A pair of elderly thieves may have been in for a shock after pinching a businessman’s shopping from the back of his car.

Ian Russell said an ‘old couple’ were seen taking his carrier bags out of the boot in the car park of the Crown pub in Bridgnorth, Shropshire last weekend.

But the Shropshire Star reported the bags simply contained an extra large box of medicine used to help in the recovery from diarrhoea.

Ian, a managing director at building supplier R&B, wrote on Facebook: ‘To the old couple seen stealing my shopping bags from rear of my vehicle at 5pm tonight [Saturday] on the Crown car park.

‘I sincerely hope that you need the large box of Diarolite more than me.’

The couple now appear to be on the run.

Thieves have also made off with other unusual items this year.

Some people managed to swipe an eight-foot-tall gorilla statue from a garden centre in Scotland in March, in what appeared to be a targeted attack.

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Wearing a ‘Bring Gary Home’ badge, owner Andrew Scott said the statue ‘brought a lot of joy’ to customers and was ‘an excellent reference point’ to delivery drivers.

‘We ask that you keep a lookout for Gary in the hope that he is returned safe and sound to his family,’ he added.

One man is now known as ‘Captain Underpants’ after chasing a thief down the road in just his underpants in the freezing cold two Decembers ago.

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A man has been shot dead after a stand-off with armed police in east London.

Officers rushed to a property in Dagenham on Thursday night after the man called the police and said he wanted to take his own life.

During the phone call shortly before 8pm, he also told cops he had a loaded gun at his home in Weston Green.

Armed police and a specialist negotiator were involved in a back and forth with the man, believed to be aged 40, for around one hour.

Despite attempts to bring the incident to a safe conclusion, officers fired shots at around 9pm.

The Met said a non-police issue gun was found at the property and a search suggests no one else was there at the time of the incident.

Emergency first aid, including CPR, was carried out by paramedics but the man was pronounced dead at the scene at 9.30pm.

An investigation has now been launched.

Pictures show forensics investigating and a white tent has been erected directly outside the front of the house.

Commander Kyle Gordon, frontline policing commander for north and east London, said: ‘My thoughts are with the loved ones of the man who has died, with the local community in Dagenham and the officers involved in this incident.

‘While formal identification has yet to take place, officers believe he was aged 40.

‘His next of kin has been informed.

‘They will receive our full support.’

The Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards was made aware immediately after the incident and the Independent Office for Police Conduct has been informed.

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A man allegedly kidnapped and murdered a couple he was renting from after finding out he was on the brink of being evicted.

Timothy Burke, 45, was arrested on Friday in connection to the deaths of Karen Koep and Davido, who went missing a week ago.

The bodies of the couple have not yet been found.

Burke was renting from Davido, who does not legally have a last name. Davido’s close friend told law enforcement officials that he believed he was about to evict Burke.

The couple rented their property on Stedman Road Southeast in Lake Forest, Washington, to tenants in camper vans, even if they were unable to pay, according to records obtained by The Seattle Times.

They were last heard from on November 10.

Koep did not show up to work, prompting her office manager to call for a welfare check on November 13.

When sheriff’s deputies entered the couple’s home, they found two big blood stains in the living room, stated a prosecutor. Two law enforcement officers at the scene assessed that it was enough blood loss to lead to death.

Deputies also discovered two bullet holes in the wall, and neighbors said they heard shots fired on Friday or Saturday, court documents state. There were also signs of someone using bleach and a vacuum to try to remove the blood stains.

Detectives believe someone was dragged to the garage where a car might have been. Koep’s vehicle has not been found.

A detective also found a partially written eviction notice by Davido for Burke.

Burke appeared in Thurston County Superior Court on Monday and has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder.

The couple went missing the same week that a New York City landlord turned himself in for fatally stabbing three people, saying he was ‘having issues with his tenants’.

And earlier this month, a Brooklyn landlord was charged with eight counts of attempted murder after allegedly setting fire to a building over unpaid rent, causing the parents in the home to toss four of their children down to neighbors on the ground to save them.

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A mum-of-four who was held at gunpoint by her stalker ex-boyfriend has slammed his upcoming release from jail in February – despite a parole panel finding he would not be safe in the community.

Gareth Wyn Jones, 59, is serving a four-and-a-half year jail term for holding Rhianon Bragg hostage overnight after she ended their relationship in 2019, stalking her and making threats to kill.

The parole board found it would not be safe to release him and he had never accepted culpability for his crimes – but despite this he is still due for automatic release in February.

The former mechanic will spend five years on licence when he is released from prison, meaning he will be jailed again if he commits further crimes.

Ms Bragg, 51, from Snowdownia, north Wales, is still living in fear: ‘I cannot conceive how anything other than a completely blinkered, unjoined up, broken justice system, would release an offender that it had just classed as too high risk to release.

‘It’s mind-blowing, absolute madness – what will they say to his next victims? It’s not like they’re pretending he won’t reoffend.

‘We’re hoping for a workable, sustainably funded Victims Bill. I think there’s no hope of that, when the system can’t even contain known offenders. We are just guinea pigs.’

A summary of the parole board panel’s decision on Jones said that he had held ‘traditional beliefs around gender roles in relationships and evidenced jealousy and a sense of entitlement’, while struggling to manage conflict.

It found that he saw asking for help as a sign of weakness, and noted there were emotional and mental health difficulties in this case.

A release plan where Jones would live in designated accommodation with strict limits on his contacts, movements and activities was not deemed ‘robust’ enough.

The panel said: ‘After considering the circumstances of his offending, the progress made while in custody and the evidence presented in the dossier, the panel was not satisfied that release at this point would be safe for the protection of the public.’

Ms Bragg said while she’s relieved the parole board recognise how unsafe Jones is, she feels she’s not been listened to.

She said: ‘I have always said that he was mentally unwell and that he wouldn’t think he had done anything wrong. I don’t think that’s really been taken into account, at least now that’s been stated.

‘The night he held me hostage and was threatening to murder me, he even said that I had made his life harder because I hadn’t started a new relationship. He tried to use jealousy as an excuse, when there had never been anyone else to be jealous of.’

Despite Ms Bragg reporting Jones to the police a number of times, and his previous three arrests, no further action was taken and Jones’ previously confiscated firearms were returned.

Prosecutors later admitted they could have charged Jones three months earlier with harassment and spared Ms Bragg her gunpoint ordeal.

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A tech multi-millionaire who was awarded an MBE for services to the digital economy has been convicted of drugging and raping two women in the early 1990s.

Lawrence Jones has already been behind bars for 10 months after he was previously convicted of sexually assaulting an ex-employee in an separate trial.

The 55-year-old was remanded in custody after a jury at Manchester Crown Court found him guilty in January – but reporting restrictions were only lifted today following the conclusion of the latest trial.

Jones and his wife Gail created the web hosting provider UKFast from their spare bedroom in September 1999, and the company went on to work with clients including the NHS and the Ministry of Defence.

In January 2019, an ex-employee called police to accuse him of forcing himself on her to have sex in 2010, among a string of other allegations.

Afterwards, a second woman said she had been sexually assaulted by Jones at a hotel during a business trip in 2013.

Prosecutor Eloise Marshall KC told the jury at Jones’s first trial that the woman discovered her room was part of a penthouse suite that connected to the defendant’s bedroom.

The pair had drinks at the bar before returning to the room, Ms Marshall said, and Jones became ‘more persistent’ in his approaches ‘despite her clear resistance’.

She continued: ‘He put his arm around her and started dragging her in towards him. He ignored (the complainant) repeatedly who was clearly telling him that she did not want to engage in this sort of behaviour.

‘Things escalated and he started asking: “Let me see your knickers”. As he said that he placed his hands on her body, on her legs and became quite forceful trying to prise her legs apart, with his hands on the inside of her thighs.

‘This caused her dress to ride up and as she was trying to pull it down and get away, he was trying to get on top of her.’

She managed to escape into her own room and locked the door behind her, the prosecutor said.

The woman later left the company after Jones ‘paid for her silence’ with a £13,000 settlement that required her to sign an NDA (non-disclosure agreement), Ms Marshall added.

Giving evidence, Jones told the prosecutor: ‘I put my hands on people’s shoulders but only people I thought I had a really good relationship with. There’s nothing sexual about what I was doing.

‘I gave hugs to people, that’s the sort of person I am.’

He said the woman in question was ‘flirtatious’ as she ‘quickly became drunk’ at the bar.

Jones was cleared of the allegations made by the first complainant in January 2019: one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault.

At the second trial this month, Jones denied attacking two women at the flat where he lived in Salford in the 1990s.

The women had come forward to the police separately in 2021 and 2022, and did not know each other.

One described being given something to sniff which had an ‘immediate impact’ on her, while the other said she had been overly affected by a glass of wine and what she thought was cannabis.

Ms Marshall told jurors: ‘Both women were stupefied and left partially conscious but unable to react.

‘Such was the effect of the drugs that the women, even then, were unclear about what drug had been used and exactly what had happened to them.’

Mrs Jones, who attended every day of the two trials to support her husband, held her hand over her mouth as the jury foreman delivered the unanimous verdict after four hours of deliberations.

Jones will be sentenced for all the cases on December 1.

Isla Chilton, senior district crown prosecutor for CPS North West’s rape and serious sexual offence unit, said: ‘Jones raped two women with no thought for how his actions would affect them.

‘By denying the offences, he compounded the harm to the women, attempting to evade responsibility for his actions. The jury saw through his lies and found him guilty.

‘I would like to thank the victims for supporting this prosecution and I hope this case will encourage others to seek justice. It’s never too late.’

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A man who was hit with an incredible £703 fine after failing to pay for a £2.60 train ticket said he’d rather go to jail than pay up.

Terry Harrison, 45, says he hoped to avoid a large taxi fare by taking a Merseyrail train from Sandhills to Birkenhead in August.

But when he and his son got off at Moorfields to change trains, they were stopped by security guards and given an immediate £100 penalty notice for travelling without a ticket.

Mr Harrison explained: ‘My son had a meeting over in Hamilton Square. I got a taxi down to his, he said keep the taxi on and I said no chance, too expensive. So we just walked down to Sandhills.

‘We went to pay as you do, but there was nobody in the paying window. We were running late; we heard the train coming so we ran to the platform – we just expected to pay at the other side.’

Mr Harrison said he wasn’t worried as he used the service every day, and had never encountered issues when he paid after a journey.

He was shocked when he was handed a £100 penalty fare, which Merseyrail warned may be issued if a passenger travels without a valid ticket.

Mr Harrison said: ‘We said we’d run up to the desk and pay now but [the guard] said no, no. So I gave him my name and he came back with my address and my date of birth and started reading me my rights.

‘To be honest I got a bit on my high horse. I asked him where he got my information and he just kept telling me I had the right to remain silent. I took the slip and that was that. But it was just eating away at me. I was waiting to see what was going to come of it.’

After failing to pay the £100 fine, Mr Harrison was charged with failing to produce a ticket and was sent a letter from the HM Courts and Tribunals Service inviting him to plead guilty or not guilty.

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Mr Harrison ignored the second letter as well, and was charged £703.40 by the courts on October 14.

He received a further letter on November 7 from the courts warning him that, as he had not paid the hefty charge, a warrant could be issued for the seizure of his property, including his car.

It also warned deductions could be made from his income or benefits, and that his name could be added to the Registry of Judgments, Orders and Fines, affecting his ability to obtain credit.

It also warned the continued refusal to pay could result in the charge being bumped up to £1,055.10, and a warrant being issued for his arrest.

He said: ‘I’m willing to pay the fare, nothing else. I don’t want to be extorted, but I’m willing to pay the fare, which I said at the start.

‘I don’t dodge train tickets. I just feel it is wrong and that’s why I’m willing to fight it in court myself. Even if it puts me in jail, I’m fed up of it.’

Suzanne Grant, commercial director at Merseyrail, said: ‘Whilst we can’t discuss individual cases, anyone issued a penalty is provided with clear information about how to pay.

‘The fine is £100 but reduces to £50 if paid within the first 21 days. Anyone issued a penalty is also given clear information on how they can appeal the decision through an independent appeals service.’

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A huge clean-up operation is under way after violent riots broke out in Dublin city centre following a stabbing which left three children and and a woman injured.

Violent protesters clashed with Ireland’s police force An Garda Síochana, vehicles were burned and shops were looted in disturbing scenes on Thursday night.

Police confirmed 34 people have been arrested after chaos erupted in the Irish capital.

A crime scene in Parnell Square is still in lockdown after the children, aged between five and six, were stabbed near a school in the north inner city.

The knife attack took place outside Irish-speaking school Gaelscoil Coláiste Mhuire as children were leaving around 1.40pm on Thursday.

A public order unit was deployed in the area, as crowds of protesters gathered and bottles were thrown at officers.

Flares were ignited and a garda car set on fire by what the Irish Garda commissioner calls a ‘complete lunatic faction driven by far-right ideology’.

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A Class A drug dealer was caught by police after he posted a topless selfie of himself on a boat he lived on.

Darren Stirling, 58, supplied cocaine, MDMA, cannabis and ketamine in Basildon, Essex, and posted the cheeky snap to EncroChat, a platform used by criminals to buy and sell illicit products.

Police were able to identify Stirling from the photo because they were monitoring the encrypted network.

Stirling also listed the boat as his ‘primary address’ on the network which meant cops could find him easily moored in Penton Hook Marina, Chertsey, in Surrey, in July 2020.

Police seized cannabis, an encrypted mobile device, hundreds of tablets and a signal jammer device from the boat.

Previous chat logs revealed he was active in purchasing and supplying large quantities of illegal substances across Britain.

Photos he exchanged with others on EncroChat showed large amounts of cannabis, cocaine and suspected ketamine.

A vehicle of Stirling’s was traced to two self-storage units where officers found more than ten million tablets, initially suspected to be diazepam but later found to be an antihistamine.

He admitted charges of being concerned in the supply of cocaine, MDMA, amphetamines, cannabis and ketamine following his arrest.

Stirling appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court on Monday and was jailed for 18 years following two separate drug offences.

Yoni Adler from Essex Police’s serious and organised crime unit, said Stirling was caught as he’d ‘let his guard down’.

He said: ‘The cracking of the EncroChat network was a landmark moment in the fight against organised criminal activity across the UK.

‘Criminals like Stirling felt able to let their guard down when using this network, feeling they could operate with impunity as they moved large amounts of harmful substances into Essex.

‘This was a complex investigation which involved building an irrefutable case against Stirling, leaving him with no choice but to admit to his leading role in a sophisticated drug supply network.

‘The reality of illegal drug supply on the streets is the rampant exploitation of vulnerable people, often children, and violence.

‘Our work to dismantle drug supply networks is ceaseless. Our message to those supplying these substances is simple: It is a matter of when, not if, you are caught.’

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When you’re getting cosy at home in the run-up to Christmas, the threat of a burglary tends to be the furthest thing from your mind.

But there are certain malevolent forces out there who are out to disrupt the most wonderful time of the year, wrecking your peace of mind as well as your home.

Certain parts of England and Wales are more at risk from festive robberies than others, according to data collated by Howden Insurance.

The new study looked at police stats showing how many burglaries were committed in November and December between 2020 and 2022.

It found that South Yorkshire Police recorded the highest average number of burglaries per 100,000 population with 148.

The force, which covers places including Sheffield, Doncaster and Barnsley, had a total of 6,121 break-ins in the last two months of the year across the three-year period.

There was also a 12.31% increase in reported burglaries between 2020 and 2022 in South Yorkshire.

In fact, the north of England is heavily represented in the top five areas for Christmas burglaries.

Only London, in the third spot with 110 break-ins per 100,000 population, lies outside the north.

Cleveland, which includes the towns of Middlesbrough and Hartlepool, is in second place with an average of 128 burglaries per 100,000 people.

West Yorkshire and Humberside round off the five areas with the highest averages over the last three years with 107 and 97 respectively.

At the opposite end of the scale, Norfolk was found to be least at risk of burglaries, with police recording an average of 38 per 100,000 population.

If you’re concerned about thieves breaking into your house at Christmas – or any time of year – the Neighbourhood Watch recommends securing your house by following the acronym ‘WIDE’.

That’s window locks, indoor lights on a timer, doors double-locked and external lights on a sensor.

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Six men have been arrested in an investigation over a homophobic attack on a gay couple in north-east London last month.

One of the victims, 23-year-old Callum Griggs, was taken to hospital with cuts and bruises after being attacked with a plank of wood as he walked along High Road in Chadwell Heath on October 1.

Medics glued together a gash in his eye during a 13-hour stay in A&E.

His partner Brad Balueta, 24, was not injured, but police said both men were ‘understandably distressed’ by the incident.

An appeal was launched to track down the attackers around a month ago.

The Metropolitan Police said six men aged between 16 and 22 had been arrested in their homes this morning.

Chief Inspector Chris Nixon, from the Met’s East Area Command Unit, said: “This morning’s arrests are the culmination of our investigation into an unprovoked assault on two men, that left one requiring hospital treatment.

‘We are keeping the victims updated, and those arrested will be taken to police stations where they’ll be interviewed about their involvement in this attack.

‘We are aware of the corrosive effect of hate crime and remain determined to bring those responsible for such crimes to justice.

‘I hope that these arrests will send out a signal to those who think they can get away with homophobic abuse and violence that we will track you down.’

Speaking to Yahoo News last month, Mr Balueta recalled that a group of men had shouted abuse at the couple as they passed a fast food shop at around 5.30pm.

He said: ‘‘Callum calmly asked them what they said, and one told him he knew where he lived, then named the street, and told him, “I will kill you”.

‘I am out and proud but in all my life I have never felt so scared. He clearly knew where my boyfriend lived, and was very aggressive.’

He described a member of the group threatening Mr Griggs with a wooden panel which had nails in it, before they began ‘piling on to him’ with punches and kicks.

Mr Balueta wrote about his experience on X, formerly Twitter, and asked people to share his posts.

He said: ‘I [want] to show that this s**t has been happening to my community for a [long] time and is still happening in front of our very eyes today. Verbal or physical, homophobia/transphobia is a real thing.’

He also expressed his anger at the lack of help from bystanders, posting: ‘The fact so many people were watching on the high street and did nothing and just watched or ignored is appalling and just shows what society is like and has been like for so long.’

Officers are continuing the investigation, and anyone with information is asked to call 101 or get in touch over X using the handle @MetCC and quoting reference CAD 5640/01Oct.

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Police carried out the largest seizure of synthtic opioids in a series of raids which lead to 11 arrests.

Around 150,000 tablets of a drug called Nitazene were found in Waltham Forest, east London, in a factory set up to make the pills, police said.

Detectives believe the drug was being sold on the dark web.

They also found various other class A and B drugs, a gun, a pill pressing machine, more than £60,000 in cash and £8,000 in cryptocurrency stored on hard drives.

A series of raids were carried out in Enfield, north London, on October 24.

Some 11 people were arrested between August 21 and November 21 and all charged with conspiracy to supply class A and B drugs.

Detective Superintendent Helen Rance, leading the investigation, said: ‘Synthetic opioids have been detected in batches of heroin found in London and across the UK.

‘They substantially raise the risk of incredibly serious harm to the user and are believed to be linked to a number of deaths.

‘We are working closely with partners to monitor and proactively tackle this issue, provide advice and remove the availability of these dangerous drugs from our streets.’

Police say anyone who has taken synthetic opioids should get medical treatment urgently.

They have taken the unusual step of highlighting signs of someone who may have taken one of these drug.

These include having small, narrowed pupils; reduced or loss of consciousness; dizziness or drowsiness; difficulty breathing; nausea or vomiting; cold or clammy skin; blue or grey lips and fingernails; low blood pressure or decreased heart rate.

Ms Rance added: ‘The public health advice remains that illegal drugs should not be consumed.

‘There are support services available for people who need help. Anyone who has consumed synthetic opioids and experiences the symptoms described should seek urgent medical treatment.’

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A mother-of-three was discovered stabbed to death inside an apartment ravaged by a fire that killed one of her children.

Firefighters responded to the fire early Tuesday at the Countryside Apartments and were faced with ‘heavy smoke and flames upon arrival’, according to the Daytona Beach Fire Department.

They found the deceased mom and rushed her three kids to a hospital in critical condition.

The youngest child, an infant, was found in a crib close to the mother and died. The two other kids, aged 4 and 5, survived but the nature of their injuries and conditions were not immediately known.

‘This is a horrific incident two days out from a holiday that centers around family,’ Daytona Beach police Chief Jakari Young said at the scene.

The mother’s identity has not been released, pending notification to her family.

Cops are investigating the fire that started around midnight as a homicide because it had two points of origin in the home, said Daytona Beach Fire Department Lt Antwan Lewis.

State investigators suspect the blaze was set off intentionally, WKMG reported.

No suspect has been named.

A police officer received treatment for smoke inhalation.

‘I’m very proud of all the officers that initially responded, as well as fire and medical personnel,’ said Young. ‘If it wasn’t for their actions, there probably would have been more lives lost.’

It was not clear if other units at the apartment complex at 1200 Beville Road were damaged.

The deadly blaze in Florida happened a few months after a landlord in Brooklyn, New York, allegedly set fire to an apartment because the tenants stopped paying rent. The parents tossed four of their children to neighbors on the ground to save them. Firefighters rescued the two other children from the building. The landlord, Rafiqul Islam, 66, was charged with eight counts of attempted murder, assault and arson earlier this month.

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An insurance fraudster who pretended he was so disabled he couldn’t even pull up his underpants has been jailed and faces a £150,000 court bill.

Mark Hilton, 49, was filmed doing his Christmas shopping – despite having claimed he couldn’t dress himself, lift a cup of tea, and needed a frame to walk.

Hilton, of Dartford, Kent, suffered soft tissue injuries when a heavy fuel hose fell onto him as he filled a tanker while working as a driver for Elliott Thomas Group Ltd in 2015.

Suing for over £600,000 in compensation, the grandad-of-six claimed the injury had left him so disabled he could barely function.

But his claim unravelled when private investigators caught him on film walking his dog, Christmas shopping in Ikea, fixing his car and visiting the West Ham store at Stratford.

Hilton’s claim was kicked out of court by a judge and now, after admitting contempt of court, he is facing a £150,000 bill and a ten month prison sentence.

Mr Justice Constable said: ‘This was a most calculated – if ineptly executed – attempt at defrauding insurers.’

In statements filed for his insurance claim, Hilton said he needed help getting dressed, could not drive, had to use a Zimmer frame to get about and claimed he could only walk about 20 yards due to his disability.

He said: ‘For all intents and purposes I am housebound.’

Footage from 2016, however, showed him driving to a shop, walking in without a stick, and later footage in 2018 proved he was not as severely disabled as he claimed.

Mr Hilton admitted the contempt, apologised for what he had done and appeared before Mr Justice Constable for sentencing in London last week.

Outlining the case for the insurer, QBE barrister Paul Higgins described Mr Hilton’s £600,000 compensation bid as a ‘very serious fundamental dishonesty case.’

MORE : Man who appeared on Who Wants To Be a Millionaire? jailed over £4,500,000 scam

In claiming he was so disabled he was effectively housebound and couldn’t even pull up his pants or walk very far, Mr Hilton had ‘grossly exaggerated’ his injuries.

Jailing him for ten months, Justice Constable said Mr Hilton was guilty of a ‘very serious’ contempt of court.

He added: ‘There was an extremely marked disparity between his real ability to carry out daily activities – which included working on his car, shopping, walking – and a very serious curtailment of his lifestyle and abilities, as described repeatedly in his witness statements and acted out in his attempts to mislead the medicolegal experts.

‘The most aggravating aspect of the contempt is the quantum of the claim – in excess of £600,000.

‘This was a most calculated, if ineptly executed, attempt at defrauding insurers.’

The judge also ordered that Hilton be liable for QBE’s costs of the case, which lawyers estimated at about £150,000.

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Papau rebels in Indonesia have released a chilling new video, holding guns to their New Zealand hostage’s heads and threatening execution.

Philip Mark Mehrtens, a 37-year-old father from New Zealand, has been held by a rebel group since February but will be killed in two months if their demands are not met.

Mr Mehrtens, a pilot for an Indonesian aviation company, was kidnapped and taken hostage by the West Papua Liberation Army, as they demand the Papua region of Indonesia be freed from Jakarta.

In a new clip released by the fighters, Mr Mehrtens is seen sitting surrounded by men pointing guns at him.

The rebel leader, thought to be a man named Egianus Kogeya, said Mr Mehrtens would be shot dead in two months if his demands weren’t met.

The New Zealand foreign ministry said it was aware of the new video, and said they are continuing to work on Mr Mehrten’s release from the rebels.

Rebel spokesperson Sebby Sambom previously wrote on Facebook that Mr Mehrtens will be held hostage for negotiations with Indonesia.

They also prevoiusly said Mr Mehrtens would ‘never be released’ unless Papua was made independent.

Indonesia has continued to stress that Papua will remain a part of Indonesia, despite the group’s demands.

The group seized Mr Mehrtens in February after his plane landed in the remote region, before setting fire to it on the runway.

Onboard were five other Papuan nationals, including the area’s regional governor, who the group let go.

Consular support had been provided to the Mehrtens family as they await further news on Mr Mehrtens.

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A vehicle exploded in Niagara Falls, causing a fire and killing two people on Rainbow Bridge at the US-Canada border.

The car sped toward the bridge and exploded on the American side of the checkpoint on Wednesday morning, according to law enforcement officials.

Surveillance footage from the US government showed vehicle on a wet road going through an intersection, then hitting a low median and sailing through the air east of the main US Customs and Border Protection checkpoint. It smashed into a row of inspection booths.

‘You actually had to look at it and say, “Was this generated by AI?”‘ said New York Governor Kathy Hochul. ‘Because it was so surreal to see how high in the air this vehicle went and then the crash and explosion and the fire.’

The driver and passenger were killed, Hochul said. One of them was a resident of western New York.

‘Based on what we know at this moment, there is no sign of terrorist activity in this crash,’ the governor said.

In Buffalo, Erie Country Sheriff John Garcia said: ‘We can go on with our lives.’

The crash that drew fears of terrorism on both sides of the border amid a travel rush at the start of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

Two witnesses said they heard a loud noise and that a massive smoke cloud formed near the inspections station around 11.20am, according to the Niagara Gazette.

‘We heard something smash,’ said one of the witnesses, Ivan Vitalii who was visiting from Ukraine. ‘We saw fire and big, black smoke.’

Another bystander, Mike Guenther, said he observed a car speeding from the US side to the border crossing and saw it swerve to avoid another vehicle and smash into a fence.

‘All of a sudden he went up in the air and then it was a ball of fire like 30 or 40 feet high,’ he told WGRZ. ‘I never saw anything like it.’

Rainbow Bridge was closed to traffic and a Niagara Falls Police Department captain directed away motorists and pedestrians near the inspections plaza.

President Joe Biden said he was ‘closely following developments’.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed the explosion on Wednesday afternoon.

‘This is obviously a very serious situation in Niagara Falls,’ he said in Parliament. ‘We are taking this extraordinary seriously.’

What caused the explosion was not immediately known.

All four border crossings by land between the US and Canada have been shuttered, according to the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission. The other three crossings are at Peace Bridge, Lewiston and Whirlpool.

Hochul directed the state police to work with the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force ‘to monitor all points of entry to New York’.

The identities of the victims were not immediately released. A source briefed on the investigation told The Associated Press that they were husband and wife.

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The mother of a 28-year-old woman shot with a machine gun in her home faced her daughter’s killers in court and called them ‘monsters’ as they were jailed for life for the murder.

Environmental health worker Ashley Dale was killed when gunman James Witham, 41, forced his way into her home in Old Swan, Liverpool, in the early hours of August 21 last year and opened fire with a Skorpion submachine gun.

At Liverpool Crown Court on Wednesday, he and three other men convicted of the murder – Niall Barry, 26, Sean Zeisz, 28 and Joseph Peers, 29, were all told they would serve minimum terms of more than 40 years.

Reading a statement from the witness box, Ms Dale’s mother Julie, 46, looked at the four men in the dock and said: ‘I hope you all understand that I will never ever forgive you, for the life sentence you have gave to me and my family.

‘People speak about justice for Ashley but in my eyes there will never be justice, the only justice is that this would never have happened.

‘Although I can now rest knowing that you monsters are going to pay for what you have done to me and my family and that you too have ruined your own lives and your family’s lives.

‘I hope my words haunt you all forever and you, James Witham, I hope when you go to sleep at night you too see my baby girl’s face as I do every single night.’

Witham, who had his head in his hand as she spoke, left the dock for a short period after she finished reading the statement.

He was jailed for a minimum of 43 years.

Barry, who was described by the prosecution as the ‘malign presence’ behind Ms Dale’s killing, was sentenced to a minimum term of 47 years.

Sentencing, Mr Justice Goose said Witham and Barry were equally the most culpable for the murder, as Witham carried out the shooting and Barry provided the gun and was the protagonist.

Joseph Peers, 29, said to be a ‘foot soldier’ who drove Witham to the scene, was sentenced to at least 41 years and Sean Zeisz, 28, was told to serve a minimum of 42 years for actively encouraging the shooting.

In a statement read to the court ahead of sentencing, Ashley’s grandmother SusanSteinhilber spoke of her heartbreak at losing her first grandchild.

She said: ‘I spent as much time as I could with Ashley as she grew as a baby, toddler, young child and teenager. At times she was my constant, delightful companion on visits to family and friends in Liverpool, who all adored her. My visions of her as a very pretty, happy, popular, clever and funny child will never leave me.

‘When Ashley graduated from John Moores University in environmental health at Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral I could not have been prouder. My heart was bursting with love for her and I enjoyed her happiness on that special day so much.

‘I wake every morning hoping that this is just a bad dream, but it isn’t, I miss Ashley terribly, who is no longer with us in body but she will always be with us in spirit.’

Mr Justice Goose said the crime had ‘shocked both the local community and many in this country’ and was ‘beyond any understanding’.

He told the court just after 12.30am on August 21, Witham, wearing a balaclava and carrying a Skorpion sub-machine gun loaded with 15 bullets, broke through the front door of Ms Dale’s home.

Ms Dale was standing by the back door in the kitchen when she was hit in the abdomen, the court heard.

Mr Justice Goose said: ‘Witham wickedly fired 10 bullets towards her as she was vulnerable and defenceless.

‘Her screams were heard by neighbours.’

The jury heard a ‘drug feud’ between Barry and Mr Harrison was ‘re-ignited’ at the Glastonbury festival in June 2022.

During the festival, Barry was heard threatening to stab Mr Harrison and Zeisz was assaulted by a group said to include Jordan Thompson – a friend of Mr Harrison’s and member of the Hillside organised crime group with which he was associated.

Voicenotes and messages sent to friends by Ms Dale in the two months before her death were played during the trial describing the fall-out, which intensified when mutual friend Rikki Warnick took his own life in July last year.

Barry and Zeisz were also given concurrent sentences for drugs supply offences and Barry was sentenced for possession of prohibited firearms and conspiracy to sell or transfer firearms.

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A housekeeper is being hunted after £350,000 worth of jewellery was stolen from a London hotel.

Police want to trace 28-year-old Marinela Manolesu after a suitcase containing the gems was taken from a hotel in Knightsbidge where she was working.

Scotland Yard has alerted the authorities in Romania as Manolesu is believed to have taken a flight there a few days after the theft last month.

Anyone with any information about her whereabouts is urged to contact police.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: ‘Officers are appealing for the public’s help to trace a woman after jewellery was stolen from a hotel in central London.

‘Marinela Manolesu is wanted after a suitcase containing around £350,000 worth of jewellery was stolen on Sunday October 8

‘The 28-year-old was working as a housekeeper at the hotel in Knightsbridge.

‘Our enquiries to date suggest she left the UK and travelled to Romania on Sunday October 15.

‘We have contacted authorities in the country.’

Anyone with any information about Marinela’s whereabouts is asked to call policeor, to remain anonymous, call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

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A man has been charged with the murder of a woman who died from ‘significant’ injuries at a house in Bristol.

Darryl Bowen, aged 43, from Kingswood, was arrested in the house after emergency services pronounced the woman dead at 4.30pm.

Avon and Somerset Police said they believe the victim to be Alison Bowen, aged 41.

Formal identification is yet to take place.

A number of children were in the house at the time, and were ‘understandably distressed’ despite not being physically hurt.

Senior Investigating Officer Neil Meade said: ‘Although formal identification has not yet been carried out, we believe the deceased to be Alison Bowen, aged 41.

‘Alison’s family have been updated on this significant development, and specialist liaison officers will continue to support them. Our thoughts remain with them at this extremely difficult time. 

‘We’ll continue to carry out a full and thorough investigation as this case progresses.

‘There will remain an increased police presence in the affected area of Kingswood and our officers will be available to answer any questions or concerns the local community may have.’

Neighbourhood Policing Chief Inspector Dan Forster said: ‘Tragically, there were a number of children inside the property at the time of the incident and while thankfully they weren’t hurt, there are understandably distressed at what has happened.

‘I would like to express my heartfelt condolences to them and the victim’s wider family during what is undoubtedly a very difficult time.

‘The children are currently being looked after by a family member and specially trained officers will provide them with support.’

He added that the incident was being treated as ‘an isolated one involving people known to each other’.

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A man was filmed laughing when he was told his mum had been murdered – but he knew all along who had killed her.

Lewis Bush even pretended to act shocked when he was confronted by police and said: ‘You’re joking? What? My mum is dead? Serious? You are joking me? My mum’s gone?’

The 26-year-old had subjected his own mother Kelly Pitt, 44, to years of domestic abuse before he savagely beat her to death in May this year.

He killed her in a vicious attack at her home in Newport, Wales, in which she suffered 41 broken ribs.

Bush was caught on camera feigning shock at the news she had died when he was arrested by police.

‘Murder? Are you joking me?’ he said as he laughed after being handcuffed.

Bush can also be heard on camera telling police he is worried they are going to beat him up while showing no emotion of his mum’s death.

He said: ‘You won’t harm me or nothing will you? It seems like you’re all going to fill me in.’

Newport Crown Court previously heard Bush carried out a ‘ferocious and sustained assault’ but escaped before his mother was found by a neighbour.

Prosecutor Chris Rees KC said the flat door was open in her home in Newport, Gwent and ‘it looked as if Kelly Pitt had been battered’.

She was found on a blood-soaked bed, covered in a duvet, and was declared dead at the scene.

A post-mortem examination by Dr Edwards Williams found ‘severe blunt-force trauma to the head, neck and trunk’.

Ms Pitt suffered internal bleeding and 41 rib fractures along with mirror glass and clumps of hair found around her body.

Mr Rees described her as a ‘vulnerable woman with alcohol issues’ who was 5ft 5in and ‘in no position to fight off the attack’.

Blood on the pyjama trousers worn by Ms Pitt matched that of Bush and Mr Rees said the victim ‘would have suffered considerable physical pain before her death’.

The mother-of-three – whose daughter Lauren had previously died – made a call to her daughter Jordan two days earlier where Bush could be heard verbally assaulting her.

Her last words to her daughter were a plea that she call the police – but she never made that call.

She messaged for two days asking if her mum was OK. But then she rang and her brother answered to say said their mum was unwell in bed and was ‘in no fit state’ to see her.

Mr Rees said Bush ‘left her there for dead’ and CCTV footage showed him at a nearby cash point and buying a bottle of lager on May 12.

At the time of the murder, Bush was subject to bail conditions for assaulting his mum in February and was banned from contacting her.

He also had multiple previous convictions, including for battery against his mother and sister.

Mr Rees said Ms Pitt was ‘subjected to domestic violence for many years’ by Bush.

Reading a victim impact statement, Jordan Bush said her mother was ‘caring, loving, funny and bubbly’ and described her as a ‘warm welcoming lady who made sure everyone was well looked after’.

She said she did not call the police when asked because she thought things would be sorted by the next day, as they had been previously.

‘I have to live with that guilt every day,’ she said.

Addressing her brother in the dock, she added: ‘Our mother will never get to see her granddaughter grow up because of what you did.

‘I am now alone without a mum, sister or brother because you are no brother of mine.’

Bush, of Newport, was jailed for life with a minimum of 16 years at Newport Crown Court. He changed his plea to guilty just weeks before the trial was due to start.

Judge Daniel Williams said: ‘Over the years, the court has heard, you subjected your poor mother to a great deal of violence.

‘You bullied her and others in your family. You were on bail for having assaulted your mother when you murdered her.

‘That Kelly’s life should end as it did is a wrong that no sentence will right.’

After the case, detective chief inspector Virginia Davies, the senior investigation officer in the case, said: ‘The family of Kelly Pitt are left devastated by the loss of their beloved mother, grandmother and sister at the hands of her son.

‘I want to reassure anyone coming forward to report domestic abuse or violence against women and girls that there is a wide range of support services available, and we urge you to come forward.’

Earlier this month, a 20-year-old man admitted killing his own mum after she was found dying with ‘serious facial injuries’.

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A teenage girl who was the subject of an Amber Alert has been charged with murdering a man she lured online.

Natalie Navarro, 17, as well as her boyfriend and apparent accomplice Yordy Martinez, 21, face capital murder charges in the shooting death of 21-year-old Arturo Pena in late August.

Navarro is also accused of being ‘in the course of committing and attempting’ to rob Pena when she allegedly shot him, according to the indictment earlier this week.

Investigators believe that Navarro met Pena online, said the Garland Police Department.

Navarro told cops ‘she had spoken to Yordy once before online but had never met him in person the night of the actual murder,’ police spokesperson Richard Maldonado told Fox News Digital.

However, authorities believe she was not telling the whole truth.

Cops suspect that Navarro met Pena in person two weeks before the shooting and was trying to set him up, FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth reported. Pena was reported missing on August 27.

Navarro disappeared from an apartment complex in the Far East Dallas neighborhood and The Dallas Police Department issued an Amber Alert for her on September 1, only a few days after Pena’s body was discovered at Audubon Park in Garland, Texas.

Cops found Navarro a few hours after her Amber Alert was issued, near the border with Mexico.

Martinez remains at large.

Pena’s girlfriend, Veronica Lopez, wrote on a GoFundMe page for him that ‘our angel was viciously taken from his family and loved ones’.

She wrote that she could not say too much because his death is still under investigation, but that, ‘When I was praying, I heard a still voice say, “I’m home. I’m home.”‘

As of Tuesday evening, the GoFundMe page had raised more than $3,300.

Navarro faces charges as a judge determined that another teenage girl, Kaitlyn Coones, 17, will be tried as an adult for allegedly killing her boyfriend’s mother after giving him five hours to do get rid of her himself.

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Middle class shoplifters are partly to blame for the rise in retail crime, a Marks & Spencer’s chairman has said.

Speaking to LBC, chairman Archie Norman said it’s too easy to blame the cost of living crisis on the surge in stealing.

He said: ‘Some of it is by gangs or people stealing to fuel a drugs habit. No doubt that’s probably increased a bit, it’s always been there.

‘Then you get the sort of middle class… with the reduction of service you get in a lot of shops, a lot of people go in and think, “well this didn’t scan or it’s very difficult to scan these things through and I shop here all the time, it’s not my fault, I’m owed it”.’

He also said M&S is less attractive to shoplifters who want to resell items on sites like eBay, since the shops stock their own branded products.

Recorded offences rose by 25% in the year to June, according to police data for England and Wales released last month.

Self-service tills may be contributing to the rise in shoplifting as well, Mr Norman said.

The middle class shoplifting phenomenon has been increasing in recent years, however, with one mum saying she does it to ‘get a buzz’.

Mum Lucy said self-service tills are the best place to steal.

She said: ‘You can also put pricier items such as salmon fillets through as onions.

‘I just walk past the security guards and smile. I do feel ashamed, but I know it’s not just me.’

In 2022, Nina Tiara, thought to be Britain’s most prolific middle-class shoplifter, was jailed for two years and nine months for her crimes.

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A British woman and two Spanish men have been arrested in connection with the shooting of a right-wing politician in Madrid earlier this month.

Head of Spain’s far-right Vox Party, Alejandro Vidal-Quadras, 78, was shot in the face in broad daylight on November 9.

The gunshot hit the former MEP in the jaw and health officials in Madrid say it left an entry and exit hole, according to La Vanguardia.

Spanish national police have now announced that two Spaniards were also arrested in Lanjaron, southern Spain, and another in Fuengirola.

But Spain’s state news agency and other media outlets said none of the three are suspected of having fired the shot that hit Mr Vidal-Quadras.

EFE said the two people arrested in Lanjaron were a Spanish man and his partner, a British woman.

Another man detained in Fuengirola, also a Spaniard, was reportedly arrested in connection with a motorbike used in the shooting, as the National Court continues to investigate the shooting as a possible terrorist attack.

Police said earlier this month that Mr Vidal-Quadras had raised the possibility he was targeted because of his ties with Iran’s political opposition.

Investigators were exploring a potential Iranian link but so far have no found evidence of one.

Mr Vidal-Quadras has been aligned for decades with the Iranian opposition in exile.

In January, Iran’s Foreign Ministry imposed sanctions on him and others with ties to the exiled opposition group known as the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, accusing them of ‘supporting terrorism and terrorist groups’.

Mr Vidal-Quadras was previously the head of the People’s Party in Catalonia from 1991-1996 and vice-president of the European Parliament from 2009-2014.

He has not been active in politics for several years but maintained a public role as a media commentator and columnist.

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A Spanish court has heard how a young British tourist was allegedly gang-raped by three men after being spiked on a family holiday.

The victim told the court in Alicante that she had left a bar to smoke on October 1, 2016, and was snatched by three men who took her to a field and raped her.

The court heard how the victim last recalled stepping outside before ‘waking up face down in the backseat of a car’ with her ‘clothes unbuttoned and feeling pain in her legs and sexual organs’.

Local media reported the victim saw ‘three or four men’ in the car with her – one of whom reportedly apologised to her after she left the car.

She returned by taxi to her hotel, where she called the police with her mother and filed a complaint to police.

Local media reported the accused are three men, a Spaniard and ‘two North Africans’ who have pleaded innocent.

One of the defendants claimed the act was consensual, and another admitted his DNA had ben found on her clothing after he ‘pulled her out of the car while she was very drunk’.

If convicted, the men could face 12 years in prison for sexual assault and the alleged robbery of a watch and ring the victim was wearing.

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A boat skipper who killed his passenger by crashing into a buoy after a drinking session at a sailing regatta has been jailed for three years.

Morgan Smith, 21, pleaded guilty to gross negligence manslaughter over the death of 24-year-old David Haw in Poole Harbour, Dorset, in the early hours of May 2, 2022.

Mr Haw, from Sussex, was thrown from the rigid inflatable boat (Rib) and his body was found 12 days later.

The judge, Mrs Justice Cockerill, said such Rib journeys ‘occurred regularly’ and called on the marine industry to learn lessons and make sure ‘such a tragic case doesn’t occur again’.

She described Mr Haw as a ‘brilliant young man’ who was ‘in the prime of his life’ when he died.

Prosecutor Mark Watson KC told Winchester Crown Court that Smith and Mr Haw had been attending a regatta prize-giving at Poole Yacht Club during the evening prior to the crash.

He said Smith was seen on CCTV drinking from the afternoon and into the evening, and began skipping at night despite not being trained for it.

The prosecutor said the defendant had taken Mr Haw and four others home from the event.

The collision with the buoy, which was 4m high and 2.25m wide, happened after Smith had dropped off three of his passengers, leaving himself, Mr Haw and Alistair Gifford onboard.

Mr Watson said the boat was travelling at up to 34 knots – three times the 10-knot speed limit – when it collided with Diver Buoy in the Middle Ship Channel.

He said: ‘This was a wholly unnecessary journey which clearly put passengers at risk of death.

‘It was conducted in a wholly unsafe manner, at very high speed, at three times the speed limit where the accident occurred.

‘It was a journey embarked on at night in very challenging navigating conditions where there was no margin for error, a journey by a helmsman who was not qualified or trained to conduct such a navigation, not even at a safe speed.’

He said the situation was made worse by Smith navigating using his mobile phone, which would have made it difficult for his eyes to adjust to the low light.

Both Smith and Mr Gifford lost their phones during the collison and were left with no radio – and no means to call emergency services after the accident, and could not find the emergency flares.

The pair managed to get to Parkstone Yacht Club and woke up a neighbour, but the alarm was not raised until nearly two hours after the crash, and Mr Haw’s body wasn’t found for another 12 days.

In a victim impact statement read to the court, Mr Haw’s parents Gillian and Richard described his death as a ‘totally unnecessary disaster’.

They said: ‘He was our only child at the very start of his adult life, we have been cruelly robbed of a future life with David.

‘We will never experience the joy and pride of seeing him develop, he had so many plans and dreams and was starting to make a difference.

‘He lived every moment of his life with a passion. He had the talent of making everyone feel like he was their best friend.’

Oliver Powell, defending, said Smith, a keen sailor who had represented Team GB since the age of 14, was ‘deeply remorseful’ for his actions.

He said Smith, who works in the marine industry, was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and was attending counselling and alcoholic anonymous sessions.

Rosemary Ainslie, head of the Crown Prosecution Service Special Crime Division, said: ‘His helming of the Rib on the day of the tragedy fell very far below the standard of a reasonable and competent skipper, and very sadly as a result of his actions, David Haw, a young man in his prime, needlessly lost his life.

‘Our thoughts remain with David’s family and friends.’

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Police are hunting two balaclava-clad knifemen after a man was stabbed at a Tesco Express.

The ‘targeted attack’ took place near Epsom Station just before 9pm on Sunday.

Afterwards, two men, described as white and 5’6” tall, fled the store wearing ‘black tops and balaclavas’.

The victim remains in hospital with injuries described as serious but not life threatening.

Surrey Police said: ‘We are appealing for witnesses after a man was attacked in Epsom on Sunday (19 November).

‘Officers were called around 8:40pm to Tesco Express in Station Approach after a man in his 20s was left with stab wounds.’

Detective Sergeant Leigh Wall, who is investigating the incident, said: ‘We understand that this incident will have caused considerable concern within the local community.

‘We do believe that this was a targeted attack, and we are doing everything we can to locate the suspects.’

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A man has been jailed for life for murdering his own four-month-old son.

Reece Kelly, 31, was jailed for a minimum of 18 years behind bars for killing his toddler Dallas.

The baby boy was found with horrific injuries, said to be consistent with being squeezed and shaken, a court previously heard.

Kelly admitted shaking Dallas but claimed he had no intention to cause him serious harm or death.

However, following a two-week trial a jury didn’t believe him and he was found guilty of the baby’s murder earlier this month.

Kelly was sentenced today following an investigation into the death of his baby who died on October 19, 2021.

He was also convicted of child cruelty – as was Dallas’s mother, Georgia Wright, 23, who was jailed for three years.

She was found not guilty of causing or allowing the death of a child.

The court heard how the baby had bleeds on his brain and over his eyes – associated with ‘deliberate’ head injuries – and fingertip bruising on his chest, along with six fractured ribs.

One medical expert likened his injuries to those sustained from a fall from a ‘multi-storey building’ or a ‘fatal road traffic collision’.

One fracture found on little Dallas was about 6-12 weeks old, and neither parent could explain how the injuries occurred.

On October 19, 2021, Kelly called an ambulance and said his son was not breathing while Wright was at work. Dallas died later that evening.

Prosecutors revealed both Kelly and Wright led ‘chaotic’ lives as addicts and often left Dallas crying for hours, as seen in video evidence in court.

Drug paraphernalia was discovered throughout the couple’s home and later confiscated by police.

Victoria Agulló, senior Crown prosecutor for CPS North West, said: ‘Dallas’s life was tragically cut short by his father, who should have loved and cared for him.

‘Throughout the police investigation and up until the first day of the trial Reece Kelly denied that he had caused any injuries to baby Dallas.

‘Everyone who has been involved in this case has been deeply moved by the tragic circumstances of Dallas’s death.’

Detective Superintendent Jenny Beattie, who led the investigation into Dallas’ death, said the four-month-old was ‘entirely defenceless’.

‘Any child, particularly one as young as Dallas, should have parents who care deeply for them and act in their child’s best interest at all times.

‘Sadly, this was not the case for Dallas,’ she said.

‘There is never any excuse or reason to cause harm or distress to a child and I am pleased that both Reece Kelly and Georgia Wright have been held accountable for their actions.’

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TikTok ‘prankster’ Mizzy has been locked up for 18 weeks by a judge who told him his social media stunts were ‘not funny’ and driven by a ‘desire to be famous’.

The 19-year-old, real name Bacari-Bronze O’Garro, was found guilty last month of deliberately flouting a court order banning him from uploading videos of people without their consent.

In one of the offending videos, passersby were visible in the background as Mizzy said to the camera: ‘The UK law is a joke.’

Sentencing him to 18 weeks in a young offenders’ institution on Tuesday, Judge Matthew Bone said: ‘Put bluntly your pranks are not funny’.

The judge said the influencer’s actions had been motivated by a desire to ‘receive money and designer clothes from sponsors’.

Mizzy’s trial heard how he began sharing videos of people without their consent on the same day the criminal behaviour order was passed on May 24 this year.

It was shown footage, shared on his Twitter account on the night of May 24, featuring him in Westfield shopping centre, Stratford, after he appeared on Piers Morgan’s TalkTV show and mocked the British judicial system.

In the video, passersby were visible in the background as Mizzy, from Hackney, said to the camera: ‘The UK law is a joke.’

Other videos shared on his Snapchat account, which were also in breach, showed him grabbing hold of a schoolboy by his uniform and another showed him fighting a man with dwarfism, which Mizzy claimed were hoax videos made with their prior agreement.

The teen’s claim that one of his friends, who had access to his login details, posted the Twitter videos without his consent, was dismissed by Judge Matthew Bone as ‘inconceivable’.

The judge said: ‘I am satisfied that your offending arose from a desire to be famous, gaining notoriety from posting your so-called “prank videos”.

‘I use the phrase “so-called” for a reason. Those were “so-called pranks” that caused members of the public significant alarm and distress.

‘Simply put, they are not funny. Your allure to fame is clear, meaning you need further help so as to not reoffend.’

Defending, Mizzy’s lawyer Paul Lennon said he was a ‘young man’ and had shown a ‘lack of maturity’.

The social media star is completing a creative media production course at a sixth form college, and started a job as a waiter in a restaurant earlier this week, Mr Lennon said.

‘He is very academic and is predicted to achieve a distinction,” he added. ‘He is making attempts to better himself.’

In addition to the custodial sentence, the judge also ‘strengthened’ the social media ban, ruling he could not share any videos, act with others to share videos or contribute to other people’s social media accounts for two years.

He said: ‘I concede that there may be some prospect of rehabilitation in the community, and I accept the mitigation.

‘But it must be clearly understood by all that for such an immediate breach of the criminal behaviour order, detention is what is appropriate.

‘The defendant caused ordinary members of the public harassment, alarm, and distress – and then profited from that.

‘I want to ensure this does not happen again.’

Mizzy was also ordered not to trespass on private property, or enter the E12 area of London, and pay a £154 surcharge.

Speaking after the hearing, Met Police DCI Yasmin Lalani : ‘I just think it is appropriate, when you have disregard for the law, I think it is a fitting sentence and I hope that he gets some help.

‘I think it is a loud and clear message that nobody is above the law and that you have got to be held accountable.

‘I think the right result has come through, more for the public as well, because I think the community were upset with the lack of respect for the law of the country and the distress and harassment he was causing, it was a blatant disregard for the harassment and distress for the community.

‘It is really for the age range of the very young to the elderly, members deserve to live, work, play and be safe in their own area.’

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A 43-year-old man has been arrested after a woman died from ‘significant’ injuries at a house in Bristol.

Avon and Somerset Police said a number of children were in the house at the time, and were ‘understandably distressed’ despite not being physically hurt.

Emergency services were called out to a report of a serious assault on Wedmore Close in the Kingswood area of the city at 3.50pm on Monday.

After discovering the injured woman, officers attempted CPR with the assistance of paramedics, but she was pronounced dead at 4.30pm.

The man was subsequently arrested within the house on suspicion of murder.

He will be assessed by health professionals before he is interrogated by the police.

Neighbourhood Policing Chief Inspector Dan Forster said: ‘Tragically, there were a number of children inside the property at the time of the incident and while thankfully they weren’t hurt, there are understandably distressed at what has happened.

‘I would like to express my heartfelt condolences to them and the victim’s wider family during what is undoubtedly a very difficult time.

‘The children are currently being looked after by a family member and specially trained officers will provide them with support.’

He added that the incident was being treated as ‘an isolated one involving people known to each other’.

Residents of the street can expect a cordon to remain around the house for ‘at least a couple of days’ as the investigation continues, Chief Inspector Forster said.

He continued: ‘To provide reassurance to them, and the wider community, neighbourhood officers will be carrying out increased patrols in the area over the coming days.

‘Incidents like this are very rare but when they do happen, we know they cause significant concern so we’d urge anyone with worries or questions to speak to an officer or contact their local neighbourhood policing team.’

The force said it will make a mandatory referral to the the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), to review how its officers responded to the incident.

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The alleged boyfriend of former missing teen Alicia Navarro made a court appearance and pleaded not guilty to possessing child sexual abuse photos.

Edmund Davis, 36, was balding and had a beard and wore an orange jumpsuit as he entered a not guilty plea to two felony child sex abuse charges in a Zoom appearance at the District Court in Harve, Montana, on Monday.

Davis’ public defender, Casey Moore, said he would file a motion to reduce the bail, which was set at $1million, after speaking to the defendant’s dad and Assistant Attorney General Dan Guzynski.

Authorities have not yet said if Davis is a suspect in 18-year-old Alicia’s four-year disappearance.

Alicia ran away from her home in Glendale, Arizona, at the age of 14 in September 2019 and walked into a police station 1,000 miles away in Havre in July to take herself off the missing persons list.

Davis was arrested on October 23 after dozens of images of suspected child sex abuse material were found on his cell phone. Medical experts determined that the subjects in 10 of the images were under 13 years old and two of them were less than 5 years old. He was booked into the Hill County Detention Center.

He has been charged with possessing images of children under 12 engaged in actual or simulated sexual conduct, which carries a mandatory sentence of 25 years behind bars and up to 100. Davis has also been charged with possessing images of the sex abuse of kids under 16, which could result in four to 100 years in prison.

No more hearings for Davis were immediately set on Monday.

Alicia, now 19, was confirmed to be reunited with her family earlier this month.

‘I thank you all for all the support… My family is complete,’ wrote her mother, Jessica Nunez, on Facebook.

‘We need to heal and for that to be possible I will ask privacy… I thank everyone for all the concerns and support… god is a miracle worker.’

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A teenage girl allegedly killed her boyfriend’s mother by bludgeoning her with a rock after giving him an ultimatum to commit the crime himself.

Kaitlyn Coones, 17, a foster child from Canton, Ohio, was dating Jonathan Jones, 33, and gave him five hours to get rid of his mother Nicole Jones, 53, because she was intervening in their relationship, according to the prosecutor in the case.

The teen was living in her boyfriend’s bedroom and Nicole may not have been aware.

‘Kaitlyn had told Jonathan that they needed to do something about his mother because she was preventing them from being together and she gave him five hours to do something about her,’ said Sylvania Township Detective Albright, according to WOIO.

‘And at one point in the interview, she even mentioned to killing her.’

A judge determined on Friday that Kaitlyn will be tried as an adult in the case, and new details of the alleged murder were emerged in court.

Kaitlyn was the custody of Stark County Children Services and vanished in April. She allegedly sent a text message to a nurse at the group home stating that she had killed two people and had fled.

Jonathan reportedly picked Kaitlyn up at a restaurant and drove her to his home, where she went into his bedroom through the window so Nicole would not see her.

Kaitlyn gave Jonathan five hours to kill his mom, then an additional hour. Kaitlyn then killed Nicole herself, testified Albright, according to WTVG.

‘She went outside retrieved a rock and when Nicole Jones was standing in front of the refrigerator in the kitchen, unaware of Kaitlyn’s presence bludgeoned Nicole Jones a number of times and strangled her,’ said Lucas County Prosecutor Andy Lastra.

The couple then disposed of Nicole’s body in a dumpster at the apartment complex and it was emptied out at a landfill. They then fled to Mexico and were arrested there.

Jonathan was wearing a GPS monitor from being convicted of having an inappropriate relationship with Kaitlyn and it was used to track him to the dumpster, the prosecutor said.

Nicole’s remains may never be found, cops said.

Kaitlyn has been charged with murder, aggravated murder, abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence. Jonathan is also charged in the murder of his mom.

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