UK Policing News

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A senior police officer has been demoted after referring to a model BMW car as 'black man's wheels'. Former Superintendent Chris Pretty was given the toy by colleagues at a party for his send-off as head of training for West Midlands Police. Two officers complained about his 'racist joke' and Mr Pretty, a respected officer who headed a crackdown on black-on-black crime, was hauled before a misconduct panel. Chris Pretty lead the fight on black on block crime in Birmingham and secured conviction of two gunmen who killed a Rastafarian in front of his son. He was demoted by one rank to Chief Inspector after the hearing last week. Anti-racism campaigners yesterday we…

A woman had her arm slashed by a 10-year-old boy after she refused to give him a cigarette. The woman, in her 50s, was confronted by the boy and his friend outside Selhurst railway station in south London on Wednesday. He tried to grab a lit cigarette from her mouth and attacked her when she shouted back at the pair. Passers-by rushed to her aid as she bled heavily from the wound which was inflicted with a craft knife or razor. CCTV studied Officers are studying CCTV from the station and have taken statements from witnesses over the incident. A Metropolitan Police spokesman said the boys had been described as black and about ten years old. "We are investigating an …

A former US marine who shot a policeman dead has won an appeal against his whole-life jail term. David Bieber shot PC Ian Broadhurst at point-blank range when the officer made a routine check on the stolen car Bieber was driving. Bieber, 42, was found guilty by a jury at Newcastle Crown Court in 2004 of the murder of PC Broadhurst in Leeds on Boxing Day the previous year. He was also convicted of the attempted murders of PC Broadhurst's colleagues, PCs Neil Roper and James Banks. The sentencing judge said Bieber executed PC Broadhurst, 34, in cold blood by a shot to the head when he already lay wounded on the ground. The American became one of only 25 people at the …

A police officer has admitted punching a 12-year-old boy, but said he was acting in self-defence. Pc Daniel Gaffney, 30, of Greater Manchester Police is on trial before Warrington magistrates accused of assault at Didsbury police station. Mr Gaffney, of Greater Manchester Police, said he thought he was about to be attacked while searching the boy who claimed he had a gun down his trousers. The boy, now aged 13, had been arrested after threatening care home staff. Mr Gaffney was putting the boy in a cell on 10 November last year when the boy raised his arm at the officer, Warrington Magistrates' Court heard. The officer initially said the boy fell and banged his face …

Tayside Police are trialling a new spray for dealing with criminals who are behaving aggressively. Trained officers are using pava, which contains a synthetic chemical which mimics the heat effect of chillies. They want to see if it is better when incapacitating offenders than the CS spray they use now. The force is the first in Scotland to trial pava, although British Transport Police use it because it is useful in enclosed spaces like trains. It is believed it creates less cross-contamination than CS spray, which can affect innocent people who are nearby. Officers aim for the suspect's eyes and it causes an intense burning. Insp Grant Edward, of Tayside Poli…

http://www.thepress.co.uk/search/3187644.F..._York_teenager/ This was an interesting one, i came across him in my day job, had a hunch it was the person responsible (didnt have enough info about it at the time) just as i was sure it was him and started to dig, he dissappeard!

Britain's most wanted man has been arrested by police in Holland, Sky News can reveal. James Hurley had been on the run for 13 years. He was jailed for life for killing a police officer during a bank raid in Hemel Hempstead in 1988. James Hurley was jailed for life But he escaped from a prison van in Wandsworth, south-west London, after four-and-a-half years in custody. Sky News crime correspondent Martin Brunt said Hurley was regarded as Britain's most wanted man. He added: "He was the subject of a major police hunt across Europe." Hurley was featured in Sky's most wanted list earlier this year. The 42-year-old shot dead PC Frank Mason during a raid on a se…

Man jailed over tiny gun shooting Marcus Henry carried out the attack after a row over a woman A man has been jailed for nine years for shooting a fellow clubber with a mini four-inch key-ring gun. Yaw Darko-Kwakye was shot in the shoulder after a row over his girlfriend in the Departures nightclub in the City of London in December 2007. Marcus Henry, 27, from Clapham, south London, was found guilty of unlawful wounding and two firearms offences. Police believe it is the first example of the potentially fatal weapons being used, the Old Bailey heard. 'Severe sentence' Detectives said they believed about 100 of the Bulgarian-made guns, that fit easily in the…

A Bristol woman found guilty of assaulting a youth she believed had vandalised a war memorial has called for better policing. Julie Lake, 50, of Royal Road, Mangotsfield, was found guilty of one count of assault, criminal damage and a public order offence by a district judge yesterday at Northavon Magistrates Court. She was cleared of a separate charge of assault. The World War II fighter pilot's daughter was given a conditional discharge for 12 months and ordered to pay £400 costs. The court had been told she confronted a teenager she believed had ridden a bike over flower beds at Mangostfield's war memorial opposite St James's Place but had mistakenly targeted an i…

Man murdered in front of children The fight took place in the Granton area of the city A murder inquiry has been launched after a man was stabbed to death while out for a walk with his girlfriend and her two young children in Edinburgh. The 23-year-old was attacked by three men in Wardieburn Street West, Granton, at about 2230 BST on Tuesday. The man, who has not been named, was taken to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary where he died from his injuries. Police said the attack was unprovoked and the area would have been quite quiet at the time. They are appealing for witnesses. A Lothian and Borders Police spokesman said the victim was out with a dog and his girl…

Dorset Police

A former US marine who murdered a policeman has won an appeal against his "whole life" prison sentence. David Bieber, 42, shot Pc Ian Broadhurst in the head at point blank range in Leeds on Boxing Day 2003. The Court of Appeal said that the facts of Bieber's case, "horrifying though they were", did not justify a "life means life" sentence. The American was told he will now serve a minimum of 37 years in jail. Three judges headed by the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Phillips, rejected an argument by Bieber's defence lawyers that whole-life jail terms in principle amounted to a breach of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which states that no-one shall…

A Saarf London teen's Staffordshire Bull Terrier was earlier this week shot dead by police after an attempt to subdue the devil mutt with a Taser failed to stop it in its tracks. According to the Telegraph, officers confronted the 13-year-old lad's "dangerous" animal on the mean streets of Croydon on Monday night. A Scotland Yard spokesman explained: "On attendance police tried to detain the animal with two officers suffering from minor injuries due to the dog's aggressiveness." Having expended 50,000 volts on the cantankerous canine, officers were forced to call for armed back-up who popped a cap in the pooch's anti-social a**e. The injured coppers "did not require hos…

Criminal records 'must be erased' Police may have to remove thousands of old criminal records of minor offences from the national database, after a ruling on holding personal details. The Information Tribunal has dismissed appeals from five police forces who were ordered to delete old criminal convictions from the system. It said personal information should not be kept for longer than necessary. The five forces which appealed were Humberside, West Midlands, Northumbri…