Author: Darren Smith

A Dutch court has ruled that alleged Scottish crime clan leader Steven Lyons can be extradited to Spain, clearing the way for him to face charges of money laundering, drug trafficking and running a global criminal empire through a network of shell companies. Amsterdam judges granted Spain’s extradition request at a hearing on Thursday, rejecting arguments from Lyons’s defence team that his removal should be blocked on human rights grounds. His solicitor had previously told the court that his arrest amounted to “a secretive extradition — basically kidnapping of my client.” Lyons, alleged head of the notorious Lyon crime clan…

A Royal Navy captain who appeared in a BBC documentary about life aboard HMS Queen Elizabeth has pleaded not guilty to rape and sexual assault charges, in what is believed to be the most senior naval officer to face such a trial in modern history. Captain Chris Ansell, 49, appeared by video link at Bulford Military Court in Wiltshire, dressed in his military uniform, where he denied one count of rape, one of attempted sexual assault and two counts of sexual assault by penetration. He spoke only to confirm his name and enter his pleas. The charges relate to alleged…

A senior traffic warden whose job included catching people who misused disabled parking badges has been dismissed after he was found using his deceased mother’s blue badge to avoid paying for parking while he went shopping — and has now lost his unfair dismissal claim at tribunal. Dinesh Patel, who had worked for the London Borough of Harrow for more than 20 years, was caught with his late mother’s blue badge on display in his car on 20 September 2021, some four months after she had died. He was issued a Penalty Charge Notice and in May 2022 pleaded guilty…

A British tourist was wounded by a sword-wielding martial arts instructor in Phuket after an alleged road rage incident spiralled into a violent confrontation in the early hours of the morning, with footage of the dramatic attack circulating widely online. The incident took place at around 11.30pm on 13 June on the Thai resort island, after the British man reportedly became involved in an altercation with a motorcyclist before going on a rampage through the local area, yelling at residents and allegedly threatening people with an iron pipe. The confrontation ultimately brought him face to face with Waikoon Promsuwan, 50,…

An 18-year-old tourist from India has died after a Central Park carriage horse bolted and threw him from the vehicle, in an incident triggered when the driver dismounted to take a photograph of his passengers — a practice strictly prohibited under industry rules. Romanch Mahajan was one of four passengers in the horse-drawn carriage when it broke away from its driver near West 72nd Street shortly before 3pm on Wednesday. Dramatic footage shows the horse, a seven-year-old named Sampson, galloping through the park as passengers screamed in terror, before the carriage toppled over after colliding with another carriage near Tavern…

Lancashire Police have released CCTV images of a man they want to identify after a voyeurism incident at a busy Preston shopping centre in which a man was allegedly caught looking over a toilet cubicle wall to watch another man using the facilities. The incident took place at around 12.15pm on Tuesday 9 June in the public toilets at St George’s Shopping Centre in Preston. The victim, who was using a cubicle, looked up to find another man peering at him from over the top of the dividing wall. A spokesperson for Lancashire Police said: “Do you recognise this man?…

The ancient oak tree said to have sheltered Robin Hood and his Merry Men in Sherwood Forest appears to have died after failing to produce a single leaf for the first time in living memory, marking a heartbreaking milestone for what is widely regarded as the UK’s most famous tree. The Major Oak, which has stood in Nottinghamshire’s Sherwood Forest for more than 1,000 years, has not budded this spring — an ominous sign for a tree that conservationists say has been in decline for years. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds confirmed the tree’s deterioration, saying attempts…

A self-proclaimed “fire goddess” has been charged with attempted murder after allegedly setting a car alight while two people were sleeping inside, knowing the vehicle contained highly explosive propane tanks, according to California police. Nicole Najlis, 30, known online as Cosmic Nymph, was arrested at a Pilot truck stop in Hesperia, California, shortly after midnight on Tuesday following reports of two parked cars in flames. Authorities from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department say she threw a match and set fire to a Honda SUV containing propane tanks and professional fire-effects equipment, causing the tank to explode within 30 seconds…

A mother has spoken of her devastating heartbreak after a car mowed down the pram carrying her five-year-old daughter and baby son as they walked home from school in Sydney, killing both children just hours later in hospital. Sok Ram, 33, was pushing Katherine, 5, and one-year-old Harry through an intersection in Cabramatta on the afternoon of Wednesday 17 June when an oncoming vehicle struck them. Bystanders rushed to help, with several motorists stopping, collectively tipping a car onto its side to free one of the children trapped underneath, and performing CPR on both toddlers before an ambulance arrived. Despite…

The pub that became the focal point for England fans in Dallas was forced to close by fire marshals for a second consecutive night during the Three Lions’ 4-2 victory over Croatia, after again being packed to more than twice its legal capacity. The Londoner Pub on Mockingbird Lane was shut down four minutes before the final whistle on Wednesday night, just as England were cruising to victory, after Dallas Fire-Rescue confirmed the venue had been “cited for overcrowding because they were over twice their allowed occupancy load.” The pub’s maximum permitted capacity is 245 indoors and 130 outdoors —…