Category Archives: Crime

Police investigate whether London arson attacks were planned for weeks

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Criminals paid on behalf of Iran are believed to be behind attacks against Jewish targets, say detectives

Detectives are investigating whether the series of arson attacks in London were planned for weeks with suspects carrying out reconnaissance on the Jewish targets to be firebombed.

The series of attacks against synagogues and other Jewish targets, as well as one premises linked to Iranian dissidents, are believed to be carried out by criminals paid on behalf of Iran, police said.

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Police say no evidence found of reported gang-rape in Epsom

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Reports of alleged crime led to protests in the Surrey town this week, after claims woman in her 20s attacked

Police investigating a rape incident in Epsom have said they have “not found any evidence” of the offence as reported. The reports prompted protests in the Surrey town this week.

Sarah Grahame, assistant chief constable at Surrey police, said the force was continuing to investigate a report that a woman in her 20s had been raped by a group of men on 11 April in Epsom after she left the Labyrinth Epsom nightclub. The alleged attack is said to have happened between 2am and 4am outside a Methodist church.

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State failing to learn lessons of Southport attack, say victims’ lawyers

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Exclusive: Guardian analysis suggests young people who pose ‘catastrophic’ threat still slipping through system

Ministers are “failing to learn the lessons” from the Southport attack and allowing violence-obsessed teenagers to remain a “catastrophic” threat to society, lawyers for victims of the atrocity have said ahead of the findings of an official inquiry.

A report on the July 2024 attack by the judge Sir Adrian Fulford, to be released on Monday, is expected to strongly criticise failings by a series of agencies, including the counter-terrorism programme Prevent.

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Man who caused gas blast that destroyed partner’s house jailed for 11 years

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Paul Solway ignited explosion that damaged total of six terrace houses in Derby after his partner had kicked him out

A man who blew up a terrace house by causing gas to leak from a pipe and setting fire to a chair after his partner kicked him out has been jailed for 11 years.

Paul Solway was having a “meltdown” when he caused the explosion at his partner Joanne Waterfall’s home in Alvaston in Derby on the evening of 10 June last year.

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Waitrose under pressure to reinstate worker sacked after stopping shoplifter

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Retailer faces public outcry over treatment of Walker Smith, who tackled shoplifter stealing Easter eggs at London store

Waitrose is under growing pressure to reinstate an employee of 17 years who was sacked after tackling a shoplifter who was trying to steal Lindt Gold Bunny Easter eggs.

The retailer has faced public outcry over its treatment of Walker Smith, who was fired two days after he stopped the shoplifter taking items from the Easter egg display.

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Waitrose employee sacked after stopping shoplifter from taking Easter eggs

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Walker Smith, 54, who worked for retailer for 17 years, says he grabbed bag from thief before they escaped

A Waitrose employee of 17 years has described his devastation after being sacked for stopping a shoplifter who had ransacked a display of Lindt Gold Bunny Easter eggs.

Walker Smith, a shop assistant at a branch of Waitrose in Clapham Junction, south London, was going about his normal duties when a customer stopped him. “They told me someone had filled up a Waitrose bag with the eggs,” he said.

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Man who murdered pregnant girlfriend has 42-year term increased to whole-life order

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Shaine March killed Alana Odysseos in 2025, having been released on licence after killing a teenager in 2000

A man who murdered his pregnant girlfriend after being released from prison on licence must spend the rest of his life in jail, the court of appeal has ruled after finding that the original 42-year sentence was “too lenient”.

Alana Odysseos, 32, was in the early stages of pregnancy with her third child when Shaine March, now 48, killed her at her home in Walthamstow, east London, in July last year. She died at the scene from 23 slash and stab wounds.

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Woman kept in ‘Dickensian’ servitude for 25 years speaks out as abuser jailed

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Amanda Wixon, 56, sentenced to 13 years for keeping victim imprisoned at home in Gloucestershire since 1990s

A woman imprisoned and forced to work for a mother of 10 for more than a quarter of a century in “Dickensian” conditions has said nothing can give her back her lost years as her abuser was sentenced to 13 years.

The woman, who was held by Amanda Wixon in Tewkesbury, said: “For 25 years I lived in fear, control and abuse. I was treated as though my life, my freedom and my voice did not matter. The trauma and the nightmares are something I still carry with me every day.”

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Politicians seek meeting with Travelodge CEO after Maidenhead sexual assault case

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Call for urgent meeting comes after woman was assaulted by man who had been given her key card by hotel staff

More than 20 MPs have demanded an urgent meeting with the CEO of Travelodge after a woman was sexually assaulted by a man who had been given her room number and a key card by hotel staff.

The MPs said the case of Kyran Smith, 29, who was jailed for seven-and-a-half years last month, raised “deeply concerning” questions. He attacked the woman after a party in December 2022.

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Nottingham killer sought arrest at MI5 HQ before 2023 attack, inquiry told

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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.

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Lovejoy episode helps antiques dealer identify stolen Napoleon III artefacts

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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.

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Police arresting 1,000 paedophile suspects a month across UK

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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.

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Met deploys drones and ebikes to help catch adolescent phone thieves

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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.

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Parental failure and gaps in the law: why the Southport atrocity was preventable

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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”.

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Joey Barton found guilty of sending offensive posts on social media

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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.

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Prison sentencing reforms will lead to up to 6% rise in crime, police chiefs say

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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.

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A strange brew: the case of the man behind an audacious Scottish tea fraud

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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.

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Grandchildren of Ruth Ellis, last woman to be hanged in UK, ask for pardon

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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.

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Banks need stricter controls to prevent romance fraud, says City regulator

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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.

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Afghan man jailed for five years for TikTok threat to kill Nigel Farage

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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”.

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