Person seriously injured after reports Leighton Buzzard stabbing
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Telegraph
21 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Extra bobbies on beat reduce knife crime by up to 25pc, says Cooper
Extra bobbies on the beat have helped slash knife-enabled robberies by up to 25 per cent, Yvette Cooper has claimed. Seven forces reported falls of between 2 per cent and 25 per cent in muggings involving knives after targeted police campaigns against crime. Tactics included increasing visible patrols of bobbies on the beat, using drones, knife arches and detection dogs to support police on the ground, and deploying plain clothes officers. It followed a 14 per cent increase in knife-enabled robbery in the seven areas in the year to June last year amid a sharp decline in charging rates for the offences. The seven areas accounted for 70 per cent of knife-enabled robbery in England and Wales. Data published earlier this week showed just 5.1 per cent of robberies in London last year resulted in a perpetrator being charged, down from 6.8 per cent in 2021. For theft from the person, just one in 170 (0.6 per cent) of offences resulted in a charge, down from 1.1 per cent in 2021. After the blitz, West Midlands saw a 25 per cent fall, British Transport police 24 per cent, Avon and Somerset 9 per cent, West Yorkshire 7 per cent, South Yorkshire 6 per cent and the Met Police 2 per cent. Only Greater Manchester saw an increase of 4 per cent. Ms Cooper, the Home Secretary, said: 'When we came to office, knife-enabled robbery was increasing at a concerning rate, but we have now started to drive numbers of those offences down through the work of our dedicated taskforces, and as a result, we have also seen the first small reduction in overall knife crime for four years. 'The drop in knife-enabled robbery in key problem areas shows the impact that our strong new action on knife crime is having, but we now need to supercharge these efforts through more smart and targeted interventions. 'Anyone can be a victim of knife crime, but new 'hex mapping' technology shows that the vast majority of knife crime is concentrated in a relatively small, hyper-concentrated number of areas.' Data from the Office for National Statistics' Crime Survey for England and Wales, show that the proportion of the public who say they never see an officer on the beat has doubled in the past decade. Respondents who had never seen a foot patrol in their area rose to 54 per cent in 2023/24 compared with 27 per cent in 2009/10. Labour has pledged to put an extra 13,000 officers into neighbourhood roles. A ban on ninja swords also comes into force on Friday, as part of the Government's commitment to halve knife crime in the next decade. At least 1,000 of the weapons have been handed in as part of a surrender scheme. The Government has also pledged to tackle the sale of weapons online as part of Ronan's Law, which was introduced following the death of 16-year-old Ronan Kanda, who was murdered with a ninja sword bought online. This would require retailers to report bulk or suspicious knife orders to the police, put in place more stringent age-verification checks and impose significant fines on tech executives whose platforms fail to prevent illegal sales. Pooja Kanda, Ronan's mother, said: 'Ronan was just 16 years old when his life was stolen by a 22-inch ninja sword that should never have been so easy to buy. Ronan's Law is not only a step towards justice for my son, but for every parent who wants to see their child come home safely. 'This law is about saving lives, closing dangerous loopholes, and holding those responsible to account. The Government's knife surrender scheme has been a sign of commitment to tackling the scourge of knife crime. While there is still much more to do, these are significant steps in the right direction.' The Home Office has also said a 'surrender van' will be deployed at this year's Notting Hill Carnival.
Times
34 minutes ago
- Times
Could Ian Brady's missing memoir help solve the Moors Murders mystery?
The main anguished question left unanswered by the so-called Moors murderers is, of course: Where is the body of 12-year-old Keith Bennett? Many articles, books and documentaries have agonised over this mystery for decades but it is rare that one unearths something genuinely new and which points, 60 years after he was killed, to a solid clue. The Moors Murders: A Search for Justice (BBC2) may just have found, if not a smoking gun, a strong signpost. The second and final episode of this conscientious, unsensationalist series reveals that the film-maker and journalist Duncan Staff has unearthed Ian Brady's secret typewritten autobiography — which Brady grandly called 'Black Light' — in which he describes the planning, murder and hasty burial of his and Myra Hindley's first victim, Pauline Reade, in 1963, including counting out the paces from her grave. This document could be the guide to where Keith is buried on Saddleworth Moor — though frustratingly it stops abruptly before getting to him. There are 200 pages missing. But they must, Staff reasons, be somewhere. Astonishingly, the pages that Staff has been given have laid hidden for years, with the police seemingly unaware of their existence. Staff believes the missing ones may have been deposited with Brady's solicitor. Hours before Brady's death in 2017 he asked for locked suitcases of papers in his room to be handed to Robin Makin, his solicitor. Police and members of the victims' families have requested access to it but this has been denied. Makin did not respond to the film-makers' request for information about the autobiography, said a statement. Bennett was one of Brady and Hindley's five victims PA Perhaps even more astonishingly, when Staff presented his findings to Greater Manchester Police it was at first interested but then appeared to have a change of heart. In the past, searches on the moors have proved very expensive, though this was not cited as a reason. 'We will carefully consider and respond, in a timely and professional manner, to any credible evidence shared with us that may lead us towards finding Keith,' said a statement. I'm no expert but Staff's findings seem very credible. Staff has been given access to a trove of Brady's documents and tape recordings of his voice held by Brady's confidant, the former religious studies teacher Dr Alan Keightley. Though it feels soiling to hear Brady's self-pitying, foul-mouthed whingeing (he even calls his own solicitors 'c***s') that he is allowed only a 'f***ing typewriter'. This film is not interested in raking over the gruesome details of the torture, rape and murder of their young victims, which, depressingly, are all too familiar. Instead it examines the possibility of harnessing new technology — GPS, drones, analysis of Brady's photographs and 3D scanning of the landscape — perhaps finally to bring closure of sorts for Keith's family. (His mother, Winnie Johnson, was buried with his little spectacles — all that she had left of him.) Of course Brady was a calculating psychopath. It is quite possible he deliberately removed the pages to play mind games from the grave with those still seeking Keith's body, the last power card he had to play. Maybe they don't exist; maybe he destroyed them, relishing sending people on a wild goose chase after his death. But as someone said, this is a social matter now as much as a criminal one. This mystery needs to be solved and this child laid to rest, and if there is a chance these pages can help with that, then surely it's worth a shot. ★★★★☆ Love TV? Discover the best shows on Netflix, the best Prime Video TV shows, the best Disney+ shows, the best Apple TV+ shows, the best shows on BBC iPlayer, the best shows on Sky and Now, the , the best shows on Channel 4 streaming, the best shows on Paramount+ and our favourite hidden gem TV shows what to watch this week TV guide
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Man who burned a Virginia city councilman intended to kill him, police say
Police say a man who doused a Virginia city councilman in gasoline and set him on fire told investigators he wanted the attack to be fatal, according to charging documents available Thursday. Officials say the motive appears personal and unrelated to Lee Vogler's work as a public official. After Wednesday's attack, the 38-year-old father of two was flown by medical helicopter to a burn unit in North Carolina. The hospital hasn't provided an update on his condition. According to police, witnesses and Vogler himself, Shotsie Michael Buck-Hayes, 29, poured gasoline on the councilman after barging into his workplace at a local magazine. Buck-Hayes chased Vogler outside and ignited the gas, later telling police he intended for the flames to kill him, according to the documents. Buck-Hayes has since been charged with attempted first-degree murder and aggravated malicious wounding. Edward Lavado, an attorney representing him, declined to comment to The Associated Press on Thursday. At the scene, Vogler was able to tell multiple witnesses that Buck-Hayes had burned him, according to the charging documents. The complaint doesn't give details on how Buck-Hayes was taken into custody. The records were first reported by the Danville Register and Bee. Vogler has served on the Danville City Council for more than a decade and is known as a fixture of the small city near the Virginia-North Carolina state line, about 140 miles (230 kilometers) north of Charlotte. The police documents list a Danville address for Buck-Hayes as well. Andrew Scott Brooks, editor and publisher of Showcase Magazine, says the attacker forced his way into the office despite the door being locked and went straight for Vogler. 'The next thing, Lee is running through the office covered in gasoline, yelling for our officemate to call 911,' Brooks said Wednesday. Buck-Hayes was being held without bail in the Danville City Jail, records show.
