May 2009 - Crime in the news

• Child sex offenders avoid prison

  Six convicted child rapists were not imprisoned in 2007, according to statistics from the Ministry of Justice. [29 May 2009]

• French police hunt UK man

  French police are looking for a British businessman after his girlfriend was found beaten to death in a Paris hotel. [29 May 2009]

• 7m use illegal downloads

  Approximately seven million people in the UK are involved in illegal downloads, costing the economy tens of billions of pounds. [29 May 2009]

• Eight charged over Northern Ireland mob murder

  Eight men have been charged over the murder of Kevin McDaid and attempted murder of Damien Fleming over the weekend. [28 May 2009]

• Knife-carrying jail sentences not used

  Just one person was given the maximum four-year jail term for carrying a knife last year, according to new figures. [28 May 2009]

• Body found in freezer

  An 83-year-old woman is believed to have kept her mother's body in a freezer for 20 years because she feared being questioned over her immigration status. [27 May 2009]

• Stab-proof vest protects police officer

  A policeman has been stabbed in the neck with a bottle at a fair ground in south London. [26 May 2009]

• Man shot dead in city

  A 27-year-old man found seriously injured in Nottingham city centre died from gunshot wounds. [26 May 2009]

• No retaliation over sectarian attack

  The widow of a Catholic man beaten to death in Northern Ireland is appealing for no retaliation over his murder. [26 May 2009]

• Sex offender denies Maddy abduction

  Detectives are looking into reports that a convicted paedophile was living near the location in Portugal where Madeleine McCann disappeared two years ago. [22 May 2009]

• England cricketer star jailed for cocaine smuggling

  The former England cricket star Chris Lewis has been sentenced to 13 years in prison after he smuggled £140,000 worth of cocaine into the UK. [21 May 2009]

• MI5 accused of blackmailing British Muslims

  Five Muslim community workers have said that the MI5 have been attempting to blackmail them to recruit them as informants. [21 May 2009]

• Youths using dogs as weapons

  Dogs are increasingly being used as weapons by young people, according to new reports. [21 May 2009]

• Girl gun gang arrested

  A gang of girls have been arrested in London following an alleged armed robbery. [20 May 2009]

• More child sex offenders arrested

  The number of UK child sex offenders arrested in the last year has risen by 10% to 334. [20 May 2009]

• Knife crime falls 30 per cent

  More than 10,000 people have been arrested and 5,400 knives seized in London in the last year. [19 May 2009]

• Prostitution law considered

  A prostitution law will be discussed today following the government's decision to protect those who are victims of traffickers and pimps. [19 May 2009]

• Counterfeit drugs warning

  An undercover BBC investigation has found that counterfeit medicine containing chemicals including road paint and printer ink are being sold across the South East. [18 May 2009]

• Anti-drugs policy a failure

  A new report has claimed that the UK's drugs policy, which costs £1.5bn a year, is an "expensive failure". [18 May 2009]

• Prison violence up

  Violence in jails has increased by a third in the last five years, according to new figures. [18 May 2009]

• Police appeal for information on Manchester shooting

  Police have released a request for information concerning the shooting of 15-year-old Jessie James in September 2006. [15 May 2009]

• Man appearing in court over two double killings

  A man is appearing in court charged with murdering four people during the 1980's. [15 May 2009]

• Man jailed over 17-year-old girl's murder

  A Brazilian man has been jailed for the murder of a girl from London. The girl's dismembered body was found in a series of suitcases near the Brazilian city of Goiania. [15 May 2009]

• 5,000 most wanted criminals identified

  The Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) have added 3,000 wanted criminals to their existing wanted list after an intelligence-gathering drive. [14 May 2009]

• Charity will sue for wife murder

  The charity Refuge is planning to sue a police force and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) after they failed to protect a woman who was subsequently murdered by her husband. [14 May 2009]

• Cocaine war success

  The price of cocaine has increased while the purity of the drug has decreased, according to the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca). [13 May 2009]

• Kray grandson jailed for murder

  The grandson and former son-in-law of one of the Kray brothers have been jailed for life for cutting off a man's head. [13 May 2009]

• Jersey abuse man guilty

  A man has admitted to sexually abusing young boys at the Haut de la Garenne children's home on Jersey during the 1970s. [13 May 2009]

• UK failing on crime causes

  The government is failing to address the causes of crime, according to an international expert on crime reduction. [11 May 2009]

• Teenager dies in shooting

  A 16-year-old boy has died after suffering gunshot wounds to the head. [11 May 2009]

• Eight guilty in paedophile network

  Members of a paedophile ring have been found guilty of a catalogue of offences relating to child abuse and indecent images of children. [8 May 2009]

• DNA profiles to be wiped

  Ministers will remove up to 850,000 DNA profiles of 4.5m currently on a national database. [7 May 2009]

• Teenager dead in stairwell

  A teenager has been found stabbed to death in a stairwell in east London. [8 May 2009]

• Policeman arrested for murder

  A policeman has been arrested on suspicion of murder after his partner died in a car crash. [8 May 2009]

• Stop and search powers reduced

  Police will significantly reduce their use of terrorism stop and search powers following mounting opposition. [7 May 2009]

• Lloyds TSB partners Crimestoppers

  Lloyds TSB became a National Strategic Partner of Crimestoppers at the beginning of this year and will help to address the issue of fraud and credit card theft. [6 May 2009]

• Arrested men were terror stereotypes

  The lawyer for three men arrested in anti-terror raids has said they were targeted because they fit the 'terrorist' stereotype. [6 May 2009]

• More terror stops for Londoners

  Someone is stopped in London every three minutes under the Terrorism Act, new figures have revealed. [6 May 2009]

• List of banned people released

  The names of people barred from entering the UK for their extremist or hatred tendencies have been published for the first time. [5 May 2009]

• Brothers charged for park murder

  Two brothers have been charged for stabbing a 16-year-old to death in a south London park. [1 May 2009]

• Mosques visited in murder inquiry

  Police are visiting mosques to try to uncover new information surrounding the murder of a man found tied up in a car. [1 May 2009]

• Hit and run appeal

  The parents of an 11-year-old boy who died in a hit-and-run crash are appealing to the woman police are trying to trace in connection with the incident. [7 May 2009]

• One in eight terror arrested are found guilty

  The majority of those arrested under Britain's terror laws since the 9/11 attacks were not actually convicted for a terrorism offence. [14 May 2009]

• 50million fraudsters bailed

  Two men arrested over suspected fund management fraud worth more than £50m have been released on bail. [22 May 2009]

• Prisoners get drugs via post

  Inspectors have found that prisoners at a West Yorkshire jail have been receiving illegal drugs in the post. [28 May 2009]