Metropolitan police sending extra officers to central London street after speculation of ‘crime opportunities’
Sadiq Khan has encouraged people not to travel to Oxford Street to take part in a social media craze that he has described as “nonsense”.
The Metropolitan police has said there will be a heightened police presence in the central London area after speculation about an event on Wednesday afternoon advertised on TikTok.
Continue reading...Mahek and Ansreen Bukhari convicted over killing of pair who died when car was rammed off road
A former TikTok influencer and her mother have been found guilty of murdering two men who died in a fireball when their car was rammed off the road during a late-night chase outside Leicester.
Mahek Bukhari, 24, and her mother, Ansreen Bukhari, 46, were convicted alongside two other defendants of killing Saqib Hussain and his friend Mohammed Hashim Ijazuddin, both 21, in February last year.
Continue reading...Ansreen Bukhari and her daughter, Mahek, partied together and ended up plotting to murder two young men
When she gave evidence at Leicester crown court, 46-year-old Ansreen Bukhari described how her daughter’s fame on TikTok had completely transformed her life.
“When I got married I was like a housewife, but with this TikTok thing I was going out more. It was like two different lives,” she said. “It was more excitement. We were out and meeting people and stuff.”
Continue reading...Police in remote Welsh town appeal to anyone who may have seen someone have ‘sudden influx of beehives’
Police in a remote Welsh town are on the hunt for a thief who stole 14 beehives.
Witnesses have been urged to come forward after the hives disappeared from Blackwood Road near Llangollen, North Wales, over the weekend.
Continue reading...Geza Tarjanyi barged into former health secretary on train while shouting conspiracy theories
An anti-vaccine protester who accused Matt Hancock of murdering people during the coronavirus pandemic has been found guilty of harassment.
The former health secretary feared being pushed down an escalator by Geza Tarjanyi, 62, of Leyland, Lancashire, who shoulder-barged him and “shouted ridiculous conspiracy theories” on two separate occasions on 19 and 24 January.
Continue reading...Sir Bob Neill criticises government plan for failing to consider mental health and addiction problems of many offenders
Ministers cannot “warehouse” addicts and people with mental health problems who commit crimes such as shoplifting, a senior Conservative MP has said in response to a plan to give shoplifters mandatory sentences.
Sir Bob Neill, the chair of the Commons justice select committee, said the new policy would “pump low-level offenders” into almost-full jails at huge public expense and do nothing to change the “chaotic lives” of offenders.
Continue reading...Government also plans to make greater use of facial recognition technology as part of crime crackdown bill
Shoplifters, burglars and violent criminals who commit repeat offences will be handed mandatory prison sentences under plans being drawn up by ministers.
The government plans to force judges to impose jail terms when sentencing repeat offenders for shoplifting, burglary, theft and common assault, using new legislation to be included in the crime and justice bill.
Continue reading...Essex police continue to appeal for witnesses after release of video leads member of public to rescue pet
Twiglet, the miniature dachshund who was stolen by a masked man during a burglary, is safe and well and has been reunited with her owner, police have said.
Officers in Essex launched a dog-hunt, releasing a video of the theft and appealing for information after an intruder took the 16-month-old dachshund from her home in Catmere End, Saffron Walden, at about 3pm on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Disappearance of Tony Parsons in 2017 finally resolved after Alexander McKellar took girlfriend to burial site
Twin brothers who left a cyclist to die on a remote Highland roadside after hitting him with their pickup truck and hiding his body in a pit used for animal carcasses have finally been brought to justice after one confessed to his new girlfriend.
The disappearance of the “much-loved” grandfather and passionate fisher Tony Parsons in the middle of a 100-mile charity fundraiser in September 2017 left his close family “heartbroken” and the authorities baffled. He had vanished seemingly “into thin air”, according to the police who searched for him.
Continue reading...Regulators to be asked about how £10m scam was investigated, as Guardian Today in Focus podcast raises fresh questions about case
Financial regulators are to be summoned to parliament to explain how they prosecuted the case of a multimillion-pound pensions fraud whose victims have yet to receive compensation and which has not led to anyone serving prison time.
Sir Stephen Timms MP, chair of the work and pensions committee, said he was launching an inquiry into how watchdogs and prosecutors handled the case, in which £10m of pension savings disappeared after being invested in the heritage brand Norton Motorcycles.
Continue reading...Shopkeepers complain the number of thefts from stores is soaring. Is the cost of living crisis to blame or organised gangs?
It could be laundry tablets, lipstick or even baby milk. According to shopkeepers in the UK the number of thefts is rising. The British Retail Consortium said there were 8m instances of theft from shops last year, which cost businesses nearly £1bn. The Office for National Statistics reports a 22% rise.
For shop assistants and managers it is a daily struggle, which can be costly and infuriating – but what’s behind it? The Guardian’s North of England editor, Helen Pidd, spoke to shopkeepers on one Manchester street to see how they were coping, and spent the day in a magistrates court to find out what happens when a shoplifter is caught. She explains how organised crime may be a factor behind the rise.
Continue reading...Home affairs select committee members criticise policy of working with businesses such as Vivastreet
Senior police officers have “cosied up” to “pimping websites” that allegedly allow trafficked women to be “raped multiple times a day”, MPs have said.
Dame Diana Johnson, the chair of the home affairs select committee, said it was “disgraceful” that police forces and the National Crime Agency (NCA) were engaging with businesses such as Vivastreet.
Continue reading...Investigations ongoing after body of toddler found in Ipswich on Friday morning
A man and a woman have been arrested over the “suspicious” death of a two-year-old girl. Police said they found the body of the toddler at a property in Sidegate Lane, Ipswich, Suffolk, on Friday morning.
Investigations at the property are ongoing and officers said the death was being treated as suspicious.
Continue reading...Another man aged 28 has stab wound not thought to be life-threatening after incident in Archway
A 15-year-old boy and a 23-year-old man have been stabbed to death in north London.
The teenager died at the scene in Elthorne Road, Archway, after the stabbing at 11.30pm on Thursday, while the man was taken to hospital where he was later pronounced dead. A 28-year-old man was found with a stab wound that was not life-threatening.
Continue reading...Jury finds Louis De Zoysa shot Matt Ratana in Croydon with revolver he probably hid under armpit
A man has been found guilty of murdering a police custody sergeant with a gun he had smuggled into a cell.
A jury at Northampton crown court convicted Louis De Zoysa, 25, of murdering Sgt Matt Ratana, 54, with a gunshot to the chest at a custody block in Croydon, south London, in September 2020.
Continue reading...Oria Henry was passenger in car driven by Ashley Henry, 35, when it collided with a lorry in Anwick, Lincolnshire
A murder inquiry has been launched into the death of a two-year-old girl who died along with a driver in a road crash.
Ashley Henry, 35, and passenger Oria Henry, from Leicester, were both pronounced dead at the scene in Anwick, near Sleaford, Lincolnshire, on Sunday.
Continue reading...Seven people have been killed by dogs in the UK so far this year. Simon Usborne reports on the worrying increase in attacks
Deaths and serious injuries sustained in dog attacks are rising rapidly in the UK. So far this year seven people have been killed in such incidents. For years the average was stable, at about three deaths a year, but something has changed recently. During the Covid pandemic, dog ownership rose sharply as people took on pets as companions. But that’s only part of the story.
The reporter Simon Usborne tells Nosheen Iqbal the increase in demand for dogs allowed unscrupulous dealers to enter the market and sell to unsuitable owners. There are also new breeds to contend with: the American bully, a type of bulldog, has become notorious for a seemingly disproportionate involvement in serious incidents. There are calls for the breed to be banned.
Continue reading...The 12-week-old foal is back with its mother at Miller’s Ark Animals while police continue their investigation
A countryside abduction has come to a tail-wagging end after a baby donkey that was stolen from a farm has been reunited with her mother and her “ecstatic” owners after a police investigation.
On 15 May, the 12-week-old donkey, named Moon, was taken from Miller’s Ark Animals in Hook, Hampshire some time before 5pm. Missing for more than two weeks, Moon was recovered and returned to the farm on Wednesday evening.
Continue reading...Jason Carr, who had worked for the police, looked up details of the man on trial despite judge telling jurors it was illegal to do so
An “unashamed and unrepentant” juror who spent two decades in the police has been jailed for six months after causing a rape trial to collapse by researching the defendant online.
Jason Carr thought he “knew better than the lawyers” and used his phone to search for details about the man on trial believing there were gaps in the evidence, a judge at Liverpool crown court said.
Continue reading...David Boyd must serve at least 29 years for killing seven-year-old he stabbed 37 times
A child killer who brutally murdered a “bright and sparky” seven-year-old girl and managed to escape justice for more than 30 years has been sentenced to life in prison.
A judge on Tuesday ruled that David Boyd must serve a minimum term of 29 years for the murder of Nikki Allan.
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