February 2009 - Crime in the News

• Body found in woods

  A body found in Cheshire Woods is likely a murder victim. [27 February 2009]

• Phony cop steals car - and baby

  A man posing as a police officer stole a car off a mother in Manchester. The mother managed to get her 2-year-old out of the car, but the thief drove off with her baby. [27 February 2009]

• 15-million pound fraudster jailed

  Manjit Singh from Glasgow was jailed for four years yesterday for his part in a £15 million money laundering scheme. [27 February 2009]

• Instructor convicted of sex offences

  Air cadet instructor, Paul Nicholls, has been found guilty of two counts of sexual activity with a child. [26 February 2009]

• Woman guilty over queue jumping death

  Antoinette Richardson called her boyfriend into a supermarket after she was challenged for queue jumping. A shopper died after suffering head injuries from the resulting attack. [26 February 2009]

• Million-pound cannabis bust

  £1 million of cannabis has been found on a lorry from Belgium in Kent. [26 February 2009]

• Barrymore evidence lost

  The police failed to gather two pieces of important evidence at Barrymore's house, according to a report by the crime watchdog. [25 February 2009]

• Texting peer jailed

  Lord Ahmed received 12 weeks jail for killing Martyn Gombar with his Jaguar. [25 February 2009]

• Arrests over fire deaths

  Two teenagers have been arrested for the murders of two women in a fire in London on Sunday. [25 February 2009]

• Footballer's house burgled at knife point

  Three men threatened two women and burgled the house of Darren Fletcher, who plays for Manchester United. [24 February 2009]

• Police jobs get cut

  Thousands of police jobs are being cut despite the recession, The Times reports today. [24 February 2009]

• Knifewielders get cautions

  7,407 people caught carrying knives in 2007 received only a caution, according to Home Office figures. [24 February 2009]

• Drive-by shooting

  A man was shot dead at lunchtime in Dulwich, south east London. [23 February 2009]

• Man confesses to Dando murder

  Witnesses heard a man confess to the murder of Jill Dando in a bar in Serbia. [23 February 2009]

• Man robbed by gang

  An elderly man was beaten and tied up by a gang who stole his four guns in Boltby, North Yorkshire. [23 February 2009]

• Arrests for student's murder

  Two teenagers have been arrested for the murder of 17-year-old Rhys Davies. [20 February 2009]

• Parents held for drug trafficking

  Two Brits are being held in Venezuela for cocaine smuggling, their four children have been taken into care. [20 February 2009]

• Two teens stabbed

  Two teenagers died last night after being stabbed in London. [20 February 2009]

• Cocaine cheaper

  New routes means cocaine will be cheaper, according to the International Narcotics Control Board. [19 February 2009]

• Sentence due for 1996 river killer

  John Pope was convicted on Wednesday of Karen Skippers murder in 1996 and will be sentenced later today. [19 February 2009]

• Murdered woman had been threatened

  A woman was found dead in her home in Birmingham on Tuesday. Five days earlier she had told officers she had been threatened by her ex husband. [19 February 2009]

• eBay scammer jailed

  A Devon man who sold stolen goods on the auction website has been jailed for three years. [18 February 2009]

• Yorkshire ripper may be released

  Peter Sutcliffe has been re-assessed by Doctors as low-risk, which means he may eventually be released back into society. [18 February 2009]

• Killer escapes

  A convicted serial killer has escaped from a mental hospital in London. [18 February 2009]

• The SIA and your calls

• Mother of Jones's killer faces jail

  The mother of Sean Mercer faces jail for lying about whether her son owned a bike to police. [17 February 2009]

• Flight crew drug bust

  Another South African Airways flight crew has been arrested for smuggling cocaine into Britain. [17 February 2009]

• Teenagers shot over Ipods

  An 18-year-old and a 19-year-old were shot in north west London on Saturday night, apparently after a gang tried to rob them for their Ipods. [17 February 2009]

• Scottish serial killer interview

  A BBC Scotland radio programme will include a psychiatric interview with Peter Manuel, who was executed in July 1958. It is the first time the voice of the serial will be heard by the public. [16 February 2009]

• Brutal stabbing

  A Liverpool teenager has died after being brutally stabbed on Saturday morning. [16 February 2009]

• City trader arrested

  A 60-year-old has been arrested for a £40million investment fraud, the biggest case since the recession began. [13 February 2009]

• Jewish hate crime up

  The Community Security Trust says there has been a rise in attacks on British Jews due to the conflict in Gaza. [13 February 2009]

• Boxer's son shot

  Herol "Bomber" Graham's son was shot in a pub car park on Monday. [12 February 2009]

• Council recommends ecstasy downgrade

  The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs will advise the government today to downgrade ecstasy from Class A to Class B. [11 February 2009]

• It's our birthday!

  Crimestoppers, the only independent charity fighting crime, turns 21 today. [11 February 2009]

• eBay cracks down on illegal knives

  The auction site has pledged more money and effort to stop the selling of illegal knives on its UK website. [10 February 2009]

• Young men suffered more domestic violence

  Last year, 6.4% of 20 to 24-year-old men said they were victims of partner abuse, compared with 5.4% of women according to an anonymous survey. [10 February 2009]

• Students get CSI house

  A house at the University of West England has been converted into a series of crime scenes to help train students. [9 February 2009]

• Shooting outside school

  A man was shot at a party at a school in Stonebridge, north west London. [9 February 2009]

• Fifth 'Most Wanted' criminal arrested

  Within three months of launching Operation Captura 2 in Alicante, Spain, the operation has achieved a 50 per cent success rate with the arrest of the fifth Most Wanted criminal, Dennis Hunter. [6 February 2009]

• Shop warnings for knife sales

  The Home Secretary launched a new campaign today to combat the sales of knives to young people. [5 February 2009]

• Man attacked for a fiver

  A 61-year-old was robbed and beaten by two men after he gave them £5. [5 February 2009]

• Serious crimes up

  Serious violent crime in Northern Ireland rose by 17% since June last year. Although, overall, the crime rate has fallen. [5 February 2009]

• Minister talks burglary

  Jacqui Smith, Home Secretary, is holding a burglary summit to address recession burglary fears. [4 February 2009]

• Employee steals almost £1m

  A compulsive gambler embezzled the money over three years from a firm in Inverness. [4 February 2009]

• Elderly targeted

  A spate of robberies in Northern Ireland has targeted older people in their homes. [4 February 2009]

• Doctors could still get away with murder

  Dame Janet Smith, who headed the Harold Shipman inquiry, says new reforms in coroner's system don't go far enough. [12 February 2009]

• Man charged with death of new father

  22-year-old charged with the murder of new father, John Abbey, who was stabbed at a bus stop in Croydon. [2 February 2009]

• 1994 car death charge

  A 49-year-old has been charged with the death of Claire Webster in Aberdeenshire. [2 February 2009]

• Fraud highest since 1995

  A KPMG survey has found the second highest level of fraud since the survey began in 1987. [2 February 2009]