Letter: Duncan Campbell obituary
In 2010, Duncan Campbell wrote the obituary of my brother Martin Beales, a lawyer and crime writer.
He took great care to capture Martin's detailed work on the case of Herbert Rowse Armstrong, executed as a murderer in the 1920s, in his book Dead Not Buried. When it was being debated at the Hay literary festival in 1995, Armstrong's daughter Margaret was able to assert that her father was vindicated, and that he was a victim of injustice and a 'hanging judge'. Duncan understood the importance of truth and justice to Martin, and was a tremendous support to the family.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
32 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Predator, 66, who posed as an Uber driver and had a 'rape kit' with a balaclava and Viagra in his car is found guilty of kidnapping and sex crimes
A predator who posed as an Uber driver to pick up 'vulnerable and intoxicated' women he could abuse has been found guilty of kidnapping and sex crimes for a second time. Graham Head, 68, was found with a 'rape kit' consisting of latex gloves, condoms, Viagra tablets and a balaclava in his car when he was arrested in November 2022. At his home, police found business cards advertising him as a 'N-Uber driver' with the slogan 'Safe and Reliable - For All Occasions' emblazoned underneath one of his phone numbers. Head kidnapped and attempted to rape a 25-year-old woman after he offered her a free ride home in his silver Mercedes in the early hours of November 18, 2022. He also assaulted a 19-year-old woman by penetration in a separate attack. In July 2023, Head from Pevensey, East Sussex, was handed a 23-year sentence for sex crimes and kidnapping. The Court of Appeal later overturned the conviction in November last year following a complaint from Head relating to the judge who presided over the original trial. Now, today he has been convicted of all the charges again by a jury of seven men and five women after eight hours of deliberation at Lewes Crown Court. During the trial, jurors heard that Head was a 'sexual predator' who 'slipped up' the night he was arrested by police. He claimed that he offered the 25-year-old a lift home but did not touch her and never met his other alleged victim. Prosecutor Paul Jarvis KC said: 'The defendant is a sexual predator. Basing himself in Pevensey and ostensibly working as an unofficial Uber driver or taxi driver. 'He was also looking for vulnerable young women who he could sexually abuse. 'He carried Viagra and condoms with him, either on his person or in his car, as well as latex gloves. 'He would use the latex gloves to minimise the risk of leaving traces of his DNA on his victims.' Head had two mobile phones and was 'savvy enough' to know that if he kept them on while he was driving, the network provider could record his movements. He therefore kept them on flight mode while he was searching for victims, the court was told. The two attacks are said to have taken place in the early hours of August 19, 2022, in Hove Park and on November 18, 2022 outside the alleged victim's home. Mr Jarvis said: 'Now in August 2022, she (the first victim) was 19 years old. When she was, we say, intoxicated and vulnerable in the early hours of the morning the defendant sexually assaulted her in Hove Park.' 'In November 2022, she (the second victim) was 25 years old. 'When she was also vulnerable and intoxicated in the early hours of the morning, Mr Head kidnapped her and sexually assaulted her in his car and then drove off leaving her distressed on the roadside. 'On both occasions, the defendant was driving his grey Mercedes estate motor vehicle with the registration number L21 GRH.' The 25-year-old was able to remember the 'L21' portion of Head's number plate, which led to police pulling his car over and arresting him the same night, jurors heard. 'He slipped up on November 19, 2022 in two respects. First because his victim was alert enough to be able to memorise part of the licence plate for the police to be able to identify his car when they saw it,' said Mr Jarvis. The 25-year-old had been on a night out and had consumed alcohol and cocaine on the night in question, the court heard. Her account is that a man pulled up alongside her and told her he was an Uber driver who had just finished his shift but would give her a free ride home. Journeys from Middle Street, in Brighton, where the victim left Monarch Bar, to the victim's home address were found after analysis of the satnav in Head's Mercedes. Mr Jarvis continued: 'He offered to give her a life home but his real plan was to drive around until he was satisfied she was fast asleep so he could sexually assault and rape her. 'He drove close to her home address and tried to rape her in the back seat of his car but she came to and kicked him away.' The 25-year-old has since died and did not give evidence at the trial. Head will be sentenced on August 22.
BBC News
39 minutes ago
- BBC News
Father accused of murdering baby daughter lied about cannabis use
A father accused of killing his baby daughter has admitted lying to police about his cannabis use the night before causing her "catastrophic" injuries, a court Stroud died aged one after "excessive and severe" shaking when she was just five weeks old led to brain and bone who was born on 13 March 2021, spent more than a year in a vegetative state before she died at 14 months on 27 May Holford, 24 and from Ramsgate, has denied murder but has pleaded guilty to manslaughter in his trial at Canterbury Crown Court, claiming he cannot remember what happened. Giving evidence on Thursday, he, said he had at least five joints before being left in charge of Everleigh on 20 April that day, he was smoking more than usual because the date was "420" which he agreed was a "big day for cannabis smokers", the court police arrived at his address in Wallwood Road, Ramsgate, where Holford, then 20, lived with his then 16-year-old girlfriend and her parents, they discovered a cannabis grinder and joint butts next to a milk bottle in his told police that he had not smoked cannabis since 10am the previous morning, which he has now accepted was a lie. Prosecting, Eloise Marshall KC asked: "When the police asked you what you'd smoked, you lied?""Yes," Holford why, he added: "I'm trying to project an image of something that is better than reality."He also suggested that he had done it to "protect" his girlfriend's family, who were aware of his smoking but believed it was for medicinal purposes, the court were also shown text messages he had sent to a contact in a bid to buy more drugs because he had "the little one on my own tonight" and it was going to be "stressful".The trial continues.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
'Cool monk' who groomed and sexually abused boys at £43,000-a-year private school is jailed
A monk who groomed and sexually abused boys at a £43,000-a-year Roman Catholic boarding school has been jailed for seven years. Michael James Callaghan, known as Father James, preyed on vulnerable teenage boys at Ampleforth College in North Yorkshire, a court heard. Judge Richard Clews said the actions of the 71-year-old brought 'the Catholic church and the school into serious disrepute by their nature and number.' Last month Callaghan was convicted of 12 counts of indecent assault on one pupil in the 1990s and one count of sexual assault on another teenager in the 2010s at a trial at Teeside Crown Court last month. The older victim, neither of whom can be identified, faced the priest in court as he read out a statement in which he said 'Father James was manipulative and controlling'. He said: 'My life was hijacked when I was just 14 and I have been dealing with the fallout ever since.' The court heard how the house master groomed the boy and engineered ways to be alone with him, took him out of school for meals and gave him cigarettes. The complainant said in his police interview that Callaghan would 'take on the role of a boy I had a crush on' and they would kiss and simulate sex, telling officers he 'hated the sexual bit of it' and realised as an adult it 'wasn't right'. The second victim, who had his bottom fondled by Callaghan, said it was 'weird and quite frightening' that his abuser was a priest. In a victim statement which was read out for him, he said he hoped Callaghan could be rehabilitated, and 'that he may in time examine his conscience, practice repentance and change his ways'. One of the victims had described Callaghan as a 'cool monk who was popular' at a previous hearing. David Lamb KC, defending, said Callaghan had sought medical help to address his attraction to boys before he joined Ampleforth. He added that Callaghan has no previous convictions and expressed remorse after his conviction. The judge said Callaghan, of Moortown, Leeds, would be subject to an indefinite sexual harm prevention order and will be on the sex offender register for life. Judge Clews said right-thinking people would 'recoil in horror' at the idea of a Roman Catholic priest having a sexual relationship with a boy. The school, described in court as 'the Catholic Eton', said after the sentencing that it had 'overhauled' it safeguarding systems. In a statement, it said: 'Ampleforth College deplores abuse and offers a heartfelt apology to the victims and their families for the profound suffering and pain that Michael James Callaghan has inflicted upon them. 'We acknowledge past failings and feel great sorrow at the terrible betrayal of trust.' It said the monk left the school in 2018 and it fully supported the police inquiries which began in 2022. The statement added: 'We are committed to reporting any safeguarding concerns to the relevant authorities and supporting the police and relevant authorities in any investigation. 'We actively offer any help we can give to survivors of abuse and we commend their courage in speaking out.' After the sentencing, Detective Constable Alison Morris, of North Yorkshire Police, said: 'Not only did Callaghan abuse his position of trust in the most appalling way, taking advantage of vulnerable boys he should have been caring for and protecting, he denied his offences throughout and showed no remorse for the pain and suffering he caused.'
