TO TRY AND ABOLISH THE MINIMUM LIFE TARIFF. PLEASE SIGN OUR PETITION BY CLICKING THE LINK.
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/to-abolish-the-minimum-term-tariff-and-overview
Friday, 29 January 2016
BREAKING NEWS: Northants Police officer found GUILTY of murdering his wife
Adrian Goldsmith
A Northamptonshire Police Officer has been found guilty of murdering his wife in their home in Northampton.
Adrian ‘Otis’ Goldsmith, aged 50, was convicted of the murder of his wife Jill, aged 49, in the porch of their home next to Wootton Hall police headquarters in Northampton on March 26, last year.
Jill Goldsmith
A jury at Stafford Crown Court took more than five hours to return their uninamous verdict after hearing three weeks of evidence.
After the verdict was read out, Goldsmith sat down and put his head in his hands.
During the trial the court heard Goldsmith, hit his wife repeatedly on the head with a variety of weapons including a mallet, a paint tin and abox battery.
Prosecutor John Lloyd-Jones QC said Goldsmith held her with such force he fractured a bone in her neck.
The jury were played a 999 call he made to police claiming his wife attacked him.
In the recording, Goldsmith said: “My wife tried to kill me, I think she’s dead.”
In interview Goldsmith said she had come at him with the knife “like a whirling dervish” and stabbed him.
The court heard the couple, who married in May 2014, had a number of rows throughout their relationship and had considered divorce.
Mr Lloyd-Jones said: “The relationship was at times a happy one but after their marriage their relationship became beset with difficulties.
“They would frequently argue and it’s fair to say they both had their fair share of personal problems.
“Jill was undergoing the menopause and the reduction in her sex drive was something that annoyed and frustrated the defendant
“We say this man lost his temper and in that rage he unlawfully killed Jill Goldsmith using a variety of weapons and he quite plainly intended to kill her.
“Jill Goldsmith was the victim of a sustained blunt force assault in which multiple blows were directed at her head.”
Mr Lloyd-Jones said it Jill Goldsmith only weighed 6st 9lbs and was 5ft 2ins and it “would have been only too easy” for the police officer to restrain her in a “non-fatal way.”
He said: “The defendant had injuries but none of these were even remotely life-threatening. He had a number of superficial stab injuries but it is the prosecution’s case that these were self-inflicted to mimic a knife attack.
“He fabricated evidence to make it look like he had been stabbed by his wife to try and fool his colleagues and you the jury.”
Goldsmith was awarded a Police Long Service and Good Conduct Medal by the force in 2009 when he was a Detective Constable and had worked in the Dangerous Person Management Unit (DPMU).
At the time of his arrest he was a Police Constable after volunteering to return to uniform.
R.I.P
Great Train Robber Dies In Spain, Aged 86
The 86-year-old was part of a gang that stole £2.6m from a Royal Mail train travelling from Glasgow to London in 1963.
14:09, UK, Friday 29January 2016
£2.6m was taken from a Glasgow to London mail train in 1963
Gordon Goody, one of the gang that carried out the Great Train Robbery, has died in southern Spain.
The 86-year-old ran a beach bar in the town of Mojacar after serving time for the 1963 heist - one of the most famous in British criminal history.
He died at his home on Friday morning, surrounded by friends, a statement from Mojacar's town hall said.
Goody was released from prison in 1975
It paid a glowing tribute to him and did not specify the cause of death.
"All who knew him were struck by his friendliness, his love for his friends and family and the many pets he rescued from the street," the statement said.
1/31
A recent image of the Bridego Bridge near Ledburn in Buckinghamshire which was used in the robbery.
Gallery: Great Train Robbery 50th Anniversary
The train at Cheddington station before it was attacked in the night by 15 armed robbers.
Photo dated 10 August, 1963 of coaches of the Glasgow to Euston train involved in the £2.5m mail train heist two days earlier.
The interior of the Royal Mail carriage where the Great Train Robbery took place.
The train was stopped on a bridge during the robbery so that it could be unloaded.
A recent image of the Bridego Bridge near Ledburn in Buckinghamshire which was used in the robbery.
Gallery: Great Train Robbery 50th Anniversary
The train at Cheddington station before it was attacked in the night by 15 armed robbers.
"He was a complete gentleman, far removed from the image that those who didn't know him might have had from those difficult years that marked a large part of his life.
"We will always remember his smile and his big heart that was always open to those around him."
Goody, one of the last surviving members of the gang, was sentenced to 30 years for his part in stealing £2.6m from a Royal Mail train travelling from Glasgow to London.
The former hairdresser was released in 1975 and set up a beach bar four years later in Spain.
The gang, masterminded by Bruce Reynolds, stopped the overnight train as it passed through the Buckinghamshire countryside near Cheddington.
It was driven over a mile to Bridego Bridge, where the robbers unloaded £2,631,684 in used notes - worth around £46m in today's money.
1/21
Biggs in March 2013, gesturing to photographers as he arrives to attend the funeral of the mastermind of the robbery, Bruce Reynolds.
Gallery: Biggs: Criminal's Life In Pictures
Ronnie Biggs with police after he was arrested not long after the Great Train Robbery in 1963.
Police mugshots of Biggs are seen on display at The National Archives.
This is the Glasgow-London Royal mail train attacked by Biggs and the rest of the gang.
Train driver Jack Mills, the hero of the attack, rests at home after the robbery. He never worked again.
Biggs in March 2013, gesturing to photographers as he arrives to attend the funeral of the mastermind of the robbery, Bruce Reynolds.
Gallery: Biggs: Criminal's Life In Pictures
Ronnie Biggs with police after he was arrested not long after the Great Train Robbery in 1963.
The train driver, Jack Mills, was struck with an iron bar and died a few years later. :: Ronnie Biggs: Great Train Robber Dies Aged 84
Twelve members of the gang were jailed for a total of more than 300 years.
More than one broke out of prison, including Ronnie Biggs, who spent over 30 years on the run before he finally returned to Britain in 2001 to face arrest.
Reynolds returned in 1968, and was arrested in Torquay and jailed for 25 years.
Promoted Stories
Cult Leader's Daughter: 'He Was A Psychopath'
Katy Morgan-Davies, who spent decades as Aravindan Balakrishnan's captive, has described him as a narcissist who loves violence.
The daughter of the cult leader who kept women captive for decades using violence, cruelty and sexual abuse has described him as a "narcissistic psychopath ... obsessed with controlling people".
Waiving her anonymity for the first time to speak to Sky News, Katy Morgan-Davies explained how Aravindan Balakrishnan cruelly deprived her of any contact with the outside world for three decades, and of even knowing which of the cult's members was her own mother.
Balakrishnan, who has now been sentenced to 23 years in prison for two counts of cruelty and false imprisonment for his treatment of Ms Morgan-Davies, and for the indecent assault, rape and assault of other women in the cult, kept her a virtual prisoner in the various homes the group occupied around south London.
Aravindan Balakrishnan kept his daughter captive for decades
"My earliest memories are of him being violent towards me and other people in the cult," Ms Morgan-Davies said of Balakrishnan, whom she knew only as "Bala".
"He loved violence, and those totalitarian dictatorships. He wanted to be like that - one of those dictators like Stalin, Mao or Pol Pot.
1/4
This Brixton restaurant was once a bookshop and the home of his collective
Gallery: Cult Leader Found Guilty Of Raping Followers
Balakrishnan pictured with the collective
Balakrishnan pictured in 1970
One of the several houses Balakrishnan's collective lived in over the years
This Brixton restaurant was once a bookshop and the home of his collective
Gallery: Cult Leader Found Guilty Of Raping Followers
Balakrishnan pictured with the collective
"(He wanted) everyone to listen to him - if they don't, he can kill them with impunity."
Now aged 32, Ms Morgan-Davies finally escaped from the cult in 2013 after she and two other members were rescued by the police and charities they had contacted after memorising a helpline number they had seen on TV.
Others, who had joined the cult in the 1970s when it was known as "The Workers Institute", had escaped years before - including two who gave evidence against Balakrishnan at his trial.
Two of the women died while living there, including Ms Morgan-Davies' mother Sian Davies, who died after falling from an open window in 1997.
Ms Morgan-Davies, who only discovered her mother's true identity after her death, said one of the saddest parts of her life was the cruelty she experienced at her hands.
Her mother, like the other women in the commune, was encouraged to spy on Ms Morgan-Davies and report to Balakrishnan, often resulting in violent punishment.
"There was no concept of father and mother. (Everyone in the commune) were just all comrades," Ms Morgan-Davies explained.
00:00/08:14
Advert
Buffering
Video:Cult Leader's Daughter Talks To Sky
"Whilst my mother was alive, there was no affection between us. It was not like I missed her when she passed away. In a way when she fell through the window, things got better.
"Because she was one of the worst bullies, when she was not there things got better. There was less reporting, and so there was less violence."
Ms Morgan-Davies explained how her mother's family had described her as a "very nice person" - and she said Balakrishnan robbed them of any connection by turning Ms Davies into a "shadow of her former self".
One of the ways Balakrishnan controlled the members of the cult was through the invention of an omnipotent mind-control machine, which they knew as "Jackie".
She explained: "He said if I did something wrong, others and me, we would be killed by Jackie. If he intervened by slapping us and beating us, then Jackie would think that enough had been done and not kill us. So we should be thankful that he is hurting us... because we would be saved from Jackie."
Ms Morgan-Davies said that as she grew older and developed an interest in men, she was forced to report her thoughts and fantasies to Balakrishnan, prompting further threats of retaliation from Jackie.
Despite the threats, Ms Morgan-Davies attempted to escape almost a decade before her eventual rescue, running to a police station in 2005. However, the police sent her back to the commune.
1/14
Gallery: Letters And Diaries Written By Cult Leader's Daughter
The daughter of cult leader Aravindan Balakrishnan who was falsely imprisoned for 30 years wrote him a letter upon her release
In it she talks of being "Cursed - insulted - denigrated - excluded - beaten up - caged like a wild animal"
"You have degraded me, humiliated me, demoralised me and insulted me way beyond my endurance," she writes
She talks of being "threatened with torture and death" if she ever disagreed with him
Gallery: Letters And Diaries Written By Cult Leader's Daughter
The daughter of cult leader Aravindan Balakrishnan who was falsely imprisoned for 30 years wrote him a letter upon her release
"The police persuaded me to call (Balakrishnan) and to go back," Ms Morgan-Davies said. "I had no choice."
Asked why her complaint was not taken more seriously, Ms Morgan-Davies shrugged. "Why did they send me back? It was a bank holiday."
She described how other opportunities to help those in the sect had been missed, adding: "The cult was very clever at hiding what they did not want other people to know."
Ms Morgan-Davies - wearing her hair in blonde curls and dressed in a bright blue jumper with a jewelled broach - said she is now learning the basics of ordinary life for the first time.
"Just being able to walk out the door on my own, walk down the street, make friends with people, talk to people without permission, say what I want without fear of being killed or cursed, wear what I want to wear, pierce my ears, dye my hair. Just small little things - it's so amazing. :: You can watch a special report, Katy: My Life In Captivity, on Sky News at 6.30pm.
Maoist Cult Leader Jailed For 23 Years
Aravindan Balakrishnan carried out a "brutal" campaign of violence and "sexual degradation" against women for more than 30 years.
17:37, UK, Friday 29January 2016
Balakrishnan brainwashed his followers to believe he had God-like powers
A Maoist cult leader who raped followers and held his daughter captive for three decades has been jailed for 23 years.
Judge Deborah Taylor told 75-year-old Aravindan Balakrishnan he had "shown no remorse whatsoever" for his "grave and serious crimes".
When the Maoist commune called the Workers Institute, based in Brixton, south London, was raided in 1978, Balakrishnan dominated and imposed his will on a small group of women for the next 35 years.
"You turned into a largely house-bound demi-god or dictator," the judge said.
Describing the full brutality of the abuse he inflicted on his victims, she said he "engendered a climate of fear, jealousy and competition for approval".
00:00/08:14
Advert
Buffering
Video:Cult Leader's Daughter Talks To Sky
The sentencing came as his daughter, waiving her anonymity for the first time, told Sky News how he cruelly deprived her of any contact with the outside world.
Katy Morgan-Davies described her father as a as a "narcissistic psychopath... obsessed with controlling people".
The court heard that at the age of 14, Balakrishnan told her she was responsible for her mother's death.
Judge Taylor said his treatment of her amounted to "a catalogue of mental and physical abuse", adding: "You deprived her of love."
Ms Morgan-Davies was terrified if she went out of the house that she would spontaneously combust or be killed by death squads.
1/4
This Brixton restaurant was once a bookshop and the home of his collective
Gallery: Cult Leader Found Guilty Of Raping Followers
Balakrishnan pictured with the collective
Balakrishnan pictured in 1970
One of the several houses Balakrishnan's collective lived in over the years
This Brixton restaurant was once a bookshop and the home of his collective
Gallery: Cult Leader Found Guilty Of Raping Followers
Balakrishnan pictured with the collective
The court heard how he brainwashed his followers into thinking he had God-like powers.
A doctor's assessment concluded he has a "narcissistic personality disorder" and a "grandiose" sense of his own self-importance.
He invented a supernatural force called Jackie who he said could trigger natural disasters if he was disobeyed. Cult Leader's Daughter: 'He Was A Psychopath'
Known as Comrade Bala, Balakrishnan carried out a "brutal" campaign of violence and "sexual degradation" against women for many years, the court heard.
1/14
Gallery: Letters And Diaries Written By Cult Leader's Daughter
The daughter of cult leader Aravindan Balakrishnan who was falsely imprisoned for 30 years wrote him a letter upon her release
In it she talks of being "Cursed - insulted - denigrated - excluded - beaten up - caged like a wild animal"
"You have degraded me, humiliated me, demoralised me and insulted me way beyond my endurance," she writes
She talks of being "threatened with torture and death" if she ever disagreed with him
Gallery: Letters And Diaries Written By Cult Leader's Daughter
The daughter of cult leader Aravindan Balakrishnan who was falsely imprisoned for 30 years wrote him a letter upon her release
He was convicted of a string of sex attacks, cruelty to a child under 16 and false imprisonment following a trial at London's Southwark Crown Court at the end of last year.
Balakrishnan was also found guilty of two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm (ABH).
His wife, Chandra Balakrishnan, speaking outside court, called his sentence a "cruel miscarriage of justice" and said Aravindan was "innocent of the lies". :: You can watch a special report, Katy: My Life In Captivity, on Sky News at 6.30pm.
