Newspaper headlines: Croydon stabbing and Tory donor 'faces tax probe'

Many of the papers cover the fatal stabbing of a 15-year-old girl in Croydon, south London on Wednesday morning

A number of papers cover the killing of a 15-year-old girl who was stabbed on her way to school in Croydon, south London on Wednesday morning.

The Sun reports that the attack took place around 8.30am near the Whitgift shopping centre and that two people made efforts to save the girl but that she died 50 minutes later. It adds that a 17-year-old boy was later arrested on a tram around five miles away and is being held on suspicion of murder. The Daily Mail quotes the Met's chief superintendent, Andy Brittain, who described the attack as "every parent's worst nightmare".

The girl is described as the "latest victim of our knife crime epidemic" by the Daily Mirror. "Another young life gone in seconds, the lives of another family shattered," the paper says. "This is a national emergency. The government must act now."

The Daily Telegraph reports that a Metropolitan Police firearms officer is facing a gross misconduct hearing over the fatal shooting of a man in 2015, despite not being charged in connection with the death. The paper says the policing watchdog could announce the proceedings as soon as today. It adds that such a move is likely to inflame tensions within the Met after hundreds of officers handed in their weapons in response to a colleague being charged with the murder of a man last year. The article quotes a source in armed policing who calls the timing of the decision "unfortunate to say the least".

The Guardian says that HMRC is investigating the tax affairs of the owner of JCB, Lord Bamford, who is one of the Conservative party's biggest donors. The paper describes the inquiry as "broad-ranging" and says it's been going on for several years. HRMC tells the paper it can neither confirm nor deny the report. The paper says it's approached Lord Bamford for comment, but he hadn't responded at the time of publication.

Several papers cover Labour's plans to start charging private schools the 20% VAT rate, from which they are currently exempt, if it wins the next election. The i carries a warning from a headteachers' union which says the change could burden the state sector if more pupils are forced to leave private schools because of higher costs and closures. The paper quotes a Labour spokesperson who says the party would remove what they call "unfair tax breaks" to fund "teachers and mental health counselling in every secondary school".

The Times leads with a report that Home Secretary Suella Braverman was given permission by Downing Street to float the prospect of the UK leaving the European Convention on Human Rights during a speech at a think tank in Washington on Tuesday. A Conservative source tells the paper it was a "warning shot" to the European Court on Human Rights not to block the government's plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda.

A warning that organised crime gangs are sending recruits to train as prison officers features in the Guardian. The paper has spoken to the Prison Officers Association, which says gangs are sending people to become officers "for the sole purpose" of smuggling drugs and phones into jail. The Ministry of Justice says it's invested £100m in airport-style security in prisons.

"To land a job, focus on your background" declares the Times. It reports on a study that suggests people who appear in online video calls with healthy plants or a bookcase behind them are more likely to be judged as trustworthy and competent. The paper says the research found the opposite was true for people who used novelty computer-generated backgrounds.

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