logo
Channel 4 star, 32, charged with rape and sexual assault after alleged attack on woman at posh pub

Channel 4 star, 32, charged with rape and sexual assault after alleged attack on woman at posh pub

Daily Mail​30-04-2025

A star of Channel 4 's Amazing Spaces has been accused of rape and sexual assault, it has been reported.
James Catling, 32, allegedly attacked a woman at an upmarket pub in Great Tew, Oxfordshire, in September 2022.
He appeared at Oxford Magistrates' Court yesterday afternoon after being charged with one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault last month, according to The Sun.
Catling was arrested the day after the alleged attack but was released under investigation.
His court appearance comes just two weeks after he starred on an episode of long-running property show Amazing Spaces on April 15.
Host George Clarke was left speechless by Catling's renovation of his rare Airstream campervan and described it as the best he had ever seen.
It remains unclear when the programme was filmed, or whether Catling told Channel 4 that he had been charged with the offences when it aired.
There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by Channel 4.
Wearing black trousers and a chequered shirt, Catling spoke only to confirm his name, age and address in court yesterday.
He was released on bail and is due to appear at Oxford Crown Court in May.
It was revealed on the show that Catling left his job as a property developer in 2019 to pursue his stream of restoring Airstream silver bullet campervans in Oxfordshire.
Before appearing on the programme, he had flown to Boston in the hope of claiming one of the most priceless models of them all - a 1947 Airstream, currently the seventh oldest in the world.
His find was incredibly rare - with original Airstream signs on the back and front, only used in the first few years of their production.
But battered and lacking in its famous shine, the prized find needed hours of work and 'deep pockets' to restore to its original state.
The episode witnessed James polishing the metal to make it look brand new, adding 800 new rivets and new panels, all while staying within his £40,000 budget.
And when George returned to see the final result at the end of the episode, he was simply blown away.
'This looks absolutely amazing,' he said, adding it was 'the best' he'd ever seen 'without a shadow of a doubt'.
Airstream is an American brand of travel trailer, known for their polished aluminum surfaces.
They have been staples of the camper van industry since they were founded by Wally Byam in the late 1920s.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Madeleine McCann search officially ENDS: Agony as JCB, radar & fingertip trawl of Brueckner's ‘rat run' turns up nothing
Madeleine McCann search officially ENDS: Agony as JCB, radar & fingertip trawl of Brueckner's ‘rat run' turns up nothing

Scottish Sun

timean hour ago

  • Scottish Sun

Madeleine McCann search officially ENDS: Agony as JCB, radar & fingertip trawl of Brueckner's ‘rat run' turns up nothing

MADDIE SEARCH WOE Madeleine McCann search officially ENDS: Agony as JCB, radar & fingertip trawl of Brueckner's 'rat run' turns up nothing THE last-gasp search for Madeleine McCann has been called off at the end of the third day - dashing hopes of nailing Christian Brueckner to the case with DNA evidence. Scores of cops painstakingly combed scrubland near Praia da Luz with JCBs, radar and fingertip searches, believing the tot or her pyjamas could have been buried there. 5 Around 60 cops scoured the area but found nothing Credit: Dan Charity 5 The search was focused on a handful of derelict buildings Credit: Dan Charity 5 Madeleine McCann went missing while on holiday with her family in 2007 Credit: PA 5 Christian Brueckner appears in court in Germany last month Credit: Dan Charity 5 There was an option to extend the search until tomorrow if any clues had been found - but cops turned up "nothing of consequence". Despite initial suggestions samples collected during the search would be sent to Germany for analysis, Portuguese sources this afternoon confirmed that would not happen. Animal bones and adult clothing were unearthed, but no traces linked to Madeleine McCann, so there is no cause for further inspection. A Portuguese police officer told The Sun: 'We have found nothing. There is nothing worth being sent to Germany for testing. We are finishing today." A group of 30 officers was seen searching scrubland on foot before dismantling the cordon tape around 4pm. Attention now turns to prime suspect Brueckner's impending release from jail, when he is expected to flee from Germany and slip away for good. Prosecutors have until September to rustle up an extension to his sentence to guarantee the opportunity to bring him to justice in the event of conclusive evidence. At least five abandoned stone farmhouses and barns were scoured in the area, where Brueckner is known to have lived in a 'wild camp'. Particular attention was paid to a farmhouse where 2007 satellite images showed what appeared to be a white tent. A trench was dug out with an excavator and officers returned today to conduct a close fingertip search. This week's search - the first since May 2023 - deployed special radar technology which can scan the ground and detect buried objects. Plans to scour the whole area were scrapped yesterday - and cops focused all their efforts on at least five abandoned buildings. The Sun revealed that this search was ordered after key figures in the case were flown back to Germany to again give statements on the claims Brueckner kidnapped and killed the toddler in 2007. He has never been formally charged over Madeleine's disappearance and denies any involvement - but German cops are convinced he is guilty. The Sun revealed in a documentary last month that German police uncovered a cache of disturbing evidence revealing Brueckner's obsession with young kids. There was also a hard-drive of pictures, which German investigators continue to keep secret, that is believed to indicate why they are sure Madeleine is dead. After a similar search of the nearby Arade Dam two years ago, soil and other samples were sent to Germany for checks but found to have no evidential value. Follow our live blog, below, for the latest news and updates...

Supreme Court spares US gun companies from Mexico's lawsuit
Supreme Court spares US gun companies from Mexico's lawsuit

Reuters

time3 hours ago

  • Reuters

Supreme Court spares US gun companies from Mexico's lawsuit

WASHINGTON, June 5 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday spared two American gun companies from a lawsuit by Mexico's government accusing them of aiding illegal firearms trafficking to drug cartels and fueling gun violence in the southern neighbor of the United States. The justices in a 9-0 ruling overturned a lower court's ruling that had allowed the lawsuit to proceed against firearms maker Smith & Wesson (SWBI.O), opens new tab and distributor Interstate Arms. The lower court had found that Mexico plausibly alleged that the companies aided and abetted illegal gun sales, harming its government. The companies had argued for the dismissal of Mexico's suit, filed in Boston in 2021, under a 2005 U.S. law called the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act that broadly shields gun companies from liability for crimes committed with their products. The Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided in 2024 that the alleged conduct by the companies fell outside these protections. "Mexico alleges that the companies aided and abetted unlawful sales routing guns to Mexican drug cartels. The question presented is whether Mexico's complaint plausibly pleads that conduct. We conclude it does not," liberal Justice Elena Kagan wrote for the court. The case came to the Supreme Court at a complicated time for U.S.-Mexican relations as President Donald Trump pursues on-again, off-again tariffs on Mexican goods. Trump has also accused Mexico of doing too little to stop the flow of synthetic drugs such as fentanyl and migrant arrivals at the border. Mexico's lawsuit, filed in Boston in 2021, accused the two companies of violating various U.S. and Mexican laws. Mexico claims that the companies have deliberately maintained a distribution system that included firearms dealers who knowingly sell weapons to third-party, or "straw," purchasers who then traffic guns to cartels in Mexico. The suit also accused the companies of unlawfully designing and marketing their guns as military-grade weapons to drive up demand among the cartels, including by associating their products with the American military and law enforcement. The gun companies said they make and sell lawful products. To avoid its lawsuit being dismissed under the 2005 law, Mexico was required to plausibly allege that the companies aided and abetted illegal gun sales and that such conduct was the "proximate cause" - a legal principle involving who is responsible for causing an injury - of the harms claimed by Mexico. Mexico in the lawsuit sought monetary damages of an unspecified amount and a court order requiring Smith & Wesson and Interstate Arms to take steps to "abate and remedy the public nuisance they have created in Mexico." Gun violence fueled by trafficked U.S.-made firearms has contributed to a decline in business investment and economic activity in Mexico and forced its government to incur unusually high costs on services including healthcare, law enforcement and the military, according to the lawsuit. Mexico, a country with strict firearms laws, has said most of its gun homicides are committed with weapons trafficked from the United States and valued at more than $250 million annually. The Supreme Court heard arguments in the case on March 4.

Several people arrested in Bali on drugs charges that could carry death penalty
Several people arrested in Bali on drugs charges that could carry death penalty

Belfast Telegraph

time3 hours ago

  • Belfast Telegraph

Several people arrested in Bali on drugs charges that could carry death penalty

©Press Association Several foreign nationals – including an Australian, an Indian and an American – have been arrested on the tourist island of Bali on suspicion of possessing drugs, charges that could carry the death penalty. The move comes after three British nationals accused of smuggling nearly a kilogram of cocaine into Indonesia were charged on Tuesday in a court on Bali. Customs officers at Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport arrested an Indian national with the initials HV, who was carrying a duffel bag, in the customs and excise inspection area on May 29. The officers found narcotic-related items in his belongings, authorities said. Following up on the interrogation of HV, later that day officers from the National Narcotics Agency of Bali Province arrested an Australian man with the initials PR, who has been visiting Bali since 1988. PR asked HV to bring the duffel bag from Los Angeles to Bali, said I Made Sinar Subawa, an official from the narcotics agency, at a news conference. During a search at a house where he stayed, officers found drugs in the form of hashish, a cannabis concentrate product, that belonged to PR and had been purchased over the Telegram messaging app. The hashish was shipped from Los Angeles and Philippines before finally being received in Bali, Mr Subawa said. Officers seized 191 grams of hashish along with some candies consisting of tetrahydrocannabinol, and 488 grams of marijuana. Both PR and HV are now suspected of dealing in narcotics, based on the evidence that was found with them, Mr Subawa said. 'PR is suspected of violating Indonesia's Narcotics Law which carries the death penalty, life imprisonment, or imprisonment for a minimum of four years and a maximum of 12 years,' said Mr Subawa. Along with HV and PR, the agency also arrested WM, an American, on May 23 while he was collecting a package from a post office in Bali. An officer opened the package carried by WM and found seven pieces of silver packaging containing a total of 99 orange amphetamine pills and secured one white Apple iPhone. The agency, at a news conference in the city of Denpasar on Thursday, presented the evidence, including marijuana and hashish, seized from the suspects. All suspects will undergo legal proceedings in Indonesia, including trial and sentencing. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime says Indonesia is a major drug-smuggling hub despite having some of the strictest drug laws in the world, in part because international drug syndicates target its young population. The south-east Asian country has extremely strict drug laws, and convicted smugglers can face severe penalties, including the possibility of execution by firing squad. About 530 people, including 96 foreigners, are on death row in Indonesia, mostly for drug-related crimes, latest figures from the Ministry of Immigration and Corrections show. Indonesia's last executions, of an Indonesian and three foreigners, were carried out in July 2016.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store