Scheme aims to exploit ‘teachable moment’, when someone is wavering between criminality and turning their back on violence
A scheme aiming to turn children arrested for violence away from crime has claimed staggering success, with up to nine out of 10 diverted from further offending, according to a report.
Under the scheme, which is funded by London’s Violence Reduction Unit (VRU), special youth workers are placed in police custody centres across the capital.
Continue reading...Home secretary appears to accept early release proposals will put more pressure on police as she is questioned at select committee
Defence sources believe that Britain will be forced to sign up to a target of lifting defence spending to 3.5% of GDP by 2035 at this month’s Nato summit after a campaign by the alliance’s secretary general to keep Donald Trump onboard, Dan Sabbagh reports.
Later today the data (use and access) bill will return to the Commons from the Lords in the third round of “ping pong” between the two houses. It is not unusual for “ping pong” to go on for a round or two, as bills which are almost ready for royal assent shuttle between the elected and unelected chamber while they try to resolve matters of dispute. But, in this case, the Lords are digging in a bit more than usual.
The government has been accused of “supporting thieves”, as it suffered a further heavy defeat at the hands of peers pressing their demand for steps to safeguard the creative industries against artificial intelligence.
The fourth and latest setback for the Labour frontbench over the issue in the House of Lords was inflicted despite pleas by a minister for the upper chamber to end its prolonged stand-off over the data (use and access) bill.
Continue reading...Sean McGovern, wanted on charges of murder and directing organised crime, flown to Ireland in military aircraft
A leader of the notorious Kinahan organised crime group has been flown from the United Arab Emirates to Ireland in the first extradition of its kind.
An Irish military aircraft carrying Sean McGovern – who is wanted on charges of murder and directing organised crime – was due to land in Dublin amid heavy security on Thursday afternoon.
Continue reading...Banks say every day 7,000 incidents take place where scammers get people to disclose unique set of numbers
Banks are reporting a surge in a type of fraud where customers are tricked into disclosing online login passcodes they are sent, which has helped to fuel a 22% jump in crimes where scammers go shopping using people’s stolen details.
The banking body UK Finance revealed that “remote purchase” fraud hit its highest-ever level in 2024, with almost 2.6m cases logged, which works out at more than 7,000 incidents a day, or almost five a minute.
Continue reading...Lucy Connolly was imprisoned for 31 months for stirring racial hatred online after deadly knife attacks
A childminder who was jailed for 31 months after calling for hotels housing asylum seekers to be set on fire after the Southport attacks has lost an appeal against her sentence at the Court of Appeal.
Lucy Connolly, who was married to a Conservative councillor, said in an X post in July last year: “Mass deportation now, set fire to all the fucking hotels full of the bastards for all I care … if that makes me racist so be it.”
Continue reading...Driver allegedly stole luggage and cash from foreign secretary and Nicola Green after ride from Italy to French ski resort
A taxi driver has been charged by French police with stealing luggage and cash from the UK’s foreign secretary, David Lammy, and his wife, Nicola Green.
The driver took the couple more than 600km (370 miles) from the town of Forli in Italy to the French ski resort of Flaine, Haute-Savoie, last month.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said Lammy and his spouse were victims in the case and that the driver has been charged with theft after driving off with their luggage.
It also denied that the Labour MP for Tottenham had refused to pay the driver.
Whitehall sources said no sensitive material was in the pair’s holiday luggage.
Prosecutors opened an investigation into a “commercial dispute” in Bonneville after the driver filed a complaint.
The Bonneville prosecutor, Boris Duffau, told the BBC the taxi driver was being charged with theft.
He said: “An investigation has been opened following a disagreement regarding the payment of a taxi ride between Italy and France.
“After an investigation by French police, the Bonneville prosecutor’s office has decided to prosecute the taxi driver who has been summoned to appear at the Bonneville court on 3 November 2025.
“He has been charged with theft (of luggage and cash) to the detriment of Nicola Green and David Lindon Lammy.”
The driver had told French media that Lammy became “aggressive” when asked to pay €700 (£590) of the €1,550 bill, the remainder of which was to be paid by the booking service.
The fee was paid upfront to the transfer service but the driver insisted he was owed money on arrival and that he needed to be paid in cash, a source said.
Green, who was speaking to the taxi driver while her husband went into the house, told police in a statement that she felt threatened and that the driver showed her a knife in his glove box, according to the PA news agency.
It is understood that after he left with their luggage, a member of the foreign secretary’s office contacted the driver to get it back, and it was deposited at a police station with a “considerable” sum of money missing from Green’s bag.
A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “We totally refute these allegations. The fare was paid in full.
“The foreign secretary and his wife are named as victims in this matter and the driver has been charged with theft.
“As there is an ongoing legal process, it would be inappropriate to comment further.”
Offenders in England and Wales to have sentences cut for good behaviour and completion of work, training or education tasks
Prisoners will be able to earn their freedom after serving a third of their sentences under new minimum and maximum sentence plans released by the government to tackle the overcrowding in jails.
Offenders in England and Wales will be able to earn early release if they complete work, training or education assignments and demonstrate good behaviour.
Continue reading...Kingdom Services boss says retailers seeing ‘different sort of shoplifter’ with more theft by people ‘who just can’t afford food’
Food retailers have seen a “massive” increase in pensioner shoplifters over the last year, according to a leading store security firm, amid the rising cost of living.
John Nussbaum, director of service for retail at Kingdom Services Group, has said his staff were seeing a “different sort of shoplifter now” as the cost of living “pushes people to something they’ve never done before”.
Continue reading...Katrin Ivanova’s barrister says her sentence should reflect her admin duties and not equate her with ‘classic spy cases’
A woman said to be “chief minion” in a ring of Bulgarians convicted of spying for Russia in Britain should not be treated like George Blake, the double agent sentenced to four decades in jail in the 1960s, the Old Bailey has heard.
Katrin Ivanova was said by her barrister, Rupert Bowers KC, to have been manipulated by her partner, Biser Dzhambazov, and to then have endured the discovery of his affair with a fellow member of the spy ring while in prison.
Continue reading...A crossbow and firearm were found at the scene in Headingley, and a man detained with a self-inflicted injury
Counter-terrorism police are investigating an incident that has left two women seriously injured in Leeds.
West Yorkshire Police were called at 2.47pm on Saturday following reports of a man with weapons.
Continue reading...Anthony John Felton ambushed Richard Pyke with spanner over suspected sex with teacher he had affair with
A headteacher who was caught on video attacking his deputy with a large adjustable spanner, in an assault motivated by “overwhelming sexual jealousy”, has been jailed for more than two years.
Anthony John Felton, 54, concealed the wrench in his jacket pocket as he approached his colleague, Richard Pyke, 51, from behind. Video of the incident showed him taking out the heavy tool and then repeatedly swinging it at Pyke’s head.
Continue reading...Paul Butler stabbed Claire Chick 23 times after she repeatedly reported to police he was stalking and harassing her
A man has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 27 years for stabbing his estranged wife to death in Devon after she had made repeated allegations to police that he had been stalking and harassing her.
Paul Butler, 53, stabbed Claire Chick 23 times outside her apartment block in Plymouth on 23 January.
Continue reading...Reform UK leader claims he is ‘not being heartless, I’m being frank’ as he states rising number of diagnoses is a ‘massive problem’
John Swinney, the first minister of Scotland, is attending the funeral of the Pope on Saturday, the Scottish government has announced. In a statement Swinney said:
His Holiness Pope Francis was a voice for peace, tolerance and reconciliation who had a natural ability to connect with people of all ages, nationalities and beliefs.
On behalf of the people of Scotland, I am deeply honoured to attend the funeral of Pope Francis in Rome to express my sorrow, thanks and deep respect for the compassion, assurance and hope that he brought to so many.
Eating the Tories for breakfast. @Keir_Starmer
Continue reading...Ola Raji’s sisters ask public for support in finding killers of 21-year-old, who was shot and stabbed in Peckham
The family of a 21-year-old student who was shot and stabbed while cycling home after watching a football match 10 years ago has renewed an appeal for the public’s help to find those responsible.
Ola Raji had spent the evening at a friend’s house watching a Champions League match between Bayern Munich and Porto before he was killed in Peckham, south London on the night of Tuesday 21 April 2015.
Continue reading...Contact from the Observer prompts withdrawal as dealers urged to do more to stop illicit trade in antiquities
A London antiquities dealer has withdrawn an ancient Greek amphora from sale after evidence arose that links it to a notorious smuggler.
The Kallos Gallery in Mayfair, London, has removed a black-figure amphora – a jar with two handles and a narrow neck made around 550BC – from sale after the Observer contacted it about concerns raised by an expert in the illegal trade of antiquities.
Continue reading...Four senior officers say more controls needed, amid claims platforms are ‘fuelling and enabling’ crime
Senior UK police officers have called for the government to ban children under 16 from social media, amid claims the platforms are “fuelling and enabling” crime.
In the most recent development in the moral panic that has gripped the media since Netflix’s Adolescence was released, four of the most senior policing figures in the country told the Times that further controls on social media platforms were necessary for public safety, national security and young people’s mental health.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Algorithms allegedly being used to study data of thousands of people, in project critics say is ‘chilling and dystopian’
The UK government is developing a “murder prediction” programme which it hopes can use personal data of those known to the authorities to identify the people most likely to become killers.
Researchers are alleged to be using algorithms to analyse the information of thousands of people, including victims of crime, as they try to identify those at greatest risk of committing serious violent offences.
Continue reading...Bhim Kohli, who was walking his dog, was racially abused, kicked and punched in ‘gratuitous’ attack
Two teenagers have been found guilty at Leicester crown court of the manslaughter of Bhim Kohli after the 80-year-old was attacked in a park near Leicester in September.
A 15-year-old boy, who kicked, punched and racially abused the 80-year-old man while he was walking his dog in a park, has been found guilty of manslaughter.
Continue reading...Party suspends North East Somerset MP after he is taken into custody following police raid on his constituency home
Labour have suspended Dan Norris, the MP for North East Somerset and Hanham, after he was arrested on suspicion of rape and child sex offences.
Norris, a former Labour minister who defeated Jacob Rees-Mogg as MP at last year’s general election, was taken into custody after police raided his constituency home on Friday.
Continue reading...Friends and fans of Heklina denounce Met’s investigation of unsolved death in her London flat
Nearly two years after the American drag artist Heklina was found dead in London, her friends and fans gathered outside Scotland Yard’s headquarters to protest against the force’s handling of the case.
Heklina, whose real name was Steven Grygelko, was found at a flat in Soho, central London, on 3 April 2023, by a friend and fellow drag performer, Peaches Christ, real name Joshua Grannell.
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