Crime Correspondent

South London men face furniture drug smuggling charges

Six men have gone on trial accused of conspiring to smuggle more than £2.5m of cocaine into the country. Kevin Hill, 27, of Cartmel Gardens, Morden, Wayne Smith, 19, of Westmoreland Way, Mitcham and Carl Charles, 33, of Yorkshire Road, Mitcham, face charges of attemtping to import 13.5kg of the drug. Three other men Craig Hughes, 35, from Orpington, Conrad Crandon, 55, from Edmonton and Terence Tremblett, 32, from Brixton, also face the same charge. The offences date back to October and November, in 2009, when border agency officers at Tilbury Docks, in Essex, flagged up a container holding a number of items of wicker furniture and brush mats. After closer inspection, the jury heard, the officers found the brush mats had been injected with cocaine which, when separated, came to a total of more than £2.5m. Simon Wild, prosecuting, told the court that a respectable removal firm, called Grants of Cheam, based in Coomber Lane, Croydon, had allegedly received a phone call from a Keith Thompson in late October, 2009, who said he wanted to store a shipment. Grants of Cheam, unknowingly, agreed to take on the shipment but they did not hear from Mr Thompson for two weeks, the court heard. On November 10, 2009, Mr Thompson allegedly arranged for the furniture and mats to be delivered and they arrived that day. There followed a series of arrests after the items had reached Croydon and all six men were charged with conspiracy to smuggle, which they all deny. The trial, which started at Croydon Crown Court on Wednesday (September 7), is expected to last three weeks.

South London men face furniture drug smuggling charges

Six men have gone on trial accused of conspiring to smuggle more than £2.5m of cocaine into the country. Kevin Hill, 27, of Cartmel Garde...

GANGWAR in central Dublin exploded into violence as two separate gang feuds ignited

<img alt="" height="393" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-ScZVlxtYeYA/TmntHMeXcxI/AAAAAAAABNY/J4gp_fwagzQ/%25255BUNSET%25255D.jpg" style="float: left;" width="236" />streets of north inner city Dublin are among the most heavily policed areas of the country because of the bitter feud that has claimed five lives. But the gang war -- sparked when paedophile gangster Christy Griffin was charged with raping his girlfriend's daughter -- is not the only feud which has blighted the area. Another north inner city war has been raging since 2006, resulting in two murders. Like the Christy Griffin feud, the separate Summerhill feud is deeply entrenched, motivated by astonishing levels of hatred and revenge. The last murder linked to either feud was in June, when Michael Taylor (53) was shot six times in the head and chest with a handgun as he stood outside a caravan in a park in scenic Donabate, north Co Dublin. Taylor was not known to gardai for involvement in organised crime but was involved in feud-related incidents over five years. The first murder linked to the Summerhill feud happened in 2007, but full details of it can't be disclosed here for legal reasons. Taylor was closely associated with a man who was questioned about that murder on the northside. The feud began when two criminals in their 20s from the north inner city were involved in a bitter row over a woman in late 2006. Family members on both sides then got involved. Cars and motorbikes belonging to one side were damaged in a vandalism incident which directly led to an associate of Michael Taylor being stabbed three times while he walked in the north inner city with a small child. He received only minor injuries -- but less than a week later the suspected knifeman was shot dead in revenge. A month later a hand grenade was thrown at the home of a family associated with Michael Taylor in Summerhill. Miraculously, none of the 10 occupants was injured in the attack, which came a night after the two rival groups clashed in the Mater Hospital as one family visited a relative. In that incident, a woman was stabbed in the hand while a man suffered head wounds. Abused In another, one of the main protagonists was found with a knuckle-duster in his back pocket after being searched by gardai. He claimed he had the weapon for his own protection. Then, in December 2007, a female associate of the first murder victim was caught with a loaded pistol as she drove through the north inner city. The woman, in her 30s, was given a three-year suspended sentence after Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard she got the gun after her associate was shot dead and there were serious threats against her life. There can be no doubt about the vicious nature of the 'Summerhill feud'. But it is the gang war that started after mob boss Christy Griffin was arrested and charged with raping a young girl that has made most of the headlines. Griffin was convicted and sentenced to life in prison in April 2007. At that stage, once-loyal comrades had turned on each other. Two tense trials followed during which gardai were forced to set up an armed checkpoint outside the victim's family home. This brave woman, who gave crucial evidence, had been regularly sexually abused by Griffin from the age of eight to 16. While this reign of sexual terror was going on, Griffin became one of Ireland's most prolific armed robbers, a senior member of a gang of over 30 men and women who made a fortune robbing from cargo containers in Dublin's docklands and from drug dealing. Everything changed when Griffin (42) was charged with the sex offences in 2004. In a further blow for the gangster, his brother 'Collie' was shot dead in a botched post office robbery in Lusk, Co Dublin. When the jury failed to reach a verdict at his first trial at the Central Criminal Court, in May 2006, there were violent scenes outside the Four Courts when associates of Griffin clashed with family friends of the rape victim in front of frightened onlookers. Throughout that summer, tensions mounted in the north city, and it wouldn't be long before the dispute erupted into all-out war. Gerard 'Batt' Byrne (26), a key ally of the rape victim's family, became the first fatality when he was gunned down in Dublin's IFSC on December 13, 2006. A fortnight later, small-time crook Stephen Ledden (28) was coldly executed in a revenge attack as he slept on a couch. By this time, Griffin had moved from his north inner city base to Swords, where he survived separate grenade and gun attacks. These were followed by revenge attacks on the rival faction. Handing him a life sentence,for his litany of crimes, Judge Paul Carney, who was placed under armed garda protection for the trial, delivered a scathing judgment, describing Griffin's previous record as "horrendous". But the life sentence did not end the feuding. With both sides having links to other crime gangs across the country, including all of Dublin's crime syndicates and Limerick's deadly McCarthy/Dundon crew, the factions had the firepower and muscle to continue the violence. Paranoid The Griffin-backed mobsters were determined to avenge the death of Stephen Ledden, killed in a case of mistaken identity. They got their chance in July 2010, when Ledden's killer, Stephen 'Madser' Byrne (32) was gunned down in broad daylight at the junction of Sheriff Street and St Laurence's Place East. Byrne, from Mariner's Port, Sheriff Street, knew his life was in grave danger after he'd shot Ledden dead, instead of targeting another man. After his murder, Madser's dad Noel explained the paranoid life his son had been leading. "He couldn't go outside the door. Anytime he wanted to go out he asked me to go with him. He phoned me on the night be died and I said no. I said I wasn't able to go out because I was not well and that we would go out some other night. So he went out on his own and this is what happened. He was a prisoner in his own home," he recalled. "I knew he was going to get one man, or one man was going to get him. I knew it was going to happen. The police had told him there was a contract on his head and he knew who was going to do it." By the time of his murder, 'Madser' had built up 30 criminal convictions, including a 12-year sentence for a string of armed robberies. Byrne was one of three first cousins murdered in the bloody feud. 'Batt' Byrne was shot dead in 2006 and Aiden Byrne (32) was shot dead in February 2010. Separately, Madser's brother, David (26), died in July 2009, after being hit over the head with a sock filled with batteries in Mountjoy prison. His body was then desecrated by criminals who broke into an inner city funeral home and wrote 'Rats' across his forehead. The murder of Stephen 'Madser' Byrne was the last killing linked to the Christy Griffin feud. Sources believe that a reason for this is massive garda raids in November 2010 that targeted members of the faction opposed to the rapist Griffin's mob. Only a month before the raids, Gary O'Reilly (34), a nephew of Griffin, was lucky to escape with his life when he was shot in the arm and leg in an attack at his home in Swords.Within an hour of the O'Reilly attack, a man from the opposing faction was given a severe hiding by a gang of men in the north inner city after dropping his children at school. Weeks later, in an unprecedented show of force, on the morning of November 8 last, over 300 gardai met at Garda Headquarters, Phoenix Park and in Wexford and Cork stations from 4am before raiding over 30 locations in a co-ordinated pre-dawn operation. They searched 33 addresses in Dublin, Cavan, Wexford, Cork and Kildare. Some 13 people, including all of the key targets, were arrested -- nine of them in Dublin, and two in both Cork and Wexford. Detectives seized a small quantity of cocaine and confiscated mobile phones, computers and bulletproof vests. Records linked to property investments were also taken from the offices of solicitors and accountants by members of the Criminal Assets Bureau. The last major shooting incident linked to the feud happened on January 25 when shots were fired at the home of slain hitman Stephen 'Madser' Byrne. The garda response to this incident was prompt and less than 24 hours later. "Gardai have well and truly got to the grips with the situation," said a source.

GANGWAR in central Dublin exploded into violence as two separate gang feuds ignited

streets of north inner city Dublin are among the most heavily policed areas of the country because of the bitter feud that has claimed fiv...

Cops make big arms find in Las Cuevas

Police yesterday made a major discovery of 15 high-powered firearms and more than 10,000 rounds of assorted ammunition—the largest since the state of emergency was declared two weeks ago. Officers, in search of marijuana, discovered a cache of arms buried two miles in the Rincon Forest, Las Cuevas. The guns, wrapped in plastic and newspapers, were greased. Detectives said the firearms belonged to a notorious gang leader. Officers of the North Eastern Division said they received a tip-off and headed to the forested area around 4 am. The exercise was headed by Supt John Daniel and included Sgts Stephen Dorridge, Daryl LaPierre, Cpls Dale Emmanuel, Andrew Stannisclaus and PC Goyton Ramcharan. Detectives said the firearms belonged to a “notorious” gang leader. They claimed that since the state of emergency was declared, several gang members had fled to the north coast. Investigators said the firearms would be sent for ballistic testing. No one was detained, but investigators said an arrest was imminent. They said officers of the Crime Investigations Unit would continue inquiries and also conduct forensic analysis on the seized firearms. At yesterday’s post-Cabinet news conference, National Security Minister John Sandy commended the lawmen on the seizure. Meanwhile, Customs and Excise Division seized five disassembled rifles at the TTPost facility in Piarco. A release said a package from the United States arrived for trans-shipment to Thailand on Tuesday. Upon X-ray, the package contained what appeared to be firearm components. The package was declared as “used motorcycle parts.” It was handed over to the Preventive Branch of Customs and Excise where an examination was done in the presence of army and police personnel. “Investigations are ongoing in conjunction with officers of the Organised Crime, Narcotics and Firearms Bureau in Thailand and the United States,” the release said.  Meanwhile, a 50-year-old retired soldier was up to late yesterday under interrogation after a recently-issued radical design army kit was found at his home in Lopinot Village. Police said the suspect left the army in 1985. That exercise was led by Northern Division officers and included Supt Samuel Bullen, Insp Ramnarie Seecharan and acting Sgt Ganga Singhons. The guns, ammunition and other items found yesterday were:  Two self-loading rifles;  four pump-action shotguns; one 1.25 rifle, three 303 rifles; one mini Uzi; one Uzi; one Tec 9; one flare gun; a nine-millimetre submachine gun; 10,000 rounds of assorted ammunition; two bulletproof vests; a gun telescope; one kilogramme of marijuana; and One ski mask.

Cops make big arms find in Las Cuevas

Police yesterday made a major discovery of 15 high-powered firearms and more than 10,000 rounds of assorted ammunition—the largest since t...

Elderly fugitive sentenced on drug charges

A Manitoba fugitive who spent more than 30 years on the run before being arrested in Florida earlier this year has pleaded guilty to drug-smuggling charges. Ian MacDonald, 72, appeared in a Winnipeg courtroom Wednesday morning and offered a guilty plea to one count of conspiring to import narcotics. The Crown and defence lawyers submitted a joint recommendation of a conditional sentence of two years less one day to be served in community. MacDonald, who has been in custody at the Remand Centre since he was extradited from Florida and returned to Manitoba in March. He had been arrested in January after being tracked to his central Florida home but it took some time to arrange his extradition. As part of the conditions of his sentence, MacDonald is under 24-hour house arrest with the exception of medical appointments or emergencies. He can leave his home for four hours a week for personal business, if accompanied by a person approved by the court. MacDonald must also abstain from drugs alcohol and he cannot leave jurisdiction without permission from the court. In 1980, MacDonald — then known as "Big Mac" — was arrested in Florida on a warrant issued by Manitoba police, who suspected he had helped smuggle a large amount of marijuana into the province. While in custody in June of that year, he faked a heart attack and was taken to hospital, where he escaped by conning a guard into removing his leg shackles, Barry Golden, a senior inspector with the U.S. Marshals Service, told CBC News in January. He escaped and lived on the lam for many years, until an officer who had been assigned to the file in 2009 found information in it that led investigators to a home in Pennsylvania, where MacDonald and his wife had once lived under an assumed name. While speaking with people in the area, officers learned the couple had moved to a town in central Florida, where he was located and arrested.

Elderly fugitive sentenced on drug charges

A Manitoba fugitive who spent more than 30 years on the run before being arrested in Florida earlier this year has pleaded guilty to drug-...

UVF supergrass trial

<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-14790519"> </a>Fourteen alleged members of the UVF, including one of its former leaders Mark Haddock, are due to appear at Belfast Crown Court on Tuesday for the start of the first so-called "supergrass" trial to be held in Northern Ireland for 26 years. The charges include the murder of leading UDA member Tommy English during a loyalist feud. Critics say the process being used is unsafe and unjust, while the police and prosecutors insist it is legally sound. Our Home Affairs Correspondent Vincent Kearney looks at the background to the case. The police bristle at the very mention of the word "supergrass" because of its association with a series of high profile trials in the 1980s. Hundreds of republicans and loyalists were convicted on the word of informers and suspects who agreed to give evidence against them in return for reduced sentences and new identities and lives outside Northern Ireland. There were claims that many also received financial rewards. The deals were arranged at a political level, approved by the Secretary of State, and the details were secret. No-one, not the defence teams, the relatives of victims, nor the accused, knew anything, and in many cases there were question marks over whether convicted informers actually served any time in prison at all. Credibility The trials were the largest in British criminal history. In one in 1983, 22 IRA members were given jail terms totalling more than 4,000 years. But 18 of them had their convictions quashed three years later, and the vast majority of the others convicted in a series of similar trials were also released on appeal. The system collapsed in 1985 because of concerns about the credibility of the evidence provided by the so-called supergrasses, with members of the judiciary complaining that they were being used as political tools to implement government security policy. The police and prosecutors say the trial starting today is based on an entirely different legal foundation. The investigation has centred around the activities of the UVF in the Mount Vernon estate in north Belfast New legislation introduced in 2005, the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act, enables an accused to enter into a written agreement indicating that they will help the prosecution by giving evidence against other criminals. Where this happens, the court may take this into account when passing sentence. The journey that led to the trial beginning today began with an investigation by the former Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan into the activities of the UVF in Mount Vernon in north Belfast. In January 2007, she published the results of Operation Ballast. 'Impunity' It was a highly critical report which said members of RUC Special Branch had allowed UVF informers to act with impunity, and that the gang may have been involved in up to 15 murders. Mark Haddock wasn't named in the report, but was referred to as Informant 1. Alarmed by the findings, the then Chief Constable, Sir Hugh Orde, asked the Historical Enquiries Team (HET) to take over Operation Ballast. Then, in 2008, two brothers, Robert and David Stewart walked into Antrim police station, admitting that they were members of the UVF, and their role in more than 70 offences. They offered to give evidence against a number of alleged former comrades under the teams of the 2005 legislation. The HET then spent more than a year debriefing them, and arresting suspects as they went along. But, despite being given additional funding, the investigation became too big for the team to handle. In December 2009, the case was given over to the PSNI. The investigation is now led by Crime Operations Department headed by Assistant Chief Constable Drew Harris, and is now called Operation Stafford. As a result, just over four and a half years after Nuala O'Loan published her report, Mark Haddock and 13 others will appear in court on Tuesday. They will appear before a judge sitting without a jury because of fears of intimidation. Haddock and eight others are charged with the murder of Tommy English and a range of other offences. The remaining five face a range of charges, possession of firearms, kidnap and assault. The latest investigation into the Mount Vernon UVF began following a report by the former Police Ombudsman, Nuala O'Loan Sealed containers The two chief prosecution witnesses, the Stewart brothers, have been held in isolation at Maghaberry prison, protected by a team of highly trained guards. Their food is brought into the prison in sealed containers to ensure they are not poisoned. They have admitted a total of 74 offences, but were sentenced to just three years each because the judge took into account their offer to testify. Their sentence was determined in open court, not secretly by the Secretary of State. The 2005 legislation contains penalties. If it emerges that the assisting offender is guilty of serious crimes they may not have admitted to, they are in breach of the agreement. If this is discovered after the trial, they can be re-arrested and charged with the additional offences. If they tell the truth but re-offend at a later stage, they can be re-arrested and charged. Supporters say this system is much more open and transparent than the discredited system used in the 1980s. Those on trial, and their families and supporters, insist that only the name has changed.

UVF supergrass trial

Fourteen alleged members of the UVF, including one of its former leaders Mark Haddock, are due to appear at Belfast Crown Court on Tuesday...

former MP Margaret Moran, who is to face 21 charges in relation to claims she made for parliamentary expenses.

<div id="main-content-picture" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 14px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; display: block; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;"><img alt="File photo of former MP Margaret Moran " height="276" src="http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Politics/Pix/pictures/2011/9/6/1315305303567/File-photo-of-former-MP-M-007.jpg" style="border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" width="460" /><div class="caption" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 12px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">File photo of former MP Margaret Moran, who is to face 21 charges in relation to claims she made for parliamentary expenses. Photograph: Michael Stephens/PA</div></div><div id="article-body-blocks" style="border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">The former Labour MP who claimed for dry rot treatment on a home more than 100 miles from her constituency will be charged with fiddling her expenses by more than £60,000, prosecutors said today.Margaret Moran, one of the last politicians investigated over the scandal, will appear before magistrates facing 21 charges relating to her parliamentary claims.Moran, former MP for Luton South, will appear before City of Westminster magistrates' court on 19 September, the Crown Prosecution Service said.</div>

former MP Margaret Moran, who is to face 21 charges in relation to claims she made for parliamentary expenses.

File photo of former MP Margaret Moran, who is to face 21 charges in relation to claims she made for parliamentary expenses. Photograph: Mic...

police have released images of 28 suspects they want to question about serious street disorder that “wreaked havoc” across Northern Ireland

The police have released images of 28 suspects they want to question about serious street disorder that “wreaked havoc” across Northern Ireland.Detectives from a specialist public order inquiry team are hoping the public will help them identify the men in these images as part of their investigations into rioting in east Belfast and Ballyclare during June and July.Three people were shot during three nights of sustained sectarian violence at an interface on the Lower Newtownards Road in Belfast in June.In Ballyclare six officers sustained whiplash when a hijacked bus rammed a police vehicle during riots that erupted after Union and paramilitary flags were removed from lampposts in July.<img alt="" src="http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00621/riots_621316a.jpg" style="border: initial none initial;" />Assistant Chief Constable Alistair Finlay said the response from the public appeals to date had been “positive”.A second tranche of photographs will be released on Thursday showing suspects police want to speak to in connection with rioting in north and west Belfast during July.Last month all of Northern Ireland’s main news organisations wrote to the PSNI Chief Constable to protest at having to hand over riot footage of trouble in east Belfast.The letter highlighted to Matt Baggott the “genuine fear that terrorists and rioters will target the media whom they perceive to be evidence gatherers for the State” if the PSNI continues to demand the disclosure of material gathered for news purposes.The PSNI has declined to comment on the source of these latest images.

police have released images of 28 suspects they want to question about serious street disorder that “wreaked havoc” across Northern Ireland

The police have released images of 28 suspects they want to question about serious street disorder that “wreaked havoc” across Northern Irel...

TV cameras to be allowed into criminal trials

David Cameron is expected to pave the way for the historic move in a long-awaited speech on crime planned for later this month. However, t...

NSW businesses warned of travelling conmen

Residents and businesses in NSW are being urged to be on the lookout for travelling conmen and itinerant domestic gangs. A nationwide crackdown aims to have scammers who visit Australia seasonally removed from the country and barred from re-entering, as well as local gangs that travel around conning people. NSW Fair Trading Minister Anthony Roberts on Monday warned of conmen specialising in scams such as bitumen laying, roof painting and back-of-truck dealings on electronics. "We want to catch these crooks, hold them accountable for their crimes and keep the market fair and free of rip-offs," he said in a statement. "What we are dealing with is organised, criminal activity that creates market distortions as legitimate businesses face unfair competition." The conmen structure their operations so consumers are often unable to get remedies in courts, consumer tribunals or through dispute resolution. They are the focus of a new nationwide strategy finalised at the Ministerial Council on Consumer Affairs in Canberra earlier this year. "All Australian consumer protection jurisdictions are working together under the new Australian Consumer Law with concerted, nationally coordinated operations using new prosecution powers and remedies," Mr Roberts said.

NSW businesses warned of travelling conmen

Residents and businesses in NSW are being urged to be on the lookout for travelling conmen and itinerant domestic gangs. A nationwide cra...

New U.K. Tabloid Dragged Into Hacking Scandal

One British newspaper has already been felled by the escalating scandal over the interception of public figures' voicemails. Now storm clouds are gathering over the Trinity Mirror group, the publisher of Britain's left-leaning Mirror tabloid, amid allegations that phone hacking was rife there as well. James Hipwell, who used to work at the Mirror, said hacking was a common tactic among his former colleagues. "It was seen as a bit of a wheeze, slightly underhand but something many of them did," James Hipwell was quoted as saying by The Independent on Saturday. "After they'd hacked into someone's mobile they'd delete the message so another paper couldn't get the story," Hipwell said. Hipwell declined comment when reached by The Associated Press, saying he was seeking legal advice before revealing anything more to the media. But he confirmed that the interview was accurate. The allegation isn't exactly new. Hipwell, who was fired from the Mirror in 2000, first aired the claim nearly a decade ago. His dismissal from the Mirror, coupled with a conviction for market manipulation several years later, may have also gone some way toward denting his credibility. Still his claim has received renewed attention given the intense focus on Britain's media following the eruption of a phone hacking scandal which has shaken British politics, tarnished the reputation of the country's top police force and weakened Rupert Murdoch's media empire. It's been backed by allegations of misbehavior at the Mirror's sister tabloids. The New York Times last week quoted five former journalists at The People, a Sunday newspaper which is also published by Trinity Mirror PLC, as saying that phone hacking was commonplace there from the late 1990s to early 2000. Trinity Mirror PLC itself has repeatedly declined to address claims of past misbehavior at its titles, sticking to a one-line statement saying that "our journalists work within the criminal law and the (U.K. press watchdog's) code of conduct." "That is our only response," Trinity Mirror spokesman Nick Fullagar said in a recent email. <img alt="" height="300" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-UJSmfZJq_KE/TixpeObhodI/AAAAAAAAHnQ/Z0HoevUh4jw/%25255BUNSET%25255D.jpg" style="float: left;" width="400" />CNN star Piers Morgan, who was in charge at the Mirror when Hipwell was working, has said that any suggestion that he was involved in phone hacking is "a falsehood and I suspect maliciously done." The phone hacking scandal exploded earlier this month with revelations that journalists at the News of the World tabloid hacked the phone of a 13-year-old murder victim while police were still searching for her and broadened to include claims reporters paid police for information. That set off a firestorm which hit at the highest reaches of British society. It forced Murdoch to shutter News of the World, prompting a spate of high-profile resignations and departures at News Corp. and delivering the 80-year-old media baron and his son to be grilled before lawmakers. So far Hipwell is the only journalist who has gone on the record with his claims. In an online message, Hipwell denied having an ax to grind, saying he's speaking out because he was "bored of the lies/dissembling/denials." In any case he's not alone in alleging other papers shared in the News of the World's dishonorable practices. "I believe it to be widespread," said Max Clifford, a celebrity publicist who got a hefty payout from the News of the World after his phone was hacked in an earlier scandal. Clifford, who gave Hipwell a job after he was fired from the Mirror, said the News of the World may have been the worst offender, but it wasn't the only offender. "They weren't isolated," he said. "They weren't the only ones."

New U.K. Tabloid Dragged Into Hacking Scandal

One British newspaper has already been felled by the escalating scandal over the interception of public figures' voicemails. Now storm c...

Russian Officer Jailed for Chechen Murder Is Killed

A former Russian tank commander who was paroled early after being jailed for the murder of a young Chechen woman was shot to death in central Moscow on Friday in what the police said was probably a contract killing. The commander, Yuri D. Budanov, once a decorated army colonel, was the highest ranking officer to be punished for atrocities committed during two wars in Chechnya, a mostly Muslim region, and his early release in 2009 was met with widespread outrage there. Though reviled in Chechnya, he became a kind of hero to Russian nationalists, and the police were put on heightened alert on Friday in case clashes erupted over his death. Mr. Budanov had stepped outside a notary’s office for a cigarette around noon on Friday when a gunman shot him four times in the head, according to televised remarks by Vladimir Markin, a spokesman for Russia’s Investigative Committee. Mr. Budanov was killed instantly. Mr. Markin said the gunman was seen escaping in a light-colored Mitsubishi Lancer. The vehicle was later found abandoned and partly burned, with a pistol equipped with a silencer lying on the seat, Mr. Markin said. He offered no details about a possible motive. The Interfax news agency quoted an unnamed law enforcement official as speculating that the killing was an act of revenge. Mr. Budanov never denied having abducted the young woman — Elza Kungayeva, who was 18 — from her Chechen village in March 2000. At his trial, he claimed that Ms. Kungayeva was a sniper, though this was never proved. He tied her up in his quarters and strangled her in a drunken rage, the court found, and ordered his men to bury her body in a nearby forest. Russia’s second campaign in Chechnya was reaching its height at the time, and Mr. Budanov’s unit, the 160th Tank Regiment, was part of a surge of Russian forces that had swept into Chechnya to put down a violent Islamist insurgency. Human rights groups say that in the process, Russian soldiers routinely kidnapped, tortured and killed civilians. Few soldiers were ever punished, but Mr. Budanov was an exception. In 2003, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison and stripped of his rank and awards. For Chechens, Mr. Budanov became the personification of all the tortures endured during nearly two decades of intermittent war, and his release in 2009, four years before the end of his sentence, set off street protests in Chechnya. Chechen officials did not react immediately on Friday to Mr. Budanov’s death. Visa Kungayev, Elza Kungayeva’s father, said the killing brought little sense of closure. “If I had killed him myself, then justice would have been done,” Mr. Kungayev said by telephone from Norway, where he has been given asylum. But he added, “A dog deserves a dog’s death.”

Russian Officer Jailed for Chechen Murder Is Killed

A former Russian tank commander who was paroled early after being jailed for the murder of a young Chechen woman was shot to death in centra...

Two men have been arrested in Brazil for allegedly selling a weapon to the gunman who opened fire at a Rio de Janeiro school last week,

Two men have been arrested in Brazil for allegedly selling a weapon to the gunman who opened fire at a Rio de Janeiro school last week, killing 12 students before turning the gun on himself. The homicide division of Rio's police department made the announcement Saturday, the state-run Agencia Brasil news agency reported. The motives behind why Wellington de Oliveira, 23, shot the students and himself remain unclear. Locksmith Charleston Souza de Lucena is charged with helping de Oliveira acquire a gun. After he did a job for de Oliveira, according to police, de Oliveira asked where he could find a gun. Souza de Lucena introduced him to Isaias de Souza, who helped him secure the .32-caliber handgun used in the mass shooting, police said. The origins of a second gun used in the shooting, a .38 revolver, remain unknown, police said. Both men told police that they would never have sold de Oliveria the gun if they had known how he would have used it, Agencia Brasil reported. Ten children remained injured in the hospital, the state health and civil defense secretary said. Those who were killed were buried on Friday amidst heavy commotion. Meanwhile, no one has come to identify and claim de Oliveira's body, Agencia Brasil reported. If no one claims the corpse within 15 days, he'll be buried as an indigent. Thursday's mass school shooting, which is rare in Brazil, has energized the country's anti-gun lobby. Twelve red flags were raised Sunday at a demonstration at Copacabana beach calling for greater effectiveness against weapon and ammunition trafficking. "Where is the ammunition coming from? Where are the guns coming from? Are we safe?" event organizer Antonio Carlos Costa said, according to Agencia Brasil. The principal of the school where the shooting took place said Sunday that he hopes to reopen the school April 18. Cleanup of the scene is scheduled to begin Monday, Luis Marduk said. Also Sunday, the official TV Record posted a suicide note purportedly from de Oliveria, which included burial instructions. The note also asks that his house, which has been under police surveillance after vandals defaced it, be turned into an animal shelter "because the animals are being very despised and need much more protection and care than human beings."

Two men have been arrested in Brazil for allegedly selling a weapon to the gunman who opened fire at a Rio de Janeiro school last week,

Two men have been arrested in Brazil for allegedly selling a weapon to the gunman who opened fire at a Rio de Janeiro school last week, kill...

Serial killer on the loose?

Police found what appears to be a human skull Monday on the outskirts of a bird sanctuary in Long Island, New York, a county police officer said, potentially the ninth set of remains discovered in the probe of a suspected serial killer. Lt. Kevin Smith of the Nassau County Police Department said the skull was found around 3:30 p.m. in Oyster Bay. About four hours earlier, a New York state police officer and his cadaver dog spotted another set of remains about a mile and a half away, and authorities worked to determine whether those remains are human. These discoveries come on the first day that authorities probing the deaths of several young women searched for evidence in and around Nassau County. Since December, eight sets of human remains have been found in Suffolk County, just to the east of Nassau County and roughly five miles from the sites of Monday's discoveries. "It's just been very startling, all of it has been," Smith told reporters Monday. "It's just amazing that we're finding these things. Obviously, we have a lot of work to do." Authorities are working on the presumption that a single person is responsible for the women's killings. The five victims who have been identified thus far all advertised prostitution services on websites such as Craigslist, police have said. "Collectively, we want to bring to justice this animal who has obviously taken the lives of a number of people," said Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano on Monday. Authorities would not describe what type of remains were found on Monday morning, and Smith did not detail the condition of the skull found in the afternoon. But police have said that the bodies discovered earlier were in various stages of decomposition, including at least one that could have been there for as long as two years, according to Suffolk County Police Commissioner Richard Dormer. Watch the sister of a missing woman tell her story The remains have included four female bodies found in December stuffed in bushes along a quarter-mile strip of beachfront property. Last week, three bodies were uncovered within a few miles of each other, fueling speculation that they could be the work of a serial killer. A woman's body was also found March 29 off Ocean Parkway, west of Cedar Beach. The missing woman who prompted authorities to initiate the search -- 24-year-old Shannan Gilbert -- has not yet been identified. K-9 units and dive teams had been added to the search operation in an effort to locate Gilbert, who was last seen alive in May in the Gilgo Beach area. Search for missing women expands Gilbert's sisters said Shannan was an escort who was visiting a client. They said she ran from the man's house and called 911, claiming that someone was trying to hurt her. Several neighbors also called 911, witnesses say. Police came more than 30 minutes later, but by then Gilbert was gone and has never been heard from again. "You want to believe everything was OK with her," Sherre Gilbert said. "But at the same time, so much time has passed it's impossible to really think that she is still alive." Sherre Gilbert said even if her sister is never found, the search has led to one positive outcome: the discovery of the other women's bodies.

Serial killer on the loose?

Police found what appears to be a human skull Monday on the outskirts of a bird sanctuary in Long Island, New York, a county police officer ...

Finks gang member jailed for contempt

Finks gang member jailed for contempt: "Finks bikie has been given a two-year jail sentence for failing to answer questions before Western Australia's corruption watchdog. 
 
Stephen John Wallace, 47, on Tuesday in the WA Supreme Court in Perth, was the last of five Finks members to be given a two-year prison sentence on contempt charges. 
 
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Mammoth-Book-Bikers-Arthur-Veno/dp/0786720468?ie=UTF8&tag=cosdelcri-21&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="The Mammoth Book of Bikers" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=0786720468&tag=cosdelcri-21" /></a>Wallace, Tristan Allbeury, Stephen Silvestro, Troy Smith and Clovis Chikonga were summonsed to answer questions before the Corruption and Crime Commission (CCC) about a violent brawl with rival bikies, the Coffin Cheaters<img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=cosdelcri-21&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0786720468" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /> at a Perth speedway. 
 
But they refused to co-operate with the commission over the October 3, 2010, brawl which left Silvestro and Smith with injuries. 
 
In court on Tuesday, Chief Justice Wayne Martin, who convicted the five, noted that Wallace had on 18 different occasions given the answer 'no comment' when appearing before the CCC."

Finks gang member jailed for contempt

Finks gang member jailed for contempt: "Finks bikie has been given a two-year jail sentence for failing to answer questions before West...

former president of the Maine chapter of the Outlaws motorcycle gang has been sentenced to 15 months

"A former president of the Maine chapter of the Outlaws motorcycle gang has been sentenced to 15 months for his role in sanctioning the...

Bikie figures don't lie, says Rann | Adelaide Now

FIGURES revealed by Premier Mike Rann show police have arrested or reported 210 bikie gang members since 2007. The figures revealed yesterday by Mr Rann - copied below - also show police have arrested or reported 570 bikie gang associates, issued 217 licensed premises barring orders and 23 firearms prohibition orders since November 2007. Mr Rann gave the figures as both he and Police Commissioner Mal Hyde hosed down speculation yesterday about a rift over the threat posed by outlaw bikie gangs in South Australia. The speculation has again raised the issue of whether SA's anti-bikie laws are effective, with the Opposition reiterating they had only supported the bikie control legislation because police had urged them to. Mr Rann said police had seized 33,245 street deals involving amphetamines, 63,061 of cannabis, 10,063 of ecstasy and 8481 of other drugs. In related crimes, police had seized 65 pistols, 132 other firearms and more than $1.25 million in cash."

Bikie figures don't lie, says Rann | Adelaide Now

FIGURES revealed by Premier Mike Rann show police have arrested or reported 210 bikie gang members since 2007. The figures revealed yesterda...

arrested an alleged Outlaw Motorcycle Gang associate and seized a number of firearms.

Strike Force Raptor officers have arrested an alleged Outlaw Motorcycle Gang associate and seized a number of firearms. About 7pm yesterday (Monday 24 January), Strike Force Raptor officers attended a home at Canterbury where an inspection was conducted in relation to the safe storage of firearms. During the inspection police located and seized a pistol, a double barrel shotgun, a rifle, a bolt action rifle, and a lever action rifle, as well as a quantity of ammunition. Following the inspection, a 34-year-old man attended Campsie Police Station. Police allege the man is an associate of the Hells Angels OMCG. He was given a Future Court Attendance by police in relation to various firearm related offences including unauthorised possession of firearms and ammunition. He will appear at Burwood Local Court on Wednesday 9 March, 2011. The charges relate to a previous vehicle stop by police on Wednesday 19 January, 2011 in which police discovered the man had an expired firearms licence."

arrested an alleged Outlaw Motorcycle Gang associate and seized a number of firearms.

Strike Force Raptor officers have arrested an alleged Outlaw Motorcycle Gang associate and seized a number of firearms. About 7pm yesterday ...

Hells Angel opens up over brother's death

HELLS Angel Peter Zervas is suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as a result of the fatal Sydney Airport brawl and is only now beginning to open up about his brother's death, a court heard today. Mr Zervas is facing a sentencing hearing in the Downing Centre Local Court on a charge of affray in relation to the fatal fight on March 22, 2009. His brother, and bikie associate Anthony Zervas, was killed during the brawl between the Hells Angels and Comanchero gangs. Just a week later, Mr Zervas was shot multiple times outside his mother's house. Mr Zervas pleaded guilty to the charge last October, with the crown withdrawing a riot charge. Forensic psychologist Timothy Watson Munroe told the hearing he feared Mr Zerva's rehabilitation would deteriorate if he were to enter custody over the offence. 'He is starting to open up...and starting to acknowledge that he is gaining some benefit from speaking with me,' Mr Watson Munroe told Magistrate John Favretto."

Hells Angel opens up over brother's death

HELLS Angel Peter Zervas is suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as a result of the fatal Sydney Airport brawl and is only now begi...

Korean actor sent to jail for drug use, smuggling meth from PH | The Manila Bulletin Newspaper Online

<a href="http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/300514/korean-actor-sent-jail-drug-use-smuggling-meth-ph">Korean actor sent to jail for drug use, smuggling meth from PH | The Manila Bulletin Newspaper Online</a>: "sentenced Korean actor Kim Sung Min, 38, to two years and six months of imprisonment for importing and using methamphetamine. Kim’s sentence was handed down by the Seoul Central District Court on Jan. 24. In addition, Kim was ordered to pay a fine of 904,500 won (about P36,000). The court ruling also revealed that the actor bought the illegal drugs in the Philippines in 2008 and 2009 and smuggled it to South Korea by hiding it in his underwear. Kim was arrested last December at his home for possession of methamphetamine. In addition, he was suspected of smoking marijuana. During the trial, prosecutors demanded that the court sentence Kim to four years in prison. However, Kim told the court that he deeply regretted his actions and appealed for leniency. He argued that he took drugs because of depression due to personal and financial problems. His arrest also cost him his TV show. Kim starred in many Korean dramas including “Before and After: Plastic Surgery Clinic,” “The Reputable Family,” “Family’s Honor” and “Give Me Food.”"

Korean actor sent to jail for drug use, smuggling meth from PH | The Manila Bulletin Newspaper Online

Korean actor sent to jail for drug use, smuggling meth from PH | The Manila Bulletin Newspaper Online : "sentenced Korean actor Kim Sun...

Derby sex abuse gang leaders jailed | UK news | The Guardian

<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jan/07/derby-sex-gang-leaders-jailed">Derby sex abuse gang leaders jailed | UK news | The Guardian</a>: "ringleaders of a gang who groomed vulnerable girls for sex were given indefinite prison sentences today . Abid Mohammed Saddique, 27, and Mohammed Romaan Liaqat, 28 from Derby – both married with children – were described by a judge at Nottingham crown court as 'sexual predators' who subjected their victims to a 'reign of terror'. Saddique was jailed for a minimum of 11 years before he is eligible for parole and Liaqat for eight years. Judge Philip Head told Saddique: 'Your crimes can only be described as evil,' adding he was an 'evil, manipulative and controlling' character who was a continuing danger to young girls. 'You are in the truest sense a sexual predator with a voracious sexual appetite that you gratified as frequently as possible in a variety of ways.' He said the pair's attitude was 'sex at any price' as they and others embarked on what he described as a 'reign of terror on girls in Derby'."

Derby sex abuse gang leaders jailed | UK news | The Guardian

Derby sex abuse gang leaders jailed | UK news | The Guardian : "ringleaders of a gang who groomed vulnerable girls for sex were given i...

David Chaytor jailed for 18 months over false expenses claim | Politics | The Guardian

<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/jan/07/mps-expenses-david-chaytor-jailed">David Chaytor jailed for 18 months over false expenses claim | Politics | The Guardian</a>: "former Labour MP David Chaytor behind bars tonight beginning an 18-month jail sentence after admitting claiming false parliamentary expenses. Chaytor, who as MP for Bury North tried to cheat taxpayers out of more than £22,000, looked gaunt but impassive as Mr Justice Saunders at Southwark crown court told him the expenses scandal had 'shaken public confidence in our legislature' and had 'angered the public'. The first MP to be convicted and sentenced over the debacle, he was led from a reinforced glass-panelled dock and taken to Wandsworth prison, where he will be held until transferred to an open prison. The 61-year-old may serve just four-and-a-half months if risk-assessed as eligible for the home detention curfew scheme, which could see him released with a tag as early as the end of May."

David Chaytor jailed for 18 months over false expenses claim | Politics | The Guardian

David Chaytor jailed for 18 months over false expenses claim | Politics | The Guardian : "former Labour MP David Chaytor behind bars to...

Michael Jackson - Doctor: 'Jackson Was Dead An Hour Before He Arrived At Hospital' - Contactmusic News

<a href="http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/story/doctor-jackson-was-dead-an-hour-before-he-arrived-at-hospital_1194039">Michael Jackson - Doctor: 'Jackson Was Dead An Hour Before He Arrived At Hospital' - Contactmusic News</a>: "MICHAEL JACKSON was dead an hour before his body arrived at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in June, 2009, according to testimony from emergency room doctor RICHELLE COOPER. The doctor took the stand at an ongoing preliminary hearing which will dictate whether or not Jackson's physician Dr. Conrad Murray will stand trial on involuntary manslaughter charges relating to the King of Pop's death. Cooper revealed she gave paramedics who raced to the singer's rented Holmby Hills, Los Angeles home the authorisation to pronounce the Thriller singer dead. However, Murray - who found the star's lifeless body in his bedroom - insisted they try to resuscitate the King of Pop for almost an hour. Cooper told the court on Thursday (06Jan10) she authorised paramedics to pronounce Jackson dead at 12.57pm on 25 June, 2009, but they declined at Murray's request - and because of the singer's celebrity."

Michael Jackson - Doctor: 'Jackson Was Dead An Hour Before He Arrived At Hospital' - Contactmusic News

Michael Jackson - Doctor: 'Jackson Was Dead An Hour Before He Arrived At Hospital' - Contactmusic News : "MICHAEL JACKSON was d...

Builder charged with threatening subcontractors - San Jose Mercury News

Builder charged with threatening subcontractors - San Jose Mercury News : "Southern California builder has been charged with threatenin...

Dupuy’s role as leader of the Bo-Gars has been common knowledge among gang members for decades

Its leader has spent almost all of the last three years behind bars, and there’s a chance that is where he’ll be for another three. But as Chenier (Big) Dupuy waits in a detention centre – expecting to learn in February whether he will serve up to another 40 months for drug trafficking – the Bo-Gars, a street gang he is alleged to lead, appear to be very active. Several details about the Bo-Gars were recently revealed while sentence arguments were made in Dupuy’s drug trafficking case last month. Unlike most gangs based in northeastern Montreal, which fade after a few years, the Bo-Gars have been around for two decades with Dupuy, 34, at the helm the whole time. He sports a tattoo on his right shoulder depicting a firearm pointed at a head with the inscription “Only Stronger Survive.” According to Det.-Sgt. Jean-Claude Gauthier, a Montreal police street gang expert who testified at Dupuy’s sentence hearing, the Bo-Gars are an offshoot of a defunct gang called the Master B that emerged from Montreal North in 1985 and was founded by Beauvoir Jean, 46, a man who now counsels youth on how to avoid joining gangs. (The B in Master B was taken from Jean’s first name.) In a report submitted to Quebec Court Judge Jean-Pierre Boyer, Gauthier describes the Bo-Gars, estimated to have 18 members, as having “the leadership level above all the gangs in the Red alliance. The Bo-Gars gang is principally active in the Montreal North and Rivière des Prairies sectors. They also have activities outside the province. The criminal activities of the Bo-Gars include murder, attempted murder, drive-by shootings, infractions related to firearms, drug trafficking (in particular, crack), break-ins, armed robbery and pimping.” The Red alliance that Gauthier mentions is a grouping of street gangs who refer to themselves as Bloods. Their sometimes rivals are grouped under the Blue, or Crips, alliance. Dupuy’s first gang-related arrest as an adult was on weapons charges in 1995 when police in Toronto, acting on a tip from Montreal police, arrested four members of the Bo-Gars. The police suspected they were in Toronto to send a violent message to a rival group by disrupting a Caribbean festival. In the follow-up to the arrests, Toronto police learned one of the four men they arrested had rented five motel rooms in the city. The rooms were raided and five more gang members were arrested, including Dupuy and his older brother Charles-Yves. All of the men were armed. Gauthier said Charles-Yves, 39, was a member of the Master B and probably set the example his younger sibling followed. The older brother is alleged to be a member of the Bo-Gars, but Chenier is considered the gang’s leader. Dupuy denies even being part of the Bo-Gars. During sentencing arguments, he said, in reference to Gauthier’s testimony: “There is nothing that can prove that I am in the gang. It’s just blah, blah, blah.” His lawyer, Serge Lamontagne, was more eloquent. After sentencing arguments, he told reporters that police are too quick to assume the existence of a gang. “We shouldn’t forget territorial questions involve people going to the same schools, living in same ghettos and so they are often together. They are together and do things like smoke (pot) or other small things, and (the police) say ‘they’re a gang,’ so we all say ‘they’re a gang.’ We have to stop this,” Lamontagne said. Dupuy’s role as leader of the Bo-Gars has been common knowledge among gang members for decades, Gauthier said during the hearing. “He is known. Even the rivals know he is the leader,” Gauthier said, adding that in 2002, while members of the Bo-Gars were investigated for stealing firearms from people advertising their sale in classified ads, Dupuy was recorded on a wiretap telling his sister he was the head of the gang and had territory to protect. To further his point, Gauthier recounted how Beauvoir Jean was recently the target of a shooting in Montreal North in June. Jean approached two men arguing outside a strip mall on Pascal St. and tried to calm things down. He later told police that Philistin Paul, 32, a man known to associate with Bloods, punched him in the face and fired a shot in his direction. Jean told police, in a videotaped statement, that he believed Paul was trying to make a statement that he now controlled Montreal North. He said Paul mistakenly assumed that Dupuis “got five years” in the drug trafficking case and Paul was now “boss of the neighbourhood.” Paul has been charged with attempted murder in the shooting, and his trial is scheduled to resume this month. Dupuy insists he is not a gang member and accuses police of targeting him whenever he finishes serving a sentence. In arguing that he is not a chronic repeat offender, Dupuis claims to have invested money in a hair salon in St. Léonard and to be involved in the music career of Fritz Gérald Michel, 37, who is also known as King and has recorded rap songs under that name. Police say they believe Michel is involved with the Bloods. Dupuy said Michel recently signed a contract with a major recording label in Europe. Michel and known members of the Bo-Gars were with Dupuy on Dec. 22, 2007, when the alleged gang leader was arrested inside Café Univers in Laval as police responded to a 911 call about a fight. When officers arrived, an employee told them they could find a very large and aggressive man inside the manager’s office. When officers entered the office, Dupuy greeted them and tried to convince them he was just settling a matter with the manager. The manager then blurted out that Dupuy was armed. Dupuy was grabbed by the officers, who found he was carrying a 9-millimetre firearm. Dupuy was kept in custody while he was charged with intimidation, assault and uttering threats in the Café Univers case. He pleaded guilty, on May 8, 2008, to possession of a prohibited and loaded weapon, assault and uttering threats. He was sentenced to six months and was released from a detention centre on Sept. 7, 2008. Michel was also with Dupuy on Sept. 10, 2008, three days after he was released, at the Solid Gold strip club on St. Laurent Blvd. Dupuy got into an argument with seven men believed to be members of the Kraz Brizz, a rival gang. Someone among the group of seven tried to shoot Dupuy as he and Michel headed for the exit. Dupuy jumped on the hood of a taxi parked outside the strip bar. The driver, spooked by the sound of gunshots, drove off and then stopped about a block away, with Dupuy still clinging to the hood. It was Dupuy’s evasive answers to police after the shooting that led them to conduct surveillance on a Laval apartment where he lived. Investigators also had information from sources who told them Dupuy spoke of taking over drug trafficking in Montreal North and Rivière des Prairies as he neared the end of his sentence in September 2008. It took police about seven weeks to gather enough evidence to have Dupuy picked up for drug trafficking in October 2008, and he has been in custody since. At least three other men considered to be Bo-Gars members, or associates of the gang, have criminal cases pending against them, and another member was recently targeted in a gang-related shooting. Eneck Baptiste, 35, was recently the victim of a shooting inside the Red Lite after-hours club in Laval. On Nov. 6, Laval police showed up at the club while responding to a call about shots fired inside. When they arrived, they couldn’t find anyone who had been shot. But they soon learned Baptiste, who was with Dupuy when he was arrested at Café Univers in 2007, had shown up at a nearby hospital in a taxi. He was reported to be in critical condition, but managed to leave the hospital days later. Musset St. Cyr, 26, a man with known ties to a gang affiliated with the Reds, has been charged with attempted murder in Laval court and has a bail hearing scheduled for Jan. 17. Another sign the Bo-Gars are active involves charges of intimidation and uttering threats filed in Montreal last year against Charles-Yves Dupuy. Edison Saintil, 26, another reputed member of the Bo-Gars, faces 11 charges alleging he tried to run down at least three people with his car after an altercation outside the Sunrise after-hours club on Viau St. near the Metropolitan Blvd. He is charged with damaging at least six cars in the parking lot of the club on Feb. 7 and with assault using a weapon, his car. On Dec. 16, a judge who heard the preliminary inquiry in the case decided there was enough evidence to go to trial. What happened that night outside the after-hours club is not believed to be gang-related. Chenier Dupuy will learn on Feb. 18 whether he will be sentenced to about 40 months in prison, as the prosecution is seeking, or a symbolic one-day sentence on top of the time he has already spent behind bars since his arrest. Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Gars+just+away/4059976/story.html#ixzz1AHlUIDdF

Dupuy’s role as leader of the Bo-Gars has been common knowledge among gang members for decades

Its leader has spent almost all of the last three years behind bars, and there’s a chance that is where he’ll be for another three. But as C...

Gordon Ramsay doused in petrol by gang - Monsters and Critics

Gordon Ramsay doused in petrol by gang - Monsters and Critics : "TV chef Gordon Ramsay was doused in petrol in a terrifying ordeal whil...

Jack Tweed's new Essex bar was reportedly set on fire

Jack Tweed's new Essex bar was reportedly set on fire in the early hours of Friday morning. The Sun reports that Deuces, co-owned by The...

McCarthy-Dundon gang's occupancy of south side Limerick. The two rival gangs are considered to be the country's most feared criminal gangs

€45,000 ($62,346) it's considered one of Ireland's cheapest houses, but when you take a closer look at this Limerick home you realiz...

Rebecca Parrett, a former National Century Financial Enterprises Inc. executive who fled the U.S. to avoid a 25-year prison term

Rebecca Parrett, a former National Century Financial Enterprises Inc. executive who fled the U.S. to avoid a 25-year prison term, was arrested in a Mexican resort town where she liked to dance, a U.S. official said. Parrett, 62, was picked up yesterday by Mexican immigration authorities in Ajijic, Jalisco, Deputy U.S. Marshal Brian Babtist said today. Parrett was convicted in Columbus, Ohio, in March 2008 for her role in a $2.9 billion fraud. Days later, while out on bail, she fled her home in Carefree, Arizona. She was declared a fugitive and sentenced in absentia in March 2009. “She was living in the lap of luxury,” Babtist said in a telephone interview from Columbus. “She was having fun, telling people that she was an American who had testified against several people in a large white-collar crime case. She was trying to stay anonymous and using an alias.” Parrett was flown yesterday from Guadalajara to Los Angeles, where she was arrested on a warrant, he said. U.S. Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Chooljian, at a hearing today in federal court in Los Angeles, ordered Parrett to be detained and transferred to Columbus. Parrett, who was represented by a public defender, waived her right to an identity hearing in Los Angeles. She was convicted with four other executives in 2008 of fraud, money laundering and conspiracy. She was also ordered to pay $2.38 billion in restitution. Parrett, a former vice chairman, secretary and treasurer, was one of 10 executives who were convicted at trial or pleaded guilty. Anti-Aging Treatments “I’ve heard that she liked to go out dancing,” Babtist said. “She was getting treatments from a Mexican anti-aging doctor regularly. For somebody who’s on the run, it was pretty good.” Agents had long suspected that Parrett was in Mexico, Babtist said. “It was a matter of narrowing down the search and actually pinpointing the location,” he said.

Rebecca Parrett, a former National Century Financial Enterprises Inc. executive who fled the U.S. to avoid a 25-year prison term

Rebecca Parrett, a former National Century Financial Enterprises Inc. executive who fled the U.S. to avoid a 25-year prison term, was arrest...