Skegness caravan fire deaths of dad and daughter inquest opens
A father and his daughter who died in a fire at a Lincolnshire caravan park were killed by smoke inhalation, an inquest heard.Lee Baker, 48, and daughter Esme Baker, 10, from Retford, Nottinghamshire, died at Golden Beach Holiday Park, in Ingoldmells, near Skegness, on 5 April.In a tribute, their family said last month they had been "excited to be spending the first weekend of the holidays together" .The inquests into their deaths were opened at Lincolnshire Coroner's Court by coroner Paul Smith and adjourned until 5 October.
Mr Smith confirmed post-mortem examinations had been carried out on 11 April and the medical cause of both deaths were "inhalation of the products of combustion".Mr Baker had worked as a self-employed plasterer and was originally from Doncaster but had been living in Retford, the coroner noted.Following an investigation into the blaze, Lincolnshire Police said the fire was "accidental".
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The Independent
29 minutes ago
- The Independent
Family jailed for staging armed robbery at own Post Office
Five members of the same family have been jailed for their involvement in a plot to conceal over £130,000 stolen from a Post Office in a staged armed robbery. Taxi driver Rajvinder Kahlon, 43, pretended to be an armed robber as part of the plot at the branch in Hounslow, west London. Kahlon, of Great West Road, Hounslow, was sentenced to four-and-a-half years' imprisonment at Isleworth Crown Court on Friday after being convicted of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, conspiracy to steal from the Post Office, and conspiracy to money launder. Metropolitan Police officers had responded to reports on April 1 last year of an armed robbery at the Post Office within a convenience store in Brabazon Road, Hounslow. Two women working at the branch, sub-postmistress Sunaver Dhillon, 68, and Ramandeep Dhillon, 40, both of Lyne Road, Virginia Water, lied to officers that they had been threatened by a man with a pistol who stole £50,000, as well as the branch's CCTV system. The court heard that money from a safe and a CCTV hard disc had already been removed by Kahlon's cousin Sukhvir Dhillon, the husband of Ramandeep Dhillon and son of Sunaver Dhillon, before the staged robbery. Police analysis of Kahlon's phone showed he was in regular contact with Sukhvir Dhillon, 38, the court heard. Her Honour Judge Lindsey Rose said of the family's fake robbery: 'It meant many resources were deployed to the Post Office when they could have been deployed elsewhere where they may have saved others, all because of your greed and conniving in pretending this was an armed robbery.' Kahlon was initially arrested and appeared at Isleworth Crown Court charged with the armed robbery of Ramandeep Dhillon and Sunaver Dhillon before the inside job was revealed. Kahlon indicated at a pre-trial review that he was willing to plead guilty to the bogus charge before the prosecution requested he was not arraigned. Sentencing Kahlon, Judge Rose said: 'You were the fall guy for this, the robber who failed at his role. 'You were even willing to enter a guilty plea that would have seen you serve a sentence of years' imprisonment for a crime you didn't commit.' The judge said Kahlon was 'hoping to be paid handsomely by Sukhvir Dhillon' for keeping quiet, adding that the family's lies were 'maintained over the investigation and prosecution of Mr Kahlon'. Detectives from the Met's Flying Squad identified Kahlon from CCTV, tracking him to a nearby car which was registered to him. Kahlon's DNA was also found on a metal fence that he cut himself on as he fled the scene. Elroy Claxton, mitigating for Kahlon, said his client became involved in the plot because of 'an overpowering of his mind by brotherly love'. He added that Kahlon was 'remorseful' and denied ever having a firearm in his possession or transferring money over borders. An audit by the Post Office found that the actual amount of money missing from the store was around £136,000 – none of the money was ever recovered. The court heard that some of the stolen money may have been sent to India and Canada while they travelled to those countries. Sentencing the family, the judge said: 'You carefully planned a false robbery at a time when you knew the maximum amount of money would be at the Post Office. 'You lied and lied again to try to get away with this.' Judge Rose said the Dhillon family's expenditure and lifestyle far exceeded their income. The judge told them: 'You enjoyed multiple expensive cars, holidays and houses – including a very large house in Virginia Water that enjoyed an expensive renovation.' Sukhvir Dhillon, of Lyne Road, Virginia Water, was sentenced to five years' imprisonment for his part in the conspiracy after being found guilty of the same charges as Kahlon at Isleworth Crown Court on March 27. Sentencing Sukhvir Dhillon, Judge Rose said: 'You were the person that was the lead of this offence, you planned what would happen, organised it and put everyone in place.' Sunaver Dhillon, mother of Sukhvir Dhillon, was sentenced to three years and one months' imprisonment for her part in the conspiracy after being found guilty of the same charges as Kahlon. Sentencing her, Judge Rose said: 'You went to work to give an air of authenticity to this crime, making sure the safe was open and using your role as sub-postmistress to make sure the maximum amount could be taken.' Ramandeep Dhillon, the wife of Sukhvir Dhillon, was sentenced to two years and five months' imprisonment for the same charges. Sentencing her, Judge Rose said: 'You were no doubt brought in for your acting abilities, happy to play your part in acting scared and upset by this fake robbery. You even lied about there being a gun.' Another family member, Mandeep Gill, 45, was sentenced to two years and four months' imprisonment, after being found guilty of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice and conspiracy to money launder. Gill was not brought into the conspiracy until after the false police report was made, with prosecutor Richard Reynolds adding that her role was 'lesser than the others'. Mr Reynolds said the conspiracy was a 'particularly cynical plan' in light of the Post Office Horizon controversy, adding that it came at a time when 'public awareness and concern around the Horizon scandal was at its absolute peak'. A Post Office spokesperson said: 'We want to publicly thank the Metropolitan Police for its very thorough investigation into this staged armed robbery which was solved using CCTV footage, DNA evidence and other data to identify those involved with this crime.'
The Independent
29 minutes ago
- The Independent
Man charged with murder after disappearance of Colombian woman
A man has been charged with murder after a Colombian woman disappeared after leaving her east London home. Yajaira Castro Mendez, 46, was reported missing to the Metropolitan Police on Saturday May 31 having left her home in Ilford on the morning of Thursday May 29. Police were at a scene in Gray's Inn Road, Camden, on Friday as part of their investigation into the incident. Juan Toledo, 51, of south-east London, appeared at Barkingside Magistrates' Court on the same day charged with her murder. Scotland Yard said the man, who was arrested on Tuesday, is known to Ms Castro Mendez. Chief Superintendent Jason Stewart, who leads policing in Camden, said: 'Officers have been working around the clock to find Yajaira. She has not been seen or heard from by her family or friends since the date she was reported missing. 'Yajaira's disappearance was initially treated as a missing person investigation led by local officers. 'The investigation was then transferred to the Met's Specialist Crime Command on Thursday (June 5) after a range of extensive further inquiries very sadly suggested she has come to harm. 'Yajaira's family continue to be supported by specialist officers, and we are keeping them updated with developments. 'Detectives continue to investigate the circumstances and there are crime scenes in place across Camden and Lambeth. 'We thank the community for their patience while we carry out our inquiries and ask that any one with information please comes forward.' Anyone with information relating to Ms Castro Mendez's disappearance is asked to contact police via 101 or @MetCC quoting CAD 3020/06JUN25, or anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Telegraph
30 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Concern over mass migration is terrorist ideology, says Prevent
Lord Young suggested the definition could even capture Mr Jenrick, the former immigration minister, who has previously warned that 'excessive, uncontrolled migration threatens to cannibalise the compassion of the British public.' Senior Labour politicians could also fall within the scope of the definition, he claimed. Lord Young cited Sir Keir's recent statement that without fair immigration rules, 'we risk becoming an island of strangers, not a nation that walks forward together.' There are growing fears that police are wrongly seeking to limit free speech. The Telegraph disclosed last month that Julian Foulkes, a retired police officer, was arrested and detained over a social media post warning about the threat of anti-Semitism. Officers who conducted a search of his house described a collection of books by authors such as Mr Murray as 'very Brexity'. Mr Foulkes later received an apology and £20,000 compensation. Last year, Allison Pearson, the Telegraph columnist, was questioned at home by two officers over an X post following pro-Palestinian protests. The Telegraph has also covered the case of Hamit Koskun, who was fined this week for burning a Koran. It led Mr Jenrick to accuse the courts of reviving blasphemy law. Lord Young said the course material appeared to reflect a shift in the Prevent approach from focusing on conduct – such as acquiring weapons or inciting violence – to 'treating ideology itself as a risk indicator, encompassing belief, alignment or political attitude'. He said the FSU had already had to support members referred to Prevent, including a 24-year-old autistic man whose social worker reported that he had been viewing 'offensive and anti-trans' websites and 'focusing on lots of Right-wing dark comedy'. Prevent referral could stain person's name Even if a person was subsequently deemed to require 'no further action', their name would risk remaining on police and other databases that could be accessed by MI5, MI6, the Home Office, Border Force, HMRC, the Charity Commission and local safeguarding teams. Lord Young said: 'There are multiple documented cases in which individuals referred to Prevent – despite not meeting the threshold for further action – suffered serious and lasting consequences simply because their names were logged in the system.' The row comes despite a report by Sir William Shawcross, a former independent reviewer of Prevent, which criticised the way that mainstream literature and even a former Cabinet minister had been described as 'cultural nationalists' by a Home Office research unit on extremism. The minister was later revealed as Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg. Sir William recommended that Prevent must be 'consistent in the threshold that it applies across ideologies to ensure a proportionate and effective response.' He added that there were major failings with Prevent more broadly, including that it wrongly funnelled money to extremist organisations and had repeatedly failed to identify people who went on to carry out terrorist attacks. Lord Carlile, a former independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, said: 'It is a very difficult job that the Home Office has to do, but maybe they should do a careful bit of editing so that people who are close to the political mainstream are not caught up in it.' A former government adviser said the 'cultural nationalism' definition was 'pretty shoddy'. 'Agencies like counter-terrorism police and MI5 are much more rigorous in their classifications,' they said. 'We are talking about Right-wing extremists, who are often neo-Nazis. It undermines the seriousness of what counter-extremism is all about.' Professor Ian Acheson, a former government adviser on extremism, said: 'We are now beginning to see the consequences of a referral mechanism built on training like this which skews away from suspicion by conduct to the mere possession of beliefs that are perfectly legitimate but regarded by Prevent policy wonks as 'problematic.''
