Author: Darren Smith

New details surrounding the disappearance and death of a nuclear laboratory worker have cast fresh doubt on the theory that she took her own life, after it emerged she packed her toothbrush and thyroid medication before vanishing — items, investigators say, that suggest she expected to survive. Melissa Casias, 53, an administrative assistant at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, disappeared on 26 June 2025 after dropping her husband off at the facility. Her skeletal remains, bearing a gunshot wound to the head, were found in Carson National Forest on 28 May this year, lying beside a handgun her…

An 18-year-old who wanted to carry out a “Columbine High School massacre-type shooting” killed two people at a public library in Chico, California, before being arrested just minutes after opening fire, police have confirmed. Bradley Scott Sayer was taken into custody at around 5.18pm on Sunday, approximately six minutes after the first 911 calls flooded in reporting gunshots and screaming inside the Butte County Library’s Chico branch. Officers entered through the front of the building as colleagues set up a perimeter at the rear, and Sayer was apprehended as he fled through the back exit. Two adults were killed in…

Two air ambulances have landed at the scene of a major bus crash in the Welsh coastal town of Kidwelly, Carmarthenshire, with at least 26 people reported injured as emergency services declared a major incident. The collision involved a public bus on the A484 near the Kidwelly roundabout at Parc y Bocs, according to Britannia Daily. Dyfed-Powys Police closed the road between the roundabout and Llandyfaelog and urged members of the public to stay away from the area and find alternative routes. Flight tracking website Flightradar confirmed that two air ambulances had landed at the scene as the emergency response…

A pensioner who exploited his position as a trusted financial adviser to steal nearly £2 million from 36 victims including a charity, his neighbours and his own clients has been jailed for 11 years. Timothy Paul Barnes, 68, from Droitwich, Worcestershire, systematically defrauded those around him over an 18-month period by approaching them with a consistent lie — that he needed a short-term loan to cover a payment related to an inheritance or divorce, and would repay the money within days. Instead, he invested the stolen funds in cryptocurrency. Barnes exploited his professional knowledge to identify wealthy clients and target…

A murder investigation has been launched after a 14-year-old girl was found dead in a park in South Wales, days after she was reported missing. The teenager, named by Gwent Police only as Lily, was discovered in the Duffryn Park area of Blaina at around 10.10pm on Monday. She had been reported missing after last being seen on High Street in Blaina at around 6.50pm on Saturday evening. At the time of her disappearance she was wearing a long black dress and black sandals. A large police presence has been deployed in the area as officers work to establish the…

Iran has warned that Israeli attacks on Lebanon represent a “red line” in ongoing peace negotiations, as Tehran simultaneously staked out its claim to charge ships for using the Strait of Hormuz after the current 60-day ceasefire window expires. The Iranian ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva delivered the stark warning over Lebanon, as Israeli strikes on the country continued to strain the fragile memorandum of understanding agreed between Tehran and Washington. The ambassador described the attacks as incompatible with the terms of the deal. In a separate but related development that threatens to complicate the broader peace process,…

Motorists across the UK are being urged to check their vehicles for aerosol cans and remove them immediately, as soaring temperatures this week could cause the pressurised containers to become unstable and potentially explode inside parked cars. The warning comes as the Met Office issues heat-health alerts covering large parts of England and Wales, with forecasters predicting temperatures that could push vehicle interiors well beyond safe limits when parked in direct sunlight. Experts warn that the inside of a car can exceed 50C even when outside temperatures are significantly lower, creating conditions in which everyday items can become genuinely dangerous.…

Five men have been convicted after abducting a man from a house in broad daylight, bundling him into the boot of a car, driving him to a storage unit and torturing him while filming the attack — with the victim only escaping by locking himself in a stranger’s car left with the keys inside. The kidnapping took place at around 2.18pm on 29 December 2025, when four masked men stormed a property in Arleston, Telford, and forced the victim into the boot of a black Audi A4. Witnesses reported the boot remained open during parts of the journey, with the…

The Metropolitan Police is to introduce static live facial recognition cameras across the West End and Soho by the end of the year, building on a successful pilot in Croydon that led to more than 170 arrests and saw crime fall significantly, Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has announced. The rollout will see cameras mounted to existing infrastructure such as lampposts rather than specialist vans, making deployments faster and more flexible, as well as freeing up mobile units for use elsewhere in the capital. The Met has already made more than 2,000 arrests with the support of live facial recognition cameras…

A man who repeatedly raped a teenage girl in the early 1990s has been jailed for eight and a half years after the victim came forward decades later and reported her ordeal to police. Craig Haines, now 53, carried out the attacks between December 1991 and April 1992 at his home address in Dale Road, Rochester, when he was 18 years old. On occasions he also threatened the victim with violence. Haines was placed on the sex offenders register for life following his sentencing at Southwark Crown Court on 11 June. When first interviewed by officers, Haines initially denied even…