Crime Correspondent

Muammar Gaddafi has fled Sabha

Muammar Gaddafi has fled Sabha

The National Transitional Council are investigating an unconfirmed report that Muammar Gaddafi has fled from Sabha, NTC spokesman reports....

Scottish supermarkets face extra tax on selling alcohol

Plans to hike business rates for major retailers of alcohol and tobacco in Scotland could see supermarkets pay around £110 million in tax over the next three years.   Finance Secretary John Swinney announced the new levy yesterday, as part of the Scottish government’s Spending Review.   Swinney said the review contained “tough choices, because of the cuts from Westminster that go too far, too fast”.   “We have had to restrict pay costs, reluctantly implement pensions increases on public sector staff, and maximise the income gained from asset sales,” he said.   He outlined that part of the extra revenue brought in would come from a tax on major retailers who sell alcohol and tobacco.   The measure was a surprise announcement, as during the last parliament a proposal to introduce a “Tesco tax” was voted down and it was not included the SNP’s manifesto.   Scottish Retail Consortium director Ian Shearer said: “This new tax is a blatant fund-raising exercise which is illogical and discriminatory. It targets a part of the retail sector which funds Drinkaware, rigorously prevents under-age sales with Challenge 25 and has led the way on clear alcohol labelling, giving it an exemplary record on the sale of alcohol and tobacco.   “Supermarket margins are already cut to the bone as stores compete to offer the best deals to cash-strapped consumers. The UK already has some of the highest alcohol taxes in Europe. This tax would make it harder for food retailers to keep prices down for customers, and makes Scotland a less attractive place to do business, invest and create jobs.”   The WSTA's Jeremy Beadles said he was "disappointed" the meaure had been announced with no consultation.   "The tax on large retailers will place an additional burden on Scottish businesses and push the price up for all consumers regardless of whether they consume alcohol at all,” he added.   “At a time of financial constraint, when many businesses in Scotland are already feeling the pinch and paying increase rates, we do not believe that punishing responsible consumers in Scotland with another tax is either fair or justified.”     Minimum alcohol unit pricing could become as reality north of the border by next summer, although the price has not yet been set. The Scottish government claims it is the “most effective and efficient way” of reducing consumption and alcohol related harm.

Scottish supermarkets face extra tax on selling alcohol

Plans to hike business rates for major retailers of alcohol and tobacco in Scotland could see supermarkets pay around £110 million in tax ...

Bloody Sunday family rejects payout

Relatives of one of the Bloody Sunday victims have firmly rejected any offer of Government compensation. Sisters Linda and Kate Nash, whose teenage brother William was among 14 men who died after paratroopers opened fire on civil rights protesters in Londonderry in January 1972, said: "I find it repulsive." The Ministry of Defence has confirmed that moves are under way to compensate the families following representation from solicitors acting on behalf of some of the relatives. The Nash sisters said they would not take money for personal financial gain: "Not under any circumstances will I ever accept money for the loss of my brother. "I find it repulsive, taking anything from the MoD. If the MoD wants to set up bursaries they can, but not in my brother's name," Ms Nash said. Prime Minister David Cameron has already apologised to victims and said the shootings were wrong. An MOD spokesman said: "We acknowledge the pain felt by these families for nearly 40 years, and that members of the armed forces acted wrongly. For that, the Government is deeply sorry. We are in contact with the families' solicitors and where there is a legal liability to pay compensation, we will do so." Lord Saville drew up a landmark report last year which criticised the Army over the killings. His panel ruled that the Army fired first and without provocation. It found that all 14 who died and the others who were injured almost four decades ago were unarmed and completely innocent. The MoD's move followed a letter sent to the Prime Minister by solicitors for the families, asking what he was going to do about Bloody Sunday. He described the killings as unjustified and unjustifiable. Defining who would be eligible for compensation could be complicated as many immediate family members are already dead. Relatives received a small payment worth a few hundred pounds from the MOD, without admitting liability, shortly after the event.

Bloody Sunday family rejects payout

Relatives of one of the Bloody Sunday victims have firmly rejected any offer of Government compensation. Sisters Linda and Kate Nash, whos...

Troy Davis execution goes ahead despite serious doubts about his guilt

Moments before he was put to death, Troy Davis lifted his head from the gurney to which he was strapped and looked the family of Mark MacPhail, the police officer for whose murder he was convicted, directly in the eyes. "I want to talk to the MacPhail family," he said. "I was not responsible for what happened that night. I did not have a gun. I was not the one who took the life of your father, son, brother." He then appealed to his own family and friends to "keep the faith", said to the medical personnel who were about to kill him "may God have mercy on your souls", and laid his head down again. He was administered with a triple lethal injection of pentobarbital, pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride, and at 11.08pm he was pronounced dead. The debate about what happened in Georgia's Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson late on Wednesday night will continue long after the gurney has been put away. In the final gruesome hours of waiting, the American judicial system at its very highest echelons was involved – including the US supreme court, which issued the decisive final ruling. The decision to press ahead with the death sentence despite serious doubts over Davis's guilt drew accusations that this was the system at its most grotesque. It was Davis's fourth execution date, and it was dragged out, for more than four hours, to what must have been tortuous effect for the prisoner and his family. Davis, 42, became the 52nd man to be executed in Georgia since the same supreme court reinstated the death penalty in 1973. His lawyers and thousands of supporters around the world were convinced that an innocent man had been sent to his death. As news of his death filtered out of the maximum security prison, his family was still huddled in an area of the prison grounds, surrounded by well-wishers. His sister, Martina Correia, had earlier vowed to continue the fight to end all capital punishment in America and said her brother's story would be a galvanising force for others. "His message to young people is – you can lie down or you can stand up and fight," she said. After the execution, Davis's lawyers lamented what one described as a "legal lynching". Thomas Ruffin said that the execution was "racially bigoted". "In the state of Georgia 48.4% of people on death row this morning were black males, and in Georgia they make up no more than 15% of the population." Ruffin said that seven of the nine witnesses at Davis's 1991 trial had since recanted. They included a man who said under oath that he had seen MacPhail being killed, and that it was not Davis who shot him but another man called Sylvester Cole. Another witness said under oath that she had heard Coles confess three times to killing MacPhail and using Davis as the fall guy. But throughout Wednesday last-ditch legal manoeuvres by Davis's defence team failed one by one as both state and federal judges ruled against them. First, a request for Davis to undergo a lie-detector test was rejected. A Georgia judge refused an appeal, then the state supreme court followed suit. In the end his only hope was the US supreme court, and for a moment at 7pm, just as the execution was due to take place, it seemed that the justices had ordered a stay. But the delay was only temporary and at around 10.15pm the court ruled that the execution should go ahead. The decision was welcomed by the MacPhail family. "He [Davis] had all the chances in the world," the officer's mother, Anneliese MacPhail, told the Associated Press. "It has got to come to an end." But a second lawyer for Davis, Jason Ewart, said that as he died he took with him "his quest for justice. In the midst of all the newspaper headlines and vigils you can sometimes lose sight of the man who was on death row. Troy Davis was a family man, and his family mourns tonight." John Lewis, a local radio reporter who was present at the execution, said that while the prisoner was being killed MacPhail family members sat in the front row looking intently at him. As they left the room after he was pronounced dead, some of them smiled. "So at least someone got some satisfaction out of this," Lewis said.

Troy Davis execution goes ahead despite serious doubts about his guilt

Moments before he was put to death, Troy Davis lifted his head from the gurney to which he was strapped and looked the family of Mark MacP...

Scotland Yard drops Official Secrets Act bid against Guardian

Scotland Yard had intended to take the Guardian newspaper to court on Friday in an attempt to force the newspaper into revealing how it obtained information that missing schoolgirl Milly Dowler’s mobile phone had been hacked. However, following discussions with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), the force has abandoned its application for production orders against the newspaper. The decision comes following heavy criticism of the force’s attempt to make the Guardian, and one of its journalists, hand over information which would have revealed the source of many of the newspaper’s phone hacking stories. Various MPs, including the shadow culture secretary Ivan Lewis, questioned the Yard’s attempt. While many national newspapers carried leading articles condemning the Metropolitan Police’s apparent attack on press freedom. And today the former Attorney General Lord Goldsmith told the Daily Telegraph that the force’s decision to invoke the Official Secrets Act was “unusual” and could threaten press freedom.

Scotland Yard drops Official Secrets Act bid against Guardian

Scotland Yard had intended to take the Guardian newspaper to court on Friday in an attempt to force the newspaper into revealing how it ob...

NAVY recruit flipped and killed an officer in a gun rampage on a nuclear sub after he was told off for his cleaning work.

<h2 class="padding-bottom-7" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 7px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 1.05em; line-height: 1.05em; color: #101010; margin: 0px;"></h2>Ryan Donovan, 23, fired his SA80 semi-automatic rifle after his hopes of a voyage on a surface ship were dashed as punishment for his shoddy work.He was also obsessed with violent video games and told a friend he wanted to carry out a Grand Theft Auto-style "kill frenzy".Yesterday the HMS Astute able seaman was jailed for life by a judge who heard he opened fire on two superiors he blamed — only to miss. <div class="margin-top-5 padding-bottom-5 margin-left-10 float-right" style="margin-top: 5px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 10px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 0px; float: right; color: #101010; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; width: 180px;"><div class="text-center" style="text-align: center; color: #101010; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><img alt="Victim ... Ian Molyneux with wife Gill" src="http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01378/SNN20DEAD-180_1378360a.jpg" style="width: 180px; height: 250px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" /><div class="padding-top-5" style="padding-top: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; color: #101010; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px;"><div class="small bold" style="font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; color: #101010; line-height: 13px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Victim ... Ian Molyneux  with wife Gill</div></div></div></div> The shots were heard by Lieutenant Commander Ian Molyneux, 36, who rushed to tackle him during a goodwill visit by the sub to Southampton in April.Donovan murdered him with a bullet to the head, then stepped over his body to the control room.There he wounded Lt Cdr Christopher Hodge, 45, in the stomach before being wrestled to the ground by Southampton council leader Royston Smith and chief executive Alistair Neill — who were touring the sub.Three days earlier Donovan of Dartford, Kent, disobeyed a direct order to clean a section of the sub after it failed inspections, Winchester Crown Court heard. <div class="margin-top-5 padding-bottom-5 margin-right-10 float-left" style="margin-top: 5px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 0px; float: left; color: #101010; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; width: 682px;"><div class="text-center" style="text-align: center; color: #101010; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><img alt="Hero ... Royston Smith, right, on sub visit" src="http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01378/05b8ce16-682_1378350a.jpg" style="width: 682px; height: 400px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" /><div class="padding-top-5" style="padding-top: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; color: #101010; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px;"><div class="small bold" style="font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; color: #101010; line-height: 13px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Hero ... Royston Smith, right, on sub visit</div></div></div></div> Gangsta rap fan Donovan — who called himself Reggie Moondog — told a fellow sailor hours before his rampage: "I'm going to kill somebody. I'm not f****** kidding, and then watch the news."He admitted murder and attempted murder and was caged for a minimum of 25 years. The widow of the dead officer — a dad of four — wept just feet away.Outside court Gill Molyneux paid tribute to her Weapons Engineer Officer husband, describing him as "my hero and true love".

NAVY recruit flipped and killed an officer in a gun rampage on a nuclear sub after he was told off for his cleaning work.

Ryan Donovan, 23, fired his SA80 semi-automatic rifle after his hopes of a voyage on a surface ship were dashed as punishment for his shoddy...

Clegg condemns 'grotesque' hacking

<img alt="" height="141" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2ZBQE_qFv6HuEnMIvwNOIAQPugTQC1u7Dbs4vkH1NBMcBxqCYUFCqLFg24lU1O0QH52QFMr2DeyJq1geWkkpz2o1DP9Jtu-AtmQGWXV-mBLw1WDmIpruGrjr4sYs4YTOaN2IvSi5W8MU/" style="float: left;" width="358" />No amount of money can absolve News International from hacking in to the phone of Surrey murder victim Milly Dowler, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has said , following the disclosure that the company was about to settle its case with the teenager's family. Rupert Murdoch is set to donate £1 million to charity from his own pocket, while the Dowlers themselves will receive in the region of £2 million in a separate payout from News International, the publishers of the now-closed News of the World. The company has confirmed it is in "advanced negotiations" with relatives of the 13-year-old, who was abducted and killed by Levi Bellfield in 2002. On Tuesday Mr Clegg said no amount of money could absolve the company for what happened. He said: "It is not for me to decide what money News International offer the Dowlers. I think it is very, very important we now give the Dowler family the time and space they need to rebuild their lives and move on. "I think the reason why people were so outraged by the invasion of the privacy of the Dowler family is that they weren't celebrities, they weren't politicians, they hadn't asked to be put on the front page of the nation's newspapers. I have met them and they are a lovely, strong, every-day family who lost their daughter and were dealing with that terrible tragedy and even then these journalists - it's just grotesque - were invading their privacy. "In a sense I think, and I am sure the Dowlers feel the same, that no amount of money can absolve people for what they did." News International is reported to have set aside £20 million for payments to phone hacking victims, but a source said the size of the expected compensation for the Dowlers reflected the "wholly exceptional circumstances" of their case. Sources close to the Dowlers have said any agreement will feature a donation to charity. It is not yet known which cause, or causes, would benefit. A News International spokesman said: "News International confirms it is in advanced negotiations with the Dowler family regarding their compensation settlement. No final agreement has yet been reached, but we hope to conclude the discussions as quickly as possible."

Clegg condemns 'grotesque' hacking

No amount of money can absolve News International from hacking in to the phone of Surrey murder victim Milly Dowler, Liberal Democrat lead...

Ms Moran, 56, looked a shadow of her former self as she arrived to face 21 charges at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in central London.

<div class="firstPar"> </div><div class="secondPar">One count alleges that she falsely claimed £22,500 for dry rot on a home in Southampton more than 100 miles from her constituency.</div><div class="thirdPar">The former Labour member for Luton South sobbed throughout the brief hearing and was passed a tissue by a court official.</div><div class="fourthPar">No plea was entered and jurisdiction in the case was declined by District Judge Daphne Wickham on the grounds of the nature and complexity of the charges and sums involved.</div><div class="fifthPar">They allegations consist of 15 counts of false accounting and six of forgery.</div><div class="body">Moran, of Ivy Road, St Denys, Southampton, was remanded on unconditional bail to appear at London’s Southwark Crown Court on October 28 for a plea and case management hearing.The former politician spoke only briefly, in a faltering voice, to confirm her name and date of birth.Moran looked almost unrecognisable as she arrived at court this morning with a dark grey beret over her head, wearing glasses, and clutching a handkerchief to her mouth.The auburn tresses and bright clothes seen in previous photographs were replaced by a sober dark suit and blonde hair.In court she continued to sob into a handkerchief as she waited for the hearing to start.The criminal probe into Moran began after an investigation by The Daily Telegraph. <img alt="" src="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02002/margaretSplit_2002244c.jpg" style="display: inline; border: 0px initial initial;" />Margaret Moran in May 2009 and arriving at Westminster Magistrates Court today (PA/NICHOLAS RAZZELL)</div>

Ms Moran, 56, looked a shadow of her former self as she arrived to face 21 charges at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in central London.

One count alleges that she falsely claimed £22,500 for dry rot on a home in Southampton more than 100 miles from her constituency. The for...

Six held in major anti-terror probe

Six men have been arrested in connection with one of the most significant intelligence-led counter-terrorism operations this year. The me...

Dale Farm residents celebrate court victory

Dale Farm residents have won a last-gasp injunction restraining Basildon Council from clearing structures from the site pending a further hearing at London's High Court on Friday. Mr Justice Edwards-Stuart granted the order at London's High Court on the basis that there was a realistic apprehension that the measures to be taken - while genuinely believed in by the council - "may go further" than the terms of the enforcement notices. Travellers and their supporters had barricaded themselves behind newly built brick walls and chained themselves to fences as officials prepare to evict them from an illegal site in southeast England at the end of a decade-long battle. Supporter Jake Fulton said: "This is really great news but this isn't over yet. It makes us feel we have a really good shot at defending travellers in a way that has never happened before." The showdown between the bailiffs, travellers and a variety of protest groups who have joined their cause marks the climax of one of Britain's most contentious and bitter planning rows in recent years. Basildon Council said last-ditch talks had broken down on Monday morning after the travellers asked for the eviction to be delayed until November 22.

Dale Farm residents celebrate court victory

Dale Farm residents have won a last-gasp injunction restraining Basildon Council from clearing structures from the site pending a further ...

Milly Dowler's family have been offered a multimillion-pound settlement offer by Rupert Murdoch's News International,

<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="Milly Dowler" height="276" src="http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Media/Pix/pictures/2011/9/19/1316447474050/Milly-Dowler-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;">Phone hacking: Milly Dowler's family are understood to have been offered a seven-figure settlement. Photograph: Surrey Police/PA</div></div><div id="article-body-blocks" style="border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Milly Dowler's family have been offered a multimillion-pound settlement offer by Rupert Murdoch's News International, in an attempt to settle the phone-hacking case that led to closure of the News of the World and the resignation of the company's chief executive, Rebekah Brooks.It is understood that News International has made a settlement offer estimated by sources at close to £3m, a figure that include a £1m donation to charity. But the publisher has not yet reached agreement with the Dowler family, whose lawyers were thought to be seeking a settlement figure of closer to £3.5m.The seven-figure sums under negotiation are far larger than other phone-hacking settlements reached, reflecting the fact that the phone-hacking case affected a family who were victims of crime. Thirteen-year-old Dowler went missing in March 2002 and was later found murdered.It emerged in July that Milly Dowler's mobile phone had been hacked after her death. Voicemails were accessed on behalf of the News of the World, and messages left for her were deleted to make room for more recordings. This gave the family false hope that she was still alive, because messages were disappearing.On Monday afternoon there was growing speculation that a deal is close, although other sources familiar with the negotiations indicated that there are still enough matters unresolved to mean that an agreement in principle had not yet been reached behind the scenes.Sienna Miller accepted £100,000 from News International after the publisher accepted unconditional liability for her phone-hacking and other privacy and harassment claims in May. A month later Andy Gray accepted £20,000 in damages plus undisclosed costs.Other lawyers bringing phone-hacking cases are privately indicated that they would be advising many of those bringing actions to try and reach a settlement rather than take their cases to lengthy and expensive trials. A handful of cases have been taken forward as lead actions by Mr Justice Vos, to establish a benchmark for settlements in future lawsuits.Murdoch met with the Dowler family in July, shortly after the original story about hacking into her phone broke, making what the family's lawyer, Mark Lewis, said was a "full and humble" apology. The News Corporation chairman and chief executive "held his head in his hands" and repeatedly told the family he was "very, very sorry".</div>

Milly Dowler's family have been offered a multimillion-pound settlement offer by Rupert Murdoch's News International,

Phone hacking: Milly Dowler's family are understood to have been offered a seven-figure settlement. Photograph: Surrey Police/PA Milly D...

THE record company behind Irish rockers U2 has allegedly been unwittingly used by a multi-million dollar drugs trafficking ring

THE record company behind Irish rockers U2 has allegedly been unwittingly used by a multi-million dollar drugs trafficking ring. A year-long investigation by the US Drugs Enforcement Authority (DEA) is alleged to have uncovered a racket where the band's record company, Interscope Records, was being used to transport Class A drugs and money inside the United States. It is understood that the record company's Californian headquarters was being used for pick-ups and deliveries of hundreds of kilograms of cocaine while a New York recording studio at the other end was also being used for the drug and cash shipments. Members of the drugs ring allegedly used musical equipment called “road cases” for shipping cocaine from Los Angeles to New York, between January 2010 and June 2011. On the way back, the same cases were filled with hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, according to documents filed in a US court. The illegal trading was allegedly going on for 18 months, but it was not alleged that Interscope Records or its staff knew or were involved in any drug shipments. The allegation was contained in a letter detailing evidence against James Rosemond, a music-industry manager and head of Czar Entertainment. Mr Rosemond, 46, known as ‘Jimmy Henchmen', is a rap music manager who represents artist The Game. He was indicted three months ago on drug trafficking charges. Federal prosecutors say Interscope employees knew nothing about Mr Rosemond’s alleged drug smuggling. However, it is not yet understood how Mr Rosemond's team got access to Interscope's Californian headquarters to drop off and take the shipments. The ring is alleged to have used a New York recording studio at the other end for the drugs and cash shipments, the Wall Street Journal reported. The cases were shipped by music gear specialists RockIt Cargo, which is the company responsible for shipping U2's musical equipment around the world — including during their latest 360 tour. However, there is no suggestion in the filing that RockIt Cargo knew what was inside the cases. RockIt has not commented. Interscope chairman Jimmy Iovine, long a highprofile executive within the music industry, has recently become something of a household name thanks to American Idol, which he joined last season to provide creative guidance to contestants. His company, which is part of Universal, released a statement yesterday afternoon. “Interscope Records has been informed by the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York that there is no evidence that any employee of UMG or Interscope Records had any involvement in the drug trafficking ring being prosecuted by that office,” the statement read.

THE record company behind Irish rockers U2 has allegedly been unwittingly used by a multi-million dollar drugs trafficking ring

THE record company behind Irish rockers U2 has allegedly been unwittingly used by a multi-million dollar drugs trafficking ring. A year-l...

UBS raises rogue equity trade losses to $2.3 billion

<blockquote><img alt="" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWpOeeNcEvJ2-aPGj5FDfwY6w3hG6NtegCjHECwOKJH-6uEG8BOnrG_M8iGEkIBxMIju9EZvHGa3DZCZi4DWoY1PIWP6Z8z2bTOJvrwkNkt9j78g8Uew65Zre0sEk8x9JJcjL5HNgNWDU/" style="float: left;" width="320" />Swiss bank UBS on Sunday increased the amount it said it had lost on rogue equity trades to $2.3 billion and alleged a trader concealed his risky deals by creating fictitious hedging positions in internal systems. UBS stunned markets on Thursday when it announced unauthorised trades had lost it some $2 billion. London trader Kweku Adoboli was charged on Friday with fraud and false accounting dating back to 2008. "The loss resulted from unauthorised speculative trading in various S&P 500, DAX, and EuroStoxx index futures over the last three months," UBS said in a brief statement. "The loss arising from this matter is $2.3 billion. As previously stated, no client positions were affected." Global stock markets have been extremely volatile in recent months, plunging on concerns over euro zone and U.S. debt crises and then rebounding on hopes for their resolution. The loss is a disaster for the reputation of Switzerland's biggest bank, which had just started to recover after it almost collapsed during the financial crisis and faced a damaging U.S. investigation into aiding wealthy Americans to dodge taxes. "Loss even more. Reads like they're making excuses," said Helvea analyst Peter Thorne of the UBS statement. The new scandal has prompted calls for its top managers to step down and for its investment bank to be split into a separate unit from its core wealth management business. Chief Executive Oswald Gruebel, who was brought out of retirement in 2009 to turn the bank around, was quoted in a newspaper on Sunday as saying he is not considering quitting over the crisis, but said it was up to the board to decide. In a memo to staff on Sunday, he said: "Ultimately, the buck stops with me. I and the rest of senior management are responsible for dealing with wrongdoing." Swiss newspapers quoted unnamed insiders as saying the UBS board and important shareholders such as the Singapore sovereign wealth fund were still backing Gruebel, with immediate changes at the top the last thing the bank needed. Gruebel is widely expected to present plans to drastically cut back the investment bank at an investor day in November. INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION The bank, whose three keys logo symbolise "confidence, security, discretion," has pulled its "We will not rest" global advertising campaign for now, that was designed by advertising agency Publicis to try to rebuild its image. Meanwhile, UBS client advisers have been writing to customers to reassure them of the underlying financial strength of the bank despite the trading loss, a spokesman said. "That we now suffer this setback at this point in our efforts to improve our reputation is very disappointing. This incident also sets us back somewhat in our capital-building efforts," Gruebel said in his memo. "However, I wish to remind you that our fundamental strengths as a firm remain intact... we remain one of the best capitalized banks in the industry. UBS said its board of directors had set up a committee chaired by independent director David Sidwell, former chief financial officer at Morgan Stanley, to conduct an independent investigation into the trades and the bank's control systems. The bank said it had covered the risk resulting from the unauthorised trades, and its equities business was again operating normally within previously defined risk limits. It said the trader had allegedly concealed the fact his trades violated UBS risk limits by executing fake exchange-traded fund (ETFs) positions. "Following inquiries directed to him by UBS control functions that were reviewing his positions, the trader revealed his unauthorised activity," the bank said. "The positions taken were within the normal business flow of a large global equity trading house as part of a properly hedged portfolio," UBS said. "However, the true magnitude of the risk exposure was distorted because the positions had been offset in our systems with fictitious, forward-settling, cash ETF positions." The Sunday Times cited unnamed insiders saying the trader placed bets worth $10 billion before his losses were detected. ETFs are index funds listed on an exchange and can be traded just like regular stocks. They try to replicate index performances and offer lower costs than actively managed funds, but regulators have warned about risks from some complex ETFs. In the past three months, DAX futures have fallen 22 percent, Eurostoxx 50 futures have dropped 20 percent and S&P 500 futures have dipped 4 percent. The instruments involved in the UBS case are similar to those that Jerome Kerviel, the rogue trader at Societe Generale, traded when he racked up a $6.7 billion loss in unauthorised deals in 2008. Christoph Blocher, vice-president of the right-wing Swiss People's Party (SVP) -- the country's biggest -- renewed his calls for a splitting off of the investment bank. "One has to seriously examine a ban on investment banking for commercial banks," he told the SonntagsZeitung, adding his party might team up with the center-left Social Democrats to push for such a move.</blockquote>

UBS raises rogue equity trade losses to $2.3 billion

Swiss bank UBS on Sunday increased the amount it said it had lost on rogue equity trades to $2.3 billion and alleged a trader concealed hi...

Hunger strikes at California prison renew debate over confining prison gangs

<blockquote>The sun rarely shines on the kingpins of California's prison gangs. To stop them from orchestrating mayhem on prison yards and neighborhoods across the state, prison officials condemned hundreds of reputed gang members to years of isolation in windowless cells. For five years, the tough strategy worked, wardens insist. Quarantined crime bosses lost contact with their followers. No one could hear what they had to say. At least, not until July 1, when some of the most securely held prisoners at Pelican Bay State Prison stopped eating and broke through their shuttered lines of communication with a mass hunger strike that spread into prisons across the state. "Am I an innocent lamb? By no means, but I can tell you this: I never deserved to be locked up in a dungeon for seven years just because they allege I'm a gang member," said Ronnie Yandell, one of the leaders of the hunger strike that lasted three weeks and spread to 12 other prisons with promises of more strikes to come. Now, as a court-ordered mandate forces California to reduce the number of low-level criminals in its overcrowded prisons, protests of inhumane conditions for the most hardened, violent criminals are forcing the state to rethink another problem: How can powerful and savvy prisoners be stopped from directing violence on the outside without their rights against cruel punishment being violated on the inside? Life in 'The SHU' Yandell and the other 1,110 men in the Pelican Bay Security Housing Unit -- known as "The SHU" -- spend at least 22 1/2 hours each day in their concrete, bathroom-size cells. Some inmates have a cellmate and some do not. Prisoners can have TVs but little human interaction. Their daily outing is a solitary 90-minute break in a barren exercise pen lined with 15-foot-high concrete walls and a limited view of the sky. Hearing about the hunger strike through a network of family members and activists, more than 6,000 inmates across California joined in. The prisons weighed each hunger striker daily, finding only about 11 percent of Pelican Bay's protesters lost weight during the 21-day strike. One lost 30 pounds. No one died, but after weeks of unwanted attention and a legislative hearing in late August, top prison officials now say they are reviewing how long and why they segregate and isolate some inmates in the state's harshest cellblocks. "Everything we're doing with these men is lawful and constitutional," said Pelican Bay Warden Greg Lewis. "I really didn't see the need to negotiate anything. On the other hand, in the department, we need to evolve and change with the conditions that are going on." Dogged with mistreatment complaints and lawsuits since its inception, Pelican Bay's conditions were found by a federal judge in 1995 to "hover on the edge of what is humanly tolerable." But judges have also repeatedly upheld California's practice of confining inmates in isolated conditions, and in March commended Pelican Bay for improving conditions. Still, experts say, the prison realignment prompted by the court order to reduce prison populations offers an opportunity to reconsider the practice of isolating criminals. "There's a growing consensus that these ultra-isolation prisons are a bad mistake," said criminologist Barry Krisberg, director of research at UC Berkeley's Earl Warren Institute. "The theory behind these prisons was we'll collect all the worst people in one place and that will make the rest of the prisons safer and easier to manage. But they weren't necessarily the most dangerous, violent criminals. " And the levels of violence in the other places didn't really go down." 'Living like dogs' Prisoners promise another fast could begin next week inside the remote facility, just south of the Oregon border, if their demands for better conditions and an easier path out of isolation are not met. Prison officials said the strikes are a dangerous, costly and ineffective way for prisoners to voice their complaints. Yandell said it is the only way anyone will pay attention. "We're tired of living like dogs," the former Contra Costa County resident wrote in a handwritten letter to this newspaper, one of several interviews conducted between the newspaper and self-defined leaders of the strike. "Not even terrorists at Guantánamo Bay are treated like this." Convicted of killing two men in El Sobrante a decade ago during a drug deal, Yandell was placed in Pelican Bay's SHU -- the oldest and biggest of three similar units around the state -- after prison officials designated him a member of the Aryan Brotherhood, a white-only gang. The only way out of solitary confinement was to "debrief" -- to convincingly denounce his gang affiliation and ideology and name former collaborators. But many prisoners never find their way out of the SHU; the average time spent inside the state's isolation units is 6.8 years, and some prisoners have been there for decades.</blockquote>

Hunger strikes at California prison renew debate over confining prison gangs

The sun rarely shines on the kingpins of California's prison gangs. To stop them from orchestrating mayhem on prison yards and neighbo...

Criminal gangs are stealing everything from power lines, metal railings and farm animals in highly organised hits.

Thieves regularly put their lives at risk by hacking away live copper cabling to try and cash in on increasing scrap metal prices. British Transport Police has said the thefts cost a staggering £43m pounds in the past three years.<div class="thinCenter" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: auto; min-height: 1px; width: 470px; padding: 0px;"><img alt="Risky: Criminals are endangering their lives to steal live cabling from power lines and railway tracks" class="blkBorder" height="313" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/09/18/article-2038764-0039B49000000258-539_468x313.jpg" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 1px solid black;" width="468" />Risky: Criminals are endangering their lives to steal live cabling from power lines and railway tracks</div>While some of the thieves are believed to know how to cut the 1,500 volt cable without being electrocuted, there are fears that teenagers are also being used to carry out some raids. In July, a 16-year-old boy who broke into a disused power station in Leeds was killed after touching a high-voltage cable. Commuters are suffering during rush-hour with more than 16,000 hours of delays in the past 12-months.Travellers were also left stranded last week when overhead power cables were stolen and caused delays between London Liverpool Street and Stansed Airport.Bermondsey in south London was also targeted when 65-metres of cable was ripped up. It led to 146 trains being cancelled with 840 being delayed.Callous criminals are also targeting grave sites and and only last week more than 50 brass memorial plates were taken from a crematorium in Crawley, West Sussex.<div id="ext-gen1217" class="moduleHalf" style="min-height: 1px; font-weight: bold; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Callous criminals are also targeting grave sites and and only last week more than 50 brass memorial plates were taken from a crematorium in Crawley, West Sussex. </div>Loved ones of the deceased were left devastated when boss Adrian Barbour contacted families to break the bad news.Homes are also being stripped of highly-prized metal garden ornaments and telephone cables are also being hacked away.BT has reported 900 cable thefts in just six months and has said 100,000 customers have been affected and left without vital communications.<div class="thinFloatRHS" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-left: 10px; min-height: 1px; width: 235px; float: right; padding: 0px;"><img alt="Farm animals are also being targeted and a 1,500-strong flock was stolen" class="blkBorder" height="354" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/09/18/article-2038764-07E577E7000005DC-239_233x354.jpg" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 1px solid black;" width="233" />Farm animals are also being targeted and a 1,500-strong flock was stolen</div>There have been calls for tougher sentencing for cable thieves, some of whom come from other European countries to carry out the crimes. Deputy chief constable Paul Crowther for British Transport Police said: 'There have been incidents around the country in which homes, businesses and even hospitals have suffered power cuts and surges as a result of criminals stealing copper from power substations.'He told the Sunday Express that police were devoting hours of manpower to try and tackle the problem. There has also been a massive increase in sheep rustling with highly organised gangs using lorries and sheep dogs to round up farm animals.A 1,500-strong flock was taken from fields in Lincolnshire in what is believed to be one of the biggest cases of rustling in the UK.NFU Mutual insurance company said it was a 'remarkable achievement', which has left authorities baffled.A spokesman told the Sunday Times: 'It would have involved sheepdogs, up to five articulated lorries and three men with each truck.'There would have been a lot of whistling and calling to the dogs.'

Criminal gangs are stealing everything from power lines, metal railings and farm animals in highly organised hits.

Thieves regularly put their lives at risk by hacking away live copper cabling to try and cash in on increasing scrap metal prices. British T...

Another shipment of cocaine inside plastic bananas seized in Spain

National Police have seized almost half a ton of cocaine which had been smuggled into Spain hidden inside plastic bananas transported in a normal cargo of the fruit. It’s a method which has been used by drug smugglers before, leading to four arrests after 162 kilos of cocaine were seized at Algeciras Port this January. The Interior Ministry said in a press release on Thursday that the drugs were imported from Ecuador in containers of bananas by an import company which was set up for that purpose in San Roque, Cádiz province. The group is understood to have sent over a number of containers of real fruit from Ecuador before sending the cargo of cocaine. The gang’s rented warehouse in San Roque was kept under surveillance and raided after three containers were transported there at the end of June, where plastic bananas containing 448 kilos of cocaine were discovered amongst the fruit. Three people were later arrested in Roldán, Murcia, and in Pozuelo de Alarcón, Madrid, followed by a fourth suspect who was taken into custody in August in Alicante.

Another shipment of cocaine inside plastic bananas seized in Spain

National Police have seized almost half a ton of cocaine which had been smuggled into Spain hidden inside plastic bananas transported in a...

11 of the 54 prisoners in Menorca jail are British

11 of the 54 prisoners being held in prison on Menorca are British, according to the prison authorities, who says their presence on the is...

Brazil judge's murder points to vigilante power

Judge Patricia Acioli was known for wielding a "heavy hammer," especially against rogue police who have formed illegal vigilante gangs. She had put more than 60 officers behind bars, most of them for murder. The Rio de Janeiro state judge paid for that fearlessness: Acioli was shot to death in front of her house last month. And all of the 21 bullets that hit her came from a lot issued to police, including some in Sao Goncalo, the city where she worked. While violence and impunity are common in Brazil, the brazen murder of Acioli was an especially heavy blow, a message of intimidation from the vigilante militias. The slaying was "a wound to the lawful state, to democracy; the figure of the judge is a symbol of justice," said Denise Frossard, a retired judge who presided over some of Rio's first cases against the militias in the 1990s. "If she is a judge and can be killed, how can a citizen feel secure enough to be a witness?" Acioli's death was the first murder of a judge in the state's history, though Frossard herself survived three assassination attempts and had eight security guards ensuring her safety while she was on the bench. Violent militias have grown in power and scope in recent years, taking over poor communities formerly controlled by drug dealers and coercing residents to pay for illegal utility hookups, transportation, and security. Their members include former and current police, firefighters and jail guards. Investigators say they have elected members as state and city legislators. They also have been praised by politicians, including Rio de Janeiro's mayor, for taking back swaths of territory from drug gangs. A probe by the state legislature in 2008 found militias were connected to execution-style killings, far-reaching extortion schemes, and the kidnapping and torture of a group of journalists investigating the gangs' activities. Acioli had been repeatedly threatened for taking on the police officers who were part of the gangs, and she had written letters to her superiors requesting protection. One week before her murder, she went to Rio police's internal affairs office and said she was being threatened by officers from Sao Goncalo, where she worked, and Niteroi, where she lived. The last case on her docket on Aug. 11, the day she died, involved policemen charged with executing an 18-year-old man in a slum. One of her last acts as a judge was to authorize their arrest. A month later, three of the same Sao Goncalo police officers were charged with her murder. The suspects knew the judge would ask for their arrest, and wanted to stop her, said Felipe Ettore, the head of Rio's homicide division, in a press conference this week. They didn't know she'd already issued the order. "Their way of stopping her was to kill her," Ettore said. "They went to court and followed Patricia to her front door." Nationwide, the lives of 134 judges are currently under threat, according to the National Council for Justice, which oversees the judiciary branch in Brazil. Requests for protection from magistrates jumped 400 percent in the month since Acioli's death, according to the Brazilian Association of Judges. The killing prompted the United Nations special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Gabriela Knaul, to urge Brazilian authorities to protect those charged with enforcing the law. "The assassination of Judge Acioli is evidence of the existence of a pervasive and serious problem regarding the protection of judges in Brazil," said Knaul, a Brazilian judge herself. Acioli's caseload was taken on by three other judges. Seven prosecutors are now working with them. "Her death did bring on a fear among prosecutors and judges; they're human, and it's natural to think, 'That could be me tomorrow,'" said Claudio Lopes, Rio state's attorney general. "But if this was done to intimidate justice, it is backfiring. We will be more rigorous than ever." The work is not only dangerous, it's difficult. Militias infiltrate the state from local police departments to state legislatures. They have a particularly nefarious effect on the legal system because they blur the boundaries between legitimate agents of the law and criminals, Lopes said. "They're often composed of people credentialed by the state to promote public safety, and they turn against the state, against the public," he said. "They usurp the authority of the state. In this way, they are a danger that goes deeper than drug traffickers." Even a few years ago, some politicians still praised militias for doing what the state couldn't do: take on drug dealers entrenched in the city's shantytowns. Former Rio Mayor Cesar Maia welcomed them as a "lesser evil" and a form of "community self-defense" against drug gangs, according to the newspaper O Globo in 2006. Current Mayor Eduardo Paes praised militias in a July 2008 interview on Globo television, saying they "brought peace to the population" in areas where the state had lost sovereignty to drug lords. Such views are changing as the body count rises. The 2008 investigation led by Marcelo Freixo, head of the state legislature's human rights commission, led to the arrest of one state representative and six city council members for militia activity. Hundreds were arrested on other charges because of information detailed in the report. One of those arrested, Rio City Councilman Luiz Andre Ferreira da Silva, is accused of plotting to kill the city's police chief and Freixo. In Sao Goncalo, 34 officers were put on leave after Acioli's death because they face serious criminal charges such as murder, according to Rio state's Supreme Court. Arrest warrants have been issued for 28 of them. In spite of the threats to Acioli, court officials had cut her security detail from four to one in 2007, said Tecio Lins e Silva, an attorney representing her family. "This is a matter involving my life, and it is very important," Acioli wrote in a letter appealing the decision. "I don't understand the treatment being given to the case." But the security officers were not reinstated. At the moment she was shot, no one was there to protect her.

Brazil judge's murder points to vigilante power

Judge Patricia Acioli was known for wielding a "heavy hammer," especially against rogue police who have formed illegal vigilante...

Boxer Scott Harrison released from Spanish jail

SHAMED Scottish boxer Scott Harrison is a free man after being released from a Costa del Sol prison. Harrison, 34, walked free from the notorious Botafuego jail near Algeciras after serving two and a half years for assaulting a policeman, and factory worker Jose Manuel Ortega in 2006. The former WBO title holder was jailed in 2009 for the assault – which took place in Alhaurin el Grande – but could still face extra jail time for another alleged attack in a Costa del Sol brothel in May 2007. He and cousins David McGill, 37, and Edward McGill, 39, were accused of battering bar boss Rafael Sainz Maza, 31, with Harrison facing three counts of assault. Following his release on Saturday, the Glaswegian spent time with his family at an apartment in Estepona’s Albayt Resort before strolling along Bermuda Beach with his fiancee Stacey Gardner, 27, and two-year-old son Jack. The father-of-three returned to the UK on Sunday, flying from Gibraltar in a possible bid to avoid the Spanish airport authorities. In 2009, Harrison told the Olive Press of his determination to rebuild his career once he was released. “I can tell you now that Scott Harrison will be back. I want to repay the fans for the faith they have shown in me,” he said. “I have never been so focussed and determined in my entire life. Being locked up helps develop that. “I’ll have a clean slate – a new start and the determination to show everyone I’m back.”

Boxer Scott Harrison released from Spanish jail

SHAMED Scottish boxer Scott Harrison is a free man after being released from a Costa del Sol prison. Harrison, 34, walked free from the no...

UBS Has $2 Billion Trading Loss; Police Arrest Man in London

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaspUOr54-VvHszNdK0zTKi_qLsVgIpm0Dk_Qo1thz-iIy5eD2qVRShb0eNjAVYozwLGQFsAJuKN0oMlXJpiz0ZkOJYgRQao87AvLl76rGwFux8ojEx2J78kUpQ348DoXlj_surowb6dk/s1600/ubs_logo_1895.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaspUOr54-VvHszNdK0zTKi_qLsVgIpm0Dk_Qo1thz-iIy5eD2qVRShb0eNjAVYozwLGQFsAJuKN0oMlXJpiz0ZkOJYgRQao87AvLl76rGwFux8ojEx2J78kUpQ348DoXlj_surowb6dk/s320/ubs_logo_1895.gif" width="320" /></a></div>UBS AG, Switzerland’s biggest bank, may be unprofitable in the third quarter after a $2 billion loss from unauthorized trading at its investment bank. London police arrested a 31-year-old man on suspicion of fraud. UBS management aims to “get to the bottom of the matter as quickly as possible, and will spare no effort to establish exactly what has happened,” the bank’s group executive board, led by Chief Executive Officer Oswald Gruebel, said in a memo to employees today. “While the news is distressing, it will not change the fundamental strength of our firm.” The bank tumbled as much as 9.6 percent in Swiss trading following the announcement, which deals a blow to Gruebel’s attempts to revive the investment bank after the division recorded 57.1 billion Swiss francs ($65 billion) in cumulative pretax losses in three years through 2009. The trading loss may revive calls for Gruebel to shrink or shut the unit. “How many times do we have to see huge UBS losses?” said Simon Maughan, head of sales and distribution at MF Global Ltd. in London. “It looks unreformed, unwieldy and ultimately unsustainable. This could be a critical tipping point for UBS’s strategy.” UBS fell 79 centimes, or 7.2 percent, to 10.14 francs by 11:43 a.m. in Zurich, bringing the drop this year to 34 percent. UBS said in a statement the matter is still under investigation, and that the “current estimate of the loss on the trades is in the range of $2 billion.” No client positions were affected, UBS said, declining to comment further. Arrest in London An unidentified 31-year-old man was arrested in central London at 3:30 a.m. on “suspicion of fraud by abuse of position,” the police said in a statement. The man remains in custody and an investigation has been started, the statement said. Switzerland’s Neue Zuercher Zeitung newspaper, citing the bank, reported that the trading loss took place in the equities unit in London, and was discovered yesterday afternoon. UBS spokeswoman Tatiana Togni declined to confirm or deny the report. UBS had to raise more than $46 billion in capital from investors, including the Swiss state, to make up for the record losses during the credit crisis. The investment-banking unit had pretax earnings of 1.21 billion francs in the first half of 2011, while UBS as a whole had net income of 2.82 billion francs in the period. The bank’s tier 1 capital at the end of the second quarter was 37.39 billion francs, giving it a tier 1 capital ratio of 18.1 percent, compared with 14 percent at Deutsche Bank AG, Germany’s biggest bank. Risk Management While the loss is “manageable” for UBS, it’s “obviously not helpful for sentiment and confidence in the bank’s risk management following the near-death experience of 2008-2009,” said Andrew Lim, a London-based analyst at Espirito Santo Investment Bank, in a note. Lim had estimated third-quarter net income of 1.1 billion francs for UBS. UBS last month said it will eliminate about 3,500 jobs, with about 45 percent of the reductions coming from the investment bank, as stricter capital requirements and market turmoil hurt the earnings outlook. The bank in July scrapped the target of doubling pretax profit from last year’s level to 15 billion francs by 2014. Gruebel, 67, and Carsten Kengeter, 44, who runs the investment bank, have been trying to revive earnings at the division for two years. They hired more than 1,700 people across the investment bank and brought in new business heads to replace those that left or were fired. They’ve also increased risk- taking to improve earnings opportunities. Kerviel, Leeson The investment bank last had a pretax loss in the third quarter of 2010 when what Gruebel called “very low levels of client activity” and a charge related to the bank’s own debt hurt revenue at the division. Gruebel, who formerly ran Credit Suisse Group AG, was brought out of retirement by UBS in February 2009 to take over from Marcel Rohner after the company posted the biggest annual loss in Swiss corporate history. A former bond trader, Gruebel doubled profit at Credit Suisse between 2004 and 2006. UBS isn’t alone in suffering from unauthorized trading. Societe Generale SA of Paris said in January 2008 that the bank lost 4.9 billion euros ($6.7 billion) after trader Jerome Kerviel took unauthorized positions on European stock index futures. Credit Suisse, Switzerland’s second-biggest bank, had a loss in the first quarter of 2008 in part because of writedowns on debt securities that were intentionally mispriced by a group of traders. Nick Leeson piled up $1.4 billion of losses that brought down Barings Plc in 1995. --With assistance from Paul Verschuur and Carolyn Bandel in Zurich and Gavin Finch in London. Editors: Frank Connelly, Stephen Taylor

UBS Has $2 Billion Trading Loss; Police Arrest Man in London

UBS AG, Switzerland’s biggest bank, may be unprofitable in the third quarter after a $2 billion loss from unauthorized trading at its invest...

Holloway lawyer smuggled drugs into Pentonville Prison in oversized shoes

Five people are facing years behind bars after smuggling drugs and mobile phones into Pentonville Prison – including a lawyer who stuffed illicit goods into his oversized shoes. Ritesh Brahmbhatt, 31, took phones, high-strength cannabis and the stimulant mephedrone into the prison in Caledonian Road, Holloway, in a pair of size-12 slip-ons bought from menswear store High and Mighty. The revelations come within a month of a scathing report by the prison’s independent monitoring board, which revealed a drug problem is stoking gang trouble and violence in the jail. It also emerged that a drugs counsellor from Canonbury is to stand trial next year accused of smuggling cannabis into the prison in an unrelated case. Dismissed Brahmbhatt, who was dismissed from law firm Mordi and Co in Holloway Road, Holloway, when caught, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to smuggle drugs, mobile phones and other prohibited items into Pentonville in July – but details have just emerged after his four accomplices were convicted on Friday after denying the charge. David Sterling, 28, of Mallory Close, Bromley-by-Bow, Desmond Brown, 27, of Montague Road, Leytonstone, Brown’s girlfriend Danielle Porter, 24, of Saltern Court, Barking, and Calvin Chance, 26, of Birch Grove, Leytonstone, were convicted at Blackfriars Crown Court following a trial. Rufuz D’Cruz, prosecuting, said: “Ritesh Brahmbhatt entered into a crude criminal conspiracy to smuggle prohibited items into prison with his clients, Sterling and Brown, who at that time were serving prisoners, and Chance and Porter.” Mr D’Cruz said he abused his position of trust and “chose to routinely undermine the rule of law”. The gang was snared after a prison officer spotted his suspiciously high number of legal visits – 15 between February and September in 2009. He was caught with a mobile phone, earphones, a pair of electronic scales and a small quantity of mephedrone, or “meow meow”, in his right shoe and 25g of high-strength “skunk” cannabis in his left, while a further 80g of cannabis was stuffed down his trousers. The lawyer intended to pass the contraband to inmate Sterling, who was wearing a full-length Muslim robe. Two more mobile phones – which can fetch up to £1,000 each inside – were discovered in his jail locker and an envelope with £300 of cash. Police found text messages and financial information linking the five, while several phone calls and visits were known to have taken place. Nearly £20,000 passed through bank accounts belonging to Brahmbhatt, Porter and two others. The five defendants have been remanded in custody awaiting sentencing. A Prison Service spokesman said: “We are working hard to keep contraband out of prison, using a range of security measures to reduce drug supply, including working closely with police forces and carrying out random mandatory drug tests.”

Holloway lawyer smuggled drugs into Pentonville Prison in oversized shoes

Five people are facing years behind bars after smuggling drugs and mobile phones into Pentonville Prison – including a lawyer who stuffed ...

Aussie Poker Pro David Saab Gaoled For Drug Smuggling

Professional poker player David Saab from Victoria in Australia faces a lengthy period away from the game after being convicted of smuggling 14.6kg of cocaine into the country.  The drugs, which had an estimated street value of AU$6.5 million (£4.22m) were hidden inside agricultural machinery imported from Canada.  Saab was convicted alongside fellow players Darren Francis Hughes and Robert Alan Remeeus; he faces 14 years in prison while his accomplices both received 8-year sentences. The highlight of Saab’s poker career was his victory in the Manila leg of the Asian Poker Tour in 2008, a win which netted him $280,000.  He has also appeared on tv screens in Britain, when he participated in a heat of the UK Open.  He came 46th in the Main Event at the 2008 World Series of Poker.  His total live tournament earnings amount to more than $550,000. Sentencing Saab, Judge Liz Gaynor said: “It is clear that you were the principal organiser in Australia of this importation and would derive the most benefit from it.”

Aussie Poker Pro David Saab Gaoled For Drug Smuggling

Professional poker player David Saab from Victoria in Australia faces a lengthy period away from the game after being convicted of smuggli...

Briton arrested for drug smuggling

Customs and Excise officers at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport have foiled an attempt to smuggle 6.5 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine (shabu-shabu) worth Rp 13 billion and arrested a British national. The head of the Customs Office, Oza Olivia, said the suspect was identified as Gareth G.D, 32, who flew from Istanbul, Turkey and arrived at the airport with Turkish Airlines on Tuesday evening. “Members of our tactical unit conducted profile analyses of passengers at Terminal II-D and began to suspect him of carrying illegal items,” she told reporters on Wednesday. Oza said officers were suspicious and decided to search the suspect’s luggage. They found the drugs hidden inside the luggage. The suspect, a construction worker in his home country, later confessed that he received an order from a Turkish man, whom he identified as A, to transport the drug to Jakarta and was promised US$1,000 when the delivery was made. Oza claimed that by intercepting the drug delivery, her agency managed to prevent thousands of youths becoming drug addicts. She also said that in collaboration with the National Narcotics Agency, the Customs Office is still investigating the case. Drug smuggling attempts through the country’s main international gate continues to rise despite the threat of the death penalty. Drug smugglers can be charged under Article 113 of the 2009 Law on Narcotics, which carries a possible death sentence.

Briton arrested for drug smuggling

Customs and Excise officers at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport have foiled an attempt to smuggle 6.5 kilograms of crystal methampheta...

Puddy in heated call to murder-accused

The best mate of missing multimillionaire businessman Craig Puddy has told a Perth court of a heated phone conversation between Mr Puddy and the bar manager accused of killing him. Cameron James Mansell, 39, is on trial in the West Australian Supreme Court for the murder of Mr Puddy, 45, who has not been seen since May 3 last year when he was allegedly killed in his $3.5 million Mt Pleasant home. Mr Puddy was part-owner of a bar called Basement On Broadway, in which he had invested $700,000, and Mansell was the manager. Defence lawyer Anthony Eyers has said Mansell fled the state after witnessing a "brutal" attack on Mr Puddy over a drug debt. But Prosecutor Bruno Fiannaca alleges Mr Puddy and his business partner, Martin Rogers, believed Mansell was mismanaging the bar and stealing money from the safe, which led to a confrontation between Mr Puddy and Mansell. Mr Puddy's "best mate" Paul Vesa told the court on Wednesday he was present on the morning of May 3 when Mr Puddy took a call from the National Australia Bank telling him the rent on the bar had not been paid and the bank was going to foreclose on the lease. He said Mr Puddy left a message for Mansell and called Mr Rogers to ask him why the rent had not been paid. When Mansell returned Mr Puddy's call, Mr Vesa heard his friend say, "Oh, you decide to f***ing ring me now?" Mr Vesa also said Mr Puddy seemed in "disbelief" that Mansell had suggested money was missing from the bar safe because Mr Puddy had taken it. Mr Puddy's sister, Nadine Puddy, told the court earlier on Wednesday that although her brother used cocaine and ecstasy "on social occasions" he did not like to associate with drug dealers. Ms Puddy said her brother became involved in the bar as an "indulgence" but he became unhappy about the running of the bar and wanted to sell it. Ms Puddy, her mother, Mr Vesa and a few friends went to Mr Puddy's house on May 4 after no one had heard from him since the previous night. She saw "bright red spots splattered" on a wooden chopping board in the kitchen, and when she looked up to the ceiling, she saw what she knew for sure was blood. The prosecution alleges Mansell hit Mr Puddy on the head with a blunt object at least twice before putting his body in a wheelie bin and disposing of it at an unknown location. The trial before Justice Michael Murray and a jury continues.

Puddy in heated call to murder-accused

The best mate of missing multimillionaire businessman Craig Puddy has told a Perth court of a heated phone conversation between Mr Puddy a...

Police blast bikies' recklessness after shots fired

Neighbours on a quiet Darch street feared for their lives after shots were fired at the home of a Comanchero bikie gang nominee early yesterday. Det-Supt Charlie Carver said that two men and a woman, aged in their 20s, were watching TV in a back room of their Matlock Heights home just after midnight when three men tried to force their way inside. The trio fired up to five shots at the front door and window and at a car parked outside. "They are co-operating to a certain extent but I will say the code of silence . . . involved in organised crime is prevalent," Det-Supt Carver said. One neighbour, who did not want to be named, said she ducked inside her house as the shots were fired. "We heard yelling and screaming, and banging on windows and doors, then we heard one gunshot and three quick ones," she said. "My husband called the police. When we came back to the window to have a look, they were gone." Det-Supt Carver said there were up to a dozen security cameras around the heavily fortified house, and windows and doors were fitted with security mesh. He slammed bikie gangs for their disregard for the safety of the community. "There have been numerous incidents where they use firearms with no regard for other people," he said. Det-Supt Carver said that the Comancheros did not have a big presence in WA. Police are looking for a vehicle described as a dark red HiLux-type utility with shiny bar work on it.

Police blast bikies' recklessness after shots fired

Neighbours on a quiet Darch street feared for their lives after shots were fired at the home of a Comanchero bikie gang nominee early yest...

Three bailed over murder of ex-gangster Dave Courtney's stepson Genson Courtney

THREE men have been released on bail over the murder of Genson Courtney in Greenwich. Police found Mr Courtney suffering from gunshot wounds in a black Volkswagen Golf at around 10.50pm on July 3 in Banning Street. The 23-year-old, stepson of ex-gangster Dave Courtney, was taken by ambulance to hospital but was pronounced dead at 3.43am. A post-mortem gave the cause of death as gunshot wounds to the head. Three men, aged 28, 34 and 27, who were arrested at addresses in east and south London on suspicion of murder, have been released on bail to return on November 8. Detective Chief Inspector Mark Gower from the Met’s Trident unit is still appealing for witnesses. He said: “I am appealing to anyone who may have seen or heard anything suspicious to contact the police. "I would like to reassure anyone concerned about contacting the police that Trident has great expertise in protecting witnesses and there are a huge variety of measures that can be put in place to protect you."

Three bailed over murder of ex-gangster Dave Courtney's stepson Genson Courtney

THREE men have been released on bail over the murder of Genson Courtney in Greenwich. Police found Mr Courtney suffering from gunshot wou...

Businessmen guilty of £8m "boiler room" shares scam share-selling was undertaken by salesmen working from Marbella and Barcelona,

share-selling was undertaken by salesmen working from Marbella and Barcelona, although many of them used false names and claimed to be calling from offices in Frankfurt, Stockholm or Amsterdam. The SFO said the business prospects of the company were inflated by WBR’s directors and salesmen. WBR eventually went into adminstration in 2007 following a petition by creditors. It is now officially in liquidation. Of the £8.2m attracted from investors, about £4m ended up in off-shore accounts in Cyprus, Jersey and Spain, the SFO said. It began its investigation after complaints from people who bought shares. WBR was later included on a warning list published by the Financial Services Authority. SFO director Richard Alderman said: “Boiler room fraudsters prey on vulnerable people, they also deprive genuine businesses of the capital they need to grow. Quite bluntly, they ruin lives. I am delighted that the SFO is playing its part in bringing down operations like these and bringing fraudsters to book

Businessmen guilty of £8m "boiler room" shares scam share-selling was undertaken by salesmen working from Marbella and Barcelona,

share-selling was undertaken by salesmen working from Marbella and Barcelona, although many of them used false names and claimed to be cal...

Woman caught bringing heroin to her prison pal

WOMAN pal of a man jailed over a €440m drugs seizure has been caught smuggling €6,000 of heroin into his prison. The middle-aged woman was caught by prison officers last week when she arrived at the Midlands Prison for a visit to Joe Daly (44). He is serving a 25-year sentence after being convicted of possessing the biggest cocaine haul in the State's history -- a seizure of 1.5 tonnes of cocaine at Dunlough Bay in 2007. Prison staff contacted gardai, who then arrested the woman. She was brought to Portlaoise Garda Station where she was questioned by detectives before being released without charge. A file is now being prepared for the DPP. Captured Sources say if the heroin had got into the jail, it would have had a value of "well over four times" the estimated street value that gardai put on the drug. The woman was not allowed to visit English national Daly after being caught with the drugs. Daly and three other English criminals are serving lengthy jail terms for their role in the plot to smuggle €440m worth of cocaine into Ireland in July 2007. Martin Wanden (48), police- killer Perry Wharrie (51), Gerard Hagan (27) and Daly were captured after diesel, instead of petrol, was put into the fuel tanks of their boat, which was carrying the drugs off the coast of Co Cork. When the vessel capsized, 62 bales of cocaine weighing over 1.5 tonnes were thrown into stormy seas, scuppering a huge drugs operation that had been months in the planning. Liverpool criminal Hagan admitted his role in the enterprise and was jailed for 10 years. However the other three men contested the charges but were convicted after a marathon 10-week trial at Cork Circuit Criminal Court which heard from 200 witnesses. Two of the defendants claimed in direct evidence that they were entirely the victims of circumstances, coincidence and bad luck. Joe Daly said he had only gone to west Cork as a favour for his brother, who had wanted a RIB delivered. But it would later emerge that Joe Daly's brother was Michael Daly (50) -- a former Metropolitan Police detective who is now serving combined sentences totalling 29 years in a UK prison in relation to the Co Cork plot and another cocaine importation plot. Gardai believe that Joe Daly became involved in the drugs smuggling operation through his older brother, Michael. Daly presented a defence that depicted him as very much under the influence of the brother. Children Born in London to Irish parents from west Cork, Daly worked as a bricklayer with his own business, JD Bricklaying, is married with three children and lived in Bexley, Kent. It emerged that he had a number of previous convictions in the UK for offences including threatening and abusive behaviour, assaults on police officers and possessing a blade. During the trial, his uncle, Tom Lydon, told how Daly visited him on the day before the drugs seizure and watched the Munster football final between Cork and Kerry on TV. He described him as very obliging -- "the first man to come around" if anyone needed help.

Woman caught bringing heroin to her prison pal

WOMAN pal of a man jailed over a €440m drugs seizure has been caught smuggling €6,000 of heroin into his prison. The middle-aged woman wa...

shut down drive-through drug operation near University Mall, expect more arrests

One by one, motorists arrived, rolling down windows and giving up cash, as they would at a fast-food restaurant. This drive-through opened at 11 a.m. some days, but lunch was never on the menu. Instead, customers could order cocaine, oxycodone, ecstasy and marijuana. Guns, too. At a news conference Wednesday, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office announced that it had broken up a drug trafficking ring that caught even investigators by surprise. About 11 months ago, deputies began building cases against two men reputed to be dealing drugs in a neighborhood near University Mall. Investigators thought Zavien Brand, 28, and Joseph Nurse, 35, might lead them to a few more people, maybe six or eight, said sheriff's Maj. J.R. Burton. But the small undercover probe soon turned into a larger investigation — dubbed Operation Pandora's Box — as deputies realized the area's loose-knit group of dealers included dozens of people. On Wednesday, sheriff's officials announced they had 54 warrants and, as of 4 p.m., 32 arrests, most on drug and gun possession charges. "We had no idea this was going on," Burton said. They focused on several addresses in the neighborhood near Nebraska and Fletcher avenues. The drive-through was at the Pines I Apartments at 11720 N 14th St., deputies said. Deputies took 29 guns off the street, including seven assault rifles and two weapons believed to be linked to shootings in the area. Also seized: about 1.3 pounds of crack cocaine, 0.64 ounces of powder cocaine, 0.25 ounces of oxycodone and some ecstasy — valued at about $75,000 total, Burton said. Burton hopes the operation sends a message to an area that has long struggled with crime, and he wants residents to know that deputies aren't done. Brand was charged with dealing crack cocaine and being a felon in possession of a gun. Nurse was charged with dealing crack cocaine, marijuana and stolen property. Deputies planned to continue executing search warrants until they arrest all 54 suspects.

shut down drive-through drug operation near University Mall, expect more arrests

One by one, motorists arrived, rolling down windows and giving up cash, as they would at a fast-food restaurant. This drive-through opene...

DEA Bans Synthetic Cocaine Masked As Bath Salts

<img alt="" height="407" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-dmPG0QTl_E8/Tm8QYaBw1MI/AAAAAAAABNs/FSOugKt83A8/%25255BUNSET%25255D.jpg" style="float: left;" width="640" />The U.S Drug Enforcement Agency's war on drugs continues with a nationwide ban of synthetic cocaine. Labeled as bath salts, the hallucinogenic drug has become more available in the Grand Junction area as part of a trend seen across the country. In response to increased emergency room visits, the federal agency has moved to emergency control these synthetic stimulants. This action makes it illegal to possess or sell Mephedrone, Methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV), and Methylone or any products containing them for the next year. These chemicals are most often found in forms of 'legal ecstasy' or 'legal cocaine.' During the temporary ban, the DEA will team up with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to further study whether these chemicals should be permanently banned. In June, we introduced you to these bath salts in this article. Back then, they were an unregulated drug taking the place of recently banned synthetic forms of marijuana. "It is actually like a synthetic cocaine slash methamphetamine," Jim Schrant with the DEA told us at the time. "So, it's really the worst of both." The bath salts sell at a price of $40 per gram. They are mainly sold at smoke shops. But, in June, Schrant told us that his agency could not find any local dealers. Today, there are at least two. "They're putting it into packaging which is pleasing to the eye with market names of "Blue Dreams," things like that," Schrant said. "And, they're intentionally trying to target that young adult crowd." As part of this emergency control, businesses and citizens have 30 days to get rid of the banned products. At that time, the DEA will publish a Final Order in the Federal Register making the drugs Scheduled 1 substances. That category is the harshest and is reserved for unsafe, highly abused chemicals with no known medical use in the U.S. Violating that law is punishable by jail time. Employees at smoke shops in the area tell us that synthetic cocaine isn't that popular. But, local high school students have heard all about it. "I don't think they care if it's legal," Grand Junction High School freshman Hannah Rady said of some of her classmates. "Nobody does." Just like K2 and Spice, bath salts are labeled "not for human consumption." But, these students say that is not stopping anyone and neither is the law. "People just ask me 'Have you done spice before?' I'm just like, 'No,'" GJHS freshman Emilio Lazcano said. He knows Governor John Hickenlooper made those forms of synthetic marijuana illegal starting July 1, but he says fellow classmates continue to tell bother about it. "They're like 'Oh, well you're supposed to smoke it like this and that,' and I'm like 'Oh, well cool. I'm not really into that stuff.'" "They tell us that it doesn't make their eyes red, so it's way easier to bypass by your parents," GJHS junior Joe Gedscad added. The most common symptoms of these synthetic stimulants include impaired perception, reduced motor control, disorientation, extreme paranoia, and violent episodes. The DEA says the long-term physical and psychological effects are not known but potentially severe. Including Colorado, 33 states have already taken action to control or ban other synthetic stimulants. Most states pass these laws after the DEA files an emergency control on certain chemicals.

DEA Bans Synthetic Cocaine Masked As Bath Salts

The U.S Drug Enforcement Agency's war on drugs continues with a nationwide ban of synthetic cocaine. Labeled as bath salts, the halluc...

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