Three arrested in London murder investigation after woman fatally assaulted
Metropolitan Police were called to Chadwell Heath Lane just after 5:30 AM on Saturday, where the woman was pronounced dead at the scene.
Three men have been arrested in connection with the incident: a 35-year-old on suspicion of murder, and two others aged 21 and 22 for assisting an offender.
Detectives believe this was an isolated incident and that those involved were known to each other.
The victim's family has been informed and is being supported, while police continue their investigation and appeal for information.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
5 minutes ago
- The Sun
I had revenge sex after boyfriend bedded my pal – but he thinks what I did was WORSE and constantly brings it up
DEAR DEIDRE: AFTER my boyfriend slept with my friend, I had revenge sex with someone from work. I forgave my boyfriend but apparently what I did is still an issue. We're eight months on and he constantly brings up my cheating. Yet, somehow, his infidelity isn't as important. I'm 25 and he is 26. We've been together for almost two years. A while back we went through a bad patch, because I felt neglected and needed more affection from him, but he refused to change. Miserable, I decided to take a break to see if he would change his mind. It backfired because within a week he had sex with a friend of mine. I was heartbroken but he convinced me to give him another chance. It played on my mind and I couldn't forget what he'd done. We decided we needed some space from one another to work out what we wanted. I was so angry and admit I behaved recklessly. One night I went out after work and got drunk. Looking back I can see I was on a mission: I flirted outrageously and went home with one of my colleagues, my mind was full of revenge. I knew this guy liked me, he had made it obvious before. He's 30 and single but he was a let-down in bed. Afterwards I felt so guilty, I confessed to my boyfriend. Spotting the signs your partner is cheating Still, I was taken aback when he admitted he'd been getting to know another girl and she had given him oral sex. We agreed to forgive one another but my boyfriend is finding it difficult to forget. He always brings up what I did, even though I don't say anything about his behaviour. My sex drive is almost non-existent now. I wonder if it's because he won't accept we are as bad as each other. DEIDRE SAYS: As you now know, two wrongs do not make a right. I understand your anger with your boyfriend but, as you discovered, revenge didn't give you the satisfaction you were seeking. Every time something goes wrong in your relationship, you both run away from the issues. But unless you can dig in, talk about how you feel and start to open up, it won't be possible to create trust. You both will continue to question the other, think the worst of them and – in time – no doubt stray again. You need to be positive about the future and the pleasures you can share but if nothing changes you should think about calling it a day. My support pack Cheating – Can You Get Over It? will help. I'VE LOST WIFE TO THE GYM DEAR DEIDRE: MY wife wants to move out, leaving me and the kids. I put it down to her gym obsession – or one of her workout buddies has turned her head. She joined a gym three years ago, now she's addicted. She's constantly posting on social media about how far she's run or how many bench presses she's done. Is anyone interested? Even our two teenage kids are fed-up. It's as if we don't exist – she'll meet friends from the gym on Tuesdays and Friday nights and now it's spilling into our weekends. We had a row about me feeling second-best but she said she can't give up the gym and we'd be better off with her living elsewhere. I'm a 45-year-old man, she's 40. There's a guy who always goes out with her. He's 43 and equally obsessed with fitness. She says they're friends. But why this sudden urgency for her to get her own place? DEIDRE SAYS: She's checked out – but you can fight to keep her invested, for the sake of all of you. Keep calm and hold a mirror up to her obsession. Explain the children are missing her presence and so are you. She may be feeling a crisis at reaching 40 but she's paying a high price. Be honest – if you've neglected your relationship too, tell her that you're going to wipe the slate clean and look at it through fresh eyes. Counselling will help. See or call 020 7380 1975. SEXY PHONE PICS ENRAGED LOVER DEAR DEIDRE: SOME revealing pictures and messages sent to me by an old friend have flipped out my girlfriend, after she went into my phone and saw them. I am 27 and my girlfriend is 24. We have been together for two years and I absolutely adore her. We met online but I am the first proper boyfriend she has had and the only guy she has fallen in love with. I have no intention of ever cheating on her but do have a bit of a reputation for being flirty. I bumped into my old friend in a coffee shop in town. I have known her since we were both 16. She looked amazing and it was good to see her. My friend and I had never got together but I'd always fancied her so when I discovered she had always liked me it was a huge ego boost. That day we sat and chatted and she admitted she had always had a crush on me. I didn't really know what to say so just laughed it off. But a few days later she messaged me and we began chatting. At first it was just day-to-day stuff but then the messages became flirtier. I now realise a little bit of flirting can run away with you and soon become out of control. My girlfriend has accused me of cheating, which I guess it was. I am now wondering whether I will ever be able to have a relationship without harming it. I can't eat or sleep worrying about the damage I have caused to my relationship. DEIDRE SAYS: Flirting may seem harmless but some see it as micro-cheating. Your girlfriend clearly feels you have betrayed her. She needs to know that you are there for her, because your attention has certainly been elsewhere. Ask yourself how you would feel if she was exchanging revealing pictures and messages with another guy. Talk to her about her boundaries, and what constitutes cheating in her eyes, and see if you can agree limits. Talking this through will bring you closer. Flirting can be driven by low self-worth. My support pack Raising Self-esteem explains more about the underlying causes. BOYFRIEND DUMPED ME FOR ARMY DEAR DEIDRE: I AM heartbroken because my boyfriend is joining the Army and no longer wants to be in a relationship with me. I have begged him to reconsider but he is adamant that he has made up his mind. I have even said I will move to wherever he is going to be based, so we can be closer, but he is not listening. He doesn't want to know. I am 19 and my boyfriend is 20. We have been together for almost a year. We discussed marriage and kids, even though he never made as much effort as I did during our time together. I have been saving for our wedding for over a year and he told me he was putting money aside to buy me an engagement ring. I know he has always wanted a career in the Army and there is nothing wrong with him being ambitious. What I can't understand is why he is being so cruel by completely cutting me out of his life. I am devastated. DEIDRE SAYS: I am sorry he has dealt with this in such a hurtful way. He is young, and clearly wants to see more of life and broaden his horizons before he settles down. Even though it is devastating for you, it is better that you find out now rather than later down the line. My support pack Mend Your Broken Heart will help you to learn from this and move on.
The Sun
5 minutes ago
- The Sun
Rank unfairness of UK today means Starmer's Two Tier Kier nickname has stuck – but here's how he can shed it
FOR those enraged at growing evidence of 'two-tier' Britain, the acquittal of Ricky Jones last week was just the latest depressing example. Here was a Labour councillor being cleared of encouraging violent disorder despite calling for far-right protesters to have their throats slit. 3 3 Reform and the Tories seized on the case as yet another blinding display of courtroom double standards. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp wasted no time laying the travesty squarely at the feet of Sir Keir Starmer. In a tweet viewed more than two million times, he said 'as far as I can see, this Labour Government seems to be quite happy with two-tier justice'. Cue howls of anger from online liberals, who breathlessly crowed that not only was he disrespecting the decision of a jury, he was unfairly meting out blame to ministers. 'You ought to know this has nothing to do with them', retorted the arch-Conservative wet Dominic Grieve. 'That is the hallmark of a rabble rouser.' Rank unfairness But people are roused. In fact, they are bloody furious about what they perceive to be rampant 'two-tierism'. The refrain thundered into the political lexicon like a bullet train in the tinderbox aftermath of last year's Southport riots. In that sticky, angry summer, there was a feeling the clunking fist of the British state was being disproportionately brought down upon a certain kind of protester. For a public that routinely watches paedophiles walk free, the case of Lucy Connolly — slung in the slammer for a disgraceful but quite clearly stupid tweet — became a lightning rod. Even now, her 31-month jail sentence is the yardstick held up against some of the more mind-boggling outcomes from our judiciary. 'Two-tier' justice savaged by Kemi Badenoch who blasts 'extraordinary' decision to spare Huw Edwards You can argue the toss over how much blame ministers should shoulder for policing and court decisions. We have an independent judiciary but it is of course Parliament that makes our laws and ministers who make the political weather. Rightly or wrongly, Starmer is the man at the sharp end of the criticism. And much more dangerously for him, allegations of two-tier standards have now stretched well beyond the orbit of crime and seeped into every cranny of public life. It has become a byword for the rank unfairness voters see in modern day Britain. Charges of two-tierism are so common I'd eat my notebook if it is not the 2025 Oxford word of the year. For voters who feel they are being taken for a ride, they now see two-tierism everywhere they look Of all the unfortunate nicknames bestowed upon our Prime Minister, none has stuck quite so solidly as Two Tier Keir. For voters who feel they are being taken for a ride, they now see two-tierism everywhere they look. Ordinary British families struggling to pay the rent watch in fury as undocumented illegal migrants waltz into hotels for free bed and board. Law-abiding citizens paying full whack for council services and leisure activities read revelations in The Sun about small-boat migrants getting discounts. Millions of workers setting their alarm clocks for crack of dawn see an ever-growing number of their countrymen and women signing on for welfare with zero requirements to look for work. Taxpayers squeezed more than ever wonder where the improvement in public services is to show for it. Passengers paying hefty Tube fares rattle with rage as guards turn a blind eye to entitled oiks bumping the barriers. And just last week, we saw Birmingham council tear down St George flags from lamp-posts while turning a blind eye to Palestinian ones. Two-tierism is more than just a buzzword — it captures the mood of a nation fed up with a system they increasingly feel is not on their side. The PM's political enemies are alive to just how damaging the Two Tier Keir narrative has become. Consider how just last year those who brandished allegations of two-tierism were dismissed as cranks and nutjobs, whereas now these are mainstream complaints. Even when Starmer was shoving Netflix show Adolescence down our throats, but neglected to watch a documentary about grooming gangs, he was accused of 'two-tier telly'. How does Sir Keir neutralise these attacks and restore the faith of a nation that loves rules and loathes unfairness? Winning the trust of voters always starts by showing them you get it. Starmer will never himself use the T-word — a refrain adopted mainly by the political Right. And it is unlikely this former lawyer will start openly criticising his old profession, although it is a good first step that he has pledged new legislation to stop dinghy-chasing lawyers weaponising European human-rights laws. Kick up backside Expect him to start wrapping himself up in the language of 'fairness' over the next few months, though, as he tries to show he does in fact get it. He tweeted yesterday: 'I will do what it takes to uphold the law and ensure fairness for the British people. 'If someone doesn't have the right to be in this country, we won't allow them to stay.' Which is all well and good, but the rhetoric has to be matched by results. Whitehall departments have been given a kick up the backside to deliver positive stories about this Government to sell. At a recent summer bash, No10 chiefs told Cabinet aides that the Health, Treasury and Environment departments had churned out the most 'top of the grid' stories — a pointed reminder to slackers to up their game. Stopping the boats, closing hotels, driving living standards, going after genuine criminals and getting more people into work — voters don't ask the world of their politicians, they just want the basics done right so they can get on in life. Sir Keir needs to restore that uniquely British sense of fairness — or it could all end in tiers. NEVER wrestle with a pig – you both get dirty but the pig likes it. I fear Sir Keir Starmer's latest mud-slinging campaign against Nigel Farage could see him end up on the wrong end of that old political slogan. 3 New Labour attack ads claim the Reform leader 'wants to make it easier to share revenge porn online' and would 'put women and girls at risk'. Another one attempts to portray him as best mates with social media misogynist Andrew Tate. It all comes shortly after ministers lampooned Farage, right, as 'on the side' of modern day Jimmy Saviles. Politics can be a dirty business and sometimes it pays dividends to go below the belt. But if the gloves are off, the PM should not be surprised if he now gets hit back twice as hard. And Reform are hardly the sort who will pull their punches. I suspect the real reason Labour has ratcheted up the criticism is that nothing else is sticking to Teflon Nige, or knocking him off his perch atop the polls. A No10 insider recently told me their attempts to undermine the costs of Farage's policies were futile. They said: 'We are so far out from a general election that nobody cares about whether the sums add up. It's all vibes.'
The Sun
5 minutes ago
- The Sun
Prison chief at notorious jail allowed to resign with compensation package after links to organised crime exposed
BOBBY Cunningham had always promised himself and his partner that he would get the back garden sorted out before their baby arrived. The head of security at HMP Wandsworth in London, he was responsible for law, order and fighting corruption at Britain's most notorious prison — yet finances were tight. 4 4 In June 2022, Cunningham, 43, the son of a former prison officer, called a landscaping company to his home on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent. Yet Payless Artificial Grass Limited was no ordinary firm - it was run by organised crime. An official at one of Britain's top prisons had been compromised. The firm's director was Ben Sullivan, a gangster from Sheppey. In December last year, he was arrested at Stansted en route to Dubai. Police said he pleaded guilty to supplying cocaine. Cunningham also met a business associate of Sullivan - who cannot be named for legal reasons - and discussed his 'uncle' Alexander McGuiffie who was a prisoner at Wandsworth. McGuffie was described in confidential Ministry of Justice documents as a 'known corruptor' with 'serious influence, intent and capability' who was said to have offered prison officers cash. At the time, McGuiffie was awaiting trial for 11 charges including supplying cocaine, ordering ammunition for a firearm, stealing investigative documents from an undercover police officer's vehicle and perverting the course of justice. Security chief Cunningham was responsible for countering corruption - yet never disclosed the relationship with the gangsters to his superiors. He was later allowed to leave the prison service on medical grounds after an investigation into his conduct. TV cop who starred on Channel 5 show banned from force after inappropriate texts including 20 sexist & racist pics A Sunday Times report has now revealed the full extent of Cunningham's dealings with organised crime - and the prison system's failure to hold him to account. The saga began in June 2022 when Payless was hired to put down artificial grass at Cunnigham's home. His partner later posted pictures of a garden with a patio on social media, thanking the firm. It was around this time that Payless director Sullivan, and his associate, who we are calling X, were under police investigation by cops looking at evidence they were involved in importing and selling cocaine. When Cunningham met X at his property around the time the work was ongoing, they discussed Wandsworth inmate McGuffie, 49, who was awaiting trial for offences including stealing an undercover officer's BMW. An alleged organised criminal, he had previously been sentenced to 12 years in prison for his role in smuggling £120,000 of cocaine into the country, only to have his conviction quashed after four years due to a prosecutorial failing. The Crown had omitted to mention that some of the detectives who investigated him had been criticised over their recording of evidence in a separate case. Although he was released, the National Crime Agency stayed on his tail. In 2022 he was extradited from Spain to Wandsworth pending trial. The authorities deemed him so dangerous they repeatedly raided his cell during his time in custody and at one point moved him to HMP Belmarsh, a higher security prison. Yet shortly before his trial, the prosecution fell apart again due to legal problems the Crown would not divulge when contacted for comment. Earlier this year, he was set free again and went back to Spain where in the eyes of the law remains an innocent man. 4 The Sunday Times found that by the spring of 2023, the counter-corruption unit of HM Prisons Service had received intelligence from forces including the National Crime Agency and Kent Police about Cunningham. The unit discovered details of his dealings with alleged criminals and found he had not disclosed two investigations in which he was involved — and which 'could have been exploited by organised criminals'. It also learnt he had been buying offensive weapons which, if prosecuted, could have seen him jailed for four years. The early transferring of inmates to open prisons More troubling, prison officers had filed a number of 'corruption prevention intelligence reports' — a formal whistleblowing document — about the transfer of inmates to lower-security jails under Cunningham's watch. One of those given a surprisingly early transfer to an open prison by Cunningham was Michael Nascimento. By the summer of 2023, Nascimento, 48, had spent half a decade in prison after the former financial professional was jailed for 13 years for defrauding 170 people of millions of pounds. Among them a woman who was 'bullied' into parting with her life savings while her mother battled cancer. He ran a firm which cold-called elderly, vulnerable victims promising them massive returns on property in Madeira, but used the cash to fund a lavish lifestyle — including Arsenal tickets and private school fees. A judge had handed him four more years in jail in January 2023 due to his refusal to liquidate overseas assets, denying his victims long-awaited compensation. On July 24, 2023, was told he was to be transferred to HMP Kirkham, a category D or 'open' prison in a village in Lancashire, where some inmates are allowed days away from jail and have access to a gym, football pitch and cafe. Earlier that year, when Nascimento's conditions were examined as part of a routine annual review, his chances of being transferred appeared to be zero. Yet Cunningham authorised his departure. The prison counter-corruption unit became involved and, after an investigation, wanted to suspend Cunningham. Approval was needed from Sarah Coccia, now chief operating officer of the prisons system. A fellow resident of the Isle of Sheppey, she and her husband had worked with Cunningham's father. According to sources, when colleagues asked her to approve Cunningham's suspension, she said that he came from a 'good family' and 'his dad's a good guy'. Ian Bickers, the then head of London prisons who was privy to the conversation, recalls: 'Sarah questioned whether the evidence was sufficient to proceed to suspension and the likelihood of securing a criminal conviction.' Coccia ultimately agreed to place Cunningham on leave. MoJ sources say she did not have a close relationship with his family and it was her job to query such decisions. Resignation on medical grounds Soon after, the governor of HMP Wandsworth allowed Cunningham to resign on medical grounds caused by a 'bad back' and the stress of being suspended. She then signed off a compensation award, allowing him to receive two lots of his annual salary — of about £80,000 — as a lump sum subject to tax. Although Cunningham was eventually found guilty of misconduct, he was never referred to police for potential offences . An internal investigation into the prisoner transfers he oversaw was partial and never completed. Cunningham has a meteoric rise through the ranks after following in the footsteps of his dad and brother by joining the prison service. As a guard, his inappropriately chummy manner with prisoners earned him the nickname 'Fun Time Bobbie.' In Cunningham's twenties, at HMP Cookham Wood, he was allegedly overheard asking a colleague to assault a young inmate by engaging in a deliberately forceful act of 'restraint'. He was suspended and the matter investigated — but kept his job. In 2015, he apparently had another brush with the law when HMRC intercepted an online delivery of nunchucks, a martial arts weapon. They confiscated them, but did not take further action. Yet aged 28, he was pictured with Rory Stewart, who was prisons minister, at the Prison Officer of the Year awards. In 2021, aged 31, he was appointed head of security, joining the leadership team at Wandsworth despite no specialist training. Rachel Lees, a since-retired prison officer who worked under Cunningham in the security team, recalled he seemed 'an extremely unserious man for such a trusted role'. She said that, under his watch intelligence was 'not acted on, cells were not being searched and even large drug finds were not able to be written up, as trained security staff were being sent instead to facilitate exercise on the yard'. In early 2023, Cunningham was promoted to deputy governor alongside his other duties - despite not yet passing the relevant exams. Under Cunningham's watch, a number of serious offenders at Wandsworth had their status reviewed months early and were transferred to an open prison, including Nascimento. Questions over Cunningham's personal life There were also serious questions about Cunnigham's personal life. Police were called out to his property following a 'domestic' incident in 2019 and his ex-partner was involved in a fraud investigation which saw her arrested in 3032. Although there was 'no further action' taken against the girlfriend, detectives searched Cunningham's property, where they found what appeared to be stolen goods. He had disclosed neither police matter to his superiors either at the time. In addition, Cunningham was having an affair with the manager of the intelligence hub at HMP Wandsworth, which triaged reports of crime within the prison. In her role, Lucy Edwards sat with the anti-corruption team. There is no suggestion she has any links to criminals. When Cunningham was suspended in late July 2023, his sudden disappearance fuelled speculation. Many staff suspected he had 'sold' transfers to prisoners. Inmates were heard saying 'no one's getting D Cat now Bobby's gone'. In September 2023, an inquiry concluded Cunningham was guilty of four breaches and was found to have 'acted unprofessionally'. His severance package was terminated. The following month, a tandem investigation found that the transfers of five prisoners 'warrant further checking' . Yet checks did not take place. The review was also limited to transfers between August 1 and 31, 2023, only covering part of Cunninghan's tenure at Wandsworth. Its authors said many files had security restrictions attached. Today, Cunningham and Edwards are a couple and run a property firm and scaffolding company. A Prison Service spokesman said the vast majority of prison staff are 'hard working and honest' adding: ' Where any member of staff falls below our high standards, we do not hesitate to take robust action.' MoJ sources say the investigations conducted did not reveal evidence of criminality. Cunningham did not respond. Sullivan, in prison, could not be reached but he is understood to be challenging the police's findings about his role in an organised crime group. McGuffie, now in Spain having had all charges against him dropped, is understood to believe he was a victim of police corruption. He declined to comment but a source said he had only just met 'X' recently - and never asked either man to do anything on his behalf.
