Tuesday, 28 June 2016

The 73-year-old publicist denies locking the teenager in his Mayfair offices in London and assaulting her when she was 17.

12:38, UK,Tuesday 28 June 2016

A teenage girl has told a court she feared publicist Max Clifford was going to kill her when he forced her to perform a sex act on him.

The 17-year-old claimed Clifford locked her in his office in London and said it was "only a bit of fun" when he exposed himself, Southwark Crown Court heard.

Clifford, 73, denies assaulting the teenager at his offices in New Bond Street between October 1981 and May 1982.

The alleged victim said she had "no experience" and was "scared" of Clifford.

She told the court: "He unzipped his trousers and came towards me. He said 'let's have some fun' or something along those lines, 'let's have a bit of fun'.

"He was right next to me... he was completely blocking the way (out).

"I said 'I don't want to'. He took my hand and put it on him.

"I actually thought he was going to kill me. I had no experience and really didn't know what was going to happen next," she said.

The jury was told that the alleged encounter ended when somebody knocked on the door.

The woman said she was too ashamed to tell anybody at the time what had happened.

"I never told anybody the details up until several years ago. I used to say when he was on television (that) he's really not a very nice man."

She added: "I didn't think I would be believed or that anyone would do anything. He was so powerful - I'm nobody."

The woman, who told the court Clifford left explicit photographs of women on his desk for her to see, said he had told her to wear a skirt to his office

"If my skirt had ridden up a bit I would try to pull it down and he would say 'leave it there, I like that' and it would make me feel really uncomfortable," she said.

The case continues.

Luke Harlow, who groomed the teenager on Facebook, will be sentenced on Friday with Stephen Beadman, who raped and murdered her.

15:56, UK,Tuesday 28 June 2016

A second man has been found guilty of falsely imprisoning Kayleigh Haywood in the hours before the 15-year-old schoolgirl was raped and murdered.

Luke Harlow will be sentenced on Friday, along with Stephen Beadman, who was found guilty of the same charge on Monday.

Beadman has already admitted the rape and murder of Kayleigh.

Harlow, 28, and Beadman, 29, were neighbours in George Avenue in Ibstock, Leicestershire.

They had denied falsely imprisoning Kayleigh during a six-hour period before she was raped and killed on farmland in November last year.

Harlow, a warehouse worker, admitted grooming Kayleigh and two offences of sexual activity with a child before the start of his two-week trial.

After he was found guilty by a 10-1 majority, a woman thought to be his sister told him: "We will fight this Luke, I mean it."

During the trial, the jury was told that a motorist and his partner saw a man with blood on the left-hand side of his face near to where Kayleigh's body was found.

She was discovered three days after a witness said she had seen the teenager being pinned down by Beadman.

Kayleigh was groomed by Harlow for around two weeks via social media before being persuaded to travel to his home.

She was killed by Beadman, who told police he struck her with a brick, after she fled barefoot and partially-clothed from Harlow's home.

Before the trial, Harlow pleaded guilty to attempting to meet another 15-year-old girl last year following sexual grooming, and trying to meet a third after grooming her as well.

Miranda Moore QC, prosecuting, read social media messages sent by Harlow to a girl he groomed online when she was 15.

One read: "I wish I could kidnap you for Christmas but I would probably be arrested and sent to prison."

Another message sent via WhatsApp to the girl read: "If I kidnap you, I am keeping you."

Other messages revealed that Harlow had an interest in having sex with "drunk, unconscious" girls.

During most of the trial, Beadman refused to enter the dock and gave no evidence in connection with the charge of false imprisonment.

In a statement, Kayleigh's parents, Stephanie Haywood and Martin Whitby said: "We cannot begin to find the words to describe how we feel or how we continue to get through each minute of every day.

"We lost our beautiful, precious little girl Kayleigh who we will never see again. We miss Kayleigh every minute of every day, as do her brothers and sister.

Flowers are left outside the St Laurence Church in Measham, Leicestershire, where a vigil has been held for Kayleigh Haywood who has been missing since Friday.

"We are all heartbroken and devastated, our hearts have been torn apart. We ask ourselves every day, why? Why Kayleigh? Why did this happen to our beautiful daughter?

"Today we have got justice for our beautiful daughter. But that doesn't change anything for us. We have to live with this heartache forever."

Ms Haywood thanked police and prosecutors. "Without them there would be no justice or punishment for the two people who so heartlessly took away our beautiful daughter Kayleigh," she said.

Detective Superintendent Kate Meynell, who led the inquiry, said: "All murders are shocking but what happened to Kayleigh Haywood is particularly harrowing.

"Kayleigh was just a teenager with her whole life ahead of her but having been groomed online over the course of two weeks, her life was cut short in the most brutal way.

"Her family have lost a much cherished daughter and sister, and their hopes of seeing her grow up and have her own family have been taken away from them."

She said Harlow knew Kayleigh was only 15, but continued to contact her, "luring her closer" with false messages of affection.

Detective Chief Superintendent David Sandall, head of crime at Leicestershire Police, said: "Kayleigh's story demonstrates, in the most harrowing fashion, the ultimate potential consequences of children talking to strangers on the internet and the very real threat of online grooming."

Friday, 24 June 2016

Christina Hansen, who gave overdoses of morphine and the sedative diazepam to patients, wanted attention, the court heard.

15:46, UK,Friday 24 June 2016

A nurse, dubbed a "devil of death" by prosecutors, has been sentenced to life in prison for murdering three patients and trying to kill a fourth.

Christina Hansen, 31, was found guilty of giving overdoses of morphine and the sedative diazepam to three elderly patients at a hospital in the southern Danish town of Nykobing Falster between 2012 and 2015.

A fourth patient survived, but was also found to have traces of the substances in her blood.

Michael Boolsen, prosecuting, said: "The accused was not an angel of death. She was a devil of death.

"In the prosecution's view, there are no mitigating circumstances in this case."

Under Danish law, a life sentence only allows for a parole hearing after 12 years.

Jorgen Lange, who appealed the verdict, told Danish media that the court's decision was "shocking" given that some of the patients had been terminally ill.

Some of the more than 70 witnesses who gave evidence said they had suspected Hansen of trying to harm patients long before she was detained in March last year. They believed she was in search of drama and attention.

A psychological evaluation found that the nurse was not mentally ill but that she suffered from a personality disorder characterised by "egocentricity" and a "persistent quest for excitement."

Hansen had denied all charges. She was also ordered to pay 425,000 kroner (£46,000) in damages to family members of one victim.

And she must pay 25,000 kroner (£2,700) to the 74-year-old woman who survived the attempt on her life.

Preliminary charges filed against Hansen in August last year over a fourth suspicious death were later dropped.

The 25-year-old university graduate was last spotted at Cadillacs nightclub in Bath during a night out with friends in June 1996.

17:14, UK,Friday 24 June 2016

A man has been arrested on suspicion of the murder of Melanie Hall, who went missing after a night out with friends in Bath in 1996.

Police detained the 45-year-old man on Thursday and he remains in custody for questioning.

Ms Hall, 25, was last seen sitting on a stool at the edge of a dance floor at Cadillacs nightclub in Walcot Street in the early hours of 9 June, 1996.

Her remains were discovered by a workman off the northbound slipway at junction 14 of the M5 at Thornbury, Gloucestershire, in 2009.

Earlier this month Ms Hall's parents offered a £50,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of the person or people responsible for her murder.

Detectives also revealed they had received "potentially significant information" following an appeal on a BBC Crimewatch programme on the 20th anniversary of her disappearance.

Announcing the reward this month, Steve Hall said: "The loss of Melanie has been life-changing for us and we'll never be the same people as we were before Melanie disappeared.

"Melanie's murder has had a terrible impact on our family and I know my wife Pat is tortured by what happened to our daughter, and will never get over it."

Detective Superintendent Andy Bevan said: "Melanie's parents have been informed of the arrest and will continue to be supported and updated on the progress of our inquiry by specialist family liaison officers."

Police have previously arrested nine people in connection with the case but nobody has been charged.

Thursday, 23 June 2016

Former gynaecologist guilty of sex assaults on patients

Aformer gynaecologist has been found guilty of sexually assaulting patients during medical consultations.

Mahash Vidyadhar Patwardhan, 53, from Essex, was convicted of offences against four women he had treated at two London hospitals where he worked between 2008 and 2012.

Woolwich Crown Court heard how he abused his position of trust at the hospitals to sexually assault the women.

The offences occurred at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Greenwich and the Blackheath Hospital in Lewisham.

Patwardhan was struck of the medical register in October 2014 after a General Medical Council (GMC) in October 2014 after complaints relating to three victims were upheld.

Police also began an investigation and he was arrested on 20 November 2014 at Heathrow Airport as he returned to the UK on a flight from India.

As a result of publicity more victims came forward to the police to make complaints against Patwardhan.

He was charged with six counts of sexual assault and also two fraud charges.

Detective Constable Mark Azariah, from the Met’s Sexual Offences, Exploitation and Child Abuse Command at Lewisham, said: “Patwardhan is a highly manipulative individual, having used his position of trust and authority to prey on the victims under his medical care believing that they would be too embarrassed to report such offences to police.

“Thankfully he was mistaken and I commend the victims for their courage in speaking out despite the sensitivity surrounding their personal medical concerns.

He will be sentenced on the 26 July at Woolwich Crown Court.

He was found not guilty on two counts of sexual assault against two further women

An illegal immigrant who carried out a terrifying ten day campaign of sex attacks in south London has been jailed for eight years.

Mehdi Midani, 28, who came to Britain from Algeria, attacked eight lone women aged between 20 and 30 last October.

He molested four women in the space as of just four hours as he stalked the streets of Clapham looking for victims.

Midani followed women busy areas near tube stations to quiet residential areas and then groped them on their own doorsteps.

One woman was assaulted in her hallway, Inner London Crown Court was told.

Midani, of no fixed abode, was jailed having been convicted of six counts of sexual assault and one common assault. He also admitted a seventh charge of sexual assault.

The court heard that the UK Border Agency had no record of Midani entering Britain, and he was told he would be deported after serving his sentence.

Midani refused to talk to police and did not give evidence at his trial.

He was picked out of an identity parade and also by DNA evidence, the court heard.

He claimed in a pre-sentence report he had been high on a cocktail of whisky, vodka and cocaine when he carried out the offences.

He also said he had travelled to Brixton from north London to buy drugs.

Six of the women submitted victim statements to the court saying how the crime had affected them.

Midani caused enormous fear and distress to the local community as he carried out his spate of attacksDetective Inspector Keith Braithwaite

Many told how they were now scared to go out alone after dark and had changed their social lives and work routines as a result of Midani's crimes.

Prosecutor Sally-Ann Hales QC said all the women had been vulnerable.

She said: "They were followed from areas that were busy into quiet residential areas. All apart from one were assaulted late at night and all after darkness.

"CCTV shows that each of these women was targeted by the defendant as they emerged from Tube stations in the area. And they were followed for some considerable distance as they made their way home, but not attacked until they got to their doorstep."

Detective Inspector Keith Braithwaite, from the Met's Serious and Complex Case Team, part of the Sexual Offences, Exploitation and Child Abuse Command, said: “I hope this sentence today sends a clear message that will deter other offenders and give reassurance to members of the public and victims of our determination to bring to account the perpetrators of such dreadful attacks.

“Midani caused enormous fear and distress to the local community as he carried out his spate of attacks. A public appeal was crucial to our investigation and led to information being provided that quickly led to his arrest.”

Haroun caused delays of up to four hours before he was found at the Folkestone end of the tunnel after travelling from Sudan.

12:03, UK,Wednesday 22 June 2016

Abdul Rahman Haroun arrives at Canterbury Crown Court in Kent

A Sudanese man has been sentenced to nine months in jail after walking through the Channel Tunnel from France to Britain.

Abdul Rahman Haroun, who has been granted asylum in the UK, pleaded guilty to "obstructing an engine or a carriage using a railway".

The 40-year-old was caught near the end of the 31-mile tunnel at Folkestone, Kent on 4 August last year.

His walk caused delays of up to four hours for travellers and had a "significant economic consequence", according to prosecutor Philip Bennetts QC.

Haroun made made his way into the tunnel after a perilous journey from Sudan to Egypt, then across the sea from Libya to Italy, before travelling to Calais.

He jumped over the fence surrounding the Eurotunnel line and made his way through the tunnel "walking sometimes on the right and sometimes on the left", Mr Bennetts said.

He added: "He was asked how he had got into the tunnel and he said 'I came from France, always trying to get here'."

After his arrest, he told police through an interpreter: "I came here for protection and to be safe.

"It was the only solution, yeah.

"I didn't have any orders ... there wasn't any other solution."

Haroun was recognised as a refugee and granted asylum on Christmas Eve.

Channel Tunnel operator Eurotunnel criticised the decision and said it could encourage further attempts.

The judge acknowledged Haroun had travelled from Sudan "in a state of desperation" when he decided to walk through the tunnel.

However she said: "The reason why the courts of the United Kingdom take such a serious view of this criminality is that those who enter in this way seek to evade the authorities, who can, therefore, have no check upon who is entering the country.

"In the world in which we live of international crime and terrorism that is a very serious matter.

Thomas Mair, 52, speaks only to confirm his name as he appears at the Old Bailey via videolink.

14:27, UK,Thursday 23 June 2016

The man accused of murdering Labour MP Jo Cox has been told he will face trial from 14 November.

Thomas Mair spoke only to confirm his name as he appeared at the Old Bailey from Belmarsh jail via video link for a brief hearing.

The 52-year-old is accused of shooting and stabbing Mrs Cox, a mother of two young children, in Birstall, West Yorkshire.

She was attacked outside a library where she was staging a constituency surgery last week.

Mair is charged with murder, causing grievous bodily harm, and possession of a gun and a knife.

Mr Justice Saunders set a provisional timetable with the trial to start on 14 November.

The case is being handled under terrorism protocols.

Mair was remanded in custody and is due to enter a plea on 4 October.

Throughout the hearing, he sat taking notes with his head bowed, giving no reaction as his case was discussed.

At an earlier court hearing, he said his name was "death to traitors, freedom for Britain"