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Woman stabbed eight times in her Camden flat, court hears

Woman stabbed eight times in her Camden flat, court hears

BBC News8 hours ago

A film director found dead with her Rolex watch missing had been stabbed in the neck eight times, the Old Bailey has heard.Jennifer Abbott Dauward - also known as Sarah Steinberg - was discovered on the floor of her flat in Camden, north London, partially covered with a blanket and with black tape on her mouth, the court was told.Ms Abbott, 69, was last seen alive on CCTV footage on 10 June as she returned from walking her dog.Her sister Nancy Pexton, 69, is accused of murder. Ms Pexton, who is nine months younger than her sister, was remanded in custody until a plea hearing set for 9 September.
A post-mortem examination found Ms Abbott's cause of death was sharp trauma to the neck, with eight stab wounds identified, the court was told.Prosecutor Ben Holt said the victim would usually wear a Rolex and a Cartier bracelet but when her body was found, the watch was missing.
Police were called to the victim's first-floor flat in Mornington Place at 17:45 BST on 13 June after being alerted by her concerned niece.Paramedics attended and she was pronounced dead shortly after 18:00.
A neighbour described Ms Dauward as "exuberant" and "vivacious", and others said they regularly saw her walking her corgi in the area.
Ms Pexton, who was arrested on 18 June, spoke only to confirm her identity by video-link from Bronzefield Prison during the preliminary hearing.A provisional trial date was set for 7 April.

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Women will pay the price for Labour's open borders
Women will pay the price for Labour's open borders

Telegraph

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Women will pay the price for Labour's open borders

When property developers applied for permission to turn a former hotel into a 'house in multiple occupation', they claimed it was to accommodate nurses. According to the planning application, the occupants would 'predominantly' be NHS staff who would 'contribute to the local economy'. But instead of being filled with hard-working staff from the nearest hospital, the 17-bedroom property was swiftly packed with new arrivals. Far from breathing new life into a downtrodden area, it became yet another blight – and a new source of anxiety for local women. Mothers and daughters in Barrow-in-Furness have every reason to be fearful. Such is the concern for the safety of female staff working in other migrant hotels in the town that they are said to have been issued with rape alarms. When a concerned resident used freedom of information legislation to find out what was going on, Cumbria Police revealed that in the space of 12 months, more than a dozen potential crimes were linked to 'guests' at the Imperial, including three sex offences. Quite the record for a small premises. There is a mountain of evidence – both official and anecdotal – that what is happening to women and girls in Barrow-in-Furness at the hands of illegal immigrants is happening to women and girls all over the country. The Home Office does not publish crime statistics according to immigration status. Nor are the police required to collect and share such data. Instead, arrests and charges are only recorded by nationality – a system that creates some very convenient ambiguity about how long the perpetrators have lived in this country. When voters are crying out to know just what kind of individuals are pouring across the Channel, and how likely it is that any will ever make a positive contribution to our society, it is an extraordinary omission. Just what are the authorities – along with all those who keep peddling the false narrative that all Channel migrants are good people – trying to hide? What little information is routinely published about crimes by foreign nationals provides a very strong clue. Despite making up less than ten per cent of the UK population, 'foreign nationals' account for around 15 per cent of all sexual offence convictions, including rape. When convictions in which the offender's nationality is 'unknown' – ie not British – are taken into account, that figure rises to almost one quarter (23 per cent) of all sex offences. It is known that only a fraction of sexual assault and rape complaints ever reach court. How many more female victims of sex offences by foreign nationals, particularly the occupants of migrant hotels, are out there, never getting justice? Among the best witnesses to the disgusting attitude of some asylum seekers towards women are female staff in migrant hotels. Unfortunately, they cannot speak out. Forced to sign confidentiality contracts, their experiences at the hands of rude, leering, entitled occupants of migrant hotels have never been documented. Some time ago, on condition of anonymity, I interviewed a cleaner at one of these places in Derby. She too spoke of rape alarms; harassment; and bowls of free condoms in the hotel foyer. One police force has felt the need to draw up a PowerPoint presentation to educate local asylum seekers about British culture. It includes recognising that women 'have the same rights as men' so 'must be treated with respect and courtesy'. 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Blatant law-breaking of illegal migrant delivery riders is scam Del Boy would be proud of… I have five ways to stop it
Blatant law-breaking of illegal migrant delivery riders is scam Del Boy would be proud of… I have five ways to stop it

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Blatant law-breaking of illegal migrant delivery riders is scam Del Boy would be proud of… I have five ways to stop it

I CONFESS my initial reaction to yesterday's report on The Sun's investigation into asylum seekers working illegally as food delivery drivers was a combination of frustration, disbelief and anger. Frustration because it seems the Government is no nearer to achieving its goal of tackling English Channel crossings than it was on July 5 last year. 4 Since coming into power, more than 41,500 small boat migrants have arrived — and that is just those we know about. Take a look at Migration Watch's Channel Tracker ( which monitors the number of illegal arrivals. I find it very difficult to believe that ministers do not see the connection between the ease with which traffickers can get migrants here, with a helping hand from Border Force and the RNLI. Migrants are even seen on their way with a cheery wave by the French authorities assembled on the beach. Having arrived on our shores and after a cursory check they are on their way to free accommodation, £40-plus pocket money a week and, now it seems, a job in one of the fastest-growing sectors in the economy. It beggars belief They earn money delivering food, to pay off their traffickers and to send cash home to their family so that they can eventually join them in the UK. What makes me and most ordinary, hard-working, taxpaying and fair-minded citizens angry is that the Government seems to think this is acceptable. After a year in office and abandoning the only possible deterrent, the Rwanda scheme — I make no apology for mentioning it again — and doing away with the legal requirement for the Home Secretary to remove illegal arrivals, the Government has done nothing to discourage migrants and traffickers. On the contrary, its actions, or rather inaction, has simply encouraged crossings. That's why, by the end of the year, I expect there to have been more than 50,000 illegal arrivals. Channel migrants queue for cash in hand jobs as secrets of UK's £260bn illegal economy revealed In fact, the total for the year so far stands at 18,400, which is almost 50 per cent higher than the number of small boat migrants who had crossed at this point in 2024. At this rate, could we see more than 60,000 arriving? I wouldn't rule it out. It seems the gig economy — Deliveroo, Just Eat and UberEats included — need not worry about a shortage of deliverers. I confess, The Sun's report yesterday almost made me smile. How could you not laugh at the description of the scene outside a hotel in Peckham where 'the entire courtyard was filled with bikes and bags surrounding a replica of the Only Fools And Horses [Reliant] three-wheeler'? 4 4 This scam, for that is what it is, would have made Del Boy proud. As for the reaction of ministers. It beggars belief. Policing Minister Dame Diana Johnson, who, in fairness to her, commended The Sun's report, said: 'The Sun investigation is right to highlight this illegal working racket, which undermines honest business and undercuts local wages.' No kidding, minister. While Dame Angela Eagle, the Border Security and Asylum Minister, 'is meeting delivery companies next week, to help tackle illegal working in this sector.' I find that exasperating. This is the minister who sought to cast me a racist when I gave evidence to the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, to explain that repealing the Safety of Rwanda Act would 'encourage illegal immigration'. I was right, it has. She brushed this aside by asking what Migration Watch meant by the word 'indigenous' on its website. She now, it seems, is committing to talking to gig economy companies about what they intend to do to stop the illegal migrant workers, who are helping them make huge profits. The real question is, what are you going to do about it Minister? May I suggest that, if you are serious about stopping blatant law-breaking and removing one of the major incentives for migrants to make their way to the UK, you should: Ban the likes of Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat from permitting their drivers to rent out their accounts. Impose punitive fines on the companies that turn a blind eye to this dangerous practice. Make clear that migrants found to be working illegally while awaiting a decision on their asylum application will not be granted asylum. Require the companies to control and monitor the issue of licences. Applicants for these accounts must be properly vetted to ensure they have the right to work, but also ensure they do not pose a danger to those they deliver to — especially women and the elderly. The business model for these companies thrives on easy-to-hire deliverers. While that may serve their interests and those of migrants and trafficking gangs, it does nothing for the taxpayer. Hard-working Brits are effectively subsidising the practice, by providing free accommodation and benefits to the migrants, who are, after all, people who have broken into our country and then been housed and looked after. They have to be stopped.

Corruption & bribery behind bars exposed as ex-con reveals lags pay £500 for KFC & how inmates have sex with guards
Corruption & bribery behind bars exposed as ex-con reveals lags pay £500 for KFC & how inmates have sex with guards

The Sun

time28 minutes ago

  • The Sun

Corruption & bribery behind bars exposed as ex-con reveals lags pay £500 for KFC & how inmates have sex with guards

PRISONERS are paying guards up to £500 to smuggle in a KFC bargain bucket. And they will shell out as much as £200 for a pack of Rizla fag papers to be sneaked into jail. 6 6 The bribery behind bars is revealed in a documentary that also lifts the lid on how lags get their hands on booze and drugs — and have sexual relations with warders. UK Prisons Exposed: Sex, Drugs and Corruption, which is available to stream on Channel 4 from tonight, is presented by ex-inmate David Navarro. He has spent a decade in and out of custody so knows the dodgy dealings that go on — with officers often turning a blind eye, or up to their necks in it. The documentary even features footage secretly shot by cons to show off their often sizeable stashes of contraband — known in the trade as 'bird'. Weed is heaped in a cell, along with a pile of mobile phones, bottles of high-end Ciroc vodka, Courvoisier brandy, Wray & Nephew rum and boxes of Krispy Kreme doughnuts, plus KFC, Nando's, McDonald's and Chinese takeaway feasts. 'That bird just keeps on coming,' a man can be heard chuckling. Another adds: 'It's like Carphone Warehouse.' Bringing things in, that's their (officers) bread & butter. It might be a pack of Rizlas for £200. I've seen it so many times on different occasions Nathan But officers not earning big money will often stand back and do nothing. In one clip, a warder smells drugs but just says: 'I told you, open the f***ing window.' A prisoner called Nathan, wearing a balaclava as a disguise, claims that many staff — who are on about £33,000 a year — are wide open to bungs. Prisoner who had sex with female guard is violently attacked while holding baby in family visit – fracturing tot's skull He reveals: 'I have seen it so many times. 'It could have been a Nando's from outside or a KFC. 'It could be phones, it could be drugs. 'It could be anything.' Asked how much prisoners pay for deliveries, Nathan adds: 'That all depends on the officer. Secret affair 'If she wants to say to you, '500 quid' and you really want it, then you're gonna pay 500 quid for a KFC bargain bucket. 'That's an expensive KFC.' He adds of the guards: 'Bringing things in, that's their bread and butter. 'It might be a pack of Rizlas for one hundred, two hundred quid.' Big-money backhander payments are often processed by someone on the outside­. But prisoners also blackmail officers into bringing them banned items, by amassing personal text messages to use against them. Nathan says of getting guards to play ball: 'You've got to build up slowly, slowly, build up your relationship on the wing, test the waters or be flirty — do what you gotta do until you secure the bag. 6 6 'If there are text messages . . . I've got you under my thumb.' Meanwhile, another jailbird reveals how lusty lags get it on with prison visitors as well as officers. In a video call made on an illegal phone, he says: 'We call it patterning up with them. 'It's a mixture of male and female. 'It could even be your healthcare worker, it could be your education teacher, it could be anybody.' A former warder who gives her name as just Rachel, was a married mother of four when she began a secret affair with an armed robber serving a ten-year sentence. Rachel, 29, says about her old job: 'The hours were ridiculous, the overtime was ridiculous, it ruined my marriage because I was never there. 'We hit rock bottom, I took my ring off.' An inmate then started coming on to her at work. She recalls: 'He approached me wanting help, we had a few conversations. 'There was banter, inappropriate comments — then I shared photos and a sexually explicit letter. Storeroom romp 'As soon as I'd given it to him, I said, 'You need to flush it away'. He told me had.' But the images were found, and in 2022 Rachel was co­nvicted of neglecting her duties, got a suspended sentence and community service — and was fired. She insists: 'There had been no storeroom romp.' But at her trial, the judge said 'CCTV footage shows the two of you together and you were in a room privately, together. Intimacy must have taken place.' Another ex-officer, called Moses, reveals goings-on such as this are common. 6 He says: 'Female prison officers get a lot of attention from prisoners, it's bound to happen. 'If they are not strong-minded they get drawn in. 'If they are smart and keep their mouth shut it can go on for a long time. 'But when it moves to exploitation — getting the officer to bring in phones, [synthetic cannabis substitutes] spice and black mamba, all the illegal substances, it becomes too big to manage. 'From the prisoners' perspective it's just business. 'He's trying to bring in illicit items, and sell them.' But former prisoner Beatrice, who did time for money laundering, says guards also make moves on inmates. While the vast majority of prison staff are honest, we are catching more of the small minority who break the rules, through our Counter-Corruption Unit A Prison Service spokesman She reveals: 'An officer would regularly comment on my appearance. 'He suggested he would want to come in my cell or meet up when I was released. 'He would say things like, 'I'm all yours'. 'Other members of staff recognised his behaviour was creepy but if you make a complaint the staff are going to protect each other. 'I heard other allegations that officers had relationships with women on the drug-addiction wing, it's common knowledge that this happens all the time.' A Prison Service spokesman said: 'While the vast majority of prison staff are honest, we are catching more of the small minority who break the rules, through our Counter-Corruption Unit. 'Where officers fall below our high standards, we take robust action.'

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