Children's commissioner Maggie Atkinson intervenes over Jon Venables, arguing that 10 is too young to be branded a criminalThe killers of James Bulger should not have been prosecuted for his murder, the children's commissioner for England has said in a call to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 12.Maggie Atkinson, who was appointed to the post last autumn, said children under 12 should not be prosecuted for any crime because they were too young to understand the full consequences of their actions.A civilised society should recognise that children who commit offences should be treated differently from adult criminals, Atkinson told the Times.Her comments come after James Bulger's mother, Denise Fergus, met the justice secretary, Jack Straw, this week to discuss the return...

Seven-year-old's mother, Angela Gordon, given 15 years while stepfather receives at least seven and a half yearsThe mother and stepfather who allowed seven-year-old Khyra Ishaq to starve to death have been jailed for manslaughter.Angela Gordon was jailed for 15 years and her former partner Junaid Abuhamza was jailed indefinitely with a minimum term of seven and a half years.The pair were cleared of murder during a trial at Birmingham crown court last month but convicted of manslaughter.Gordon, 35, and Abuhamza, 31, admitted child cruelty charges relating to five other children in their care and control who were also starved and abused.Neither defendant reacted as they were sentenced.The judge told them they had subjected the children to "a domestic regime of punishment which was chilling...

Postmortem examination on David Askew, who was harassed for years by local youths, fails to identify cause of deathA postmortem examination on a man with learning difficulties who died allegedly after years of baiting by local youths has been unable to establish his cause of death, police said today.Further tests are being carried out on David Askew, 64, who was found dead by officers on Wednesday after they had been called to his home in Greater Manchester after reports of youths "causing annoyance".Neighbours reported that Askew had been "tormented to death – like bear-baiting" and that abuse directed at him by children as young as eight had escalated in recent weeks.Greater Manchester Police have referred the case to the Independent Police Complaints Commission after defending the...

18-year-old held on suspicion of manslaughter as neighbours allege decade of harassment by youthsPolice were last night forced to defend the level of protection they had given a man with learning difficulties who collapsed and died at his home, allegedly after years of "baiting" by local youths.A senior officer in the Manchester force insisted that offers had tried to help David Askew, and had been in daily contact with him and his family.Neighbours described how the abuse directed at Askew, 64, from Hattersley, Greater Manchester, had worsened in recent weeks. They claimed he had been "tormented to death – like bear baiting" at his home. They said he was called names by children as young as eight who threw eggs and bricks at his house, kicked the door, and took his money and...

Authorities had been warned years ago David Askew was being targeted by gangsA teenager was arrested tonight over the manslaughter of a man with learning difficulties who his neighbours claim was hounded to death by yobs.David Askew, 64, was found dead outside his home in Hattersley, Greater Manchester, last night after police were told youngsters were causing an "annoyance" at his property.It emerged that police and authorities were warned years ago that he was being targeted by gangs.One neighbour said he had been "tormented to death - like bear- baiting".Tonight, Greater Manchester police said an 18-year-old man had been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter over the death.Earlier, Askew's mother, Rose, paid tribute to her son, saying he "wouldn't hurt a fly".She said: "Throughout the...

Sainsbury's and Tesco among stores caught out by wholesaler who passed off battery produce as organicFor those who made the conscious decision to spend more on free range or organic eggs, it was worth paying a premium to know the hens that laid them had been kept in ethical conditions.But those people who ended up paying over the odds for Keith Owen's eggs may feel a little less warm inside after it emerged the 44-year-old egg wholesaler had scammed all the major supermarkets and numerous small shops by passing off about 100m battery farmed eggs as free range or organic.Owen, a married father-of-two from Bromsgrove in Worcestershire, was jailed for three years today and forced to surrender the £3m profit he had made by "dishonestly and systematically" mis-describing eggs over a two-year...

• Supermarket customers duped in two-year, £3m scam • Lawyer claims client is far from industry's only bad eggA Midlands businessman was jailed for three years today after admitting making a fortune by fraudulently passing off battery farm eggs as free range or organic.Around 100m mislabelled eggs sold by Keith Owen ended up on the shelves of supermarkets including Sainsbury's and Tesco. That the fraud was able to carry on for two years while he made a £3m profit raises questions for the food industry about the provenance of goods.Owen, 44, from Bromsgrove, in Worcestershire, ran Heart of England Eggs Unlimited, which supplied eggs to major packing companies that in turn supplied them to supermarkets and smaller retailers.He pleaded guilty at Worcester crown court to three charges...

Neighbours say 64-year-old David Askew had been targeted by gangs at his home in Hattersley, Greater ManchesterA man with learning difficulties who died at his home last night was "tormented to death" by local youths, neighbours claimed today.Police had been warned that 64-year-old David Askew was being targeted before he was found dead in Hattersley, Greater Manchester, nearby residents said.They criticised police and officials, claiming they had not supported Askew, his brother, Brian, and his mother, Rose, who uses a wheelchair.Officers were called to the family home last night after being told youngsters were causing "annoyance".When police arrived, the youths had vanished, but officers discovered Askew, who was pronounced dead at the scene."This has been going on for about 10 years,"...

Another New Labour triumph has been turned upon its head. Despite Gordon “McCavity” Brown declaiming that crime had been reduced massively under their careful stewardship, it seems that it was all just an illusion, a carefully constructed sham of carefully spun and stage-managed opinion polling. When someone sat down and compared actual crime reports, a...

Man from Sheffield repeatedly raped and physically and sexually abused daughters in case with echoes of Josef FritzlLocal authorities in Lincolnshire and Sheffield today apologised to members of a family for failing to protect them from their father, who repeatedly raped and physically and sexually abused them over a period of 35 years.The unreserved apology came in the aftermath of the publication of an executive summary of a serious case review by the Lincolnshire and Sheffield safeguarding children board of the family.The 57-year-old man, from Sheffield – who cannot be identified – was jailed for life in November 2008 after one of his daughters alleged incest.He repeatedly impregnated two daughters, and nine children were born. The case has echoes of that of Josef Fritzl, who...

Liam Adams, 54, appears in high court in Dublin after handing himself in to police over alleged attacks on daughterThe brother of Gerry Adams, who is wanted on child sex abuse charges in Northern Ireland, will lodge an appeal against his extradition from the Irish Republic, the high court in Dublin heard today.Liam Adams faces of charges of sexually abusing his daughter Aine when she was a child.He was due to appear in court in Northern Ireland in November 2008 to face 23 charges relating to the alleged abuse, but he failed to turn up. The alleged offences date from March 1977 to March 1983.Adams, 54, handed himself in to Irish police last week after a European arrest warrant was served.His alleged victim, Aine Tyrell, waived her right to anonymity last year to allege that her father had...

Rachel Baker tells court she regarded those she looked after as her family and denies administering overdosesA care home manager accused of murdering two residents said today that she had regarded the elderly people she looked after as "my family" and had always tried to make sure they were "loved".Rachel Baker admitted that she became dependent on painkillers and had diverted drugs from residents to feed her own needs. She also admitted falsifying records to cover her tracks and lying to police.But she denied murdering Frances Hay, 85, and Lucy Cox, 97, by giving them overdoses while they were in her care at the Parkfields care home near Glastonbury, Somerset.The trial, at Bristol crown court, heard that 44-year-old Baker was prescribed painkillers for migraines and became dependent on...

Evaluation of Venables before his release in 2001 concluded the likelihood of the killer re-offending was minorA psychiatric evaluation of Jon Venables carried out before his release from prison concluded that he posed a "trivial" risk to the public and that the likelihood of him re-offending was "so negligible as to not amount to a serious consideration".The document, which was prepared by a leading psychiatrist in 2000 and is excerpted in today's Times, also noted that Venables had made "exceptional psychological progress" and come to terms with his part in the murder of James Bulger in 1993."The Jon Venables of today is a very different person to the Jon Venables aged 10," the report noted. "It has been a very important part of his rehabilitation so far that he has come to terms in a...

National Audit Office says so little is done to tackle reoffending rates of p[risoners serving less than 12 months that most have no work or education coursesA failure to tackle the criminality of 60,000 prisoners who serve sentences shorter than 12 months is costing the country between £7bn and £10bn annually in reoffending, according to a report from Whitehall's spending watchdog published today.The National Audit Office says so little is done to tackle their reoffending rates that more than half spend almost all day in their cells because they have no work or education courses.While £300m is spent keeping the 60,000 short-term inmates in England and Wales secure, safe and well, prisons are struggling to meet their needs, the report says. Most have a longer criminal history than any...

They say that "no news is good news" it also seems that when it comes to Conservatives delivering on their manifesto that "good news is no news". Boris promised four rape crisis centres for London (the number having dropped to just one under Livingstone) and had committed a sum of money to deliver them. As budgets were squeezed across government Boris looked into delivering on his promise...

Late last month, Nick Hogan was sentenced to six months in prison. He was jailed for being either unwilling or unable to pay the combined fines and court costs resulting from his decision, as a pub landlord, to allow people the choice of whether or not to smoke on his premises. To be absolutely clear, Hogan was not jailed because he allowed people to smoke in his pub; he was jailed because he refused, for whatever reason, to pay the fines and costs imposed on him as a result. Despite there being no direct link between his decision and the sentence, can the incarceration of an apparently otherwise law-abiding small businessman for six months really have been the intended outcome of our rulers when they passed the 2006 Health Act?  I suspect that the possibility did in fact occur to some...

Jack Straw to assess public reports about licence breach by James Bulger's killer to decide if any details can be confirmedThe justice secretary, Jack Straw, indicated today that he may reveal more details about the breach allegedly committed by James Bulger's killer Jon Venables that prompted his recall to prison.Responding to pressure from the public and media to reveal the specific details of why the 27-year-old, released on licence under a new identity in 2001, was back in jail, he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "What I want to do is look at what has already been made public ... to look at that and then to make a judgment about if there's information – given that it's already out in the newspapers – we can confirm."Straw's comments followed a number of reports over the...

Mother-in-laws have been a rich source of material for comedians. And while the ‘mother-in-law from Hell’ is an extreme case there are indeed many marriages that are put under strain because of ‘issues’ with a disapproving/jealous mother-in-law. Having said that the ‘mother-in-law from Hell’ is an extreme case, a 16 yr old teenage boy in Toledo has been given fair warning that if he were to marry his 18 yr old girlfriend he is unlikely to have a happy relationship with his future mother-in-law. The lad was with his girlfriend in her flat when her mother and her two brothers arrived. They held him captive with a gun, then beat the shit out of him. The mother and the two sons have since been arrested Source . . . It is not known why they dislike the...

Cancer victims and celebrities among victims of thief who played role of upper-class businessman, court papers showRobert Tringham gave every appearance of living the American dream ‑ a self-made man, running a string of lucrative investment businesses in the United States, he lived in a million-dollar house and always had a beautiful woman at his side.But behind this well-crafted front, the reality was that Tringham was an international conman who traded on charm, confidence and American weakness for a cut-glass English accent.Financial investigators in the US believe he left a trail of misery across 10 American states and several countries dating back to the 1980s. They are embarking on an international effort to find offshore accounts, hidden properties, and secret deposits to...

Over at The Guardian’s Comment Is Free website, Lib Dem shadow home secretary Chris Huhne argues tht locking up more people is a populist ploy that doesn’t cut crime. Instead, he says, we should focus on rigorous community sentences instead. Here’s an excerpt: It should be a given that important matters of public policy are based on evidence and research, rather than political whim. Why, then, is the field of criminal justice uniquely and scandalously divorced from this obvious rule? … Both [Labour and Tories] continue to try to frighten the public into the arms of their party. It is this politics of fear that has created the dismal bidding war between politicians and the press on crime, a loss of faith in the police and judiciary, and the systematic demonisation...

Government maintains refusal to comment on reports that killer of James Bulger was recalled over alleged child pornography offencesOne of the killers of James Bulger, Jon Venables, has been returned to prison for alleged child pornography offences, it was reported today, as the government maintained its refusal to comment on the reasons behind his loss of liberty.Venables, now 27, who was released on licence in 2001 and given a new identity, could face trial for the alleged new crime, the Sunday Mirror reported.Ministers have faced increasing pressure to give details about the reasons behind Venables' loss of liberty since it emerged earlier this week that his parole had been revoked. The justice secretary, Jack Straw, has said only that it happened because of "extremely serious...

Prison staff fear an attack by other inmates as it is revealed that pressure of keeping his name and background secret led James Bulger's murderer to fights, and drink and drug abuseJon Venables, one of the killers of the Liverpool toddler James Bulger, had descended into a "persistent state of self-disclosure" in which he felt compelled to tell others his real identity in the months before his return to prison, the Observer has been told.The 27-year-old's mental state had become so fragile that he would regularly reveal his identity to strangers – something that had put him at risk of attack.Sources said Venables had become a heavy drinker and there have also been claims that he used drugs. As Venables entered into an increasingly disturbed psychological state, he had become embroiled...

Heavily pregnant wife believed to have suffered horrific leg injuries after explosion in village of VigoThe husband of a heavily pregnant woman who was seriously injured in a "car bomb" attack in a Kent village has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.Nicholas Fabian, 32, a former army bomb expert in the Princess of Wales' Royal Regiment, was being questioned on suspicion over the incident in which Victoria Fabian is believed to have suffered horrendous leg injuries, in Vigo, near Meopham.The couple's two sons Charlie, 10, and Harry, four, were in a nearby car, but escaped unharmed. Army bomb disposal experts examined two cars at the scene of the blast, which occurred on Friday lunchtime. Residents were evacuated from 40 nearby homes.Victoria Fabian, aged in her 30s, was last...

You’re not going to believe me when I tell you this so you’d best check the link and read the original article for yourselves. We all know the perils of using a mobile phone to speak to or text someone whilst we are behind the wheel of a car. Likewise, we’ve read of incidences where women have been stopped for applying their makeup while driving – but trimming their fuzzy bits while driving to meet their boyfriend? That’s a new one – to me at least. Yet that’s exactly what a 37 yr old woman was doing when she ran into the back of the car in front in Florida – apparently she wanted to be ‘ready’ for when she met her boyfriend. Unbelievable !!! Oh, did I mention that the woman’s ex-husband was in the passenger seat, hands on...

Husband of woman injured in car explosion in Kent being questioned on suspicion of attempted murder, reports sayThe husband of a pregnant woman seriously injured when her car exploded in a suspected bomb attack in Kent was being questioned today on suspicion of her attempted murder, it was reported.Nicholas Fabian, 32, was held after Victoria Fabian, believed to be 32, was hurt in the blast in a communal car park in the village of Vigo, near Meopham, Kent, just after 1pm yesterday, according to Press Association sources.Fabian was in a serious but not life threatening condition in Darent Valley hospital, in Dartford, as detectives questioned her husband. Police said she was the sole occupant of the car when it exploded."I ran out of the house and as I opened the door I saw the car on fire...

Jack Straw says details over return of James Bulger's murderer to prison cannot be revealed if justice is to be doneThe justice secretary, Jack Straw, said today that the recall of one of James Bulger's killers, Jon Venables, to prison involved some "extremely serious allegations".James's mother, Denise Fergus, has demanded to know what the 27-year-old did to be sent back to jail, and is expected to have the chance to confront Straw in the coming days after he agreed to meet her.Justifying his decision not to disclose details of the recall, Straw said: "Our motivation throughout has been solely to ensure that some extremely serious allegations are properly investigated and that justice is done"."No one in this country would want anything other. That is what the authorities remain...

[news link] £4.5million worth of heroin seized from van nlnews@archant.co.uk 05 March 2010 ONE hundred kilos of heroin with an estimated street value of £4.5million has been seized by police in Finsbury Park. The heroin was discovered in the back of a Renault van, stopped by officers in Upper Tollington Park, at 3.30pm on Thursday. The stop, which was part of a planned operation, was carried out by Operation Trident officers with the assistance of armed officers from C019. A 45-year-old man was arrested in the van. Another man, also aged 45, and a 38-year-old woman were arrested a short time later in Seven Sisters Road, Holloway. All are currently in custody at east London police stations and enquiries continue. Detective Inspector Malcolm Davies, from Operation Trident, which...

No confirmation from Ministry of Justice that Straw is willing to discuss details of Jon Venables's return to jailThe Justice secretary Jack Straw has agreed to meet the mother of James Bulger after one of the toddler's killers was returned to custody. Denise Fergus wrote to Straw after hearing that Jon Venables, one of the two youths convicted of murdering the two-year-old in Merseyside in 1993, was back in custody after breaching the terms of his release.Fergus has demanded to know why details of Venables' return to jail have not been released to the family and the public. The Ministry of Justice would not confirm if Straw would be willing to discuss the issue or whether the meeting is simply an attempt to reassure Fergus.Venables and Robert Thompson were both held in secure homes for...

In another great result for the tabloid press, the man whose birth name was Jon Venables will have to be given a new identity, all for an estimated £250,000.A special mention here is due to the Mirror, the left-wing non-Murdoch non-Dacre newspaper which has revealed as much as it dare about the circumstances of the former Venables' incarceration. But hang on, isn't the Mirror the nice tabloid, the one targeted at would-be Guardian readers with short attention spans? The very same.But then, as the Home Secretary Alan Johnson pointed out, the public have a right to know, don't they, what a former child criminal is doing with his life. Given that he has gone and got himself into trouble.The language used by the Mirror in its report is, to say the least, somewhat loaded. Here's the start...

Karl Harris told younger colleague there was no point in trying to save man, 59, who had collapsed, court toldA paramedic was jailed for 12 months today after being found guilty of telling a series of lies when he failed to resuscitate a 30-stone man.Jurors heard that Karl Harris, 45, told his less experienced colleague there was no point attempting to resuscitate Barry Baker after the pair were sent to his home in Brighton, East Sussex, in the early hours of the morning.The 59-year-old patient, who lived alone, phoned 999 on 29 November 2008 after experiencing breathing difficulties and died after suffering a cardiopulmonary arrest.Jurors at Lewes crown court found Harris guilty of a charge of perverting the course of justice.Sentencing him, Judge Guy Anthony said he had demonstrated a...

Duvet thrown over corpse was sign of regret, explain judges, but DNA evidence was key to convictionAmanda Knox, the American student convicted for the murder of Meredith Kercher, killed impulsively and nursed no ill will towards her victim, two Italian judges have ruled.In a 427-page document released today explaining why they gave Knox and her former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito sentences of 26 and 25 years last December, the judges wrote: "It was a murder without planning, without any animosity or grudge against the victim."British student Kercher, 21, was found semi-naked with her throat slashed in November 2007 in the cottage she shared in Perugia with Knox.The judges, Giancarlo Massei and Beatrice Cristiani, ruled that Kercher's brutal murder was the result of "purely casual...

Gordon Brown defends decision not to disclose details of what Jon Venables did to breach terms of his releaseA trial of strength was under way between the tabloid media and the government over the reasons for the decision to send Jon Venables back to prison.Gordon Brown tried to defuse growing populist anger over the decision not to disclose what Venables – one of the killers of the toddler James Bulger –had done to breach the terms of his release on a life licence, nine years after he was freed and given a new identity."What we are talking about is a totally abhorrent crime that happened some years ago but that still, rightly so, disgusts and offends the British people. I can rightly understand the public outrage, even after so many years," the prime minister said. "But I want to be...

More than 60 people had written to the judge insisting that Gail Sherwood, a former childminder and dog breeder, had not invented the storyA mother-of-three was today jailed for two years for falsely claiming she had been harassed and raped by an unknown stalker, despite protests from her family and anti-rape campaigners that she had been telling the truth.More than 60 people had written to the judge at Bristol crown court insisting that Gail Sherwood, a former childminder and dog breeder, had not invented the story and that they believed there was a dangerous sex attacker free in Gloucestershire.Maureen Till, a friend, had told the hearing Sherwood had been the victim of a "despicable" miscarriage of justice.But sentencing, Judge Julian Lambert said Sherwood's "perverted mind" had...

Man, 20, and three 17-years also accused of robbery and held in custody over Huddersfield death of Gurmail SinghA 20-year-old man and three teenagers, all living locally, were remanded in custody today to appear at a crown court charged with the murder of a shopkeeper in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire.Muawaz Khalid and the 17-year-olds, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared for a brief hearing in a packed courtroom at Huddersfield magistrates court.They spoke only to confirm their names, addresses and dates of birth, watched by relatives and friends of Gurmail Singh, 63, who was hit at least nine times with a weapon, thought to have been a hammer, in the attack on 20 February in his shop in Cowcliffe where he was a well-known figure, with a name for kindness and hard work.The four...

Mystery of Alfred the gorilla's 60-hour escapade finally solvedIt was never as big a mystery as the disappearance of Lord Lucan or that of the racehorse Shergar. But for a few days in the 1950s the city of Bristol was agog after a 7ft-tall stuffed gorilla called Alfred vanished from the local museum.Half a century on the puzzle over what happened to Alfred has been solved after the death of one of the culprits, Ron Morgan, a Bristol estate agent.It turns out that Alfred was taken as a prank by three students who whisked Alfred away after hiding out in a belfry. They dressed the gorilla up in a variety of hats and wigs and took photographs of themselves with the beast before returning Alfred by leaving him in the waiting room of a student medical centre.Alfred was the longest-living...

Prime minister says he understands 'public outrage' after jailing of Jon Venables but justice system must run its courseThe prime minister, Gordon Brown, today defended the government's refusal to disclose why Jon Venables, who was convicted at the age of 10 of the murder of two-year-old James Bulger, has been sent back to prison for unspecified breaches of the conditions of his release on a life licence.Brown said he understood "public outrage" but insisted it was impossible for the specific details of the breach to be revealed."What we are talking about is a totally abhorrent crime that happened some years ago but that still, rightly so, disgusts and offends the British people and I can rightly understand the public outrage, even after so many years," he said at a Downing Street press...

A 20-year-old man and three 17-year-old boys have been charged with the murder Gurmail Singh in his Huddersfield storeA 20-year-old man and three teenagers have been charged with the murder of a shopkeeper killed during a robbery on his Huddersfield store, police said today.Muawaz Khalid, 20, and three 17-year-old boys will appear before magistrates today accused of the murder and robbery of Gurmail Singh. Singh, 63, suffered serious head injuries when he was attacked at the Cowcliffe convenience store on the evening of 20 February. He died in hospital early the following morning. Police said he was hit at least nine times, possibly with a hammer, in the attack. The four men charged last night are all from the Huddersfield area.On Monday, a 17-year-old boy, also from the Huddersfield...

A man in California has been sentenced to 7 yr 8 months in prison. His crime? Stealing a bag of grated cheese from a shop Before you start feeling sorry for him – thinking the sentence bears no relation to the seriousness of the crime – he actually got off lightly. The prosecutor was originally trying to get him sentenced for life. Source . . ....

For the first time tonight my dad is worried about crime. To be precise he is afraid of being burgled. He wasn't this morning in fact it hasn't crossed his mind once in the nine years he has lived in the house that someone could lift the windows out to get in.So what has changed well this morning he got a leaflet inviting him to meet a double glazing salesman.The first I knew was mid...

Justice secretary Jack Straw says he has 'good reasons' for not disclosing more information about James Bulger's killerPressure was mounting tonight on the justice secretary, Jack Straw, to disclose why Jon Venables, who was convicted at the age of 10 of the murder of two-year-old James Bulger, has been sent back to prison for unspecified breaches of the conditions of his release on a life licence.The calls for public disclosure yesterday were led by Detective Albert Kirby, who led the original investigation into the murder of the toddler in 1993, who said that the public should be told what Venables, now aged 27, had done."I think the statement that came out last night actually raises more questions than it answers. They wouldn't, using football parlance, have given him a red card and...