Valdo Calocane approached security at Thames House in 2021 but did not meet threshold for further assessment, public inquiry told
A man who killed three people during a 2023 knife attack in Nottingham had attempted to hand himself into MI5 for arrest two years earlier, an inquiry has heard.
Valdo Calocane, 34, fatally stabbed Grace O’Malley-Kumar and Barnaby Webber, both 19, and Ian Coates, 65, during a stabbing spree in the city on 13 June 2023.
Continue reading...Repeat of BBC series gave clue to Paul Gostelow about 19th-century altar cards taken from crypt in Hampshire
Two priceless artefacts stolen more than a decade ago from the crypt of Napoleon III in England have been recovered after an antiques dealer realised he had them while watching a repeat of the comedy drama Lovejoy.
The wooden 19th-century altar cards were taken in a burglary at St Michael’s Abbey in Farnborough, Hampshire in February 2014 and were feared lost for ever.
Continue reading...National Crime Agency says rise in child sexual abuse being driven by technology and online forums
Child sexual abuse in the UK is soaring, police have said, with 1,000 paedophile suspects being arrested each month and the number of children being rescued from harm rising by 50% in the last five years.
The National Crime Agency said the growth in offending across the UK was driven by technology and linked to the radicalisation of offenders in online forums, encouraging people to view images of child sexual abuse by reassuring them it was normal.
Continue reading...London police say criminal gangs are using Snapchat to offer cash rewards of up to £380 for stolen iPhones
Gangs are recruiting children to go out to steal smartphones before they head to school, using Snapchat to offer rewards of up to £380 for the latest Apple iPhones, police have revealed.
The Metropolitan police said they were deploying new resources including drones and Surron ebikes to chase suspects as they step up their fight against phone snatching.
Continue reading...After nine weeks of inquiry evidence, a picture has emerged of systemic breakdown and poor information sharing
Of all the professionals who studied Axel Rudakubana before his murderous attack in Southport last summer, the notes of a rookie police officer in 2019 may be the most prescient.
The actions of Rudakubana, then aged 13, showed “potential for huge escalation”, wrote PC Alex McNamee after spending just 20 minutes with the teenager when he admitted taking a knife to school to attack a bully. The risk, he wrote, was “high”.
Continue reading...Former footballer guilty of six counts of sending communications with intent to cause distress or anxiety
The ex-footballer Joey Barton has been found guilty of six counts of sending a grossly offensive electronic communication with intent to cause distress or anxiety.
A jury at Liverpool crown court found Barton, 43, had “crossed the line between free speech and a crime” with six posts he made on X, formerly Twitter.
Continue reading...Government plans include more short sentences being suspended and earlier releases from jail
Government plans to radically reform sentencing will lead to an increase in crime by as much as 6% in a single year, according to police chiefs.
The reforms, which cover England and Wales, involve a presumption against short sentences of a year or less, with community sentences used instead, and those jailed being released earlier than currently the case.
Continue reading...A charismatic, tweed-wearing grower from Perthshire falsely claimed to be able to create thriving tea plantations in Scotland. His elaborate deception took in luxury hotels, media outlets and tea growers across the country
With its large silver pouch, artistic label and delicate leaves, Dalreoch Scottish white tea might be expected to grace elegant cups with saucers, perhaps with a scone served on the side. Instead, it is nestled with an array of numbered polythene packets in a room just off a laboratory at the University of Aberdeen.
This is not an ordinary afternoon tea but evidence in a crime that science helped solve.
Continue reading...David Lammy urged to consider 1955 case in light of evidence Ellis was abused by partner before she killed him
The grandchildren of the last woman to be hanged in the UK are asking ministers to posthumously pardon her in light of evidence that she was emotionally and physically abused by her partner before she killed him.
Ruth Ellis was executed in 1955 after killing David Blakely her partner, who she had met while working in the nightclub she managed two years earlier. At the time, she was portrayed as a “cold-blooded killer” but evidence has since emerged that Blakely, a racing-car driver, physically and emotionally abused her.
Continue reading...FCA cites study showing victims’ ‘red flags’ are often missed and calls for improved monitoring systems
The City regulator has called on banks and payment firms to bring in stricter controls protecting customers from romance fraud after a study showed a number of missed “red flags” that led to people losing huge sums of money.
The review by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) highlighted one case where someone lost £428,000, another where a customer made 403 payments totalling £72,000 to a fraudster and a case where someone wanted money to transfer cryptocurrency to their “partner” in Iraq.
Continue reading...Fayaz Khan, 26, was also sentenced at Southwark crown court for entering the UK illegally on a small boat
A man who threatened on TikTok to kill the Reform UK leader, Nigel Farage, has been jailed for five years.
Fayaz Khan, an Afghan national whose real name is believed to be Fayaz Husseini, made the threat last October in a video that Farage and a high court judge described as “pretty chilling”.
Continue reading...Alfie Franco, 20, stabbed Ahmad Al Ibrahim after taking ‘petty exception’ to teenager brushing past his girlfriend
A man has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 23 years for murdering a teenage Syrian refugee after he brushed past his girlfriend in Huddersfield town centre.
Leeds crown court heard how Alfie Franco, 20, stabbed Ahmad Al Ibrahim, 16, shortly after Ibrahim brushed past Franco’s girlfriend in April. He was found guilty of murder on Thursday.
Continue reading...Nigel Farage and right-wing commentators seek to portray capital as ‘lawless’ despite evidence to the contrary
Claims that London is becoming more dangerous despite the crime figures indicating otherwise are being made because it suits some people, a senior police commander has said.
The Reform UK leader, Nigel Farage, and right-wing commentators have increasingly sought to portray the capital as a “lawless” city from which high net-worth individuals are fleeing.
Continue reading...Zhimin Qian pleads guilty after wallets with 61,000 bitcoins, currently worth over £5bn, seized from north London home
A woman has been convicted for her role in a multibillion-pound bitcoin fraud after what is thought to have been the world’s largest cryptocurrency seizure.
Zhimin Qian, also known as Yadi Zhang, 45, orchestrated a fraud in China between 2014 and 2017 that left 128,000 people out of pocket.
Continue reading...After the man who killed her father is found dead in his cell, Maz Saleem reflects on living with loss and choosing not to hate
Neo-Nazi murderer and bomber Pavlo Lapshyn did not get to serve out the 40-year term of his sentence. He was found dead in his cell at Wakefield prison on Tuesday, 12 years after being jailed. The circumstances of his death have not yet been publicly confirmed.
The Ukrainian national was 37. He was convicted at the Old Bailey in October 2013 of murdering Muslim man Mohammed Saleem, 82, in April of that year.
Continue reading...Convicted killer Daniel Bannister showed up at singer’s home for fourth time, leaving her ‘stunned’
A convicted killer who stalked Cheryl Tweedy has been jailed after turning up at the singer’s home for a fourth time.
Daniel Bannister, 50, who breached a restraining order after showing up at Tweedy’s rural home in June, had already spent time in prison for the same offence. At Reading crown court on Tuesday, a judge sentenced him to 12 months in jail after he admitted a single charge of breaching a restraining order. He was also handed a fresh restraining order not to contact Tweedy.
Continue reading...UK insurers require critical modifications for sale in country with higher levels of car theft than China
British authorities may have certain concerns about the cyber-spying threat from vehicles made in China, but it turns out the country’s manufacturers have security worries of their own.
Insurers have told Chinese carmakers they need critical modifications for vehicles on British streets: namely, tougher locking devices to make them harder to steal.
Continue reading...Carmaker has informed relevant regulators and ‘will contact anyone as appropriate’ as investigation progresses
The cyber-attack on Jaguar Land Rover has affected data held by the carmaker, it has said, as its factories in the UK and abroad face prolonged closure.
JLR, Britain’s biggest carmaker, said on Wednesday that in its investigations into the hack, which first emerged last week, it had now discovered data had been breached.
Continue reading...Andy Cooke says the cases take up little time for forces in England and Wales but create intense controversy
Police should no longer record or investigate non-crime hate incidents, the chief inspector of constabulary has said.
Sir Andy Cooke said handling the incidents took up a minuscule amount of time but drew vehement criticism.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Companies considering use of ‘kill switches’ to disable stolen devices after 967% increase in theft incidents
Mobile phone retailers are locking their doors during trading hours and considering using “kill switches” to disable stolen devices, as incidents of theft increase more than ninefold in some high streets due to organised crime.
VodafoneThree, which operates the largest retail network with 650 stores across the UK, has experienced a 967% increase in theft incidents in the first half of this year compared with the same period in 2024.
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