‘Toxic' influencers trick men into thinking women are against them
Sir Gareth Southgate has said 'manipulative and toxic influencers' trick young men into thinking women are against them, days after a court heard a killer 'turned to' Andrew Tate the day before murdering three people.
The former England manager said many young men end up 'searching for direction' and fill the void with a 'new kind of role model who do not have their best interest at heart'.
Crossbow and knife killer Kyle Clifford murdered his ex-partner Louise Hunt, her sister Hannah Hunt and their mother Carol Hunt in an act said to have been fuelled by the 'violent misogyny promoted' by controversial influencer Tate.
Sir Gareth followed in the footsteps of famous authors, actors, entrepreneurs and members of the royal family in delivering the 46th Richard Dimbleby Lecture at the University of London, where he said some influencers 'willingly trick young men into believing that success is measured by money or dominance'.
He said: 'As real-world communities and mentorship declines, young men end up withdrawing, reluctant to talk or express their emotions.
'They spend more time online searching for direction and are falling into unhealthy alternatives like gaming, gambling and pornography.
'And this void is filled by a new kind of role model who do not have their best interest at heart.
'These are callous, manipulative and toxic influencers, whose sole drive is for their own gain.
'They willingly trick young men into believing that success is measured by money or dominance, never showing emotion, and that the world … including women … is against them.
'They are as far away as you could possibly get from the role models our young men need in their lives.'
Previously, the Prime Minister's official spokesman said the Home Secretary was 'committed to cracking down on people pushing harmful and hateful beliefs, including extreme misogyny'.
In Romania, the Tate brothers are facing allegations of trafficking minors, sexual intercourse with a minor and money laundering.
A separate case against them, in which they are accused of human trafficking and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women, has been sent back to prosecutors.
In the UK, Bedfordshire Police secured a European arrest warrant for separate allegations of rape and human trafficking.
Those allegations, which the two brothers 'unequivocally deny', date back to 2012-2015.
Earlier in March, Florida attorney general James Uthmeier said on social media he had ordered a criminal inquiry into the Tate brothers after the two flew to the US state from Romania when their travel ban was lifted.
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Scottish Sun
9 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
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Daily Record
16 hours ago
- Daily Record
'El Chapo' brother of ex-Liverpool player disputes sentence for £26m drug empire
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Cassidy was sentenced to 21 years, nine months for conspiracy to import cocaine; conspiracy to supply cocaine; and conspiracy to conceal, transfer and disguise criminal proceeds. Cassidy appeared before London's Court of Appeal on May 20 this year in a renewed application for leave to appeal against his sentence. His challenge, brought before the high court by counsel Michael Bromley-Martin KC, said too low a discount was applied as credit for his guilty plea and the sentencing judge failed to consider exceptional mitigating factors. But dismissing his case, the Court of Appeal bench of Lord Justice Fraser, Mr Justice Hilliard and Mr Justice Constable said they were "not persuaded that the resulting sentences are manifestly excessive or reached after an error in principle". 'Instrumental in organising significant quantities of drugs' The high court heard that EncroChat data showed Cassidy's first importation occurred in early March 2020, when 194 kilograms of cocaine, which was in blocks embossed with snowmen, was imported into the country. The payments for the consignment were arranged by Ahmed, with the two men sharing the profits, which amounted to between £2,000 and £10,000 per kilo. The ECHO previously reported how the gang brought the drugs into the UK via Amsterdam hidden in vehicles with modified hides. Cassidy exchanged messages with a Dutch contact on April 2 of the same year to arrange 90 kilos of cocaine and Ahmed arranged a Hawala banker in Amsterdam to release payment. Arrangements continued until police arrested a courier and found €800,000 and nine-and-a-half kilos of cocaine. 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Daily Mirror
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All the clues that finally nailed paedo sex pest as prime Maddie McCann suspect
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Refusing to answer any questions about Madeleine, he instead admitted he planned to flee if released from prison. Here we break down Brueckner's dark past and how he became the main suspect in the missing case leaving Maddie's family in turmoil. READ MORE: Six major questions raised by Madeleine McCann suspect's letter - from DNA to photos First conviction In 1994, when he was just 17, Brueckner was first convicted of child sexual abuse, attempted abuse, and performing sexual acts in front of a child. But to avoid a youth custody sentence, he fled to Portugal with a girlfriend, prompting a European arrest warrant. After the couple split, Brueckner lived as a drifter, taking on various odd jobs before settling in a dilapidated house near the Praia da Luz resort in the mid-1990s. He frequently returned to the area over the years and has since been linked to the disappearances of seven-year-old Jair Soares and 16-year-old Belgian tourist Carola Titze, both of whom vanished around that period. In 1999, Portuguese authorities eventually apprehended him and returned him to Germany to serve his youth sentence, raising concerns over why he was not monitored more closely afterward. Police evasion Over the next two decades, Brueckner moved between Germany and Portugal, managing to evade criminal proceedings varying from drug trafficking to theft and sexual offences. Witnesses during a later rape trial described him as living a life of petty crime, often targeting holiday apartments with "open windows," the Telegraph reports. The rape for which he is currently imprisoned occurred in 2005. The victim, a 72-year-old American woman, lived in a flat just half a mile from where Madeleine would disappear two years later. Late one night, Brueckner broke into her home, assaulted her with a 30cm scimitar – a short, curved sword – before sexually assaulting her. The rape was investigated in Portugal but the police eventually shelved the case. It was only much later that a former accomplice of Brueckner's, who had stolen diesel with him, which lead to Brueckner's 2006 arrest, discovered a video of the rape and reported it to the police. In late 2019, Brueckner was finally sentenced. The convicted sex offender was reportedly staying in a camper van just several miles away from the apartment the McCanns were staying at when Madeleine vanished. In 2020, police revealed that his phone placed him in the vicinity on the night she disappeared. Brueckner has always denied any involement. Huge investigation 'error' The 48 year old was first associated with Madeleine's case in 2013 after the McCanns appealed for information on the German equivalent of Crimewatch, Aktenzeichen XY. Among around 500 calls, authorities received a credible tip. A former associate matched Brueckner to a sketch of a man seen by the site where Madeleine vanished. Following the McCanns' TV appeal, police in the German town of Braunschweig - Brueckner's residence at the time - sent a letter to Brueckner inviting him to be interviewed as a witness in the "missing person case of Madeleine McCann".. Jon Clarke, a journalist and author of My Search for Madeleine, argues this was a monumental misstep "They messed up, they sent a policeman around to his house and told him he had to appear in a police station three days later to answer questions in the case of Madeleine McCann," Clarke wrote."They actually wrote it on the letter, so he was completely warned, and in those three days who knows what happened?" An officer who spoke to Der Spiegel magazine in Germany also acknowledged the error, saying: "This should not have happened and in no way complies with common procedure in such a delicate case." Clarke suggests that Brueckner's evasion is partly due to the involvement of numerous German police forces, his travels across Germany, as well as trips to Portugal and back, which has led to a lack of communication between agencies. "In different police forces, and it's been very difficult therefore to piece things together," he explained. However, Brueckner's criminal past began to catch up with him. In 2017, he was found guilty of sexually assaulting a child in Germany in 2013 - the five year old daughter of a former girlfriend - and was sentenced to 15 months behind bars. The assault took place in a public park and explicit photos were later discovered on a digital camera when police were probing him for a separate domestic violence allegation. Shock Maddie claim Following his release from prison on sex assault charges, it is reported that Brueckner was in a pub with a friend when televisions broadcasted the 10th-anniversary coverage of Madeleine's disappearance. This allegedly led him to admit that he "knew all about" what had happened to her, before allegedly showing a video of himself raping a woman. It is believed that his friend then reported him to the authorities. In the same year, Helge B, a former friend of Brueckner's, reportedly claimed that the suspect confessed to killing the three-year-old, saying she "didn't scream". Helge once claimed he had stolen a camera and videotapes showing Brückner raping several women - and this evidence helped put him behind bars for the rape of a 72-year-old American woman, a crime he is currently serving a prison sentence in Germany for. While Brueckner's lawyer alleged Helge's testimony was false, these claims were thrown out by a judge. Brueckner was apprehended the following year in Italy and extradited to Germany, this time on a warrant related to drug trafficking. He was imprisoned for 21 months for dealing drugs and subsequently convicted for the rape of his American victim. Bombshell new evidence In 2020, the German prosecutor announced that Madeleine was presumed dead and named Brueckner as the official suspect – marking the first time his name had been publicly disclosed. Investigator Hans Christian Wolters said in 2022: "We are sure he is the murderer of Madeleine McCann". The evidence for the announcement has remained somewhat ambiguous, but last month, a Channel 4 documentary, produced in collaboration with The Sun, unveiled a series of disturbing finds allegedly uncovered by police in 2016 at an abandoned factory once owned by Brueckner in Neuwegersleben, eastern Germany. Among the trove were said to be toys, children's clothing – including 75 girls' swimsuits – as well as chemicals and firearms. Also found were an 80GB hard drive and laptop, USB sticks, and memory cards, some stashed in a Lidl bag beneath the remains of his deceased dog. Reportedly, some of these items contained appalling communications with paedophiles, expressing desires to "capture something small and use it for days" along with images of child abuse. There have even been assertions that there is proof of Madeleine's death. "They are certain that he's the man who did it and they do have evidence that they haven't revealed," Clarke said. However, he clarified that they require all pieces of the puzzle to engage in a "tactical game" with Brueckner, who is backed by formidable legal representation. Brueckner is due to be released from jail in September if no further charges are brought. In October last year, he was cleared by a German court of unrelated sexual offences, alleged to have taken place in Portugal between 2000 and 2017. It comes after German and Portuguese police came together this week to search every property and pieces of land linked to Brueckner, ahead of his September release. This search, the most significant since 2008, included an abandoned farmhouse surrounded by partially collapsed outbuildings. Police were spotted removing mounds of earth from the scene, which was then taken away in plastic bags for further examination. Firemen were also spotted draining an abandoned well. Now, police are investigating samples of 'clothes and bones' found in last week's search, it is claimed. Initial reports suggested the operation - which took place 30 miles from where three-year-old Madeleine went missing in May 2007 - had failed to turn up any new leads. But now, it has been claimed that fragments of clothing and bones are to undergo testing this week after being uncovered at the scene. A source told Berlin Morning Post: 'Several objects have apparently been discovered, which are now being examined in more detail by the police in the laboratory. 'As Portuguese media report, clothing debris and bones were found, among other things. 'The investigators have not officially commented on whether the finds could have anything to do with Madeleine's disappearance but that is clearly their hope.'
