Officers found not guilty of assaulting 92-year-old amputee
He was 92, had only one leg and used a wheelchair. When Donald Burgess wielded a serrated cutlery knife at his care home, staff called the police.
But within a minute and half of arriving, the two police officers who responded had sprayed him with synthetic pepper spray and discharged a taser. Mr Burgess died 22 days later of Covid. Today a jury at Southwark Crown Court acquitted Constables Stephen Smith and Rachel Comotto of assault.
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Daily Mail
12 hours ago
- Daily Mail
FBI director Kash Patel reveals bombshell breakthrough that'll have Anthony Fauci trembling: 'We're on to him'
The Trump administration has allegedly 'found' the cell phone Dr Anthony Fauci used during the Covid pandemic, the president's intelligence head revealed. FBI director Kash Patel revealed on the latest episode of the Joe Rogan Experience that he and leaders like Senator Rand Paul have been on the hunt for any devices Fauci used while advising Americans during the pandemic. Patel said while Paul and health secretary Robert F Kennedy 'are doing a great job' finding the origins of Covid, the team had struggled for years to find Fauci's phone and other devices. But this week, the team 'had a great breakthrough.' Patel told Rogan the FBI had just found a phone Fauci used at the time, mere days before the podcast was filmed. It's unclear exactly when the phone was used and how they verified it belonged to Fauci. Patel did not specify how they seized it or what the team's 'multiple investigations' thus far on the origins of Covid have found. He also cautioned Americans 'shouldn't jump to the conclusion that everything's in there' and that incriminating data could have been deleted. However, he called the bombshell 'a victory for the American people' and said his team is immediately working to comb through any data on the device. Patel said: 'We found it, and at least we can tell the American people we've been looking because it is of public importance to figure out, did that guy lie? Did he intentionally mislead the world and cause countless deaths? 'We owe those answers to the American people, and the best evidence ever is always the people's evidence who created it. So now we're going to go and exploit those hard drives.' 'We did find it, we're not done, we're still looking and we're on the case.' Patel did not specify how his team got the old phone or how they verified it was Fauci's. Generally, a warrant is required to seize a cell phone, even for a government official. There are no publicly available warrants out against Fauci currently. Mounting evidence has suggested Covid may have originated in a lab in Wuhan, China, with some reports estimated '80 to 95 percent certainty.' The Chinese government has always denied the lab-leak theory and maintained Covid was the product of an animal spillover. American agencies like the FBI and CIA believe a lab leak is the most likely possibility. Patel did not say on the podcast what he thinks. Dr Richard Ebright, a professor of chemical biology at Rutgers University, previously told 'The main points are clear: All informed persons - without exception - knew by early 2020 that SARS-CoV-2 likely entered humans through a research-related incident in Wuhan. 'But most chose to lie or to stay silent.' Fauci has denied all accusations of Covid being 'covered up' or originating from a lab. Patel said: 'My mission has always been to put out the truth, whatever the consequences, whoever it's against.
Glasgow Times
18 hours ago
- Glasgow Times
Glasgow sex attacker raped woman he met on Tinder dating app
Rian Hood put the victim through a horror ordeal during a campaign of abuse at his hands. The 34-year-old ex-clothes shop supervisor denied being physically or sexually violent - even claiming in a bizarre video clip that the woman had instead hurt him. Hood was convicted of rape and engaging in a course of abusive behaviour following a trial at the High Court in Glasgow. After the verdicts, jurors learned he is already serving a seven-and-a-half-year jail term imposed in 2022 for preying on four other women. He is expected to learn his fate for this latest crime when he returns to the dock later this month. Hood, formerly of the city's Knightswood, told jurors how he was initially in contact with the woman via Tinder. He stated he had never used the dating app before as "you hear all these horror stories". READ MORE: Teenager in court on attempted murder charge after boy, 15, injured in East End It was not until early 2020 that the pair physically met. He had been aware at the time of allegations made by one of the victims in the later 2022 trial. Hood claimed he told the woman in this latest case about the then accusations. He said there was "not much reaction" from her. Hood went on to move in with the woman and her mother at their home in the west of the city during one of the Covid lockdowns in 2020. He said: "It was a bit intense, but we managed it well." Hood insisted there was "seldom" any sexual contact between him and the victim while there. The woman, however, told how he stood on her face and then forced himself upon her during one attack. READ MORE: Four men jailed after £6m corruption and bribery probe at health boards Denying it happened, Hood claimed: "We would not really do much in her mum's house as it was just awkward." The abuse also took place at other flats in the north of Glasgow. His lawyer Frances Connor put to him at one stage: "Any truth that you wanted cocaine so you could have sex for hours and hours?" He refuted this, insisting the drug would have had the "opposite effect" on him. Miss Connor also asked if anything had occurred without the woman's consent. Hood again denied this. The lawyer went on: "Anything ever happened when she was asleep?" He then claimed: "No, I would never have woken her up as she was a grouch if you did." READ MORE: 'Sickened': Police officer faces sack after 'shocking' racist jibe Hood added any evidence of him "choking" the woman only happened during consensual sex. The attacker was also physically abusive, which had included a claim he had hurled Chinese spring rolls at her. He instead alleged the woman had previously "erupted" at him after confronting him about cheating on her. Jurors were shown a mobile phone clip recorded by the woman where a drunk and topless Hood claimed he could not walk as she had "broke" his toe by allegedly throwing a towel at him. Lord Colbeck adjourned sentencing for reports. In the previous trial, Hood had been convicted of 10 charges of similar abuse against four women between 2010 and 2020. His lawyer said at the time how his life had been "somewhat blighted by a gambling addiction" which had affected his relationships. He first faced allegations involving the latest victim in 2023 while serving the seven and a half year sentence.
Daily Mirror
2 days ago
- Daily Mirror
Urgent warning as 45 people die after buying food preservative poison online
A coroner has identified at least EIGHT British victims who have used online forums for advice about ending their lives and purchasing an unnamed chemical used as a food preservative A food preservative poison has been used by at least 45 people to commit suicide after searching online forums for advice about ending their lives, a coroner warned today. Eight British victims - Matthew O'Reilly, Samuel Dickinson, Shaun Bass, Matthew Price, Chantelle Williams, Kelly Walsh, William Armstrong and Andrew Brown - have been identified after taking the unnamed poisonous chemical. Cops have launched a global probe and traced 85 people in the UK and Europe who had either died after taking the poison or purchased it with a view to ending their lives, it has been revealed. At least 45 of those are known to have died, it was confirmed. Details of the deaths emerged in eight separate Prevention of Future Death reports issued by Senior Coroner for Manchester West, Timothy Brennand. Writing to the Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, to raise concerns, he said that reporting restrictions had been imposed on the cases due to an "ongoing criminal investigation in the United Kingdom, Europe and the United States of America". In his reports into the "cluster" of eight deaths in his region, he did not identify the poison except to say it is a food preservative but also "reportable poison as well as a reportable explosives precursor". "The police investigation into one UK based source of supply revealed in 247 cases separate supplies of 500 grams of less of [REDACTED] to customers in the UK and Europe, police established that 85 of these individuals who were traceable had either died as the consequence of self-ingestion of the substance, or had purchased it with a view to having the means to use this method to end their life in circumstances," he said. In each of these instances, he said: "The vendors of the [REDACTED] were not aware of this potential misuse of the substance. "The small quantities being purchased had been incorrectly evaluated to be an increase in individuals pursuing recreational home-curing/food preservations as a hobby, being an artefact of 'lockdown' living following the COVID national pandemic emergency. "Vendors were unaware that their website/details were being distributed as part of internet information platforms designed to aid, abet, assist or promote suicide methods. "From the specific example of 247 supplies in a 12 month period, police established that 45 purchasers were confirmed as deceased (these deaths were in relation to supplies to UK customers and purchasers from abroad) and only 15 purchases were confirmed to have taken place for legitimate purposes." Mr Brennand also warned about the availability of websites that give advice on how to take your own life. He wrote: "The police investigation revealed the ability of members of the public to access a number of websites, primarily created in the USA, Canada and Mexico that promoted information as to how to access: A) Poisons that could bring about death b) How, in what way and with with other necessary preparations (in particular -antiemetic medications) the poisons should be administered. c. Sourcing such poisons/chemicals/medications in the UK and abroad." Student Matthew O'Reilly, 18, was discovered collapsed and unresponsive within his locked room at his student accommodation in Salford, Greater Manchester in September 2020. He died from a 'deliberate act of recent self-ingestion,' Mr Brennand said. Samuel Dickenson, 33, died in March 2020 in Wigan having left a suicide note. "Police recovered a padded postal envelope addressed to the deceased next to an opened sealable sachet bag labelled '[REDACTED] – Pure 99.9% 50g' that the deceased had acquired on the 21st of February 2020 from an internet-based company licensed to sell controlled poisons, including [REDACTED]," Mr Brennand said. Shaun Bass, 23, died in February 2020, in Bolton "having ingested a significant quantity of [REDACTED] that he had acquired earlier in the month from an internet-based company licensed to sell reportable poisons". He had suffered from depression and anxiety. Mathew Price, 37, died in June 2021, at his home in Bolton. "Post-mortem samples revealed the deceased had recently consumed a significant and fatally toxic quantity of [REDACTED]," his Prevention of Future Death report said. "[An] email sent to family members contained unequivocal expressions of the deceased's intention." Andrew Brown, 45, was found dead in August 2023 in circumstances that puzzled investigators as his motive still remains 'unclear'. Mr Brown - who had a history of mental health issues - obtained the poison online months before his death, was found by a family member, and was found with an "Advanced Decision to Refuse Treatment" document by his bed. The coroner said the most likely scenario that led to his death was a "fleeting, ill-considered, irrational self-harming ideation". William Armstrong, 24, purchased the poison on the internet "from a source in Russia", having shown symptoms of a psychotic illness. Mr Armstrong checked into a hotel, ingested the poison and 15 minutes later called 999 to report what happened. He was dead when they arrived 90 minutes later. Kelly Walsh, 45, was found dead in February 2021 at home in Atherton, having ordered the poison "from an internet-based supplier in Lithuania". Her actions were "deliberate and intentional" and she had a declining mental health. Chantelle Williams, who had a "complex medical history", first ingested a "significant but non-fatal" dose of the substance in 2019 and checked into Salford Royal Hospital where she received care. Twice she managed to order the poison while still on the Keats Ward at the hospital and ingest the poison, with the second incident killing her in May 2020. Coroner Mr Brennand added: "The published Guidance... does not give specific guidance or suggested training to sellers, particularly [REDACTED] acquired by members of the public, particularly over 'online marketplaces' in circumstances of the purchase on a 'one off' basis for the means of self-harming. "Whilst there is a legal duty on persons selling this substance to report 'suspicious' transactions within 24 hours to the Home Office, the purchase of small quantities is being presumed to be connected to the many legitimate uses of the substance (such as food preservation, fertilizer etc) rather than in fact, being evaluated as a member of the public seeking purchase of modest quantities used as their chosen means by which to end life. "The current Home Office guidance and supporting video, leaflet and posters do not reference [REDACTED] as a specific example of concern and focuses on the phenomenon of 'malicious' misuse and not deliberate misuse in the sense of suicide/self-harm." The Home Office is required to respond within 56 days of the report.
