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Sunday 29 April 2012

Drugs gang jailed for 30 years over £1.7m cannabis smuggling plot

Reportage - 14:11

All pleaded guilty to their part in an international drug smuggling operation and were sentenced today at Newport Crown Court. Today’s sentences follows the sentencing of the gang leader, Keith Dobson, who was given a six year sentence at Newport Crown Court on February 1st, for arranging the importation of the drugs into the UK. Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Chief Inspector Paul Hurley, said: “We’ve dismantled a sophisticated and organised group who tried to flood Valleys communities with illegal drugs. “They were organised, but fell prey to some excellent investigative work which included the latest techniques and spanned a number of different agencies from as far away as Spain, where the drugs were initially discovered. "I hope this sends a message out to other would-be drug importers and dealers that South Wales is not an easy target," he added. Ryan Davies, known locally as 'Mamsy', received the most significant sentence of six years for his part as key co-ordinator of the operation in South Wales. A detailed and complex investigation by a team of detectives led by Detective Sergeant Joe Sweeney identified Davies at the centre of the operation. He was implicated through some excellent police work following the arrest of his friend Christian O’Reilly, who on March 12th was apprehended by officers as a covert surveillance operation came to an end. Officers pounced on O'Reilly as he was putting petrol in his car. This was only moments after O’Reilly first realised something had gone horribly wrong with their plan. The story actually begins eight days earlier on March 4th 2011 in Barcelona, where Spanish customs officials seized 413kg of cannabis resin hidden in sandstone pillars destined for the UK. The dugs were taken out and authorities allowed the consignment onwards to its destination. The Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) worked with the police to track the consignment as it headed to an unlikely barn, on a farm off Cefn Pennar Road, Mountain Ash. This was where members of the group first realised the pillars used to smuggle the drugs were empty. Moments later, the first arrests were made. Three people - including Christian O'Reilly - were arrested as they left the farm. All their mobile phones were seized which proved important for the investigation. An investigation by South Wales Police was then launched. What followed was a complex hi-tech 12 month inquiry which, bit by bit, pieced together the whole criminal network from the drug runners and local dealers in Rhondda, to the organised London-based gang leaders. Keith Dobson even went so far as to use a fake building company - complete with virtual office - in an attempt to fool authorities. DCI Paul Hurley said: “Community intelligence tells us that the impact the arrests had on drug supply to the community was profound. The community now have an important part to play in providing intelligence about others who may view this as an opportunity to muscle in on the area. “We have a team now who will be working hard to chase any assets owned by members of the group which are believed to be funded by the proceeds of their crimes. This’ll ensure crime doesn’t pay,” he added. All those charged with offences pleaded guilty to their involvement in the operation. The following men pleaded guilty to their parts in arranging the importation of large quantities of cannabis resin into the UK: - Keith Dobson arranged the importation of the drugs and paid for their release from the shipping agents in London;-  - Barry Roy Butler collected the drugs and drove them, hidden in the cargo, to South Wales in a hired lorry; - Mark Joseph Waugh was entrusted to meet Mr. Butler and stay with the drugs overnight;-  - Christian O’Reilly was a large scale dealer who also organised a safe destination for the cargo to be unloaded; These individuals all pleaded guilty to their part in the south Wales side of the scheme: - Ryan Davies was the controller of the operation in South Wales. He arranged the delivery of the consignment, met the lorry himself and arranged local men to provide a safe place for delivery. He was the “wholesale” supplier in the case, and made the arrangements using a mobile phone that he kept for the purpose-

Saturday 28 April 2012

Lock your doors alert as Whitby double murder suspect spotted on run

Reportage - 08:10

Detectives hunting double murder suspect James Allen have urged Yorkshire residents to lock their doors and windows after reported sightings of him on the East Coast raised fears the killer could strike again. Allen, a 35-year-old drug user with previous convictions for violence, is believed to have killed his former next-door neighbour in Middlesbrough and murdered a Whitby housewife while on bail for other offences. Police called on him to hand himself in yesterday as they revealed sightings of the suspect had been reported in Whitby, Scarborough and Middlesbrough. More than 100 officers from the Cleveland and North Yorkshire forces are investigating the murders of Colin Dunford, 81, and Julie Davison, 50. Both victims suffered head injuries. The detective leading the inquiry, Temporary Detective Chief Superintendent Gordon Lang of Cleveland Police, said it was a “24/7 operation” that would not stop until Allen is found.

Friday 27 April 2012

Gas canister man storms office

Reportage - 15:05

One of the country's busiest shopping streets has been closed as a man wearing gas canisters stormed into an office and threatened to blow himself up, it was reported. Tottenham Court Road in central London was closed after police received emergency calls at midday. Scotland Yard sent a hostage negotiator to the scene amid reports the man had held people hostage inside the building several floors up. Pictures emerged of computer and office equipment being thrown through one of the office windows. A police spokesman said it was "too early to say if the suspect was armed or indeed had taken any hostages" but businesses and nearby buildings were evacuated. Joaqam Ramus, who works at nearby Cafe Fresco, said before being evacuated: "There was talk of a bomb and somebody having a hostage in a building. "All Tottenham Court Road is closed and so are we - the police told us to shut. "We don't know what it is but it seems someone has a hostage."

Busy London street evacuated over ‘hostage situation’

Reportage - 15:02

POLICE have been called to a potential hostage situation after Tottenham Court Road in London, one of the country’s busiest shopping streets, was closed. Businesses and shoppers were evacuated from the area at midday. Scotland Yard said it had sent a negotiator to the scene after reports of a man throwing furniture out of a window several floors up. A spokesman said it was “too early to say if the suspect was armed or indeed had taken any hostages”. Joaqam Ramus, who works at nearby Cafe Fresco, said before being evacuated: “There was talk of a bomb and somebody having a hostage in a building. “All Tottenham Court Road is closed and so are we - the police told us to shut. “We don’t know what it is but it seems someone has a hostage.” A spokesman for Transport for London could not confirm details of the ongoing operation but confirmed they were “aware of an incident”. Staff from news website The Huffington Post UK were evacuated from their building after a man reportedly wearing a gas canister threatened to blow himself up in the adjoining building, they said. People near the scene reported shots being fired and said computers and equipment had been thrown out of the windows of the office block housing the Huffington Post. Huffington Post UK executive editor Stephen Hull posted a video on Twitter of an office worker who saw the man enter the building. Abby Baafi, 27, the head of training and operations at Advantage, a company which offers HGV courses, told Mr Hull the man had targeted her offices and was currently holding four men hostage. In a video posted on YouTube, she said: “What happened is, we were in the office and someone came in. He asked him what his name was and he said it was Michael Green. “I recognised him because he was one of our previous customers but he is not quite stable - mentally stable. “He turned up, strapped up with gasoline cylinders, and threatened to blow up the office. “He said he doesn’t care about his life. He doesn’t care about anything, he is going to blow up everybody. “He was specifically looking for me but I said ‘My name’s not Abby’ and he let me go.” Ms Baafi said the man failed the HGV training course and wanted his money back.

Thursday 26 April 2012

Credit card fraud websites shut down on three continents

Reportage - 16:40

Three men have been arrested and 36 criminal websites selling credit card information and other personal data shut down as part of a two-year international anti-fraud operation, police have confirmed. The Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), working with the FBI and US Department of Justice, as well as authorities in Germany; the Netherlands; Ukraine; Australia and Romania, swooped after identifying the sites as specialising in selling card and bank details in bulk. The move comes as a blow to what is a growing black market for stolen financial data. Detectives estimated that the card information seized could have been used to extract more than £500m in total by fraudsters. SOCA claimed it has recovered more than two and a half million items of compromised personal and financial information over the past two years. “The authorities have shut down 36 websites but it is difficult to know how many other people had access to that data. They could spring back up somewhere else if a gang is not eradicated completely,” said Graham Cluley of internet security firm Sophos. He added: “This is big business and, just as in any legitimate company there are people who specialise in different things, so there are those who actually get their hands on the personal data and those who sell it on; they are not often the same person.” An investigation by The Independent last summer found that scammers were making a “comfortable living” getting their hands on sensitive information and selling it online. Card details were being offered for sale for between 4p and £60 per card – depending on the quality – according to one source in the business. Some cards would be sold with incomplete or unreliable information; others ready to use. Some of the card details for sale on the websites shut down by SOCA were being sold for as little as £2 each. Investigators said that the alleged fraudsters were using Automated Vending Carts, which allowed them to sell large quantities of stolen data. They are said to be a driver of the growth in banking fraud over the last 18 months because of the speed with which stolen data can be sold. Lee Miles, Head of Cyber Operations for SOCA said: “This operation is an excellent example of the level of international cooperation being focused on tackling online fraud. Our activities have saved business, online retailers and financial institutions potential fraud losses estimated at more than half a billion pounds, and at the same time protected thousands of individuals from the distress caused by being a victim of fraud or identity crime.” An alleged operator in Macedonia was one of those arrested, while two British men accused of buying the information were also detained. Britain’s Dedicated Cheque & Plastic Crime Unit also seized computers suspected of being used to commit fraud.

Tuesday 24 April 2012

Romanian gangs flooding London with pickpockets and prostitutes

Reportage - 18:10

Romanian crime syndicates are flooding London with hundreds of pickpockets, prostitutes and beggars ahead of the Olympics. Coachloads of penniless migrants are arriving in the capital every day, many already armed with maps directing them to the best patches, which they have been ordered to defend from rivals. Council workers are already having to clear around 60 Romanian nationals sleeping rough on the streets around Marble Arch and Oxford Street every night and they fear the situation is getting worse.

Sunday 22 April 2012

Gang leader Domenyk Noonan’s arrest sheet lists guns, drugs, robbery and witness intimidation.

Reportage - 17:53

At 46, he has already spent more than half his life in jail. However, there are those who look up to him as a successful criminal.

But has it brought him wealth or happiness?

There’s not much evidence of either. What it brings him mostly is grief, aggravation and trouble with the police. 

Investigative reporter Donal MacIntyre has had unprecedented access to Noonan and his family for the past 10 years and his hard-hitting new series on Crime & Investigation Network – At Home with the Noonans – gives a fascinating insight into what makes this Manchester gangster tick.

The lives of two of his brothers were violently snuffed out and his teenage son has already served time. Most of his hangers-on have been in jail for dishonesty or violence.

But when Noonan’s out of jail, what has he got? Home is either a small flat above a shop or a council house owned by his ex-girlfriend.      

His ride is usually a clapped-out old ambulance or a knackered ex cop car. 

Donal MacIntyre’s riveting series is sometimes hair-raising, always compelling... and often very funny. But does crime pay for the Noonans? Not on this evidence...

 

 

 

To some he is a ruthless gangster who controls a vast criminal network of thieves and hard men.

To others, Domenyk Noonan is a 21st Century Robin Hood, a lovable rogue and jovial pub entertainer whose idea of a good time is to dress as Santa Claus at Christmas, touring his Manchester neighbourhood giving toys to poor children.

 

The CrewHard men: Noonan and his cronies

 

As with so many criminal characters throughout history, the truth is more complicated than you might imagine, and definitely stranger than fiction.

Now a new documentary series At Home with the Noonans by the award-winning investigative reporter Donal MacIntyre, to be screened on Crime & Investigation Network, reveals the lifestyle of one of the most famous crime bosses in Britain.

The road leading to the new series began with MacIntyre’s hit documentary A Very British Gangster screened in 2007.

When he began that programme, the gang’s enforcer was the feared contract killer Desmond “Dessie” Noonan, who had been implicated in a string of murders.

Dessie often boasted that their crime network had “more guns than the police”.

But Dessie Noonan was not untouchable. It wasn’t a police bullet that did for him, but the knife of a fellow gangster. More than 3,000 people attended Dessie Noonan’s funeral.

Contradictions

With Dessie gone the mantle was inherited by his younger brother Domenyk, who was already forging a personal relationship with Donal MacIntyre and gave his blessing to the new series.

A convicted armed robber, Domenyk’s life seems to be made up entirely of contradictions.

Noonan revels in his notoriety as a feared gang boss. But every Sunday Noonan, a Catholic, goes to church where he reads scriptures to the pews of devout worshippers.

And when the service is over, he goes for a pint with his parish priest. No doubt the local police would love to eavesdrop when Noonan goes to Confession.

Then there’s his sexual orientation. He used to live with girlfriend Mandy, but he is happy to admit to being gay. He enjoys being known in criminal circles as The Gay Gangster.

He even says one of the benefits of being locked up is the free sex.

Despite that assertion, while the series was being made Noonan was arrested over the alleged rape of a young woman.

The charges were soon dropped but, with Noonan happily agreeing that one of his ‘favourite’ offences is witness intimidation, the police thought it wise to give the girl a new identity and move her to a secret safe house a very long way from Manchester.

Then there’s his juxtaposing views on law, order and security.

It goes without saying Domenyk Noonan hates the police. Yet during the series he is seen setting up his own security company.

He owns a fleet of retired ambulances and police cars and says with a straight face he plans to convert some of the ambulances into armoured security trucks to try to get a slice of the “cash in transit” business.

Let’s hope the banks don’t insist on taking up references before they give him a contract. He still owes them in the region of £4.5million he stole from them at gunpoint in the past.

 

At Home with the Noonans 

 

Noonan’s personality is somewhat of a contradiction too. He recently changed his name by deed poll to Lattlay Fottfoy – an acronym of his motto: Look after those that look after you... **** off those that **** off you.

This reflects his outlook on life and the importance of his “honour code”.

Then there is his beloved teenage son. Noonan insists he doesn’t want him to follow him down the road he took to criminal notoriety.

But he insisted on christening the lad Bugsy, a monicker favoured by Al Capone’s gun-toting mates in 1920s Chicago.

Domenyk says he wants his son to have a better life, to go straight and stay out of prison.

But surrounded by young hoodlums, it’s a tough ask for Bugsy. At 17 he has already served a lengthy stretch in a young offenders institute after a burglary and car crime rampage committed when he was just 15.

Domenyk himself has spent over 28 of his 46 years in jail. He has been implicated – but never convicted – in six murders.

 

Dom and the boys in the pubBoss: Domenyk Noonan 

 

He has more than 40 criminal convictions. As an armed robber he stole millions in van and bank robberies. In 1993, while serving time for robbery and possessing a loaded gun, he escaped from jail.

He was one of the ring leaders of the notorious prisoner’s riot at Manchester’s Strangeways jail in 1990, an event which he describes as “one of the best days of my life”.

He’s been arrested in possession of £1million worth of heroin, but got off at trial. He’s also been involved in handling stolen goods, fraud and protection racketeering.

Police ambush

He has had many acquittals. It’s a matter of record that at least eight key witnesses against him have refused to give evidence, and in some cases fled abroad rather than testify.

But things don’t always go Noonan’s way. In 2005, when police ambushed him in a Jaguar in Darlington they found a revolver and ammo hidden in the engine compartment.

Noonan was promptly nicked. There were no prosecution witnesses to threaten, buy off, or bump off.

This time the shaven-headed hard man took a big fall. Nine-and-a-half years.

Out on parole with just half his sentence served, Noonan’s licence to be back on the streets was an opportunity for Donal MacIntyre to really get to grips making the series.

But trouble dogs the Noonan family wherever they go. First the rape complaint put Domenyk back in custody. He was released again after the allegation was dropped.

But then came the 2011 summer riots, sparked off when London police shot Mark Duggan – by coincidence a distant cousin of Domenyk Noonan.

When looting and mayhem spilled on to the streets of Manchester, Noonan’s distinctive bald head stood out like a beacon on seven hours of CCTV as hundreds of youths trashed and looted the heart of the city.

The police said Domenyk had been orchestrating the night of criminal chaos. Noonan said he had been acting as a good citizen, trying to persuade wayward youths to go home quietly.

After three months the police agreed there was no evidence to charge him. But by then Noonan’s parole licence had been revoked.

He was back in jail – where he remains now, with little hope of release before 2014.

Friday 13 April 2012

Alaska coast guards found dead at Kodiak Island

Reportage - 01:10

 

Two members of the US Coast Guard in Alaska have been found dead, prompting concerns that a killer could have struck at a remote island outpost. A captain at the Kodiak Island Station said they were unsure what happened and a suspect could still be at large. The base and schools in the area were put on lockdown and residents of the island were told to remain vigilant. The names of the victims will be released after their families have been notified, the coast guard said. "It is possible that the suspect remains at large," Commanding Officer Captain Jesse Moore said. "Since we don't have all the details, we strongly advise all Kodiak residents to remain vigilant and to report any suspicious activity to local law enforcement officials." The captain also said the unit was "deeply saddened" to have lost two shipmates. Officials were unable to determine whether the deaths were a double murder or a murder-suicide. "This is a rare occurrence and we are going to do everything possible to ensure we find out exactly what happened," he said. Agents from the FBI have been sent to Kodiak from the town of Anchorage, about 250 miles (402km) away. Kodiak has a population of about 6,300 people.

An Albanian fugitive accused of multiple murders in his home country has been arrested in north London after 15 years on the run.

Reportage - 00:36

Ndrieim Sadushi, 41, was last night picked up on an international warrant by police outside his home in Southgate.

An Albanian court found him guilty in his absence of three killings and an attempted murder in the eastern European country in 1997.

At an extradition hearing in Westminster Magistrates' Court today, Sadushi claimed he had been the victim of mistaken identity and was in fact 31-year-old Arjan Kasa.

 

But district Judge Michael Snow ruled police had got the right man after being told his fingerprints matched those of the convicted killer.

Sadushi, who is said to have used at least six aliases while evading the authorities, will face a life sentence if he is sent back to his homeland.

 His barrister Richard Hallam stands by the claim that his client is Arjan Kasa.

Prosecutor James Stansfeld said that, in addition to being wanted by the Albanian police, authorities in Italy accuse Sadushi of drug trafficking, passport fraud and controlling prostitutes.

Italian courts sentenced him to 13 years and four months in his absence.

He has been linked to the notorious Kadeshi armed gang, of which all the other leaders have been arrested.

Sadushi is due to appear before Westminster Magistrates' Court today

Sadushi is due to appear before Westminster Magistrates' Court today

Hannah Pye, representing the Albanian authorities, said: 'The request for extradition comes from Albania, after he was handed a custodial sentence, following a conviction for five offences.'

‘Those were, the creation and participation in an armed gang, three counts of murder and one attempted murder.

‘For that he was sentenced to life imprisonment, and an appeal against the sentence was upheld by the Albanian appeal court in 2000.’

Officers from the Metropolitan Police’s extradition unit arrested Sadushi outside a property in High Road, Southgate.

The UK Border Agency holds no record of him claiming asylum and he is thought to have entered Britain on the back of a truck in 2000. 

Last year he was one of 14 suspects to have their mugshots released as part of Operation Sunfire, a coordinated effort to bring some of the UK's most wanted fugitives before extradition courts.

Twelve of the suspected murderers, rapists and robbers pictured were from eastern Europe, while the other two were wanted in connection with crimes in Italy and Australia.

Sadushi will return to court on April 25.




Thursday 5 April 2012

NOTORIOUS gangster Ian ‘Blink’ MacDonald has seen the very sharp end of Scotland’s bloody knife culture.

Reportage - 10:31

 

Gangster: Carrying a knife leads to only two places... jail or the grave Scarred ... Ian MacDonald needed 42 stitches in face after knife thugs cut him up  He was a brutal blade-wielding enforcer for feared Glasgow crime godfather Arthur Thompson. The scar-faced former hood carved, slashed and stabbed his way through rivals during his career as one of the country’s most terrifying villains. But last night the reformed hardman BACKED Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland crackdown on Scotland’s blade scourge and told youngsters to ditch their lethal weapons. And the 50-year-old confessed to being left “stunned” by knife attackers who battered him and ripped open his face two years ago as he walked his dog, Lucky. The gravel-voiced Glaswegian said: “In this day and age, carrying a knife leads to only two things — prison or the grave. “And it is always the families that are left suffering.” For decades MacDonald was one of the most feared crooks in Glasgow and beyond. Arthur Thompson ... crime king used thug MacDonald as a brutal enforcer in his empire In 1993, he was sentenced to 16 years behind bars for his part in a foiled £6million bank raid. The verdict at London’s Old Bailey was delivered amid a ring of steel. An earlier trial was aborted because of fears an escape plot had been hatched. This came after sinister death threats were delivered to barristers and the trial judge. Then just three years ago he survived a car bomb plot and a slashing. MacDonald carved out his reputation for violence from the age of 20 when he was a small-time thief who targeted jewellers’ shops. His talents as a brutal thug were quickly spotted by Glasgow crime kingpin Thompson — a close associate of fearsome London gangsters Reggie and Ronnie Kray. MacDonald said: “My main career at that time was robbing jewellery shops but Arthur came to me because he knew I was building a reputation for violence. “To me, it was really just another sideline. “But I did eventually start turning Thompson down — because I did not want to be running around carving people up while he sat in his armchair with his feet up, drinking brandy and watching Minder on the telly.” 'Blink' MacDonald ... bank robber enjoyed high life as a young man thanks to his heists MacDonald was making a mint as a prolific robber but he was so in love with blades he carried on dishing out horrifying knife attacks — purely for thrills and revenge. He admitted: “Back in 1981, there was a guy who broke into the home of my pal’s dad in Blantyre and doused it in petrol while the family were sleeping. It was all to do with a feud. “Not long after, my pal and I were in a nightclub and we spotted this guy. “I waited for him outside the toilet and then followed him on to the dancefloor. “I took the face clean off him. I did not stop to wait around and see the damage. I ran. I was really young at the time, just 20. To tell you the truth, it was quite exciting.” And he kept up his reign of knife terror even while banged up. The following year, MacDonald was serving a prison term at tough Barlinnie nick in Glasgow when he was asked to “sort out” a fellow lag who was hassling a pal. He said: “My preferred weapon of choice was a razor blade soldered on to a toothbrush. “I just grabbed him and slashed him across the face. The Kray Twins ... Thompson and MacDonald had links to the terrifying brothers “I never went for the neck as I did not want to kill anyone — just mark them for life. “My pal later said he was very grateful — but that he had only meant for me to punch the guy.” But two years ago the tables were turned as MacDonald — who’s penning a book about his life of crime — was targeted by a gang of blade-wielding thugs who went for his THROAT. He was walking his pet dog in the East End of Glasgow when he was jumped from behind by three tooled-up attackers. They battered MacDonald on the back of the head as he lay helpless on the ground — then used a blade to open up his left cheek. MacDonald needed 42 stitches to heal the gaping facial wound. Speaking of the horror attack he said: “They got me on the face but they were going for my throat. But I am not a hypocrite. I had given it out and I got it back. “At the age of 48, after carrying a blade around for 30 years, I was slashed — and I am still stunned.” MacDonald no longer carries a weapon — and last night he called on the country’s youths to do the same and put down their blades for good as the horror toll of Scots knife crime mounts. The dad-of-one said: “The younger ones today are far more mental with knives than I ever was. “But they should realise that if you are prepared to use a knife on someone, then you should be prepared to get it back — and no one is invincible. “I mean, if you are carrying a knife it is not a bloody ornament — you are going to use it. “The best course of action is just not to carry one at all.”

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