History > 2007 > UK > Justice (III)

Jail for ex-soldier

who urinated on dying disabled woman

Saturday October 27, 2007
Guardian
Martin Wainwright

A drunken former soldier who urinated on a disabled neighbour as she lay dying after a fall in the street was jailed for three years yesterday and told that he and his friends had shamed a town. Anthony Anderson, 27, and a group of friends who filmed the humiliation of Christine Lakinski on a mobile phone, have been cold-shouldered in Hartlepool and turned away from shops and neighbours' homes.

They were castigated by a judge and police at a brief court hearing which was told that their "almost unbelievable" behaviour had turned the lesson of the Good Samaritan on its head. Ms Lakinski, a 50-year-old bent by a spine deformity and bullied for most of her life, had also been covered in shaving foam and kicked to "make her wake up".

During the episode in July, which lasted almost half an hour, none of the group called an ambulance to help Ms Lakinski, who had collapsed while carrying shopping home and hit her head. Only 20 minutes later, when Anderson, the phone-filmer Simon Whitehead and several others had dressed to go out to a nightclub, was a 999 call finally made. Paramedics were unable to revive Ms Lakinski, but the call enabled police to trace one of the group, Scott Clement, which led to Anderson's arrest at a local club within hours.

He admitted outraging public decency and apologised through his barrister at Teesside crown court for actions which he said he still could not explain.

The court heard that Ms Lakinski lived opposite a house in Raby Road which Anderson shared with another man, who had been smoking cannabis and drinking heavily with him all afternoon. Anderson went out in shorts with a towel round his waist when he saw Ms Lakinski slumped on the pavement.

Sue Jacobs, prosecuting, said Anderson first kicked the helpless woman and when she groaned but failed to move or open her eyes, fetched a bowl of water and threw it over her. "Apparently urged on by the fact that Scott Clement and Simon Whitehead found this amusing, you then stated that you were going to urinate on her. Simon Whitehead cleared space on his mobile and recorded Anderson urinating all over Christine's body." One of the group shouted: 'This is YouTube material.'"

Judge Peter Fox, the recorder of Middlesbrough, told Anderson he had plumbed the depths of degradation and brought shame on the people of Hartlepool. He said: "This court can do nothing to repair what you did, only pass a sentence that is right in all the circumstances - three years imprisonment."

Anderson, unemployed after brief army service, has previous convictions for illegally importing cigarettes, obstructing a police officer and driving offences.

Jail for ex-soldier who urinated on dying disabled woman, G, 27.10.2007, http://www.guardian.co.uk/crime/article/0,,2200320,00.html

5pm BST

Multiple stab wounds killed

1975 murder victim, court told

Wednesday October 24, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
James Orr and agencies


An 11-year-old girl who was brutally murdered more than 30 years ago died from multiple stab wounds to her heart and lung, a senior pathologist said today.
Lesley Molseed went missing from her home in October 1975. Her body was found abandoned on bleak moorland three days later.

Stefan Kiszko, an innocent man, was convicted of her murder and spent 16 years in jail for a crime he did not commit, Bradford crown court heard.

Advances in forensic science, however, led police to charge 54-year-old Ronald Castree with the murder.

Today, pathologist Professor Christopher Milroy described the 12 separate stab wounds that Lesley had suffered in the attack.

"I would give the cause of death as multiple stabs wounds," he told the court. "She has died because the stab wounds involved the heart, the aorta and the left lung."

Prof Milroy was giving evidence on the second day of the trial of Mr Castree, who is from Oldham, Greater Manchester.

The former part-time taxi driver is accused of murdering Lesley after snatching the youngster as she left her home in Rochdale on an errand for her mother.

As Lesley's mother, April Garrett, looked on from the public gallery, Prof Milroy described the report of another pathologist, Professor David Gee, who conducted the 1975 postmortem examination of the girl.

The court was told Prof Gee had first examined Lesley's body after it was found on moorland near the A672 Oldham to Ripponden road.

The pathologist told the jury it appeared Lesley was attacked where she was found and probably on the day she was abducted. He said the most likely weapon was a knife, around 2.5in long, and the blows to her chest appeared to be "targeted not random".

The court was also told how the defendant admitted abducting and sexually assaulting a nine-year-old girl within a year of Lesley's death.

Yesterday, the jury heard how DNA taken from Mr Castree had been found to be an exact match with DNA taken from sperm found on Lesley's clothing.

Mr Castree, who sat in the dock making notes, denies murdering Lesley between October 4 and October 9 1975.

The trial continues.

    Multiple stab wounds killed 1975 murder victim, court told, G, 24.10.2007, http://www.guardian.co.uk/crime/article/0,,2198286,00.html

2.15pm update

DNA pinpoints 1975 child killer,

Bradford court hears

Tuesday October 23, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
James Orr and agencies

A man accused of murdering an 11-year-old girl more than 30 years ago "repeatedly stabbed" the child and left her for dead on a moor, a court heard today.

Ronald Castree, 53, abducted Lesley Molseed from near her home in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, in October 1975, the prosecution said.

The youngster was driven to a "lonely scene" on the moors between Oldham and Ripponden, where she was sexually assaulted and murdered.

But Mr Castree, from Shaw, Oldham, left behind crucial DNA evidence that has since allowed police to track him down, Bradford crown court was told.

Today, Julian Goose QC, prosecuting, told the jury that Mr Castree's DNA provided an "exact match" to samples recovered from the dead child.

He said: "Lesley, who was aged 11 when she was murdered, had been stabbed 12 times."

The court was told Lesley had been left clothed by the killer. Semen had been found on the body.

Mr Goose said that at the time of Lesley's murder it had not been possible to extract and compare a DNA profile to help identify her killer.

Scientific progress, however, had since allowed forensic experts to use DNA recovered from the child's body to trace her murderer.

Stefan Kiszko, a tax clerk, was convicted of the killing in 1976 but was freed 16 years later when his conviction was quashed.

The jury was told he was freed after he was found to suffer from a condition that meant he could not produce sperm.

Mr Castree, wearing a dark grey suit in court, denies murdering Lesley between October 4 and 9 1975.

The jury of six men and six women has been told that the trial may last up to four weeks.

Mr Goose said the DNA from the sperm heads found on the victim's body was an exact match with the defendant's own DNA profile.

"The prosecution's case is that the semen was the defendant's and that his motive for murdering Lesley Molseed was sexual."

Mr Goose told the jury that the Molseed family had been enjoying "a typical Sunday" when her mother sent Lesley on an errand. She was never seen again.

Soon afterwards police launched an investigation but their evidence led to the conviction of the wrong man.

"Mr Kiszko served over 16 years in prison for a crime he did not commit," said Mr Goose. The innocent man died on December 21 1993, less than two years after his release from prison.

Mr Goose added that, in 1999, further forensic examinations were carried out on the 1975 evidence.

He said that by then all of Lesley's clothing had been destroyed, but scientists had retained adhesive tapings that had been used to collect samples from Lesley.

The prosecutor said that, from these tapings, quantities of DNA were extracted from which a clear DNA profile of Mr Castree was obtained.

In 2005 he was arrested for the murder of Lesley after he was detained in relation to an unrelated incident and police took a DNA sample from him.

The trial continues.

DNA pinpoints 1975 child killer, Bradford court hears, G, 23.10.2007, http://www.guardian.co.uk/crime/article/0,,2197526,00.html

Chinese and East European gangs

join together to create

new underworld force

October 20, 2007
From The Times
Adam Fresco, Crime Correspondent

The head of a multinational gang that made millions of pounds by forcing terrified foreign teenagers to become prostitutes was jailed yesterday after police carried out a three-month covert operation.

During the surveillance, officers realised that they were, unusually, dealing with a gang from different countries working together to control the sale of drugs and girls, and the brothels where the girls were forced to work.

Lithuanian criminals would force the women to travel to Britain, as well as bringing in drugs, and then sell the girls on to Albanian or Chinese gangs, who would also take control of drugs such as cocaine.

A senior officer involved in the operation told The Times that it was the first time he had seen such cooperation between criminal groups from different countries. Superintendent David Eyles, of the Metropolitan Police’s clubs and vice unit, said: “It is the only area of criminality I know where different nations have worked together. Usually they are clannish and territorial.

“It is unusual for Lithuanians, Chinese and Albanians to work hand in glove to run a criminal operation. Once they are here the gangs cooperate and have a healthy relationship. Lithuanians will bring the girls in and then sell them to Albanians, who will set the brothels up. The Chinese are probably more to do with the drugs.

“It makes it less of a clear picture for us. If there are two or three cultures to contend with it makes it harder to understand how they are working.

“This operation ran for a year and they were making millions of pounds from prostitution and drugs.”

With up to nine girls in two brothels in West London making £100 an hour, each of the gang was potentially earning more than £400,000 a month in cash from prostitution alone, while the girls were given only a few pounds to live on as well as having to pay for their rent, clothes and food.

Virginijus Suchodolskis, 32, a former European motorcycle racing champion, was the gang leader and would threaten to break the girls’ legs and to kill them if they failed to entertain dozens of men a week.

Six of the seven gang members, who all drove expensive cars, were arrested in raids across London in December, at the two brothels they ran in West London and at their homes. The seventh was arrested when he walked into the public gallery at Westminster Magistrates’ Court to see what was happening to his colleagues. During the raids officers recovered cocaine and cannabis worth £100,000 and 10,000 tablets of MDMA, otherwise known as Ecstasy. A handgun was found in one of man’s 7-Series BMW.

After months of covert surveillance officers from the vice unit were helped when a 16-year-old girl escaped from a pub in Wolverhampton, where she was working as a prostitute after being forced from her home in Lithuania. The girls were not kept locked up but were subjected to psychological control and threats and had their passports taken away.

Mr Eyles added: “With all seven defendants pleading guilty we have successfully wiped out an organised crime syndicate involving prostitution and the sale of drugs in the heart of the capital.” Suchodolskis, a 250cc motorbike track champion in Lithuania and a former holder of the European title, was jailed for eight years by Southwark Crown Court after admitting controlling prostitution and false imprisonment. Brendan Kelly, for the prosecution, said that Suchodolskis and his minions ran the operation like “traders whose commodity happened to be prostitution”.

Petras Aleknavicius, Mantas Dumasius, Karrong Jiang, Edward Hui, Yao-Kang Huang and Grazydas Rudatis all admitted controlling prostitution and were jailed last month. All apart from Huang and Suchodolskis also admitted various drug offences.

Aleknavicius, 24, admitted controlling prostitution, possession of Class A drugs and was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison. He was recommended for deportation. Dumasius, 22, pleaded guilty to controlling prostitution, two charges of possession with intent to supply Class A drugs and possession of a loaded firearm. He was jailed for thirteen years.

Jiang, 26, was jailed for five years after admitting controlling prostitution and possession with intent to supply Class C drugs. Hui, 34, pleaded guilty to controlling prostitution and supply of Class A drugs and was sentenced to six years.

Huang, 27, received two years for controlling prostitution. Rudatis, 24, pleaded guilty to controlling prostitution and possession with intent to supply Class A drugs and was sentenced to seven years.

Chinese and East European gangs join together to create new underworld force, Ts, 20.10.2007, http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article2697577.ece

Two years for boys

who stoned a kind father to death

as he played with son

October 20, 2007
From The Times
Stephanie Condron

Five boys who stoned a pensioner to death as he played cricket with his son were yesterday each sentenced to two years.

The boys, aged 12 to 14 and said to have come from good families, were described by an Old Bailey judge as cowardly and disgraceful.

The youngsters had been part of a gang that surrounded Ernest Norton, 67, as he played cricked with his son James, 17, in February last year at Erith leisure centre in Kent.

The gang shouted abuse and spat, then hurled sticks and stones at Mr Norton. Two of the stones, one the size of a brick, hit Mr Norton on the temple and fractured his cheekbone. As he collapsed with a heart attack they ran away.

The boys, the youngest of whom was aged only 10 at the time, were convicted in August of manslaughter and violent disorder.

During the trial Mr Norton’s son had told the court how the gang attacked without provocation and shouted at Mr Norton: “Go back to the old people’s home.”

Sending them to youth detention yesterday, Judge Warwick McKinnon said: “This was a vicious, entirely unprovoked and sustained group attack involving a barrage of missiles.”

Before the attack the boys had been running amok at the leisure centre, smashing windows and looking for a fight with a rival gang.

“You had each hyped yourselves up by your earlier rowdy mischief and misbehaviour before you attacked the most unfortunate Ernest Norton – he was entirely innocent,” Judge McKinnon said.

“First you abused him and his son, then spat at him and then launched a barrage of missiles at him.”

The boys were “cowardly” for fleeing when a large stone hit Mr Norton, the judge said.

“He suffered a heart attack and died – all this before the eyes of his son, who had to watch his father die in these dreadful circumstances,” Judge McKinnon said.

“The conduct of all of you as a group was utterly disgraceful and criminally irresponsible.”

Mr Norton’s, wife, Linda, had come running from the gym to cradle her husband as he lay dying. She was at court with her two children and granddaughter.

In a victim impact statement, she said that she had known her husband for almost 40 years. They had married in 1975.

“In 2006 life was flowing along lovely, everything was normal and you think it will never change,” she said. “Then bang, your life is turned upside down and you have to run on automatic.

“Ernie’s death has affected our lives in so many ways, we are still trying to be normal and enjoy ourselves again but I don’t think I ever will.”

She said: “When I see other couples out, especially older couples, I think to myself, ‘They are together, why aren’t we?’

“I miss Ernie just not being there, we did most things together. He was always there for me in every way imaginable. He was a kind-hearted man who looked after his family and friends.”

She said of her son: “He lost his role model at such an important time of his life.

“To put things simply, the house is just empty without Ernie and life will never be the same again.”

The court was told that the youngest of the attackers had thrown five of the stones. The 10-year-old boy was described as coming from a broken family and just following the others, one of whom was his elder brother. But their mother was described as being a competent parent.

Another boy was described as having no family problems, and one was said to have a low IQ but to come from a supportive family.

And the fifth, who has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, came from “a close knit and supportive family” that had shown him right from wrong.

The boys hugged their parents and some were crying as they were taken away.

    Two years for boys who stoned a kind father to death as he played with son, Ts, 20.10.2007, http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article2697586.ece

1.45pm update

Man admits encouraging terror attacks

Wednesday October 10, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
Staff and agencies

A man today admitted soliciting murder in connection with an alleged plot to organise terrorist training camps across the UK.

Atilla Ahmet, 42, from south-east London, pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey to three counts of encouraging others to commit murder.

Five men linked to Ahmet went on trial today at Woolwich crown court for a number of terrorist offences. One of the men, Mohammed Hamid, is accused of organising camps attended by the July 21 bombers, the court heard.

The prosecution claim Mr Hamid was involved in the radicalisation of Muslim youths for two years from 2004. David Farrell, prosecuting, said Mr Hamid was arrested at a stall in Oxford Street, central London, in October 2004.

Also arrested was Muktar Said Ibrahim, the ringleader of the failed July 21 plot, Mr Farrell said.

"Hamid told the police that his name was 'Osama bin London', and on the way to the police station he said to a police officer, 'I've got a bomb and I'm going to blow you all up'," the lawyer said.

Mr Hamid, 50, of Clapton, East London; Mousa Brown, 41, of Walthamstow, east London; Kibley da Costa, 24, of West Norwood, south-east London; Mohammed Al-Figari, 42, of Tottenham, north London; and Kader Ahmed, 20, of Plaistow, east London, deny a number of terrorism charges.

The court heard that the alleged terrorist training was carried out under the guise of camping and paint-balling trips in the UK.

Mr Farrell said the trips were designed to "foster within the participants that they were training for 'Jihad' against the 'Kuffir', or non-believers".

He added: "To put it another way, their statements and actions resulted in the encouragement, direct and indirect, of the commission of acts of terrorism.

"Indeed, as you will hear, a number of young men who attended camps organised by Hamid were in fact involved in attempts to kill and seriously injure passengers on the London transport network on July 2 2005."

The jury was told that Ahmet attend meetings at Mr Hamid's home, where "aggressive unlawful violence" was preached in the name of Islam.

Mr Farrell said: "At meetings held at Hamid's home address and elsewhere, the methods of Hamid and Ahmet involved the encouragement of the use of unlawful violence in the name of Islam."

The court heard that some of those involved in the failed July 21 bombings attended the camps and paint-balling trips, as well as meetings at Hamid's home.

The jury was shown evidence of phone contact between Mr Hamid and the four convicted bombers - Ibrahim, Hussein Osman, Ramzi Mohammed and Yassin Omar.

Mr Farrell said: "The prosecution do not suggest that Mr Hamid's role in seeking to train and influence those who took part in 21/7 was the only training or influence they received.

"The prosecution's case is that Hamid, assisted by Ahmet, was a recruiter, groomer and corrupter of young Muslims.

"His purpose was to convert such men to his own fanatical and extreme beliefs and, having given them such a foundation, thereby enabling them to move on to join others in the pursuit of 'Jihad' by acts of terrorism."

The court heard that Mr Hamid's east London home was bugged by police from September 2005 onwards.

Officers were able to listen to meetings held each Friday by Hamid, Ahmet and others when discussions took place.

In April 2006, an undercover police officer approached Mr Hamid at his Oxford Street stall and was invited to the Islamic meetings. He was subsequently invited to camping weekends in the New Forest and to an Islamic school in East Sussex.

Speaking about the recordings, Mr Farrell said: "What you'll hear is not mere religious discussion and teaching, but the preaching of aggressive, unlawful violence - terrorism in the name of Islam.

"Indeed Hamid's partner in terrorist conversions, Atilla Ahmet, has admitted that that was his intention when he addressed meetings at Hamid's house."

Mr Farrell said when the defendants were arrested in September 2006 their homes were searched and a "great deal" of extremist material was seized, including CDs and DVDs containing recordings of murders, beheadings and suicide bombings.

    Man admits encouraging terror attacks, G, 10.10.2007, http://www.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,,2187948,00.html

4.45pm

Open verdict recorded

on UK chess prodigy

Thursday September 27, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
Staff and agencies

An open verdict was recorded today at the inquest into the death of teenage chess prodigy Jessica Gilbert.

Jessica was 19 when she fell from the eighth floor of the Hotel Labe in Pardubice in the Czech Republic during a European competition.

The coroner ruled out suicide, saying he was not certain Jessica had killed herself intentionally.

Her death on July 26 last year came weeks before her father Ian, a Royal Bank of Scotland director, was due to face trial on five counts of raping her. He was later acquitted.

Jessica had represented England in the European and World chess championships.

She was a former pupil of £9,000-a-year Croydon High School for girls and had won a place at Oxford University to study medicine.

Jessica was sharing a room with a younger friend while competing at the Czech Open tournament when she fell to her death, the inquest in Epsom, Surrey, heard.

Czech police said the two had been drinking heavily and while the younger girl was ill in the bathroom, Jessica disappeared and was later found on the ground outside.

During her father's court case the jury heard that Jessica had twice got drunk and told friends that her father had raped her.

On the first occasion she had scaled a clock tower and threatened to jump off, on the second she woke the next day and took an overdose of 200 pills.

    Open verdict recorded on UK chess prodigy, NYT, 27.9.2007, http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2178526,00.html

Grandmother jailed

for daughter-in-law's murder

Published: 19 September 2007
PA
The Independent

A grandmother was jailed for life today for ordering the murder of her cheating daughter-in-law.

Bachan Athwal, 70, was told by an Old Bailey judge that she must serve a minimum term of 20 years in prison before she is eligible for release.


The court heard that her daughter-in-law Surjit Athwal disappeared "off the surface of the earth" after going to a family wedding with her in India in December 1998.


Bachan, a mother of six and grandmother of 16, ordered Surjit's death at a family meeting after discovering her daughter-in-law, a Heathrow Customs officer, had been having an affair and wanted a divorce.


Her body was never found but Bachan boasted to her family that she had arranged for her brother to strangle her and throw the corpse into a river.


It was years before frightened relatives came forward to police, giving them the evidence they needed to charge Bachan and her son Sukhdave, Surjit's husband.


Bachan and Sukhdave Athwal, 43, both of Willow Tree Lane, Hayes, west London, were found guilty of murder in July.


Sukhdave was also jailed for life today, with a minimum term of 27 years in jail.


Bachan stood with her hands clasped together and her head bowed as she received the sentence.


Judge Giles Forrester told mother and son: "The pair of you decided that the so-called honour of your family members was worth more than the life of this young woman.


"You, Bachan, were head of that family. I have no doubt you exercised a controlling influence over other family members."

    Grandmother jailed for daughter-in-law's murder, I, 19.9.2007, http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/crime/article2977616.ece

4.30pm update

Scottish student convicted

on terror charges

Monday September 17, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
Staff and agencies


A 21-year-old student was convicted today of possessing CDs and computer material linked to Islamist terrorism, along with threatening to become a suicide bomber and other offences.

He faces a potential jail sentence of up to 15 years, the trial judge has warned.

Following the verdict, police said Mohammed Atif Siddique, from Alva, Clackmannanshire near Stirling in central Scotland, had been found guilty of "serious terrorism offences" that posed a genuine threat.

Siddique's lawyer said he would appeal, arguing the student's actions amounted to nothing worse than "what millions of young people do every day - looking for answers on the internet".

"This verdict is a tragedy for justice and for freedom of speech, and undermines the values that separate us from the terrorists, the very values we should be fighting to protect," Aamer Anwar said outside Glasgow high court.

The jury returned guilty verdicts on four charges, including one of possessing CDs and videos that could be used for terrorist purposes.

Siddique was also convicted on two charges of setting up websites with links to terrorist publications that showed how to use weapons and make bombs, and causing a breach of the peace at Glasgow Metropolitan college by threatening to become a suicide bomber and blow up Glasgow. He will be sentenced on October 23.

The trial judge, Lord Carloway, said the court must take the offences "extremely seriously" and warned Siddique he was considering an extended sentence, which would mean up to 15 years' jail followed by a term on licence.

During the four-week trial, the prosecutor, Brian McConnachie, called Siddique a "wannabe suicide bomber" who helped distribute material that amounted to "a call to arms for Muslims".

"It's clear from that material that the whole idea was to glorify martyrdom operations, which we call suicide bombings," Mr McConnachie said.

The jury heard that Siddique was stopped at Glasgow airport as he was about to fly to Pakistan and had his laptop seized.

Police examined his home computer and found he had set up websites with direct links to inflammatory publications featuring detailed information about survival techniques and guerrilla warfare - for example, the use of rocket launchers, and the making of bombs and booby traps.

A CD found under a carpet in his home included footage produced by the official al-Qaida media wing, said a US terror expert.

The trial heard how the 21-year-old showed fellow students videos of a beheading and a man who had blown himself up, and talked of his support for suicide bombers and how he wanted to become a "sacrifice to God".

Assistant Chief Constable Maureen Brown of Central Scotland police, who was in charge of the investigation, said the trial was nothing to do with Islam or an individual community and had "only ever been about one thing: criminality".

"This case and other recent events have shown that terrorism is not just an issue for the major cities in England," she said. "The threat is with us now, it's real and we should all take responsibility for helping to tackle it."

Mr Anwar, however, said young Muslims in the UK lived in "a climate of fear", calling some of the evidence against his client "farcical".

"When detained at Glasgow airport by Special Branch on April 6 2006, his laptop was confiscated and he was released," Mr Anwar said. "At liberty for seven days, he made no attempt to escape or to destroy his home computer - hardly the actions of al-Qaida."

    Scottish student convicted on terror charges, NYT, 17.8.2007, http://www.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,,2171138,00.html

Inquest leaves Rachel Whitear

death puzzle unsolved

September 14, 2007
From Times Online
Nico Hines

A second inquest into the death of the drug addict Rachel Whitear has come no closer to solving the mystery of her death.

The jury today concluded that they did not know who had administered a fatal dose of heroin to Miss Whitear in May 2000, or whether anyone else was in her bedroom when she died.

The death of the 21-year-old was held up as a cautionary tale when an iconic image of her curled up on the floor of her bedsit was released. Her parents allowed the photograph of her body to be used in a police anti-drug campaign that toured schools.

Stella Vine, a controversial London artist, then painted a version of the scene showing blood coming from her mouth, which was displayed in the Saatchi Gallery despite protests from the police and Miss Whitear’s parents.

Returning a narrative verdict, the jury was satisfied that Miss Whitear had died of a heroin overdose but it could not clear up a number of inconsistencies. She was found by her landlord crouched on the floor clutching the syringe, but strangely the cap had been replaced.

The jury also said that it could not rule out the possibility that someone else had been present when she died in Exmouth, Devon, seven years ago.

The court heard one witness claim that Luke Fitzgerald, Miss Whitear’s boyfriend, delivered the fatal injection and that his brother Simon helped in a cover-up. Mr Fitzgerald, who has since overcome his own addiction to heroin, denied that he played any part in her death or had been with her when she died.

The first inquest in December 2000 recorded an open verdict, and no post-mortem was carried out until, after complaints from Miss Whitear’s parents, her body was exhumed.

A second inquest was granted by the High Court and the coroner’s court has been able to settle on the cause of death if not the manner.

Exeter Coroner Ian Arrow said today: “This death clearly attracted attention because the original medical cause of death was unascertained. We now have a medical cause of death.”

The original Devon and Cornwall Police investigation into the death was criticised by Pauline Holcroft, Miss Whitear’s mother, and Wiltshire Police re-opened the investigation. Mrs Holcroft told the inquest she wanted to know whether there could have been anyone else with her daughter at the time of her death, as she was holding the capped syringe “oddly”.

Kevin Morgan, a Devon and Cornwall crime scene specialist, agreed that the scene was highly unusual. He said in 38 years he could not recall seeing a drug fatality holding a needle, and had never seen one on their knees.

Professor Alexander Forrest, an opiate expert, told the inquest that no heroin was found in the needle, implying it had been washed or had never contained the drug. He felt it was possible the body had been “posed” after death.

The coroner explained to the jury that it was not the inquest’s role to criticise the original investigation and to concentrate on the circumstances of the death. The inquiry was dramatically halted yesterday, however, when Wiltshire Police announced that they had discovered significant new evidence.

The inquest resumed today with the coroner ruling that the new evidence was not relevant to the inquest.

    Inquest leaves Rachel Whitear death puzzle unsolved, Ts, 14.9.2007, http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article2454840.ece

Ex-teacher jailed

for sexually abusing pupils

Published: 31 August 2007
PA
The Independent

A former teacher at a Roman Catholic boarding school was jailed for 10 years and nine months today for sexually abusing six pupils.

Former Royal Navy chaplain Paul Couch was convicted on August 2 but released on bail by the judge "as an act of mercy" because his father is dying.

The 61-year-old, of Wyndham Street West, Plymouth, Devon was sentenced at Plymouth Crown Court for a catalogue of offences on the boys - aged between eight and 13 - between 1972 and 1993 at the Devon school, which is now closed.

Judge Paul Darlow said Couch had committed a "gross breach of trust" and that the boys at the boarding school, which cannot be named for legal reasons, needed care and protection from the staff.

"You were in fact a predator, a sexual predator in that community orientated monastic school," he said. "You knew in what particular regard you would be held as a priest."

Couch pleaded not guilty to two counts of a serious sexual assault and 15 of indecent assault.

The jury took nearly eight hours to convict him of two counts of the serious sexual assault and 11 counts of indecent assault. He was acquitted of the remaining four counts.

He was told he will serve half of his sentence and the second half will be suspended.

Couch will also be put on the sexual offenders' register for life and disqualified from working with children for life.


The court heard that when one boy was assaulted he protested and was beaten by Couch.

Later one of the victims at the school made a complaint, but after an internal investigation is was "dismissed as fantasy".

Judge Darlow said: "He was brow beaten into watering down his complaint.

"Despite these warning shots you continued to offend.

"During the course of this trial you sought to portray these boys as liars.

"These were not liars, fantasists, people mistaken or wrong, they were telling the truth."

In mitigation, defending barrister Nicholas Gerasimides said the offences were not violent and that Couch posed a minimal risk of reoffending.

"These were evil acts but this was not an evil man," he said. "The risk of offending in the future is very low indeed.

"These convictions have completely ended his life."

During the trial prosecutor Ian Fenny said Couch was a man who had a "dark secret personality" and "found himself in a school surrounded by temptation".

Couch, who the court heard was in a powerful position of trust, taught religious studies and English and was also involved in sport and extracurricular activities.

The court heard that at the time the boys were young and sexually naive and did not really understand what was happening to them.

But over the years they revealed what had happened to people close to them, said Mr Fenny.

One boy did complain to the school authorities in 1987, but after an internal inquiry Couch stayed in his post.

The police became involved in 2004 when a former pupil on remand in prison told a prison chaplain a member of staff at the school sexually abused him.

Couch told police the allegations were "disgusting and untrue" and any physical contact was "horse-play" or "tactile affection".

In evidence Couch denied prosecution suggestions that he took advantage of opportunities which presented themselves.

He told the jury: "I did not abuse my position of trust or authority at any time."

Couch said he was not a homosexual, but a heterosexual who had more than one relationship with adult women.

He said the accusations were "totally without truth" and he was sometimes tactile because "sometimes a boy needs a father figure."

The prosecution had said some of the abuse happened during sailing trips, in the gym and while swimming.

The court heard Couch left the school in 1978 to join the Royal Navy as a chaplain, returning to teach in 1983. He remained until 1992 when he rejoined the Royal Navy.

    Ex-teacher jailed for sexually abusing pupils, I, 31.8.2007, http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/crime/article2915312.ece

Boys guilty of stoning man to death

as he played cricket with son

August 31, 2007
The Times
Rajeev Syal

Five boys aged 12 to 14 wept as they were found guilty today of killing a man whom they spat at, insulted and pelted with sticks and stones.

Ernest Norton, 67, was playing cricket with his son, James, on a Sunday afternoon when they were assualted with missiles from a gang of 20 children. Two stones, one the size of half a brick, struck Mr Norton on the temple and fractured his cheekbone. He collapsed to the ground with a heart attack.

The case has concluded amid a national debate over the unruly behaviour of children and general anti-social behaviour. The five boys, the youngest of of whom was only 10 at the time, were convicted at the Old Bailey of manslaughter and violent disorder.

Damaris Lakin, a Crown Prosecution Service lawyer, said after the trial that the guilty verdict may well serve as a warning to other young gang members. “This case highlights the need for young people in gangs, who engage in anti-social behaviour, to accept responsibility for the consequences of their criminal activities,” she said.

The attack happened in February last year after Mr Norton had gone with James and his wife Linda to their local leisure centre in Erith, Kent. While his wife went to the gym, he and his son set up stumps in a tennis court outside. They were soon surrounded by up to 20 youths, who began to shout insults including, “Rubbish bowler” and “Go back to the old people’s home”.

Mr Norton went to the gate to try to scare the boys off, but they threw stones, rocks and pieces of wood at him and he collapsed, bleeding heavily.

James ran for help and to tell his mother what had happened. When they returned, an off-duty police constable was trying to save Mr Norton’s life.

As Mr Norton lay dying on the tennis court, his wife rushed to his side, holding his hand and calling his name. “I can’t remember much about it,” she told the court. “I called his name and held his hand but there was no response.”

She said that her husband, a former engineering draughtsman, had been a full-time house husband since losing his job when she was pregnant with their first child, Gemma, now 26. Only days before the end of the trial Gemma gave birth to the couple’s first grandchild, a girl they have named Ceinwen.

“Now he has missed his first grandchild,” Mrs Norton said. “He would have been thrilled to have a grandchild, especially a granddaughter.”

The court heard that Mr Norton underwent a triple heart bypass operation in 1977 but since then had enjoyed a “fit and active” lifestyle.

David Fisher QC, prosecuting, told the jury: “This was a completely unnecessary, pointless and random attack.” He said that Mr Norton was in good health on the Sunday when he died, but “the stress and trauma of abuse and a physical attack would make him vulnerable to a heart attack”.

Mr Fisher said of the accused: “Their youth is no defence. They were quite old enough to know that to abuse Ernest Norton and his son was wrong and that to throw stones and pieces of wood at them was wrong.

“I expect they deeply regret the death and no doubt did not intend that he should die. But it was their joint course of conduct, quite probably with others, that caused his death.”

The five accused were among the youngest to appear at the Old Bailey. Two brothers, aged 12 and 13, and three other boys, aged 14, were allowed to sit in the dock with their parents, and judges and barristers discarded their wigs and gowns.

The boys belonged to a gang called TNE and earlier on the day of the assualt on Mr Norton, armed with a baseball bat, had met up with another group of youths for a fight. They had also been amusing themselves by smashing windows in a disused factory and had insulted staff at the leisure centre.

As the boys ran off after attacking Mr Norton, a nearby resident heard one say: “I think I got him” while another neighbour saw a boy crying as he struggled to keep up with the rest, and calling out: “He’s dead, he’s dead.”

The court heard that the five were arrested initially on suspicion of murder and some of them admitted throwing stones. Only one, now 14, gave evidence at the trial, admitting that he spat at Mr Norton and that it was “stupid”, “revolting” and “appalling”.

He said he was only throwing stones to try to knock over stumps and wreck the cricket game, for a “bit of fun”.

During the trial, a judge ordered the parents to keep their children under control after their unruly behaviour caused havoc at the Old Bailey. Judge Warwick McKinnon was forced to apply new bail conditions in the middle of the trial after their antics were reported to him by worried staff.

He told the court: “The defendants are wandering around unaccompanied and conducting themselves in such a way that staff members are worried that they may well get up to mischief.”

Two of them had been seen hanging out of windows, he said, and the behaviour had been causing court staff “concern or worry”.

The five were remanded on bail to October 19 for pre-sentence reports to be prepared.

    Boys guilty of stoning man to death as he played cricket with son, Ts, 31.8.2007, http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article2362982.ece

New identity for headmaster's killer

Chindamo will need a secret address

to escape attacks by vigilantes

Sunday August 26, 2007
The Observer
Jamie Doward, home affairs editor

The killer of headteacher Philip Lawrence, Learco Chindamo, will have to be relocated to a secret address when he leaves prison and made subject to a blanket media ban, senior public protection sources have told The Observer.

Officials fear that Chindamo, 27, who hopes to live with his mother and brother when he is released, will be the target of vigilante attacks. They say they cannot guarantee his safety unless stringent measures are made to protect his identity and whereabouts.

One senior probation source working in public protection in London, who has overseen the protection of a number of high-profile killers on release from prison, said the Ministry of Justice would have to consider whether Chindamo should be given a completely new identity, like Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, the killers of the Liverpool child James Bulger.

The two were released in June 2001 after serving eight years for murder and are living under assumed names at addresses known only to a handful of senior public protection officials.

Any attempt to relocate Chindamo is also likely to involve his mother, Paquita, and his brother, Wolfgang. But rehousing them at taxpayers' expense and making Chindamo subject to a 'Mary Bell' order - named after the 10-year-old killer who murdered two boys and was subject to a blanket media ban after she left prison - is likely to prove controversial.

Last week's decision not to deport Chindamo to Italy, where he was born, prompted calls to withdraw from human rights legislation and for reform of European Union law. Under the Human Rights Act, Chindamo's entitlement to a family life is protected and a European Union directive states that he can be deported only if he poses a severe threat to the public. Officials who have worked with Chindamo say that he is a reformed character.

Lawrence's widow, Frances, attracted widespread sympathy last week when she attacked the laws that prevented her husband's killer being deported. 'Chindamo went beyond the law and the Human Rights Act, taking away the most fundamental right of all, my husband's right to life,' she said. 'But then he was allowed to pick and choose from it to help him continue his life the way he wants it.'

If relocated, Chindamo's whereabouts would be known only to a small number of people. It is likely his home would be fitted with an alarm system linked to a local police station and he would be placed under close supervision by a hand-picked protection team.

Documents presented to the asylum and immigration tribunal that ruled against Chindamo's deportation raise concerns about his personal protection. A letter submitted to the hearing by the Home Office notes that 'risk factors might increase because of media and public scrutiny that the appellant might receive'. It continues: 'He would need to be excluded from certain parts of the country, community integration would be a problem on release and he might suffer a backlash.'

Probation experts said that, given the concerns, it was certain that Chindamo would have to be rehoused outside London, where his mother and brother live. 'It's inevitable he will have to be relocated and placed under a high-security protection scheme,' said Harry Fletcher, assistant general secretary of the probation union Napo. 'Essential information about him will be wiped off all databases to avoid intelligence compromise.'

A source close to the Ministry of Justice confirmed it was aware it would need to take steps to protect Chindamo, but said it was too early to make any detailed assessment. 'It would not be automatically granted,' one Whitehall source told The Observer. 'His lawyer would have to apply.' Chindamo's lawyer, Nigel Leskin, declined to return calls last week.

The Parole Board will not sanction Chindamo's release until next January at the earliest. The Home Office is contesting last week's ruling allowing Chindamo, who has lived in London since he was six, to remain in the UK.

A spokeswoman for the Home Office declined to say on what grounds it would contest the decision until its lawyers had drawn up their response.

    New identity for headmaster's killer, O, 26.8.2007, http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2156510,00.html

12.30pm

Idi Amin's son jailed

for role in gang attack

Friday August 3, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
Agencies


The son of the former Ugandan dictator Idi Amin was today jailed for five years for his role in a north London gang attack last year.

Faisal Wangita was part of a 40-strong gang that attacked 18-year-old Somalian Mahir Osman in Camden.

Mr Osman died within a minute of being stabbed 20 times, attacked with baseball bats, bottles and hammers, and punched and kicked.

Reporting restrictions shielding 25-year-old Wangita's identity were put in place over concerns that his parentage could prejudice the outcome of his trial.

The restrictions were lifted after sentencing today, and the Old Bailey was told by his lawyer that he was Amin's son - also the first time police were made aware of his true identity.

Wangita claimed he was born in November 1981, but a document showed his date of birth as February 1983.

His papers said he was born in Uganda, but he told police he had been born in Saudi Arabia. He had stayed at a number of addresses in London after arriving in the capital some time ago.

The attack on Mr Osman, which happened in January last year, was captured on CCTV cameras and played to the jury. Wangita had joined in the attack, kicking the victim while he was on the ground, and blood was found on his trousers.

Eight defendants were convicted of various offences. In May, three youths were given life sentences for murder, but Wangita was cleared of that charge.

He was jailed for five years for conspiracy to wound with intent and violent disorder after the court heard he was a "serious risk to the public".

Wangita had previous criminal convictions for possessing an offensive weapon and fraud in November 2000, and for threatening behaviour in May 2002, for which he was given a community rehabilitation order.

He also had convictions for theft and for having an offensive weapon in 2006.

David Spens QC said Wangita's previous convictions "don't establish any pattern of committing any offences of violence".

However, Judge Stephen Kramer said Wangita was "seen on the video to take part". He added: "You were seen to raise your left leg or foot and bring it down in the area of Mahir Osman on the ground in the road."

Amin ruled Uganda as a brutal dictator for eight years during the 70s. It is estimated that up to 500,000 people disappeared during his regime. He died in 2003, aged 78.

The Amin family fled Uganda when Tanzanian-backed Ugandan rebels ousted him in 1979. They lived in exile in Saudi Arabia, where many remain.

    Idi Amin's son jailed for role in gang attack, G, 3.8.2007, http://www.guardian.co.uk/crime/article/0,,2141149,00.html

Inmates left in limbo

by failures in new sentences - judges

· Open sentences unlawful without access to rehab
· Appeal ruling may force release of inmates

Wednesday August 1, 2007
Guardian
Alan Travis, home affairs editor

High court judges yesterday dealt a fresh blow to the government's handling of the prison crisis when they ruled that inmates serving new "open-ended" sentences had unlawfully been left in overcrowded local prisons without access to the compulsory rehabilitation programmes they need to secure their release.

Two appeal court judges said there had been a "general and systemic legal failure" in the treatment of more than 3,000 prisoners serving one of the new indeterminate public protection (IPP) sentences, under which they are supposed to be held until they no longer pose a risk to the public.

The court said that keeping such prisoners beyond their tariff date - the minimum release date set by the judge - without access to the means of reducing the risk they pose was "arbitrary, unreasonable and unlawful".

The Ministry of Justice said last night it would appeal against the decision and was making available a further £3m to provide extra places on rehabilitation courses. While it is unlikely that compensation will be paid if the appeal fails, some IPP prisoners may have to be released when they reach the end of their tariff, regardless of the risk they pose.

The ruling yesterday came after two IPP prisoners, David Walker and Nicholas Wells, both with recommended tariffs of 12 and 18 months, challenged their continued imprisonment when no offending behaviour courses were available in their prisons. They argued that the parole board therefore had no means of assessing whether they still posed a danger.

Lord Justice Laws, sitting with Mr Justice Mitting, said: "To the extent that the prisoner remains incarcerated after tariff expiry without any current and effective assessment of the danger he does or does not pose, his detention cannot in reason be justified. It is therefore unlawful." Anthony Robson, the National Offender Management Service (Noms) official responsible for IPP prisoners, said people with a tariff of less than five years were "languishing" in local prisons with little access to rehabilitation programmes.

The extra £3m was unlikely to be fully effective for 18 months. "The prison population is swollen by persons whose incarceration retributive justice does not require and whose release executive management does not allow," the judges concluded. John Dickinson, representing David Walker, said it was officially estimated that the current 9,000 IPP and life sentences could reach 25,000 by 2012. Noms testified the system could only deal with a "lifer population" of 6,500.

The Ministry of Justice said a review due to report next month would shake up the management of IPP prisoners.

Meanwhile ministers' hopes of curbing the rise in the prison population in England and Wales by appealing to the courts to use community punishments for non-violent offenders suffered a blow.

Latest official sentencing figures show the proportion of offenders fined or given community penalties dropped last year while the proportion sent to prison has remained stable.

Prison numbers in England and Wales once again topped 80,000 last Friday.

FAQ: IPPs

What are they?
The indeterminate sentence for public protection (IPP), introduced in April 2005, is a new kind of "life" sentence in that it is open-ended. The prisoner has no release date and does not get out until a parole board decides he or she is no longer a risk to the public.

Who gets them?
Offenders convicted of one of 153 specified sexual or violent offences which carry a maximum prison sentence of 10 years or more, and who are considered to be a danger to the public.

How many have been imposed?
IPPs have proved highly popular with courts and, with their number rising by 30% in the last year to 3,010. They are a major driver of the shortage of prison space. Officials say there could be 25,000 people on IPPs by 2012.

Inmates left in limbo by failures in new sentences - judges, G, 1.8.2007, https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/aug/01/
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