June 2009 - Crime in the News

• Three arrested over teen arson death

  Three teenagers have been arrested in connection with a suspected arson attack in south London which left a 15-year-old girl dead. [30 June 2009]

• Young people think knife crime outlook is bleak

  According to a new knife crime survey, 25% of people know someone who has been a victim of knife crime. [29 June 2009]

• Communities vote on how crime cash is spent

  The public are being asked how they think £4million raised from the sale of assets seized from criminals should be spent. [26 June 2009]

• Tennis helps cut crime

  A north London entrepreneur is using tennis to help steer gang members away from crime. [26 June 2009]

• Britain is Europe's 'cocaine capital'

  There are more than one million regular cocaine users in Britain, according to a United Nations report. [25 June 2009]

• Teenager killed by convicted sex attacker

  A 62-year-old man who killed a teenager after drugging, gagging and raping her has already been convicted of killing another teenager. [24 June 2009]

• Man tackles knife attackers in home

  A 75-year-old man has managed to ward off three masked men who threatened him with a knife as they tried to break into his home. [24 June 2009]

• Arson death appeal - one year on

  The family of a woman and her granddaughter, who were killed in an arson attack in Bolton a year ago, are appealing for information. [23 June 2009]

• Injured youths prompt young offenders' review

  An "unprecedented" number of injuries at a young offenders' institution is forcing prison chiefs to review how inmates are restrained. [23 June 2009]

• Romanians flee Northern Ireland

  One hundred Romanians who fled their homes after a spate of racist attacks have decided to leave Northern Ireland. [23 June 2009]

• DNA tests on local men over rape

  Detectives investigating the rape of a 27-year-old woman in Peterborough will carry out DNA tests on men living near the rape scene. [22 June 2009]

• Man sentenced over Jersey children's home sex attacks

  A former cleaner at the Haut de la Garenne children's home on Jersey has been spared a jail sentence for sexually abusing boys. [22 June 2009]

• MP attacked by youths

  An MP has been punched in the head by a group of young people after he tried to stop a gang throwing a ball in a high street. [22 June 2009]

• First juryless criminal trial approved

  The Court of Appeal has ruled that a criminal trial will be heard without a jury for the first time in England or Wales. [19 June 2009]

• Sex attacker shows no remorse

  A man has been jailed for 12 years for rape and a series of assaults on six women and one child in Aberdeen. [19 June 2009]

• Man murders girlfriend for denting his pride

  A Bedfordshire man has been convicted of murder and sentenced to a minimum of 21 years in prison. Zahir Ahmed, 34, killed Klara Prokopcova, 26, for "denting his pride" in November 2007. [18 June 2009]

• Too many children locked up

  As many as three-quarters of children who are locked up before they appear in court do not go on to receive a prison sentence, according to a new report. [17 June 2009]

• Lake search after car boot murder

  A lake is being searched almost eight months after a woman was found stabbed to death in the boot of her car. [17 June 2009]

• Police Taser shooting controversy

  Footage of a man who was shot twice with a Taser gun posted on YouTube has prompted an investigation. [16 June 2009]

• Bogus policeman issues fine

  A driver in Suffolk has been fined £60 for speeding by a fake police officer. [16 June 2009]

• Stronger knife crime penalties plea

  The family of murdered teenager Ben Kinsella are calling for tougher penalties for knife crime. [15 June 2009]

• Arrest over 85-year-old murder

  A man has been arrested over the murder of an 85-year-old woman in her home in Hull. [15 June 2009]

• Cyber security centre planned

  A national cyber security centre to combat the threat of criminal gangs and foreign states hacking into UK systems will be announced this month. [15 June 2009]

• Ben Kinsella murderers jailed for life

  A man and two teenagers have been found guilty of stabbing 16-year-old Ben Kinsella to death. They have been jailed for life. [12 June 2009]

• Skunk farms out of control

  Although more than 3,000 cannabis farms were raided last year, detectives fear they are nowhere near shutting down the majority of them. [11 June 2009]

• Nursery abuse parents ID children

  Families will be helping police identify children in abuse images allegedly taken by a female nursery worker. [11 June 2009]

• Skunk - a mental health 'timebomb'

  The Metro has reported today how new forms of cannabis could have significant long-term health risks. [10 June 2009]

• Asian/Muslim forum - postponed

  Please accept our apologies for the Asian/Muslim forum scheduled for 10 June 2009 being postponed due to the planned tube strike action. [9 June 2009]

• Booby trap horrors protect cannabis factories

  Lucrative cannabis factories are often death traps as the organised gangs behind them go to dangerous lengths to avoid detection. [9 June 2009]

• Man charged over pregnant woman murder

  A man is due in court charged with the murder of a heavily pregnant woman in the street. [9 June 2009]

• Children in cannabis hothouses

  Children aged as young as ten are being smuggled into the UK to work in dangerous cannabis factories. [8 June 2009]

• Body in wheelie bin for weeks

  A woman's body found in a wheelie bin in front of a house in Surrey had been there for at least three weeks. [8 June 2009]

• Missing Claudia re-enactment tonight

  On Crimewatch tonight, watch a re-enactment of missing chef Claudia Lawrence's last known movements. [2 June 2009]

• Three jailed for UK's largest visa scam

  An Indian solicitor and two women who both claim to be his wives have been jailed for the roles they played in the biggest visa scam ever seen in Britain. [4 June 2009]

• Officers accused of torture

  Six Metropolitan Police officers are being accused of ill-treatment during two drugs raids. [10 June 2009]