‘Ponzi-style’ conman jailed for failing to repay victims of £72m fraud

London magistrates sentence Michael Strubel to more than six years for failing to pay compensation

A fraudster who conned people out of more than £70m in a “Ponzi-style scheme” claiming he was supplying services to the London 2012 Olympic village and large hotels has been given more than six years in jail for failing to hand back more than £1.4m of illicit profits.

City of London magistrates court committed Michael Strubel to prison for six years and seven months for failing to pay his confiscation order.

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V&A to host exhibition on Coco Chanel’s career and designs

Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto will display 180 designs, jewellery, accessories and perfumes

The V&A is to host the first ever exhibition in a major UK museum on the work of Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, covering the career of the French designer from the opening of her first millinery boutique in Paris in 1910 to the showing of her final collection in 1971.

The London museum’s exhibition, Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto, will display 180 designs as well as jewellery, accessories and perfume, and outfits created for Lauren Bacall and Marlene Dietrich.

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Sasha Johnson: £20,000 reward offered to break ‘wall of silence’ over shooting

Black rights campaigner was shot in head at close range in May 2021 and now requires constant medical care

A reward of up to £20,000 is being offered for information about who shot a prominent black rights campaigner as a charity tries to smash a “wall of silence” that has frustrated investigators for the past year.

Crimestoppers will pay the money to anyone who anonymously shares information leading to the conviction of those responsible for Sasha Johnson’s shooting.

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London Underground station staff to stage 24-hour strike on 6 June

RMT calls out 4,000 members in protest at TfL plans to cut 600 posts to reduce costs

London Underground station staff will stage a 24-hour strike on Monday 6 June, the day after the platinum jubilee holiday weekend, in a dispute over job cuts.

The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) has called 4,000 members out on strike in protest at Transport for London’s plans to cut 600 posts to reduce costs.

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Three hospitalised after stand collapses at trooping the colour rehearsal

Crowds evacuated following incident during rehearsal for Queen’s jubilee in London

Three people were taken to hospital after a stand reportedly collapsed when spectators rose for the national anthem during a trooping the colour rehearsal in central London.

Two others were treated at the scene by paramedics after the incident in Horse Guards Road at about 11am on Saturday, London ambulance service said.

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Black social worker Tasered by City of London police treated like ‘wild animal’

Edwin Afriyie, 36, is suing the force after suffering a head injury and suicidal thoughts following the incident

A black social worker who was Tasered and knocked unconscious during a roadside stop says police treated him like a “wild animal.”

Edwin Afriyie, 36, is suing City of London police after suffering a head injury and suicidal thoughts following the incident.

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Harry Kane exhibition aims to spur children on to success

Family photos, personal items and sporting memorabilia to go on display at Museum of London

Never-before-seen family photos, personal items and sporting memorabilia highlighting the England captain Harry Kane’s journey from grassroots football to professional player are to go on display at the Museum of London, with the hope of inspiring young people.

The exhibition will celebrate Kane, who grew up in east London just a few miles from Tottenham Hotspur’s stadium in north London.

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‘We’ve been inundated’: UK housing market frenzy shows no signs of slowing

Buyers face bidding wars to snare homes despite soaring inflation, cost of living crisis and fears of property crash

It took less than a week to sell a two-bedroom garden flat in north London, with a guide price of £950,000. Featuring a large patio, garden, oak floorboards and underfloor heating, it is in a mixed area on the outskirts of Islington and Camden.

“We’ve been inundated with people wanting to see it,” says Andrew Groocock, a regional partner at the estate agents Knight Frank, which helped organise 23 viewings. “It ticks the boxes of exactly what’s hot in the market at the moment. It’s still an incredibly buoyant market. The last two years have been remarkable.”

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Civil servants and No 10 advisers furious over single fine for Boris Johnson

PM received only one of 126 fixed-penalty notices relating to law-breaking parties, prompting claims Met police bungled inquiry

Civil servants and special advisers have reacted with fury and disbelief after Scotland Yard confirmed Boris Johnson got only one of 126 fines levied for law-breaking parties at the heart of Downing Street and Whitehall.

The Metropolitan police came under intense pressure to explain how it reached its conclusions after Downing Street said officers confirmed no further action would be taken against the prime minister despite him attending gatherings for which others were fined.

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Police conclude Partygate investigation into Downing Street gatherings

Met has issued 126 fixed-penalty notices, but it is unclear if Boris Johnson has had more than one

The Metropolitan police have completed their investigation into lockdown-breaching parties in Downing Street and Whitehall, and issued a total of 126 fixed-penalty notices, the force has announced.

Thus far Boris Johnson has received one fine. It is not immediately clear if any of the last tranche of fines involve any more for the prime minister.

20 May 2020, when “bring your own booze” drinks were held in the Downing Street garden.

18 June 2020, when a party was held to mark the departure of a No 10 private secretary.

19 June, the date of Johnson’s birthday party, for which he was fined.

13 November 2020, when a leaving do was held for adviser Lee Cain as well as a party in the No 10 flat.

17 December 2020 when several parties were held, including one to mark the departure of Covid taskforce boss Kate Josephs.

18 December, the date of the “cheese and wine” gathering which led to the resignation of Allegra Stratton.

14 January 2021, when gatherings were held to mark the departure of two private secretaries, as revealed by Sue Gray.

16 April, the eve of Prince Philip’s funeral, when two parties were held, one of which culminated in Wilfred Johnson’s swing being broken.

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John Peel: personal records and memorabilia set for Bonhams auction

Items including a handwritten letter from David Bowie and Peel’s horn gramophone will be up for sale next month

Records and music memorabilia once owned by the celebrated former BBC DJ John Peel, including a signed mono pressing of John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s 1968 album Two Virgins, is to be sold at auction in June.

Peel’s family said in a statement: “John/Dad was in a position to have access to many of the most celebrated people and events in the history of popular music. This is reflected in a wealth of souvenirs he collected. In going through the accumulation of 40 years of pop music moments, we decided that some of the most interesting items might find a home, with fans of his programme or of the artists whose music he played.”

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Queen makes surprise appearance at Elizabeth line opening ceremony

Monarch and Prince Edward attend event at London’s Paddington station before public opening of line named in her honour

The Queen has marked the completion of London’s Crossrail project by attending the opening ceremony of the Elizabeth line.

Accompanied by the Earl of Wessex, she was welcomed by the prime minister, Boris Johnson, the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, and the commissioner of Transport for London, Andy Byford, at Paddington station.

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‘Painful choices’ remain over tribute to Grenfell Tower victims

A memorial garden is the most popular option but families and the community have different views on the future of the tower

Bereaved relatives of those killed in the Grenfell Tower fire and the community living in its shadow are struggling to agree on the best way to commemorate the disaster.

Next month marks five years since a fire engulfed the tower block in North Kensington, west London, killing 72 people.

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Sotheby’s debut of Robbie Williams’ art puts Sharon and Trish on show

Paintings produced in collaboration with Ed Godrich are titled with ‘names that define the 1980s’

Trish has never been seen in public before. Nor have Sharon, Janet, Debbie, Denise, Donna, Jacqui, Joanne, Kim, Lorraine, Mandy, Paula, Sandra or Tina.

But for the next two weeks, these 14 artworks by the pop star Robbie Williams and his creative partner Ed Godrich will be on display at Sotheby’s in central London.

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Sadiq Khan launches commission to examine cannabis legality

Mayor of London says panel of experts will consider effectiveness of UK policies on non-class A drugs

Sadiq Khan has announced a commission to examine the effectiveness of the UK’s drug laws, with a particular focus on those governing cannabis.

The London drugs commission, to be chaired by Lord Charlie Falconer QC, a former lord chancellor and justice secretary, was one of Khan’s manifesto pledges in his re-election bid last year.

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Six-year-old twins go missing from their garden in south London

Emmanuel and Emmanuella were last seen about 6pm on Saturday at their home in Lambeth

Six-year-old twins have been reported missing in south London.

The Metropolitan police said Emmanuel and Emmanuella were last seen playing in the front garden of their home in Cowley Road, Lambeth at 6pm on Saturday. A relative went to check on them an hour later and found they were not there, Scotland Yard said.

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Dominoes cannot be played quietly, as any child of Caribbean origin knows

West Indian men gathering to play dominoes in north London have become the centre of a noise complaints row

It’s as West Indian as rice and peas and the barber shop: the slamming down of dominoes – hard – on a table as a group of elderly black men go head to head in a heated game.

“If you are West Indian you just can’t play dominoes without making a bit of noise,” says Ernest Theophile, 73, who has been playing dominoes, cards and backgammon with his friends in Maida Hill market square in north London for 12 years.

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Piers Corbyn fined over ‘murder’ claim at Covid vaccine clinic

Anti-vaxxer convicted of causing nuisance or disturbance at Guy’s hospital in London in January

Piers Corbyn has been fined £250 after accusing NHS staff at a London Covid-19 vaccination clinic of murdering people.

The brother of the former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn had arrived with a group of anti-vaxxers at Guy’s hospital in central London on 18 January with a “cease and desist” letter that they claimed was to prevent NHS staff from administering the Covid-19 vaccine.

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Local elections 2022: Tories lose hundreds of seats to Labour and Lib Dems; Sinn Féin set to become largest party in NI elections – live

PM insists ‘mixed’ results also included some ‘remarkable gains’ for Conservatives; Labour, Lib Dems and Greens celebrate key wins

One of the trickiest contests for Labour is in Sunderland, where it risks losing control of the council for the first time since it was founded in 1974, says the Guardian’s North Of England correspondent Josh Halliday.

Labour has a majority of only six councillors on the 75-seat authority, meaning it could easily fall into no overall control when ballots are counted.

There are enough clues on the doorstep and judging by the scale of the postal vote, that’s gone extremely well and we’re getting a big turnout. That said, neither party can be overly confident about which way many seats will go.

Partygate doesn’t come up as much as you’d think and for those who have brought it up they’ve said things like ‘You’re all as bad as each other’ or ‘that’s politics’.

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Tories face test on cost of living and Partygate as people vote across the UK – as it happened

Latest updates: elections take place in many areas across the UK with polling stations open from 7am to 10pm BST

Boris Johnson and the Japanese prime minister watched an RAF flypast together in Horse Guards Parade before their bilateral discussions in No 10, PA Media reports. PA says:

The pair stood on a dais as they witnessed a Voyager and two Typhoon fighter jets soar over St James’s Park and the parade ground.

Fumio Kishida was then invited in Japanese by the captain of the Nijmegen Company, Grenadier Guards, to inspect a guard of honour.

My forecast ... predicts that the Conservatives will lose more than 200 council seats across Great Britain on polling day (Thursday 5 May). They will suffer net losses of 63 in London, 38 across the rest of England, 83 in Scotland and 22 in Wales.

Labour, meanwhile, will make a net gain of 35 council seats in London but a net loss of 16 across the rest of England. That net loss, however, will be more than compensated for by net gains of 87 and 41 in Scotland and Wales respectively.

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