Three people have been found guilty of abusing an Indian woman who was treated like a servant and sexually abused.

The mother of four, 39, from Hyderabad, was employed in three London households as a nanny and domestic worker.

Enkarta Balapovi, 53, was convicted of five counts of rape while his partner Shamina Yousuf, 33, was found guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Shashi Obhrai, 54, was convicted of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and making a threat to kill.

But the jury at Croydon Crown Court cleared Aleemuddin Mohammed, 35, of Sefton Avenue, Harrow, of sexual assault.

Obhrai, Balapovi, Mohammed and Shanaz Begum, a shop worker from St John's Wood, were found not guilty of trafficking offences on the direction of the judge.

Jimmy Savile could have sexually abused up to 1,350 victims, treble the number who have come forward so far, the police officer that exposed him said today.

Operation Yewtree, which is looking into allegations of sex crimes against the former DJ and presenter, as well as a host of other celebrities, has recorded 450 complaints against him.

But former Metropolitan Police Commissioner Peter Spindler, who led Yewtree until earlier this year, told an NSPCC conference that as well as those who came forward there were 'probably double, treble who haven't'.

'My best guess is that there are many other victims who won't have come forward because they don't want to talk about it,' he told The Sun.

'They've dealt with it, they've put it in the past.

'So even with the 450 that have come forward there must be many more. That's not just true for Savile, it's true for other offenders as well.'

A report released earlier this year revealed the disgraced TV presenter was one of the UK's 'most prolific known sexual predators' and said his victims included an eight-year-old boy and a seriously ill teenager.

The report by Scotland Yard and the NSPCC, released in January, found that Savile's reign of sexual abuse spanned 54 years.

Since the initial claims emerged in early October last year the former Top Of The Pops host, who died in 2011 at the age of 84, has had 214 criminal offences recorded against his name, including 34 rapes,

Mr Spindler stepped down from Operation Yewtree earlier this month to become an Assistant Inspector of Constabulary.

Other have previously said the number of possible Savile victims could be much higher.

Mark Williams-Thomas, who presented the original ITV documentary which first exposed the Jim'll Fix It star as a dangerous sexual predator, said he could have targeted hundreds more victims in his near six decades of abuse.

In January he said: 'The first offence was in 1955 and the last in 2009, that's almost 60 years of offending. There could be at least double the number of potential victims, it's a mere drop in the ocean.'

A MINISTRY of Defence worker who served in Afghanistan and Iraq was jailed for five years and four months after sexually assaulting a woman in Woking.

Father-of-one Mark Scully, 37, of Gole Road, Pirbright, appeared at Guildford Crown Court for sentencing on Friday (April 19) after being found guilty of one count of sexual assault last month.

The attack took place near Woking railway station in July last year when the defendant lured the woman to Greenheys Place and then sexually assaulted her, the court heard.

The victim, who is from Weybridge, had missed her stop on the train.

Sentencing the defendant, Judge Peter Moss said: "You took her out of her way and took her to a place where you were able to assault her and that is what you did.

"The complainant has suffered very considerably as a consequence of what you did to her.

"You left her with a lifetime of scars."

Detective Constable Tim Budd from the Surrey Police sexual offences investigation team said: "The outcome today demonstrates the defendant has been identified as a predatory sexual offender.

"His pre-meditated actions are those of a nightmare which became a reality for this victim and instead of being the knight in shining armour Scully had portrayed himself as, his actions were those of a violent offender.

"He has shown no remorse throughout the trial and his demeanour before the court has demonstrated his lack of humanity.

"This has been a lengthy, in-depth investigation involving many officers including specialists trained to work with victims of sexual offences, CID officers, members of the safer neighbourhood team and colleagues from British Transport Police.

"I hope that today's outcome will go some way to providing the victim with the strength to pick up the pieces of her life and put this traumatic experience aside."

Scully will serve half of the sentence in prison before being released on licence.

The English feel far more patriotic about the Union Flag than the St George’s Cross, according to a new poll.

The survey found that while 80 per cent linked the British flag with such feelings, only 61 per cent associated them with English one.

By contrast, the Scottish and the Welsh were far more likely to feel pride in their flag – the St Andrew’s Cross and Red Dragon respectively – than the English in theirs.

The survey was carried out by the think tank British Future as part of a report analysing how people from around the UK view their “national identity”. It will be released tomorrow, on St George’s Day.

The organisation say the results show that more needs to be done to encourage a sense of “English patriotism” if the Union is to survive.

In a letter to The Sunday Telegraph, signed by academics as well as MPs from all major parties, the think tank also calls for the introduction of a new English national anthem to help foster a greater sense of identity at sporting and national occasions.

The organisation, which has also written to the Prime Minister and other party leaders, suggests holding a popular vote to select an anthem such as Jerusalem, Land of Hope and Glory, I Vow to Thee, My Country, or Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, which could be adopted by the English and be used in the same way as Flower of Scotland by the Scots and Land Of My Fathers, by the Welsh.

The report, This Sceptred Isle, shows that only 61 per cent of the English said they associated the St George’s Cross with pride and patriotism, compared to 84 per cent of Scots and 86 per cent of Welsh, when asked about, respectively, the St Andrew’s Cross and the Red Dragon.

Almost a quarter (24 per cent), of the English said they considered their flag to be racist, compared to 10 per cent of Scots and seven per cent of Welsh, when asked about their own flags.

The report blames the “extreme street hooligans of the English Defence League” for “toxifying” the St George’s Cross, although it says politicians should also take responsibility for failing to “speak up for the inclusive patriotism of the English majority”.

It draws a clear parallel with the situation in Scotland and Wales, where civic leaders have done more to “counter rejectionist or exclusive versions of national identity”.

However, by contrast, the English have far more positive associations with the Union flag with 80 per cent linking it to feelings of pride and patriotism, compared with just over a half of Scots (56 per cent) and just over two thirds (68 per cent) of Welsh.

Despite the continuing pride in the Union flag, the report warns that English anxiety over its own flag risks damaging the Union.

It states: “England, the land of Shakespeare, seems uncertain how to find its modern voice. Historically an understated Englishness has been conflated with being British.

"It is ignoring England that now presents a greater threat to the Union than anything else.”

Sunder Katwala, the director of the think tank, said: “We’ve done nothing in the era of devolution to give a voice to England as well as Scotland and Wales, which has left English identity too open to an extremist fringe.

“The EDL with their street yobbery are not the only ones to blame for the unusual anxiety that too many people in England feel about their own flag of St George.

"They share the blame with the politicians who haven’t spoken up for a modern English patriotism, as well as our British identity.

“While the devolution debates in Scotland and Wales appear to have modernised the Scots and Welsh associations with their flag, attitudes to the English flag are lagging behind.”

The poll, conducted in the year of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, also show varying levels of support for the monarch.

Eighty per cent of the English said the Queen evoked feelings of pride, compared with 41 per cent of Scots and 35 per cent of Welsh.

The poll was conducted for British Future by YouGov, and involved 2,600 from across the UK.

The relatively new think tank is a non-partisan organisation, with members from across the political spectrum. It is dedicated to investigating the concept of national identity and patriotism in the UK.

As an organization, we endeavor to try finding these people, help re-home them into safe and permanent housing, then through a program of re-education and the teaching of basic life skills; we will strive to help them back into the community with continued support 

Many people leaving the forces are unaware of the basic life skills they will require to cope in a busy society today. All too often they find themselves sleeping rough and falling into crime and addiction, a sad end to a career based on service, discipline and honour.

http://help4homelessveterans.org.uk/

Has anyone seen Sam Bendon tonight?

He is aged 12

Wearing:-

Blue Ralph Lauren Polo Shirt
Blue Jeans
NIKE Trainers

He left home at 4.30pm saying he was going to his friend's Ashley's house to see if he could sleep over and would ring me when he got there but haven't seen or heard from him since. I have checked with Ashley's mum and he isn't there.

If anyone has seen him or knows where he is please can you contact me.

Thank you!!
Photo: ******* MISSING ******* ******* SAM BENDON ******* Has anyone seen Sam Bendon tonight? He is aged 12 Wearing:- Blue Ralph Lauren Polo Shirt Blue Jeans NIKE Trainers He left home at 4.30pm saying he was going to his friend's Ashley's house to see if he could sleep over and would ring me when he got there but haven't seen or heard from him since. I have checked with Ashley's mum and he isn't there. If anyone has seen him or knows where he is please can you contact me. Thank you!!

Or phone police on 101

https://www.facebook.com/policealertsUKnewsreportsUk?ref=stream&hc_location=stream

A Romanian gang was jailed today for posing as police to rob £25,000 from foreign motorists.

Police described them as ‘modern day highwaymen’ after they took cash from people in overseas vehicles on a Kent motorway.

They tricked the Polish driver and passengers on a minibus into handing over £14,000 by saying they needed to check if it was counterfeit - before jumping into their BMW car and driving away.

The men – who were jailed for a total of 19 years - used fake badges, police stop signs and flashing blue lights to stop victims and also claimed to be searching for drugs.

A second vehicle was used to identify victims and carry the stolen property, false number plates and lighting equipment used in the stings.

The gang – who will be deported on release - struck between August 13 and October 31 last year, along the M20 and A20 in Kent.

On September 8 they stopped Portuguese driver Manuel Feteira-Mendes near Capel-Le-Ferne on the A20.

Two of the gang flashed a fake police warrant card and conned him into handing over £2,500.

On October 6 they stopped a minibus at Maidstone Services claiming they were police conducting a drugs search and took a bag containing cash.

Four days later a van driver was parked at a service station on the M20 when he was woken by someone kicking the door.

The thieves showed him a fake police badge before taking £2,000 from a jacket.

The men were caught when they tried to steal from the same man three days later and CCTV was used to identify their vehicles.

Prosecutor Janet Weeks said the victim recognised one of the gang and hit him with a spanner, forcing him to run away.

She said there were two more similar incidents in Capel-Le Ferne and Dover when the gang claimed they were police looking for hidden guns, drugs and money.

Ms Weeks said the crime was a ‘particularly unpleasant enterprise, targeting foreign nationals and directly undermining confidence in the police’.

Alberto Chivea, 25, from Tottenham, north London, Constantin Tanase, 23, of no fixed address, Stefanita Iorga, 27, from Ilford, Essex, and Ninel Besleaga, 30, from Tottenham, all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal at an earlier court hearing.

On October 31 last year one of the suspect vehicles was spotted in Folkestone.

Police stopped it and arrested Besleaga, a car washer, and dad-of-three Chivea, and found a substantial amount of cash.

Automatic number plate recognition cameras located the second vehicle heading out of Kent into Essex on the M20 and Iorga, a car washer, and Tanase, a waiter, were arrested.

Today Iorga was jailed for five years and four months, Tanase and Besleaga for five years and Chivea to three and a half years in prison.

Judge James O'Mahony told them: ‘This was organised professional crime where you carried out serious thefts of victims in cars on the highway.’

The four men were recommended to be deported when they finish their jail sentences.

Detective Constable Robert Goodban of Kent Police said: ‘The offences committed are a modern day version of the old highwayman thefts.

‘The offenders sought to prey on the vulnerabilities of foreign nationals, using false identity, being that of a police officer, to enable the theft to occur.

‘I believe the sentencing represents the serious nature of the offences committed in what is a rather unique case.’

A hospital porter has been jailed for 18 years for raping and fathering a child with a young runaway who took refuge at his home.

Christopher Seldon, aged 46, took in the 15-year-old after she fled violence at home and was trusted with her care by social workers because of his responsible job at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital.

He posed as a Good Samaritan but used violence to force the vulnerable virgin to have sex with him, threatening to throw her back onto the streets if she told anyone.

Seldon’s threats cowed her into silence for almost five years but when she plucked up the courage to go to the police he laughed off her allegations.

 He was trapped because DNA tests proved he was the father of her child. He then changed his story and claimed she had not only consented but initiated sex.

Seldon, of Spenser Avenue, Exeter, denied but was found guilty of four rapes and a sexual assault on the girl who stayed at his home for a few weeks in 2007.

He was jailed for 18 years by Judge Mr Justice Burnett at Exeter Crown Court, who made a Sexual Offences Prevention Order banning unsupervised contact with under age girls and put him on the sex offenders’ register for life.

The judge told him:”You were supposed to provide this girl with a stable and safe environment in contrast to the one she had been removed from. Instead, within a matter of weeks, you were using her as a sexual plaything.

“When you raped her you failed to use any protection and as a result she became pregnant with your child although she told nobody you were the father until last year.

“What you did was as an appalling breach of trust as is imaginable. Eventually you accepted you had sex twice, but only twice and you carefully crafted the dates to coordinate with the birth date of her child.

“You said she not only consented but initiated sex. The jury completely disbelieved your attempts to stigmatise her as a willing participant and a bare faced liar.

“You abused her persistently and made clear to her that no-one would believe her. It seems nobody did until the DNA test showed you were the father of her child, which gave her account credence.

“These offences are very serious. It is clear you have a sexual attraction to young girls which is very likely to stay with you so it is necessary to protect the public from you.

“The aggravating features of your offending are that your victim was a child of 15 who had been placed with you for her own protection, so this is a gross breach of trust.

“You made threats that played on her vulnerability to prevent her from reporting your offences. The most potent aggravating feature is her pregnancy.

“I have read the very affecting victim impact statement which illustrates the appalling consequences. There is, in truth, no real mitigation.”

The victim told the jury at the trial earlier this month that Seldon attacked her after coming back from work at the hospital to find her on her own watching television.

She was left confused, upset, bleeding and in pain after the attack but was told she would be thrown onto the streets or into council care if she told anyone.

In the next few weeks she was assaulted up to 11 times more before she fled Seldon’s house. She had been taken in by him after fleeing violence in her own family.

Social workers approved her staying there because at the time Seldon was an apparently respectable family man who appeared to be happily married with a stepdaughter and a stable and responsible job at the hospital.

When she finally reported the assaults Seldon told police:” It is ludicrous, it is rubbish.” He laughed when officers suggested he was the father of the girl’s child and said:“It’s not mine.”

Mr Andrew MacFarlane, prosecuting, said the girl had was left with vivid and indelible memories of the abuse.

He said:”She says she can still recalL his smell of stale tea and smoke. She was defenceless. She said he hurt her but the psychological pain was worse.

“She said afterwards she just sat there crying and not knowing what to do. She had nobody to talk to or to tell and that he painted a picture of everything being normal when other people were around.

“She said if she struggled, it made it worse and she felt like a dead shell and as if she was dying inside.”

Seldon said she initiated sex during a pillow fight after he came home after drinking with friends.

Mr David Evans, defending, said the case had torn Seldon’s family apart and led to the break up of his marriage.

THE manager of one of Huddersfield’s best known curry houses has been convicted of sexually assaulting a former waitress.

Nadeem Aslam, 36, of Olive Street, Fartown, Huddersfield, who runs Memsahib Restaurant, Queensgate, pleaded not guilty to touching the woman during the early hours last year.

But following a trial yesterday at Huddersfield Magistrates’ Court, the married, father-of-four, was convicted of the offence against a Huddersfield University student who cannot be named for legal reasons.

Prosecuting, Ben Smith, said that in the short period the victim worked at the restaurant there had been a history of the defendant making inappropriate remarks to her.

He said: “His behaviour became increasingly more inappropriate. He told her she was beautiful.

“Over time he began to make innuendos and comments and would put his hand on her hips as he passed her. She became uncomfortable in this and was unsure how to deal with it.”

The comments eventually culminated in the defendant forcibly kissing the victim on her lips against her wishes one night when no-one else was around in the restaurant.

Giving evidence, the student said: “During the shift, three gentlemen came in and I remember he, (Aslam), said: “I am getting drunk tonight, you are going to have to look after me.”

Asked how she reacted she replied: “I just smiled and laughed it off.”

The gentlemen having a meal invited her to drink some of their Polish vodka and she had some. Later the defendant allegedly encouraged her to have even more spirits in measures that were far too strong for her.

Before closing the restaurant for the night he took several members of staff home before returning around 12.30am.

He poured her a drink, dimmed the lights and she said they chatted about what businesses he owned and about CCTV being fitted.

The complainant who was due to visit friends at the Camel Club said she began to panic when he came and sat opposite her.

She said: “I can’t remember what he said but he pulled me in and leaned across and kissed me which shocked me. I froze and pulled back, sprung to my feet and got my bag.

“He put his hands on my upper arms, I swerved out of the way and ducked under.”

She said the doors were locked and he claimed not to know where the keys were.

Eventually, she escaped and went to the Camel Club where she confided in a friend.

Two of her friends gave evidence on her behalf saying how she was not her usual “bubbly” self following the assault.

Cross-examining the complainant, Aslam’s representative, Andrew Sugden, said: “I put it to you that what you say happened that night didn’t happen and you have perhaps been upset at how you behaved, you had been drinking and you dissed your employer?”

Complainant: “That’s ridiculous.”

Chairman of the bench, Brian Castle, said he found the victim a credible witness and that she had not consented to the kissing.

By contrast he said the bench found inconsistencies in Aslam’s account.

He was granted unconditional bail and will be sentenced on May 10.

COCAINE addict Ansar Hussain has been spared jail after being caught with hundreds of pounds worth of the class A drug.

The 22-year-old was stopped by police in a car in Longton and was found in possession of six wraps of cocaine which had a street value of £120, Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard yesterday.

Prosecutor Steven Redmond said Hussain was arrested and his home was later searched.

Mr Redmond said: "There was evidence of drug paraphernalia and the preparation and cutting of drugs.

 "In a tumble dryer was a further quantity of cocaine which amounted to 30 wraps with a value of £600."

Hussain, of The Strand, Longton, pleaded guilty to two charges of possessing cocaine with intent to supply on April 24 last year.

He entered his pleas on a basis the drugs were purchased jointly between himself and another man and were mostly for personal use.

But he accepted he would have sold some to close friends which would allow him to support his own addiction. He also said that the drugs recovered by the police were bought on the same day.

The court heard Hussain told the probation officer who interviewed him he was glad he was arrested. He said he wants help to tackle his addiction and is looking forward to receiving some assistance.

Judge David Fletcher sentenced Hussain to two years in prison, suspended for two years, with 12 months supervision, a 12-month drug rehabilitation requirement and 120 hours unpaid work.

The judge told Hussain: "You had got yourself into a very dangerous place and you are still potentially in one.

"If you are using £300 of cocaine a week you are not nipping down to Tesco to buy it.

"If you are using it at that level you continue to be committing criminal offences."

Judge Fletcher added: "You are extremely fortunate not to be going to prison. But be under no illusions whatsoever, any involvement in the supply or possession with intent to supply a class A drug is an extremely precarious matter. Even at the very bottom rung of the ladder there is potential for a three-year prison sentence. That is how serious it is to be supplying any class A drug."

Hussain's first review under the drug rehabilitation requirement is May 16 when he will be expected to provide negative samples for cocaine.

Read more: http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/Police-cocaine-tumble-dryer-Longton-raid/story-18745510-detail/story.html#ixzz2QzRXRCK9 ;
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On 17 April 2013, at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, Gerard Joseph Batten, a Member of the European Parliament for London, made a short but great speech talking about criminals from Kosovo “We already have enough criminals from Kosovo in London” he said. Well, watch his speech at the European Parliament:

THE South West's English Defence League coordinator has been released without charge by police investigating graffiti on a mosque and a Sikh temple.

Mickey Bayliss, 47, who lives near Bitton, was arrested on November 14 along with another man believed to have connections with the EDL.

Their arrests came after the letters "EDL" were daubed in red paint on the Sikh temple in Church Road, Redfield, and in grey paint on a mosque in Valley Road, Bedminster, in September.

After their arrests on suspicion of criminal damage, the homes of the two men were searched. But after months investigating the incident the two men were released from bail on Tuesday, police confirmed yesterday.

Police are now renewing their appeal for witnesses in an attempt to find out who painted the graffiti.

Avon and Somerset force spokesman Martin Dunscombe said: "The two men in custody have been released from their bail, with no further action being taken. Anyone who has information about the damage and has not yet come forward can still do so by calling police on 101."

The graffiti was daubed on the buildings between September 21 and September 25 last year.

Two months earlier Bristol was the focus of a major police operation as around 300 EDL supporters attended a rally in the city.

Ten people were arrested after clashes with counter-protesters.

An anti-EDL demonstration drew around 500 people.

Mr Bayliss helped organise the march, which was called in protest at what the EDL claimed was the "Islamification" of Bristol.

Policing the march and counter-demonstration cost Avon and Somerset constabulary £495,000, according to figures released under the Freedom of Information Act.

Read more: http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/Defence-League-head-released-charge/story-18737081-detail/story.html#ixzz2Qza3vBwZ ;
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Greater Manchester Police have been reviewing their original probe into child sex abuse allegations in the town five years ago.
Police have carried out a second inquiry into their failed Rochdale grooming investigation – after regulators rejected the first.
Greater Manchester Police have been reviewing their original probe into child sex abuse allegations in the town five years ago.
Despite childcare professionals urging action, none was taken at the time – leading an official report to eventually slam GMP for 'missed opportunities'.
It has now emerged that regulators ordered it to carry out an internal inquiry into the failings two years ago, supervised by them.

But the resulting report – submitted to the Independent Police Complaints Commission last February – was rejected as insufficiently in-depth.

The IPCC then demanded a second review.

That report was submitted last month and is currently being considered.

The news comes after a nearly year of criticism directed at Rochdale’s child safeguarding agencies for missing chances to protect grooming victims.

Despite evidence of a major child sex ring coming to light during the 2008 probe, it was not until last year that nine men were eventually jailed for horrific abuse.

An IPCC spokesman said: “The IPCC received an initial report from Greater Manchester Police as part of the supervised investigation into how the force had conducted an investigation in 2008 into allegations of sexual grooming.

“When acting in a supervisory role the IPCC determines whether an investigation has been thorough and examined all the matters set down in the terms of reference.

“Following thorough consideration of the report and information supplied by GMP, the IPCC asked that additional investigative work be done and a revised investigation report supplied.
A revised report has been received now and is being assessed.” A GMP spokesman confirmed both reports had been requested and submitted, adding: “The issues were mainly around the terms of reference.”
Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk, who has been highly critical of GMP's approach to grooming, said he had been reassured by police chiefs that ‘lessons had been learned’.
He added: “There’s no complacency on the part of police about these horrific crimes and I’m confident every effort is being made to get these predators off our streets.”

The 30-year-old mum-of-two's body was discovered in her Oldham home with her young son close by. She had been planning to start a new life after the breakdown of her marriage.

A mum-of-two has been found brutally murdered at her home – with her young son close by.

Jabeen Younis’s throat had been cut in the savage attack.

The 30-year-old, whose body was discovered by police at her Oldham home, had been planning to start a new life after the breakdown of her marriage of just five months.

Jabeen, who lived in Bamford Street, Chadderton , is understood to have recently separated from her husband and friends have told the M.E.N she had said she wanted a fresh start in her native Pakistan.

Neighbours and friends have paid tribute to Jabeen, who worked in a furniture store in Oldham town centre, calling her a ‘loving mum’ and a ‘friendly and lively character.’

Nearby residents described dramatic scenes as police cars raced to the scene after receiving a ‘concern for welfare’ call yesterday morning.

Her son, believed to be around seven years old, was seen being led from the house by officers shortly afterwards. It is thought he had been in the house when his mother was murdered.

Neighbours said they believed her throat had been slashed.

A large section of the residential street was cordoned off throughout the day as forensics officers combed the house for clues and carried away clothes and other household items in bags.

Jabeen is understood to have moved to Oldham around 10 years ago from Pakistan shortly after the birth of her daughter.

Having previously been divorced, she remarried at the end of last year but friends said she had recently ended the ‘turbulent’ relationship.

One pal, who did not wish to be named, said he had spoken to her less than 24 hours before her death. He said: “Her marriage was over and she wanted to go back home to get away from it.

“I’d been on the phone with her helping to arrange it all and she was looking to leave very soon. She was a nice girl who just wanted the best for her children and for them to lose their mum is just unbelievably tragic.”

Another friend said: “She was just a normal young woman enjoying her life, she loved her kids and she went out to work every day, she just got on with things.

“She loved her fashion and was always really well-turned out, she was a happy, lively character who once you’d met her, she’d put a smile on your face.

“She was funny and a very strong person who wouldn’t put up with any nonsense, she enjoyed her life in Oldham and made it her home.”

Ian Whitbread, 45, who lives around the corner on Garforth Street, said: “I used to see her on my way to work and I’d stop and have a chat with her from time to time, she was a really nice girl.

“She just seemed like someone with everything to live for.

“She was clearly a popular girl and she seemed to have a lot of friends around her, she just always seemed really happy and it’s awful to think someone like that can just be taken away so suddenly.”

A post mortem examination to establish the cause of death is due to take place today.

POLICE have stepped up patrols in the Bamford Street area of Chadderton but are reassuring local residents.

A police cordon around the scene remained in place last night and officers conducted door-to-door visits on local residents throughout the day.

Supt Denise Worth from Oldham police said she did not believe the safety of people in the community was in any immediate danger but patrols would be escalated to reassure neighbours.

She said: “We are in the early stages of our inquiries and we have a team of detectives working to establish the circumstances that led to her death.

“I want to reassure the community that a thorough investigation is taking place and there are extra patrols in the area. At this stage there are not believed to be any immediate concerns for the safety of the community.”

The thugs dressed as officers to gain entry in home raids as they handcuffed and threatened victims.

A gang of robbers terrorised families in their own homes after dressing up as police officers to gain entry.

Anjam Ahmed, Paul Thomas and Kelvin Raymond picked out victims before going around to their houses dressed in body armour and carrying walkie-talkies and clipboards.

The thugs, who used a lost Humberside Police badge and wore latex gloves in a bid to look authentic, handcuffed their victims in front of their wives and children before ransacking homes.

They netted thousands in cash and gold, a luxury car, and 12 legally held guns – now circulating in the criminal underworld – in a string of raids across Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire last year.

The thugs have now been locked up after admitting conspiracy to rob.

Career villain Thomas, 35, of Albert Avenue, Urmston, has been jailed for nine years and Raymond, 29, of Nesfield Road, Northern Moor, who also admitted an unconnected robbery in which a young woman was badly beaten in Openshaw last year, and breaching a suspended sentence for dangerous driving, has been jailed for ten years and six weeks.

Ahmed, 45, of Red Doles Road, Huddersfield, who has 126 previous offences, has been jailed for ten years and nine months.

Convicted gun smuggler Dawson Wray, of Harcourt Avenue, Urmston, was also involved in the Openshaw robbery and has been jailed for three-and-half years after he was found guilty at trial.

Alex Leach, prosecuting, told Manchester Crown Court that on April 26 two men turned up at a house in Disley wearing plain clothes with body armour and handcuffs, and carrying warrant cards, a clipboard and walkie talkies.

They tricked the homeowner into giving them the address of another man, and went round. However, the would-be victim told them he had already dialled 999 and the pair left. 

Later that evening all three turned up at a family home in Huddersfield, handcuffing a man and ordering his terrified elderly mother-in-law to empty a safe, escaping with jewellery worth £14,000 and £3,000 in cash. The raid was witnessed by two toddlers. On June 5 they attempted another raid in Huddersfield but fled empty-handed after the mother-of-two they targeted rang police.

Undeterred, the gang struck three days later at Dacre Avenue, Chorlton. They forced two men to the floor and handcuffed them before fleeing with £9000 in cash and an Audi S3. The gang went on to rob a father and son of 12 guns and a coin collection worth £3,800 in Sowerby Bridge, West Yorkshire.

 Det Con Roy Storey said: “The streets of Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire are now much safer with these persistent criminals locked up, and that is testament to the hard work of the officers who worked tirelessly to unmask these criminals.  What was particularly galling about these crimes is that the offenders preyed upon the trust people put in the police.

 “Genuine police officers do not enter people’s homes without permission and always carry a warrant card to prove their identity.  If a member of the public is uncertain about the validity of the identification they should contact police and verify the officer's collar number.”

A man who targeted “vulnerable” teenage girls using Twitter and Blackberry Messenger was jailed today for attempted rape and sexual assault.

Adil Hoque, 20, of Sheringham Avenue in Manor Park, was sentenced to eight years in a young offenders institute for the crimes, serving an 18-month sexual assault sentence concurrently, after being found guilty of the crimes in trials last October and March 2013.

Hoque used Twitter to talk to a 17-year-old girl whom he then offered to drive to college on May 11, 2011.

He parked his car close to Empress Road in Chingford, where he sexually assaulted her before she managed to escape when Hoque was disturbed by a passer-by.

She reported the attack later that day, but later in the year he struck again.

This time he began talking with a 14-year-old girl via Blackberry Messenger and met her on Romford Road in Manor Park, after phoning the school pretending to be her uncle.
Hoque then took her home and tried to rape her.

The girl reported the attack on January 19, 2012.

Charges were eventually brought against Hoque in November 2011 for the first attack, and in February 2012 for the second, and he stood trial at the Inner London Crown Court in September and October last year.

He was found guilty of attempted rape and acquitted of rape, but the jury could not agree on a verdict for the sexual assault charge and so was dismissed.

A retrial for the sexual assault charge took place in March, when he was found guilty.

Detective Inspector Simon Ellershaw, of Sapphire, the police unit tackling rape and sexual assault, said: "This conviction has resulted in a man being sent to prison who was clearly a danger to young women - a man who obviously felt that it was his right to have sex with girls simply because they had agreed to meet with him.

“He deliberately targeted vulnerable girls. It also highlights the dangers of meeting people you don't know having had contact with them only via social media - in this case Blackberry Messenger.
“It may well be that other girls have been put in a similar situation by this man and if this is the case they should contact their local police."

A JURY has been told it would be an "injustice" to convict a man of child sex crimes because there is a "real possibility" his accuser got it wrong.

A defence lawyer told the Oxford child sex exploitation trial jury they should not find his client guilty because he did know some of the other defendants.

Assad Hussain, 32, is charged with rape and sexual activity with a child. The complainant known as Girl 1 claims he raped her between the ages of 13 and 15 from 2004 to 2007. He is one of nine defendants to deny all charges.

But his barrister Mark George, in his closing speech, said Girl 1 only identified him in a police identity procedure last year. And he said she had admitted being "out of her box" on drink and drugs during the abuse, saying she took drugs so she would not remember it.

He said: "Isn't there a real possibility she has got it wrong?
"When you look at all the evidence can you really put your hand on your heart and say you are sure she got it right?"

He told the jury: "To find Assad Hussain guilty would be an injustice in this case."

Hussain also denies Girl 5's claims he had sex with her when she was 14 in 2011 knowing how old she was.

Mr George will finish his speech on Monday morning before the jury hears from Mohammed Karrar's barrister.

The defendants deny all charges. The trial continues.

http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/bullfinch/

Suspended officer also accused of money laundering and drug offences after anti-corruption probe.

A Birmingham police officer has been charged with conspiracy to manage a brothel as well as money laundering and drug offences.

Pc Osman Iqbal, 35, has been suspended after an investigation prompted by anti-corruption officers at West Midlands Police.

He is among ten people charged following an operation between his force and the Metropolitan Police, where the alleged brothel is based.

Mr Iqbal has been charged with conspiracy to manage a brothel, conspiracy to money launder and conspiracy to possess Class A drugs with intent to supply.

The police constable, who had worked at a Birmingham police station, also faces five counts of misconduct in a public office.

The ten defendants include six from Birmingham and the West Midlands and four from London. They will appear at Nuneaton Magistrates Court on April 30.

The charges follow a lengthy investigation which stemmed from the West Midlands anti-corruption unit. It involved officers from Force CID, Professional Standards and the Met.

In a statement last night, the Assistant Chief Constable of West Midlands Police Sharon Rowe said: “We expect the highest standards from our officers and proactively seek to identify officers who are suspected of any corrupt activity which would undermine the force’s core vision which is to serve our communities and protect them from harm.

“The vast majority of West Midlands Police officers and staff are passionate, committed and proud of the work that they do.

‘‘Any suspicious behaviour will be fully and thoroughly investigated and brought before the courts.”

Janet Holman, from the West Midlands Crown Prosecution Service’s Complex Casework Unit, said: “I have advised officers from West Midlands Police that there is sufficient evidence and that it is in the public interest to proceed with a prosecution against these defendants.

“The decision was taken in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors.’’

The other defendants include Talib Hussain, 32, and Atif Hussain, 25, who are both from Birmingham. They have been charged with conspiracy to manage a brothel, conspiracy to money launder and conspiracy to possess Class A drugs with intent to supply.

London-based Nasser Ali, 49, and Raheela Ali, 43, have been charged with conspiracy to manage a brothel and conspiracy to money launder.

Asri Hussain, 23, and Jennifer Williams, 30, who are both from Birmingham, have been charged with conspiracy to manage a brothel and conspiracy to possess Class A drugs with intent to supply.

Ben Disha, 43, and Fadil Hyseni, 30, both from London, have been charged with conspiracy to manage a brothel.

Sadiff Nazam, 34 and from Birmingham, has been charged with conspiracy to money launder.

It is understood the people working in the alleged brothel were all adults and no other police officer was investigated as part of the inquiry. Police confirmed the case is in no way linked to child sexual exploitation or human trafficking.

The dramatic scenes were released to show how a convoy of officers escorted the hero from the city’s airport to Edgbaston’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital in just 28 minutes.

Police tweeted pictures of the moment a 21-year-old soldier injured in Afghanistan was rushed through the streets of Birmingham to hospital.

The dramatic scenes were released to show how a convoy of officers escorted the hero from the city’s airport to Edgbaston’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital in just 28 minutes.

Squadron Leader Jo Clarke, based at the hospital’s Royal Centre for Defence Medicine, said: “Armed service personnel treated here are critically ill which is why transferring them quickly, without hold-up is vital.

“Planes bringing in injured troops land at all times of day and, during rush hour, the journey could take a couple of hours. Thanks to the police escorts though, and the understanding of road users, that’s reduced to around 20 minutes – and with patients like this every minute counts.”

Chief Insp Kerry Blakeman, who led the operation once the military plane landed last Friday morning, said: “VIP escorts are an area of police work many people are perhaps unaware of.

“There can be few people more worthy of VIP treatment than our armed forces personnel. Society owes these young men and women a huge debt.”