themselves Homo Sapiens, but rather, Homo Demonicus,’ the blurb reads.

Another appeared to preview his warped plan, entitled: ‘America’s Coming Bloody Revolution.’ 

Its blurb reads: ‘Similar to Thomas Paine’s ‘Common Sense’ published in 1776 which helped inspire the American Revolution, the short, easy to understand pamphlet explains why another revolution is likely in America… and how it could be successful.’ 

The sight and smell of the 30 charred bodies that still smouldered as Haim Otmezgin pulled up to the site of the Nova Festival on October 7 will never leave him.

But Haim, a 50-year-old top official of ZAKA, a rescue and recovery organisation that was tasked with cleaning up the 1,200 killed by Hamas on Black Saturday in accordance with Jewish customs, had a job to do.

As the commander of the special units at ZAKA, he was in charge of coordinating the response to the deadly attacks, and ensuring that all the bodies were accounted for and treated properly as soon as possible.

But the brutality with which Hamas had killed more than 360 innocent partygoers at the Nova Festival shocked even him, a volunteer who had been working for ZAKA since he was just 18 years old.

Haim, who spoke to MailOnline through a translator, said: ‘There were at least 30 bodies that were burned alive.

‘Many needed to have water poured on them because they were still burning 12 hours after because of the fuel they used to set them on fire.

‘Their bodies were soaking with this fuel that [caused them to burn for a long time].’

Hamas didn’t just use fire as a weapon of war against partygoers at the festival. Sexual violence was used to humiliate the victims at the site, many of whom were young women.

He said: ‘When I go back to the memories, I remember lots of bodies were mutilated to pieces.

‘Organs were separated from their bodies, women had been shot in their very private areas, the upper parts of their legs, their heads.

‘Women were undressed and then they were shot.

‘A few bodies that were hit by rocks in a very barbaric way, in a way that crushed the skull.

‘I saw [stab wounds] in very specific areas on women, around their genitals.’

Haim, who became aware of reports of a Hamas attack early that morning arrived at the site of the Nova massacre at 9:30pm, says his role as a leader at ZAKA meant he had to prevent these images from affecting him. 

He says he had to ‘become a machine’, and was forced to make some incredibly difficult decisions on his way down from his base in Petah Tikva to Kibbutz Re’im.

‘On the way from Petah Tikva to the south, I saw a few civilians waving at my ambulance.

‘I started thinking “I know I need to get south, but maybe in order to prepare for this, I should let myself into this situation slowly and see what these people wanna say.”

‘I thought that they probably want to tell me something in regard to what’s going on in the south.’

So he slowed down, and let the civilians, who had a car, approach him.

‘They said: “We have two of them”.

‘I asked them: ‘“What two? What are you talking about?”

‘And they just showed me two dead bodies, young women, both shot in their heads.’

He had no choice but to take their bodies, and continue down to the site of the festival.

More and more civilians tried flagging him down as he made his way down with the women’s bodies in tow, each one holding a different person slaughtered by Hamas fighters, who were still rampaging throughout southern Israel.

Haim said he had to make the very difficult decision to keep going, in spite of the horrors he saw.

‘I understood that I couldn’t just stop and take every person on the way, so I carried on.

‘We needed at least 15 ambulances and a few trucks in order to take all the dead bodies that were found on the way to the festival,’ he added.

This was, as Haim put it, when he ‘made the transition from being a human being to a machine.

‘I basically [was] just seeing these images, and just translated it into data.’

Haim said that he did not expect his day would turn out like this, when he was awoken at 6:42am that morning, next to his sleeping wife.

He was called, and told to immediately report to his base, not knowing how important his job was to become.

The ZAKA officer was so in the dark that wasn’t sure whether to wake his children up, not knowing how long he would be away for.

But he knew enough to know that October 7 would be the most consequential in Israel’s modern history.

This was cemented at 7:30pm, at his base in Petah Tikvah. There, while preparing for a threat with a then-unknown magnitude, he received a call from the Nova Festival.

A terrified IDF officer asked him: ‘How long does it take for a body to rot?’

Taken aback, Haim told the officer he needed more details. The ZAKA officer said he was told:’I have a carpet of dead bodies in the middle of the forest, I don’t know what to do with them.

‘Nobody explained to me what to do with them. I don’t have any way of treating them. I don’t have the equipment, the volunteers to deal with this. Maybe you can help me with this.’

Haim, still unsure what the officer mean, said he asked to speak on a video call. It was then, watching a blurred and jumpy video streamed from a smartphone, that Haim understood the scale of the atrocity.

He said the officer told him that he had counted at least 125 bodies, but that there were many more that needed to be counted.

In the four hours after he arrived at the site of the Nova massacre, his team had to clear as many bodies, in line with Jewish customs, as possible. He said ZAKA was able to clear 237 bodies in just four hours, while still under fire from Hamas’ rockets and guns.

But with dozens more bodies at the Nova Festival site alone, and hundreds more across Israel, Haim said his physical health took a toll as he carried his work on.

‘I didn’t stop working for 60 days. I was only getting four hours of sleep a night, and I lost 9 kilos in two months because I didn’t have time to eat.’

It wasn’t only his physical health that suffered.

Haim said he refused to think about what he was seeing on October 7, instead focusing on the main task at hand as he worked.

He said it was only ‘months after’ the attack, when he spoke to his colleagues, that he began to process the horrors he bore witness to.

‘I didn’t want to think about it, but I felt that I needed to speak out after hearing that these things were being ignored and denied.’

‘For the first two weeks after October 7, many people were chasing after me in order to give my testimony. The police, international media, big networks around the world were asking to hear the story.

‘But I was escaping. I didn’t want to do it, and I still had this excuse of having many things to do, still operating everything.

‘It wasn’t a lie; We were still operating on a lot of the highways. I spent more than 60 days on duty.

‘But I had the privilege of escaping. I didn’t put on any news channels, or social media. I was completely disconnected, focusing on the mission.’

‘Maybe it was easier to do this, more convenient.’

‘You can never be a total machine in front of these scenes and images of what we saw. But what we witnessed over there was bigger than any physical or mental difficulty.’

His 13-year-old son kept begging him for details, driven by morbid curiosity and fear for his father.

He said he would always push the requests back, claiming that there was little signal in the south of Israel, and conveniently forgetting to tell his son about what he saw whenever he went back.

But Haim couldn’t tell his family about the horrors of what he saw, as they didn’t deserve to be weighed down with even a fraction of the horrors he witnessed at the site of the festival.

‘There’s a balance between being supported by my family, and keeping them away from the sights as a professional. You can tell part of the story, but not all of it.’

Haim said he rarely told people about what he did at work even before Black Saturday.

‘Whenever I come back from any operation that ZAKA conducts, people ask me “what happened, what’s going on, tell us about it.”

‘Usually I tell them: “Read about it in the papers, I don’t want to talk about it.”’

He said that Black Saturday was a wakeup call for Israel: ‘It reveals the reality of how naive we were about the values of war.

‘This war was about humiliating us. It was about deep hate, it was about defiling [us].’