Llandudno: Body identified as missing teen Athrun following search
The body of a "vulnerable" 16-year-old boy who went missing at the weekend has been identified. Athrun, who was autistic, and believed to be wearing only blue and white patterned swim shorts and no footwear, was reported missing from West Shore Beach in Llandudno, Conwy county at about 14:00 BST on 10 May.After an extensive sea search, North Wales Police recovered a body and it was identified as Athrun, from South Gloucestershire on Thursday.Ch Insp Trystan Bevan said: "Our thoughts are very much with Athrun's family, who wish to thank all agencies and members of the public for their overwhelming support with the search, and for not giving up on his recovery."
He added: "This is not the outcome anyone hoped for, but we hope it can now provide some answers for Athrun's family."
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The Sun
3 hours ago
- The Sun
Daughter reveals chilling phone call made hours after mum vanished 15 years ago – as cops find body buried in garden
A MYSTERY phone call could prove vital in cracking the cold case of a mum who vanished 15 years ago, The Sun can reveal. Izabela Helena Zabłocka went missing in August 2010, aged 30, after moving to Derbyshire from Poland the previous year. 9 9 9 9 But an investigation wasn't opened by British cops until last month, thanks to a baffling miscommunication gaffe. Once the probe finally kicked into gear, officers made five arrests before finding remains in a back garden and charging a woman with murder on Friday - all within a matter of a couple of weeks. Anna Podedworna, 39, also faces charges of preventing a lawful burial and perverting the course of justice. Now, Izabela's daughter, Kasia, who was just nine when she vanished, has told The Sun about an odd phone conversation she had in the hours after her mum was first reported missing. Kasia and her grandmother would speak to Izabela every day over the phone after her move to Britain - but when she suddenly stopped, they became frantic with worry. The young girl had been continuously trying to contact her mum when an unknown woman answered and told her she didn't know Izabela and hung up. Kasia told us: "It was a conversation of a few seconds, I was only a child. "The woman, as far as I remember, told me that she doesn't know my mother, doesn't know who Izabela is, and hung up." Soon after that, Kasia recalls, the phone was disconnected. Her family - who don't speak English - relayed all of this to Polish cops at the time but the trail eventually ran cold, without any answers about what had happened. Derbyshire Constabulary say the first they heard of Izabela was last month when Kasia, now 25, after years of appeals for help, got in touch on a whim. She was as surprised as anyone that British cops hadn't been involved in the case at all - assuming Polish forces must have been liaising with them all these years. And Izabela's case might not be the only one to slip through the cracks. Speaking to The Sun, former top Scotland Yard cop Peter Bleksley said: 'Given all the circumstances, my question is how many more? How many other cases are like this in the UK?' He said it's so easy for someone to move to the UK and then after months or even years disappear but because they're not part of a stable support network, are never reported to police. He added: 'How many more have entered communities, but are murdered and done away with but no one is going to miss them?' Of course, Izabela's family, particularly daughter Kasia, never did give up looking - but were let down by authorities again and again. Speaking to The Sun after remains were found in the garden of a home in Princes Street - a road where Izabela had lived - last week, Kasia had said: 'I definitely want to know the truth as soon as possible.' Her mum, who had called back home every day prior to vanishing on August 29 2010, had communicated to the family she planned to return home imminently. Have YOU got a story or an amazing picture or video? Email exclusive@ and you could even get PAID It's understood Kasia's grandmother had even sent her daughter money to buy a plane ticket but she never arrived and her phone was suddenly deactivated after the strange call. When they reported her missing to Polish cops, it seems they simply assumed she'd made it back to her homeland. They told Izabela's family they checked hospitals and prisons, and over the years did collect DNA samples, including hair from her wedding veil. However, Kasia said the case was then archived in the mid-2010s, and her loved ones feared they would never learn what happened. Mr Bleksley said: 'In terms of the Polish police, they paid it absolute lip service. Not in a hospital, not in a jail, don't really care.' In contrast, he said the investigation by Derbyshire Constabulary 'moved at break neck speed', which is a credit to those involved. 'From it getting reported, even having heard her name for the first time, it's only days until someone has been arrested, re-arrested, and now in custody,' he continued. 'In stark contrast to the Polish police, Derbyshire have taken it very seriously, they must have made a considerable amount of enquiries to rapidly make arrests and nail the correct address, start excavating and unfortunately find remains.' He said he hoped 'despite the passage of time' the remains 'provide a treasure trove of forensic evidence'. 9 9 9 Mr Bleksley went on to say: 'It smacks to me that somebody was desperate to tell the police what they knew, and they had been waiting for that knock on the door all that time.' He said the excavation 'will be absolutely painstaking' because 'any tiny microscopic' piece of forensic evidence 'will be crucial to nailing the case'. 'This is almost like a textbook test of modern forensic science,' he added. Asked if he believes Izabela - if the remains prove to be hers - was killed by someone she knew, Mr Bleksley said: 'That is very difficult to speculate. The fact that arrests were made so swiftly, indicates to me that these were people that were known to each other - that I will say… 'I'm not being intentionally flippant here but they are going to solve this. 'Somebody, I feel, is desperate to tell people what they saw. That's why it's galloped forward so quickly. Someone's almost gone 'oh I thought you'd never come - right okay, this is what I saw, this is who did it.'' Mr Bleksley added: 'As much as we criticise our police, and as much as we at times fall short and fail us all, by and large, when it comes to the big, serious, major investigations, they do very well.' He pointed to examples of Brits who have lost loved ones abroad and they've remained unexplained, including Madeleine McCann. 'We sometimes have a lot to be grateful for when it comes to our police force investigating serious crime,' he said. Mr Bleksley also added that had Madeleine - who vanished while on holiday in Portugal in 2007, aged three - gone missing 'under similar circumstances' in the UK, 'that case would have been solved a very long time ago'. During his career he's worked with police forces across the world, including the US, Belgium, France and the Netherlands, sometimes undercover. He championed British forces, in comparison, for their work ethics and systems of investigation. Asked if whilst working in other countries he recognised blindsides in local cops' working, he said: 'I did, which is why I was called in so often to help foreign law enforcement with their cases.' The existence of the likes of Europol, Interpol and the National Crime Agency designed to help police communicate internationally, it may appear archaic that a case like Izabela's can fall through the cracks. 'They can only be effective if the liaison through different countries is good,' said Mr Bleksley. 'In this case, it was appalling to the extent of being non-existent. 'If the Polish police had done their job properly, this case would've been solved years ago.' Asked if it is likely there will be some kind of watchdog probe into what went wrong in Poland, Mr Bleksley said: 'That I don't know, that would be a matter for the family, I'm sure for any forces in the UK, litigation would be pursued, of course, not to mention the complaints procedure. 'I don't know what the situation is in Poland with regards to that. He added: 'There's plenty more embarrassment for the Polish police force coming down the line if this case runs its course and ends up in a trial.' Asked if there's any chance Derbyshire Police were simply mistaken and, despite their assertions, ignored communications with Poland over the years about the case, Mr Bleksley said it's unlikely. 'Everything gets logged these days. Everything goes into the computer system and lives there forever. 'Derbyshire Police wouldn't have been as bullish as they have been by saying we had no trace of this if actually they didn't have any trace.' 'I did everything to publicise my mum's disappearance' Kasia told The Sun last week, prior to the remains discovery: "When Mum went missing, I was 9 years old, I was a child. "It was only when I became an adult that I took up the search for Mum again. "I did everything to publicise my mother's disappearance; it took me a lot of time, but I hope I will find out the truth." She went on to say: "My family reported the case to the Polish police 15 years ago, but now we are finding out that the British police did not receive the report during those 15 years, and they have only just started an investigation. "The Polish police only checked prisons and hospitals and didn't find anything significant, and after a few years, the disappearance case went to the archive." She continued: "I started looking for her on my own as soon as I became an adult. "I started publicising my mother's disappearance in Poland, in the media and on YouTube. I did everything I could, and Polish charities helped me with this. "I started making posters about my mother's disappearance. I wrote to the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in London, and they wrote back that they would check the prisons in England and Wales, but I did not receive any information on whether this was actually checked." The 25-year-old had hoped her mum had simply decided to start a new life, and she would suddenly appear with a new identity. However, those hopes were quashed when murder arrests were made, with Kasia admitting: "I'm very upset by the news I've received, and I'm so sorry that I received this message and not another one. "I've been looking for her for 15 years, and I hope I finally find out the truth." Two other women aged 39 and 43, and two men aged 41 and 48, were arrested on suspicion of murder and all remain on police bail pending further inquiries Detective Inspector Kane Martin, who is leading the investigation, said after the body was found: 'Izabela's family are at the forefront of our minds following this discovery and, whilst formal identification has not yet taken place, it is our belief that these remains do belong to Izabela." Mr Martin went on to say: 'We have spoken with Izabela's family in Poland, and they are aware. Our thoughts are with them at this extremely difficult time. 'Identification of the remains is likely to be a lengthy process, but we will issue updates when we are able. 'I know that reports of these findings will send shockwaves through the local community, and I understand the concern of residents. 'Officers will remain in Princes Street in the coming days, and anyone with concerns is encouraged to speak with them." DI Martin explained that a "dedicated team of detectives" would continue their investigation to "piece together information" about the days leading up to Izabela's death. Izabela worked at the former Cranberry Foods chicken and turkey factory in Scropton, around 10 miles west of Derby. Crimestoppers is offering up to £20,000 for exclusive information relating to the investigation that leads to a conviction, with the reward valid for three months until August 27. Anyone with information can contact the charity via its website, or by calling 0800 555 111. 9 9
The Independent
3 hours ago
- The Independent
Is this the end of the road in the hunt for Madeleine McCann? How the desperate new search unfolded in Portugal
The mystery of the missing three-year-old Madeleine McCann has preoccupied the British public since she vanished from her family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, in Portugal's Algarve 18 years ago. Millions of pounds have been spent on investigation after investigation amid relentless media scrutiny, but progress appeared to have all but stalled until 2020, when German investigators revealed they had identified a prime suspect – convicted rapist Christian Brueckner. So when German Federal officers this week descended on a string of abandoned buildings in a stretch of neglected wasteland near a cottage he used to rent outside Praia da Luz, armed with high-tech ground penetrating radar, the world watched. Is it possible that this time they would uncover the truth? Officials have not yet commented on what, if anything, they discovered. But as crews packed up with a few soil samples and some animal bones after three days of searches on Thursday, it seemed like they were once again leaving without answers. Not even Portuguese police, who supported the German search efforts, knew what intelligence had prompted them to suddenly target these remote locations. But without concrete evidence linking Brueckner to Madeleine's disappearance, German officers are in a race against time. The 47-year-old suspect could be freed from Sehnde prison, outside Hanover, by September as his seven-year sentence for a raping a 72-year-old American woman in Praia Da Luz in 2005 comes to an end. Brueckner, who denies any involvement in Madeleine's disappearance, has already revealed he plans to leave Germany when he's released, with suggestions he could move to the Far East or South America. Small teams of a dozen-or-so officers spent three days this week in the beating sun as they scoured derelict farmhouses and outbuildings in the stretch of scrubland just over a mile from where Madeleine was last seen. The 120-acre area, off a dramatic clifftop path along the coast between Atalaia and Lagos, is said to have once been populated by a farming community, but it has long been abandoned because it is so arid. Officers from Portugal's most senior force the Policia Judiciaria usually spend their time investigating serious organised crime, terrorism and murders, but found themselves shifting rocks and rubble in the unrelenting heat as they were drafted in to support German investigators. They used shovels and chainsaws as they battled with rock-hard ground and overgrown vegetation. They brought in a digger as they cleared rubble and detritus from inside the old structures, seemingly to clear the path to use ground penetrating radar equipment on the second day. Fire crews helped them to pump out a disused well at one derelict farm building, which was littered with graffiti. Watching them work, it was apparent that if the answer to Madeleine's disappearance lies in this outback, the odds of them finding any meaningful evidence after almost two decades are depressingly slim. The swathe of scrubland is completely devoid of shelter from the midday sun or strong winds blowing in from the coast. The vast expanse of hilltop is dotted with old buildings, barns and other structures which have fallen to wrack and ruin. Many appear to have been used by itinerants or those looking for a remote haunt to drink, with signs of old campfires outside. It was clear that it is an area so vast and inhospitable you could never search every square inch, and the search teams seemed resigned to their gruelling duties. When one local policeman was asked by a journalist what they expected to find he rolled his eyes and shrugged, before saying: 'You tell me.' In a valley less than a mile away, where Brueckner rented a run-down cottage at the time of Madeleine's disappearance, a neighbour recalled how the 'angry' young man used to have regular rows with his girlfriend. She hit out at the latest search operation, adding: 'It's a pile of rubbish, we are all so exhausted, it just goes on and on. It beggars belief.' Brueckner's former friend Helge Busching, who has testified to German police that he confessed to him a year after her disappearance, this week issued a stark warning. 'They have to find something because time is running out,' he told the Daily Mail. 'Brueckner could go free in September and, if he does, he will disappear. There has to be some hope for Madeleine's parents.' When investigators appeared to pack up and leave without answers at the end of the search on Thursday evening, there were no obvious signs of any major discoveries. Kate and Gerry McCann have not commented on the latest efforts, which come just a month after they marked the 18th anniversary of Madeleine's disappearance and what would have been her 22nd birthday. But it is not the first time their hopes will have been dashed in the long years since she vanished without a trace. Nevertheless, nearly two decades on they remain optimistic. In a statement posted on their website last month, they wrote: 'As we arrive at the 18th anniversary of Madeleine's abduction, we'd like to thank our faithful supporters once again for standing by us and never forgetting about Madeleine. 'The years appear to be passing even more quickly and whilst we have no significant news to share, our determination to 'leave no stone unturned' is unwavering. We will do our utmost to achieve this'. Whether this most recent search will ultimately produce the answers they desperately seek remains to be seen.
Sky News
10 hours ago
- Sky News
'He was going to kill me': More strangulation cases recorded by police but many investigations falter
Around 70% of non-fatal strangulation cases in the last year have been dropped due to evidential issues, exclusive data shared with Sky News shows. It is now three years since it became a standalone offence in England and Wales, in a landmark piece of legislation designed to protect domestic abuse victims. Data from the Institute for Addressing Strangulation (IFAS) shows that police are implementing the offence widely - but outcomes for victims are mixed. Warning: This article contains references to domestic abuse and sexual assault 'Sarah' - whose name has been changed to protect her identity - vividly remembers the first time her ex-partner strangled her, one year into their relationship. She said: "He was drunk, and he climbed on top me. He put his hands around my throat, and he pinned me down with the strength of his body." Terrified, she begged him repeatedly to stop, but he carried on. "I remember I just felt really numb and scared, but it was weird, it felt like an out-of-body experience." Afterwards the only words he spoke to her were 'look what you made me do', she said, and then when the ordeal was over, he carried on with his day as if nothing had happened. This was the beginning of a pattern of abuse that continued throughout the rest of their relationship, happening on at least 30 more occasions, Sarah estimated. It became so normalised He strangled her when she was pregnant. He strangled her whether her children were in the house or not. It always happened during sex, though Sarah was only later able to recognise that this was rape after talking to the police, because for her it had become so normalised. And, always, he told Sarah it was her fault - that she had somehow 'made' him do it. She later went on to suffer a miscarriage because of the physical abuse. 'A form of control' "Looking back now I can see it was a form of control. He got off on knowing that he was in control, and he liked seeing me upset," she said. "I thought that he was going to kill me because he used to threaten it to me. It was very, very scary." This fear of death is common among victims of strangulation and is a recognised tool of control and intimidation. A US study found that victims of domestic abuse were seven times more likely to be murdered by their current or former partner if there had been an incident of non-fatal strangulation beforehand. But this form of violence often leaves no obvious external signs of injury, meaning in some cases perpetrators could only be investigated for less serious offences like common assault, which did not reflect the severity of the crime. What are the possible effects on health? The potential health impacts are wide-ranging, including loss of consciousness, voice changes, difficulty in swallowing and breathing, bruising, haemorrhages, headaches, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), miscarriage, risk of suicide, and death (including delayed death). Symptoms can arise weeks or months after the event. It is for these reasons that campaigners fought for the introduction of the standalone offence, which came into effect in June 2022. 'Much work to be done' The IFAS has been monitoring the offence since the legislation was introduced and shared its latest report findings exclusively with Sky News. It said there is still "much work to be done" to better protect victims of strangulation. New figures obtained by IFAS from the Home Office reveal that over 63,000 crimes of non-fatal strangulation or suffocation were recorded by police in England and Wales in the first two years under the legislation. There were 39,360 recorded crimes in 2023/24, on average 66 offences per 100,000 people compared with 50 per 100,000 the year before, an increase of 20%. "Survivors who work with us have recognised time and time again how important it is to be able to see strangulation as a standalone offence and have the opportunity to progress with criminal justice proceedings," Harriet Smailes, co-author of the report, told Sky News. The volume of crimes recorded suggests that the offence is being widely recognised and reported by police - and the number resulting in charges, at 12%, is high compared to some other offences. However, a significant number of investigations result in no further action due to evidential difficulties. This can happen if police or prosecutors do not believe there is enough evidence to proceed, or if the victim does not support the investigation. This was the outcome in three in five investigations overall, including one in five investigations where the victim did support police action. Outcomes were similar in both years of available data. "In around half of cases, there are no external, physical, visible signs of injury. That's not to say that there aren't internal injuries that can't be seen just with the naked eye," said Ms Smailes, who is a research officer at IFAS. "It might be that that visible injury isn't present at the time of evidence capture that might develop over time, or because there's a difference in how individuals show bruising, for example those of different skin tones. That can contribute towards there not being enough perceived evidence to be able to progress with a police case," she said. In some cases where a victim disengages from police proceedings, it may be that they did not feel supported and believed in the process or felt that there were "too many obstacles". On the other hand, not all cases where a victim did not support police action are necessarily negative. "It might be that initial needs have been met in that instance through reporting to the police, for example, initial containment of the risk of that situation, and referrals to specialist health or mental health services," Ms Smailes explained. Police 'determined' to improve Assistant Commissioner Louisa Rolfe is the National Police Chiefs' Council lead for domestic abuse. She told Sky News that securing prosecutions for strangulation is a priority for tackling violence against women and girls, and a key part of national Domestic Abuse Matters training. "For us to do well in prosecutions, we need to understand how perpetrators operate, how they use this is a sinister way of controlling their victims. And we also know that many victims are frightened to pursue prosecution," she said. Investigators not only have to secure detailed evidence rapidly but also present the best possible case so that prosecutors and juries understand how an abuser is operating, she said. "That can be a challenging job, for a police service that's under pressure, trying to deal with a myriad of priorities. I know many investigators are passionate about getting this right." "We know we're up against it when it comes to securing convictions, but we're determined to improve," she added. Fewer than half were convicted Separate research by IFAS has found that in the first year under the new legislation, only around half of the number of offences charged by police were prosecuted, and less than half of those secured a conviction. Overall, 47% of the 1,437 prosecutions of non-fatal strangulation and suffocation offences in the year to June 2023 resulted in conviction, based on data from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) from all courts in England and Wales. There are several potential reasons that a prosecution may be unsuccessful, including evidential difficulties or a victim withdrawing from the process. The accused may also have been convicted of a separate offence, but not for the strangulation. Without more detailed data, it is hard to determine to what extent each is contributing to the low conviction rate. Reflecting on the figures, head of policy and public affairs at domestic abuse support charity Refuge, Ellie Butt, told Sky News that victims often face "huge pressure" from perpetrators to drop out of the criminal justice process. "When compounded with lengthy court delays and insufficient support, many survivors are forced to withdraw from the process. Police and prosecutors should be working to build cases that can be taken forward even when a survivor can no longer continue," she said. The Crown Prosecution Service highlighted to Sky News that the number of new prosecution proceedings has been consistently increasing, particularly domestic abuse-related strangulation offences. In the latest quarter, 2,000 cases reached their first hearing at magistrates' court. Kate Brown, the CPS national lead for domestic abuse, said: "Three years on, we have continued to bring more charges quarter on quarter, with over 2,000 seen in court in the past three months. "This standalone offence has shone a light on those who seek to use these violent acts to exert power over another person and harm them. We are determined to continue bringing abusers to justice for victims." A gendered crime The new data from IFAS reinforces that strangulation is a gendered crime. Around 80% of victims whose gender was recorded by police were female, while 88% of suspects were male. The data also shows that while people from all ages are impacted, most victims are younger, with three in five aged 34 or under. The age profile of suspects was slightly higher, with three in five suspects aged between 25 and 44. 'I want to say it's not your fault' Sarah's case ended in evidential difficulties. Though her case was reported before 2022, when strangulation became a specific offence, she said she did provide substantial physical evidence to the police and she feels "let down" by the justice system. She said she has been diagnosed with PTSD, anxiety and other health issues. "I live with it every day. It can be a song that comes on the radio or a sign or somebody's name and it would just bring everything back to me to that point, that moment," she said. "I want to say it's not your fault. Nobody has the right to control you, nobody has the right to abuse you, rape you, strangle you. "I would urge anyone to speak out and if you feel like you haven't been heard and your voice has not been listened to, speak out again."
