Category Archives: Police

Police examine unsolved murders of women in Glasgow after Packer trial

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Trial drew attention to violence faced by sex workers in city, where the cases of four women killed in 1990s remain unresolved

Police Scotland is examining several unsolved murders of women in Glasgow after the trial of the serial rapist and killer Iain Packer highlighted the horrific levels of violence facing sex workers in the city.

Packer was sentenced to at least 36 years in prison last Wednesday for the murder of Emma Caldwell in 2005 and a catalogue of other sexual and violent offences, including 11 rapes.

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Met police to return lost sim card of bullied schoolgirl who killed herself

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Force was previously unable to locate sim belonging to Mia Janin, 14, after investigation into her death in 2021

Scotland Yard will return the lost sim card and phone of a bullied schoolgirl who killed herself, after the items were found months after her family requested their return.

Mia Janin, a 14-year-old pupil at Jewish free school (JFS) in Kenton, north-west London, died on 12 March 2021. Police admitted losing evidence it had gathered following her death last year – including the teenager’s main phone, second phone and sim card – but have since recovered them.

In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counsellor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org

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Police aggression towards Gaza march observers ‘on the rise’ in UK as woman says officers knocked her over

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Legal adviser to pro-Palestinian protesters was taken to hospital by passersby after the incident on Westminster Bridge in London

A 71-year-old legal observer has accused a group of police officers of deliberately knocking her over and leaving her bloodied and unconscious on the ground during a Gaza ceasefire protest in London.

Lesley Wertheimer – who was wearing a hi-vis bib with “legal observer” printed on the back – crashed face down into the road when a phalanx of about 30 police officers ran towards Westminster Bridge during the first pro-Palestine demonstration of 2024.

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Sarah Everard report sparks demand for urgent action to restore trust in police

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Inquiry chair says there is ‘nothing to stop another Couzens operating in plain sight’ and radical overhaul is needed

Sarah Everard’s “devastating” murder was “entirely preventable”, campaigners have said, as they called for urgent reform of policing to restore women’s trust.

The Angiolini inquiry found that Wayne Couzens should never have been given a job as a police officer and that chances to stop him were repeatedly ignored and missed.

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Police ‘could and should have’ stopped him: key points from Wayne Couzens report

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Former firearms officer’s history of alleged sexual offending dated back to 1995, 347-page report finds

Wayne Couzens should never have been a police officer and three separate forces “could and should have” stopped him, a damning report by Lady Elish Angiolini has found.

The 51-year-old former firearms officer’s history of alleged sexual offending and predilection for violent and extreme pornography dated back to 1995, it said. Couzens allegedly sexually assaulted a child and attempted to kidnap a woman at knife-point in the years before he abducted, raped and murdered Sarah Everard on 3 March 2021.

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Sunak demands ban on protests at MPs’ homes and crackdown on ‘mob rule’

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Ministers and senior police sign ‘democratic policing protocol’ to control protests outside parliament, town halls and parties’ offices

Rishi Sunak is seeking to halt demonstrations outside MPs’ homes after telling senior police officers that the UK is descending into “mob rule”.

In comments that have concerned civil liberties groups, the prime minister also demanded a crackdown on protests outside parliament, political parties’ offices and town halls that may prevent use of a venue or “cause alarm harassment or distress”.

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Secret tribunal to hear claims police spied on Northern Ireland journalists

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Judges urged to keep proceedings as open as possible in case relating to Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey

Allegations that UK police and intelligence spied on investigative journalists to identify their sources will be heard by a secret tribunal on Wednesday, with judges urged to ensure as much as possible takes place in open court.

Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey asked the investigatory powers tribunal (IPT) to look into whether police in Northern Ireland and Durham, as well as MI5 and GCHQ, used intrusive surveillance powers against them.

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Three female MPs given bodyguards after concerns over safety

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Politicians from Conservative and Labour parties get close protection and chauffeur-driven vehicles

Three female MPs have been given bodyguards and chauffeur-driven cars after concerns about their safety, it was reported. Representatives of the Conservative and Labour parties had their security upgraded after a risk assessment, according to the Sunday Times.

The MPs, who have not been named, have been given close protection by private companies and chauffeur-driven vehicles. “Many MPs are petrified by the abuse they are facing,” a senior security source told the newspaper.

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Black mental health patients more likely to be injured at hands of police

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Latest figures show racial disparity in use-of-force incidents among inpatients in England

The number of black inpatients injured while being restrained by police in mental health units has risen dramatically – at the same time as the number of non-black inpatients injured has fallen, according to analysis of government data by the Observer.

The Home Office’s police use of force statistics for 2022/23 show that police forces across England recorded 820 incidents of force used in mental health units against black inpatients, resulting in 36 injuries. This is up from the 770 use of force incidents and 27 injuries recorded in 2021/22.

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Nine taken to hospital after police van and London bus collide

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One officer trapped in wreckage at non-lethal incident near Oval tube station had to be rescued by firefighters

Nine people, including six police officers, have been taken to hospital after a collision between a doubledecker bus and a police van in south London.

Emergency services responded to the incident on Kennington Park Road, near Oval tube station, at about 11.30am.

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Masked protesters could soon face arrest, says Home Office

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Rights groups say proposed police powers for England and Wales are pandering to ‘culture war nonsense’

Protesters who wear masks could face arrest, up to a month in jail and a £1,000 fine under proposed measures that human rights campaigners claim are pandering to “culture war nonsense”.

Police in England and Wales will be given the power to arrest people if they are wearing face coverings at specific demonstrations, the Home Office has said.

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India’s wealthy ‘fear London is worse than Delhi for muggings’

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Fear of crime in UK capital is one of biggest concerns of rich Indians, says entrepreneur

Indian business people are avoiding being out and about in Mayfair over fears they could be mugged for their expensive watches after a 27% rise in “theft from a person” in London, an entrepreneur has said.

Devin Narang, an entrepreneur, told a meeting attended by David Lammy, the shadow foreign secretary, that fear of crime in London was one of the biggest concerns of India’s rich elite.

“People are being mugged in the heart of London – in Mayfair,” Narang, a member of the executive committee of the federation of Indian chambers of commerce and industry, said at a meeting in New Delhi, according to the Financial Times. “All CEOs in India have had an experience of physical mugging and the police [in London] not responding.”

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Black police officers’ group calls for ethnic minorities to boycott joining Met

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Move comes in protest at ‘racist and vexatious’ misconduct investigation into a leading officer

The National Black Police Association (NBPA) has called for ethnic minorities to boycott joining the Metropolitan police in protest at a “racist and vexatious” misconduct investigation into a leading officer.

In the first call for a boycott in 20 years, the association claims Charles Ehikioya, chair of the Met Black Police Association (Met BPA), has been targeted because he voiced concerns about the poor behaviour of senior officers – and the racism he and his colleagues are suffering.

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Pro-Palestine march in London will end near Downing Street, say police

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Met had previously refused to allow expected 300,000 demonstrators to hold rally on Whitehall on Saturday

The latest pro-Palestine march of hundreds of thousands of protesters through central London will end with a rally near Downing Street after a climbdown from the Metropolitan police.

Following a meeting late on Thursday afternoon, organisers of the march said they had been given permission for the end stage of Saturday’s demonstration to take place on Whitehall.

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Northampton chief constable faces hearing over military service claims

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Nick Adderley faces gross misconduct hearing over accusations he wore medal from Falklands war, which took place when he was 15

The chief constable of Northamptonshire police will face an accelerated gross misconduct hearing after allegedly misrepresenting his military service, including wearing a medal from a war he did not fight in.

Nick Adderley, who served as police chief from August 2018 until he was suspended in October, has been accused of wearing a medal from the Falklands war – which took place when he was 15.

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Man shot dead by police in south-east London

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Incident occurred when officers called to reports of man with crossbow and other weapons trying to force entry to property

A man has died after being shot by police in south-east London, the Met has said.

Officers were called to reports of a man attempting to force entry to a residential property in Southwark while wielding a crossbow and other weapons.

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Leicestershire police refer themselves to IOPC over Valdo Calocane ‘assaults’

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Move comes after it emerged that Calocane was accused of attacking two colleagues weeks before he killed three people in Nottingham

Leicestershire police have referred themselves to an independent watchdog over how they handled investigations into alleged assaults committed by Valdo Calocane weeks before he killed three people in Nottingham.

The force is being assessed by the Independent Office for Police Conduct to establish if any further action is required. The alleged incidents happened in May 2023, an IOPC spokesperson said.

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Police were warned of offender safety fears before Nottingham killings

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An official report a year before three people were stabbed to death in the city raised concerns about the force’s management practices

Nottinghamshire police was ordered to review its management of offenders a year before a wanted man with paranoid schizophrenia stabbed three people to death.

A report by the official policing inspectorate in April 2022 said the force should “immediately review” their approach to managing low-risk offenders to ensure risk was “effectively monitored and managed”.

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Mother of stabbed Nottingham university student calls for inquiry

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Emma Webber describes ‘fury’ at sentence received by Valdo Calocane for deadly rampage last June

The mother of one of the students stabbed to death in Nottingham has called for an inquiry into any failings that led to the knife attacks.

Emma Webber told the Times that her family “fully support” calls for a public inquiry, which also has the backing of the Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, into the killings of her son Barnaby Webber, fellow University of Nottingham student Grace O’Malley-Kumar and the 65-year-old school caretaker Ian Coates.

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Alfie Steele: more than 60 calls made to police and social services before boy’s murder

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Nine-year-old had been recorded as ‘safe and well’ in months before he was killed, review finds

A nine-year-old boy who was tortured to death by his mother and stepfather had been recorded as “safe and well” after visits by police and social services in the months before he was killed, a review has found.

Family and neighbours of Alfie Steele from Droitwich, Worcestershire, made more than 60 calls about his welfare in the period leading up to his murder in February 2021, including a call saying it sounded as if he was “being hit and held under the water”.

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