Cannock woman convicted of ex-partner's Christmas murder
The trial was told Carless had been at the pub drinking double vodkas and cokes with a male friend on Christmas Eve.She had sex with the man three times at his home before a female friend sent her a screenshot of Mr Price's Tinder profile, at about 01:30 GMT on Christmas Day, which the court heard made her angry.Carless was also found guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm by a majority of 11 to one, over an attack in November 2024.She was cleared of intentional strangulation in relation to the same incident.
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Daily Mail
21 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
BMW driver, 23, accused of mowing down four sorority sisters in horror Malibu crash hires hot-shot defense lawyer for murder trial
The young BMW driver accused of mowing down and killing four sorority sisters in a horrific Malibu car crash pleaded not guilty as he appeared in court with his new hot-shot defense attorney Wednesday. Fraser Bohm, 23, was arraigned on murder and vehicular manslaughter charges in connection with the October 2023 deaths of Pepperdine University students Asha Weir, Peyton Stewart, Deslyn Williams, all 21, and 20-year-old Niamh Rolston. Dressed in a dark gray suit and tie, he did not speak as his new lawyer, Alan Jackson, entered the not-guilty pleas to four counts each of charge on his behalf at a courthouse in Van Nuys, California. The hearing lasted only a few minutes, during which Judge Thomas Rubinson granted the defense's request for a postponement to September 5. Wednesday's arraignment follows a delay granted last month, when newly-hired Jackson requested a continuance. Outside the courtroom, Jackson explained that he plans to raise 'several issues' at the next hearing, including filing a motion to reduce Bohm's $4million bail package that was granted after his arrest in 2023. Asked when he expects Bohm's jury trial to start, the renowned lawyer told Daily Mail: 'The prosecution has a head start on us and we have a lot of work to do to catch up. So I can't see trial starting before the end of 2025.' The prominent criminal defense attorney, who replaces Bohm's original lawyer Michael Kraut, is a former LA County Assistant District Attorney who prosecuted several high-profile cases, including the murder conviction of music producer Phil Spector. Since going into private practice, he's made a name for himself as a top defense attorney. Most recently, he successfully got murder suspect Karen Read acquitted in the widely-covered trial related to the death of Boston Police officer boyfriend John O'Keefe. All four of the young women killed in the Malibu crash were seniors at Pepperdine's Seaver College of Liberal Arts where they were members of the Alpha Phi Sorority. They were due to graduate with the class of 2024 and later were awarded their Pepperdine degrees posthumously. They died when Bohm – driving allegedly at 104mph – crashed into three parked vehicles in the parking lane next to where the girls were walking after getting out of a car on PCH where the speed limit is 45mph. 'They were killed because of the driving of the defendant,' Deputy District Attorney Nathan Bartos told an April preliminary hearing where Bohm was ordered to stand trial. Bartos pointed out that data retrieved from the 'black box' in the BMW showed that the vehicle accelerated from 93mph to 104mph just two and a half seconds before the crash. 'He consciously decided to get that vehicle up to the speed of 104 miles an hour,' the prosecutor added. 'And he lost control of his vehicle….. This was not an accident.' Peyton Stewart (left) and Asha Weir were members of Alpha Phi at Pepperdine University - and were pronounced dead alongside their two friends at the scene Bohm – who lives in Malibu – has maintained that the deadly crash was an accident that happened when 'some guy' in a white car swerved into his lane, hitting his driver's side mirror, causing him to slam into the three parked cars. And his then defense attorney, Kraut, argued that at the time of the crash, Bohm was being 'chased in a road-rage incident'. But LA Sheriff's investigators said they found 'no evidence of an alleged road-rage incident.' At the preliminary hearing, Kraut called Bohm a 'kid', emphasizing that the fatal pile-up occurred on the day after his 22nd birthday and there was 'no evidence of a past history of any driving violations or a parking violation.' The deadly crash sparked outrage from Malibu residents who have for years been calling for safety improvements to this stretch of PCH between Carbon Canyon and Las Flores Canyon where 53 deaths and 92 serious injuries between 2013 and 2023 earned it the nickname 'Dead Man's Curve.' On the one-year anniversary of the girls' deaths, Malibu officials met to discuss ways to improve safety and creating a California Highway Patrol Task Force to crack down on speeders and traffic offenders on PCH And recently, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a new bill authorizing the installation of speed cameras on a 21-mile stretch of PCH all the way through the ritzy, celebrity-filled enclave. The city has also been considering an even more ambitious plan that would completely redesign PCH, 'transforming it from a high speed highway into a safer, community-focused corridor, providing safe access for all users, including pedestrians, cyclists and drivers.' Such safety measures come too late for the grieving parents of the victims. They have all brought wrongful death lawsuits against Bohm and are also suing the State of California, LA County, the City of Malibu and the California Coastal Commission, alleging dangerous road design on PCH and lack of safety standards. Bohm, whose father Chris is an executive at a medical equipment manufacturer, had appeared in court for his arraignment hearing last month – his first court date since he was ordered to stand trial after a three-day preliminary trial in late April. The former high school athlete, however, did not enter an official plea after his lawyer requested more time. Daily Mail previously revealed that Bohm had received the luxury vehicle in his parents' divorce settlement on his 18th birthday. The red 2016 BMW was purchased by Bohm's mother Brooke using a down payment of $25,000 in 2017 – with the remaining installments paid by his dad Chris. The divorce settlement also revealed details of his family's lavish lifestyle – including the secluded $8.7 million Malibu gated estate Bohm's mother ended up with in the divorce. His BMW slammed into parked vehicles while the college seniors stood nearby – striking them as well. All four victims were pronounced dead at the scene, while Bohm was uninjured. Following the crash, as ambulances took the women's dead bodies from the scene, Bohm was seen sitting on a ledge, bowing his head, next to emergency personnel. According to witnesses, he had attempted to flee the scene and had to be 'tackled down' and stopped by students from the nearby Pepperdine Sigma Chi fraternity. Officials said there was a fraternity party being held in the area, and that the victims had been planning to meet up with others at the time of the tragedy. Niamh, Asha, and Peyton all lived together in college, their social media pages suggested.
Telegraph
21 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Armed police arrest gardener over his arsenal of allotment tools
Armed police arrested a gardener for 'carrying a knife' as he walked home with his allotment tools. Samuel Rowe, 35, was detained, kept in a cell and cautioned after being accused of carrying a ' large dagger ' last month. He had just tended to his allotment vegetable patch and was trimming the hedges outside his home with a sickle when armed police swooped on July 3. His Japanese gardening trowel, a sickle and a fruit harvesting tool were confiscated before he was taken to a police station. He was then held in a cell for more than seven hours before he was released when he accepted a caution for possession of an offensive weapon. The theatre manager said he was left terrified when officers armed with guns turned up outside his home and now wants the caution overturned. 'Some kind of extremist' Mr Rowe, of Manchester, said: 'I was coming back from my allotment in the morning. 'I'd just got home and started trimming the hedge at the top of my house, and then I heard shouting and it was armed police – two armed police telling me to 'drop the knife.' 'At the time I had my Japanese gardening sickle in my hand that I was using, so I dropped that along with the privet I'd been cutting. 'Then they turned me around, pushed me up against the house, handcuffed me behind my back, took everything out my belt. 'Then they asked me why I was there and where I'd been. 'Eventually they put me in the back of their van and took me to Cheadle Hulme police station, which is miles from my house. 'They got into their head I was some kind of extremist going out with knives.' Conflicting accounts He said he was then kept in cells and asked if he wanted a solicitor, but he never got to see one. At interview, he says police asked him bizarre questions such as what an allotment was. He has been growing fruit and veg – including rhubarb, broad beans, artichokes, and tomatoes, at his allotment since 2022. Now, he is worried that the police caution he accepted will appear on background checks if he applies for future job interviews. Greater Manchester Police said firearms officers were sent as they were the closest to the scene after they were alerted by a member of the public. The force denies Samuel was ever refused legal advice, saying it tried multiple times to contact a solicitor and he chose to decline legal advice in the end. A Greater Manchester Police spokesperson said: 'At around 12.20pm on 3 July, we acted on a call from a member of the public that a man was walking in public wearing khaki clothing and in possession of a knife. 'Nearby officers were flagged down by the caller, who directed them towards a male. 'He was subsequently stopped and a small sickle, a large dagger which was in a sheath on a belt, and a peeling knife, were seized. 'He was arrested on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon and taken into custody. 'He admitted the offence and was given a conditional caution, which entailed advice and guidance around the legislation of knives and bladed weapons in a public place.'
The Guardian
21 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Calls for clarity over whether UK police can release suspects' ethnicity and immigration status
Yvette Cooper is facing demands for clarity over the information that police forces are permitted to release to the public after claims of a 'cover-up' by the authorities over the immigration status of men accused of raping a child. The Warwickshire police and crime commissioner, Philip Seccombe, called for fresh national guidance after police were accused by Reform UK of failing to confirm that two Afghan men being prosecuted for the alleged attack on a 12-year-old girl were asylum seekers. There is increasing pressure on prosecutors and the police to release details about the ethnicity and immigration status of people facing a criminal charge. Cooper, the home secretary, said on Tuesday that the guidance should change to permit police to release the ethnicity or immigration status of criminal suspects but added that she was waiting for a review to be concluded by the Law Commission. Seccombe said: 'Like all forces, Warwickshire police finds itself in a difficult position of trying to carefully balance the legal safeguards which protect the integrity of the judicial process, while maintaining public order and simultaneously ensuring that public confidence is maintained through transparency and honesty. 'Currently police forces are in an invidious position when deciding what can and should be disclosed in sensitive cases, given that the national guidance is silent on both the ethnicity and immigration status of suspects. 'It is very easy to criticise and suggest that the balance of disclosure hasn't been correct, but it is much harder to take these decisions on the ground.' The alleged rape, said to have happened on 22 July, has become the centre of a political storm after the Reform leader, Nigel Farage, on Monday amplified claims of a police cover-up. On Tuesday the leader of Reform-led Warwickshire county council said police were refusing to confirm details of the two suspects charged after the alleged attack in Nuneaton. George Finch, the youngest council leader in England, alleged within days that Ahmad Mulakhil and Mohammad Kabir – the two men charged in the case – were asylum seekers, but police forces do not routinely release the immigration status of suspects. In a letter to Cooper, Finch claimed the police risked 'disorder breaking out on the streets' of the county. Cooper said on Tuesday that 'we do want to see greater transparency' from police forces and she wanted national guidance to change in relation to the release of information about suspects. Mulakhil has been charged with two counts of rape, while Kabir has been charged with kidnap, strangulation and aiding and abetting of the rape of a girl aged under 13. Both men are in custody and due to appear at Warwick crown court on 26 August. Warwickshire county council's chief executive briefed Finch confidentially about the immigration status of the two men, according to a letter by the force's chief constable, Alex Franklin-Smith. Franklin-Smith said he confirmed to Finch last Thursday that this information was accurate but that 'we wouldn't be releasing immigration status at point of charge as we follow national guidance'. The police chief said he had asked the Home Office to confirm the full immigration status of the two men, given that Finch had released some details publicly. He added: 'I am confident that Warwickshire police has treated this investigation seriously from the outset, working tirelessly to identify, locate, arrest and charge those suspected of being responsible for this awful crime as quickly as possible.' A Home Office spokesperson said: 'As the home secretary said yesterday, it has been widely reported that this case involves two Afghan individuals who are in the asylum system, some of which information has already been confirmed in open court. 'The home secretary has made clear that there is a strong public interest in maximum transparency wherever that is possible. 'That is why the Home Office and College of Policing are working together to strengthen and clarify the guidance around how and when information is released.'
