Murder probe launched over Greenock teenager death

Police in Greenock have launched a murder inquiry after the death of a 17-year-old boy.

Officers were called to reports of a disturbance in Kylemore Lane near to Kylemore Terrace at about 2250 BST on Friday.

The teenager was taken to Inverclyde Royal Infirmary by ambulance but died shortly after admission.

Police described his death as "needless and tragic" and have appealed for witnesses.

The disturbance happened close to the site of the former Ravenscraig Primary School.

Det Insp Mark McGowan of Strathclyde Police said: "Extensive inquiries are ongoing to establish the exact circumstances surrounding the murder and trace those responsible.

"The disturbance which took place shortly before he was injured drew a lot of attention from people in the area, several of whom contacted emergency services.

Violence seems almost hardwired in the Glaswegian psyche.

The knife entered the boy's neck with brutal force and fatal precision: an artery severed, a haemorrhagic fountain, the desperate ambulance dash to hospital. For Reamonn Gormley, 19, it was all too late.

In the old stone mortuary in central Glasgow, the tiled floors are swirling with water and detergent. The day's post-mortems are over, saws and scalpels clean, slabs gleaming. The smell of disinfectant is sharp but it cannot chase away the reek of death.

The boy's body has already succumbed to the pathologist's knives and now lies in the third fridge from the left, waiting for the criminal justice system to finish its work.

Gormley's killers, infuriated by his refusal to hand over a mobile phone but senseless with alcohol, pleaded guilty last week while his parents - and the city of Glasgow itself - rage and wonder why.

This nation of stone churches and Victorian grandeur, home of the romantic poet Robert Burns and legendary hero William Wallace, is drowning in blood.

In Glasgow, Scotland's biggest city, a stabbing occurs every six hours - and many more go unreported. Survey after survey, from the World Health Organisation to the United Nations, identifies Glasgow as one of the most violent cities in western Europe. Among young males aged between 10 and 29, the rate of homicide is similar to Argentina, Costa Rica and Lithuania. Alcohol-related death rates are three times the British average while Scots have one of the lowest life expectancies in Europe.

The nightmare is constant, a cycle of violence that each weekend sees the alcoholic and drug addicted, chronically unemployed and angry, the young and the old, take to the streets armed with knives, machetes and even samurai swords to battle the demons of disillusionment - and each other.

Three-quarters of all weapons crimes in Scotland occur in the Strathclyde policing district in and around Glasgow. Between 5000 and 6000 are recorded each year and more than 2200 hospital beds are taken up with the victims.

The raw statistics are mind-boggling. But they do not explain why blade-carrying is so culturally imbued among Glaswegian men, from the razor gangs of the 1930s to the 100 or so motley, territorial mobs who prowl the vast housing schemes around the city today.

Is it possible that generations of alcohol abuse, extreme disadvantage and social distress - combined with inculcated machismo and a modern drug culture - have created a cocktail toxic enough to see a penchant for violence hardwired into the Glaswegian psyche?

Inspector Dougie Stevenson, head of the Strathclyde Gangs unit, knows the problem better than most: "I was brought up on 'the schemes', on the border with Lanarkshire, and I didn't know who lived on the other side of the street. I didn't venture further than 100 metres from the front door … if I did, it'd be a rough ride," he says.

"There are guys I went to school with 32 years ago and I'm locking their dads up. They're still at it … 43-year-old men we arrest for gang fighting. I know it sounds like I'm talking about savages but we can be called to a gang fight and there'll be fathers n' grandfathers shouting 'C'mon, get him'. This is what we are dealing with in West Scotland."

For Dr Marjorie Black, news of young Gormley's death came at 5am, when the Glasgow winter sky was still dark and sleep difficult to shake away. A forensic pathologist with the Scottish Crown office, Black has seen the bodies of many who have died an unnatural death in Glasgow over the past 17 years - whether by their own hand, accident or violence.

On this icy morning, she was told the victim was a 19-year-old student. By the time the city woke to the news, she had witnessed Gormley's parents sob that their boy, a psychology student at Glasgow University, had just returned from a trip teaching literacy to children in Thailand.

In her small office piled with books, newspapers and tomes on drug toxicology and forensics, Dr Black exudes the resignation of a woman whose workload can never end: "Most of it is known to be gang related: there is this culture of defending turf … in Glasgow, if you stray into the wrong area, you are seen as fair game."

Week after week, she sees how one blow with a knife can kill, but the young men of Glasgow don't seem to register this: "They grow up in a culture where … showing off injuries is a mark of a man. Not enough people are aware of just how many people don't survive it," she says.

At night, Glasgow's vast housing estates are forbidding, grim and dirty in their baths of fluorescent yellow light. On patrol with a crew from the Strathclyde Gang division units, we head for the city's troubled east, passing concrete towers and bleak red-brick blocks which loom from litter-infested parks.

CCTV footage has identified stirrings of trouble at a roundabout between Drumhyde and Drumchapel, a historic flashpoint of territorial violence. Kids dart out of sight as they see the unmarked police van. Some look barely old enough to be out, let alone at night.

Three plain-clothes officers, Barry Inglis, Eilon Miller and Andrew McIntyre, are on the lookout for a kid in a blue tracksuit, spotted on camera throwing bricks. For the kids they collar for questioning - arms up, pockets emptied, legs apart - this is clearly nothing new. They are compliant, it's all routine.

"Tonight's quiet," says Inglis. "But you can see it everywhere; generations have been doing it, grandfathers, fathers, sons, grandsons. We hear it all the time when we bring kids in: 'I did it when I was a boy, what's the problem?'''

Across town, Detective Chief Superintendent John Carnochan, is sitting at a big table in Strathclyde's Violence Reduction Unit. He is the homicide cop from central casting: silver goatee, shaved head and eyes that flash 'don't f--- with me'. But this detective of 30 years is a pioneer; an articulate, modern advocate of a revolutionary approach to tackle Glasgow's hard boys.

"The violence we see here is of such intensity that it's almost unique in western Europe … accepted as legitimate, a community norm, something that cannot be changed. The statistics are bad enough but much of what goes on never gets reported," he says.

"I will never forget one day going to a hospital to get a statement from a guy who had been stabbed, an attempted murder. The doctor said he'd signed himself out. We found him at his Gran's house, stripped to the waist with bloody surgical dressings all over his back. He's smoking, insisting he's OK. Then he dragged in the smoke. I thought, 'oh f---, it's coming out the hole in his back'. He thought that was normal. Or you'd go look for a kid who's wanted for something and his mum will say 'He's out gang-fightin' - as if he was playing out the back."

Carnochan is founder of Glasgow's Violence Reduction Unit, an experiment born five years ago when his police analyst colleague Karyn McCluskey found that despite decades of anti-violence initiatives, Glasgow's blade culture hadn't shifted in 40 years. It was an emergency doctor returning from a couple of years in Melbourne who pointed out the disastrous numbers. "He told us he dealt with more knife injuries in a month in Glasgow than he had in two years away in Australia."

Carnochan and McCluskey also realised that while communities in other cities such as London or Belfast took to the streets to demand action against violence - mothers banding together, victims support groups chanting for change - Glasgow seemed simply to accept that bloodshed was part of the weekend's recreational activities.

They decided it was time for change. Their experiment, known as CIRV (pronounced ''serve''), the Community Initiative to Reduce Violence, is now in its third year and is starting to reap measurable rewards. It too is based on a three-pronged attack: targeted enforcement coupled with specialist support and early intervention services with a push to encourage a powerful moral voice from the community.

The Strathclyde police began three years ago and mapped 167 gangs, all guarding territory and turf rather than drugs - some covering just a few streets and laneways - then began a ''call in'' of gang leaders, to warn that every time an individual committed an act of violence, police would come down hard on the entire gang.

Carnochan and McCluskey then pushed for the creation of new partnerships between police and other government services: social workers, schools and teachers, housing and employment specialists, the military and sports organisations to ensure that anyone who wanted an out was supported.

The police made it clear they were not wanting to stamp out the very existence of gangs, acknowledging that for the kids of dysfunctional and distressed families, gangs can offer a sense of belonging and security.

The focus of the message remains: give up the knives.

Scott Breslin was 16 years old when he was stabbed in the neck. But he did not die. Instead, he woke up a tetraplegic, paralysed from the neck down.

In a suburban cottage on the outskirts of Glasgow, he is sitting in his wheelchair in a pool of soft, late-afternoon light. His carer is fussing around in another room while he fiddles with a mobile phone. His eyes, expressive and open, alight at the arrival of company.

He shows us the scar on his neck. It is no bigger than a 20 cent piece but the blade severed his spinal cord. He has limited use of one hand but this smart, good-looking young man will need constant care for the rest of his life.

Breslin was walking home from a party with a mate when they heard a friend was being chased: "We went to see what was happening; it was Pennilee just 10 minutes away. There were two of us but we were unknown there. We turned the corner and saw 10 of them, girls and boys. We tried to walk through and away, one started shouting, my mate fell, I went to help, I was stabbed in the neck," he says matter of factly.

"It felt like a short circuit, the lights went out, I fell to the ground, lost some teeth … I was about to start a new job, training as a glazer, when it happened. It was the first day of a two-week holiday."

Ironically, Breslin's catastrophic injury has opened the door to a life he would never have imagined: finishing school and a tertiary education. After months of rehab, he studied for his A levels and is now doing a business and marketing degree at Paisley University.

"Life's too short to hate. I want to make the most of my life, the best I can,'' he says. ''And if talking about what happened to me helps get one person to put a knife down, I've done something."

John Carnochan doesn't believe in a silver bullet to cure Glasgow of its violent disease. However, if investment in prevention delivers "a thousand smaller victories" and even incremental, long-term improvements, that in itself is a win.

His boss, Campbell Corrigan, is just as frank. He has led a major re-think of policing strategies, releasing 60 per cent of his 8000 officers from traditional areas into more preventive, pro-active work. The programs range from enforcing curfews to management of repeat offenders and face-to-face work with gang leaders. Work is being done to enforce bail conditions that require sobriety, and work to detect domestic abuse has yielded a 65 per cent success rate, significant for a crime so shrouded in shame and secrecy.

Despite a downward trend in weapons crimes and homicide rates, Corrigan remains cautious: ''There is less violence in the pubs and the streets but that could be a shift from outdoor to indoor violence … highest levels [of domestic] violence in Europe."

Their take-no-prisoners attitude has inspired many, however, including a group of the city's maxilo-facial surgeons and their colleagues in accident and emergency. Says Dr Christine Goodall: "Research shows us that that if you live in a deprived area in Glasgow, you were three times more likely to have a facial injury or trauma. If alcohol is involved, the likelihood rises and is seven times higher than if you lived in a more well off neighbourhood.

"We were seeing people in their 20s with cirrhosis of the liver, kids of 14 who would take hours to be stitched up and when you tell them the scar would be there for life, they'd say it was OK … for them it was a badge of honour. We decided we were spending so much time on fixing the results of violence, it was time to work on prevention."

Medics Against Violence was born of this exasperation. The project now sees more than 130 surgeons visit schools to talk to kids about what double-bladed, home-made razor knives can do to the face and body - if they don't kill. A film, scripted for teenagers, shows how one, alcohol-fuelled moment can change lives - and encourages classroom discussion of alternatives.

Among the graphic images are shots taken by the Glasgow-born boxer turned photojournalist, David Gillanders, who spent months with Strathclyde police and medics documenting their quest to stymie the city's violent bent. The photos, in black and white, are haunting: a young man embracing his dead mate on a hospital gurney, his grief palpable and raw; middle-aged men lying unconscious on beds after a fight, fresh slash wounds among the scars of older battles; young men with ears and cheeks sewn up many times. Others, lunging blindly at police and each other, their faces a mask of alcoholic rage.

Today, the images adorn Carnochan's offices, a bloody and permanent reminder of the determined cop's thankless task.

"The young men's faces are scarred from the conflict but these scars label them not as the victims they are, but as fighters, violent men. This means they can't get jobs, find a relationship,'' he says. "Functioning in a society that is fearful of violence is difficult, too … we shouldn't forget that either."

 

Smash 'n' carry: The gangs terrorising London's luxury labels

Outside, on the pavement, two men on high-powered motorbikes waited, revving their engines to intimidate passers-by. Alone in the showroom the two robbers used their heavy axes to shatter the glass cabinets and grabbed glittering handfuls of Rolex watches, which they passed to their accomplices outside; they returned briefly to seize yet more watches before leaping on to the bikes and roaring off. The raid was over in less than 60 seconds and the men escaped with a haul worth £300,000. The police, however, were hot on their tail. A squad car gave chase and although they lost the bikes within a few minutes, one of the riders panicked and dumped his motorcycle and a holdall containing half the loot, along with clothing, helmets and a mobile phone top-up card.

For detectives from the City of London Police's Major Investigation Team, the items were vital clues that led officers to two members of the gang, Jed McDonald, 21, and Charlie Kavanagh, 20, who were identified by DNA traces on the clothing and motorcycle gear. The mobile phone top-up card was also traced to McDonald. Both men pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery. The raiders are scheduled to be sentenced this month.

The conviction is a much-needed success for police, who have been overwhelmed by London's surge in these brazen yet hard to solve smash and grab raids. Last month alone there were more than ten in the borough of Westminster - double the number in the same month last year - and each year the haul from the raids is estimated at millions of pounds' worth of goods.

Naturally, it is London's most exclusive boutiques that are at the greatest risk, with their expensive stock and decorative staff. Anya Hindmarch, seller of fancy handbags to famous faces including Keira Knightley and the Duchess of Cambridge, has now been robbed an eye-watering nine times. Watches of Switzerland and Mappin & Webb, the Queen's silversmith, have also been struck numerous times, and in recent weeks there have been raids on Dolce & Gabbana, Christian Dior and Loewe in Mayfair, as well as an attempted raid at Miu Miu. Other targets have included Cartier, Asprey and Harvey Nichols.

But it is not just about the brand, it is also the location that lures these smash 'n' grabbers. Police insiders say it is no coincidence that the favoured targets are located on Bond Street and in the City, areas a short stolen moped ride away from the beleaguered estates of Islington and Holloway where many of the raiders reside. Because new intelligence suggests that, contrary to the typical image of a jewel thief as a dashing, black-clad David Niven type, these modern-day robbers are typically un-employed young men in their late teens or early twenties. Sources say there is a group of around 100 or more individuals available to carry out the robberies at any one time. Many are known to each other, having attended the same schools or lived on the same estates, such as the Packington in Islington. They are motivated more by money than mindless violence and see the robberies as a gainful way of life. Detectives say that when caught, 'there is no remorse from them. There seems to be a mentality that they have a right to go into the City or Westminster and commit these crimes.' And even when they are nicked, once they finish their sentence, 'they have no other source of income and they return into the same community and fit back in very quickly,' says Alison Saunders of the Crown Prosecution Service.

Smash and grab raids on the streets of London are not new. They evolved from the notorious ram-raiders of the 1990s when criminals used high-powered cars to smash their way into stores to snatch jewels or high-value electrical goods. Pioneered in the North East where the raids quickly became an epidemic, London's gangs adapted the methods to suit the city's slow-moving traffic, quickly realising that motorbikes or mopeds were almost impossible to chase successfully and could escape through even the heaviest of traffic jams. Instead of using cars to break through shop fronts, robbers started carrying sledge-hammers or axes. Often the robberies last for just 30 seconds and the gangs are gone before police can arrive. Police say it is too dangerous to mount pursuits of the motorcycles or mopeds, which their riders drive at speeds of up to 100mph, sometimes through crowded streets. Pedestrians have been injured and in 2005 a robber was killed when his moped crashed and he was hit by an unmarked police car during a chase after an attempted robbery at Tiffany & Co on Sloane Street.

But, against the odds, the police are striking back. Since the latest spree of robberies in the West End, the Westminster Crime Squad is devoted full-time to tackling the gangs and since March 2009 more than 52 robbers have been convicted. However, the ringleaders behind the raids remain shadowy figures. Detective Inspector Glyn Whittick, of the City of London Police, says there is no doubt they are dealing with organised crime, rather than more spontaneous raids by individuals. 'These events are clearly planned; there is recruitment, organisation; someone has to obtain the stolen mopeds or motorbikes and then dispatch the jewellery or goods after the robbery.' But, as yet, a Fagin type in charge of an army of young footpads has not been identified.

Police are also trying to establish where and how the gems and handbags are sold, as the loot often seems simply to disappear. Rolex watches are easily traced, since each has its own unique serial number, but stolen items rarely pop up on police databases, prompting speculation that there is another outlet for them. It is unlikely they are advertised on the internet and police doubt that £8,000 Rolexes and £1,400 Anya Hindmarch bags are being sold in pubs or on market stalls for a fraction of their value. More probably they are sent to the Middle East or Africa where they will fetch something close to their real value.

Back at home, the raids have changed the landscape of London's most affluent shopping areas with private security guards now a routine sight around Bond Street. But, as high-profile shops such as Mappin & Webb increasingly install bandit-proof glass and smoke security systems, the gangs are turning to softer targets. This year shops on the genteel St John's Wood High Street have been hit several times; in just two weeks more than £100,000-worth of clothes and accessories was stolen in raids on Larizia and Zadig & Voltaire. Shop staff say they are too scared to leave doors open to customers.

From customers themselves, these raids have elicited a mixed response, ranging from indifference - witness the smartly dressed gentleman who strolled past raiders smashing their way into a branch of Mappin & Webb on Old Bond Street last year - to an increasing trend for have-a-go-heroes, passers-by who step in to challenge the gangs. In September 2009, 24-year-old shop supervisor Colin Thomas was shot in the stomach when he chased a gang who had smashed a display cabinet and grabbed £70,000-worth of jewellery from a Costco branch in Croydon. Two brothers were later jailed, one for life for attempted murder.

But the robberies in St John's Wood illustrate that the gangs are as determined as ever. The wife of the owner of Larizia said it was the seventh time they had been targeted. 'They do it because it's easy. We've got too much security at night so they come in the day. It happens all the time.' She fears that unless something drastic is done, it is unlikely the gangs will be going away; the pickings are too rich and the chances of getting caught are still not high enough to be a deterrent. Only last month a 17-year-old was arrested at his family home in Islington, where police recovered three Dior handbags, still with their price tags attached, and a quantity of stolen jewellery. And a gang that struck De Beers and Tiffany & Co at Westfield in May last year is still at large - as is the £1.2 million-worth of jewels they made off with. ES

THE WORLD'S MOST DARING JEWEL HEISTS...

Mad science
This is possibly the most baffling jewellery theft of all time. At the 2002 diamond exhibition at The Hague's Museon science museum, $12 million-worth of necklaces, tiaras and precious gems was swiped. The guards on duty all night were unaware of the break-in until the museum opened the next day, nothing showed up on CCTV, motion sensors never went off, and display cabinets revealed no signs of tampering. Answers on a postcard…

Diamond geezers
If you're going to hit up a city for some bling, it might as well be the diamond capital of the world. In February 2003, a raid was carried out on vaults in Antwerp's Diamond Centre. It is thought to have been the work of a gang of veteran Italian robbers, The School of Turin. The gang managed to bypass cameras, bars and reinforced doors to gain entry to the vaults. It's thought that they had copied keys to get in, and replaced the CCTV tapes with prerecorded footage. After prising open 123 vaults, they were so loaded down with £65 million-worth of booty they gave up on the remaining 37. Investigators obtained vital DNA as one careless robber had left behind a half-eaten sandwich. It led them to arrest Leonardo Notarbartolo, who was sentenced to ten years in prison.

Changing faces
In August 2009 three thieves planning a raid on Mayfair's Graff Diamonds store sought the services of a make-up artist who altered their appearance with wigs and latex. With their identities disguised, the men stole jewels amounting to £40 million. But the robbers were later caught after a mobile phone was discovered in an abandoned getaway vehicle. The men were sentenced to up to 23 years in prison. The multimillion-pound swag has yet to be recovered.

Alright Harry
When four armed men dressed as drag queens cleared the Harry Winston store in Paris of more than £50 million-worth of jewellery in 2008 it was one of France's biggest ever jewel thefts. The gender-bending robbers threatened employees with guns and were gone in a matter of minutes. A police investigation culminated in the arrest of 25 people a year later. It was thought most of the stolen jewellery had already been sold on, until police discovered £17 million-worth of diamonds inside a drainpipe in the suburbs.

...AND THE WORST

Well foiled
It could have been magnificent. On 7 November 2000 four men planned to appropriate the 203ct Millennium Star diamond (top) valued at £200 million, exhibited as part of the Millennium Dome's attractions, by smashing into the building with a JCB and escaping by speedboat across the Thames. What they didn't realise was that police had been on to them from the outset and had even swapped the real gem for a fake. Officers dressed as cleaners waited until the doomed crooks had attacked the diamond's case before swooping and arresting the would-be Thomas Crowns.

 

Smash 'n' carry: The gangs terrorising London's luxury labels

gangland-style execution of two teenagers yards away from family homes has plunged an entire estate in crisis.

The double shooting in Fishermead last week proved the final nail in the coffin for hundreds of already jittery residents who have witnessed five horrific killings in a year.

At the same time, an expert in the criminal underworld has revealed to the Citizen how guns can be purchased freely throughout the city for between £250 and £500 each.

“Guns are rife and so are drugs such as crack cocaine and heroin. Where there’s hard drugs, there’s always guns – and all it takes is a couple of phone calls and a few minutes to get one,” he said.

The fear on Fishermead is now so bad that councillors are busy arranging an Extraordinary Parish Meeting next Wednesday in a bid to ease tension.


Already they are worrying about finding a hall big enough to fit the anticipated amount of people, said Campbell Park Parish Council chairman Mike Johnson.

“We want to listen to the people themselves. We want to find out what is happening and nobody knows more than the people who live here.

“Why are these crimes happening? Are there major drug dealers on our streets? Is there a conflict between rival gangs? We need to find the answers and then solutions to put people’s minds at rest.”

Last Thursday’s shooting has also rocked the city’s 7,000 strong Somalian community, who are denying rumours the victims were part of a drugs ring.

They describe Mohamed Abdi Farah, 19, as a “lovely, smiling boy” who helped elderly ladies carry their shopping from Fishermead Co-op.

“He moved here from Norway with his family when he was a child. They are good people,” said the head of MK Somalian Platform, Abshir Hirze.

He said the family had moved to Birmingham to seek “better opportunities” but Mohamed had travelled to Fishermead to stay with his uncle for a couple of days.

The teenager, recently returned from a trip to Somalia to visit his grandmother, was killed instantly while his friend from London, 18-year-old Amin Ahmed Ismail, died 12 hours later.

Both were known for low-level criminal activity, say police.

Said Abshir: “The Somalian community is no worse than any other. There are a few bad people but most of us sought refuge in this country to find peace and live quiet, lawful, lives.”

Fishermead, with its 200 houses in multiple occupancy, has a high and often transient population of Somalian refugees.

But, with a steady stream of burglaries and anti social behaviour episodes as well as several violent crimes happening every month, it is a haven for crooks of any nationality.

Said one resident: “The crime is almost constant and I’m now too scared to go out at night. There’s a lack of interest when we report crimes to the police and it feels like this estate has been forgotten about by the authorities.

“Five killings in 12 months is crazy – but perhaps it will finally make people recognise that Fishermead is in crisis.”

In May last year cab driver Musdafe Jama strangled his wife at their home in Tolcarne Avenue. Four months later HiMO tenant Bola Ejifunmilayo and her small daughter Fiyin died in an arson attack. A 48-year-old woman has since been jailed for double manslaughter.

Five people, three from the Isle of Wight, have been found guilty of smuggling up to 53million pounds worth of cocaine into the UK.

gang have been convicted today (Thursday) at Kingston Crown Court and handed prison sentences totalling 104 years.

With accomplices Daniel Payne, Scott Birtwhistle and Croatian Zoran Dresic, lobster fisherman Jamie Green sailed his fishing vessel from Yarmouth on the Island into the English Channel to retrieve 11 watertight holdalls filled with the drugs. These had been deposited into the water from a container ship, the MSC Oriane, as it travelled en route to Antwerp from Brazil

The four then took the fishing boat, Galwad-Y-Mor, to Freshwater Bay off the coast of the Island, where it was tracked by UK Border Agency cutter HMC Vigilant and observed manoeuvring erratically before heading back to Yarmouth.

Green, Payne, and Dresic were arrested later that day, 30 May 2010, at which point Dresic produced fraudulent identification in the name of Veljko Protic.

The following morning, officers from the joint SOCA-Metropolitan Police Middle Market Drugs Partnership and UK Border Agency recovered the drugs - worth up to £53m on UK streets - after a report from the local coastguard. Hampshire & Isle of Wight Police officers had also participated in the surveillance operation.

The holdalls had each been tied along a rope in a manner closely resembling that of submerged lobster pots, with a buoy and a makeshift anchor tied to either end to aid its later recovery by the gang.

Subsequent investigations led to the arrest in turn of Birtwhistle and Jonathan Beere, who was in regular telephone contact with Green during the drugs run.

GPS tracking data was used retrospectively to plot the courses of two ships up to the drugs being collected in the early hours of 30 May.

SOCA's Chris Farrimond said, "This operation has prevented huge amounts of cocaine from reaching the streets of the UK, and demonstrates the strength of collaborative UK agency work to tackle the Class A drugs trade. These men believed their meticulously-planned drugs run would look like a commercial fishing expedition. Rather than bringing them massive profits, however, their plan has put them in the same unenviable position as many others who have been caught attempting to traffic drugs under the guise of legitimate business."

DI Robert Boggan, from the Metropolitan Police Service, said, "This gang thought they could get away with bringing hundreds of kilos of high-purity drugs into the UK to make themselves a hefty profit. While they believed they had found an innovative way of disguising their ill-gotten gains, we were one-step ahead of them and stopped them before they could cause damage on London's streets."

Carole Upshall, UK Border Agency director for the South and Europe said, "This case shows the lengths that organised criminals will go to just to bring illegal drugs into the UK. But it also shows how, working together with our law enforcement partners, we will stop at nothing to bring them to justice. The UK Border Agency's fleet of cutters patrol the coast 24 hours a day, 365 days a year playing a key role in helping us to secure the border, stopping prohibited goods and people even before they reach our shores."

Senior Crown Prosecutor Ogheneruona Iguyovwe for the CPS Organised Crime Division said, "Lobster fisherman Jamie Green masterminded an audacious plot of disguising over 250kg of cocaine in rucksacks among lobster pots off the Isle of Wight. The prosecution case was that the cocaine was thrown overboard by smugglers from a container vessel MCS Oriane en route from Brazil.

Green with his co-defendants, Daniel Payne, Zoran Dresic, Scott Birtwistle and Jonathan Beere planned to get the cocaine back to the UK shore by putting it into several rucksacks that were tied to a buoy, in the same way that lobster pots are strung together. The plan was to pick up the drugs as if Green and his accomplices were coming back from a normal lobster fishing expedition.

This case demonstrates that organised criminals will use whatever techniques they can to try and evade the nets of law enforcement. However, SOCA and CPS worked closely together to bring a strong prosecution case to show how each man was involved in the conspiracy. After hearing the prosecution's case, the jury was satisfied of each defendant's guilt and convicted them on all charges of conspiracy to import cocaine."

"We will now apply for their ill gotten gains to be confiscated."

The details of the sentencing are as follows:

Jonathan Beere, 08/01/1969, of Mayfield Road, Ryde, Isle of Wight.
Charged with conspiracy to import cocaine on 18/01/2011.
Sentenced to 24 years' imprisonment.

Scott Peter Birtwhistle, 03/11/1990, of Sparshot Road, Selsey, Chichester, West Sussex.
Charged with conspiracy to import cocaine on 27/1/11.
Sentenced to 14 years' imprisonment.

Zoran Dresic, 04/06/1974, of Croatia.
Sentenced to 24 years' imprisonment.

Jamie Peter Green, 02/03/1968, of Newport Rd Yarmouth, Isle of Wight.
Charged with conspiracy to import cocaine on 01/06/10.
Sentenced to 24 years' imprisonment.

Daniel Payne, 23/07/1974, of Albert Road, East Cowes, Isle of Wight
Charged with conspiracy to import cocaine on 1/6/10.
Sentenced to 18 years' imprisonment.

 

The location of every police car-tracking camera in Britain could be revealed following a landmark legal ruling today.

More than 10,000 covert Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras  photograph and record the registration numbers of 14 million motorists in the UK every day.

The information is used against a national database to track criminals and has proved vital in tackling criminals.

But police forces across the country could be forced to reveal their locations following a Freedom of Information Act request by a member of the public.  In a test case, Devon and Cornwall Police refused to disclose the data but was overruled by the Information Rights Tribunal.

Police chiefs have vowed to fight the ruling in the Court of Appeal but fear every force in Britain will be forced to comply if they lose the case.

A senior officer with the Devon and Cornwall force said: 'ANPR has been a fantastic weapon in our fight against crime.  It has been a huge success, particularly in taking millions of pounds worth of drugs off the streets.

'If we are forced to reveal their locations, then other forces will have to follow, and that raises serious issues particularly around counter terrorism. Giving away that level of detail is frankly ridiculous. It will put the public at risk.'

The technology was recently used to jail a major drugs gang which had supplied more than a million pounds worth of cocaine.

The smuggling ring, which had members from Devon, Norfolk, London and Romford, only unravelled after one of the gang was 'pinged' by an ANPR camera in 2009 for failing to insure his car.

Courier Christopher Leader was stopped by officers on the M5 in Devon in August 2009, when police found five kilos of cocaine worth £250,000 in his car. 

Steven Mathieson, news editor at Guardian Government Computing, submitted an FoI request to four police forces to release data on the location of the cameras back in July 2009.

third body has been found within a few hundred yards of where two men were found dead by the side of a road.

West Yorkshire Police said the body was discovered by firefighters on Holme Lane, in the Holme Wood area of Bradford, just after 6.30am on Thursday.

The discovery was made across fields from where the bodies of two unidentified young men were found dumped on New Lane, near Tong, on Tuesday evening.

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A spokesman said it is too early to say whether the deaths are linked.

The spokesman said officers were called to the scene at 6.31am. He confirmed the call was made by firefighters who had been dealing with a fire in the area.

"We're currently working to establish the circumstances surrounding it. We're examining whether there is any link between the incidents. At this stage we're unable to establish any connection."

Detectives launched a murder inquiry on Wednesday after the bodies of two men were found dumped on New Lane, Bradford, just a mile or two from the suburbs of the city. The bodies were discovered by a passing motorist shortly before 10.30pm on Tuesday.

The two victims were aged in their mid 20s to 30s and officers are trying to establish their identities. No weapons have been recovered and detectives would not comment on reports that the two men had been beaten.

The area where the first two bodies were found is open countryside - green meadows with pockets of woodland - just a mile or two from the suburbs of south Bradford. Locals speculated that the bodies may have been dumped.

Alice Avery said: "It's a quiet area. So you just don't know what goes on at night-time round here, do you?"

Gardai have uncovered a drugs factory linked to a notorious gangland boss living in north Kildare.

The factory was found yesterday when officers raided a rented house at Kilmurray, Enfield, near the Meath-Kildare border.

They seized five kilos of cocaine and four kilos of heroin with a combined street value of around €1m.

Also discovered were a large quantity of mixing agents, weighing scales and other drugs manufacturing equipment.

The raid followed a lengthy operation involving gardai from the Kildare division and local officers from Leixlip, backed up by the national drugs unit.

Detectives arrested a 41-year-old man, who was born in South Africa but is an Irish citizen.

However, they believe the mastermind behind the drugs operation is a Dublin criminal. He is regarded as a major supplier of drugs in the Leinster area over several years.

Last night's haul was thought to have been destined for sale in Meath and Kildare.

Haul

The suspect was taken for questioning at Leixlip station.

Meanwhile, gardai were continuing to question a 27-year-old Dundalk man last night in connection with the seizure of a €3.5m haul of cannabis resin and herb by members of the national drugs unit on Wednesday night.

The haul was found in a warehouse in a business park at the Malahide Road in Coolock after it was brought there in a van, which had been under surveillance following a joint operation between gardai and the customs drugs team.

The van was "tailed" from Dublin Port to the warehouse.

Gardai believe the shipment was organised by a Dublin crime gang and was destined for distribution in the north city and in county Louth.

Officers said the gang suffered a financial loss of several hundred thousand euro as a result.

And gardai in Bray said they arrested 20 people over the course of the last week for their involvement in the sale and supply of heroin and cannabis.

Over 50 charges can be preferred against those arrested.

A garda spokesman said: "This has been a nine-month covert policing operation which has dismantled significant drug distribution networks operating in north Wicklow.

"During the course of the searches carried out this week, further amounts of controlled drugs have also been seized along with drug-dealing paraphernalia.

"The focus of this operation has been to gather evidence against significant drug dealers."

Police officers hurt in Bristol riots

Police have defended their actions after riots broke out in Bristol at a supermarket protest.
A number of police officers were hurt in the scuffles at the Tesco store in the Stokes Croft area of the city overnight.
Assistant chief constable at Avon and Somerset Constabulary Rod Hansen stated 300 protestors were in attendance at the Tesco store and some started throwing bottles at officers, while petrol bombs were also confiscated at the scene.
"We took the decision to carry out a swift arrest operation, following intelligence received about the criminal intentions of those who were occupying the building," he said.
Assistant chief constable Hansen added the positive action was due to the petrol bombs being found and the belief of the force there could be a threat to the public unless the protest was brought under control.
None of the injuries sustained by any of the protestors, or the eight police officers who were hurt, were thought to be serious and the last groups dispersed from the area at around 04:00 BST.
Local resident Duncan Birmingham told the Guardian the new Tesco Express store had been "trashed" in the riots.

 

Detectives searching for Sian O'Callaghan who went missing after leaving a nightclub in Swindon, said on Thursday they had arrested a man on suspicion of kidnapping her.

O'Callaghan, 22, has not been seen or heard of since leaving the Suju club in the early hours of Saturday, leading to a massive search by police and locals of the surrounding area.

Chief Superintendent Steve Hadley said the arrest was a significant development.

"A short time ago a man was arrested on suspicion of the kidnap of Sian O' Callaghan. He was arrested by Wiltshire officers in Swindon,"

"It is a significant stage in this difficult enquiry. Our priority is to find Sian and we are doing all that we can to do so."

He said O'Callaghan's family had been informed of the arrest. Her parents and boyfriend have made emotional pleas for her safe return.

Wiltshire Police are believed to have swooped on a taxi driver shortly after 11am as he was parked in a supermarket taxi rank in north Swindon.

Wiltshire Police are believed to have swooped on a taxi driver shortly after 11am as he was parked in a supermarket taxi rank in north Swindon.
Miss O’Callaghan, 22, has not been seen since she left a nightclub in the town in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Chief Superintendent Steve Hedley said the missing woman’s family had been informed about this “significant development”.
When asked if he thought Miss O’Callaghan was still alive, he said: “We hope she is alive, we are certainly working on finding her and recovering her.”
The man arrested was taken to a local police station and his car was towed from the rank at the Asda supermarket in Haydon Wick.

Kenneth Noye, one of the UK's most notorious criminals, has lost his appeal against his conviction for a road rage murder in Kent

Kenneth Noye, one of the UK's most notorious criminals, has lost his appeal against his conviction for a road rage murder in Kent.

Noye, 63, stabbed 21-year-old Stephen Cameron during a fight on an M25 slip road at Swanley in 1996.

He fled to Spain afterwards but was extradited in 1998 and jailed for life at the Old Bailey in 2000. He denied murder, on the grounds of self-defence.

Two previous appeals by Noye, in 2001 and 2004, were unsuccessful.

Mr Cameron was stabbed in front of his fiance, Danielle Cable, who is now in a witness protection scheme.

Noye's case was being looked at again following a decision by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) to refer it to the Court of Appeal.

Clare Montgomery QC had told Lord Judge, the Lord Chief Justice, and two other judges that key prosecution witnesses at the trial were now "so discredited" that Noye's conviction should be quashed.

'Gross over-reaction'
She said the court must regard pathologist Michael Heath and eyewitness Alan Decabral as being "so discredited or potentially discredited that the court would have to ignore their evidence".

Ms Montgomery said fresh evidence had demonstrated their unreliability and therefore the conviction was unsafe.

Mr Decabral, 40, from Pluckley in Kent, was shot dead in October 2000, six months after Noye's trial.

Noye launched his appeal in 2001 on the grounds that Mr Decabral had a criminal background and had lied in the witness box.

Kent Police said to date there had been no charges in relation to Mr Decabral's death, and the file on the case remained open.


Stephen Cameron fought with Noye on a slip road to the M25
Giving judgement on Tuesday, Lord Judge, sitting with Mr Justice Henriques and Mr Justice Davis, said there was no doubt that Mr Cameron was "deliberately stabbed" by Noye, and that it "was not self-defence".

Lord Judge said: "Rather it was a gross over-reaction in the context of a fight with an unarmed man, almost certainly consequent on the fact that the appellant was losing it."

He said nothing in Dr Heath's evidence "threw light on the truthfulness, or otherwise, of what the appellant asserted was in his mind, which was that he struck out in a panic while in mortal fear".

The prosecution case was that Noye had deliberately used the knife and caused the fatal injury, "not because he was in a panic or fearful of mortal injury, but because he had involved himself in a fight which he was determined he should not lose, and so he resorted to the use of a fatal weapon".

Lord Judge said: "To open the knife, and then return to the fight and 'punch' Mr Cameron with the open knife held in his fist was a wholly disproportionate response."

CRIME clan matriarch Big Mags Haney has apologised to her family over her drug dealing shame.

And she has told of her plans to live quietly now she's been released from jail.
In a rare interview, she spoke to the Record after a teenager was convicted of murdering her grandson Barry Bradley, 18.
And she claimed her family had now become a "target" because of their notoriety.
Haney, 68, said: "The apology I owe to my family is for going to jail and for bringing the spotlight on us all."
She added: "As far as the papers are concerned, I'm more of a bad sort than Myra Hindley or Osama bin Laden.
"But when I got out of jail, I got a house in Alva and I just wanted to live quietly.
"My neighbours are great but there are some elements here that don't want the Haneys and they've made that very clear. We've become a target here."
Haney launched a verbal attack on killer Jack Cramb, 19, who laughed in the dock throughout his trial for murdering her grandson Barry.
She said: "Nobodies - like that Cramb animal - have tried to use us to make a name for themselves. But no one will know him when he's in jail.
"He was on various indictments for assaults and threats against me and my family and others.
"If he had been remanded, as he should have been, my boy would still be alive.
"What he did was the work of an animal. No human being is capable of that.
"I had to sit and look at him snigger at his trial but he won't be sniggering and winking when he gets sentenced.
"Cramb thinks he's a bit of a gangster but where were all his cardboard gangsters in court? His so-called pals have deserted him, he's alone and going away for a long time."
But Haney blames herself for the pain her family have suffered in recent years, culminating in the murder.
She was outed as a large-scale drug dealer in the notorious Raploch housing scheme, in Stirling, by Daily Record investigators in 2001 and served six years in Cornton Vale prison.
Cramb was found guilty of murder at the High Court in Glasgow last week. Barry bled to death when Cramb slashed him with a piece of broken glass.
Cramb had previously threatened Big Mags with a broken bottle at her home.
Haney said: "There was bad blood between Barry and one of Cramb's pals. I had my door set alight late at night when I was at home with Barry's twin sister Michaela.
"Both of us could have died.
"Then I had that animal Cramb threatening me with a broken bottle. He should have been on remand but instead he was free to kill my boy.
"And as Barry lay dying on the street, not one of the people living there opened their door to him, to help or even give him comfort. No doctor in the world could have saved him but the fact people turned their backs on him as he lay dying still haunts me.
"When Barry died, I died too - and part of Michaela died. The only reason I'm still here is because of her."
Barry died following the brutal attack at Nethergate and Dalmore Drive, Alva, Clackmannanshire, on July 25.

TWO gangland hitmen jailed for a record 35 years each should have their sentences cut - because their victims were "bad men",

TWO gangland hitmen jailed for a record 35 years each should have their sentences cut - because their victims were "bad men", it was claimed yesterday.
Raymond Anderson and James McDonald blasted Michael Lyons, 21, to death in a Glasgow drugs feud and shot two others.
But judges at the Appeal Court in Edinburgh were told that unlike other notorious murder cases, the victims weren't innocents.
Donald Findlay QC stated: "It was a case of bad men shooting other bad men and it was a shooting in the context of the criminal underworld.
"There is an element of the old saying that if one flies with the crows one may expect to be shot."
Yesterday, armed police surrounded the closed hearing.
Anderson, 49, and McDonald, 37, who have lost their appeals against conviction, claim the sentences - the heaviest handed out in modern times - were excessive.
They struck in broad daylight almost five years ago at a garage owned by a rival crime clan - 100 yards from a primary school.
The shootings stemmed from a vicious war between the Daniel and Lyons crime families.
The dead man was the nephew of Lyons clan chief Eddie.
Steven Lyons, a son of Eddie, was also shot and convicted attempted murderer Robert Pickett was seriously wounded.
Mr Findlay said they received heftier prison terms than triple Army payroll killer Andrew Walker, Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi and double cop killer Howard Wilson.
Lords Mackay, Emslie and Marnoch will give a written decision later.

Border officers have seized five tonnes of tobacco being smuggled into the UK through Dover's Eastern Docks.

Border officers have seized five tonnes of tobacco being smuggled into the UK through Dover's Eastern Docks.

The UK Border Agency (UKBA) said the hand-rolling tobacco had been professionally shrink-wrapped and hidden in electrical materials.

A man was arrested and later released without charge. The case has been passed to HM Revenue and Customs.

The lorry was stopped by officers at the inward freight controls, and the vehicle and trailer searched.

The agency's assistant director in Dover, Paul Booth, said tobacco smuggling was often linked to organised crime.

drunken mother who attacked a disfigured girl in a bar in an 'appalling' disability hate crime sobbed as she was jailed yesterday

drunken mother who attacked a disfigured girl in a bar in an 'appalling' disability hate crime sobbed as she was jailed yesterday. 

On a night out in Oldham, Rachel Rooney taunted and attacked 23-year-old Chantelle Richardson, who rarely leaves the house because of her deformity and could die if struck. 

Miss Richardson's condition severely disfigures her face leaving her vulnerable to stroke, or worse if hit on the nose, and she is required to wear a balloon-like device under her skin.

It is an embarrassment that Britain is the only EU country other than Denmark which has refused to sign up.

Oxana Kalemi's journey to 10 Downing Street has been a long and dangerous one. In 2004, she was trafficked from the Ukraine to Britain and tricked into what could have been a life-sentence of enslaved prostitution.

Yesterday, she struck a blow against the criminals who had enslaved her when she demanded that David Cameron toughens Britain's laws on human trafficking.

She was one of more than 46,000 people who have backed an Independent on Sunday campaign calling on the Government to sign up to European Union regulations on tackling the trade in people.

Tomorrow, the EU directive on human trafficking will become law across most of Europe, bringing with it better protection for victims and increasing the chance of prosecutions against the gangs that exploit them. Still, the British Government refuses to sign up.

Ms Kalemi, 35, handed in the petition alongside representatives from The Independent on Sunday, Anti-Slavery International and the campaigning website 38 Degrees.

She now lives in Yorkshire after escaping the gang who had held her captive in Birmingham, forcing her to have sex with up to 15 men a day. "Today is a big day for me," she said. "I know as a victim how many people are trafficked, This is a global problem. Politicians seem to talk a lot about being tough on trafficking but they need to do something.

"I want to know what Cameron's excuse is for not signing up to such an important law. It's very worrying that he isn't working with the EU to solve this problem. Most of the girls I saw were trafficked from places like Romania and Poland – places in Europe. How can Britain stop this crime if they won't work with Europe?"

Ms Kalemi was forced to leave her children and smuggled into Britain to work as prostitute in 2004 after being trafficked across countless European countries. In 2009, she published the story of her ordeal Mummy Come Home.

Receiving the petition, a Home Office spokeswoman said: "We are looking closely at the finalised text and considering its merits. If we conclude that opting-in would be of benefit, we can apply to opt-in and will make an announcement in due course."

The EU directive was passed by a large majority of European MPs, including Conservative MEPs, on 18 December. Only Britain and Denmark chose not to opt-in and now the other 25 EU members have two years to bring the new law into effect.

Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary and minister for women and equalities, said: "Twenty five European governments will stand together this week and introduce new rules to tackle trafficking and modern-day slavery in Europe. It is shameful that the Conservative-led government is still refusing to sign up."

The actress Juliet Stevenson, who is backing the campaign, said last night: "It is an embarrassment that Britain is the only EU country other than Denmark which has refused to sign up.

"What sort of message does this send to the pimps and gangs wanting to traffic people to Britain?"

Gemma Wolfes, campaigns officer at Anti-Slavery International, said: "Traffickers do not respect national borders, so it is vital that the UK follows the common European approach that's needed to defeat the criminalnetworks profiting from this horrendous crime."

Scotland Yard is giving 15 guards from Ultimate Security Services the power to combat under-age drinking, begging and anti-social behaviour.

Scotland Yard is giving 15 guards from Ultimate Security Services the power to combat under-age drinking, begging and anti-social behaviour.
Victoria Station is one of the country’s busiest transport hubs and it's hoped that the Government initiative – called the Community Safety Accreditation Scheme - will relieve the pressure on stretched Met and British Transport cops.
The guards will have legal power to request a name and address for offences including begging, anti-social behaviour, criminal damage and will be able to confiscate alcohol and cigarettes from under-age teenagers. They will also be able to order cyclists off pavements.
The scheme has been welcomed by Ruth Duston, chief executive of Victoria Business Improvement District.
She said: 'The scheme will help to provide a safe and secure destination for all who live, work and visit the area.'

Three men have been arrested on suspicion of murder after an 18-year-old man died from gunshot wounds in Wolverhampton.

An area of Orslow Walk, Park Village, was cordoned off after blood was found outside a property on Saturday.

The 18-year-old man arrived at the city's New Cross Hospital at about 1910 GMT on Saturday with gunshot wounds. He died a short time later.

Two men were arrested on Saturday night and one on Sunday.

Warrants of further detention were being requested on two of them on Monday morning.

Murder probe after teenager shot dead in West Midlands

Murder probe after teenager shot dead in West Midlands
Detectives have started a murder inquiry after an 18-year-old man died from gunshot wounds in Wolverhampton.

The man, who has not been identified, arrived at the city's New Cross Hospital at about 1910 GMT on Saturday, with gunshot wounds.

A West Midlands Police spokeswoman said the man died a short time later.

She said it was unclear where or when the man was shot and officers were making inquiries across the city and patrolling to reassure residents.

The force has also appealed for anyone who might have seen the shooting in Wolverhampton or the surrounding areas to contact the force or Crimestoppers.

Detectives have made 49 arrests in a ticket touts crackdown launched ahead of the London 2012 Games.

Detectives have made 49 arrests in a ticket touts crackdown launched ahead of the London 2012 Games.
Arrests have been made for a range of crimes including fraud, money-laundering and handling stolen goods since Scotland Yard's Operation Podium squad was set up in June.
Operation Podium is the special Metropolitan Police squad to tackle serious crime and the gangs set to try and cash in on the Games.
Touts are part of organised criminal networks often involved in other crimes, according to assistant commissioner Chris Allison, the national Olympic security co-ordinator.
He said: "We are committed to dismantling them layer by layer. If we need to grow the squad then we have the capability to do that but, in many ways, I hope the publicity of everything that we are doing means we do not need to put more investment into it.
"It will be enough to prevent and stop people from thinking they can get away with it."
Detectives are targeting "hundreds moving in to thousands" of touts, most of whom are British and try to exploit high-profile events globally. Organised ticket gangs can expect to make millions from illegal sales.
A series of measures have been launched to thwart the fraudsters at the 2012 Games. The maximum fine for ticket-touting at the 2012 Olympics is going up from £5,000 to £20,000.
Special software will pick up unusual patterns of buying and all tickets will have in-built security measures making their origin traceable, according to London 2012.
To combat the flood of bogus websites that are expected to spring up, sports fans will be able to tap in a special website checker to ensure they are buying tickets from an official seller. The checker will go live on March 15 when tickets go on sale.

Christopher Grady, 42, drove his children Gabrielle and Ryan into the River Avon in Evesham, Worcestershire, in February last year after arguing with their mother over access.

Christopher Grady, 42, drove his children Gabrielle and Ryan into the River Avon in Evesham, Worcestershire, in February last year after arguing with their mother over access.
Kim Smith, who had separated from Grady, told Sky News about the moment she knew her children's lives were in danger.
"He said: 'be outside, you've got ten seconds to say ta'ra to your kids'. That isn't nice hearing on the phone, I just went franctic, panic kicked in, I phoned the police, I was like a bit of a loon, I suppose, running around my house.
"I didn't know what was happening, I had to wait for it to be fed back to me from the police. It was a waiting game, and not a nice one."
It really hurts a lot knowing that they were terrified for their lives and I couldn't do anything
Mother Kim Smith
When Grady arrived at Miss Smith's home her attempts to rescue her children were futile.
"I jumped at the back door handle but couldn't open it, all the doors were locked. He just shouted 'river', all contorted face, it was horrible. When he shouted that and sped off I knew he was going to do it."
In court, Grady described a "catherine wheel" sound as his car "took off" and a "bang" as it hit the icy water "flat". He claimed it had been an accident and said he hadn't known there was a river there as he drove down a field.
Witnesses described seeing the children screaming for help and banging on the car windows.
As water poured through the sunroof, Grady asked Gabrielle, in the passenger seat, "What the f*** have I done?". Ryan, in the back, replied: "Something really bad dad".

UK was preparing "to be able to respond to a terrorist incident like the world witnessed in Mumbai".

Baroness Neville-Jones said the UK was preparing "to be able to respond to a terrorist incident like the world witnessed in Mumbai".
More officers are being trained to respond to an armed attack, the level of firearms training is increasing and ministers are involved in mock scenarios, she said.
Lady Neville-Jones said the UK faced a "serious and sustained" threat which had not diminished in recent years.
"The possibility of a scenario similar to the devastating incident in Mumbai in 2008 is one for which we must be prepared," she said.
"We have been training more officers to respond to armed attack and enhancing the existing levels of firearms training.

Pair jailed over £15m drug smuggling scheme

Pair jailed over £15m drug smuggling scheme "Manchester Crown Court in Minshull Street, Langstreth pleaded guilty to his part in the importation of cannabis and was jailed for eight years.

Ian Barrick pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply in relation to cannabis recovered at an address in Salford in July 2008 and was sentenced to two years eight months."

MPs' expenses: disgraced policians received thousands to shut up their offices - Telegraph

MPs' expenses: disgraced policians received thousands to shut up their offices - Telegraph: "More than 200 MPs claimed the payments of up to £42,732, which they were entitled to use for staff salaries and office costs if they were leaving Parliament, receiving a total of £6.8 million.
Critics questioned why the payments were necessary given that many of the MPs had announced that they were leaving the Commons several years earlier.
A large number of employees who would have received the payments were MPs’ relatives hired to run their offices, meaning that the cash would have gone straight into their household income.
Labour’s Jim Devine, who was convicted last month of false accounting on his expenses, was paid £19,832.
David Chaytor, who was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment for cheating on his Commons allowances, received £10,089."

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Crooks break into Britain's Vodafone - UPI.com

Crooks break into Britain's Vodafone - UPI.com: "A break-in at a Vodafone telephone network technical facility in Britain disrupted service but officials said no personal information was compromised.

Voice, text and mobile Internet services at Vodafone's Basingstoke data center were affected and the disruption appeared to be widespread, The Daily Telegraph reported Monday.

A Vodafone spokeswoman confirmed the break-in and said some equipment was damaged.

The newspaper said the data center is a major hub for the telephone network and the site has routing equipment worth millions of dollars."

security forces appeared to be digging in to defend the centre of Tripoli.

security forces appeared to be digging in to defend the centre of Tripoli.

“The security presence now is all around the city which they have cordoned off to prevent any forces coming from outside,” said Samir, a Tripoli resident. “They have stationed tanks and anti-aircraft guns on roads leading into the city. The other security cordon is around Bab al-Aziziah [Gaddafi residence] there of course he has a whole arsenal of weapons.

“The streets are quite and there are few people around. There were some 150 supporters of Gaddafi in Green Square, mostly kids,” he said.

Forces loyal to the embattled leader were also attempting regain territory lost to rebels in other parts of the country. There were battles at an airbase outside Misrata on Saturday morning between pro-Gaddafi forces and the local population supported by units of the army.

Regime forces have been attempting since Friday to capture Misrata, the third city in Libya which lies on the coast 200 kilometres east of Tripoli.

The civilian airport outside the city which lies on the coast 200 kilometres east of Tripoli was attacked and burnt down by regime forces on Friday, according to Ibrahim an eye witness who spoke to the Financial Times.

He said the grounds of the airport were strewn with shells. Gharian an area of Misrata was shelled yesterday on Friday night and the number of casualties is unknown, he said.

“We are surrounded by regime forces from all directions,” he said. “We don’t know how many martyrs have fallen. They have also abducted several people.”

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John Galliano fights back as conflicting reports emerge

John Galliano fights back as conflicting reports emerge - Telegraph: "John Galliano's lawyer Stephane Zerbib has told WWD that the Christian Dior designer has filed a claim of defamation and injury against the couple - identified on Le Figaro's Web site as Géraldine Bloch, 35, and Philippe Virgiti, 41 - after visiting police at midnight on Friday to state on the record that he never made any anti-Semitic or racist comments."

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London student Mohammed Gul jailed after posting terrorist videos on YouTube

London student Mohammed Gul jailed after posting terrorist videos on YouTube  "Mohammed Gul, 23, of Elm Park Avenue, Hornchurch was sentenced at the Old Bailey on Friday after being found guilty of five counts of dissemination of terrorist publications.

Mohammed Gul has been jailed for five years (MPS)
The law student posted around 30 videos to YouTube and the Anti-Imperialist forum between March 2008 and February 2009, when he was arrested at his home.
His films included compilations of attacks on coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, footage from terrorist training camps, clips showing improvised explosive devices (IEDs) being made and extremist material relating to the conflict in Gaza.
Gul added images of Osama bin Laden, jihadist songs, scriptures used out of context and terrorist group logos to the videos before uploading the"

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Record UK immigration rise as 240,000 given right to stay in 1 year

Record UK immigration rise as 240,000 given right to stay in 1 year "Labour's ‘shambolic’ stewardship of the immigration system was exposed last night by figures showing that almost a quarter of a million migrants were handed the right to stay in Britain last year.

Grants of settlement, which are one step short of a passport, rose 35 per cent to 238,950 in the year to September 2010 – the highest since records began in 1960.

The total includes tens of thousands given full access to Britain’s public services because of the catastrophic failure to deal with their asylum cases swiftly.

Official figures also showed migration added 226,000 to the country’s population in 2010. This net migration figure – the number of arrivals minus those departing – is more than double the level that would be needed if ministers are to fulfil their pledge to reduce the annual net total to ‘tens of thousands’ by 2015."

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