Disposal team attends after former defence minister Jeremy Quin was sent suspicious package
A bomb squad had to be called in to a Conservative candidate’s constituency office after he said he received a suspicious package.
Sir Jeremy Quin, a former defence minister and the Tory candidate for the Horsham constituency, received the package at his West Sussex office. Bomb disposal experts were called in to investigate after a decision by Sussex police.
Continue reading...Relatives of Grace O’Malley-Kumar, Barnaby Webber and Ian Coates instruct legal team to investigate police and health trust
The families of the victims of the Nottingham attacks have vowed to take their fight for accountability “to the next level” on the one-year anniversary of the killings.
In a joint statement, the families of Grace O’Malley-Kumar, Barnaby Webber and Ian Coates, who were killed by Valdo Calocane in the early hours of 13 June last year, said they had instructed a legal team to help them “leave no stone unturned on our quest for answers”.
Continue reading...Forces outside the capital drawn on for Borussia Dortmund v Real Madrid match and a Tommy Robinson march and counter-protest
More than 2,000 officers have been deployed across London, including more than 400 from outside the capital, to police the Champions League final, a protest by the far-right activist Tommy Robinson and a counter-demonstration.
The final between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid takes place at Wembley on Saturday evening. And, earlier, a protest organised by Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, more commonly known as Tommy Robinson, set off from the Victoria area on Saturday, ending in Parliament Square where speeches took place.
Continue reading...Neville Lawrence writes of continuing fight for justice 31 years after murder of his son in south-east London
The father of Stephen Lawrence has said he has forgiven the racist killers of his son, but has yet to forgive the Metropolitan police for the failings that left them free.
In a comment piece for the Guardian, Neville Lawrence said his “grief has no ending” and told of his enduring pain to “identify the human cost” of the police’s failings.
Continue reading...Prime minister announces early summer election with date putting parties on campaign trail for six weeks
In an interview with Sky News this morning, Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, was asked if the UK would follow Ireland, Spain and Norway in formally recognising a Palestinian state. No, he replied. He told Sky:
We have a long-standing position on this that we will be prepared to recognise the state of Palestine at the time that it most helps the peace process, and we will continue to keep that under review.
We will continue to keep that under review. But our position is that this is not the right time to do it at the moment.
Dubbed “Sue’s shit list” by one senior Labour official, it has been drawn up by the former civil servant to identify the most immediate problems Labour would face in office if it wins the election expected this year.
Senior Labour officials said that any one of the areas on Gray’s “government risk register” could puncture a honeymoon period for a new administration led by Sir Keir Starmer.
Continue reading...Shadow justice secretary says Conservatives have ‘badly mismanaged criminal justice system’ as memo sent to chief constables by police chiefs
At the end of last week, in a long read on the state of play in the Conservative party, the Financial Times mentioned a rumour that Rishi Sunak might announce an election today.
In this surreal pre-election period rumours swirl, the latest unlikely one being that Sunak could bring the uncertainty to an end and call a snap election next Wednesday, when new data is expected by some economists to show inflation falling below the Bank of England’s 2 per cent target.
Jeremy Hunt not doing much to dispel Westminster rumours that Sunak could call election off back of inflation figures.
“Well that’s a matter for the prime minister, it’s not a matter for me,” he tells #Today.
Continue reading...Police at Gablecross police station declared detainee dead early on Sunday and have referred incident to police watchdog
A man in his 30s has died while in custody at a police station in Swindon, Wiltshire police said. He had been in custody at Gablecross police station since Saturday morning, and became unwell on Sunday morning.
He was declared dead at about 9am on Sunday, the force added. The incident has been referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).
Continue reading...Stephen Watson says process will be carried out ‘fairly and impartially’ in his most extensive public comments on the claims
The chief constable of the police force examining claims against Angela Rayner has defended the decision to investigate the Labour party deputy leader, vowing it would be done “fairly and impartially” and would establish whether “culpability is proven or otherwise”.
Stephen Watson, who leads Greater Manchester police (GMP), gave his most extensive public comments so far on the investigation, which was triggered by a complaint from a senior Conservative.
Continue reading...‘Common sense minister’ denies plan to Channel 4 News despite saying earlier this week that lanyards should be a ‘standard design’
Labour says the Ministry of Justice’s decision to delay court hearings because of prison overcrowing (see 10.39am) shows that people are “less safe” under the Tories. That’s a very convenient retort to Rishi Sunak, because only two days ago he gave a major speech arguing that security was a key reason why his party deserved to win the election.
In a statement, Shabana Mahmood, the shadow justice secretary, said:
The Tories continue to make major and unprecedented changes to the justice system without so much as a word to the public. It’s completely unacceptable and the public will be alarmed at this latest panic measures.
The government is stalling justice and leaving victims in limbo because of the mess they have created. This comes days after they hid from the public that they’re now letting criminals out of jail earlier than ever before.
The government is completely failing [on knife crime]. We’ve had an 80% increase since 2015 and rises all around the country. That’s the first point.
On stop and search, that is intelligence lead and evidence-based and is a really important tool. We’ve had, for example, the Inspectorate of Constabulary, an independent organisation, looking at this saying that what’s essential is that it is done in that targeted way.
Continue reading...Commander says authorities scrambling to keep up with supply trends as knife crimes rise
Young people are using sites such as Telegram and TikTok to buy large knives for use in attacks and intimidation, with some linked to Britain’s drug wars, police said.
Stephen Clayman, national lead for knife crime for the National Police Chiefs’ Council, made it clear on Tuesday that police want tougher action after a 7% year-on-year rise in knife offences, with a 20% rise in knife-point robberies.
Continue reading...Chris Philp says police should not ‘tiptoe around using these powers in an aim to appease’ despite concerns over racial bias
Police officers must carry out more stop and searches to address knife crime as the tactic is “not used nearly often enough”, according to the policing minister.
Chris Philp said that police forces cannot afford to “tiptoe around using these powers in an aim to appease”.
Continue reading...Device in development fires electromagnetic pulse that tricks ebikes and scooters into shutting off
Police officers in Britain could be armed with Ghostbusters-style devices that fire electromagnetic rays to shut down the engines of ebikes being used in a crime.
Gavin Stephens, chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), said the weapon was in development and could be months away from being available, though it is expected to be longer than that.
Continue reading...Police say 17-year-old Ronalds Abele got into difficulty while swimming at the Embankment in Wellingborough
A teenage boy has died after getting into difficulty while swimming in the River Nene, Northamptonshire police said.
Ronalds Abele, 17, was swimming at the Embankment in Wellingborough on Friday, and was pulled from the water by emergency services after he got into difficulty.
Continue reading...Officer taken to hospital and later released while suspect, 54, hospitalised under supervision after being shot by police in High Wycombe
A man was shot by police and arrested after an officer was shot in the leg with a crossbow in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, Thames Valley police said.
Police attended School Lane, Downley, around 6pm on Friday after a man in his 60s suffered a stab wound. Asst Chief Const Tim Metcalfe said one of the officers in attendance was shot in the leg with a crossbow and was taken to hospital but had since been released.
Continue reading...Piran Ditta Khan, 75, was last of seven men convicted for involvement in Bradford robbery in which Beshenivsky was shot
The mastermind of an armed robbery that ended in a police officer being shot dead has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 40 years.
PC Sharon Beshenivsky’s family watched from court as the last member of the gang responsible for the armed raid that claimed her life was sentenced after almost 20 years.
Continue reading...Campaign Against Antisemitism, led by Gideon Falter, cites safety fears and promises more protests to come
Campaign Against Antisemitism has cancelled its planned counter-protest against a pro-Palestinian march through central London on Saturday.
The group, led by Gideon Falter, had said it wanted to use the “walk together” initiative to support its view that the area around the planned pro-Palestinian march was not safe for Jewish people.
Continue reading...Witnesses describe ‘total mayhem’ as horses run through centre of UK capital during rush hour
Four people have been taken to hospital after several military horses broke loose during a morning exercise and bolted through central London, colliding with vehicles.
Astonished witnesses described “total mayhem” as the runaway horses, including one white horse drenched in blood, ran through the rush-hour streets.
Continue reading...Open letter says ‘callous and degrading’ police group WhatsApp message caused ‘more trauma than you can imagine’
The mother of one of the Nottingham attack victims has written an open letter to members of a police WhatsApp group in which a message was posted describing her son as being “properly butchered”.
Emma Webber, the mother of Barnaby Webber, 19, who with Grace O’Malley-Kumar, 19, and Ian Coates, 65, was stabbed to death by Valdo Calocane, has written to the Nottinghamshire police officer who she says posted graphic details of the victims’ injuries in the chat group.
Continue reading...A separate police force will report on failures relating to sixth murder suspect, Matthew White, who was never prosecuted
An independent police force will review the Metropolitan police’s handling of new evidence relating to the murder of Stephen Lawrence 30 years after his death, the mayor of London has said.
It comes after the Met commissioner, Mark Rowley, apologised to Stephen’s mother, Doreen Lawrence, for not fulfilling a promise to answer questions stemming from a BBC investigation into the murder of the 18-year-old in 1993.
Continue reading...Commissioner says failure to explain why police did not pursue case against Matthew White ‘totally unacceptable’
The Metropolitan police commissioner has apologised to the mother of Stephen Lawrence for not fulfilling a promise to explain why his force failed to properly handle evidence against one of the suspects in the teenager’s murder.
A BBC investigation in 2023 identified Matthew White as the sixth suspect in the case, where only five had previously been known. The broadcaster said Doreen Lawrence had been promised answers to her questions about the way police handled the investigation.
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