Friday, 11 August 2017

Blair Logan, 27, admitted to pouring petrol on his younger sibling Cameron, but said he had not intended to kill him.

12:01, UK,Friday 11 August 2017

A man has been jailed for 20 years for murdering his brother and attempting to murder his brother's girlfriend by setting them on fire.

Blair Logan, 27, poured petrol over his younger brother Cameron and his brother's girlfriend, Rebecca Williams, as they slept on New Year's Day.

The couple were at the Logan's family home in Milngavie, East Dunbartonshire, Scotland.

Ms Williams was rescued and treated in hospital, while Logan's parents suffered smoke inhalation. The family dog, Gomez, was also killed.

Logan had pleaded guilty to charges of murder and attempted murder last month. He said he had poured the petrol in retaliation for being punched earlier by his brother, but had not intended to kill him.

"It was not my intent to kill him but I did do it," he told police.

He was given a life sentence with a minimum of 20 years, reduced from 24 because of his early plea, at the High Court in Edinburgh.

Judge Lady Scott said Cameron had died a "horrible death" and that his brother had "acted with wicked recklessness".

During the trial, the court heard the two brothers had a "hostile" relationship, and Logan told police they had not spoken since the death of their grandmother in 2013.

A computer seized from his bedroom showed that he had searched the internet for burn victims since October last year.

Logan told police he thought that Ms Williams was out of the room, and also that he did not want to murder his parents, David and Catherine.

Both parents, as well as Ms Williams, were in court. In a letter to the court, the parents said they "find it extremely difficult to reconcile the Blair they know with the Blair who caused Cameron's death".

Defence QC Shelagh McCall said Logan had shown genuine remorse, and now viewed the murder of his brother as "horrific".

On the night of the fire, Mrs Logan, awoken by the dog, ran out of the house to call for help from neighbours.

Mr Logan tried to enter the living room, where the couple were sleeping on an inflatable mattress, but was beaten back by the intensity of the fire.

Ms Logan was able to escape the room and go to the kitchen, where she protected herself by putting her head in the fridge.

She suffered burns to her arms and face and has undergone surgery four times. She also damaged her throat, vocal cords and lungs, and due to the extent of her injuries, she may not be able to return to work as a broadcast journalist.

Friday, 4 August 2017

Four students accused of raping woman at annual college ball in filmed attack

Thady Duff, 22, James Martin, 20, Leo Mahon, 22, and 22-year-old Patrick Foster arrive at Gloucester Crown Court CREDIT: ANDREW MATTHEWS/PA (ALL IMAGES)

Ajury has been sworn in to try the case of four students accused of raping a woman at an annual college ball and filming the alleged attack.

Thady Duff, 22, James Martin, 20, Leo Mahon, 22, and 22-year-old Patrick Foster deny all the charges they face, which are alleged to have been committed against the same woman.

They are accused of raping the alleged victim at the end-of-year ball at the Royal Agricultural University in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, in May 2014.

A jury of six men and six women were sworn in to hear the case at Gloucester Crown Court.

Judge Jamie Tabor QC told the panel that barrister Fiona Elder would begin the prosecution case on Wednesday morning and they were released until then.

He told them: "This case concerns sexual activity on a ball night at the Royal Agricultural University. Some of that was filmed.

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"This is going to be what we call adult pornographic material - very short in length - to be watched."

Duff, of Blunsdon, Swindon, Wiltshire denies three charges of rape. He also denies a charge of sexual assault against the same woman which is alleged to have been carried out between October 1 and 31 2013.

Martin, of Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, denies a single charge of rape. Mahon, of Cirencester, Gloucestershire denies three charges of rape and two charges of assault by penetration.

Foster, of Kelvedon, Colchester, Essex denies one charge of rape and two charges of assault by penetration.

The internationally renowned university, which until 2013 was known as the Royal Agricultural College, is rated the Oxbridge of agricultural studies.

Founded in 1845, it was the first agricultural college in the English-speaking world.

The trial is being heard at Gloucester Crown Court CREDIT: ALAMY

Couple waged terror campaign against gym trainer after his fling with wife, court hears

Neil Ansell and his wife Louise (pictured) have been accused of terrorising her former lover CREDIT: SOUTH BEDS NEWS AGENCY

Ahusband who discovered his wife had been having "an intimate relationship" with her personal fitness trainer launched a terror campaign against his love rival, a court heard.

Neil Ansell is alleged to have spray painted Sean Smith's vehicle with abusive graffiti and made threatening phone calls to him. He also deliberately left a can of petrol outside Mr Smith's home causing him to fear an arson attack, a jury was told.

Mr Ansell's wife Louise, who had told him about her affair after it was over, is alleged to have assisted and encouraged him with the acts of revenge.

But a court was told the couple, helped by their friend James Williams, also targeted Mr Smith's new girlfriend, Stephanie Hepke.

She awoke one morning to discover the driveway outside her parents' five-bedroomed detached house had been sprayed with graffiti.

The front of her dog grooming parlour was also targeted in a graffiti attack and a car left on the driveway of her parents' home was set on fire.

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Miss Hepke, 26, told the jury how late one night she received a phone call from a man speaking in a fake Italian accent who told her: "When you leave your shop alone, be careful because you are going to be raped."

St Albans Crown Court heard Ansell, 46, and his 36-year-old wife Louise, from Stevenage, Hertfordshire, along with their 38-year-old friend Williams, from St Albans, all pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit arson. They also plead not guilty to two counts of putting a person in fear of violence by harassment.

Sean Smith's car was said to have been spray painted with abusive graffiti CREDIT: SOUTH BEDS NEWS AGENCY

Prosecutor Anthony Heaton-Armstrong told the jury: "This case involves what the prosecution say was a campaign waged by the three defendants against two people. The prosecution say the ring leader was Neil Ansell, his second in command was his wife Louise Ansell and the hench person was James Williams, a friend of theirs."

The court was told how, in early 2013, the Ansells' marriage was in difficulty. At the time, the wife was attending outdoor fitness training classes.

Mr Smith was a trainer with the company that ran the classes and soon, said the prosecutor, "an intimate relationship" had developed between the pair, with the wife telling him of her marriage difficulties and plans to sell the couple's home.

Mr Heaton-Armstrong said that by the summer of 2013, the relationship between Mrs Ansell and Mr Smith had come to an end and, in the September, the wife and her husband were trying for a reconciliation.

The court was told it was around this time that the wife told her husband about her relationship with Mr Smith. "Neil Ansell got extremely jealous" said the prosecutor.

By now, the court was told, Mr Smith, from Ryelands, in Welwyn Garden City, had begun a relationship with Miss Hepke,

The couple also targeted Mr Smith's new girlfriend Stephanie Hepke (pictured), jurors were told CREDIT: SOUTH BEDS AGENCY

On the night of September 27, the court was told, a can of yellow spray paint was used to daub graffiti on the driveway of Miss Hepke's home.

That same night, Mr Smith's van, which was parked outside his home, had the words "Stef is a s--- and c---" spray painted over it.

Mr Heaton-Armstrong said Neil Ansell had subsequently admitted responsibility for the two paint attacks that night.

He said: "Neil Ansell didn't know Stephanie. Presumably it was a way of getting at the new girlfriend of Sean Smith."

The prosecutor described Mr Smith as the husband's "arch enemy", adding: "Imagine how angry he must have been with Sean Smith at the time."

The court heard it was around a week later that Miss Hepke received a telephone call late at night by someone telling her she would be raped if she left her dog grooming shop on her own. Days later, there was a second graffiti attack on Mr Smith's van.

Mr Heaton-Armstrong said it was the Crown's case that Louise Ansell had been encouraging her husband to carry out the acts of vandalism and intimidation.

The jury heard the three defendants were all arrested in 2014. The trial continues.