Twenty-two-year-old from Barrow posted photos on Facebook falsely claiming she had been abused
A woman has been jailed for eight and a half years after being found guilty of lying about being raped and trafficked by an Asian grooming gang, and making false rape claims against a series of other men.
Eleanor Williams, 22, from Barrow-in-Furness was convicted in January of nine counts of perverting the course of justice.
Continue reading...Labour leader tells Women’s Aid conference he will use his own experience as DPP after collapse in number of charges
Keir Starmer has vowed to make it his “personal mission” to stand up for victims of domestic violence, after a collapse in the number of charges brought for the crime.
The Labour leader said that as the director of public prosecutions he had witnessed “the devastating impact domestic violence has on victims and their families”, and how abuse often escalated into other forms of serious violence.
Continue reading...Figure has surged over the past 10 years with pressure growing for officers to be sacked on the spot
Shocking figures obtained by the Observer show roughly one in 100 police officers in England and Wales faced criminal charges, including for sexual offences, last year alone.
An Observerinvestigation has found that the Police Federation, the staff association for police officers, received 1,387 claims for legal support from members facing criminal charges in 2022.
Continue reading...Richard Wakeling, 55, had been on the run since he fled the UK before his trial for drug smuggling in 2018
A British organised crime boss has been arrested in Thailand after being on the run for five years.
Richard Wakeling, 55, from Brentwood, Essex, tried to import £8m of liquid amphetamine into the UK in April 2016.
Continue reading...Five released on bail conditions including county ban after black girl assaulted outside Thomas Knyvett college in Ashford
Five suspects arrested in connection with what police say was a racially motivated attack on a 15-year-old black girl have been banned from Surrey, while officers have urged a further teenage suspect to turn herself in.
The attack, which took place outside Thomas Knyvett college in Ashford, has sent shock waves through the community and led to demands for an inquiry by MPs.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Estranged parent, 67, suggests account of neglect, drinking and abuse by stepfather probably aimed at reducing rape sentence
The mother of the rapist Metropolitan police officer David Carrick has said it is possible he overplayed his childhood trauma to reduce his sentence.
Carrick, 48, pleaded guilty to 85 serious offences including 48 rapes against 12 women. He was given 36 life sentences at Southwark crown court on Tuesday and will spend at least the next 30 years in prison for his 17-year crime spree.
Continue reading...Carrick, 48, admitted 85 serious offences during 17-year campaign of terror and attacks against women
David Carrick, who believed his position as a Metropolitan police officer made him “untouchable” as he waged a 17-year campaign of terror and attacks against women, has been jailed for life.
The 48-year-old must serve a minimum term of 32 years minus the time he has spent in custody before he can even be considered for release.
Continue reading...This live blog is now closed. You can read our full report on the sentencing here:
Here’s more on those comments Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb made earlier to Carrick (see 11.46am). She said:
These convictions represent a spectacular downfall for a man charged with upholding the law and empowered to do so even to the extent of being authorised to bear a firearm in the execution of his duty.
Behind a public appearance of propriety and trustworthiness you took monstrous advantage of women.
Continue reading...Woman in life-threatening condition but baby unharmed, say police, after driver fails to stop in Southall
A woman is in a life-threatening condition after being knocked down by a hit-and-run driver while pushing a pram.
Metropolitan police officers said they were called to the junction of North Hyde Lane and Raleigh Road in Southall, west London, at about 12.30pm on Friday to reports of a collision involving a car and pedestrian.
Continue reading...Durham court heard Lyne Barlow’s £1.2m fraud also involved stealing financial identity of her mother
A rogue travel agent who defrauded 1,400 holidaymakers and pretended to have terminal cancer to deflect complaints has been jailed for nine years.
Durham crown court heard how the scale of Lyne Barlow’s fraud, which also involved stealing the financial identity of her mother and borrowing money from neighbours and friends that was not paid back, had been estimated at £1.2m.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Domestic abuse charges authorised by CPS declined from 82,158 to 43,836 in 2021-2022, Labour party reveals
The number of charges related to domestic abuse has halved since 2015, figures for England and Wales uncovered by the Labour party have revealed, while similar offences recorded by police have more than doubled.
Domestic abuse charges authorised by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) have steadily declined from 82,158 in 2015-2016 to 43,836 in 2021-2022, the data shows. Over the same period, the total number of domestic abuse-related crimes recorded by the police has soared by 116% from 421,185 in 2015-2016 to 910,980 in 2021-2022.
Continue reading...Leslie Allen recruited plotters but plan ‘failed spectacularly’ after jurors became suspicious
A drugs kingpin, a rogue juror, his mother, and a mechanic have been jailed for attempting to fix a trial.
Boxing promoter Leslie Allen, 66, recruited a team of stooges to help him get off charges of having £150,000 of cannabis and cocaine and a pepper spray in 2018.
Continue reading...Tarik Namik fled UK before sentencing in December but detained after returning to Manchester airport
The head of a Kurdish people-smuggling ring has been arrested after going on the run before his sentencing, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said.
Tarik Namik, 45, from Oldham, failed to show up at Manchester crown court and was given an eight-year jail term in his absence on 9 December.
Continue reading...French boy is practising a gentle form of judo and adapted archery as he continues his recovery
The family of a boy thrown from the 10th floor of London’s Tate Modern art gallery has said he is practising a gentle form of judo and adapted archery as his condition slowly improves.
The French boy was six when he was badly injured in an attack by Jonty Bravery at the tourist attraction in August 2019.
Continue reading...Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley says UK capital is a place to ‘live, work and enjoy yourself’
The Metropolitan police commissioner has described London as a “fantastically safe” city as the force announced a drop in homicide rates last year.
Sir Mark Rowley said the capital was a place to “live, work and enjoy yourself” as he visited a boxing gym in Ilford, east London, on Thursday.
Continue reading...Essex police make two arrests after body parts of local 59-year-old discovered on New Year’s Eve
Police have named the 59-year-old man whose remains were discovered in a pond in Essex.
Essex police announced on Tuesday that the remains had been discovered in Oakwood Pond in Harlow on New Year’s Eve and were likely to have been there for weeks.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Official adviser recommends giving those arrested for low-level crimes a choice to accept help or face jail
New legal terrorism orders specifically for children should be brought in to tackle the growing numbers being arrested, the official adviser on terrorism law has told the government.
Ministers are studying plans that would result in children being compelled to accept help or face jail, devised by Jonathan Hall KC, the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation.
Continue reading...Figures uncovered by Lib Dems show that only 1.7% of 74,421 cases over 12 months resulted in a charge
Almost 90% of all bicycle theft cases reported to police over the past year were closed without a suspect even being identified, and just 1.7% resulted in someone being charged, analysis of crime statistics shows.
The Liberal Democrats, who uncovered the data from statistics for England and Wales from July 2021 to June this year, said it was indicative of under-funded police forces being unable to properly investigate such crimes.
Continue reading...Metropolitan police launch investigation and appeal to anyone with information to come forward
Police are investigating the death of a man who was stabbed in the chest in a London park.
Officers found the 29-year-old on Straker’s Road in Peckham Rye Park, south London, at about 8.30pm on Friday after reports of a stabbing.
Continue reading...Police launch murder inquiry after 23-year-old man was stabbed at Crane nightclub in Digbeth
Police have launched a murder investigation after a 23-year-old man was stabbed on the dancefloor of a nightclub in Birmingham on Boxing Day.
West Midlands police said they were called to Crane nightclub in Digbeth just before 11.45pm on Monday after reports that a man had been stabbed. Despite efforts to save him, the man was pronounced dead about 30 minutes later.
Continue reading...