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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A mother-of-four who was missing for a week has been discovered dead in a storage unit registered to her estranged husband.

The body of Shakeira Rucker, 37, was found in a unit at Self Storage at 2400 Wiggins Road in Apopka, Florida, on Saturday, said the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.

Rucker’s death has turned into a homicide investigation.

‘Shakeira’s family was notified this evening,’ wrote the sheriff’s office on Facebook. ‘We grieve with them & our detectives are committed to bringing them justice in this case.’

Rucker left behind children aged seven, nine, 16 and 18, according to her sister Dedra Rucker.

‘She was a loving mother to four beautiful children and a victim of senseless violence,’ wrote Dedra in a GoFundMe page to raise money to support the four children.

‘Shakeira was murder by her husband and left lifeless in a storage for 6 days.’

Her sister said the family went on a manhunt but a citizen found the decomposing body first.

‘This was unexpected and has taken a major toll on her children,’ Dedra wrote.

A citizen reported a foul odor coming from the storage unit, which led to the grisly discovery. Shakeira seemed to have died from gunshot wounds, but her autopsy is pending, said Sheriff John Mina.

‘My heart breaks, I can’t imagine the pain and suffering (her family) have been enduring this past week,’ Mina said on Sunday morning, according to WESH.

Rucker’s husband, Cory Hill, 51, is the only suspect in the case and is expected to be charged in her murder, the sheriff said.

‘Cory Hill could have stopped a lot of that pain and suffering by talking to investigators in the very beginning instead of putting them through this week-long nightmare,’ Mina said.

‘The storage unit was registered to him, he had to have known that we would eventually find her in there, so it’s very, very disappointing.’

Shakeira was last seen with Hill at a restaurant in Polk County on November 11. Hours after she was last seen, Hill allegedly went to his ex-girlfriend Angel Milligan’s home and shot at her, and Shakeira was struck in the scuffle.

‘I heard gunfire,’ Milligan told WESH. ‘I felt two of them pass by my face.’

Hill has a criminal record including a murder conviction from a 1992 shooting of a man who stole his car with his baby daughter.

Winter Springs Police Chief Matthew Tracht on Sunday said, ‘It’s not the outcome we expected, but there’s a little bit of closure for Shakeira’s family.’

The GoFundMe page, which was launched to provide Shakeira’s kids ‘with the care, comfort, and resources they need during this incredibly difficult time’, had raised more than $900 as of Monday afternoon.

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A dance teacher has gone on trial accused of having sex with two students and sexually abusing a further seven.

Jonathan Barton, 40, is accused of repeatedly having sex with two students at a school in Argyll, Scotland.

He is also accused of having sex with one of the two at various times when she was aged between 16 and 18 in a car and hotel.

Dumbarton Sheriff Court heard Barton, who denies all the charges against him, also allegedly rubbed his body against another teenage student during private dance lessons multiple times.

His also accused of sexually assaulting another girl at the dance school, who is listed in another charge as his student, on various occasions from when she was only 15.

Barton ‘kneeled in front of her and put his head close to her crotch’, in abuse which is said to have continued for several years.

He is further charged with sexually assaulting five other students at the school, in some cases touching their inner thigh or putting his head near their crotch between 2004 and 2019.

The majority of the alleged victims, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were aged 16 or 17 when the alleged abuse began.

The trial, before Sheriff William Gallacher, continues.

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A former soldier who bit, stabbed and raped a woman in a ‘perverted and cannibalistic’ attack in his apartment has been jailed for 14 years.

Malawian Theodore Mkuzi, 42, put his victim through the terrifying ordeal after taking her back to his home in upmarket Maida Vale, London on January 3 last year.

He savagely bit her lips, nose and face while repeatedly raping her, Southwark crown court heard.

Police arrived at the flat in Greville Place – where apartments can fetch £2 million – to find Mkuzi naked in the living room and the woman in a bath full of blood-stained water.

Mkuzi admitted two counts of rape and two counts of unlawful wounding.

Sentencing Mkuzi, Judge Christopher Hehir referred to the victim’s impact statement.

He said: ‘The long-term effect is clear from her victim impact statement.

‘It is utterly clear that what you did had the most devastating effect on her.

‘She describes her ordeal as being like a horror movie. She describes your conduct towards her as perverted and cannibalistic.

‘I do not think that you are a cannibal, but I understand why she would express herself in that way.

‘You told her that the two of you were going to die that day. Had Yonas Gurja not raised the alarm, and had the police not arrived on time, there is a very real possibility that you would have killed her.

‘You are a dangerous man. You pose a grave risk of physical and psychological harm to women.’

‘You must go to prison and remain in prison for a very long time.’

Matthew Dalton, prosecuting said early on January 3, 2022, the pair had been drinking together with his friend Mr Gurja before the pair had consensual sex.

Later while they were having sex again, Mkuuzi started biting her lips, nose and face with considerable force causing significant pain.

Mr Dalton said: ‘She made clear her discomfort and withdrew her consent.

‘She tried to push him off her, but he was holding her tight and restraining her. He bit her cheeks causing injury. She pleaded with him to stop.’

At this point Mr Gurja came into the room where he confronted Mkuzi.

The prosecutor said: ‘Mr Gurja told Mkuzi to stop. Mkuzi told him not to get involved.

‘Mr Gurja picked up a knife in self-defence. He ran to the lavatory and dropped from the second floor window, injuring himself while landing.

‘Mkuzi said that she and he were going to die that day.

‘Mkuzi obtained a large kitchen knife and stabbed her in the chest. She also sustained an injury to the back of her head.

‘He obtained some bottles of soft drink and poured it over her in an attempt to wash her of her injuries.’

The court heard he then ordered her to get into the bath and then raped her again.

Eventually police arrived to find the woman still in the bath.

Mr Dalton said: ‘The word blood bath is very apt, She was hysterical, her face was swollen and had difficulties communicating with the officers.’

She told the officers that she had been bitten and stabbed by Mkuzi.

Emma-Louise Heath, defending Mkuzi, said: ‘He has put his time in custody to good use. He has attended regular drug and alcohol awareness courses.

‘What Mr Mkuzi has begun to do is to address those issues and those risks that make him a potential risk to the public.’

She said Mkuzi had pleaded guilty and therefore the woman did not have to give evidence.

Ms Mkuzi told the court that Mkuzi had come to the UK from Malawi 20 years ago, and had served in the British armed forces. After this, he worked as an HGV driver.

Mkuzi, of Kilburn, was jailed for 14 years with a six year extended license period.

He will serve at least two thirds of the sentence in custody, and no restraining order was imposed.

Judge Hehir said to Mkuzi: ‘You escaped a life sentence by a whisker.’

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More than 200 people connected to one of Italy’s biggest crime syndicates have been sentenced to hundreds of years in prison.

An Italian tribunal sentenced 207 people to a combined 2,100 years in prison on charges related to their membership in the ’ndrangheta family.

The mafia group is one of the world’s most powerful, extensive and wealthy drug-trafficking groups.

It took over an hour and 40 minutes to read aloud the court’s lengthy verdict, including the acquittal of 131 other defendants.

The drama unfolded in a bunker-stye courtroom in the southern Calabria region, where the mob organization was originally based.

The ’ndrangheta quietly amassed power in Italy and abroad as the Sicilian Mafia lost influence and now holds almost a monopoly on cocaine importation in Europe, according to prosecutors.

The organization also has bases in North and South America and is active in Africa, Italian prosecutors claimed.

Figures connected to the group have also been arrested in recent years around Europe and in Brazil and Lebanon.

The defendants had been charged with crimes that include drug and arms trafficking, extortion and mafia association – a term in Italy’s penal code for members of organised crime groups.

Others were charged with acting in complicity with the ’ndrangheta without actually being a member.

The charges grew out of an investigation of 12 clans linked to a convicted ‘ndrangheta boss.

The central figure, Luigi Mancuso, served 19 years in an Italian prison for his role in leading what investigators allege is one of the ‘ndrangheta’s most powerful crime families, based in the town of Vibo Valentia.

Vincenzo Capomolla, deputy chief prosecutor of Catanzaro, said prosecutors’ overall case held up with the convictions and confirmed the stranglehold the ‘ndrangheta held on Vibo Valentia.

‘The infiltration of the criminal organization in the province of Vibo Valentia was so deep-rooted and so widespread, so alarming, so disturbing that I think it can be noted that there was no aspect of the life of the social economic fabric of the province that was not conditioned by the capacity of the force of intimidation of this so dangerous criminal organization,’ he said.

Giuseppe Di Renzo, defense attorney for several of the defendants, however, noted that more than a third of the original defendants were fully acquitted, while others were found not guilty of some charges.

He criticized the disparate and large number of defendants, saying they showed there was no cohesive thread to the prosecutors’ case.

But Catanzaro’s former chief prosecutor who launched the investigation, Nicola Gratteri, said mafia trials often have to cast wide nets because of the very nature of how the criminal syndicates operate, infiltrating across wide swathes of society.

Several dozen informants in the case came from the ‘ndrangheta, while others formerly belonged to Sicily’s Cosa Nostra.

Awash in cocaine trafficking revenues, the ’ndrangheta has gobbled up hotels, restaurants, pharmacies, car dealerships and other businesses throughout Italy, especially in Rome and the country’s affluent north.

The buying spree spread across Europe as the syndicate sought to launder illicit revenues but also to make ‘clean’ money by running legitimate businesses, including in the tourism and hospitality sectors, investigators alleged.

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A teenage boy was allegedly murdered by a group of his friends after playing with a Ouija board that ‘told them to kill him’.

Jose Mauricio Ospina, 17, was found dead, naked and wrapped face down in a sheet after playing the game with his three best friends in a house in the town of Patio Bonito, Colombia, in April last year.

The game involves using a pointer that is slid around a seance board comprising the letters of the alphabet, and the numbers 0 to 9, supposedly to contact the spirits of the dead.

His death is still being investigated – but one of the participants allegedly said that the ‘board told them to do it’.

Jose’s distraught mother, Claudia Velasquez, is demanding answers as the investigation fails to move forward.

Mum Claudia said that Jose Mauricio had been doing his high school homework on the computer the last time she saw him.

She added: ‘I went out to run an errand and he stayed at home, but he told me that he was going to go to a school friend’s to do some homework.

‘That friend who he went to see, I know him, my son had even stayed there several times to sleep.’

When Claudia returned home around eight, he was not there, and she called him again around 11pm.

She added: ‘I fell asleep and at 4:30am, I woke up anxious because he had not come home yet.’

When Claudia called him once more, police picked up and said that they had the phone in their possession because they were responding to an emergency.

The teen’s autopsy report confirmed that he had been strangled to death and had bruises on his head, and also said that the body was moved after he died.

Local media reported that one of the young people playing the game allegedly said that the board told them to murder someone and that it ‘chose’ Jose.

Another of his friends stated that they had taken LSD before playing the game, but toxicology reports revealed Jose did not have the drug in his system.

The friend, who has not been named, told the authorities: ‘I saw colourful figures; then, my classmates hitting the wall, and then Mauricio on the floor covered in blood. I knew that all of that was a dream.’

Claudia said of her son: ‘He was very judicious, dedicated to his studies, he had good grades, when he didn’t have school he had to go to McDonald’s to work.

‘They took my life from me and I don’t know what happened, I deserve to know the truth.’

Jose’s death is still being investigated.

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It’s fair to say this car has probably seen better days – and the police seem to agree considering they’ve described it as an ‘absolute shed’.

With its bumpers missing and not a number plate in sight on the front, the vehicle has red, yellow and orange spray paint scrawled all over it.

What appeared to once be a Honda Jazz is now in complete disarray.

A wire dangles where the passenger side wing mirror used to be, paint-covered stickers line the body and it looks more like a graffiti artist’s practice wall than a car.

The bonnet looks like it’s bent out of shape, a windscreen wiper is missing, paint is partially covering the headlights and things are generally just an utter mess.

So you may not be stunned to find out the dilapidated car has been taken off the road for good after traffic cops spotted someone driving it around Watford.

Quite how they thought they were going to go unnoticed is anyone’s guess.

Even when Hertfordshire Police officers told the driver to pull over, they still tried to get away.

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Hertfordshire’s road policing unit said on X, formerly Twitter: ‘PG9 prohibition placed on this absolute shed after it failed to stop for officers in Watford this morning. 

‘Thankfully the driver has been detained without incident.’

A PG9 means that if a DVSA vehicle examiner ‘finds a vehicle unfit for service owing to defects, they may prohibit the driving of the vehicle on the road immediately’.

We can probably all agree this car is indeed ‘unfit for service’ judging by its appearance and litany of missing parts.

After images of the car were shared on social media, the post was quickly met with a flurry of responses mocking the ‘pile of s***’.

‘My shed is offended to be compared to such a monstrosity,’ one user quipped.

‘I ask that you apologise to sheds everywhere for stereotyping them all into a category of being of poor quality and poor heritage.’

Another said: ‘To be fair I’m surprised it managed to start let alone fail to stop.’

‘A Honda Jazzy!’ one joked, while someone else asked: ‘What drew your attention to it first, the vomit effect paint job, the fact it was missing bits, or something else?’

Last week, police were shocked to find 15-people squeezed into one car when they pulled it over.

Earlier this year, a man led officers on the ‘world’s slowest ever police chase’ with shredded tyres.

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Murdered James Bulger’s dad has voiced his fury after killer Jon Venables was reportedly allowed to dodge a parole hearing to ‘protect his mental health’.  

Venables, now 41, avoided listening to victim impact statements from heartbroken family members, including James parents, read at the private hearing.  

Mr Bulger, 57, slammed the prison authorities for allowing the move.  

He told The Sun: ‘How can these people even consider releasing Venables from jail if he isn’t made to face up to the reality of the vile crimes he has committed? 

‘How can they not insist he hears what I have to say?’ 

Mr Bulger said it was ‘part of his healing’ that Venables hears how grieving relatives have been affected by the murder of the two-year-old in Bootle, Merseyside in 1993.  

He was snatched from outside a butcher’s shop by Venables and Robert Thompson – who were both 10 at the time.  

They led the helpless toddler on a two-and-a-half mile walk to the village of Walton, before subjecting him to a barbaric death which sent shockwaves around the nation.   

Both Venables and Thompson were detained ‘at her majesty’s pleasure’ for a minimum of eight years before being released on a life licence in 2001. 

They were handed new identities and have been given lifelong anonymity after a parole board ruled they were no longer a threat to the public.  

But Venables returned to prison in 2010 after being convicted of possessing child abuse images.  

He was released in 2013 but recalled four years later, again for possessing child abuse images, and has remained in prison.  

Now a parole board is due to decide whether he should be freed again.  

Heartbroken Mr Bulger added: ‘It’s just so twisted that we are the ones hurting for the rest of our lives, but he is the one who continues to be protected.’  

James’ dad and mum, Denise Fergus, 55, who both fear Venables will reoffend, were banned from attending the hearing.  

A source told The Sun: ‘It is deeply unfair and there is a sense of unease about what has happened so far.   

‘[James’ parents] will both say Venables’ rights have been put above theirs. 

‘If he is released, he would know all about them but they would know nothing about him. 

‘He even knows where James’ grave is, for heaven’s sake.’ 

The parole board said the ‘vast majority’ of hearings took place in private.  

Ms Fergus branded Venables a ‘monster’ as she described suffering ‘three decades of hell’ after her son’s murder.  

‘Keep people safe from this monster, because that’s what he is, and don’t give him what he wants,’ she said.  

‘If he goes on to commit more crimes after you release him, it will be on your shoulders. So, I’m just asking you to do the right thing.’ 

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Greggs has appeared in a top five list of retailers hit by shoplifting and theft in one of the country’s biggest police regions.  

The bakery chain has been one of the high street shops hardest hit in a table headed by ALDI and then Tesco, ASDA and One Stop.

More than 100 offences were recorded at its branches by West Midlands Police between January 23 and October 23 this year.  

Overall, the regional snapshot shows that thousands of reported offences since the start of 2022 resulted in no further action with no suspect being identified. The force responded to the figures by saying it is ‘committed’ to tackling theft and the underlying causes.

Greggs, which has 20 branches in Birmingham alone, is among retailers on the frontline of a rising tide of shoplifting and theft.

The scourge has been blamed on the cost of living crisis and organised crime gangs, with differing views on which is the main factor. 

The pastry seller was reported at the weekend to have removed doughnuts from display boxes to prevent them from being pinched at a store in East Ham, east London. In September, a store in Archway, north London, was forced to padlock drinks in a fridge to prevent thefts, according to The Sun.

Greggs was fifth in the list with 108 recorded thefts in the West Midlands, compared with 173 at Aldi, 140 at Tesco, 115 at ASDA and 110 at One Stop.

Last year Tesco was top, followed by ALDI, Sainsbury’s, ASDA and Boots.  

While Greggs has dozens of stores in the region, they are tiny by comparison with a far smaller range of products.

Overall, the number of shoplifting and theft offences at shops recorded by the force rose from 3,447 between January and October last year to 4,262 over the same period in 2023.  

Groceries were the most targeted item, followed by household goods. 

Greggs is among retailers who are bearing the brunt of the rising tide of thefts and associated behaviour including aggression and violence.   

A 27% increase in retail crime and a £2.8 billion loss from customer theft in the last financial year has been described as ‘the tip of the iceberg’ by the British Independent Retailers’ Association. 

Graham Wynn, assistant director of business regulation at the British Retail Consortium, told Metro.co.uk: ‘Shoplifting is not a victimless crime — it costs retailers, and ultimately customers, almost £1 billion a year, money that would be better used to reduce prices for everyone.  

‘Retailers are working hard trying to tackle this issue, spending hundreds of millions on security staff, CCTV, security tags, and other anti-crime measures. More police action is needed as without an effective deterrent, criminals will continue to steal with impunity.’

The figures also show that in 5,596 cases across the two years, a named suspect was not identified, with the next most common outcome being 1,260 cases where ‘evidential difficulties’ prevented any progress.

In 1,022 cases, charges or summons were brought.

The youngest suspect in the data released by West Midlands Police was aged nine and the oldest 71. 

A spokesperson for the force said: ‘We fully understand the impact and frustration of shoplifting on businesses of all sizes.

‘It’s a crime which can affect livelihoods. We’re committed to reducing shop thefts and carry out high visibility patrols in retail areas, along with activity to identify and catch offenders. 

‘As part of our new more local policing model we’re in the process of ensuring more investigations are referred to the neighbourhood team.

‘Using local officer knowledge we aim to identify suspects and any emerging trends or hotspots quicker. 

‘We pursue prosecution action where appropriate but we also look at the underlying causes of shoplifting and have invested in rehabilitation and intervention programmes to help reduce these offences. By breaking the cycle of offending we can help reduce crime on our streets.’ 

Tesco, Aldi and Boots are among retailers taking part in a new partnership together with the police and government to try and stop shoplifting by organised gangs. Project Pegasus, which has the backing of the Home Office, will involve sharing intelligence across a single platform to better identify repeat offenders. 

Metro.co.uk has approached Greggs for comment. 

MORE : Map reveals England and Wales’ hardest hit areas in shoplifting ‘epidemic’

An urgent warning has been issued to parents to avoid getting caught out by fake Black Friday deals.

Parents across the UK might be looking to secure a bargain for their children ahead of Christmas – but online scams are rife.

The amount of money lost by people being conned on the internet has risen to £41million in the first half of 2023.

According to research by UK finance, more than 27% of parents have been swindled by paying for goods or services that never arrive.

Criminals often advertise tech such as phones or computers at low prices to attract buyers, persuade them to make bank transfers and then disappear once the payment is made.

They may do this either through fake websites or fake ads on social media, as well as through auction websites.

‘More and more criminals are using fake ads and websites to target their victims,’ said Ben Donaldson, managing director of economic crime at UK Finance.

‘And particularly at this time of year, too many parents who are trying to bring joy to their children are falling victim to these ruthless crimes.

‘The consequences go beyond financial, because the deception involved can cause real emotional and psychological damage.

‘So, this Black Friday, when you’re searching for gifts for your children and loved ones, take extra care online.

‘Check sellers thoroughly before buying and make sure you follow the Take Five to Stop Fraud advice – stop, challenge, protect.’

Black Friday falls on November 24 this year.

Research showed that only a quarter of parents surveyed said they always research sellers before they buy.

UK Finance’s recent half-year fraud report found that purchase scams are the most common kind of authorised fraud, accounting for two-thirds of cases.

The volume of purchase scam cases has grown by 43%, from 53,907 in the first half of 2022, to 76,946 in the first half of 2023.

The amount stolen from victims in this period also rose by 31% to £40.9 million.

Data also indicated that 77% of authorised push payment (APP) scams start on online platforms.

MORE : Games Inbox: Buying a Nintendo Switch for Black Friday 2023, Mario Kart 9 DIY, and Bluey Xboxes

MORE : Sleep easy knowing you saved hundreds on these Black Friday Emma mattress deals

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A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a woman who was found with serious injuries at her home in Yorkshire died.

Police launched a manhunt for the suspect after they were called to a property in the Ravensthorpe area of Dewsbury at 6.43pm on Sunday.

Officers discovered a woman in her 20s inside who had been badly hurt and she succumbed to her injuries a short while later.

Just after midnight, West Yorkshire Police said it was carrying out ‘significant enquiries’ to find and arrest the suspect.

Footage from the scene showed a huge police presence and an air ambulance landed near the house in Dearnley Street.

Dozens of armed officers were in the area as part of a ‘large scale operation’ and a number of cordons were in place.

Cops said the manhunt ended at around 5.50am on Monday when they detained a 35-year-old man.

A police helicopter was also spotted circling overhead.

The man has not yet been charged and the victim is yet to be named.

Officers remain at the scene on Monday and the street is taped off.

Detective chief superintendent Sarah Jones, of the homicide and major enquiry team, said ‘a number of enquiries remain ongoing today into what has clearly been a very serious incident’.

DCI Jones said: ‘We recognise the concern and worry this will have caused to residents in the local area and are conducting an extensive investigation into what took place.

‘A man has now been arrested on suspicion of murder and we are not looking for anyone else in connection with the matter which is being treated as a domestic related incident.

‘Local NPT officers will be conducting extra patrols in the local area today to reassure residents.

‘I would ask anyone who can assist police enquiries to contact the Homicide and Major Enquiry Team on 101 referencing crime number 13230642219 or online at http://www.westyorkshire.police.uk/livechat.

‘Information can also be given anonymously to the independent Crimestoppers charity on 0800 555 111.’

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