Notts knife attack victim's mum slams ‘shameful' BBC for failing to apologise for chat with killer's family
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Emma Webber, mother of Barnaby Webber, has still not relieved an apology from the BBC
Credit: The Times
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Barney Webber was murdered by Valdo Calocane in Nottingham in June 2023
Credit: PA
The BBC's complaints unit later said it would get a response within 35 days.
But six months on, the families have had nothing — so have gone to boss Tim Davie.
Emma said: 'It's exhausting, draining and shameful we have to escalate our concerns to the very top to get a response.'
read more on bbc
The families complained that Panorama's The Nottingham Attacks: A Search for Answers contained 'serious inaccuracies and omissions'.
They also said the report — about
The BBC yesterday apologised for the delay.
Calocane killed Emma's student son
Most read in The Sun
The schizophrenic got
The 11 deadly blunders that left Valdo Calocane free to kill as Nottingham victims' parents say cops have blood on hands
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Calocane's family were interviewed for Panorama's The Nottingham Attacks: A Search for Answers
Credit: PA
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Grace O'Malley- Kumar was killed by Calocane while out with Webber
Credit: PA
5
Caretaker Ian Coates was killed by Calocane during his horrific rampage
Credit: PA
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The Irish Sun
9 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Kin actor, 30, appears in court charged over knife possession & faces €1,000 fine or jail if guilty amid continuing bail
KIN star Ryan Lincoln appeared in court this week where he was charged with the possession of a knife, the Irish Sun can reveal. The well-known actor, who has an address in Poppintree, Ballymun in north Dublin, was remanded on continuing bail. 5 Ryan Lincoln appeared before Dublin District Court on knife possession charges 5 Ryan grew up in Ghana in west Africa before moving to Ireland in 1996 Credit: Barry Cronin 5 Ryan is best known for playing Kem in RTE crime series Kin Credit: BBC The 30-year-old is facing two charges relating to an incident on Tuesday, the same day he was arrested and brought before a Judge at Dublin District Court. Mr Lincoln is accused of possession of a knife 'which had a blade or which was sharply pointed' in the area of Balcurris Park West in Dublin 11 on August 12. The accused is also facing a rap for failing to provide a member of An Garda Siochana with his name and address after the member made the demand. The charges are contrary to Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act and the Public Order Act. Mr Lincoln was remanded on continuing bail and will appear again later this year. If Mr Lincoln is found guilty of the possession of a knife offence at District court level, he may be fined up to €1,000 or face up to 12 months behind bars, or both. There are harsher penalties if he is convicted of this offence at a higher court, which has harsher sentencing, with a maximum of five years behind bars. In relation to the alleged public order offence, he could face a term of imprisonment not exceeding 6 months, a fine of up to €500 or both. Lincoln is best known for playing the fictional role of Kem in hit telly crime series Kin, which was filmed in Ireland and first aired on RTE. He starred alongside Aidan Gillen, Clare Dunne, Charlie Cox and Ciaran Hinds, of whom he previously said of: 'Seeing these masters at their craft is invaluable learning.' Emmett Scanlan opens up on future of hit BBC show Kin and reveals if he'll return for series three In the drama, his character Kem was killed off in the second series after playing both sides between the rival groupings, the Kinsellas for the Cunninghams. Mr Lincoln also played notable roles in the 2017 Irish films Cardboard Gangsters and Kissing Candice. Mr Lincoln studied Television and digital film in Ballyfermot College of Further Education and later film production at Colaiste Dhulaigh College of Further Education. 'ALWAYS WANTED TO BE AN ACTOR' On his publicly available resume, or CV, he told how he was born in Ghana in west Africa before his family emigrated to Ireland in 1996. He wrote: 'Growing up with mixed heritage has made me aware of different aspects of society. 'I always wanted to be an actor, my love of film first started by being enamored watching films as a child. "Star Wars, Terminator, Greystoke, Toy Story, The Matrix all spring to mind. 'I have continued down this path and have spent the last few years developing a substantial acting career. In an interview with the Irish Sun in 2021, Lincoln said he was 'born to do acting.' 'BORN TO DO ACTING' He said: 'I did a small scene in a film called Kisses. 'Myself and a few of my mates started going to a youth club. "The youth club got me into music workshops and then actor John Connors came around to do an acting workshop. 'I feel like I was born to do acting but I keep returning to the music too.' Speaking at the time about the fame from the hit series Kin, he added: 'Most of the country seem to be watching it on Sunday nights. "I've heard from guys I haven't seen in years, ringing to say, 'What are you doing in my living room? I'm watching this show'. 'I've also had people from all walks of life coming up to me. I love it, I don't discriminate.' 5 Ryan studied Television and digital film in Ballyfermot College of Further Education Credit: Barry Cronin
The Irish Sun
16 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
My gangster gran Big Mags went from paedo-hunter hero to public enemy after secret £1K-a-day heroin empire exposed
Her granddaughter speaks for the first time in a new podcast and offers surprising new insight on the mum-of-eight GRAN PLAN My gangster gran Big Mags went from paedo-hunter hero to public enemy after secret £1K-a-day heroin empire exposed SHE was the Scottish grandmother dubbed a local hero after galvanising a group of locals into protesting about re-homing a convicted child sex offender on their housing estate in Stirling. Straight-talking Margaret Haney, seen by many as a campaigning voice for the common person, shot to fame after appearing on the popular BBC daytime chat show Kilroy in the late 90s. Advertisement 13 Scottish grandmother Margaret Haney, aka Big Mags, was dubbed a local hero after galvanising a group of locals into protesting about re-homing a convicted child sex offender on their housing estate in Stirling Credit: Newsflash 13 Big Mags appeared on popular BBC daytime chat show Kilroy in the late 90s Credit: BBC 13 The extraordinary story of this larger-than-life woman is told in a new podcast Credit: BBC In her early 50s and known as 'Big Mags', she cut an unlikely heroic figure with her short blonde hair, chunky earrings and plain T-shirt and leggings. But behind her 'anti-paedophile campaigner' image was a very different woman. For Big Mags was also the matriarch of a criminal family, who made hundreds of thousands of pounds from drug dealing. Dubbed the 'Family from Hell', they terrorised the neighbourhood with a string of thefts and violence across Stirling before fed up locals turned on her - ironically driving her out using the mob protest tactics she'd become famous for. Advertisement The extraordinary story of this larger-than-life woman is told in a new BBC Sounds podcast Crime Next Door: The Ballad of Big Mags, in which her granddaughter Cassie Donald speaks for the first time. Cassie - whose mum Diane was described as a 'lynch-pin' of the drug dealing operation - believes Mags's legacy is more complex than was portrayed in the media. "Two things can be true at one time," she says. "You can be a drug dealer who has sold drugs that have potentially killed people, but you can also still be a loving grandmother and a good person.' Advertisement During the 1980s Mags had eight children - seven of whom have been in jail or in custody. Mags too had her own convictions – assault, breach of the peace, contempt of court and fraud. Man, 29, arrested after woman, 21, 'stabbed' outside Scots pub 13 Parents conducting a peaceful vigil outside the hostel for the homeless in Stirling where convicted paedophile Alan Christie was staying Credit: Alamy 13 Mags was instrumental in getting Christie forced out of the area Credit: Jim Stewart Advertisement She and her kids lived on the Raploch housing estate, with various grandchildren, nephews and nieces scattered across the complex. In late 1996, 12 schools close to the Raploch received a leaked confidential note that a paedophile was living in the area, in accommodation provided by the council. Furious Mags led a protest, mainly of women, outside the accommodation, demanding he be removed. When the man, Alan Christie, was taken away for his own safety, the people of Raploch celebrated their victory. Advertisement TV news and newspapers were hooked on this down-to-earth grandmother and she revelled in it Myles Bonnar 'As for Big Mags, this was only the beginning,' says presenter Myles Bonnar. 'The vigilante mob leader was now a woman on a mission. 'TV news and newspapers were hooked on this down-to-earth grandmother and she revelled in it.' Cassie recalls: 'I'm not going to say she didn't love the attention, because she did. Advertisement 'They all tell funny stories about that time. If I remember correctly, one of them said she had a child's karaoke machine with a mic and would use it to rally the local community to get involved in the protest.' 'Keeping courts in business' 13 Mags led a protest, mainly of women, demanding the child sex offender be removed from their estate Credit: Newsflash 13 On August 25, 1997, a crowd started to gather outside Mags' flat, which grew 400-strong Credit: James Stewart But Mags would soon regret stepping into the limelight. Advertisement Many on the estate knew the other side to Big Mags, and were appalled that she was being feted as a campaigning hero. Angry letters started being sent to newspapers, with one stating: 'Only a few months ago I was reading about her criminal family keeping the courts in business. 'Now she's appearing as a community spokesperson on a chat show.' Another raged: 'The majority of people living in Raploch are disgusted by the publicity given to Big Mags Haney. Advertisement 'She and her followers are just the minority in our community. Please don't give her any more publicity.' Mark McGivern, chief reporter at the Daily Record, recalls: 'The amount of crimes committed in Stirling by that family was legion.' In the podcast Caroline Dunbar tells of her family's nightmare while living in a flat below Mags. They came in through the window and stole the television that my dad got me four months before, for my birthday Caroline Dunbar 'It was just unreal. My mum couldn't sleep at night with them banging doors and windows and walking up and down the stairs every night,' she says. Advertisement 'They actually went into my room and stole my television. My window was open a bit and I was in the living room with my mum, my dad and my brother and a couple of my pals. 'They came in through the window and stole the television that my dad got me four months before, for my birthday.' She also claims she was on the receiving end of threats - including that they would throw eggs at her wedding car. Things turned even scarier when, in 1994, Mags' 16-year-old granddaughter Kim stood on a wheelie bin and set light to Caroline's curtains through an open window. Advertisement The fire destroyed one room and covered the rest of the flat in soot. The council put Caroline and her family into bed and breakfast accommodation and they never returned. 'We were too scared to go back,' she says. Oddly, Mags turned her own granddaughter in over this incident, taking her to the police station. Advertisement 'Family from Hell' 13 Mags was forced to move to temporary accommodation on Upper Bridge Street in Stirling after being hounded out of her home Credit: Alan MacGregor Ewing - The Sun Glasgow 13 The crowd chanted for the Haneys to get out, singing, 'Build a bonfire and put the Haneys on the top' (pictured: Mags responds to the protest) Credit: James Stewart One case in May 1995, on the face of it quite minor, would launch the Haneys from local court reporting to national notoriety. Mags's 20-year-old son, Jo Jo Haney, was in court where he received a 60-day prison sentence for planning a theft at a hotel. Advertisement The Sherriff that day remarked during the sentencing: 'What troubles me is the misery that this particular family has inflicted on the Raploch community over many, many years. 'If I were the presiding Sherriff here, I'd be taking very severe steps to make sure that this particular family are deterred from any further offending.' To his astonishment, Mags told Mr McGivern outside the court: 'I don't know what he's complaining about. It's my family that keeps him in a job.' The story was widely reported the following day, and the clan was now on the newspapers' radar as 'The Family from Hell'. Advertisement A petition sprung up demanding that the council remove the Haney family from the estate, attracting hundreds of signatures. On August 25, 1997, a crowd started to gather outside Mags' flat, which grew 400-strong. They began chanting for the Haneys to get out, singing: 'Build a bonfire and put the Haneys on the top.' I don't know what he's complaining about. It's my family that keeps him in a job Big Mags Mags was taken away under police escort, giving everyone the finger as she left. Advertisement She would never return to the estate. Her reign within the Raploch was over. But she was far from finished. Settling nearby in Lower Bridge Street, Stirling, Mags' drug dealing became very lucrative as she moved on to heroin. Mr McGivern began quietly investigating, posing as a dealer to buy drugs from her family of distributors, and eventually ran a story on his newspaper's front page with a picture of Big Mags, headlined: 'Dealer Number One.' Sgt Simon McLean of the Serious Crime Squad worked undercover as a local in the community for three weeks, building a case against her. Advertisement 'We got the lowdown on what was happening from pubs and clubs and all the rest of it,' he says. £1,000-a-day heroin empire 13 Mags was arrested in 2001 after police raided her home in Stirling Credit: Newsflash Bit by bit, people began to open up, and Mags was arrested in 2001. At her trial the court was told she would often earn up to a thousand pounds a day from her drugs operation - while claiming £1,200 a month in state benefits. Advertisement With a week of the trial still to go, the four main family players pleaded guilty to supplying heroin on a large scale over a number of years. Mags got 12 years, daughter Diane - Cassie's mother - got nine, cousin Roseanne seven and Mags' son Hugh five years. Despite these convictions, local residents and journalists remained puzzled as to why it took so long to dismantle the Haney drug operation, allegedly rampant throughout the 1990s. Asked why their drug operation wasn't shut down sooner, Sgt McLean is in no doubt. Advertisement There is no doubt that Mags Haney was a criminal informer Sgt Simon McLean 'It was because of her relationship with the police,' he says. 'I've dealt with many very serious criminals and I've never known a successful one, who has made a life of it, that hasn't been talking to and informing the police, at some level. 'There is no doubt that Mags Haney was a criminal informer.' After a few months in prison Mags was diagnosed with cervical cancer, and later developed lung cancer. Advertisement She served six years before being released in 2009. She died in August 2013 aged 70. The full series of the Crime Next Door: The Ballad of Big Mags podcast is available on BBC Sounds now. 13 Mags served six years before being released in 2009 (pictured in 2012) Credit: Daily Record/Media Scotland 13 Big Mags died in August 2013, aged 70 Credit: James Stewart Advertisement
Irish Independent
19 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Former SDLP leader Colum Eastwood confirms he's in a relationship with Labour MP
The MP for Foyle said that following the breakup of his marriage, both he and his ex-wife are happy with new partners. "We're very happy and we're getting on well. It's fun and it's interesting,' he told the BBC's Red Lines podcast. "Louise is great and people here will know Louise from her time in Northern Ireland. "She's a feisty, strong, tough MP for Sheffield but also somebody who is prepared to say what needs to be said in difficult times even when it costs you your political career. Ms Haigh was also the Secretary for Transport, though she stood down from her position in November 2024. It came after it emerged she pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation in 2014, after reporting that her phone had been stolen the previous year. In the BBC podcast, it was also revealed that the MP for Foyle had been offered a knighthood by a Westminster politician but turned it down. 'I always say that the political establishment in London don't really understand the north,' he said 'Not that long ago, when the Tories were in power, I was offered a knighthood. "I looked at the person and used language that I can't use in this podcast and said: 'Do you know who it is you're talking to'?' "And [they said] 'well, what about the privy council, would you like to go on the privy council'? "I said, 'I tell you what, the Budget's coming up, throw in a few quid for Derry from that Towns Fund and that'll do alright'. So we got £20m for Derry as part of that conversation. 'I think a lot of people there would love that, but not for me. In order to thank people [in Westminster] or buy them in, they give them all these things. 'As someone who doesn't even want Westminster to even be running Northern Ireland I have no interest in any kind of bonds from any British government. I was happy with the £20m for Derry.' Since stepping down as leader of the SDLP, the MP has been speaking of the dysfunction at Stormont, revealing he found it easier to implement change when Stormont is collapsed. 'I find it easier to get things done for people in Derry when Stormont's collapsed,' he said. "I think people feel Stormont isn't working and there's a big problem with that because, at some point, the next time it collapses, people will say, 'let's just leave it down', and I don't think that would be good either. "People deserve government, I think, that delivers for them and I'm not sure too many people would agree that they have been delivering." Mr Eastwood also spoke in the interview of his early political career, having joined the SDLP when he was 15, handing out leaflets for the 'yes' campaign for the Good Friday Agreement alongside the late John and Pat Hume. He had joined off the back of the peace agreement being signed. 'The civil rights movement as a kind of a thing that had happened before I was born,' he added. 'It was always strong as an influence on us growing up. 'There was a friend of the family, who was taught by my father, who was a member of the SDLP. 'He came into the house and I would have argued with him about different things maybe that the SDLP were doing. 'He came to the door at the Good Friday Agreement campaign, the SDLP were the only party to knock doors for the yes campaign. 'I said 'my parents aren't in' and he said 'well, it's you I am looking for'. I looked down the street and there was John and Pat Hume walking down my street. 'Hume was ever present in Derry. And we had a caravan in Greencastle where he would spend time, so we would always see John about. '[He was] very encouraging, he was encouraging me not to knock doors and go study for my GCSEs. Pat Hume banned me from knocking doors during one particular campaign because I had exams. 'But I just stayed out of her way and did it anyway.' Since stepping down as SDLP leader, the nationalist politician said he is still considering whether to put himself forward for this year's Irish presidential election. 'A number of people from a number of political parties in the south have talked to me about that,' he said. 'Truthfully, I am concerned that we have a discussion as part of that presidential election that doesn't ignore the north. 'The most important thing for me is, will there be a conversation during this election campaign about the future of Ireland to bring the two peoples of this country together.'
