Call For Police To Be Armed With Tasers

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 31 Januari 2015 | 10.18

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Frontline police officers should be able to carry a Taser to combat attempted attacks on them by terrorists, according to the head of the organisation that represents front-line officers.

Police Federation chair Steve White said the stun guns, which can temporarily disable the target with two dart-like electrodes that carry a maximum 50,000-volt charge, should be made more widely available to uniformed officers.

He told The Guardian newspaper the move was needed because acts of terrorism could be carried out anywhere and officers needed protection.

Mr White said: "The terrorist ideal to get attention no longer relies on an attack being in a place of note.

"It could be in Cheam high street, in any town, in any part of the UK.

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Gallery: Taser Device Explained

The most common device used by police is the X26 Taser, which has a peak voltage of 50,000 volts when discharged - this drops to 1,200 volts while travelling around the body

The Taser fires two small dart-like electrodes which stay connected to the main unit as they are propelled by small compressed nitrogen charges to the body similar to air gun or paintball marker propellants

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Tasers work primarily by creating "neuromuscular incapacitation" - in short, they interrupt the ability of the brain to control the muscles

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This creates an immediate and unavoidable incapacitation that is not based on pain and cannot be overcome. Once the electricity stops flowing, the subject regains control of their body

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The Taser has a "drive stun" capability, where the Taser is held against a person's body without firing the projectiles. This is intended to cause pain without incapacitating the target

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"We know there are more dangerous people out there, preparing to attack police officers and we need to be able to respond to that threat."

Leaders at the Police Federation will vote next month on a proposal that every officer on the frontline should be offered training in how to use the weapons.

Mr White said: "Talking to them with a cup of tea and a biscuit is not going to work."

The murder of Fusilier Lee Rigby in Woolwich in 2013 showed "you don't need to have a gun to create terrorism", said Mr White, who rejected the notion the move amounted to arming officers.

"It is a defensive tool and a tactical option.

"We have a largely unarmed service and the service wants that to remain.

"The alternative is to have officers out there without anything at all. We have to do something."

But one police chief, speaking anonymously, told The Guardian the idea risked damaging public confidence in the police.

"The idea of arming every police officer with a Taser is alien to 200 years of police culture," they said.

"It is a stepping stone to arming the police; something strapped to your hip that looks like a firearm is a huge shift in what we stand for."

The latest Home Office figures show the use of Tasers has increased every year, and there have been a number of controversial deaths related to the use of them.

The stun guns were fired 826 times out of the 5,107 times they were deployed between January and June 2014.

The latter figure compares to 4,999 times during the same period in 2013 and 1,297 occasions in 2009.

Concerns over their use grew after the death of Andrew Pimlott in Plymouth in April 2013.

He suffered fatal burns after being hit by a Taser after he had poured petrol over himself and was holding a lit match at the time.

:: Steve White will be appearing on Sky News this morning at around 8.20. You can watch the interview on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media 602, Freesat 202 and Freeview 132.

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Written By Unknown on Jumat, 30 Januari 2015 | 10.18

By Martin Brunt, Crime Correspondent

Police officers are abusing their power to get sexual favours and drugs, a report reveals, and it's feared that new force budget cuts could breed staff anger and more corruption.

The abuse of power was first highlighted two years ago, but is happening just as much now, according to Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary.

Mike Cunningham said: "It remains a concern today and we want to see a more proactive approach by police leaders to identify officers likely to conduct themselves in this way and put preventative measures in their way.

"They have to be more vigilant. It is not decreasing and remains a significant problem.

"Like all corruption, the true scale of it is not known until you turn over the stone."

The HMIC is also concerned that more than half of corruption and misconduct investigations result in no further action.

The report's figures showed that of 4,611 investigations, 2,891 did not lead to a prosecution or internal disciplinary action.

The figures for complaints of racial discrimination were even starker.

Of 1,043 allegations, 816 resulted in no action.

Mr Cunningham said: "We are concerned about these figures.

"It could be the complaints were unfounded or malicious, but they may be inadequately investigated and the service needs to understand why so many result in no further action."

He warned, too, that dissatisfaction with more spending cuts could drive officers into corruption.

He said: "At times of uncertainty there could be a general counter-organisation attitude, people belligerent towards the service and it could encourage them, if they are prone to corruption, to let down their colleagues.

"It is incumbent on chief constables to be even more vigilant over the conduct of their staff."

The HMIC report says the 43 police forces of England and Wales have done much to tackle corruption, but need to be more proactive in rooting it out.

They need to improve internal reporting systems, which half of all officers do not believe are confidential enough and so do not use them.

Jacqui Cheer of the Association of Chief Police Officers said corruption is "neither endemic nor widespread".

"However, the actions of a few corrupt officers can corrode the reputation of the vast majority who work hard every day to protect the public," she said.

"We will continue to improve our approach so that those who are not fit to be in the police are held to account and removed."

College of Policing CEO Alex Marshall said: "Trust in police remains high and it is encouraging to see the HMIC report acknowledges all forces have begun introducing the Code of Ethics, which was created by the College to guide ethical decision making.

"Work has already begun to provide guidance to forces for best practice in managing whistleblowing.

"This should increase confidence among officers that their force will know how to deal with any disclosure appropriately."

10.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

Child Obesity 'Levelling Off' But Concerns Remain

By Emma Birchley, East of England Correspondent

The steady rise in childhood obesity seems to finally be slowing down, but a third of young people are still too heavy, a study has found.

In younger children it appears that the rate of obesity has even begun to fall, but there is particular concern about the number of 11 to 15 -year-olds who weigh too much.

The research, based on 20 years of electronic health records relating to more than 370,000 children aged two to 15, revealed 37.8% of boys and 36.6% of girls in the older age group are either overweight or obese.

Report author and professor of public health at Kings College London, Martin Gulliford, said: "Children in their teens are very likely to become overweight or obese as adults, and from their obesity they might be at greater risk of chronic conditions such as type 2 diabetes.

"The concern therefore is that future generations may not be as healthy as previous generations."

And that has cost implications for the NHS - but there are signs of change.

The report found that between 1994 and 2003, the prevalence of being overweight or obese in children rose by 8% a year, but in the second decade of the study, that rate fell to an annual rise of just 0.4%.

And while one in four children in the youngest group are too heavy - up from one in five in 1994 - it is among those aged two to five that the obesity rate is slowly beginning to decline.

Prof Gulliford said: "It's an interesting finding that we see this trend level off in younger children.

"At the present time it's too early to say whether this result is down to interventions that have been rolled out to address childhood obesity - or whether this reflects some kind of saturation whereby the children who are going to become obese have become obese in the environment in this country"

In Colchester, Russell Turner runs a group called Crossfit Kids to instil a passion for being active at a young age.

"Once they are here they don't look back," he said.

"It's really important because it starts with fun and we are shaping their mindset with regards to how they see exercise, so as they grow up hopefully they will want to carry on and participate, eat well and keep that general lifestyle going."

The children taking part in Russell's class already know the importance of exercising.

James Chapman, who is seven, says it keeps him healthy and is much better than playing computer games all day.

And six-year-old Sophie Mann said she enjoys it because "you are not being lazy and you are keeping fit".

10.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

Litvinenko Post-Mortem 'Most Dangerous Ever'

Written By Unknown on Kamis, 29 Januari 2015 | 10.18

Litvinenko Post-Mortem 'Most Dangerous Ever'

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A pathologist has described Alexander Litvinenko's post-mortem as one of the most dangerous examinations ever undertaken in the western world.

Dr Benjamin Swift said the former Russian agent's body represented a considerable contamination hazard to the hospital where the examination was carried out after he was poisoned by polonium-210 in November 2006.

Those involved in the examination wore two white safety suits, protective gloves taped at the sleeves and specialised hoods, into which air was piped through a filter.

Giving evidence to the public inquiry into Mr Litvinenko's death, Dr Swift said: "It was probably the most dangerous post-mortem that's ever been conducted."

Fellow pathologist Dr Nathaniel Cary said that Mr Litvinenko, who lost all his hair before his death, showed signs of multi-organ failure as a result of acute radiation poisoning.

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Gallery: Police Photo Evidence From Litvinenko Inquiry

A graphic showing the levels of contamination in the bathroom of room 848 at the Sheraton hotel in London's Park Lane where Andrei Lugovoi, one of the men suspected of killing Mr Litvinenko, stayed just days before he was poisoned

A photograph of the bathroom

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Mr Lugovoi's bedroom at the Sheraton

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The teapot from the Millennium Hotel which was allegedly used to poison Mr Litvinenko when he met two Russian men in 2006 - it has been illustrated to show levels of ionising radiation, measured in counts per second (CPS), with the highest levels coloured purple

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A police photograph of the same teapot, with a scale rule next to it

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"It appears Mr Litvinenko ingested a large quantity of polonium-210 largely if not wholly by oral ingestion, rather than by inhalation," he said.

"The calculated amount absorbed was in far excess of known survivability limits."

Asked if there was anything in Mr Litvinenko's clinical history inconsistent with acute radiation syndrome, Dr Cary said: "No. In effect, the polonium-210 detected is the smoking gun in the case. It shows you what happened."

Two men - former KGB bodyguard turned politician Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitri Kovtun - were named as the main suspects in 2007. Both deny any involvement and remain in Russia.

Ben Emmerson QC, representing Mr Litvinenko's widow Marina, told the inquiry that Mr Lugovoi gave a television interview to the Echo of Moscow on Tuesday night in response to the opening day of proceedings.

In the interview he claims the proceedings were resurrected after being suspended due to the exclusion of secret material, in response to the Ukrainian conflict.

Reading a translation of Mr Lugovoi's interview, Mr Emmerson said: "When the situation in Ukraine kicked off and the UK geographical interest... they had decided to dust off the moth balls and commence proceedings."

Mr Lugovoi said he "couldn't care less about what's happening" in Britain in response to the start of the inquiry, Mr Emmerson added.

Images released as part of the inquiry have laid bare the high levels of radiation found in the hotel rooms of the suspected killers.

On Wednesday the inquiry was shown a graphic of a bathroom at the Sheraton Hotel in Park Lane, London, where Mr Lugavoi stayed between 28 and 28 October, 2006 - just days before Mr Litvinenko fell ill.

The images also reveal "very high" radiation in the locations where the suspects met Mr Litvinenko, including on the teapot which was allegedly used to poison him in London's Millennium Hotel.

The inquiry heard Mr Litvinenko explicitly implicated Russian President Vladimir Putin in his killing in the days leading up to his death.

The controversy generated by Mr Litvinenko's death plunged Anglo-Russian relations to a post-Cold War low.

After ties improved, Britain rejected holding an inquiry in 2013. It had a change of heart last July, although it insisted the crisis in Ukraine was not a factor.

The inquiry continues.

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Written By Unknown on Selasa, 27 Januari 2015 | 10.19

By Alex Rossi, Sky News Correspondent

The widow of former Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko says she hopes the inquiry into his murder will reveal the truth about his death.

Marina Litvinenko has told Sky News she wants closure for her and her son Anatoly and also wants to put an end to the conspiracy theories surrounding the crime.

She said: "I know my husband was killed, I saw how it happened. It was a torture. He died a long 23 days in front of me, in front of his son, in front of his friends."

She said she was "fed up" with speculation that her husband had smuggled radioactive material for a "dirty bomb".

The inquiry is diplomatically sensitive and it was initially blocked by the government. There were fears it would cause too much damage to an already bad relationship with Moscow.

Former Voice of Russia London bureau chief Dmitry Linnik said the fallout from the Ukrainian crisis and the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 means the relationship between London and Moscow can hardly get any worse.

He said: "It is as bad as it probably can be short of an open conflagration in a military sense."

Alexander Litvinenko was a former agent for the FSB, the successor organisation of the KGB.

He was an outspoken critic of the Kremlin. He defected to the UK in 2000 - it's thought he then worked for MI6 as an informer.

While in Britain he accused Vladimir Putin of many crimes, including ordering the murder of the human rights journalist Anna Politkovskaya.

Litvinenko fell ill after meeting two Russian contacts - Dmitry Kovtun and Andrei Lugovoi - at the Millennium Hotel in Grosvenor Square on 1 November 2006.

He had drunk tea that had been poisoned with polonium 210, a rare radioactive isotope.

The two men are now both wanted by the British police on suspicion of murder but an extradition request has been refused by the Russian Federation.

Both men have consistently denied the allegation of murder.

The inquiry, which opens on Tuesday and is scheduled to last for the next 10 weeks, will attempt to fathom what their involvement was and ultimately whether or not the Russian state orchestrated the killing.

10.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

Jail For Kidnappers Who Cut Off Man's Finger

Ten men have been jailed for a kidnap plot which saw a man's finger cut off in a ransom demand.

Three of the men wore balaclavas as they bundled their 26-year-old victim into the back of a van at gunpoint one afternoon in September 2013.

He was taken to a lock-up garage where he was left in the van, bound and gagged with a bag over his head while a gang beat him and refused to give him food or water for 31 hours.

They demanded a ransom of £60,000 from the family of the victim, from Coventry, but when they did not respond quickly enough, the gang cut the man's little finger off.

They left the finger under a brick on a garden wall for his family to find, frightening the family into paying a ransom of £20,000.

Finally ending the victim's ordeal, the gang threw him out of the back of the van on to the street.

He was found and taken to hospital and, just over two hours later, armed police arrested several men for the kidnap. They also recovered most of the ransom money.

Three men - Ralph McLeod, Lewis Poyser and Yusuf Akbar - denied kidnap but were found guilty of blackmail, unlawful imprisonment and wounding after a four week trial at Warwick Crown Court.

McLeod, 37, and Poyser, 24, were jailed for 18 years and Akbar, 33, was jailed for 12 years.

Five others were also jailed for kidnap: Kofi Poyser, 23, and Lamar Grant, 26, were jailed for 16 years; Jermaine Campbell, 25, and Ricardo Grant, 24, were jailed for 15 years; Kadeem Poyser, 31, was jailed for 13 years.

Anthony McLeod, 34, and Ismaeel Akbar, 32, pleaded guilty to unlawful imprisonment, blackmail and wounding and were sentenced to 15 years and 14-and-a-half years respectively.

Four of them - Anthony McLeod, Kofi Poyser, Lewis Poyser and Lamar Grant - were also jailed for beating a man outside a Coventry nightclub in June 2013.

After being thrown out of the club, the men had stamped and kicked the 26-year-old man's head into a brick wall until he was unconscious in a pool of blood.

The victim was taken to hospital where he was treated for multiple facial fractures and two bleeds on the brain.

The four men pleaded guilty to the assault - McLeod was jailed for 11 years, Grant and Kofi Poyser for 10 years and Lewis Poyser for nine years.

DCI Simon Wallis said: "Both of these crimes were extremely violent and could quite easily have had tragic consequences. Fortunately both victims have managed a good recovery although the mental scars will be with them for many years to come."

10.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

Man Arrested Over Pub Machete Murder

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 25 Januari 2015 | 10.19

A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a 19-year-old was killed in a machete attack outside a pub in Gloucester.

Police said the murder weapon, which has yet to be traced, is thought to have a blade of at least 2ft in length.

The victim, named locally and on social media as Zac Evans, was pronounced dead after he and two men were attacked outside the Pike and Musket pub at about 12.40am on Saturday.

In a Facebook tribute, Sylv Evans said her son was a "wonderful son, brother, grandson, boyfriend and friend".

She added: "Rest in peace Zac. Words cannot describe how heartbroken we are. You will be greatly missed."

A 22-year-old man was left with serious injuries after the attack, and is now in a stable condition following surgery at the Gloucestershire Royal Hospital.

A third man, aged 18, sustained minor injuries in the fight, which unfolded on Windsor Drive in Tuffley.

Detective Chief Inspector Steve Porter said officers were still attempting to establish a motive for the violence.

He added: "During the investigations that followed a local man was arrested on suspicion of murder at 2.30pm this afternoon.

"We are also keen to trace what we believe to be the weapon in this attack, which is a large machete-type weapon with a large blade at least 24 inches long.

"If anybody knows the location of that weapon, or where it could be discarded, we would ask them to come forward."

10.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

Ebola Nurse Leaves Hospital After Recovery

A nurse infected with Ebola while working in Sierra Leone has said she is "happy to be alive" as she left hospital after making a full recovery.

Pauline Cafferkey is now free of the deadly virus after more than three weeks in a specialist isolation unit, where for a time she was critically ill.

She admitted she still felt "quite weak", but said she was looking forward to going home.

She also thanked staff at the Royal Free Hospital in London, whom she credited with saving her life.

Ms Cafferkey was diagnosed with Ebola after returning to Glasgow and was initially admitted to the city's Gartnavel Hospital on 29 December, before being transferred to the Royal Free the following day.

The nurse, from Cambuslang in South Lanarkshire, had volunteered with Save The Children at the Ebola Treatment Centre in Kerry Town before returning to the UK.

Ms Cafferkey, who was discharged from hospital on Saturday, said: "I am just happy to be alive. I still don't feel 100%, I feel quite weak, but I'm looking forward to going home.

"I want to say a big thank you to the staff who treated me - they were amazing. They were always very reassuring and I knew I was in the best hands.

"They saved my life."

Ms Cafferkey was treated in the hospital's high level isolation unit (HLIU) for more than three weeks.

She said listening to music and having "lots of Irn-Bru" had helped in her recovery.

While in hospital she was under the care of the infectious diseases team, led by Dr Michael Jacobs.

He said: "We are delighted that Pauline has recovered and is now well enough to go home. I am very proud of the staff who have been caring for her.

"It is because of the skill and hard work of the entire team that she is now able to go home."

Save The Children has launched an investigation into how Ms Cafferkey was infected, but admits it may never establish the exact circumstances.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said: "I am delighted that Pauline Cafferkey has been discharged from hospital and can now return home.

"Her selflessness and courage are remarkable and she represents the very best of NHS values.

"I would like to thank all the staff at the Royal Free who have worked tirelessly to provide her with world class care and treatment."

10.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

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