British police charge three Iranians in counter terrorism probe
May 17 (Reuters) - British police have charged three Iranian men with offences under the National Security Act after a major counter terrorism investigation, the police said in a statement on Saturday.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Anti-knife crime campaigners being honoured vow to continue fight
Anti-knife crime campaigners who have been recognised in the King's Birthday Honours have vowed to continue to tackle the scourge. Pooja Kanda has been made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) following her tireless campaign for changes in the law after her 16-year-old son Ronan was murdered with a ninja sword yards away from his Wolverhampton home. Speaking to the PA news agency, Ms Kanda said she was 'grateful' and 'overwhelmed' by the honour following the death of her son in June 2022. The 48-year-old said: 'The day I heard about the OBE, I held his picture. I shed tears. 'I know that the OBE is in my name, but this is for my son. 'I'm only here because of who he was. He was such a kind, loving, caring, not a son, not a brother, a human being, a person who everyone loved.' Meanwhile, mother and daughter duo Alison Madgin, 60, and Carly Barrett, 34, have become Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBE), also for services to the prevention of knife crime. Ms Madgin's daughter Samantha Madgin was a new mother of 18 years of age when she was stabbed to death in Wallsend in 2007. Her son was just 68 days old when she died. The two told PA their honours are 'bittersweet'. Ms Barrett, who was only 16 years old when her sister was murdered, said: 'We've had to lose Samantha to get these honours. 'It was her I wanted to tell.' They set up Samantha's Legacy, a community interest company, in 2019 and have since given talks to young people across the north east of England about the dangers of carrying knives. Ms Kanda said she was driven to campaign after witnessing the trial of her son's killers, who attacked the 16-year-old in a case of mistaken identity. They had been able to buy knives without identity checks. 'During that court case, the revelation each day was: how is this possible?' Ms Kanda said. 'How? How on earth are these types of weapons still available? 'No wonder my son didn't stand a chance.' Ms Kanda and her family began the Justice For Ronan Kanda campaign after his death and have since advocated for changes in the law around the sale of knives. She said one of Ronan's killers had been able to get weapons online 'as easily as getting bread and milk'. The Kanda family's campaigning has already achieved one of its goals – the passing of Ronan's Law which will make it illegal to own, sell, make or import ninja swords in the UK from August 1. Pat McFadden, MP for Wolverhampton South East, Ronan's constituency, thanked Ms Kanda and her family for their efforts when the law was approved in Parliament on April 30. But for Ms Kanda, there is still 'so much to do'. 'This is just one fight for me,' she said. 'There were many failures that I endured, and many failures need to be turned into learnings.' Ms Barrett said becoming an MBE has given her 'fire to go and do more'. Her mother Ms Madgin said: 'For all the victims who haven't got a voice, we are here for them, because a lot of victims can't be as outspoken as what we may be.' Ms Barrett added: 'We don't do it to be recognised, but it gives us that little bit more strength and inspiration to carry on.'
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Judge hears closing arguments in hockey sexual assault trial
Closing arguments have concluded in the trial of five Canadian ice hockey players accused of sexually assaulting a woman, with both sides offering competing stories on what had unfolded on the evening of the alleged accused men, all former players for Canada's world junior hockey team, have pleaded not guilty to the charges. Their fate now rests with a judge. Their lawyers argued that the woman consented to engaging in sexual acts with the players at a hotel room in London, Ontario, in 2018, while attending a hockey woman testified that she had consensual sex with one player that night, but did not agree to sexual acts with the others who had entered the hotel room. The accused are Michael McLeod, Dillon Dubé, Cal Foote, Alex Formenton and Carter Hart. All were professional players with the National Hockey League (NHL) when the assault allegations woman is known as EM due to a publication ban on her name. She was 20 years old at the time of the testified that she had met Mr McLeod at a bar in June 2018, where he and other players were celebrating after the gala. In her testimony, she told the court that she had agreed to go to Mr McLeod's hotel room and they had consensual lawyer Meaghan Cunningham argued that the woman was later put in a "highly stressful and unpredictable" situation after Mr McLeod invited other players by text message to the room for a "three-way". She feared for her safety, the lawyer said, and felt pressured to perform sexual acts to protect herself, including having sex with one player and oral sex with three others. Over days of testimony, EM said that she went on "auto-pilot" mode as the men demanded sex acts from Cunningham referenced a video shot by Mr McLeod at the end of the night of the woman, where he can be heard asking her "You're OK with this, though, right?" and she responds: "I'm OK with this."She argued that the way the question is framed suggests EM had not agreed to what had just transpired. "I want to ask Your Honour to think carefully about those words and what they tell us about what was happening at that point in time," Ms Cunningham told Justice Maria lawyers told the court a different story, focusing on her credibility and reliability as a witness. They argued it was EM who was the instigator and demanded sex acts from the men in the room. Defence lawyers also argued her actions that night made them believe she was consenting and zeroed in on one part of her testimony, where she said she had adopted a "porn star persona" as a coping mechanism during the incident. They said that the Crown had failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the woman did not consent."This alone warrants an acquittal against all of these defendants," said lawyer Lisa Carnelos, who represented Mr Dubé.The closing arguments mark the end of the month-and-a-half long trial, which featured a declaration of a mistrial early on and the dismissal of the jury mid-way verdict will be decided by Justice Carroccia alone. It is scheduled to be delivered on 24 July.
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Hydebank governor ‘incredibly humbled and deeply honoured' by OBE
The governor of Hydebank Wood Secure College and Women's Prison has said he was 'incredibly humbled and deeply honoured' to learn he was to be made an OBE for public service. Richard Taylor said he had to credit all the staff of the south Belfast facility for turning it around after a highly critical inspection report in 2013. Justice Minister Naomi Long has now described it as a 'model of excellence'. 'I was totally shocked to be honest, it's not something I ever would have expected,' he told the PA news agency. 'My first reaction was I was incredibly humbled and deeply honoured by the letter. 'It is recognition for the work that every colleague has done here, it's not just for me, it's for every officer, every member of staff and every individual who has contributed to Hydebank Wood, and I hope that that is seen by everyone.' Mr Taylor said he started his career 37 years ago as a prison officer at the then recently opened Maghaberry Prison in Co Antrim, before moving into training and then management. He said when he joined the Northern Ireland Prison Service during the Troubles, the ethos was security, whereas now it is focused on the regime, ensuring inmates have purposeful activity. He said the focus on education is behind the drop in numbers of young offenders, explaining the Hydebank population has changed from around 30-40 females and more than 200 young males to around 130 females and 50 young males. 'When people have purposeful activity and education to take part in, it leads to a very healthy and successful prison environment,' he said. 'People who are locked up for long periods of time behind doors with nothing to entertain their day, that will result in behaviour problems. 'We centred learning and skills at the heart of all that we did, and that was looking at what people's skills were through assessment on committal and then getting them involved in a full education programme. 'It has built a good agenda in terms of respect as well. Over the years we had long conversations about calling people students instead of offenders, but in reality we call them by their first names and they call us by our first names. 'It is about making people responsible young adults, giving them an opportunity to get an education and a job on release, and I believe that is one of the main factors for the young men especially for why our numbers have been reducing, year on year on year, and we don't get that revolving door of people coming back in.' He added: 'In Hydebank we have a very predictable regime and that was part of the transformation process that has happened over the last decade, and I am just one of a number of many people who have been involved in it. 'The recognition, while deeply personal to me, is probably in truth a testament to the collective dedication of everybody who has been involved in Hydebank, and that includes our partner agency, the Probation Board Northern Ireland and the South Eastern Health Trust who we work very closely with.' Mr Taylor said he has been governor at Hydebank for nine out of the last 12 years, having spent three years at Magilligan in the north west from 2018 to 2021. He initially came to the prison in 2013 after a critical inspection report. 'I was sent to Hydebank just after that to lead a taskforce for change, and we created that model for the college environment which was the first secure college in the UK and Ireland,' he said. 'Since that we have built on that, and our last inspection last year was an extremely successful inspection which is a powerful validation of the efforts of everyone who was involved in it.' He said part of the success at Hydebank was changing the culture, adding it gives him 'immense pride' to see the progress after a long and challenging road.
