Inquiry chair says there is ‘nothing to stop another Couzens operating in plain sight’ and radical overhaul is needed
Sarah Everard’s “devastating” murder was “entirely preventable”, campaigners have said, as they called for urgent reform of policing to restore women’s trust.
The Angiolini inquiry found that Wayne Couzens should never have been given a job as a police officer and that chances to stop him were repeatedly ignored and missed.
Continue reading...Former firearms officer’s history of alleged sexual offending dated back to 1995, 347-page report finds
Wayne Couzens should never have been a police officer and three separate forces “could and should have” stopped him, a damning report by Lady Elish Angiolini has found.
The 51-year-old former firearms officer’s history of alleged sexual offending and predilection for violent and extreme pornography dated back to 1995, it said. Couzens allegedly sexually assaulted a child and attempted to kidnap a woman at knife-point in the years before he abducted, raped and murdered Sarah Everard on 3 March 2021.
Continue reading...Latest figures show racial disparity in use-of-force incidents among inpatients in England
The number of black inpatients injured while being restrained by police in mental health units has risen dramatically – at the same time as the number of non-black inpatients injured has fallen, according to analysis of government data by the Observer.
The Home Office’s police use of force statistics for 2022/23 show that police forces across England recorded 820 incidents of force used in mental health units against black inpatients, resulting in 36 injuries. This is up from the 770 use of force incidents and 27 injuries recorded in 2021/22.
Continue reading...Met police say no body found but Ezedi has not been seen since assault on woman and her daughters in London
Police hunting the Clapham chemical attack suspect, Abdul Ezedi, say they believe he is dead after going into the River Thames at Chelsea Bridge four hours after he left a woman severely injured.
Scotland Yard said Ezedi’s body had not been found but he was last seen close to the River Thames. Officers had been looking for the 35-year-old since Wednesday 31 January when he was suspected of using a strong alkaline substance in an attack on a mother and her daughters, aged three and eight. The mother, 31, is still in hospital in an induced coma.
Continue reading...Fear of crime in UK capital is one of biggest concerns of rich Indians, says entrepreneur
Indian business people are avoiding being out and about in Mayfair over fears they could be mugged for their expensive watches after a 27% rise in “theft from a person” in London, an entrepreneur has said.
Devin Narang, an entrepreneur, told a meeting attended by David Lammy, the shadow foreign secretary, that fear of crime in London was one of the biggest concerns of India’s rich elite.
“People are being mugged in the heart of London – in Mayfair,” Narang, a member of the executive committee of the federation of Indian chambers of commerce and industry, said at a meeting in New Delhi, according to the Financial Times. “All CEOs in India have had an experience of physical mugging and the police [in London] not responding.”
Move comes in protest at ‘racist and vexatious’ misconduct investigation into a leading officer
The National Black Police Association (NBPA) has called for ethnic minorities to boycott joining the Metropolitan police in protest at a “racist and vexatious” misconduct investigation into a leading officer.
In the first call for a boycott in 20 years, the association claims Charles Ehikioya, chair of the Met Black Police Association (Met BPA), has been targeted because he voiced concerns about the poor behaviour of senior officers – and the racism he and his colleagues are suffering.
Continue reading...Met had previously refused to allow expected 300,000 demonstrators to hold rally on Whitehall on Saturday
The latest pro-Palestine march of hundreds of thousands of protesters through central London will end with a rally near Downing Street after a climbdown from the Metropolitan police.
Following a meeting late on Thursday afternoon, organisers of the march said they had been given permission for the end stage of Saturday’s demonstration to take place on Whitehall.
Continue reading...Incident occurred when officers called to reports of man with crossbow and other weapons trying to force entry to property
A man has died after being shot by police in south-east London, the Met has said.
Officers were called to reports of a man attempting to force entry to a residential property in Southwark while wielding a crossbow and other weapons.
Continue reading...Scotland Yard suggest recently unsealed documents containing allegations of sexual assaults do not provide new information
The Metropolitan police has rejected calls to launch an investigation into Prince Andrew, after the release of court documents relating to the late child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Accusations against Prince Andrew, including allegedly groping a woman’s breast during an encounter involving a puppet version of the prince and claims he sexually assaulted Virginia Giuffre when she was 17, were given a new airing in the unsealing of 1,200 pages by a US court.
Continue reading...Two other men, thought to be Polish nationals, sustain life-threatening injuries as blaze destroys two-storey house in Croydon
A third man has died after a house fire in south London, police have said.
Another man sustained life-threatening injuries in the blaze that destroyed a two-storey end-of-terrace house on Friday night in Croydon, the Metropolitan police said.
Continue reading...Trainee detective constable says her ordeal helps her to empathise with victims and help other officers on her team
A Metropolitan police officer who was assaulted and raped by an ex-partner has channelled her ordeal into targeting domestic abusers.
The trainee detective constable, who works in a safeguarding unit in east London, was a student when the abusive relationship left her feeling suicidal. The woman, 24, who is not being named for legal reasons, hopes that speaking out about her experience will give victims the confidence to report abusers to the police.
Continue reading...Det Supt Andrew Wadey says force has ‘let women and girls down badly’ and service must be improved to restore faith
Victims of domestic abuse have lost confidence in Britain’s biggest police force after a series of scandals, a senior officer has admitted.
Det Supt Andrew Wadey, the Metropolitan police’s lead for domestic abuse and stalking, acknowledged the force had “let women and girls down badly in the past” but insisted they were committed to rebuilding trust.
Continue reading...Former Met PC Alice Vinten says online abuse worse since publication of book about women in force that inspired BBC drama
When Alice Vinten wrote The Real Happy Valley, she intended the book to be a celebration of women in the police force, the real-life accounts of those who served as inspiration for protagonist Sgt Catherine Cawood in Sally Wainwright’s acclaimed BBC drama. Vinten interviewed women officers across Yorkshire who told of their careers on the frontline of policing, as depicted by Sarah Lancashire in the series that was set in the Calder Valley around Halifax.
Instead, the book has prompted a campaign of abuse against Vinten, 42, a former Metropolitan police officer herself, on Twitter, now known as X, including what the author calls an orchestrated campaign of leaving bad reviews and even threats. Worse, she says, they’re from police.
Continue reading...Officers were called to an address in Dagenham, east London where they found 40-year-old and two firearms
A man who told officers he had firearms and was going to harm himself has died in a police shooting in east London.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is investigating the incident in Dagenham.
In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counsellor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org
Continue reading...Louie Turnbull pleads guilty to owning dangerously out of control animals after they attacked woman’s dog by east London canal
A man whose two dogs were shot dead by police in front of him has been given a suspended sentence for owning dangerously out of control animals.
Viral footage circulated on social media of Metropolitan police officers killing Louie Turnbull’s canines beside an east London canal in May this year.
Continue reading...Force’s boss called prosecution of PC Paul Fisher over crash while racing to Streatham stabbings ‘appalling’
A police officer who was cleared of dangerous driving after crashing while racing to the scene of a terrorism attack may still face the sack, the Guardian has learned.
PC Paul Fisher was acquitted by a jury at Southwark crown court on Friday, leading the Metropolitan police commissioner to describe his ordeal as “appalling”.
Continue reading...Home secretary says demonstration at Royal Artillery Memorial ‘deeply disrespectful’ and he is looking at giving police new powers
The actions of pro-Palestinian protesters who climbed on to a war memorial were “inflammatory” but not illegal, the Metropolitan police commissioner said on Thursday, as the government said it would consider giving police new powers to prevent “offensive” demonstrations.
Video footage appears to show at least two pro-Palestinian protesters clambering on the Royal Artillery Memorial at Hyde Park Corner, central London, on Wednesday evening, timed to coincide with a vote on calls for a ceasefire in Gaza in the Commons.
Continue reading...Met and BTP seeking people in footage from Saturday’s marches, in particular at a ‘racially aggravated altercation’ at Waterloo
Police are looking for people seen in pictures and videos featuring antisemitic and Islamophobic language and symbols after Saturday’s pro-Palestinian and far-right marches in London.
Both the Metropolitan police and British Transport Police (BTP) released images on Sunday of individuals they hoped to identify.
The police have asked any members of the public who can identify the woman bearing the antisemitic placard shown in this article to call 101, giving reference 1235186/23. Information can also be provided to Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111
Continue reading...Met assistant commissioner Matt Twist says nine officers were injured while preventing a violent crowd reaching the Cenotaph
Scores of people have gathered in Hyde Park for a “stewards’ meeting” before the march, the PA Media agency reports.
They are all wearing hi-vis jackets, while many have also donned keffiyehs, Palestinian scarves.
Armistice Day is a moment of solemn national reflection in remembrance of those who have given their lives in service of our country. It’s important that people can use our rail network to safely travel, free from intimidation.
That’s why I have granted consent for the British Transport Police to make orders under section 14A of the Public Order Act 1986 prohibiting planned protests at various London stations today, meaning anyone taking part will be subject to arrest.
Continue reading...Organisers say rally on Armistice Day could be one of the largest political marches in British history
Protesters have begun assembling for a pro-Palestinian rally in London that is expected to draw hundreds of thousands on Saturday, while police have jostled with far-right groups attempting to reach the Cenotaph.
Organisers say that the pro-Palestine march, which has been the backdrop to a political row over Suella Braverman’s public criticism of the policing of protests, could be one of the biggest political marches in British history.
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