Author: Darren Smith

A registered sex offender has been sentenced to 12 months in prison after approaching two girls walking home from school near Bath and asking them a sexually explicit question, in a case that also revealed he had breached his supervision requirements at the time of his arrest. David Blackwood, 58, of Trinity Road, Combe Down, appeared at Bristol Magistrates’ Court on 3 March where he pleaded guilty to engaging in sexual communication with a child, failing to comply with the requirements of the Sex Offenders’ Register, and breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order. In addition to the immediate custodial sentence,…

Violent scenes erupted inside a betting shop during the Cheltenham Festival on Tuesday afternoon when a mass brawl broke out among racegoers, with footage of the altercation spreading rapidly across social media. The disturbance took place while the 3.20pm Trustmarque Ultima Handicap Chase was being run at Prestbury Park, one of the most anticipated races of the opening day of the prestigious four-day meeting. Video footage posted on X showed multiple individuals throwing punches inside the bookmakers while bystanders attempted to intervene and separate those involved. The clips had been shared nearly 300 times on the platform within hours of…

A 58-year-old Syrian man has become the first person in the United Kingdom to be charged with crimes against humanity, following a years-long investigation by Scotland Yard into alleged atrocities committed during the early stages of the Syrian Civil War. The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, faces seven charges in total — three counts of murder as a crime against humanity, three counts of torture and one count of conduct ancillary to murder as a crime against humanity. The charges relate to his alleged role in suppressing anti-government demonstrations in Damascus in April 2011, during the tenure…

A woman who fraudulently claimed more than £70,000 in benefits over six years has avoided an immediate prison sentence after magistrates in Cheltenham took account of her significant mental health conditions, dyslexia and caring responsibilities. Donna Palmer, 48, of Hygrove Residential Park in Minsterworth near Gloucester, admitted a series of offences relating to false claims for Employment and Support Allowance, Housing Benefit and Universal Credit. The total amount fraudulently obtained came to £70,430.05, with the offending spanning from January 2017 to November 2023. The court heard that Palmer had originally applied for ESA in 2017, declaring she was single and…

A Hindu festival attended by around 1,000 people in Harrow was violently disrupted last week when a group of up to 20 youths descended on the celebration, throwing glass bottles and beer cans before fleeing as police arrived — with only one arrest made in the aftermath. The incident took place on the evening of 3 March outside the Harrow Civic Centre on Station Road, where the International Siddhashram Shakti Centre had organised its annual Holi celebration. The event had been running peacefully when, just after 8.30pm, three teenagers arrived and switched off the sound system before throwing the speakers…

A prisoner has been charged with the murder of Ian Huntley, the convicted killer of schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, after the Soham murderer died in hospital following a brutal attack at a maximum-security jail in County Durham. Anthony Russell, 43, a fellow inmate at HMP Frankland, was charged by Durham Constabulary after Huntley, 52, died on the morning of Saturday 7 March — nine days after being assaulted in the prison’s workshop on 26 February. Russell is due to appear via videolink at Newton Aycliffe Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday 11 March. Huntley had been on life support in…

Former Premier League midfielder Joey Barton was in police custody on Monday morning after being arrested on suspicion of wounding following an alleged altercation at a golf club in Merseyside on Sunday night. Merseyside Police confirmed that emergency services were called to Fairway, close to Huyton and Prescot Golf Club in Huyton, at around 9pm following reports of an assault. A man was taken to hospital for assessment of injuries to his face and ribs. Two men were subsequently arrested in connection with the incident — a 50-year-old and a 43-year-old — both on suspicion of section 18 wounding. Both…

Relations between Ukraine and Hungary have deteriorated to their lowest point in years following a series of escalating confrontations involving a seized cash convoy, a blocked oil pipeline, a controversial visit to Moscow and a direct threat by President Volodymyr Zelensky against Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. The most recent flashpoint came in the early hours of Friday, when Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha accused Budapest of effectively taking seven Ukrainian citizens “hostage.” The individuals are employees of Oschadbank, one of Ukraine’s largest state-owned banks, and had been transiting between Austria and Ukraine in two bank vehicles carrying cash as…

A 19th-century synagogue in the Belgian city of Liège has been damaged in a suspected explosion in the early hours of Monday morning, with the city’s mayor describing it as a “violent act of antisemitism” as counter-terrorism police launched an investigation. The blast, which occurred at around 4am, caused significant material damage to the synagogue — a building dating back to 1899 that serves as a museum documenting the history of the city’s Jewish community. Windows in buildings across the road were also blown out by the force of the explosion. No injuries have been reported. Authorities have established a…

Samantha Bryan, the biological daughter of Soham murderer Ian Huntley, has said she felt “relieved” and “over the moon” upon learning of her father’s death, declaring he deserves no funeral, no grave and that his ashes should be “flushed down the toilet.” Huntley, 52, died on Saturday after his life support machine was switched off with the agreement of his mother, Lynda Richards, who had been at his bedside. He never regained consciousness following a brutal assault at HMP Frankland in County Durham on 26 February, in which he was allegedly bludgeoned with a three-foot metal bar in a prison…