Rio hit with £500k bill after losing court battle

The England and Manchester United star will now be saddled with paying the estimated £500,000 legal bills incurred by the Sunday Mirror in defence of the lawsuit.

Ferdinand sued the newspaper for misuse of private information after they published details of his 13-year relationship with interior designer Carly Storey, who accepted £16,000 for telling the tale of her liaisons with the defender.

But Mr Justice Nicol dismissed the case at London's high court on Thursday, and refused Ferdinand's legal team permission to appeal.

"Overall, in my judgment, the balancing exercise favours the defendant's right of freedom of expression over the claimant's right of privacy," he said.

The judge was not swayed by Ferdinand's claims that he had not tried to meet Storey after being made England captain, despite claims in the newspaper that he had snuck Storey into the team hotel.

"I did not find this answer persuasive. In his evidence the claimant said that (Fabio) Capello had told him to be professional, not only on the pitch but 'around the hotel'," the judge said.

"In the past, the Claimant (Ferdinand) had not behaved in a professional manner around the hotels into which he had tried to sneak Ms Storey.

"Whether or not he had done that in the few weeks since he had been made the permanent captain of England, his relative recent past failings could legitimately be used to call into question his suitability for the role."

Former England captain Ferdinand, who has three children with wife Rebecca, had told the judge at an earlier hearing that, "I do not see why I should not be entitled to a private life just because I am a famous footballer."

Sunday Mirror editor Tina Weaver hailed the judge's decision.

"The Sunday Mirror is very pleased that the court has rejected Rio Ferdinand's privacy claim," she said.

"The judge found that there was a justified public interest in reporting the off-pitch behaviour of the then England captain and discussion of his suitability for such an important and ambassadorial role representing the country.

"We are pleased the judge ruled that Mr Ferdinand had perpetuated a misleading public image and the Sunday Mirror was entitled to correct this impression.

"There has never been greater scrutiny of the media than now, and we applaud this ruling in recognising the important role a free press has to play in a democratic society."

Read more »

Paramedics Who Tried To Save Singer's Life Give Evidence

 

Alberto Alvarez was in charge of back stage during Jackson's final rehearsal on June 24, 2009. He described Jackson as "happy and in good spirits" during the performance. "He was doing very well for the most part," he told the Los Angeles court. He explained that he later drove Jackson back to his rented Holmby Hills home and saw Dr Murray's car parked there. He said the last time he saw Jackson alive was when he said "good night" to the singer. Mr Alvarez was the first person who went into Jackson's bedroom after Dr Murray telephoned for help as he was trying to resuscitate the singer. He said Jackson was lying on his back, with his hands extended out to his side, and his eyes and mouth open. "When I came into the room, Dr Murray said 'Alberto, hurry, we have to get to hospital, we have to get an ambulance'." Jackson's logistics director Alberto Alvarez He then described how Jackson's children Paris and Prince entered the room behind him. "Paris screamed out 'Daddy' and she was crying. "Dr Murray said to me 'Don't let them see their dad like this see'. "I ushered the children out and told them 'Don't worry, we will take care of it, everything is going to be OK'." Mr Alvarez asked what had happened, to which Dr Murray replied: "He had a bad reaction". Two paramedics who tried to save Jackson's life are also due to give evidence on day three of the trial. Martin Blount and Richard Senneff are expected to say that Jackson already appeared to be dead when they arrived at his home on June 25, 2009. The court will also hear from another key witness - Jackson's personal chef Kai Chase. Sky's US correspondent Greg Milam, who is at the court, said: "There are fewer demonstrators, fans of Michael Jackson, and supporters of Dr Murray here today - but they are still being very vocal in their support of both sides in the case." On Wednesday, Jackson's security chief revealed how the star's children crumpled in shock, as they saw their apparently dead father being given heart massage in his bedroom. The court also heard that Dr Conrad Murray, accused of involuntary manslaughter over Jackson's death two years ago, asked aides if any of them knew how to do cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). "Paris was on the ground balled up crying, and Prince was standing there, and he just had a real shocked, you know just slowly crying type of look on his face," bodyguard Faheem Muhammad, referring to two of Jackson's three children, said. "I went and gathered them together, and I kind of talked to them for a second, got the nanny... and we walked downstairs and put them in a different location," he said. He was describing the scene after he was called up to the master bedroom of Jackson's rented Los Angeles mansion where the star died after an overdose of a powerful sedative. The defence team for the doctor insists Jackson self-administered other sedatives, prompting the overdose while his physician was outside the bedroom. Dr Murray, 58, faces up to four years in jail if convicted of involuntary manslaughter for administering the overdose of Propofol.

Read more »

Raids in 7 countries in $200M investment fraud

 

Dutch authorities say raids have been conducted in seven countries in connection with an alleged $200 million investment fraud scheme, and four men have been arrested. The country's financial crime prosecutors say they suspect hundreds of investors were conned into fraudulent investments in U.S. life insurance policies by a firm called Quality Investments BV. Prosecutors said Wednesday four Dutch men have been arrested, two in the Netherlands and one each in Switzerland and Turkey. Raids were also conducted in Spain, Dubai, England and the United States, in which millions of euros in assets were seized in hopes of recovering some money for duped investors.

Read more »

Gangster who bragged that he “ran Tottenham” after opening fire on his rivals with a machine gun in the street

 

Gangster who bragged that he “ran Tottenham” after opening fire on his rivals with a machine gun in the street has had his appeal against conviction turned down by top judges.   Former decorator Yusuf Arslan, now 21, was put behind bars indefinitely for public protection at Kingston Crown Court last September. Arslan belonged to the “Tottenham Boys” gang, which had a long-running feud with a rival Hackney gang, said Mr Justice Wilkie, sitting at London’s Appeal Court. He had opened fire with the sub-machine gun in Lansdowne Road, Tottenham, on September 30, 2009, in revenge for the shooting of a friend who ran a nearby shop. He had blocked his victim’s car in before letting off a volley of shots. A fragment of shell hit one of his targets’ left arm, but the majority of the shots hit their car’s body and windscreen. Arslan, of Oxford Close, Edmonton, was also prosecuted over an incident in December that year in which he and others were stopped in a car wearing body armour and carrying a revolver. One police officer said he heard Arslan brag he “ran Tottenham” and had access to more guns than the police. He was convicted of attempted murder, possessing guns and ammunition and was ordered to serve a minimum 10 years before being considered for parole. His lawyers challenged the convictions on Friday, claiming the identification evidence against him was flawed. But Mr Justice Wilkie, sitting with Lord Justice Pitchford and Mr Justice Holroyde, said the “sure identification” had been made by one of the men Arslan shot at. “This appeal against conviction is unarguable,” he concluded.

Read more »

Brits arrested for drug trafficking on the Baleares

 

 

The Organised Crime Squad ECO of the Guardia Civil based on Mallorca completed the second part of an operation against drug trafficking on Sunday. The first part of the operation had been started at the end of August. At that time ten Britons were arrested and on Sunday the ECO agents picked up another ten youngsters of the same nationality. Judicial sources say that seven of the ten were sent to prison in Eivissa, on remand, while two were granted bail of 10,000 € and one was released without bail. Reporting restrictions have been imposed in the case. And in a separate case on Saturday the Guardia Civil have arrested a British man in Sant Antoni, Ibiza found to have 300 ecstasy pills hidden in his hotel room. The investigation is being handled by the Judicial Police of the Guardia Civil. We also have more details about a Guardia Civil drugs raid last Wednesday, also in Sant Antoni, when four homes were searched in the second phase of the Rula operation. 5 kilos of cocaine was recovered along with 5,000 ecstasy pills, and ten more arrests were made. Diario Ibiza reports that all those arrested are men, nearly all of them young and also British, although there are some Irish in the group. Judge Carmen Martín in Instruction Court 3 in Ibiza took their statements on Sunday.

Read more »

NAVY recruit flipped and killed an officer in a gun rampage on a nuclear sub after he was told off for his cleaning work.

Ryan Donovan, 23, fired his SA80 semi-automatic rifle after his hopes of a voyage on a surface ship were dashed as punishment for his shoddy work.

He was also obsessed with violent video games and told a friend he wanted to carry out a Grand Theft Auto-style "kill frenzy".

Yesterday the HMS Astute able seaman was jailed for life by a judge who heard he opened fire on two superiors he blamed — only to miss.

 

Victim ... Ian Molyneux 
with wife Gill

 

The shots were heard by Lieutenant Commander Ian Molyneux, 36, who rushed to tackle him during a goodwill visit by the sub to Southampton in April.

Donovan murdered him with a bullet to the head, then stepped over his body to the control room.

There he wounded Lt Cdr Christopher Hodge, 45, in the stomach before being wrestled to the ground by Southampton council leader Royston Smith and chief executive Alistair Neill — who were touring the sub.

Three days earlier Donovan of Dartford, Kent, disobeyed a direct order to clean a section of the sub after it failed inspections, Winchester Crown Court heard.

 

Hero ... Royston Smith, right, on sub visit

 

Gangsta rap fan Donovan — who called himself Reggie Moondog — told a fellow sailor hours before his rampage: "I'm going to kill somebody. I'm not f****** kidding, and then watch the news."

He admitted murder and attempted murder and was caged for a minimum of 25 years. The widow of the dead officer — a dad of four — wept just feet away.

Outside court Gill Molyneux paid tribute to her Weapons Engineer Officer husband, describing him as "my hero and true love".

 

Read more »

66 year-old Daniel Healy was found by police to have 100kg of cannabis resin, said to be worth £500,000, hidden in the water tank of the campervan he was driving

 

66 year-old Daniel Healy – or ‘Mad Danny’ as he is known in Ardfern in Mid Argyll – was arrested last week, as he went to drive across the border between Morocco and Ceuta, a Spanish owned city enclave. Healy was travelling under the false name of John McLeish and was found by police to have 100kg of cannabis resin, said to be worth £500,000, hidden in the water tank of the campervan he was driving, protected in metal containers. Since his arrest he has been held in the Moroccan prison of Tetouan, said to be worse than Guantanamo.

Read more »

Hunger strikes at California prison renew debate over confining prison gangs

 

The sun rarely shines on the kingpins of California's prison gangs. To stop them from orchestrating mayhem on prison yards and neighborhoods across the state, prison officials condemned hundreds of reputed gang members to years of isolation in windowless cells. For five years, the tough strategy worked, wardens insist. Quarantined crime bosses lost contact with their followers. No one could hear what they had to say. At least, not until July 1, when some of the most securely held prisoners at Pelican Bay State Prison stopped eating and broke through their shuttered lines of communication with a mass hunger strike that spread into prisons across the state. "Am I an innocent lamb? By no means, but I can tell you this: I never deserved to be locked up in a dungeon for seven years just because they allege I'm a gang member," said Ronnie Yandell, one of the leaders of the hunger strike that lasted three weeks and spread to 12 other prisons with promises of more strikes to come. Now, as a court-ordered mandate forces California to reduce the number of low-level criminals in its overcrowded prisons, protests of inhumane conditions for the most hardened, violent criminals are forcing the state to rethink another problem: How can powerful and savvy prisoners be stopped from directing violence on the outside without their rights against cruel punishment being violated on the inside? Life in 'The SHU' Yandell and the other 1,110 men in the Pelican Bay Security Housing Unit -- known as "The SHU" -- spend at least 22 1/2 hours each day in their concrete, bathroom-size cells. Some inmates have a cellmate and some do not. Prisoners can have TVs but little human interaction. Their daily outing is a solitary 90-minute break in a barren exercise pen lined with 15-foot-high concrete walls and a limited view of the sky. Hearing about the hunger strike through a network of family members and activists, more than 6,000 inmates across California joined in. The prisons weighed each hunger striker daily, finding only about 11 percent of Pelican Bay's protesters lost weight during the 21-day strike. One lost 30 pounds. No one died, but after weeks of unwanted attention and a legislative hearing in late August, top prison officials now say they are reviewing how long and why they segregate and isolate some inmates in the state's harshest cellblocks. "Everything we're doing with these men is lawful and constitutional," said Pelican Bay Warden Greg Lewis. "I really didn't see the need to negotiate anything. On the other hand, in the department, we need to evolve and change with the conditions that are going on." Dogged with mistreatment complaints and lawsuits since its inception, Pelican Bay's conditions were found by a federal judge in 1995 to "hover on the edge of what is humanly tolerable." But judges have also repeatedly upheld California's practice of confining inmates in isolated conditions, and in March commended Pelican Bay for improving conditions. Still, experts say, the prison realignment prompted by the court order to reduce prison populations offers an opportunity to reconsider the practice of isolating criminals. "There's a growing consensus that these ultra-isolation prisons are a bad mistake," said criminologist Barry Krisberg, director of research at UC Berkeley's Earl Warren Institute. "The theory behind these prisons was we'll collect all the worst people in one place and that will make the rest of the prisons safer and easier to manage. But they weren't necessarily the most dangerous, violent criminals. " And the levels of violence in the other places didn't really go down." 'Living like dogs' Prisoners promise another fast could begin next week inside the remote facility, just south of the Oregon border, if their demands for better conditions and an easier path out of isolation are not met. Prison officials said the strikes are a dangerous, costly and ineffective way for prisoners to voice their complaints. Yandell said it is the only way anyone will pay attention. "We're tired of living like dogs," the former Contra Costa County resident wrote in a handwritten letter to this newspaper, one of several interviews conducted between the newspaper and self-defined leaders of the strike. "Not even terrorists at Guantánamo Bay are treated like this." Convicted of killing two men in El Sobrante a decade ago during a drug deal, Yandell was placed in Pelican Bay's SHU -- the oldest and biggest of three similar units around the state -- after prison officials designated him a member of the Aryan Brotherhood, a white-only gang. The only way out of solitary confinement was to "debrief" -- to convincingly denounce his gang affiliation and ideology and name former collaborators. But many prisoners never find their way out of the SHU; the average time spent inside the state's isolation units is 6.8 years, and some prisoners have been there for decades.

Read more »

Manchester dad could be facing the death penalty after being arrested on suspicion of drug smuggling in Indonesia.

 

 Jack Walker, 53, is being held in jail after being stopped at the airport in the capital Jakarta. It is understood the father of two – who is well known for taking meat around pubs near his home in Wythenshawe – was arrested as he was about to board a flight back to the UK. Officials allegedly found a substantial amount of methylamphetamine – commonly known as crystal meth or ‘ice’. It is believed the drug was found in a concealed compartment of a suitcase. Mr Walker, who is a diabetic, collapsed after he was  stopped.  It is understood his family are anxious he may not be receiving the correct medication to control his condition while in custody. A friend of the family said: “He is well known in the area – he drops off meat at the pubs and clubs. “The family fear he could be facing the death penalty or 20 years in jail. They are desperately trying to get help but say no one is listening. “He has a wife and two children. Apparently someone should have gone with him when he went abroad but pulled out. “He needs medication for his diabetes. Everyone around here is shocked by this. “He is not the kind of guy that you would expect would get involved in anything like this.” Another friend and neighbour, who asked not to be named, said: “We’re really shocked - it’s unbelievable. “My husband and I are devastated - we’ve known Jack for 19 years. He's never been in any trouble. I feel so sorry for him. It’s such a shame I just wish they could bring him back here.” A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We are aware of the arrest of a British national at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Indonesia. Consular assistance is being offered.” He confirmed that the death penalty was used against convicted drug smugglers in Indonesia. The country has some of the toughest anti-drug laws in the world with capital punishment for trafficking and 10-15 years for drug use. Mr Walker was arrested at the end of August.

Read more »

11 of the 54 prisoners in Menorca jail are British

 

11 of the 54 prisoners being held in prison on Menorca are British, according to the prison authorities, who says their presence on the island is dependent on the air connections to the UK, which allows family visits to the inmates. The same sources, quoted by Menorca.info, say that none of the Britons have a ‘conflictive’ profile. The jail on the Carretera de Sant Lluís also currently holds 23 prisoners who are of Menorcan origin or who have links to the island. Another 20 are being held ahead of their appearance in court.

Read more »

Brazil catches Irish man with gut full of cocaine

 

Irish man has been arrested in Brazil with almost a kilo of cocaine hidden in his gut, police there say. The 20-year-old suspect was detained as he tried to board a flight from Sao Paulo to Brussels. Officers said they became suspicious because he looked nervous. When questioned, he admitted having swallowed sealed capsules of cocaine. He was rushed to hospital, where he expelled 72 capsules containing 830g (1.8lb) of the drug. The hospital released a scan showing the man's gut filled with the oval-shaped capsules. The suspect is being held on suspicion of international drug smuggling. If found guilty, he could face five to 15 years in prison. Risk Brazil is a major transit point for smugglers moving South American drugs into Europe's lucrative drugs market. Neighbouring Bolivia, Colombia and Peru produce almost all the world's cocaine. Every year hundreds of people - known as mules - are arrested trying to smuggle the drug on international flights. As well as the danger of being caught, smugglers who hide drugs inside their bodies risk having the capsules burst, with possibly fatal consequences.

Read more »

'Rogue trader' Kweku Adoboli faces fraud charges dating back to 2008

 

tearful Kweku Adoboli, the alleged rogue trader at the centre of a $2bn (£1.3bn) loss at Swiss bank UBS, appeared before magistrates on Friday to be charged with fraud and false accounting dating back to 2008. A clerk at City of London magistrates court handed the 31-year-old Ghanaian a tissue as the 15-minute proceedings began, after which the one-time star trader was led away to remain in custody until a bail hearing on 22 September. Adoboli's charge sheet appeared to allege that he had taken steps to cover loss-making trades as long ago as 2008. A committal hearing was set for 28 October. The timescale of the allegations will raise questions about risk management procedures at the bank, put intense pressure on the chief executive, Oswald Grübel, and fuel calls from some Swiss politicians for the bank to exit its investment banking business, putting thousands of jobs at risk in the City. Many UBS bankers already fear for their year-end bonuses. Smiling at times, Adoboli spoke only to confirm his name, address and date of birth, while the Swiss bank refused to add anything to the statement it issued on Thursday when it revealed it had called in City of London police at 1am to investigate Adoboli after uncovering "unauthorised trading". British-educated Adoboli – whose passport spells his name as Kwaku – joined UBS in 2006 and was a member of the so-called delta one trading desk, where, among other things, he traded exchange traded funds (ETFs). These complex financial instruments, on which the regulators issued warnings earlier this year, are structured to mimic market movements. His registration with the Financial Services Authority was switched to "inactive" on Friday at the request of the firm – indicating that he is no longer performing that role. Two charges claim that Adoboli falsified records of ETFs between October 2008 and December 2009 and then January 2010 and September 2011. A third charge alleges that he committed fraud between January 2011 and September 2011 while senior trader in global synthetic equities. His lawyers at Kingsley Napley – the law firm that advised Nick Leeson, the rogue trader who broke Barings – did not issue a statement or enter pleas to the charges. His father, John, told Reuters from Tema, Ghana: "I want the world to have an open mind. He should not be sentenced before the trial begins." The former United Nations worker is hoping to fly to the UK this week and is applying for a visa. The City of London police, who arrested Adoboli at his luxury home on the edge of the City at 3.30am on Thursday, said their investigation was continuing, in "close collaboration" with the Financial Services Authority, the Serious Fraud Office and the Crown Prosecution Service. Adoboli's trading activity, by its nature, required him to perform frequent numbers of small trades. One of the last postings on his Facebook page – "need a miracle" – came at around the time the Swiss National Bank intervened to reduce the value of the Swiss franc, which has prompted speculation that this helped expose his losses. The bank, which employs 6,000 staff in London, will now have to pay for a detailed investigation being launched by the FSA and the Swiss regulator, Finma, into the control systems at UBS, the failures that permitted the losses to occur, and details of the unauthorised trading activity. The "comprehensive, independent investigation" will be carried out by one of the big four accountancy firms, although no timescale has been given for when it might be completed. The discovery of the "unauthorised trading" has come at a sensitive time for the City, coinciding as it does with the third anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers and coming after calls from politicians in the UK and Switzerland for the break-up of high street banks to separate "casino" investment banking arms. "It shows that investment banking is a high-risk field and it's important that we clearly separate systemically important functions from the rest of the banking business," said Caspar Baader, of the Swiss People's party. Switzerland's Social Democratic party called for "consequences" such as a ban on "proprietary trading" and replacing "egomaniacal, arrogant and irresponsible managers". Even a year after the banking crisis of 2008, during which Swiss taxpayers contributed to a $60bn bailout of UBS, the nation's banking assets totalled SFr3.47tr – nearly seven times the country's gross domestic product. New laws requiring UBS and Credit Suisse to rein in risk and hoard capital to a higher level than required elsewhere in Europe have already been passed in the first chamber of the Swiss parliament and were debated this week in the upper house, known as the national council. Moves to hive off riskier investment banking and private client operations from those banking functions vital to the smooth operation of the Swiss economy also form part of the legislation, but would not be implemented immediately. Banking analysts believe UBS may now have to scale back its investment banking business and axe even more jobs on top of the 3,500 group-wide cuts announced last month in a bid to save £1.5bn – a similar amount to the losses the bank now fears it faces from the alleged "unauthorised trading". "We are making further cuts in our 2012 profit estimates, as we believe that UBS is set to announce a more streamlined investment banking business strategy in November, with certain business units being closed and additional jobs being lost. This is part of the bank's efforts to address the long-term structural issues within the financial services industry," said Christopher Wheeler, an analyst at Mediobanca. Ratings agencies warned of a downgrade of the bank's credit rating. Standard & Poor's placed the bank on its Creditwatch list, citing factors including the "setback to UBS's efforts to rebuild its reputation and demonstrate strengthened risk-management following its weak performance in 2007-2009", when it almost collapsed during the credit crunch.

Read more »

UK’s most wanted fugitive arrested in Lagos

•Lee

A campaign launched by crime-fighting charity Crimestoppers to locate some of Britain’s most-wanted fugitives has seen further success following the arrest of Dion Kendrick Lee in Lagos.

 

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has helped the British authorities nab its most wanted fugitive, Dion Kendrick Lee.

 

 

 

 

He was arrested on Tuesday in Lagos.

Lee, from Preston, was wanted by Lancashire Police and the Serious Organised Crime Agency in connection with drugs and firearms crimes, as well as allegedly conspiring to supply Class A and C Drugs and conspiracy to possess, sell or transfer firearms and ammunition.

The 34-year-old becomes the fourth individual located since a campaign launched by Crimestoppers Operation Return launched last year with SOCA, Meld Misdaad Anoniem/’M’ (Dutch Crimestoppers) and Netherlands law enforcement. It aims to identify fugitives wanted for serious crimes committed in the UK, but who are now thought to be in and around Amsterdam.

Deputy Chief Executive for Crimestoppers Dave Cording said: "This is encouraging news and highlights another success under Operation Return. I would like to take this opportunity to re-iterate the message to those still wanted, you can run but you can’t hide forever. Law enforcement will locate you, no matter where you are hiding in the world."

The list includes some of the UK’s most dangerous criminals wanted for suspected crimes relating to drugs smuggling, the illegal sale of firearms, robbery and rape.

The search for Lee started two years ago when he was declared wanted by the Operation Greengage Team for his involvement in the importation of cocaine, cannabis, firearms and ammunition into the United Kingdom from Amsterdam.

The Greengage Team worked closely with colleagues from enforcement agencies throughout Europe.

Chief Inspector Steve Mounsey, from the Serious and Organised Crime Unit, said:"This has been a protracted and complex investigation concerning the importation of class A drugs, firearms and ammunition into the UK.

"The Operation Greengage Team is very keen to ascertain the whereabouts of Mr Lee and hopefully, as a result of this latest national appeal, we will be given new information which will lead us to him.

"However, we still believe that people living in Lancashire also could hold vital information about Mr Lee and we would ask them to contact Lancashire police or Crimestoppers.

"We believe he has recently been residing in the Netherlands and we have been liaising closely with colleagues there in efforts to trace him, however I cannot discount him having moved on in an effort to evade arrest."

 

 

Read more »

Exeter crack cocaine and heroin gang jailed

 

Exeter Crown Court was told the LYNC gang boasted of being able to supply drugs in Exeter "all day, every day". The gang used a park at Cowick Barton in the city as its centre of operations. Two men from Greater Manchester - Kevin Newton, 30, and Billy Downing, 22 - were jailed for nine and five-and-a-half years respectively. Three of the gang were from Dawlish in Devon. James Brooks, 32, and 27-year-old John Rowntree were both sentenced to five years, while 22-year-old John Bullock was jailed for 30 months. Cannabis jail supply Lloyd Simpson, 44, from Exeter, was sentenced to six years. James Prince, 22, from Huddersfield was sentenced to 30 months and 28-year-old Anthony McStein, from Liverpool, was jailed for four years. The gang were arrested after being monitored by police between October 2010 and March this year. The eight ringleaders were jailed for a total of nearly 40 years The force said information provided by local residents had been critical in bringing the "highly organised" gang to justice. The drug dealers brought the heroin and crack cocaine into Devon on a regular basis from Manchester. The court heard that not only did the gang boast about its ability to supply drugs, it also sent mobile phone text messages to addicts advertising when new supplies had arrived in the city. Police said the gang's "utter disregard" for local communities and the welfare of the addicts they supplied "beggared belief". Continue reading the main story “ Start Quote We don't want drugs in Exeter” Insp Jacqui Hawley Devon and Cornwall Police The force praised local residents who worked with officers to provide information on the crimes, in order to "reclaim" their local playing fields. "This is the core bedrock of local policing, working with the community, working with our partners in order to resolve an issue," Insp Jacqui Hawley said. "We don't want drugs in Exeter. We want it to be a safe place and in the main it is." A man and a woman were also sentenced at Exeter Crown Court for conspiring to supply cannabis to Brooks while he was on remand at HMP Exeter. His 30-year-old wife, Donna was jailed for six months, while Blair Murray, 29, from Tyne and Wear, was sentenced to 12 months.

Read more »

West Malling drugs gang sentenced

 

gang of four drug dealers have been jailed for conspiring to supply illegal drugs across Kent. Brothers Joseph and Samuel King, Craig Provan and Matthew Newin controlled dealing in towns across Kent from a travellers' site in West Malling. Joseph King, 48, was jailed for 18 years and Samuel King, 47, for seven-and-a-half years at Canterbury Crown Court. Provan, 41, was sentenced to six years, and Newin, 26, to eight years. Joseph King, of Lavender Road, West Malling, and Provan, of The Paddock, Highsted Valley, Rodmersham, were found guilty of conspiracy to supply drugs. King was also convicted of possessing firearms with intent and for possession of criminal property. His brother, of Elm Grove, Sittingbourne, and Newin, of Swanstree Avenue, Sittingbourne, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply drugs. Undercover operation During the seven-week trial, the jury had to be given basic lessons in a 16th Century Romany dialect called Rokker, which was used by two of the gang. They were caught after the travellers' site next to Hoath Woods was infiltrated by undercover police officers. Thousands of pounds worth of heroin, cocaine and ecstasy were exchanged during more than a dozen transactions between June and September last year. The court heard the gang controlled street dealing in a number of towns across Kent and had a particular hold in the Canterbury and Sittingbourne areas.

Read more »

British man arrested in Martorell facing paedophile charges

 

British man has been arrested in Martorell, near Barcelona, accused to taking photographs of and abusing youngsters in the locality. The complaint against him was made by a shop owner who saw how the man was taking photographs of his children in his shop. Closed circuit television in the shop confirmed the behaviour of the suspect who visited the shop every day and who told the children how to pose, including showing their underwear. The shop owner also alleges that touching took place. The 54 year old Briton has not been named in reports, but is said to live in Burjassot, Valencia, and faces charges of involvement in child pornography and also the sexual abuse of children, according to the regional police, Los Mossos d’Esquadra. They found some 40,000 paedophile archives on the man’s computer at his home and the suspect is being held in prison ahead of appearing in court

Read more »

Boxer Scott Harrison released from Spanish jail

 

SHAMED Scottish boxer Scott Harrison is a free man after being released from a Costa del Sol prison. Harrison, 34, walked free from the notorious Botafuego jail near Algeciras after serving two and a half years for assaulting a policeman, and factory worker Jose Manuel Ortega in 2006. The former WBO title holder was jailed in 2009 for the assault – which took place in Alhaurin el Grande – but could still face extra jail time for another alleged attack in a Costa del Sol brothel in May 2007. He and cousins David McGill, 37, and Edward McGill, 39, were accused of battering bar boss Rafael Sainz Maza, 31, with Harrison facing three counts of assault. Following his release on Saturday, the Glaswegian spent time with his family at an apartment in Estepona’s Albayt Resort before strolling along Bermuda Beach with his fiancee Stacey Gardner, 27, and two-year-old son Jack. The father-of-three returned to the UK on Sunday, flying from Gibraltar in a possible bid to avoid the Spanish airport authorities. In 2009, Harrison told the Olive Press of his determination to rebuild his career once he was released. “I can tell you now that Scott Harrison will be back. I want to repay the fans for the faith they have shown in me,” he said. “I have never been so focussed and determined in my entire life. Being locked up helps develop that. “I’ll have a clean slate – a new start and the determination to show everyone I’m back.”

Read more »

Met chief to 'tag and test' drinkers in crime drive

 

Problem drinkers in London could be tagged and given twice-daily tests in a new "total war" on crime. Scotland Yard's new police chief today pledged to take on the capital's binge drinking as he unveiled tough crackdowns on anti-social behaviour, illegal drivers and gangs. Bernard Hogan-Howe, 53, the newly elected Metropolitan Police Commissioner, declared an "uncompromising" war on crime and criminals. His new measures include: Plans to flood the streets with thousands of officers on two days a month in single crime crackdowns. Seizing thousands of uninsured cars from motorists and criminals and putting them on public display. Boosting the Met's fight against gangs with reinforcements for a specialist gang-busting squad. Mr Hogan-Howe also said he backed a US-style crackdown on drink drivers and problem drinkers in which they faced twice-daily sobriety tests and the threat of jail if they continue drinking. Mr Hogan-Howe said the scheme, first introduced in Dakota, could involve people convicted of alcohol-related offences wearing tags or armbands which can detect if they had been drinking. He said : "There are two big aggravating features for any criminal activity, one is alcohol. About 80 per cent of the people in our cells overnight will have a drink issue. The other is drugs." In a frank interview, he also told how he had called in an outside force to carry out an independent review of the Met's investigation into phone-hacking. Mr Hogan-Howe was parachuted into the role of deputy commissioner in July after former chief Sir Paul Stephenson quit in the wake of the scandal. He said : "I have asked another force to have a look at the inquiry to reassure us we are going in the right direction and I think we are." He revealed he had also ordered a full review of the Met's response to the riots and declared he had not ruled out the possibility of using water cannon to "save lives" in possible future unrest. Mr Hogan-Howe won praise for slashing crime as chief constable of Merseyside with a zero tolerance crackdown on criminals dubbed "Total Policing". He said : "It is not just about being gung-ho, it is about helping victims, being professional and using technology." He also pledged to boost the Met's Operation Connect fight against gangs to cover a third of London within the next six months

Read more »

Expat fraud suspects arrested in Spanish mountain retreat

 

According to Spanish local media, police estimate that the couple, known as John and Amanda Treagust, may have netted up to £150,000 by advertising bogus Spanish rental properties, complete with pictures, on their website, Costa Blanca Live. Up to 60 holidaymakers, including Britons, French, Portuguese, Italians and Belgians, are alleged to have fallen for the scam and paid upfront for properties that weren't, in reality, available for rent, or had been rented out to multiple people. The pair ran a blog entitled Life on the Costa Blanca, and boasted of growing their business from a "small project" in 2007 to "a busy and bustling company.....with over five thousand properties managed directly by us, meaning you have the peace of mind that should anything go wrong, or should you have any concerns, we are here to help." Amanda Treagust, referred to as the company's commercial director, is described on the blog as "never resting until her clients are settled into that perfect property and are enjoying the Spanish lifestyle she has come to love and adore". The Treagusts were arrested at a small property in the mountains of Mojacar, Almeria, after an eight-month police operation following an initial complaint lodged back in February. Originally from the Chorley area of Lancashire, John Treagust used to run the Last Orders pub in Wallagate, Wigan. On the pub's Facebook page, created by Treagust, he says: "I had three happy years there, now running a property business in Spain." An online forum about the couple's business dates back to March 2009 and has been inundated with 23 pages of comment, containing more than 200 threads. One comment, posted on August 20 this year, read: "13 girls put down a deposit for a hen weekend away in a villa in Los Balcones also and were informed two days before that the villa was double-booked. As it was a special occasion we have to find somewhere else very quickly and pay the additional fees. "We have still not received any money back and are still chasing. We all want to take action and stop others suffering in the same way." Spanish police were unable to comment on the ongoing investigation.

Read more »

Woman caught bringing heroin to her prison pal

 

WOMAN pal of a man jailed over a €440m drugs seizure has been caught smuggling €6,000 of heroin into his prison. The middle-aged woman was caught by prison officers last week when she arrived at the Midlands Prison for a visit to Joe Daly (44). He is serving a 25-year sentence after being convicted of possessing the biggest cocaine haul in the State's history -- a seizure of 1.5 tonnes of cocaine at Dunlough Bay in 2007. Prison staff contacted gardai, who then arrested the woman. She was brought to Portlaoise Garda Station where she was questioned by detectives before being released without charge. A file is now being prepared for the DPP. Captured Sources say if the heroin had got into the jail, it would have had a value of "well over four times" the estimated street value that gardai put on the drug. The woman was not allowed to visit English national Daly after being caught with the drugs. Daly and three other English criminals are serving lengthy jail terms for their role in the plot to smuggle €440m worth of cocaine into Ireland in July 2007. Martin Wanden (48), police- killer Perry Wharrie (51), Gerard Hagan (27) and Daly were captured after diesel, instead of petrol, was put into the fuel tanks of their boat, which was carrying the drugs off the coast of Co Cork. When the vessel capsized, 62 bales of cocaine weighing over 1.5 tonnes were thrown into stormy seas, scuppering a huge drugs operation that had been months in the planning. Liverpool criminal Hagan admitted his role in the enterprise and was jailed for 10 years. However the other three men contested the charges but were convicted after a marathon 10-week trial at Cork Circuit Criminal Court which heard from 200 witnesses. Two of the defendants claimed in direct evidence that they were entirely the victims of circumstances, coincidence and bad luck. Joe Daly said he had only gone to west Cork as a favour for his brother, who had wanted a RIB delivered. But it would later emerge that Joe Daly's brother was Michael Daly (50) -- a former Metropolitan Police detective who is now serving combined sentences totalling 29 years in a UK prison in relation to the Co Cork plot and another cocaine importation plot. Gardai believe that Joe Daly became involved in the drugs smuggling operation through his older brother, Michael. Daly presented a defence that depicted him as very much under the influence of the brother. Children Born in London to Irish parents from west Cork, Daly worked as a bricklayer with his own business, JD Bricklaying, is married with three children and lived in Bexley, Kent. It emerged that he had a number of previous convictions in the UK for offences including threatening and abusive behaviour, assaults on police officers and possessing a blade. During the trial, his uncle, Tom Lydon, told how Daly visited him on the day before the drugs seizure and watched the Munster football final between Cork and Kerry on TV. He described him as very obliging -- "the first man to come around" if anyone needed help.

Read more »

Scott Harrison a free man again

 

Glasgow's former WBO featherweight champion Scott Harrison has been freed from jail in Spain after spending 2½ years behind bars. Harrison, 34, was a highly decorated but much troubled boxer whose descent towards incarceration seemed sadly predictable. It will be interesting to see if he has anything left to offer the sport. The Scottish Sun newspaper snapped Harrison on his release from Botafuego prison near Algeciras and 'The Real McCoy' told them, "It's great to be a free man." The father of three was imprisoned in 2009 for attacking a policeman and a member of the public near his holiday home near Malaga. Harrison evenutally admitted attacking factory worker Jose Manuel Ortega, 39, in a rather misguided and allegedly drink-fuelled attempt to steal his car. The police officer claimed he had been left with a debilitating eye injury after the incident. Harrison's uncle, Jack McGill, was also arrested over the incident but failed to appear at a court hearing. An international warrant was issued for his arrest. McGill's body was found hanging from a tree in woods south of Glasgow in May 2008. Alcohol always appears to be at the root of Harrison's well publicised problems, which have also included a drink-driving conviction, a fight in a brothel on the Costa del Sol in 2007, and a two-month sentence for assaulting his then girlfriend (now fiancee) Stacey Gardner and a police officer in Cambuslang. On his release he met Stacey, two-year-old son Jack, mum Agnes and his father and well respected trainer, Peter.

Read more »

Harrison, 34 — caged for a vicious assault — bulked up during his 2½ years behind bars in a nick on the Costa del Sol before being released yesterday.

 

And the ex-WBO title holder was so determined to return to his past glory he began sparring with dad Peter, 62, in the garden of his apartment within hours of being freed.

Harrison also showed off his super-fit physique as he strolled with fiancée Stacey Gardner, 27, and toddler Jack in the resort of Estepona.

And the star, who has battled a booze problem, vowed: "I will be World Champ again. Nobody's going to stop me. One thousand per cent.

"What keeps me going is my children and my family. I'm going to be the champ again for them."

He also told a pal just before being released from the maximum security Botafuego nick that he had ditched drinking for good.

He said every day of his horror ordeal inside the Spanish prison system had been "hell" — and admitted he had caused his own downfall.

He added: "I promise I will never go back to the way I was. I don't know who that person was — but it wasn't me. This is me now, and I am going to be back on top."

 

Tasting freedom ... the boxer leaves prison with belongings on Saturday and at Gibraltar airport yesterday

 

The troubled ace, from Glasgow's Gorbals area, walked out of the notorious jail three miles from coastal town Algeciras

Read more »

British company wants to buy La Manga Club

 

British real estate fund asked for a price for La Manga Club in Murcia. La Manga is one of the main tourist and sports complexes in the region and is under bankruptcy protection. The fund which is showing an interest is London and Regional (L&R) Properties. They talks with the owners, MedGroup, are reported to be currently on hold, but La Verdad reports that the workers’ union CGT consider the sale as signed and sealed. The union would welcome the purchase, and notes that L&R already has some 60 hotels including the Hilton chain. Antonio Ros, the General Director of La Manga Club, told the paper that ‘It’s true that there were conversations, but at this time we have no information’. L&R Properties are reported to be interested in a greater holding in the Spanish market. The fund is owned by Ian and Richard Livingstone, and completed their first purchases in Spain last June with the purchase of two FCC offices in Madrid and Barcelona, to then rent them back to the same company. La Manga Club applied for bankruptcy protection at the end of 2008 when it was unable to finance its debt of 97 million €.

Read more »

Three Britons face a total of 27 years in prison for drug trafficking

 

Málaga Prosecutors’ Office has asked for a total of 27 years in prison for three British men who are accused of trafficking in cocaine. The three, who also face a 3.6 million € fine each, were found with some 15 kilos of the drugs, and one of them is also accused of document falsification for being found with fake passports. The value of the drugs intervened has been estimated at 900,000 €. Europa Press reports that the provisional conclusions of the prosecutor reveal that one of the men was caught by the National Police in Alsasua, Navarra ‘when he was transporting 15 packets of the drug in a rucksack, while driving an articulated lorry. The prosecution alleges that the transport had been agreed with the other two Britons, and the three had intended to sell the drugs to a third party. The oral hearing for the case is expected to get underway in Section Nine of the Provincial Court in Málaga on the 14th of this month.

Read more »

Body found in car boot in Vilalba, Lugo

 

The Guardia Civil found a body in the boot of a parked Seat Toledo car in Vilalba at 10pm on Friday. They had been alerted to the body by a local resident who noticed the strong smell, and the body was found to be in an advanced state of decomposition. The car was parked close to the bus station in Vilalba, Lugo, and locals have said it had been there for some time. First indications are that the body is male. A full investigation has been opened by the Lugo Judicial Police to first establish the identity of the victim, and then the circumstances of his death.

Read more »

Pensioner shot dead on a bench in Torremolinos

 

man in his seventies is under arrest after shooting a 79 year old man dead while he was sitting chatting with a friend on a public bench in Torremolinos. It happened in broad daylight at around 7 on Wednesday evening in the Plaza Costa del Sol in the town centre. The victim, 79 year old from Ciudad Real who Málaga Hoy newspaper said has a holiday apartment in Torremolinos, was shot at point blank range in the back of the head. His killer is a man from Cádiz province who lives locally and has a previous criminal record. He was arrested near the scene shortly afterwards, still carrying with him in a bag the shotgun he had used for the murder. There is no clear motive for the murder as yet, although friends of the victim said it could have been an argument over the sale of a property. There are unconfirmed reports from Público that it was an argument over a game of dominoes.

Read more »

Spanish police have smashed the drug ring that is believed to have supplied Kenley teenager Jodie Nieman with the ecstasy

 

Spanish police have smashed the drug ring that is believed to have supplied Kenley teenager Jodie Nieman with the ecstasy tablet that probably killed her. Mark Adrian Whitley, 39 from Croydon, was among 13 suspected drug dealers arrested by police last Thursday in Ibiza where the 19-year-old died in July. Spanish police confirmed the majority of the pills seized in the raids were Pink Rock Star, the same type believed to have killed Miss Nieman. It is thought the dodgy pills were also responsible for poisoning eight other individuals in Ibiza over the summer. Police said the drug ring was the biggest British group operating on the island and had now been "completely dismantled". Officers from Spain’s Civil Guard, supported by British officers from the Serious Organised Crime Agency, raided eight properties across the party island. As part of Operation Rula, police confiscated £60,500 in various currencies, 4kg of cocaine, 3,600 MDMA pills, 53g of hashish and 300 doses of anabolic steroids. There were also precision scales, mobile phones and other drug-related paraphernalia in the addresses. A Civil Guard spokesman said: "This one of the most active gangs on the island which is the main supplier of cocaine and other designer drugs around the clubs and bars. "Enquiries were carried out on the basis of intelligence obtained by the Guardia Civil after other gangs involved in drugs trafficking on the island were dismantled. "The majority of these gangs were British and took advantage of the influx of young people during the summer. "The gang, which is now dismantled, only travelled to Ibiza in summer to meet the large demand for drugs on the island during this period. "When some of the drugs were running short, other gangs based in the UK would send new batches via different methods." Miss Nieman, a nail technician at Nails To Be Seen in Warlingham, was holidaying with friends when she fell unconscious at the Space nightclub in the Playa d'en Bossa resort on July 13. She died of a suspected heart attack, with friends admitting to Spanish police they had taken ecstasy. But Croydon Coroner’s Court has ordered a second investigation into the cause of Miss Nieman’s sudden death. Miss Nieman’s mother Debbie and her partner Simon Atkar, along with her brother Mark, recently visited the island to see where the teenager had died and to bring her body home. Her funeral was held on August 16 at Croydon Crematorium but her mother discovered Spanish police had removed the girl’s heart for tests. The family have been told it could be six months until results of the tests, which might give a conclusive cause of death, come back.

Read more »

Soldier gets five years for plot to smuggle £80,000 worth of cocaine into Scotland in kiddies marker pens

 

A scheming Scots-based soldier was jailed for five years yesterday for a plot to smuggle cocaine worth nearly £80,000 into his barracks ... hidden in marker pens. Nigeria-born rifleman Osita Brutus Omenyima tried to run from the police who snared him, but they caught him after a chase across the parade ground. Omenyima's cousin had posted him more than half a pound of the Class A drug from Venezuelan capital Caracas. The 25 per cent pure cocaine was stuffed into highlighter pens in a package which also contained books, pamphlets and a prayer written on a piece of paper.  Border cops at Coventry airport, where the parcel arrived in Britain, noticed some of the 38 pens were leaking. The pens were opened and found to contain 266 grams of cocaine, worth an estimated £79,800 on the streets. Police in Edinburgh set a trap for 35-yearold Omenyima, with an undercover officer posing as a Parcel Force delivery driver and handing him the package at the gates of Edinburgh's Redford Barracks. Eight other officers watched the handover then moved in to make the arrest. Omenyima started sweating when he saw he had been trapped. He fled across the parade ground and threw the parcel away but the cops chased and caught him. The shamed squaddie denied knowing anything about the drugs and insisted he was a "fall guy". But a jury convicted him of being concerned in the supply of cocaine between January and September 2010. Prosecutor Gillian More told the High Court in Edinburgh: "He used the Army to conduct this drug-dealing operation. He used his position in the Army as a front." Omenyima, a qualified accountant, came to London from Nigeria in 2008 to study but then enlisted in The Rifles. He left twin teenage sons in his homeland but remarried in 2009. His new wife gave birth at the end of his trial. Richard Goddard, defending, said Omenyima was a first offender from a lawabiding background whose family would soon have to leave their Army housing. He added: "The consequences of this conviction will be far-reaching, not just for Omenyima but for other innocent parties." Sentencing, Lord Malcolm told Omenyima he had done well in the Army. But he added: "You have thrown all this away by your deliberate involvement in an illegal trade which causes misery to users, their families and society. "There would appear to be no motive other than financial gain." The judge praised police and UK Border Agency for their work to trap Omenyima. The dealer protested his innocence as he was taken to the cells.

Read more »

Cocaine bag burst kills smuggler

 

A Colombian woman made a 10,300km flight carrying half a kilogram of cocaine in her stomach - and died at Auckland Hospital 37 minutes after one of the 26 packages of the drug leaked into her body. Sorlinda Arirtizabel Vega, 37, arrived in Auckland from Buenos Aires in Argentina on Tuesday morning. She cleared Customs without any problems and travelled into the city with her partner and children. But by early Wednesday morning, Mrs Vega was dead. She was admitted to the emergency department at Auckland Hospital at 5.44am on Wednesday, and was declared dead at 6.21am. The Herald has learned her partner took her to the hospital and then left to go and see to their children. He was back with Mrs Vega when police arrived, but it is unclear whether he was there when she died. "The woman was unable to be revived, despite vigorous resuscitation, following cardiac arrest," a hospital spokeswoman said. Police were called to the hospital, as is procedure with a sudden death. During a post mortem examination, doctors found at least 26 20g packages filled with a white substance believed to be cocaine. "That is more than half a kilo which, if established to be cocaine, would have had an estimated street value of up to $175,000," said Detective Inspector Scott Beard. He said at least one of the packages had burst inside Mrs Vega, but would not be drawn on what material they were made of. "It went into her body and her body couldn't cope," he said. "There are always serious risks to health when smuggling drugs internally, and this woman has paid with her life." Mr Beard said Mrs Vega was in Auckland on holiday, not for the Rugby World Cup. She travelled to New Zealand with family members. Mr Beard would not be drawn on who those family members were but said they were in Auckland and not being held by police. He said they would be spoken to and police were also looking into whether Mrs Vega had any links with local organised crime groups. She came through Customs at Auckland Airport with no problems, and Mr Beard said she was the first person this year to be caught carrying drugs internally. Emergency doctor Paul Quigley told 3 News there was no way Mrs Vega could have survived. "She had the equivalent of 80 doses of cocaine all in one go, so she would have developed extreme high blood pressure and may have had a stroke and a heart attack," he said. "She may have got a degree of anxiety at first, felt shaky, but it is likely she would have gone into cardiac arrest and collapsed very rapidly." Mrs Vega's death has been referred to the coroner but Mr Beard said a police investigation was continuing.

Read more »

Killer Kenneth Noye was secretly moved to a Category B Lowdham Grange

The Notorious gangland boss killed a police officer and brutally stabbed a motorist to death during a road rage attack.

Caged for life in 2000, Noye also reportedly hatched an escape plot during his time at top-security HMP Whitemoor.

Yet prison life has just got a whole lot easier for the 64-year-old multi-millionaire.

He was transferred in secret yesterday morning from Whitemoor to the Category B Lowdham Grange – one of the cushiest prisons in Britain.

Inmates say it is more like a holiday camp than a prison, and pampered Noye will enjoy a cell to himself, with a TV, PlayStation, fridge and an en-suite shower.

Insiders say it will prepare him for his release – which may come in less than four years’ time.

The family of Stephen Cameron, 21 – who was stabbed to death by Noye during a row on an M25 roundabout in 1996 – are disgusted by the move.

His dad Ken, 64, fumed: “He is still a very dangerous man. A leopard never changes its spots. But now he’s going to get a softer time inside.”

Speaking at his home in Norfolk, he went on: “They are moving him to a softer prison and didn’t even let us know. It’s outrageous. Out of courtesy I would hope we would have been notified. He’s got around three-and-a-half years to go in prison. Surely this is too early to de-categorise him to Category B?” He added: “With his money and contacts it must make it easier for him to attempt to escape.”

Prison officers at Whitemoor were given a secret briefing at 7am yesterday. Noye was then placed in a van where he was cuffed to a guard and driven from Cambridgeshire to Nottinghamshire.

Six years ago he was moved to another jail after officers reportedly foiled an apparent escape plot. Noye is said to have arranged for a mobile phone – which he planned to use in his breakout attempt – to be smuggled into Whitemoor in a box of Weetabix.

But his bid was thwarted and he was transferred under armed guard to an escape-proof fortress in Full Sutton prison in York.

The gangland boss was later moved back to Whitemoor and at first was held inside the Special Secure Unit due to his exceptional risk factor.

But for the last five years sources say Noye has been a model prisoner. He was moved out of the secure unit and lived on Bravo B Wing where he was top dog.

A source said: “He was the king of the castle. Nothing went on in that prison without him knowing. He was friends with everyone at Whitemoor – the Turks, the Russians, not so much the Muslim gangs, but they respected him.

“He is an old-school villain with lots of money and connections. Nobody messes with him. There was trouble a few years ago between a few lads from Manchester and a group from Liverpool. Noye had a word with them and after that there was no more fighting between them. The guards love him. He’s polite and respectful and good as gold.

“He was looking forward to getting out of Whitemoor. He called it a toilet. The prison he’s gone to is much softer.

“He’s seeing it as progress to eventually being released.”

Noye, a notorious figure in Britain’s underworld for decades, was involved in the £26million Brink’s-Mat gold bullion heist in 1983.

Policeman John Fordham, 45, was stabbed to death by Noye while carrying out undercover surveillance in the grounds of his home in West Kingsdown, Kent, in 1985.

However, Noye was acquitted of murder on grounds of self-defence.

In 1986, he was jailed for 14 years for handling the stolen Brink’s-Mat gold but was released in 1994.

Two years later, he fled the UK after fatally stabbing Stephen Cameron by the M25.

He was eventually caught in Spain in 1998, deported back to Britain and convicted of murder. In March Noye lost an appeal against his conviction.

The Prison Service said: “We do not comment on the location of individual prisoners.”

All mod cons at cushy Grange jail

LOWDHAM Grange is said by former prisoners to be more like a holiday camp than a prison.

Inmates at high security ­Category A jails such as Whitemoor or ­Wakefield can only dream of the perks enjoyed by its prisoners.

Convicted animal rights activists, who waged a campaign to shut down a guinea pig farm, described their spell at Lowdham in 2006 as “like a stay in Butlin’s”.

The jail consists mainly of single cells. The luckiest lags even get their own ensuite showers.

It has workshops, ­education and training in areas such as bricklaying, plumbing, ­electronics, painting and decorating and ­industrial cleaning.Prisoners get paid £2 a day for working and £1.40 per session of education they sign up for.

Noye will get a cell with a Playstation and TV, fridge, power points, his own bedding and clothes for £1 per week.

If he fancies taking up a hobby, he will be supplied with all the kit.

Most of the prisoners can make phone calls from landlines in their cells if they submit a list of numbers for approval.

It is yet to be seen if Noye will be allowed this – it could potentially allow him to run his business from his cell.

Verdict: Criminal law expert Max Gold says: “Prisoner categorisation depends on the reports prepared on inmates, and each decision is made on an individual basis.

“In Noye’s case they have clearly decided he is less of a risk than in the past. If he breaks any rules in his new jail, he can be upgraded back to Category A and will lose his privileges.”

Read more »

Annan man was part of £40M cocaine gang

 

THREE DUMFRIESSHIRE men were part of an international drug smuggling gang which brought up to £40 million of cocaine into the UK. Keith Blenkinsop of Annan was one of the ringleaders in the group which also included Robert Dalrymple of Gretna, David Harbison of Annan and three others. But their drugs network, which stretched from Columbia to Scotland via Spain, unravelled after Harbison turned supergrass. The drugs courier was caught with some counterfeit £20 notes and blurted out details of the drugs operation to police who quizzed him in Dumfries. A five-week trial at Glasgow High Court heard how the gang was importing massive amounts of cocaine into the country between 2007 to 2009 and distributing it in the Glasgow area with some also being sold in Dumfries and Galloway. Blenkinsop, with fellow ringleader Lindsay Harkins of Helensburgh, sewed the cocaine into suitcases in Barcelona and used couriers to bring it into Glasgow, Prestwick and Newcastle airports. Over a two-year period the gang flew out to Spain with suitcases full of Euros and came back with two kilos of cocaine at a time. At the conclusion of the trial on Wednesday, Blenkinsop, 43, of Winterhope Road, Annan; Harkins, 44, of Helensburgh, Andrew Burns, 56, of Helensburgh, Robert Dalrymple, 43, of Loanwath Road, Gretna, and James Elvin, 35, of Clydebank, were all convicted of being concerned in the supply of cocaine in Scotland, England, and Spain. Dalrymple and Elvin were only convicted of being involved in the drugs operation as couriers in 2009. The court heard that despite the massive size of their operation, the gang managed to remain completely under the radar of the UK’s drug enforcement agencies. The gang was snared because a teller in a Marks and Spencer’s bureau de change in Carlisle noticed counterfeit notes among a bundle of sterling that gang member David Harbinson was wanting to change into Euros. When Harbinson was arrested by police, he turned supergrass and gave evidence which put his former associates behind bars. He has now been placed on a witness protection programme. He told advocate depute Iain McSporran, prosecuting, that the gang had a direct connection to Columbian drug barons. Harbinson said that Blenkinsop and Harkins were the brains behind the operation and the other accused were merely couriers paid to take Euros to Spain and bring back drugs. In fact the gang exchanged so much sterling in Euros that Blenkinsop’s local post office won an award for the amount of Euros it sold. The jury was told they sourced their cocaine from the Columbians based in Barcelona and transferred them to Harkins’ house in Barcelona. Harbinson even told police that Harkins had an X-ray machine at the Barcelona house, like those used at airports, to make sure that the drugs would not be spotted – although he never said this in the witness box. When Blenkinsop’s house in Annan was searched 12 kilos of cannabis resin were found in a holdall in the attic. Dad-of-two Harbinson, 41, said that he would fly out to Barcelona with Euros in his suitcase and travel back to Newcastle with two kilos of cocaine. He told the court that he was offered £2,000 per kilo of cocaine to bring it into the UK and added: “I was told that Lindsay would fit up a suitcase and you would never know it was there.” Mr Harbinson said had changed a total of £250,000 sterling into Euros for Keith Blenkinsop in the Dumfries and Carlisle areas. All accused claimed that Harbinson was a liar and a self-confessed cocaine addict and said that no one would have used him as a drugs courier. Blenkinsop was also convicted at the High Court in Glasgow of being involved in the supply of cannabis resin and amphetamines between January 2007 and June 19, 2009. Harkins was found guilty of being involved in the supply of amphetamine. Blenkinsop was caught with three others off the Spanish coast in a yacht containing four tonnes of cannabis resin worth £12 million. Prosecutor Mr McSporran told the court that Blenkinsop had been sentence to four years imprisonment in Spain in 2004 for a drugs offence. All five will be sentenced next month. Judge Lord Doherty ordered background reports before sentencing them. Yesterday, Detective Inspector Gary Coupland who headed up a team of up to 30 officers who worked on the case for around nine months, told the Standard: “This was quite a complicated operation and we used Interpol to gather evidence in South America and Spain. It is a good example of how serious organised crime does not just affect the large city areas.”

Read more »

Soldiers may face Mousa prosecution

 

British soldiers could face a fresh prosecution over the brutal death of an Iraqi civilian after a scathing report condemned the "shameful" abuse of prisoners in UK custody. A landmark public inquiry concluded that father-of-two Baha Mousa, 26, died after an "appalling episode of serious gratuitous violence" meted out by members of 1st Battalion the Queen's Lancashire Regiment (1QLR). Inquiry chairman Sir William Gage said a number of British officers who could have stopped the abuse, including 1QLR's former commanding officer Colonel Jorge Mendonca, bore a "heavy responsibility" for the "grave and shameful events". He also strongly criticised the "corporate failure" by the Ministry of Defence that led to "conditioning" techniques banned by the UK in 1972, including hooding and making prisoners stand in painful stress positions, being used by soldiers in Iraq. The £13 million public inquiry, which has published its 1,400-page final report, condemned the "lack of moral courage to report abuse" within Preston-based 1QLR. It named 19 soldiers who assaulted Mr Mousa and nine Iraqis detained with him, and found that many others, including several officers, must have known what was happening. The damning report said the violence could not be described as a "one-off" because of evidence that 1QLR troops abused and mistreated Iraqi civilians on other occasions. Lawyers for Mr Mousa's family called for the soldiers responsible for his death to face charges in the light of the findings. Seven members of 1QLR, including Col Mendonca, faced allegations relating to the mistreatment of the detainees at a high-profile court martial in 2006-07. The trial ended with them all cleared, apart from Corporal Donald Payne, who became the first member of the British armed forces convicted of a war crime when he pleaded guilty to inhumanely treating civilians. Payne was acquitted of manslaughter. The legal team for Mr Mousa's relatives and the other detainees believe that evidence in the inquiry's report could form the basis for a new prosecution. Sapna Malik, from law firm Leigh Day and Co, said: "In light of the cogent and serious findings by Sir William Gage, we now expect that the military and civilian prosecuting authorities of this country will act to ensure that justice is done." The Crown Prosecution Service said the inquiry's report had not been referred to it. The Service Prosecuting Authority, which brings military prosecutions, was not available for comment.

Read more »

Brit was arrested in Sant Antoni, Ibiza

Local police in Sant Antoni, Ibiza, say that a British man has been arrested in connection with counterfeit money.

Named with the initials J.G. he is charged with the crime of falsification of money and was arrested after he tried to use counterfeit notes to pay at a venue in the West End part of the town.

Local traders supplied the police with a description of the man who they finally tracked down. They recovered fake notes worth 1,100 pounds sterling and 1,310 €.

The Briton has been taken to the local police station in Sant Atoni and is expected to appear in court shortly.

Read more »

Two Britons arrested on Ibiza on charges of attempted murder

 

The two are accused of stabbing a fellow Briton five times in a drug related argument.Photo EFE Two British men, 30 year old S.D., and 22 year old D.R.S., were arrested by the Guardia Civil in Sant Antoni, Ibiza, on Tuesday afternoon on charges of attempted murder. They are accused of stabbing a 19 year old Briton on Monday afternoon when arguing about a drug-related matter. Initial reports said that the victim was Irish, but he has now been named as Jack McCarthy from Liverpool. One of the five stab wounds punctured the victim’s lung, and a third saw a cut to his cheek. The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office confirmed that it was aware of a British citizen in hospital in Ibiza, and said that they were providing consular assistance. On Tuesday morning the youngster wanted to discharge himself, but the doctors advised the duty Guardia and they have kept him under treatment. A search of the homes of the two arrested men found 30 grams of cocaine and other substances, and an amount of money in cash, allegedly from the sale of drugs.

Read more »

Southend men held in Spain moved to new prison wing

 

TWO men who are being held in Spain on suspicion of attempted murder have been moved to a new prison wing with better conditions. Kyle Thain, 24, of Sandringham Road, Southend, and James Harris, 29, of Pelham Road, Southend, have been moved to a new wing of Fontcalent prison, Alicante. The pals, who have been held without charge since July 8, have been relocated to Modulo Respecto, a part of the jail which should make life a little easier for them as they fight for freedom. Jay Thain, 29, Kyle’s older brother, said: “The new wing is for people who are better behaved. It is a lot cleaner and the food is better. “They have a lot more facilities. There is a proper gym and a table tennis table, it is much better for them.” Mr Thain said his brother and James are doing as much as they can to help keep themselves occupied, stay positive and pass the time. He said: “They are trying to learn Spanish and Kyle is drawing.” Kyle and James were arrested as they went to board a plane home after a lads weekend away. The friends, both former pupils of the King John School, Thundersley, are accused of beating up and stabbing two men in a bar near where they were staying. However, the pair maintain they never even went to the bar and their families say there has been a terrible case of mistaken identity. Since the lads were arrested Jay has worked tirelessly, with the help of family and friends, to get both men back home. Sharon Harris, Kyle’s mum, has put her house in Brunswick Road, Southend, on the market to help towards legal fees, which have already topped £10,000. Meanwhile, family and friends have been busy organising a series of fundraising events. James and Kyle, along with another pal Joe Elliot, 24, landed in Cabo Roig on Friday, July 1. All three were quizzed on Tuesday, July 5, at Murcia Airport before Kyle and James were held on suspicion of attempted murder. A getaway car used by the two attackers is still being sought by Spanish police and once found is likely to help with the case. Jay said: “In August everything shuts, the court circuit closes and nothing gets done.”

Read more »