Prime minister says offenders have been protected by ‘political correctness’ as he announces ‘grooming gangs taskforce’
Starmer says he has not talked to Jeremy Corbyn for two and a half years.
Q: Is he a friend?
Continue reading...Category Archives: Crime
Man accused of pushing wife from Arthur’s Seat was ‘abusive’ and ‘violent’
Court hears Kashif Anwar, accused of murdering Fawziyah Javed in Edinburgh, had told her it would be ‘OK’ if she died in childbirth
A man accused of murdering his wife by pushing her from Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh was overheard in hospital telling her that if she died in childbirth it “would be OK” because he “would be free”, a court has heard.
Kashif Anwar, 29, is accused of killing Fawziyah Javed, 31, in September 2021 by pushing her from the peak in Holyrood Park, causing her multiple blunt force injuries that led to her death and that of her unborn child.
Continue reading...Three arrested after two men shot dead in incidents in Cambridgeshire
Police say man, 27, and woman, 33, arrested in Cambridge and 66-year-old man arrested in Worcester area
Three people have been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to murder after two men were shot dead in two “linked” incidents in separate villages about six miles apart.
Cambridgeshire police said officers were first called to reports of gunshots at a property in Meridian Close, Bluntisham, at just after 9pm on Wednesday. Officers arrived to find the body of a 32-year-old man inside a property with a gunshot wound and are treating his death as murder.
Continue reading...AI chatbots making it harder to spot phishing emails, say experts
Poor spelling and grammar that can help identify fraudulent attacks being rectified by artificial intelligence
Chatbots are taking away a key line of defence against fraudulent phishing emails by removing glaring grammatical and spelling errors, according to experts.
Phishing emails are a well-known weapon of cybercriminals and fool recipients into clicking on a link that downloads malicious software or tricks them into handing over personal details such as passwords or pin numbers.
Continue reading...Tory former policing minister warns Braverman that laughing gas ban could boost trade for drug dealers – UK politics live
Kit Malthouse tells home secretary of risks of moving substance from legitimate market into the illegitimate market
As Alex Wickham from Politico points out, the questions Rishi Sunak is getting this morning suggest this audience is not happy with the government’s record on crime.
Q: The Conservatives have “dropped the ball a little bit, to be honest”. The questioner says laughing gas is the least of their problems. People are using much harder drugs. He has skimmed through the action plan document. Some of it is good. But punishments need to be firmer. People probably won’t turn up for community sentences. And the government needs to tackle drugs at source.
Continue reading...Rishi Sunak outlines ‘immediate justice’ scheme to combat antisocial behaviour
Offenders to clean up damage within 48 hours, wearing jumpsuits or hi-viz jackets, in government bid to claim crime as priority
Offenders guilty of crimes such as vandalism will be ordered to start repairing the damage they caused within two days of receiving their punishment, under a government pledge to tackle antisocial behaviour.
Victims of crimes will also be given a say over the type of punishment that offenders should face, as will communities, under an “immediate justice” scheme to be unveiled by Rishi Sunak on Monday.
Continue reading...Keir Starmer promises to halve violence against women as part of crime ‘mission’
Labour’s plan would include dedicated rape courts and domestic violence experts taking 999 calls, says party leader
Keir Starmer has vowed to halve violence against women and girls within a decade, with measures including dedicated “rape courts” and domestic violence experts taking 999 calls.
Setting out one of Labour’s core missions on crime, Starmer said it was the “unfinished business in my life’s work to deliver justice” and said Tory attacks on him for being a human rights lawyer “only shows how far they’ve fallen, and how little they understand working people”.
Restore public confidence in the police and criminal justice system to its highest level.
Halve knife crime incidents, including with an enhanced police presence outside schools.
Drastically improve statistics for the proportion of crimes solved by the police.
Drive down violence against women and improve conviction rates.
Continue reading...Eleanor Williams jailed for eight and a half years after rape and trafficking lies
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...Starmer makes it his ‘personal mission’ to tackle domestic violence
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...Revealed: one in 100 police officers in England and Wales faced a criminal charge last year
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...British organised crime boss arrested in Thailand
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...Suspects in racially motivated attack banned from Surrey
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...David Carrick’s mother says ex-Met officer may have exaggerated childhood trauma
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...David Carrick jailed for life over series of rapes while Met police officer
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...David Carrick: serial rapist and former Met police officer sentenced to more than 30 years in prison – as it happened
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 pushing pram in critical condition after hit and run in London
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...Fraudulent travel agent who pretended to have terminal cancer jailed
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...Domestic abuse charges in England and Wales halved since 2015, as offences doubled
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...Conspirators jailed for trying to fix drugs kingpin’s trial
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...Head of Kurdish people-smuggling ring arrested after going on the run
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.
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