Revealed: Europe's top pickpocket hotspots as summer holidays begin
Appearing on BBC Morning Live on Wednesday (9 July), Rebecca Mason cautioned that whilst theft can happen anywhere, big cities rank the highest.
Rome is the most pickpocketed place in Europe, with Mason highlighting the Trevi Fountain as the most common spot. 'People throw a coin in the fountain for good luck but it's not really good luck if you are targeted by a thief', she said.
Barcelona, Paris, Amsterdam, Prague, Lisbon also ranked very highly, whilst closer to home, London has been revealed to be the phone theft capital of Europe.
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The Sun
14 minutes ago
- The Sun
The baby-faced molls running £20m drug empires & even plotting MURDER in Love Island-inspired ‘gangster chic' crime wave
THEIR jet-setting selfies make these young women look like they have the world at their feet, but behind the glamour lies tales of heroin smuggling, child 'slaves' and even a hitman murder. In a new phenomenon known as ' gangster chic ', baby-faced criminal molls are ditching office jobs to help run county-lines drugs gangs and cocaine empires, showing off their ill-gotten designer gear in boastful social media posts to make them look like Love Island stars. 29 29 29 Earlier this year, it was revealed that glamorous grade A student Sian Banks was busted for running a £20million drugs import empire with her boyfriend Eddie Burton. The trial heard how the 25-year-old revelled in painting a lavish picture of her life, posting snaps from yacht parties to glamorous nights out. But Banks is not the only Insta-savvy young moll to have emerged in recent times who, instead of finishing their studies or heading on their first girls' holiday, are spending their golden years behind bars. While some of these young women may have been lured in by the designer bags, flash cars, 'influencer lifestyle' and the lucrative spoils a gangster life can bring, others may be vulnerable victims of childhood trauma, manipulation and control. Criminologist Alex Iszatt explains: 'These young women are not simply naive girls led astray. They are the product of a perfect storm of vulnerability, ambition and the deep failings of the society around them. 'Low self-esteem, fractured family relationships and histories of abuse leave some women craving safety and belonging. 'That craving acts like a flashing neon sign to 'some' men who can spot vulnerability instantly, and then wrap exploitation in the language of love and protection, while manipulating and gaslighting." Alex also believes that some women begin as victims but adapt to survive and develop a taste for the very power that once terrified them. And she says social media has had a pivotal role to play in making a life of crime seem like a glamorous and exciting career choice for some young women. 'Social media puts a golden glow on to what's seen as 'gangster chic' making it a marketable fantasy,' she explains. 'Designer clothes, BMW selfies and luxury holidays serve as proof of status rather than warning signs. Gangster gran who used family to run UK-wide cocaine ring & splashed cash on designer accessories for her CAT is jailed 'But with all social media, the curated images hide the relentless paranoia, the endless waiting, and the ever-present threat of violence." It's easy to see why teenagers may crave the lifestyle - actively searching for a partner that can give them an adventure, they don't see the reality that it's a trap, which some women only escape when they are killed or imprisoned. 'And who can blame them when their role models are just as fake?" says Alex. "The Love Islanders with their bought faces and sponsored lifestyles. The reality stars, famous for being famous. The influencers peddling designer dreams with no substance behind them. "These hollow icons have normalised the idea that image is everything - that worth comes from labels and likes rather than character." But Alex says there is another explanation for the baby-faced moll that society does not want to contemplate - the ruthless young woman who herself is the criminal mastermind. 'In reality we want to cling to comfortable narratives about female criminals: the vulnerable girl, the loyal partner, the victim of circumstance,' she says. 'But this is fiction. There exists another kind of woman who unsettles precisely because she defies explanation. She isn't driven by fear, love or survival, she commits crimes because she wants to, she enjoys it. 'These women – the genuine sociopaths, narcissists and psychopaths– refuse to fit our neat categories." Here, we reveal the astonishing lives of Britain's baby-faced gangsters' molls - and how the law finally caught up with them. Sian Banks 29 Banks and 23-year-old Burton orchestrated two large-scale drug imports as the pair conspired to flood the UK with heroin, cocaine and ketamine. Border Force officials stopped two lorries in the summer of 2022 containing 307kg of drugs with a street value of £20million. A huge manhunt was launched for Burton, whose DNA was found on the smuggled goods. Cops managed to track the criminal to party island Ibiza where he was arrested in Pacha nightclub. Burton's life of crime started when he was just a freckled youngster, dealing drugs on the streets of Liverpool from the age of just ten. 29 29 While wannabe influencer Banks was no stranger to crime herself - carrying out illegal activity to fund a luxury lifestyle. She was studying at a top university, but her barrister claimed it was her 'love of the lifestyle' offered by Burton that pulled her into a life of crime. But that lifestyle is over as she was sentenced to five years behind bars earlier this year after pleading guilty to six offences including importing class A drugs and money laundering. Georgia Burns 29 At the age of just 19, Georgia Burns was helping her boyfriend to run a racket in which three 16-year-old schoolboys were used as ''slaves'' to deal drugs. Burns, from Failsworth, near Oldham, agreed to repeatedly drive her boyfriend 100 miles from their homes in Manchester to Hull where one of the exploited teenagers was set up in a squalid flat. Officers seized heroin and crack from the flat worth £2,295 plus £3,162 in cash. Burns had driven Upton, 25, to Hull four times and made two trips with one of the boys. 29 Her defence barrister told Bolton Crown Court that she had been in a relationship with Upton since being just 16-years-old, and that she did not like the excitement of a criminal lifestyle - she had been manipulated and controlled. In May 2023, Burns, who was at this point, 22, and Upton of Newton Heath, Manchester admitted being concerned in the supply of crack and heroin between March 2020 and March 2021. Burns was told she had avoided prison "by the skin of her teeth", and was sentenced to two years jail suspended for two years and was ordered to complete 200 hours unpaid work. Upton, who also pleaded guilty to arranging the travel of another person with a view to exploitation under the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and possession of Class A drugs with intent to supply, was jailed for nine years and three months. Jessica Lang Pretty hairdresser Jessica Lang was only 21 when she was jailed for five years for helping her brothers and boyfriend run a £3million drugs empire. The mum-of-one would join her lover Scott Le Drew on cash deliveries and liaised with her brothers Bradley and Anthony Gill as they arranged vast quantities of cocaine, cannabis and amphetamine to be ferried from Manchester to Blackpool. Police using bugging equipment taped Lang as she sat in a car with Le Drew and advised him how he should conduct his money collections. She also passed messages between members of their gang using encrypted mobile phones as they peddled the narcotics to addicts in Blackpool. 29 29 In 2018, at Preston Crown Court, Lang, from Grange Park, Blackpool, denied wrongdoing but was convicted of conspiracy to supply cocaine and cannabis and sentenced to five years in prison. Anthony Gill, 33, from Middleton, and Bradley Gill, 28, from Blackpool both admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine and were each sentenced to 14 years. Le Drew, 31, was jailed for 11 years and four months after he was convicted of conspiracy to supply class A and class B drugs and possession of a prohibited weapon CS gas. Amy King Amy King came from a devout Methodist family but faced up to seven years in prison after stashing cannabis for her drug dealer boyfriend. The 25-year-old pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis with intent to supply and conspiracy to deal in cannabis in 2023 but escaped jail after the judge praised her bravery in giving a statement about her drug dealer ex. She was given a 12-month community order at Chester Crown Court after she was arrested when police raided her home in Chester, Cheshire, and recovered 1.6kg of cannabis worth £17,000. 29 Judge Steven Everett accepted King was under "pressure and stress" after she claimed she was forced to keep cannabis in her flat having run up a drugs debt with ex-boyfriend Alfie Chadwick. She had already served 16 months on remand while awaiting trial. Meanwhile, Chadwick, from Blacon, Chester was jailed for 11 years at an earlier hearing after he was convicted of drugs offences. His drug-dealing partner Jordan McLoughlin, 25, was also jailed for ten years. Bretony Gallimore 29 29 Beauty therapist Gallimore was only 24 when she was jailed for trying to help her boyfriend get away with murder. She booked a hotel room for Anthony Henry and allowed him to use her phone after he ordered a hit on Kieran McGrath. Gallimore, from Manchester, was jailed for three years in 2016 after she was found guilty of assisting an offender. Liverpool Crown Court heard that bare-knuckle fighter Henry, 31, was angry after Mr McGrath "battered" him twice in pre-arranged duels during a feud over a girl. But when scaffolder Mr McGrath offered his opponent a third round, Henry declined and retorted: 'It's alright, I've got someone to do you.' 29 29 Just days later Mr McGrath was about to drive away from a pub when a hitman drew up alongside him and shot at him four times. Henry, was convicted of murder after a three-month trial and was jailed for life with a minimum recommendation he serve 33 years. Hitman Remi Adams, 33, was convicted of murder after a retrial at Manchester Crown Court and was jailed for life with a minimum term of 30 years. Jace Smith, 31, and Troy Beckford, 23, were also convicted of roles in the murder and each got a life sentence. Smith got a minimum 30 years and Beckford 31. Emma Lavery 29 29 Shop assistant Lavery earned just £7,000 a year in Topshop, but still managed to splash out on designer gear, a BMW, European city breaks and private healthcare. But after she clocked off from her day job she was secretly helping her boyfriend run a cocaine empire. Don't forget bags, have you got bags, I need bags Emma Lavery Lavery, then 24, carried a Gucci handbag and moved into a luxury apartment with Adam Hussain after he set up a drugs racket in which he ran a team of street dealers. The gangster's moll would bag up the drugs for Hussain, sending text messages to him saying: 'Don't forget bags, have you got bags, I need bags.' 29 29 In raids on their luxury flat police found up to £115,000 in cash spread over their bed bundled into £1,000 wads and a stash of designer gear including a Rose Gold Rolex watch valued at £28,850. Investigations revealed Lavery had private health care despite earning less than £30,000 between 2015 and 2019 whilst car valeter Hussain, also 24, was apparently paid nothing in wages. In 2021, at Bolton Crown Court, the pair admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine and possession of criminal property. Hussain, who also admitted possessing drugs with intent to supply, was jailed for six years whilst Lavery, who had an eight-month-old daughter by him, was given 16 months jail suspended for two years. The court heard she had been the victim of a bungled kidnapping after their arrest but she declined to help police catch the abductors.
BBC News
14 minutes ago
- BBC News
Stop children using VPNs to watch porn, ministers told
The government needs to stop children using virtual private networks (VPNs) to bypass age checks on porn sites, the children's commissioner for England has said. Dame Rachel de Souza told BBC Newsnight it was "absolutely a loophole that needs closing" and called for age verification on VPNs. VPNs can disguise your location online - allowing you to use the internet as though you are in another country. It means that they can be used to bypass requirements of the Online Safety Act, which mandated platforms with certain adult content to start checking the age of users.A government spokesperson said VPNs are legal tools for adults and there are no plans to ban them. The children's commissioner's recommendation is included in a new report, which found the proportion of children saying they have seen pornography online has risen in the past two yearsLast month VPNs were the most downloaded apps on Apple's App Store in the UK after sites such as PornHub, Reddit and X began requiring age verification. Virtual private networks connect users to websites using a remote server and conceal their actual IP address and location, meaning they can circumvent blocks on particular sites or Rachel told BBC Newsnight: "Of course, we need age verification on VPNs - it's absolutely a loophole that needs closing and that's one of my major recommendations."The report calls for the ministers to explore requiring VPNs "to implement highly effective age assurances to stop underage users from accessing pornography." The report, titled "Sex Is Kind Of Broken", also found more children are stumbling across pornography accidentally, with some of the 16 to 21-year-olds surveyed saying they had viewed it "aged six or younger".The data was gathered prior to the amendments to the Online Safety Act in July, which brought in age verification tools for pornography. Dame Rachel described the findings as "rock bottom". "This tells us how much of the problem is about the design of platforms, algorithms and recommendation systems that put harmful content in front of children who never sought it out," the commissioner said, calling for the report to act as a "line in the sand".More than half of respondents to the survey had viewed strangulation as children, prompting Dame Rachel to also ask the government to ban depictions of it. Pornography depicting rape of a sleeping person was also seen by 44% of respondents as children.X, formerly known as Twitter, remained the most common source of pornography for children, the report Department of Science, Innovation and Technology told the BBC "children have been left to grow up in a lawless online world for too long" and "the Online Safety Act is changing that'.On Dame Rachel's VPN comments, the spokesperson said there are no plans to ban them "but if platforms deliberately push workarounds like VPNs to children, they face tough enforcement and heavy fines." In an exclusive interview with BBC Newsnight Dame Rachel said "what's really worrying is how this is changing the behaviour of young people".Josh Lane was addicted to porn by 14-years-old after first finding it accidentally on Google search aged told Newsnight the addiction caused him to isolate himself from friends and family because he was "afraid of anyone discovering that I was hooked."Mr Lane described finding "the only place I could get, I guess, love and intimacy was from pornography" at the same time as feeling "heaps of guilt and shame"Now 25, he has not looked at porn in almost a year but said the addiction is "a problem that affects you forever". Kerry Smith, CEO of the Internet Watch Foundation, said "children's exposure to extreme or violent sexual imagery can normalise harmful sexual behaviours, and is increasingly linked to sexual violence against girls and women". She added: "It is clear this is something we all need to be taking seriously, and the safeguards adult sites have put in place to make sure children can't access sexual content must be robust and meaningful."
The Guardian
14 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Key stakeholders in Australia's social media age assurance trial frozen out amid media leaks and resignations
The organisation behind the age assurance technology trial that will inform how to keep under-16s off social media has frozen out key stakeholders amid media leaks and resignations of two members. The trial's Iain Corby has also downplayed reporting about inaccuracies with the facial estimation technology – one of the technologies tested in the trial – arguing that it can still be used even if it is out by seven years. The $6.5m age assurance technology trial, run by the UK-based Age Check Certification Scheme (ACCS), tested various types of technology that could be used by social media platforms and adult websites to keep out under-16s or under-18s, respectively, when Australia's under-16s social media ban comes into force in December. The project provided its final report to the communications minister, Anika Wells, at the start of August. The final report is expected to run to 10 volumes and 2,500 pages. However, the stakeholder advisory board for the trial – which comprises tech companies, child safety advocates, academics and privacy advocates – may not see the final report until Wells releases it publicly in the coming weeks. Two sources close to the board told Guardian Australia the board was not expected to be provided with a copy before then due to leak concerns. When the trial was announced, the project plan noted that transparency was key to ensuring public trust in the project. Sign up: AU Breaking News email 'The programme needs to be completed with transparency and ensuring the credibility and confidence of participants, the commissioning department and the Australian public,' the plan stated. Initially, detailed minutes for the stakeholder meetings were published online outlining disagreements and concerns raised by those involved. But the last several meeting minutes have not been posted, and that is expected to continue for the final meeting as the report is released. The group behind the trial did not publicise that the report had been handed to government, apart from a blog post on the trial's website. Two members of the advisory board have also quit. Guardian Australia confirmed that the Electronic Frontiers Australia chair, John Pane, resigned from the board last week, following another resignation reported earlier by Crikey. In a statement issued last week, Pane criticised the preliminary report findings from June – where the project team claimed that age assurance technology could be 'private, robust and effective' – as 'strong on hype and rhetoric, and difficult to reconcile with the evidence'. 'These political talking points seem to be a case of 'selling the sizzle and not the steak'– or perhaps even 'privacy washing',' Pane said. He argued that assessment of the privacy practices of some vendors amounted to checking if the vendor had a privacy policy, and was a 'tick-box compliance' exercise. Pane also said the trial organisers had not confirmed whether the vendors who participated in the trial will permanently de-identify all personal data collected from test subjects. Tim Levy, the managing director of children's safety technology company Qoria, resigned from the trial earlier this year. Levy said the voracity of the conclusions of the interim report were 'not going to match community expectations and I believe my team of 600 dedicated cybersafety professionals would not like us to be associated with such an unsafe report'. ACCS's chief executive, Tony Allen, said Pane's contribution and the work of the board was welcomed but he said all of the points raised 'have been addressed in the full report – and in some considerable depth'. 'It is partly because of those points that it is taking some time to prepare the report (and perhaps more so, the supporting materials) for publication.' Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion Allen said all data has been anonymised and the personally identifiable information deleted. He said the trial continues to engage with the board and is working for the next meeting. Allen said a gap in publication of meeting minutes was 'no conspiracy' but a 'factor of preparation for publication, which takes some time'. Corby, who is responsible for stakeholder engagement for the trial and is also the executive director of the Age Verification Providers Association, told a podcast published on the industry research and consultancy website Biometrics Update last month that people 'need to be patient and get the full 10 volumes [of the report] in the public domain, and then it will be a lot clearer what the trial has found'. He said the report will be a 'bible of data' that will be 'quoted around the world'. '[The report] is albeit done by Age Verification Certification Scheme, who are known in the sector, but with very close scrutiny from an advisory board and ethics panel, the government themselves in Australia, [and] Prof Toby Walsh providing independent review of the evaluation approach,' Corby said. 'So it's been done with a lot of discipline around its independence and validity.' In June, the ABC reported that tests of facial age estimation technology had estimated a 16-year-old being as old as 37. Corby dismissed this report, stating that errors in age estimation don't undermine the whole project of age assurance. 'You're always going to have what we call a buffer age, and that might be three years or it might need to be five. Or for one provider, it might be three, and for a provider with a poorer quality algorithm, it might be seven in order to achieve the same level of accuracy overall,' he said on the podcast. 'But that doesn't mean to say you have to give up on the social media minimum age bill in Australia because one particular category of technology doesn't give you an exact answer.' Corby told Crikey this week the trial would not comment until the final report is released.
