Berkshire weekly round-up: 10 February - 16 February 2024

Mahnoor Cheema is taking 28 A-levels after passing 34 GCSEs

The story of a sixth form student taking 28 A-levels was among our most read this week in Berkshire.

A variety of local issues were featured on the BBC News website, BBC Radio Berkshire and South Today.

We have picked five stories to keep you up to date.

Tributes to first Asian woman made a life peer

Baroness Shreela Flather was described as a political "trailblazer" by the current mayor of Windsor and Maidenhead

Tributes have been paid to the first Asian woman to be made a life peer following her death earlier this month.

Baroness Shreela Flather, who was 89, was a Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead councillor between 1976 and 1991, serving as mayor in 1986 and 1987.

Appointed a Conservative life peer in 1990, she has been described as a "true trailblazer and dedicated public servant" in both national and local politics.

Teen hit by train after mum found stabbed, coroner hears

Police were called to Pangbourne Station on 4 January

A teenager was killed by a train shortly after a woman believed to be his mother was found stabbed to death, a coroner heard.

Separate inquests into the deaths of 18-year-old Julian Bracken and 56-year-old Mayawati Bracken opened at Berkshire Coroner's Court on Thursday.

Both were found with fatal injuries within 30 minutes of each other on 4 January.

Dizzying world record for Cirque star

A former British gymnast has set a dizzying world record performing 36 handsprings in less than 30 seconds.

Lucie Colebeck, who performs with Cirque du Soleil, set the record at the Royal Albert Hall where the world-renowned circus show is in residency.

Ms Colebeck, from Binfield in Berkshire, trained at Pinewood Gymnastics Club in Wokingham.

Sixth former describes life taking 28 A-Levels

Mahnoor said her mother Tayyaba Cheema was her role model and inspiration

A sixth form student is studying for 28 A-levels because she says she wants to avoid narrowing her options.

Mahnoor Cheema, from Slough, has a full schedule managing her coursework and exam preparation alongside multiple extra-curricular activities.

She is taking four with her school and is studying the rest at home with her study partner, mum Tayyaba.

Double murderer has sentence appeal dismissed

Hakeem Kigundu was handed a whole-life sentence in October 2022

A double murderer who killed his neighbours by setting fire to their flat has lost a bid to have his whole-life sentence reduced.

Hakeem Kigundu killed Richard Burgess, 46, and Neil Morris, 45, after starting a fire in Rowe Court in Reading, Berkshire, on 15 December 2021.

He was sentenced in October 2022.