Second murder arrest in Coventry missing woman case
A second man has been arrested on suspicion of murder amid a family's plea for information on the whereabouts of a woman missing for a month.The 42-year-old suspect was detained in the early hours of Tuesday in connection with the disappearance of Reanne Coulson, 34, from Coventry. He remained in custody, West Midlands Police said. Ms Coulson was last seen at about 21:45 BST on 21 May when CCTV captured her as she visited a food bank at St Mary & Benedict Church on Raglan Street.The force added that a 53-year-old man who had previously been arrested on suspicion of murder and kidnap had been released on bail with strict conditions.
Det Supt Jim Munro said the investigation was "moving very quickly" and the second arrest was a "significant development". He added that it remained "really important" for the force to hear from anyone who had information about Ms Coulson's movements or whereabouts.
Speaking at a press conference on Monday, her family acknowledged that Ms Coulson had been a sex worker and said it was "out of the ordinary" for her to not return home. Her sister, Kirsten Coulson, said: "Reanne is not only my sister but my twin sister, a mum, a daughter and an aunt". "Her life has not been easy for the last few years and we as a family are aware that she lived a chaotic lifestyle."She added that her sister had not contacted her family on her birthday on 17 June and urged anyone who had seen her to get in touch.A dedicated website has been set up for people to share information.
Follow BBC Coventry & Warwickshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
39 minutes ago
- Reuters
Seven charged in London after protest in support of Palestine Action group
LONDON, June 24 (Reuters) - Seven people have been charged on Tuesday following a protest in London in support of Palestine Action, a campaign organisation the British government has proposed to ban under anti-terrorism laws. The ban, which was announced on Monday and will be laid before parliament next week, would make it a criminal offence to belong to the group after its activists damaged two UK military planes in protest at London's support for Israel. Palestine Action, which called the ban "an unhinged reaction", on Monday was forced to change the location of a planned protest to London's Trafalgar Square after police banned it from staging a demonstration outside parliament. The Metropolitan Police said although the protest began peacefully, there were clashes between officers and people in the crowd, with 13 arrests made. Of those, seven people have been charged. One was cautioned while the remainder were bailed or released under investigation to allow further enquiries to take place, the police said. Charges include assaulting emergency workers and a racially aggravated offence. Palestine Action has regularly targeted British sites connected to Israeli defence firm Elbit Systems as well as other companies in Britain linked to Israel since the start of the conflict in Gaza in 2023. In its latest and most high-profile action, two Palestine Action members entered a Royal Air Force base in central England on Friday. The ban would put Palestine Action on a par with Hamas, al-Qaeda or ISIS under British law. Condemning the ban, Amnesty International UK said that "government embarrassment at security breaches is no excuse for interfering with human rights".
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Northumbria police destroy Battle of Orgreave and other miners' strike files
Police have destroyed documents relating to the Battle of Orgreave in 1984 during the miners' strike, which is the subject of a forthcoming official inquiry. Northumbria police disposed of the papers less than a month before Rishi Sunak called last summer's election, which brought the Labour party into government with a longstanding manifesto pledge to hold an inquiry into the scenes of violent policing at Orgreave. In response to a freedom of information request from Joe Diviney, a PhD researcher at the University of Sheffield, the force said last week: 'We can confirm that two boxes containing documents/records in relation to the miners' strike and Orgreave were destroyed on 29 April 2024 and 30 April 2024. 'These were not moved elsewhere. As part of the records management review process they were destroyed as they were outside of the retention period.' Kate Flannery, the secretary of the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign (OTJC), which has led calls for an official inquiry for a decade, said: 'This is extremely disturbing news. We are now understandably worried about how many other police forces may have recently destroyed or intend to destroy important information that would be very relevant in an Orgreave inquiry or investigation.' The violence at the Orgreave coking plant in South Yorkshire on 18 June 1984, when striking miners were charged by police on horseback and hit over the head by officers carrying truncheons and short shields, is remembered as the landmark confrontation of the bitter, 1984-85 strike. Approximately 8,000 miners assembled for a mass picket of the plant called by the National Union of Mineworkers, and were met by 4,500 police officers from forces nationwide, led by South Yorkshire police. A year later, a criminal prosecution of 95 miners for the offence of riot collapsed after police officers were repeatedly accused of lying by the miners' barristers, and of malpractice including that an officer's signature on a police statement was forged. The OTJC has always pointed to the connection with the 1989 Hillsborough disaster, in which subsequent inquests found 97 people were unlawfully killed at the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, due to gross negligence manslaughter by the South Yorkshire police officer in command, Ch Supt David Duckenfield. After the disaster, the force mounted a false narrative to blame Liverpool supporters, that bereaved families fought for decades to overturn. In 2016, when Yvette Cooper, now home secretary, was chair of the home affairs select committee, Northumbria police's then chief constable, Steve Ashman, confirmed to her that the force held documents relating to the Orgreave operation. They included a superintendent's report on an incident in which a police constable was shown on television news hitting a miner with his truncheon. Northumbria police sent four units, 92 officers in total, to South Yorkshire, Ashman said, and the superintendent had outlined 'the management and logistics' associated with their work, including a timetable of the day at Orgreave starting at 4.50am. One of the OTJC's key aims has long been to see police planning documents, to see if the violent policing was predetermined, or was a response to initial stone-throwing by miners, as the police alleged at the time. Diviney said: 'As a historian, I'm mortified that Northumbria police would destroy evidence that is of vital importance to an inquiry. I'm saddened for the miners and their families who have waited too long for truth and justice. 'It illustrates inherent problems with the police being custodians of their own evidence. And it's another reason to hurry up with an inquiry.' A Northumbria police spokesperson said: 'We can confirm two boxes containing data in relation to the miners' strike were disposed of in April 2024 following a formal review, retain or disposal process in line with force policy and the Data Protection Act 2018.' Labour has promised an Orgreave inquiry since the 2017 general election, and pledged in its 2024 manifesto to 'ensure, through an investigation or inquiry, that the truth about the events at Orgreave comes to light'. Cooper wrote to the OTJC this month before the 41st anniversary of the Orgreave events, saying she was continuing to consider 'the scope and format of an investigation or inquiry', and that 'my officials are working at pace'.
Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
Home Office worker granted asylum applications for money
A Home Office caseworker took more than £3,000 in bribes to grant the asylum claim of a Bangladeshi migrant. Civil servant Imran Mulla, 39, rang the Bangladeshi man the day after his asylum claim was refused in February 2024 and offered to take over his case to secure him the right to stay in the UK in return for money. Six days later, Nural Amin Begh, the 23-year-old Bangladeshi national, transferred £1,500 into Mulla's bank account. Mulla, who was working as part of an asylum claims team in Manchester, breached Home Office policy by allocating Begh's case to himself and granting his asylum application. Begh continued to transfer more money over the next few months, to a total of £3,500, in return for his successful asylum claim. On Tuesday, Mulla was jailed for four-and-a-half years after his scam was uncovered when he tried a similar tactic on a Turkish national who blew the whistle. Securing unauthorised access At Preston Crown Court, Mulla pleaded guilty to assisting unlawful immigration to the UK, securing unauthorised access to computer material with intent to commit or facilitate an offence, and three counts of bribery. Begh, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration to the UK and two counts of bribery, was jailed for 18 months. Mulla was foiled after contacting another target, the Turkish national who was waiting to hear if his asylum had been granted, on March 7, 2024. After ringing the asylum seeker, and giving a false name, he told the man his application was likely to be refused but that he could help if he paid him £2,000. 'A trusted position' The Turkish national then contacted his immigration solicitor. Mulla was arrested 12 days later, on March 19. He made no comment in a police interview. Frances Killeen, senior crown prosecutor for CPS North West, said: 'Imran Mulla was in a trusted position in the asylum team at the Home Office. He abused that trust to line his own pockets by offering to change the outcome of asylum applications for money. 'I hope this case sends a clear message – the CPS is committed to working closely with law enforcement and immigration authorities to stamp out corruption.'
