UK Policing News

Sergeant guilty of Pc sex assault A sergeant with the Metropolitan Police has been convicted of sexually assaulting a sleeping colleague after a Christmas party. David Stevens, 37, of Highgate, north London, was seen committing the act by a fellow officer at the function in Elstree, Hertfordshire, in December. The victim, a male Pc who has a long-term girlfriend, said he punched the walls in anger when told what happened. Stevens will be sentenced at St Albans Crown Court in November. The victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the court that he had never met Stevens, who was found guilty after a two-week trial, before the party. He said: "I rememb…

Scotland Yard has apologised after actors from a hit film were mistakenly identified as football hooligans being sought after riots at a West Ham game. Police issued 66 pictures of people supposedly caught on camera during violent clashes in August. The images wrongly included stills of six actors from recent film The Firm. A TV report was used to capture the images but because there was no sound officers did not realise it included clips from the hooligan-themed film. Scotland Yard, who released the images on Tuesday, said: "Six images of individuals who were not involved in the violence were mistakenly included. "These images appear to have been taken from a motion p…

A girl of 10 had CS gas sprayed in her eyes when 35 police officers stormed a birthday party to make a minor arrest. Abbie Symonds had to spend the night in hospital for treatment after the family barbecue turned into a night of terror. Her mother, Delia Symonds, said officers in full riot gear used tear gas indiscriminately like ‘five-year-olds with water pistols.’ Recovering: Abbie Symonds, with her mother Delia, spent a night in hospital They stormed her son Nigel’s 16th birthday bash in a quiet cul-de-sac in Bath to arrest his brother Robert, 20, over an alleged breach of bail conditions. The 16-year-old was also arrested for a public order offence and hi…

Someone is attacked by a complete stranger every 30 seconds in Binge Britain, figures revealed last night. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12...l#ixzz0VhlyT4Qr I do not believe it is as bad as the article shows, am i wrong thou?

Just as gay and lesbian people are starting to enjoy equal rights, the number of attacks against them seems to be rising. Why? Ten years ago, a nail-bomb exploded in a gay bar in the heart of London, claiming three lives and maiming dozens more, the final act in a series of attacks on the capital's minority groups. The intervening decade has seen significant steps in changing attitudes and legislation that give gay people - and their civil partners - equality enshrined in law. But now another shadow has been cast over the UK's gay community. A series of homophobic attacks, at a time when crime figures suggest such incidents are on the rise, has mobilised people to vo…

Former Tory leader says sentences of under two months ought to be replaced by tougher community penalties. http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/no...in-duncan-smith I have never thought of prison sentencing as a deterrent to stopping crime. More as a way of telling certain people, you are not welcome in society any longer, may it be for 1 month or 20 years.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8334877.stm A sergeant with the Metropolitan Police has been convicted of sexually assaulting a sleeping colleague after a Christmas party. David Stevens, 37, of Highgate, north London, was seen committing the act by a fellow officer at the function in Elstree, Hertfordshire, in December. The victim, a male Pc who has a long-term girlfriend, said he punched the walls in anger when told what happened. Stevens will be sentenced at St Albans Crown Court in November. The victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the court that he had never met Stevens, who was found guilty after a two-week trial, before the p…

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/8336485.stm Fan dressed as sheep set alight Some reports said many fans were dressed as sheep on the train A 24-year-old football fan dressed as a sheep suffered serious burns to his arms and legs when his suit caught fire on a train in Fife. Aberdeen fans said the man ran ablaze through the carriage as others threw beer on him to douse the flames. The Edinburgh to Aberdeen service was stopped at Kirkcaldy at about 1900 GMT on Saturday to allow him to be treated. British Transport Police said a 23-year-old man had been arrested in connection with the incident. A second man is reported to have suffered slight injuries. The train …

Call to cut 'farcical' jail terms Prison sentences of two months or less should be scrapped and replaced by tougher probation courses, according to Iain Duncan Smith. Such short terms are "farcical" and do nothing to reform serial offenders, the former Conservative leader is expected to say in a speech on Monday. The speech echoes a new report by his Centre for Social Justice. Justice Secretary Jack Straw said some of its claims were "unfounded" but he would look at its suggestions. The report by the Centre for Social Justice, which is headed by Mr Duncan Smith, says courts should be given the power to quickly haul offenders into prison if they breach their probation…

BBC News

Thieves in Sussex made off with more than half a mile of BT cabling in an overnight operation that cut off 800 homes and businesses. The line was ripped out at between 1am and 2am on Wednesday morning from a rural road near Lewes. Workers discovered the theft at 4am. The recent recovery in the price of copper has once again made telecoms cables an attractive target for criminals who aim to sell them on the scrap market. At the end of last year, copper's commodity value plummeted to less than $1.50 per pound. It's now back up around the $3 mark. It's understood there is a direct correlation between the rate of telecoms cable theft and the market value of copper. "It is…

http://www.bbc.co.uk/crimewatch/wanted/index.shtml Watched the program last night, seemed the Police got a lot of response, thou i have no idea as to how much of it was useful. A few people turned themselves in, which surprised me, and lots more rang up to hand in other people. So my question is, considering this program looked like it was helping, why do the police not do more of these programs, pay for it themselves? Could clean up most of the problems facing the Police in a very short space of time.

Teenagers were treated to a trip to Alton Towers theme park by police last night to stop them ‘trick or treating’ their neighbours. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12...l#ixzz0Vcc413c8 Brilliant idea, with a few thousand more, the police can keep them there all year round. :lol: "But as the youngsters were enjoying the rides and taking part in special themed activities, one disgruntled resident said: ‘There must be more constructive ways of stopping them making trouble than taking them to Alton Towers.’" Like what? They didn`t say, or was not reported.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lincolnshire/7811297.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lincolnshire/8334842.stm Driver's railway death accidental Ms Koune could not get her car off the tracks before the train struck The death of a teaching assistant whose car was hit by a train in Lincolnshire was an accident, a jury has ruled. The train driver had told the inquest that he did not see Maria Koune's Rover 200 which was stuck on a level crossing at South Drove, Spalding, in January. The coroner rejected calls from Ms Koune's family for a verdict of unlawful killing to be considered. Ms Koune, 30, was desperately trying to get her car off the track when she wa…