When WhatsApp groups go horribly wrong in Andrea Mara's brilliant thriller It Should Have Been You
'Ten days, four deaths, one teenager in hospital, one in police custody, my family destroyed. And all because of a text.' This is the shocking introduction to Irish crime author Andrea Mara's new thriller.
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The Irish Sun
2 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Irish Prison Service to spend €4m on dressing gowns, underwear, anoraks & pink t-shirts for over 5.4k inmates
THE Irish Prison Service is set to spend €4 million on clothes for inmates including dressing gowns, underwear and pink t-shirts. 2 Caron McCaffrey wrote to the Department of Justice to warn about the dangers of overcrowding The tender is worth €1 million a year for the next four years with the prison service seeking a range of clothes for inmates with specific details on colour and material. For example, the tender seeks thousands of white polo neck t-shirts for male inmates along with crew neck t-shirts that are pink for female lags. The company that bags the contract will also have to provide red anoraks for prisoners, with the prison service requesting that the jackets should have no pockets and no hoods. Thousands of pairs of underwear are also to be supplied under the contract with polyester and cotton boxer shorts for men that are white in colour. Read more in News For women, the tender seeks mixed colour underwear that are 100 per cent cotton and have frill elasticated waists. The contract will also purchase dressing gowns, pyjamas, tracksuits and leggings for prisoners. Runners will also need to be provided that are secured by straps instead of laces. The business that wins the contract will be asked to deliver clothes to all 14 prisons across the country including the stores at Ireland's only maximum security jail in MOST READ ON THE IRISH SUN The €1 million a year tender is actually a drop in the price from what the prison service were willing to pay for clothes the last time they issued this tender. Gardai release video showing secret smuggling compartment in lorry caught with €10.6m of cocaine In 2020, the IPS were offering €1.3 million a year for prisoners' clothing as they sought thousands of t-shirts, runners, socks and sets of pyjamas. It comes as the head of the Irish Prison Service Caron McCaffrey wrote to the Department of Justice to warn about the dangers to staff and inmates due to the current overcrowding crisis. The latest figures show that there are 5,413 prisoners in Irish prisons with 404 of these inmates sleeping on mattresses on the floor because there are not enough beds. Prison service boss Caron McCaffrey warned the Department: 'I need to advise you that I now have grave concerns in relation to the ability of this service to ensure the safety of both those who work and live in our prisons.' 2 Ireland's only maximum security prison in Portlaoise will also receive clothing supplies Credit: Garrett White - The Sun
The Irish Sun
2 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
‘I got caught', cry tourists as new ‘they take your money' Spain scam sweeps busy town amid warning for Irish holidayers
IRISH holidaymakers travelling to Spain this summer have been warmed to be wary of a scam targeting tourists on the beachfront. Some tourists have already admitted they "got caught" by the bogus scheme. 2 A warning has been issued to Irish holidaymakers in Spain as a new 'scam' sweeps the popular resort town Credit: Getty Frank, known as Frank the Stag Man, has been living in Benidorm and hosting lively events for tourists for over a decade. He took to Frank has captured a number of people on the beachfront in Benidorm holding clipboards and approaching tourists following an invitation to fill out a "petition." Holidaymakers are asked to sign a petition and are pushed into making a donation. Read more in Travel Frank said: "As you've seen there, this is one of the His partner interjected, saying: "They'll say it's for the blind or the disabled and that they are petitioning to get something sorted here in Spain. "It's full of a load of rubbish and illegal to do this here in Spain." Frank added: "They're illegal, scamming, and they will take your money. Some people even get their wallets out and give them a few quid." MOST READ ON THE IRISH SUN Horror moment dirty water pipe EXPLODES near tourists' balconies on Costa Del Sol But multiple people visiting the beautiful spot have been caught out by the fraudsters. Taking to the comments section, one TikTok user said: "My husband fell for this in Old Town. "A guy claiming he was deaf, my husband being deaf, we didn't realise the scam till after." Someone else added: "I got caught in Old Town, he wanted €10 from me, when I said no he was so rude until my husband showed up." A third recalled: "I had this scam done to me and my partner luckily we had no cash on us." A fourth wrote: "I had the same guy do it at Placa del Castell last Wednesday. Told him no three times for him to go away. "Felt bad for the ones who stop and listen to him that don't know any better." ANOTHER 'BIG PROBLEM' Frank has also shared a separate video last week highlighting another "big problem" with holidaymakers having their phone stolen while visiting the Spanish spot. He said: "Generally, what happens is, someone comes up to you and they'll say to you, 'Oh, I'm with some friends, and I'm lost, and I don't know where I'm going. Can you do a Google Map search for me?' "What you do, because you're a nice person, is you whip your phone out, you get your Google Maps up, and as soon as you get your Google Maps up, they grab the phone and run off with it." Benidorm was the most searched destination from Ireland on Google last year, according to The Travel Expert. And Spain is the favourite holiday sport for Irish holidaymakers with around 2.5 million people heading there each year. 2 Benidorm was the most searched destination from Ireland on Google last year Credit: Getty Images - Getty
Sunday World
3 hours ago
- Sunday World
Portuguese cops told Irishwoman allegedly raped by Madeline McCann suspect they feared ‘impact on tourism'
Hazel Behan accused Christian Brueckner of raping her at her home in Portugal more than 20 years ago. Portuguese police told an Irish woman allegedly raped by Madeline McCann murder suspect Christian Brueckner, that they feared there would be an impact on tourism in the area. Hazel Behan accused the German national of sexually assaulting her at her home in Portugal in 2004. He went on trial in 2020, accused of raping the Dublin woman and a number of other women, but was aquitted. Speaking to The Pat Kenny Show on Newstalk, she said after the attack, she noticed cops were following her. 'I started to recognise who they were,' she said. 'I approached them on a number of occasions; they told me I'd be better off going home, that I would destroy the tourism industry in the area. 'That I would bring it down, that my friends essentially might lose their jobs and there'd be no work for them.' Describing the night of the alleged rape when she was home alone, Hazel said she awoke when she heard someone speaking to her. 'Before I even opened my eyes, there's this fear that is very difficult to describe,' she said. 'Every ounce of blood just rushes to your feet; I was nearly paralysed. 'You're just completely frozen,' she said. Christian Brueckner was tried in Germany for Ms Behan's rape and was found not guilty on the basis of insufficient evidence (Getty) She said that she saw a man dressed in all black, wearing a mask and holding a knife, before he raped her three times. 'When I eventually got out of the apartment, I went straight to the reception of the hotel,' she said. 'They called the police and it was very quick, to be fair - lots of male police arrived. 'They were just talking over me in Portuguese and I couldn't quite catch anything that was being said,' she said. 'They were quite insistent that I went back to the apartment, straight away.' Hazel said that despite wanting to stay away, she returned with them. Hazel Behan (Steve Humphreys) Today's News in 90 Seconds - June 12th 'They were in and out, loads of different policemen,' she said. 'They stood me in the doorway of the room of the apartment and I had to strip off in front of them, for them to take photographs of the injuries that I had. 'There was no privacy, there was no female and no one speaking English. 'I really, really didn't want to do it but you're kind of just this shell of a person at that stage. 'I wish I was how I am now then; I didn't have anything left.' She said she put on fresh clothes, got in an ambulance, and was then taken to hospital alone where medics 'cleaned me up as best they could'. 'I literally had nothing,' she said. 'I had no clothes, I had no phone, no money, no passport - nothing.' Ms Behan recently criticised the Portuguese police for failing to stop Brueckner from going on to commit further crimes. 'I feel that those who were in a position and mandated a position to protect and serve and do their job didn't,' Behan told The State of Us Podcast hosts Tara Mills and Declan Harvey. Madeline McCann 'It also places a huge amount of guilt in me because even though I know I couldn't have done anything more… it doesn't stop the guilt that I have. 'If I had shouted louder, that if I had made more of a fuss at the time, all of these things may not have happened to other people,' she confessed. 'I carry that because of them not doing their job, and that really, really upsets me. 'Like to a point that I feel that they need to be called out for that. 'I don't think all these years later I should be doing all, having to go through all this again because of the ineptitude of a police force.' 'There's people like me and other victims who believe they're victims of Christian Bruckner who have suffered as a result.' Last week German police began fresh searches in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in connection with the disappearance of 3-year-old Madeline McCann. The search was reportedly prompted by the discovery of disturbing new evidence found on a hard drive hidden in Brueckner's 'secret lair'. The Sun report that so far cops have removed clothing and bones for further examination, while The Mirror have said that two guns have also been found. James Manning/PA Wire In 2020, Brueckner went on trial accused of five separate counts of rape and sexual assault which prosecutors allege he committed in Portugal between 2000 and 2017. One of these charges related to the alleged rape of Westmeath woman Hazel Behan after he broke into her apartment via the balcony while she was sleeping. A court heard that she was raped by him in June 2004 while working as a holiday rep in Portugal. He was acquitted of all charges, but the Irish woman has now lodged an application to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) alleging inaction by Portuguese police in identifying and prosecuting Brueckner for her rape. Cops trying to find evidence of Brueckner's involvement in McCann's disappearance are in a race against time as he is expected to be released from prison in later this year. The German is serving time behind bars for the rape of an American woman in Praia da Luz in 2005. Madeline McCann vanished from her family's holiday rental in Praia da Luz two years later in May 2007. The tot slept in a bedroom with her two younger twin siblings as their parents dined at a nearby restaurant with their friends. When Madeline's mother, Kate, checked on her children at around 10 pm, Maddie was not there, and the alarm was raised. The case of the missing girl captivated the world, and continues to do so as no trace of the 3-year-old has ever been found, despite an international manhunt to find her. No one has ever been charged in connection with her disappearance. If you've been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can contact the Rape Crisis Centre on 1800 77 8888.
