Erin Patterson's interview with Victoria police released
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The Independent
18 minutes ago
- The Independent
Harvey Willgoose's mother says her son's killer should be named
The mother of Harvey Willgoose believes her son's murderer should be named when he is sentenced later this year. A 15-year-old boy was found guilty of murder last week by a jury who heard how he stabbed Harvey in the heart during a lunch break at All Saints Catholic High School, in Sheffield. The teenager cannot be identified because of an order imposed when he first appeared at court in February. A number of media organisations, including the PA news agency, applied to the judge, Mrs Justice Ellenbogen, for his anonymity to be lifted when he was convicted last week. The judge said she wanted to hear the views of the prosecution and defence before she makes a decision on the day the boy is sentenced, October 22. Speaking on BBC Breakfast on Tuesday, Caroline Willgoose said: 'Harvey hasn't been here to speak up for himself and he's been named. So, I think the defendant should as well.' Orders made under Section 45 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 not only prohibit reports from naming defendants under 18 years old, but also ban the reporting of other information which might lead to their identification. This includes what school the defendant attends. At the beginning of the murder trial last month, media organisations successfully applied to the judge for this order to be modified so that it could be reported that the defendant was a pupil at All Saints Catholic High School. They argued that it would be very difficult to report what happened in the school on February 3 without this variation. On October 22, the judge is bound by law to balance two competing interests in deciding whether the boy can be publicly identified. The first of these is the welfare of the defendant, who will still be only 16 at the time of the sentencing and, as the jury in the trial heard, has a number of issues around his health and home life. The second is the fundamental principle that court cases, especially those which have generated high levels of legitimate public interest, should be reported as fully as possible, and this includes naming the defendant. In recent years, there has been a number of high-profile murders by children after which judges have decided it is right to name the perpetrators. In the case of the murder of 16-year-old Brianna Ghey, who was murdered in a premeditated attack by Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe in Warrington, Mrs Justice Yip told Manchester Crown Court: 'The shock generated by Brianna's murder and the circumstances of it has spread well beyond the local community, across the nation and indeed internationally. 'The public will naturally wish to know the identities of the young people responsible as they seek to understand how children could do something so dreadful.' After teenager Bardia Shojaeifard was found guilty of murdering Leeds 15-year-old Alfie Lewis, in a case with many similarities to the killing of Harvey Willgoose, Mr Justice Cotter also decided the killer should be named. This judge said: 'Put simply, many must have been, and still are, asking the question how it comes to pass that a young man such as this carries and uses a knife in these dreadful circumstances, and wondering how far the scourge of knife crime will permeate through our youth unless more is done to prevent it. 'If a seemingly normal boy of 14 carries a knife to school and uses it on a boy in the same school year how bad have things become?' But judges in other cases have also decided against naming young defendants, after reviewing the particular circumstances of their cases. One example was the case of two youths found guilty murdering 19-year-old Shawn Seesahai in a Wolverhampton park. Mrs Justice Tipples said the welfare of the youngsters, who were both 12, outweighed the wider public interest and open justice principles. Asked about the defendant's sentencing earlier this week, Mrs Willgoose said: 'I think he's got to be made an example of.' Harvey's sister Sophie said of the killer: 'He's a 15-year-old boy. We'd like to think that he didn't want to murder Harvey. 'He's just from a troubled background and services have let him down.' The women said they are campaigning for knife arches to be installed in all secondary schools and colleges to help prevent repeat of the tragedy.
The Independent
18 minutes ago
- The Independent
Shoplifters brazenly walk out of pharmacies with medical supplies in shocking CCTV
CCTV footage shows brazen shoplifters walking out of pharmacies across the UK with stolen medical supplies. New figures from the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) show around nine in 10 pharmacies have experienced a rise in theft and aggressive behaviour over the last year, while 22 per cent had seen physical assaults on staff. Chief executive of the NPA Henry Gregg says the figures are "unacceptable" and is calling on the police to do more to tackle these sorts of crimes. The Home Office told The Independent it is introducing a special offence for assaulting retail workers, and removing the effective immunity for shop thefts under £200.
The Independent
18 minutes ago
- The Independent
Gang dubbed ‘three musketeers' chased dog walker and stabbed him to death, court hears
Three men who called themselves the three musketeers chased down a man walking his dog before he was stabbed to death in a street, a court has heard. CCTV footage played to jurors at Chelmsford Crown Court showed 30-year-old Kieran Shepherd, with his pet on a lead, being chased by the three men in broad daylight in Great Baddow near Chelmsford in Essex last year. The chase, shown in footage, started at 12.24pm on October 15. Mr Shepherd was found lying on the floor at around 12.30pm by a cleaner who had been working in a nearby block and dialled 999. Mr Shepherd was pronounced dead at the scene in Meadgate Avenue at 1.22pm that day. Joseph Dawe, 20, of Greenland Gardens, Great Baddow, Zack O'Keeffe, 20, of Stafford Green, Langdon Hills, Basildon, and 20-year-old Harrison Carpenter, of Ben Wilson Link, Springfield, all deny murder and are on trial. Tracy Ayling KC, prosecuting, said Mr Shepherd was 'clearly caught by the three men and shortly afterwards he was found dead, stabbed in the back twice with a knife'. She said the knife was 'large' and the force used was such that the depth of the wound was 13 to 15 centimetres, going through his left lung and 'into his heart coming out the other side of it'. Ms Ayling said the prosecution case is that the three defendants are 'jointly responsible'. 'One person may have delivered the fatal blows but the prosecution case is the three are jointly liable as they were acting together in a joint attack,' she said. She continued: 'You will hear the defendants called themselves the three musketeers.' Cleaner Holly Duffett, who dialled 999, said she saw three men run across the street and the man in the middle was putting a knife into the waistband of his trousers, Ms Ayling said. In footage of the call played in court on Tuesday, Ms Duffett said a man had a 'massive shank', adding: 'I don't know if they've just stabbed him or something.' CCTV footage was played of the three men in a newsagents at 12.21pm, shortly before the stabbing, and at Carpenter's grandmother's address in the village of Stock afterwards, from 1.10pm. In a statement read by the prosecutor, Carpenter's girlfriend Olivia McElvaney said she was with Carpenter in Chelmsford on October 15. She said the pair were sitting on a bench when Carpenter received a phone call and O'Keeffe, who was driving a car, and Dawe, who was a passenger in the vehicle, met with them. 'They call themselves the three musketeers,' Ms McElvaney said in her statement, summarised by the prosecutor. Ms Ayling said Ms McElvaney 'knew Zack O'Keeffe was a drug dealer – she said he didn't hide the fact'. 'Possibly the plan was to get some food but suddenly Zack stopped the car as if he had seen someone he knew,' said Ms Ayling, summarising Ms McElvaney's evidence. She said the three men got out of the car and they were gone for around half an hour. 'When they got back in Zack drove off immediately,' Ms Ayling said. 'She (Ms McElvaney) said Zack kept saying 'shut up, shut up'.' She said she thought there was blood on Carpenter's jeans and she said she thought a knife in a sheath was passed to the back of the car. 'There was also talk between the defendants of the need to burn clothes,' Ms Ayling said. Ms Ayling said that the men went into some woods in Stock and later got a lift to a caravan in Clacton on Sea. She said Carpenter attended a police station and handed himself in on October 16, and O'Keeffe and Dawe 'weren't located until October 18'. The prosecutor said Ms McElvaney had also gone to the caravan at Clacton, and later gave a statement to police about what was said there. Ms McElvaney was asked by police: 'Did they say it was them that was there when Kieran got stabbed and that they were the group responsible?' Ms Ayling said: 'Her answer was yes.' She continued: 'She (Ms McElvaney) said Joe and Harrison had a fight with Kieran but Zack O'Keeffe stabbed him apparently twice in the back.' Ms McElvaney said that O'Keeffe said it 'had to be done', according to the prosecutor. 'The reason she said it had to be done, according to Olivia, was he (Mr Shepherd) had pulled a knife on a 14-year-old at some time in the past,' Ms Ayling said. 'Zack O'Keeffe said in stabbing Mr Shepherd he was doing the police's job for them.' The trial continues.
