This is cute. Police Constable Josh Haase being re-united with the Pony Colt Josh, who he rescued.

Redwings Horse Sanctuary in Nazeing, external  named the pony after him. 

How a mother and her baby died at a house in Brentwood remains a mystery. 

Essex Police say that the post-mortem examinations have proved inconclusive so far.

Nadine Loveman, 36, and her two-month-old son Steven, were found at the house in Wellesley Road.   

Poilce and ambulance services were contacted at about 14:20 on Sunday amid concerns for their welfare.

Police said they are treating the deaths as unexplained while they try and establish the sequence of events of that day.

Nikki Jenkins
BBC Local Live

Image source, PA

The internet is worried about where ex-Arsenal footballer Ray Parlour will go for his cheeky Cobra and curry after news of a fire at what is purported to be one of his favourite restaurants.

Here he is celebrating his goal during the Arsenal's victory over Chelsea in the FA Cup Final in 2002 - a gesture which no doubt has adapted well for use in summoning waiters.

Essex Fire Service says that the ground floor at the Shenfield Tandoori has been badly damaged and the offices above suffered smoke damage after the fire stated around at 07:00.

The Conservative Party's failure to properly record costs in the 2014 Clacton by-election - and two other campaigns - has the cost the party £70,000 on top of the bill it had already run up.

The Electoral Commission report notes the accommodation costs as:

• Lifehouse Spa, Thorpe-le-Soken: 290 nights - cost unknown 
• Premier Inn: 71 nights  - £6,582.86  

Khabi Abrey was 32 weeks pregnant when she was killed in a fire at a tower block in Essex.

Stuart Abrey said the decision to detain Lillo Troisi under the Mental Health Act was "the right one" and that the court case had given him a better understanding of what happened.

Image source, Essex Police

The court heard the arsonist had paranoid schizophrenia, but hadn't been taking his medication for 18 months.

He was described as being acutely psychotic when he set fire to the tower block in Westcliff on 7 May last year - killing Khabi Abrey (pictured).

Mr Abrey said: "The whole case has been really sad in that what happened was so preventable. 

"This case highlights a basic lack of love and care in the system, which must be addressed. 

"I have been left wondering how someone with such dangerous tendencies could end up being anyone’s neighbour without being cared for.”  

The husband of the woman killed in a tower block fire has been reacting to the sentencing of Lillo Troisi.

Khabi Abrey and her unborn baby were killed as a result of the fire he started in Westcliff in May.

Troisi, who had a history of mental health problems and drug abuse, has been detained indefinitely under the Mental Health Act .

Speaking outside the court, widower Stuart Abrey (pictured), said:  "I never really wanted him to go to prison as such because I understand his situation, from working in mental health.

"As strange as it sounds, I don't really have anger for him.

"He's been let down as much as any of us."

Andrew Sinclair
BBC Look East political correspondent

Funding for the Clacton by-election in 2014 has landed the Conservatives in hot water. The party has been fined a record £70,000 for breaking election expenses rules  in three by-elections, Clacton among them. 

The Tories failed to report the £84,000 it spent fighting Clacton, and blame "administrative error". 

The by-election was triggered by the defection of Douglas Carswell to Ukip. David Cameron canvassed in Clacton himself , and is pictured showing his highly visible support for the Conservative candidate Giles Watling.

They lost, but the  Electoral Commission said, external  there was a "realistic prospect" the money had given the party an advantage.

The Metropolitan Police is now looking at the evidence to see if the reporting omissions were deliberate.

The coins, dating from 1847 to 1915, may have been deliberately hidden, experts say.

The officer who led the investigation into the fire which killed Khabi Abrey and her unborn baby says it has been "such a sad and tragic case to investigate".

The court heard that Lillo Troisi was annoyed with loud music being played, but there was no evidence that it was coming from the victims' flat, in fact they too had been disturbed by loud music. Troisi had never even met them. 

Det Insp Al Pitcher said: "It is accepted Troisi was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia at the time he set the fire. He has stated that voices compelled him to set the fire as a warning to the occupants of the flat.  

"Clearly, as a result of his illness, he had not appreciated the severity or consequences of his actions at that time."

Image source, Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate

He went on to praise Mrs Abrey's husband for the way he had conducted himself through the investigation with "great dignity, restraint and compassion".

The BBC is reporting live from Ipswich hospital A&E as part of snapshot into how the region's hospitals are coping. 

As part of the research the BBC has seen figures from the Royal College for Emergency Medicine which are showing that more than 70,000 people were waiting for more than four hours at casualty departments across the Eastern region. 

Locally, at all five Essex A&E units (Chelmsford, Basildon, Southend, Colchester and Harlow) the number of people waiting longer than the four-hour target at least doubled over the last three years.

The study also found 13 cases of patients waiting for more than 12 hours on trolleys at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow last year.  

The deputy leader of Harlow Council, Emma Toal, says no-one should be waiting on a trolley, let alone for 12 hours.

Police say a post-mortem examination will take place today to try and establish the cause of death of a man in his 40s who was found at his home in Harlow during the night.

Police were called to Shawbridge by ambulance crews. The death is being treated as "unexplained".

The family and friends of 19-year-old Denis Petkov, who was fatally stabbed in Rettendon on Saturday night, say they've now raised enough money to take his body back home to Bulgaria. 

Image source, Facebook

He was a sports graduate who gave up his studies to move to Essex to earn money and had been working at a car wash.

They say Denis's life was cruelly cut short. 

Mihal Dobrev, 37, of East Hanningfield Road in Rettendon, appeared at Chelmsford Crown Court today charged with his murder via video link.

He expected to formally enter a plea on 12 May, while a provisional trial date has been set for 10 July.

Image source, Essex Police

This is the man Essex Police want as their new Deputy Chief Constable.

Commander Ben-Julian Harrington will take the role on a temporary basis from the end of April, on secondment from the Metropolitan Police.

He's filling in behind Matthew Horne, who will be working with the National Crime Agency as deputy director.

"BJ" as he's known, currently holds lead responsibility for public order policing and emergency preparedness across London.

He also served as one of the Silver Commanders for the 2012 London Olympic Games.

The BBC's School Report News Day is up and running. Students across the country are reporting the issues that matter most to them, with a special focus on mental health.

You can see which local schools are taking part  on this interactive map . 

You can click through to a dedicated page for each school where you can see their reports. Most are promising to have their day's work up by 16:00 so keep an eye out.

Food blogger Jack Monroe has been reacting to Katie Hopkins announcement that she hopes to appeal against her libel defeat.

Ms Monroe from Leigh-on-Sea had taken Ms Hopkins to court following comments the columnist had made on Twitter.

Ms Hopkins told the BBC that she believed the damages had been awarded on the basis of Ms Monroe's hurt feelings and that she'd failed to demonstrate there had been actual harm.

Daily Mail columnist Katie Hopkins has told the BBC it is "very likely" she will appeal against her defeat in her Twitter libel case. 

She was ordered by a High Court judge on Friday to pay £24,000 damages to writer Jack Monroe at the conclusion of a case dubbed "Twibel" by media pundits.

As well as the award to Monroe over defamatory "war memorial" tweets, former The Apprentice star Hopkins will have to pay costs running into six figures. 

But speaking to Radio 4's The Media Show , Ms Hopkins said she was strongly considering appealing against the decision. 

"It is very likely that we will appeal, and the grounds for that appeal will be the fact that no evidence of harm was produced in court." 

She argued that the libel law should be different on Twitter because currently the defamation bar was too low.

Food blogger Monroe, 28, of Leigh-on-Sea  said she fell apart after the tweets .

Police have spent much of the night at an address in Harlow after being called in by the ambulance service. Paramedics had been called to reports of a man who was "unresponsive", but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police decided to call crime scene investigators to the property in Shawbridge. They are saying that the death of the man in his 40s is being treated as unexplained at this stage.

Image source, Rex Features

Former world snooker champion Stuart Bingham has said he will accept whatever punishment comes his way after admitting he broke the sport's betting rules. 

He was charged on Wednesday with a breach of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) regulations. The rules bar players from betting on any aspect of sanctioned tournaments, or from encouraging others to do so if it is deemed to be to the player's direct or indirect benefit. 

The world number three, who is from Basildon, said on his website: "I did not know I was not allowed to bet on other players' matches, I thought it was just my own I could not bet on, and I have never done that. 

"I have nothing to hide on the matter and have co-operated fully with the investigation and I now await the outcome."

Bingham could be fined or face a ban, or both . 

Elizabeth Rizzini
BBC Look East weather

Early mist or fog patches will clear, then it will be dry for much of the day, if rather cloudy. There will be some brighter spells, most likely in eastern areas. 

A little light rain may arrive from late afternoon. 

Maximum temperature: 12C (54F).