Scathing report condemns UK police for ‘victim blaming’ in rape cases

Examination exposes failure to track repeat suspects and botched investigations by struggling forces

A damning official examination into how police forces tackle rape has exposed persistent failings in the criminal justice system, including a failure to track repeat suspects, “explicit victim-blaming” and botched investigations.

The long-awaited independent report into the first year of Operation Soteria Bluestone – launched by the government after a catastrophic fall in rape prosecutions – also paints a picture of a over-worked, traumatised and inexperienced police workforce in England and Wales, which is struggling to cope with an increase in rape reports after years of austerity.

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Third Lockerbie bomb suspect now in US custody, officials say

Mohammed Abouagela Masud accused of setting timer for bomb that destroyed Boeing 747, killing 270 people

A Libyan accused of preparing the bomb that killed 270 people when an explosion ripped through Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988 is now in US custody, officials have confirmed.

Scottish prosecutors, who have been closely involved in the investigation, said the families of those who were killed “have been told” that Mohammed Abouagela Masud had been extradited to the United States.

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‘Is the conviction sound? No’: lawyer vows to prove Michael Stone’s innocence

Exclusive: Mark McDonald believes Russell murders case will turn out to be a serious miscarriage of justice

“He rings me every day, we talk every day,” says Mark McDonald, the barrister who for the past two decades has represented Michael Stone, the man convicted of one of the most notorious crimes in British history: the murders by hammer of Dr Lin Russell and her daughter Megan, and the attempted murder of her eldest child, Josie, the sole survivor.

Sat at a table in a sparsely decorated office in his chambers off London’s Chancery Lane, McDonald reaches past a pile of papers for a phone to check his call records.

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Child in mental health crisis lived at police station for two days, chief reveals

Head of West Midlands police warns of rising crime in poorest areas as forces are stretched beyond capacity

A child experiencing a mental health crisis had to live in a police station for two days due to a lack of psychiatric places, a chief constable has revealed, as he condemned austerity for hitting the poorest areas hardest.

Sir David Thompson, who leads West Midlands police, said his force – which is still missing officers and funding after cuts – was being asked to do too much, and warned of rising crime as desperation increases in the poorest areas.

Dismissed attacks from government and rightwing media that claim the police are too woke.

Condemned those trying to drag policing into the “culture wars”.

Revealed fears that the poorest areas would be hit hardest again by the cost of living crisis, fuelling a “real risk” of rising crime.

Said that bias explained some of the reasons that black people experienced more use of force and coercive powers than other groups.

Called for a radical rethink on tackling the problems blighting society, as public services work in “silos”.

Warned that police were being expected to do too much, including in the field of mental health.

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Revealed: half of English police forces fail to meet standards in crime investigations

Analysis by the Observer raises questions over whether policing is fit for purpose and will put more pressure on the home secretary

Read more: ‘In Gloucester, young boys are carrying weapons’

Half the English police forces inspected since last year are failing to meet required standards at investigating crime, according to analysis by the Observer that raises questions over whether policing is fit for purpose.

The findings will pile renewed pressure on the home secretary, Suella Braverman, who has told police leaders she “expects” them to cut crimes including murder by 20%, without detailing how, as part of her “back to basics approach”.

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Rishi Sunak talks about fears for daughter’s safety and crime crackdown

Prime minister says he was upset by killing of Olivia Pratt-Korbel and is willing to increase prison numbers to make UK safer

Rishi Sunak has said he fears for his daughter’s safety when out alone, saying that men have often taken their own freedoms for granted.

Sunak spoke candidly about his elder daughter Krishna’s desire for more independence but said he was disturbed by a number of crimes including the killing of Olivia Pratt-Korbel, the nine-year-old shot dead in Liverpool.

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Man admits killing parents after secretly leaving English psychiatric hospital

William Warrington slipped out of hospital in Gloucestershire and stabbed his mother before taking her car to kill father

A man with paranoid schizophrenia has admitted stabbing his parents to death on the same night in two attacks 15 miles apart, after slipping out of a psychiatric hospital in Gloucestershire.

William Warrington killed his mother, Valerie, 73, a hospital worker, at her home in the Cotswolds village of Bourton-on-the-Water in March. He then drove her car to his father, Clive’s, home in Cheltenham and killed him. Neighbours heard Warrington say “I’m going to enjoy this” as he attacked his father, 67.

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Call to end use of gagging orders to silence victims of police misogyny

Chief constables most to blame for crises sapping legitimacy of policing, says Police Federation leader

Police chiefs have been covering up the misogyny suffered by female officers and staff, and must stop using gagging orders to silence victims, the leader of rank and file officers has revealed.

Steve Hartshorn, chair of the Police Federation, which represents 130,000 officers up to the rank of chief inspector, said there should be a “hostile environment” for corrupt officers. He told the Guardian that chief constables bore the brunt of the blame for the crises that were sapping the legitimacy of policing.

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Man guilty of murder over ex-partner’s death 21 years after Somerset attack

Steven Craig served prison time for 1998 attack on Jacqueline Kirk and was re-arrested after her death in 2019

A man has been convicted of murdering his ex-partner, who died 21 years after he doused her with petrol and set her on fire.

Steven Craig, now 58, inflicted horrendous injuries on Jacqueline Kirk in a car park in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, in April 1998. Kirk had burns to 35% of her body, required a tracheotomy and operations including skin grafts, and was in hospital for nine months.

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Leah Croucher murder inquiry opened after remains found in Milton Keynes

Rucksack also found near site of 2019 disappearance, but formal identification expected to take some time

Detectives investigating the disappearance of Leah Croucher three and a half years ago have launched a murder investigation after discovering human remains at an address in Milton Keynes.

Thames Valley police made the discovery along with other items, including a rucksack, at a property in Loxbeare Drive, Furzton, on Monday after receiving a tipoff from a member of the public.

In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org.

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Serial cyberstalker Matthew Hardy has jail term cut

Jail term reduced by a year owing to legal oversight in original sentencing at Chester crown court

The court of appeal has reduced the jail sentence of a serial cyberstalker who harassed women by creating fake social media accounts to spread fake claims about them.

Matthew Hardy, 31, was jailed for nine years last January at Chester crown court after pleading guilty to stalking involving fear of violence and harassment after breaching a restraining order.

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Police dig for Moors victim Keith Bennett after skull reportedly found

Detectives are analysing a small sample of the remains and some clothing on Saddleworth Moor near Manchester

Police are digging on Saddleworth Moor near Manchester after a skull was reportedly found that could belong to Moors murder victim Keith Bennett.

Keith was murdered 58 years ago at the age of 12 by Ian Brady and Myra Hindley, but his body has never been found. Brady died in 2017 and Hindley in 2002.

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Man guilty of murdering secret lover and their son near Inverness in 1976

Circumstantial evidence enough to convict William MacDowell, now 80, of killing Renee and Andrew MacRae

An 80-year-old man has been found guilty of murdering his secret lover and their three-year-old son almost half a century after the pair vanished without trace from a layby on the A9 near Inverness, concluding one of Scotland’s most extensive and longest-running missing persons investigations.

Although the bodies of Renee MacRae, who was 36 when she disappeared in 1976, and her younger son, Andrew, have never been found, William MacDowell, now 80, was convicted by a “compelling and classic case of circumstantial evidence”, as the prosecutor Alex Prentice KC described it in his closing speech to the jury.

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Keir Starmer promises to launch publicly-owned UK energy company as he hails ‘Labour moment’ – UK politics live

Latest updates: the Labour party leader used his conference speech to spell out his plan for the UK

The decision to pay Liz Truss’s new chief of staff, Mark Fullbrook, through a private company has been dropped after criticism from within the Conservatives as well as from opposition parties.

The government admitted over the weekend that Fullbrook would be paid through his lobbying firm, a move that could have helped him avoid paying tax. He had previously claimed the firm had stopped all commercial activities.

The world we are heading for is a bumpy few weeks. The chancellor is now going to have quite a tough time because he has now set out plans to balance the books in November. That is going to be very hard.

Actually balancing the books in November is going to be harder than it would have been to show you are balancing the books last week because higher interest rates will make it harder to do. You might need £15bn worth of tough choices now that you didn’t need last Friday.

In the end, lower taxes will mean worse public services, or other people’s taxes having to go up, and it is those choices and ducking those choices that markets are looking at and saying that is not what serious policymaking looks like.

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Online fraudsters adapt tactics to exploit UK cost of living crisis

Phishing attacks have started to target people in difficult financial situations, ONS reports

Fraudsters have adapted their tactics to exploit the rising cost of living, officials have said.

A report from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said anti-fraud squads had identified new trends as phishing attacks – when perpetrators attempt to trick users into clicking a bad link – have started to target those in difficult financial situations.

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Services for county lines victims in England and Wales get funding boost

Up to £5m allocated to help young people escape drug gangs, with money also going to helpline

Up to £5m has been allocated by the Home Office to support victims of county lines exploitation over the next three years.

Hundreds of victims will be helped to escape drug gangs following the expansion of support services in London, the West Midlands, Merseyside and Greater Manchester.

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Jeremy Vine attacks social media firms after jailing of stalker

BBC and Channel 5 broadcaster says firms such as YouTube and Twitter have no moral values

Jeremy Vine has criticised social media companies for failing to take action against online hate in the wake of the jailing of stalker Alex Belfield.

Companies such as YouTube and Twitter had no moral values, said the BBC Radio 2 and Channel 5 broadcaster.

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Stephen Port: murder victims’ families say Met ‘insensitive’ to make settlements public

Relatives ‘caught completely off guard’ by announcement of compensation – and two families have still to settle

The Metropolitan police have been accused of “insensitivity” over their announcement that they have settled compensation claims with relatives of some of the victims murdered by the serial killer Stephen Port.

Families were taken completely by surprise at the public announcement, while claims brought by relatives of two of the victims have yet to be settled, the families’ spokesperson said.

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Woman shot dead at home in Liverpool seven years after brother killed

Tributes were paid to council worker Ashley Dale, 28, who police believe was killed in a mistaken identity attack

Tributes have been paid to a 28-year-old woman who was shot dead in her home in Liverpool in the early hours of Sunday, seven years after her brother was also fatally shot.

Ashley Dale was shot in the back garden of her home in what is believed by police to have been a mistaken identity attack. Her younger brother, Lewis Dunne, was killed in 2015 at age 16 after a gang mistook him for a rival gang member. Their deaths are not believed to be connected.

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