Man jailed for life after Gaza ‘revenge’ murder in Hartlepool

Ahmed Alid, 45, stabbed Terence Carney, 70, and tried to kill another man in attacks described as terrorism

A terrorist who murdered a pensioner in Hartlepool town centre as “revenge” for “the people of Gaza” has been jailed for 45 years.

Ahmed Alid, 45, an asylum seeker from Morocco, stabbed 70-year-old Terence Carney, a complete stranger he encountered on the street, on 15 October.

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UK politics: I never called for rainbow lanyard ban, claims Esther McVey – as it happened

‘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.

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Young people buying large knives on Telegram and TikTok, police say

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.

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Man arrested after police officer shot in leg with crossbow in Buckinghamshire

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.

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Gang ringleader jailed for life for 2005 murder of PC Sharon Beshenivsky

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.

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Man known as ‘eunuch maker’ who streamed mutilations is jailed for life

Marius Gustavson, 46, was involved in procedures that were ‘little short of human butchery’, UK court heard

The leader of a “grisly and gruesome” extreme body modification network who streamed mutilations on his “eunuch maker” website has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 22 years.

Marius Gustavson, 46, was the “arch manipulator” of vulnerable victims and was said to have been involved in at least 29 procedures, which were “little short of human butchery”, the Old Bailey in London heard.

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End majority jury verdicts to prevent more justice ‘horror’, says Malkinson

Exclusive: Man who spent 17 years in prison after wrongly being convicted of rape says he will ‘shout from the rooftops’ for UK law reform

Andrew Malkinson says he could have been spared “20 years of darkness and despair” if the jury system had not been changed to allow majority verdicts.

Malkinson was exonerated of rape last summer, two decades after a jury wrongly convicted him by a majority of 10 to 2.

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Kate Forbes denies claims SNP figures are discouraging her to run for leader – UK politics live

Runner-up in the SNP leadership contest last time around says she is still weighing decision on whether to stand

When Hilary Cass published her review of gender identity services for children, saying medical evidence did not generally justify giving puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to children, she said the “toxity of the debate” around trans children was exceptional, and she said she would like to see the issue discussed in a less polarised way.

But that has not stopped her report becoming a political football. The UK government responded to it with a ministerial statement treating it as a landmark victory in a culture war. In Scotland the Cass report arguably contributed to the downfall of Humza Yousaf, because it was the Rainbow Greens who launched the process to end the SNP/Scottish Greens pact, and they were partly motivated by the SNP government’s stance on puberty blockers.

The landmark Cass review is hugely significant for Wales. Regretfully, despite the weight of the findings, we are still yet to see a Labour minister come to the Senedd and give a statement in response.

In the Senedd tomorrow, I look forward to bringing forward a Welsh Conservative debate on the Cass review, and will call on the Labour government to adopt the recommendations of the Cass review.

The Cass review aims to ensure children and young people who are questioning their gender identity or experiencing gender dysphoria, and require support from the NHS, receive a high standard of care that meets their needs and is safe, holistic and effective.

We are committed to improving the gender identity development pathway and the support available for young people in Wales, in line with the commitments in our LGBTQ+ plan.

I’m the first chairman of the ‘22 who has had to operate it while we’ve been in government … And so my view is that that was a mistake to introduce that rule.

I think it’s fine to have the party members voting on the leader when you’re in opposition. But in a parliamentary system where essentially you could only remain prime minister if you enjoyed the confidence of your party in parliament, it seems to me crazy that we now have different mechanisms … The Conservative members of parliament can get rid of the leader by voting no confidence, but then the leader is supplied by the party members.

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Man admits ‘motiveless’ killing of mobility scooter rider after leaving jail

Thomas O’Halloran was stabbed in west London by Lee Byer who had paranoid schizophrenia and had been released five days before

A man has admitted to the manslaughter by diminished responsibility of an 87-year-old mobility scooter rider in a “motiveless” knife attack in west London five days after being released from prison.

Lee Byer, 45, stabbed Thomas O’Halloran in the neck and chest in Greenford in 2022. It can now be reported that Byer had numerous previous convictions and days earlier had been released from Wormwood Scrubs prison in south-west London.

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Reading terror attack deaths were avoidable, inquest finds

Judge coroner highlights failings that contributed to three victims being killed by Khairi Saadallah in 2020

The deaths of three people during a terror attack in Reading were avoidable, an inquest has determined.

A judge coroner sitting at the Old Bailey on Friday said failings in intelligence sharing and in providing psychiatric care contributed to the failure to prevent the attack that took the lives of James Furlong, Dr David Wails and Joseph Ritchie-Bennett in June 2020.

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Train driver who upskirted female passenger avoids jail sentence

Paolo Barone found guilty of voyeurism after taking photos of sleeping woman on train to St Albans in 2022

A Thameslink train driver who took photos up a woman’s skirt while she was asleep on a train has avoided jail, despite being found guilty of voyeurism.

The driver, Paolo Barone, was on his way home from a shift in September 2022 when he saw that the woman, 51, had fallen asleep on a train travelling from London Blackfriars to St Albans in Hertfordshire.

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Two Come Dine With Me winners convicted for importing cannabis

Nicholas Panayiotou and Eleanar Attard among gang who planned to smuggle 58kg of the drug into the UK

Members of a gang, including two former winners of a Channel 4 cooking programme, have been convicted after their plan to import large amounts of cannabis was uncovered.

Nicholas Panayiotou, Eleanar Attard, Constantinos Zavros, Luke Wileman and Koby Haik planned to smuggle 58kg of cannabis into the UK from the US, but were foiled after a theft at a London airport, the Metropolitan police said.

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Gun crime survivors create scheme to stop violent partners owning firearms

Some police in England and Wales now ask spouses to flag dangerous traits or mental health problems

Survivors of gun crime committed by violent and coercive partners have worked with police to create a groundbreaking scheme designed to stop more dangerous offenders being allowed licensed firearms.

The women have helped police frame a questionnaire that firearms officers put to the partners of people wanting a licence that will flag up issues such as a propensity to violence or mental health problems.

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Two men jailed for life for murdering footballer Cody Fisher

Remy Gordon and Kami Carpenter given minimum terms of 26 and 25 years at Birmingham crown court for nightclub attack

Two men have been jailed for life for the murder of footballer Cody Fisher in a nightclub attack in Birmingham on Boxing Day 2022.

Remy Gordon, 23, and Kami Carpenter, 22, had blamed each other for stabbing the 23-year-old former Birmingham City academy player, who died at the scene from a chest wound.

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Man jailed for life for murdering wife and dismembering body in Lincoln

Nicholas Metson, who paid a friend £50 to help dump Holly Bramley’s remains, to serve at least 19 years

A man who cut his wife’s body into more than 200 pieces and then paid a friend £50 to help him dump her remains in a river has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 19 years.

Nicholas Metson stabbed Holly Bramley, 26, at least four times in March 2023 before dismembering her body and storing her remains for a week in the kitchen larder at the flat they shared in Stamp End, Lincoln.

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Human remains found at Salford reserve belonged to man dead ‘a matter of days’

Greater Manchester police, who have launched murder inquiry, say victim was likely to be older than 40

Human remains found wrapped in plastic at a nature reserve in Greater Manchester are those of a man older than 40 and who had been dead for only a matter of days, police said.

A human torso was found on the Kersel Wetlands, former home of the Manchester racecourse, on Thursday evening, Greater Manchester police said.

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Family criticise police over possible discovery of body of sex offender linked to mother’s death

Relatives of Kelly Faiers say police failed to properly inform them that a body had been found

The family of a woman found dead at a sex offender’s home have criticised the police’s “bodged” investigation after his body is believed to have been found this week in a caravan close to where he vanished six months ago.

Relatives of Kelly Faiers said they were upset at how the news about the possible discovery of Richard Scatchard’s body was broken, claiming they did not have time to alert others close to Faiers before the police went public.

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Murder inquiry launched after human remains found in Salford reserve

Greater Manchester police say they are working to identify victim after body part found in Kersal Wetlands

Police have launched a murder investigation after human remains were found at a nature reserve in Greater Manchester.

A body part believed to be a torso was found by passersby in Kersal Wetlands in the Salford area on Thursday evening. Greater Manchester police (GMP) confirmed on Friday afternoon the body was in a state that meant it was “not possible for the victim to have survived”.

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Tehran denies involvement in London attack on TV presenter

Met police say investigation into stabbing of Iranian journalist near home in Wimbledon is being led by counter-terrorism officers

Iran’s most senior diplomat in Britain has denied claims that the Iranian government was behind a knife attack on a TV presenter in London amid growing fears over threats to dissidents.

The country’s charge d’affaires, Mehdi Hosseini Matin, said Iran “denies any link” to the stabbing of Pouria Zeraati, 36, a presenter at Iran International, outside his home in Wimbledon on Friday. He is in a stable condition and was looking forward to being discharged from hospital soon.

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Gary Glitter victim seeks about £500k damages for ‘terrible impact’ on life

High court judge to rule on level of compensation awarded to woman sexually abused by pop star

One of Gary Glitter’s victims is seeking about half a million pounds from the disgraced musician in damages, the high court has heard.

The woman is suing Glitter, whose real name is Paul Gadd, after his 2015 conviction for abusing her and two other young people between 1975 and 1980.

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