bat

It was the thrashings that Smyth was giving boys with a notorious table tennis bat, dubbed "TTB", that led a parent to the door of Coltart, who worked at a law practice in Zimbabwe's second city, Bulawayo.

Mr Sharif also told the court that he caused fractures to Sara and used a cricket bat and a metal pole.

Prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones KC previously said a bloodstained cricket bat, a rolling pin with Sara’s DNA on it, a metal pole, a belt and rope were found near the family’s outhouse.

Natural England did not put forward the bat tunnel idea, but agreed that it would work when consulted.

HS2 Ltd said it had gone to the Planning Inspectorate to over-rule local authorities on at least 23 occasions – including when Buckinghamshire Council objected to the plan for the bat shield.