Tag: LAD Bible Weird

The mother of a Russian lab worker who died and is suspected of being infected with pneumonic plague has accused medics treating her daughter of letting her die.

28-year-old Daria Shipilova died after working as a lab technician at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute in Siberia, which researches deadly diseases.

It has been claimed that she accidentally broke a test tube containing biological material that can cause pneumonic plague, but her mother Svetlana claims that her daughter wasn’t cared for enough.

Daria was placed on a ventilator but died, and her mother said: “I saved more than one patient like that, but they didn’t save my daughter. They simply let my daughter die.”

She also said she hadn’t been told the cause of death for her daughter even days afterwards, saying she is still ‘waiting for it to become official’ and wants proper confirmation.

Daria has also not been buried as the funeral can’t go ahead while her relatives are in quarantine.

“It’s very hard for me right now. This whole spectacle drags on,” she said as she accused officials of covering up how her daughter died with stories about breaking test tubes.

“I don’t want to read nasty things about my child. I know the truth. I find myself fending off foolish acquaintances who actually believed all that.

“The smart ones, of course, didn’t believe it. Not even all medical professionals realise that it’s impossible to break the test tube – even if you hurl it against a wall.

“Only an amateur would say something like that. Even hypothetically, it’s simply impossible to spill or break it. They are so heavily protected.”

Svetlana said her daughter had been ‘abandoned’ and ‘destroyed’ after her death.

Daria died in the night between 1 and 2 October, and at around 10pm local time on 2 October three vehicles arrived outside the building where she lived.

Workers in orange protective suits and gas masks treated the entrances to the building with a chemical, with people living there saying that the stench was so bad they could hardly breathe.

When asked why they were spraying chemicals on the building they told locals it was because ‘some girl died, a deadly dangerous virus’.

The building has been disinfected twice more since then, and officials told them they were treating the place for cockroaches with residents protesting they didn’t have cockroaches in the building.

The official line is that the 28-year-old woman died of ‘pneumonia of unknown aetiology’, and it has been denied that there was an accident involving dangerous pathogens at the Irkutsk lab.

People living in Shipilova’s building say they haven’t been quarantined or swabbed, but are called daily to ask if they’ve developed symptoms.

A perinatal centre in the city has handed pregnant women questionnaires titled ‘Checklist in the event of suspected particularly dangerous infection – Plague’, though local governor Igor Kobzev insists things are ‘completely under control‘.

In 1985, a teenage girl from Afghanistan would become a global icon, instantly recognisable to millions, and more than 40 years later she has found a new home.

Sharbat Gula was just 13 years old when her portrait, taken by photojournalist Steve McCurry, was printed on the front cover of National Geographic in 1985, making her face and her piercing eyes instantly recognisable around the world as the ‘Afghan girl’.

To say that a lot has happened in Afghanistan since 1985 would be an enormous understatement. In 1996, 11 years after the photo was taken, the Taliban would take power for the first time, imposing a brutal regime under their first rule from 1996 until 2001, when the government was pushed out by the US invasion.

The extremists would remain out of power for 20 years, waging a war of insurgency against coalition forces in Afghanistan until their chaotic withdrawal presented them with an opportunity.

Sharbat had been living in Pakistan for more than 30 years when she was deported to Afghanistan in 2017, after being arrested for possessing forged identity documents, and was in the country in 2021.

When the Taliban launched their offensive that year the Afghan Army waged a courageous and hard-fought campaign against them, but despite the bravery of the Afghan army, without coalition support they were unable to prevent the Taliban from again seizing power.

They have been in power ever since, running a highly repressive government in which women are particularly targeted by extreme repressive measures.

As the Taliban approached Kabul, images of people clinging to the wheels of a plane as it took off, only to be seen falling from the sky moments later as the aircraft climbed, have taken on their own chilling significance.

Sharbat was a widely recognisable face, and as such there was a particular need for her to get out of Afghanistan when the Taliban returned to power, and fortunately she was able to be evacuated to Italy with her family, where she was granted asylum.

“I had the freedom to choose,” she told Italian newspaper La Repubblica in 2024. “When the Taliban arrived, I understood that it would be difficult for me to stay: I am too well-known.

“Several governments offered me help: I ​​chose Italy. I knew that you [Italy] had done a lot for Afghanistan. I wanted to try.”

Speaking about her life in Italy, she said: “Everyone is kind here, but we don’t talk to many people because of the language barrier. No one knows who I am, and for me, that’s very pleasant.”

She added: “For now, only my Italian teacher, my doctor, and a few others know who I am, and that suits me just fine.”

Sharbat also expressed unhappiness and frustration with the photo, telling the outlet that it ‘created a lot of problems for me’.

“I would have preferred it had never been taken,” she said. “I remember that day well, that photographer who arrived at the Nasir Bagh camp school.

“I was a child. I didn’t like photos. In Afghan culture women do not appear in photos. But there wasn’t much choice”

Sharbat shared that her daughter wants to become a doctor, something that would be impossible in Afghanistan where women are not permitted education beyond primary school.

“Here we are free, we can choose,” said Sharbat. “My daughter wants to become a doctor: and I promised her that I will do everything I can to make her wish come true.”

Some of the biggest online pharmacies in the UK have been found to have released ‘illegal and irresponsible’ advertisements related to weight loss pills.

The Advertising Standards Agency, which regulates advertisements in the UK, has confirmed that the likes of Juniper, MedExpress, Simple Online Pharmacy and Pharmacy Online were all guilty of promoting unlicensed medicines and prescription-only medicines (POMs) to the public.

Ever since the likes of Ozempic and Mounjaro became commonplace among celebrities, they have exploded in popularity with the general public, with many seeking out the GLP-1 medications as a seemingly quick and easy way of losing weight, despite the various side effects that have been associated with them.

In the UK, Semaglutide and Tirzepatide medications such as Wegovy and Mounjaro are available through the NHS, but you’ll need to adhere to strict guidelines if you want to be eligible to receive them through the NHS.

This led many flocking to the aforementioned online pharmacies, where it is worryingly easy to get your hands on a prescription, even if you’re nowhere near an unhealthy weight.

When it was confirmed in June that the semaglutide (Wegovy) tablet had been approved by the MHRA, this process was likely to become even easier, with many who had a fear of self-injecting likely to feel much more at ease about taking a daily pill for their weight loss.

However, Simple Online Pharmacy released an advertisement promoting it before it had even been approved, inviting customers to ‘join the waitlist’ for the controversial tablet.

The ASA states: “The first oral GLP-1 tablet for weight management was licensed as a POM on 11 June 2026. Before that date, there was no UK marketing authorisation in place for these medicines.

“Under the advertising rules, medicines must be authorised by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) before they can be promoted and medicinal claims cannot be made for an unauthorised medicine. Once a medicine is licensed as a POM, it cannot be advertised to the public.”

Other pharmacies were also found to have broken the rules, with Pharmacy Online promoting the tablet through paid social advertisements, which are not permitted on TikTok or Instagram.

It is illegal to promote POMs directly to consumers in the UK and yet nearly every online pharmacy seems to do it – we’ve probably all seen the adverts on TV and on the sides of our buses.

While it is legal in the US, as we saw with Serena Williams’ controversial Super Bowl advert, the online pharmacies in the UK have to utilise people on social media, as LADbible discovered in an investigation last year, where dozens of influencers were found to have broken the law by including affiliate links to medications in their bios, and making their content entirely focused on the results of their own weight loss journeys.

A quick look on TikTok reveals that this is still the case, despite the social media site’s guidelines stating: “Ad content and landing pages for dieting and weight management products must prioritise responsible claims and cannot promote such products as being the sole solution for weight loss or weight gain.

“Any weight loss claims must target users aged 18 years or older, and must do so via the promotion of a healthy lifestyle.”

Meanwhile, the ASA also made three further rulings against MedExpress, Juniper and the Care Pharmacy, which found that ads promoted POMs to the public, even though the medicines weren’t named directly.

The ASA also made it clear that simply not naming a medicine is not enough to be legally compliant, as ‘imagery, language and claims, such as references to reducing cravings and appetite, significant weight loss or images of weight-loss injection pens’, were enough to see the ads from the aforementioned brands banned.

The ASA said: “We know this remains a widespread and high-profile issue and we’re continuing to monitor ads and emerging trends in this area, working closely with our partners at the MHRA and the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC).

“Weight loss prescription medicines are powerful treatments that should only be used under the supervision of a qualified medical professional. Advertising them irresponsibly or illegally can put people at risk, which is why this remains a priority for us.”

This isn’t the first time that some of these online pharmacies have come under fire, with MedExpress in particular criticised for exploiting body insecurities in their previous adverts, while also coming under fire for using social media influencers to advertise their content – something which seemingly hasn’t changed.

Catherine Drewett, Investigations Manager at the ASA concluded: “The licensing of oral GLP-1 medicines represents a significant development in treatment options but also new challenges for regulators. We’ve acted quickly as this market has developed and these first rulings make clear that these oral medicines, like prescription-only injections, cannot be advertised to the public. These are powerful medicines so it’s important that ads don’t encourage people to seek treatment in ways that could put them at risk”.

LADbible has contacted Juniper, MedExpress, Simple Online Pharmacy and Pharmacy Online for comment, as well as one content creator who declined to comment.

The surprising multi-million-dollar cost of executing killers is under the spotlight since the failed lethal injection of death row inmate Christa Pike drew global attention.

Murderer Pike survived two doses of the poisonous drug pentobarbital by the Tennessee Department of Correction on September 30 after languishing behind bars for over three decades.

Her case is estimated by an anti-death penalty group to have cost taxpayers over $3 million so far, with medical bills, legal challenges, her continued incarceration and investigation costs set to push that figure higher, reports The US Sun.

She was due to be executed for the 1995 murder of classmate Colleen Slemmer, but instead she is ‘conscious, speaking’ according to her legal team.

They say faulty IV lines allowed the drug to leak into her tissue, causing both arms to become ‘swollen, burned and blistered’.

According to published Nashville hospital rates, the six days of intensive care Pike has received could already have produced a $26K bill, not including the costs of round-the-clock security and continuing legal fees.

Tennesseans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty executive director Stacy Rector told The US Sun, “I would guess her case has exceeded $3 million, before this botched execution attempt.

“I can’t even begin to guess what her hospital bill will be once this is all over – a hundred thousand plus?

“All is being paid by TN taxpayers.”

Pike was being held at the Nashville Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center before she was moved to the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution for her failed execution.

The estimated bill for Pike’s execution was based on data collected by a Maryland study from 1978 to 1999 of 1,136 murder cases where the death penalty could have been imposed.

Where prosecutors did not seek the death penalty the average bill was about $1.1 million.

In cases where the death penalty was sought but not imposed the bill rose to $1.8 million.

However, in cases where the death penalty was imposed costs were around $3 million, including the trial, the appeals process and incarceration.

An Ohio Legislative Service Commission study concluded in 2021 that death penalty cases cost up to five times more than non-capital cases – which could work out to between $1 million and $3 million per case.

In Indiana, costs were up to eight times higher for death row cases.

In Tennessee research by the state found taxpayers paid around 48% more where the death penalty is imposed when compared to life imprisonment.

Rector said, “I think the cost is a colossal waste of tax dollars spent pursuing death for a handful of people who are already incarcerated.”

She added, “Too many Tennesseans lack access to mental health care, and our Department of Children’s Services continues to struggle to serve children like Christa Pike, who have experienced terrible trauma and violence.”

Rector explained how taxpayers largely remain ignorant of how much money is being spent on death row and execution in their home states.

She said, “Our organization, TADP, continues to educate people about these costs, but too many Tennesseans don’t know how expensive it is.

“Our state has no centralized mechanism to track these costs so taxpayers are in the dark.”

After three decades on death row and a failed execution attempt via the lethal injection, Christa Pike has now woken up.

The killer, now aged 50, is ‘conscious and speaking’ her lawyers have confirmed. However she remains in hospital receiving critical care by specialists.

Pike was sentenced to death after murdering Colleen Slemmer in 1995, survived the two failed lethal injections last Wednesday (30 September) in Tennessee.

After being rushed to hospital, she remained unconscious for days as medical staff cleared her body of the injected chemical which was supposed to claim her life.

She has become the first person ever to get full doses of the drugs intended to kill her and survive. She was supposed to become the first woman put to death in Tennessee in two centuries.

Her legal team said faulty IV lines allowed the drug to leak into her tissue, causing both arms to become ‘swollen, burned and blistered’.

She has been locked up since 1996 after killing her classmate, Colleen Slemmer, when she was 18 at the time.

Gov. Bill Lee later halted the one remaining execution for the rest of the year in Tennessee pending an investigation.

Pike’s case is estimated by an anti-death penalty group to have cost taxpayers over $3 million so far, with medical bills, legal challenges, her continued incarceration and investigation costs set to push that figure higher, reports The US Sun.

According to published Nashville hospital rates, the six days of intensive care Pike has received could already have produced a $26K bill, not including the costs of round-the-clock security and continuing legal fees.

Will she face a second execution?

Whether or not Pike will face a second execution has not yet been determined.

Her former attorney previously told LADbible that if she had been severely brain damaged and left incapacitated by the first botched attempt, that it would not be attempted again.

However Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has not yet responded to repeated calls from her attorney’s to commute her sentence from the death penalty to spending the rest of her life in prison.

“Against all odds, Christa Pike is conscious, speaking, and continues to receive critical medical care,” her attorneys said in a statement.

“Her prognosis remains unclear but, at a minimum, we expect a long recovery.”

There is the possibility that Pike could face a second execution, especially due to her regaining consciousness.

However the last time the Supreme Court had to address whether an inmate who survived an execution would face another one was back in 1947.

“We’re in uncharted territory,” Robin Maher, executive director of the nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center, told USA today.

“The U.S. Supreme Court has not decided whether a second execution attempt would violate the constitution since 1947.

“These are questions that have never needed to be asked before and no one knows the answers.”

Earlier this year, in May, Tennessee had botched another execution as inmate Tony Carruthers also survived.

Executioners failed to establish a second IV line required under the state’s execution protocol. And, after spending more than an hour strapped down, the state abandoned the execution.

He was granted a rare one-year reprieve leaving open the option to try to execute him again.

A British man who set off on his journey home from Chile in 1998 finally set foot back in the UK this week after swimming the English Channel.

Karl Bushby lived out the dream of many Gen Z’ers who want to quit their job and travel, by setting himself the mission of returning to his home in Hull on foot, using no methods of mechanical transport in the process.

We’ve seen some pretty crazy challenges online in recent years, whether it’s the Hardest Geezer running the length of Africa, or an Aussie woman tackling the length of her home nation on foot, but none can compare with the 28-year journey that Bushby has set himself.

But despite challenges over that 29 years which have included the Coronavirus pandemic and a near-death experience following a polar bear attack, it largely seems to be a challenge that Bushby has enjoyed rather than endured.

Speaking to CBS News last year, the 56-year-old Brit said: “I’ve found nothing but the best in those 27 years, which has just been remarkable.

“Don’t be afraid, get off the couch, get out of bed, make it happen. That first step will open up a world of possibilities and opportunities, so don’t be afraid.”

And although he hoped to complete the last leg of his journey home through the English Channel on foot, an agreement couldn’t be agreed, so he ended up swimming for over 20 hours across three days in order to land back on the British beaches.

Bushby said: “[It] feels good to have UK soil under my feet after all these years. It hasn’t been easy, and that’s part of the point; proving I’m more capable than I give myself credit for.”

He added: “All of us can accomplish more than we will ever imagine.”

HM Coastguard said it ‘liaised with French authorities and maritime sector partners to ensure safety protocols were met’, after Bushby’s initial request to walk down the Channel Tunnel was vetoed.

It is now expected that Bushby will return to his home in Hull in early November as he completes the final leg of his journey after landing on the beaches in Dover, which will almost make it 28 years to the day since he left South America on 1 November 1998.

His journey has taken him across 28 different countries and seen him travel over 30,000 miles but when he spoke from Belgium earlier this year, it seems as if his legs and his body had finally had enough, as he’s no doubt desperate to get home and put his feet up with a cup of tea and a biscuit.

He’s certainly timed his return home well, as he will get to watch Premier League teams get mauled by the tigers in his home town of Hull.

Texas death row inmate Jamaal Howard is set to become the first person to be executed following the botched attempt on Christa Pike.

Howard is set to be executed on 7 October for the 2000 murder of Vickie Swartout during an attempted robbery.

Howard was 20 at the time of the killing and has spent more than two decades on death row.

His legal team has attempted to fight the execution and requested an emergency reprieve from Texas Governor Greg Abbott.

His lawyers claim that Howard, 46, has an intellectual disability and a long history of severe mental illness.

Howard’s spiritual advisor Reverend Jeff Hood told 12 News Now that at his trial, psychiatrists who examined Howard found his IQ to be in the 65 to 70 range and described him as functioning at the level of an 11- or 12-year-old.

His legal team have also raised concerns following Pike’s recent execution attempt that went badly wrong.

Pike, 50, survived two doses of pentobarbital at her scheduled execution on 30 September and was rushed to hospital for life-saving treatment.

On Tuesday (6 October), her legal team said she is ‘conscious and speaking’.

“Against all odds, Christa Pike is conscious, speaking, and continues to receive critical medical care,” they said.

“Despite the severe damage she endured to her arms, she is still handcuffed and shackled to the bed. Her recovery is medically unprecedented. Her prognosis remains unclear but, at a minimum, we expect a long recovery.”

In the wake of the botched execution attempt, the state of Tennessee announced a halt on all scheduled executions.

In court filings made by Howard’s lawyers, they note that he is at risk of receiving the same type of lethal injection as Pike.

The filing states: “Ms. Pike survived two lethal doses of pentobarbital, the same drug used in executions in Texas, and she reportedly remains hospitalised in critical condition.”

The reprieve request continues: “When an execution goes wrong, one of the first questions anyone asks is whether the drug was what the State said it was. “Tennessee’s own officials cannot yet answer that, and the answer lies in records: when the drug was bought, from whom, how it was stored, and what testing was done and when. Texas should not wait until after a failed execution to ask the same questions.

“We do not know why Ms. Pike’s execution failed, and we, specifically, do not know whether the failure was due to the pentobarbital’s being ineffective.”

In an article for the Texas Observer ahead of the execution, Hood claimed that Howard ‘didn’t understand how executions were carried out’ and that he had not heard of the Pike case.

Hood said he told Howard that in Pike’s case the drugs didn’t work, to which he replied: “I guess if the drugs don’t work, they’ll just shoot me in the head.”

He said that he told Howard that executions didn’t work but claimed he ‘literally had no understanding of the protocol by which he was going to be executed or what would happen if something went wrong’.

Two police officers who used a Taser, baton and synthetic pepper spray on a 92-year-old amputee have been sacked.

PCs Stephen Smith and Rachel Comotto responded to a call at a care home in St Leonards, East Sussex, on June 21 2022, following a report of resident Donald Burgess holding a knife and threatening to stab staff.

Police bodycam footage showed the two officers entering a room where Donald, who was in a wheelchair due to having an amputated leg, had been isolated.

The 92-year-old was holding a cutlery knife as the PCs approached him.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said that within a minute-and-a-half of them entering the room, both officers used force on Donald.

PC Smith was seen using Pava spray in the elderly man’s face and struck the arm holding the knife with a baton.

PC Comotto then used a Taser on Donald.

In a ruling on Tuesday (6 October), the IOPC said both officers used ‘excessive force’ on Donald.

Following the incident, PC Comotto was also found to have shared an inappropriate comment about it on Facebook.

The misconduct hearing was told PC Comotto received a Facebook comment that read: “Happy birthday, the care home is getting closer and closer” with wink and laugh emojis.

To which she replied: “We all know what happens in care homes,” adding with a lightning bolt emoji.

On PC Comotto accepted writing the comment on the day of the incident.

After the two officers used inappropriate force against him, Donald was taken to hospital and later contracted Covid-19.

He died 22 days later, aged 93.

Sussex Police said the evidence did not indicate the officers’ actions caused or contributed to the death.

PC Smith and PC Comotto were cleared of assault after a Southwark Crown Court trial in May 2025, but were dismissed without notice on Tuesday, the IOPC said.

They will also be put on the College of Policing’s barred list, banning them from working in policing.

IOPC director of engagement Emily Barry said: “We know that footage of this incident showing the force used by the officers on Mr Burgess has caused widespread concern and anger.

“This was not a fast-paced incident where the officers or other care home residents were in immediate danger.

“Mr Burgess, who was wheelchair-bound and holding a cutlery knife, was isolated from other residents and clearly posed little risk to the officers.

“Any use of force should have been a last resort and only used when necessary.

“Rather than de-escalating the situation they immediately threatened Mr Burgess with force and then discharged Pava spray, struck him with a baton and tasered him when he didn’t drop the knife.

“Their actions were clearly excessive and unreasonable, and PC Comotto then displayed further poor judgment by joking about tasering Mr Burgess on social media afterwards.

“Their actions have damaged the public’s trust and confidence in policing and they have been held accountable and dismissed from policing.”

Donald’s family said they welcomed the decision, but their solicitor has asked for the inquest into his death to be resumed, saying there are unanswered questions about the force used by the officers and the actions of the care home.

“We remain concerned that opportunities to de-escalate the situation were missed, including the fact that family members who lived nearby were not contacted by the staff at Park Beck nursing home before the police were called,” the family said.

“Donald was a much-loved family man. We want him to be remembered for the life he lived, not simply for the events that brought us to this point.”

Christa Pike is conscious and speaking after surviving an execution attempt, her lawyers have said.

In a new statement, her legal team said: “Against all odds, Christa Pike is conscious, speaking, and continues to receive critical medical care.

“Despite the severe damage she endured to her arms, she is still handcuffed and shackled to the bed. Her recovery is medically unprecedented. Her prognosis remains unclear but, at a minimum, we expect a long recovery.”

Her lawyers said they are grateful for the first responders and the medical team at the hospital ‘who treated Christa like a human and have provided exceptional care to her’.

They added: “We also want to thank thousands from all over the world who sent messages offering prayers and support for Christa.”

The statement was the first indication that Pike has improved since an ambulance took her from a Nashville prison last Wednesday.

Pike survived two doses of pentobarbital as Tennessee officials attempted to put her to death.

Pike, 50, was set to become the first woman put to death in the state of Tennessee for around 200 years for the murder of Colleen Slemmer in 1995.

Her execution was scheduled for 30 September and, as planned, Pike was taken into the death chamber and shared what she thought would be her final words.

However, witnesses said it soon became clear that something had gone wrong.

Members of the press who were witness to the execution attempt said that shortly after the first dose was administered, Pike said: “My arm feels like it’s about to burst open.”

She then appeared to sense something has gone wrong, and asked: “Does this happen like that?”

Her lawyers later confirmed that Pike had been rushed into hospital where she was receiving ‘life-saving’ care.

In a statement after the execution attempt, the Tennessee Department of Correction said it had followed ‘every step’ of the standard protocol.

“The Tennessee Department of Correction followed every step of the state’s lawful, established execution protocol approved by the Attorney General’s Office,” the statement said.

“The lethal injection chemical in the protocol has consistently been effective, and the protocol does not allow for additional procedures beyond what was carried out this evening. Christa Pike has been transported to an off-site medical facility.”

In an update earlier this week, her legal team said she was on life-support and were unsure if she would recover.

Her lawyer Stephen Ferrel told CNN of her current status: “She is guarded. I’m not sure who may have seen her.

“I know I have not seen her. The state of Tennessee has not yet said whether it will ultimately try to execute her again.”

The incident prompted the state of Tennessee to announce it was halting all executions until an investigation could be carried out.

It also led to the resignation of Tennessee Department of Correction Commissioner Frank Strada.

Strada will leave his role this month after being the residing commissioner of Tennessee’s Department of Correction for the past three years, and also in the role when the May execution of Tony Carruthers, was called off due to problems finding a vein for his lethal injection.

Why was Christa Pike given the death penalty?

Pike was sent to death row for the murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in 1995.

On 12 January 1995, an 18-year-old Pike, her then-boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp and friend Shadolla Peterson lured Slemmer to a secluded woodland in Knoxville.

According to court documents, Pike and Shipp then brutally attacked Slemmer, while Peterson kept watch.

The beating lasted around 30 minutes, and saw them carve a pentagram into Slemmer’s chest, before Pike then killed the 19-year-old by delivering a fatal blow to the head, court documents claimed.

During her incarceration, Pike’s legal team argued that she should not have been given the death penalty due to her age when committing the crime and her troubled background.

Assistant Federal Defender Stephen Ferrell said she was abused as a child and was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder and post traumatic stress disorder.

In her clemency petition, Pike wrote: “I was a mentally ill 18-year-old kid. It took me numerous years to even realise the gravity of what I’d done. Even more to accept how many lives I affected. I took the life of someone’s child, sister, friend. It sickens me now to think I had the ability to commit such a crime.”