
Campervan driver arrested after biker injured in crash on A82
A campervan driver has been arrested following a crash which left a 57-year-old male motorcyclist seriously injured.The two-vehicle collision happened on the A82 at Lochend, south of Inverness, at 16:30 on Thursday.The biker was flown to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary where he remains in a serious condition. The occupants of the Peugeot Carado campervan were not injured, but the 46-year-old driver was arrested before being released pending further inquiries.
The A82 was closed between Inverness and Drumnadrochit for seven hours to allow a police crash investigation to take place.Police have appealed for anyone with information to get in touch.

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Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Revealed: Mystery donor who paid £1,300 fine that freed lead Madelaine McCann suspect is a former police officer investigating him - as she blames 'misunderstanding'
The mystery donor who paid the £1,300 court fine that paved the way for the lead suspect in the Madeleine McCann 's case to walk free has been identified as a former police officer. The woman, who has not been named, claims to have been wipe-tapping the jail cell of paedophile Christian Brueckner, The Sun reported. He is the main suspect in the unsolved disappearance of three-year-old Madeleine McCann, who vanished from her family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in May 2007. The 48-year-old is currently serving a seven-year jail sentence in Germany for the 2005 rape of an American woman, then 72, in the same Algarve resort where Maddie went missing. The woman who paid the fine is said to be a former member of the BKA, the German equivalent of the FBI. She told German newspaper Der Spiegel that she was the person responsible for settling Brueckner's oustanding balance - but claims it was based on a 'misunderstanding'. Until now the convicted rapist was only able to pay off £210 of the amount owed, meaning he was set to remain in jail until January 2026. However thanks to the former office's intervention Brueckner is now set to be released on September 17. The former police officer's actions appear to undermine her former employer, with German police still seeking to find forensic evidence to charge Christian Brueckner with Maddy's disappearance. The woman, who claims to work in 'Operative Technology Audio', says that she was previously reponsible for bugging the paedophile's jail cell. However, she reportedly thought that the outstanding fine was only due to Brueckner insulting a police officer - a charge she said 'wasn't justified'. She claims that by the time she learnt that the financial penalties related to a number of more serious infringemnts, including bodily harm, it was too late. The woman told Der Spiegel that the payment was a 'misunderstanding' and that she had attempted to reverse the payment, but to no avail. The reasons for paying the fine appear bizarre, but the former officer alleges that she has 'never had any personal contact with Christian B'. The German newspaper was, however, able to confirm that she had transferred the total sum - £1,300 - into an account belonging to the Braunschweig public prosecutor's office. The payment covered outstanding fines on Brueckner's record, including a 2016 charge for drunkenness in traffic and forgery of documents and another from 2017 for assault. Brueckner, who has been under investigation by German police in connection with Madeleine's disappearance since 2020, has vehemently denied the allegations. Last October, he was also cleared of a series of unrelated sex attacks that took place in the Algarve between 2000 and 2017. Brueckner's lawyer Philipp Marquort previously told MailOnline that he believed the sexual offender 'will leave Germany' when released, but that he would likely remain in jail until early 2026. He added: 'I haven't had a chance to speak with him yet about the searches and I am not going to comment on what has been happening in Portugal. 'What I will say is that I don't think he will be coming out in September as he doesn't have any money to pay the fines because it went on his legal fees, so I can't see him leaving prison until early next year. 'He will probably see the news on the TV in his cell and he will talk about it when he calls me next time but I still do think when he is freed he will leave Germany.' News of his the alleged anonymous donor comes just weeks after two buried guns were discovered during an intensive three-day search operation near Brueckner's former ramshackle cottage home close to where Madeleine vanished. Earlier this month, German authorities launched fresh searches through Atalaia - a stretch of scrubland littered with rubbish and graffiti-covered buildings linked by a network of dusty tracks known in Portuguese as the Fisherman's Trail. Connecting Praia da Luz with the nearby town of Lagos, the track is a popular hiking route for tourists, but for four days last week it was cordoned off for members of the BKA - Germany 's equivalent of the FBI - to conduct searches. The search marked the first in Portugal for more than two years, following a near-week-long operation involving Portugese, German and police officers at a remote dam a 40-minute drive from Praia da Luz. Brueckner has denied any involvement in Madeleine's disappearance in a series of letters but has refused to engage with police or provide them with an alibi. He has also admitted to being close to the villa where Madeleine was sleeping on the night of her disapperance.


Telegraph
2 hours ago
- Telegraph
Watch: Bloody brawl at Royal Ascot sparks police investigation
Police have launched an investigation into a bloody brawl that broke out on Ladies' Day at Royal Ascot. Footage emerged on Friday showing two racegoers swinging punches at one other at the event attended by the King, Queen and other senior royals. One of the smartly dressed men is covered in blood after being knocked to the floor in front of shocked onlookers before a group intervene to keep them apart. The racecourse confirmed the brawl took place on Thursday, and that those involved had been ejected. A police spokesperson said: 'We are aware of an affray that has taken place inside Ascot Racecourse yesterday. 'An investigation into the circumstances surrounding this incident are ongoing, and we would ask anyone who recognises the people in the video to please come forward. An Ascot Racecourse spokesperson added of the incident: 'We operate a strict behavioural management policy and take a zero-tolerance approach to antisocial behaviour. Both individuals were apprehended and ejected, with one requiring medical treatment on site.' Police using drones and sniffer dogs to maintain control The brawl took place less than a week after Telegraph Sport revealed police drones, armed patrols and teams of sniffer dogs would be used to target troublemakers at this year's festival. Festivities spilt over into a handful of minor brawls last year, but police said they had a 'comprehensive' plan to keep arrests to a minimum at the meeting, which began on Tuesday. As with all major sporting events, cocaine-use among spectators has become an increasing concern for Royal Ascot in recent years. Police made 36 arrests during last year's festival, the vast majority off site. Allegations included assault, drink-driving and possession of class A drugs. The number of arrests was broadly consistent with previous years, with 35 in 2023. Police worked with Ascot Racecourse Limited and the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead on this year's security plan. A security clampdown in 2018 led to the first widespread use of sniffer dogs near the main entrances as well as around bar and toilet areas at the site. This year's event has coincided with a heatwave that has led to hundreds of racegoers being treated at the course's medical centre. One spectator who fell ill with suspected heatstroke was sent to hospital on Tuesday, with crowds warned temperatures would reach 31C by Saturday.


Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Police officer who sent string of messages to Des O'Connor's daughter after she was mugged should have been sacked from force, panel rules
A Scotland Yard detective who sexually harassed Des O'Connor's daughter should have been sacked, a misconduct panel has ruled. Former detective chief inspector James Mason was given a final written warning in October 2021 after calling Kristina O'Connor his 'favourite Camden victim of crime ' and asking her on a date when she was injured during an attempted robbery a decade earlier. Mason, 47, had committed gross misconduct by 'deliberately and repeatedly abusing his position for a sexual purpose,' the panel had found at the time. But it was decided that dismissing or demoting him would have been 'disproportionately harsh.' The same panel reconvened this week and ruled that Mason, who resigned from the force in November 2022, should have been sacked, however. Delivering the panel's findings, Christopher McKay said he had caused harm to the force's reputation. 'Women and girls should feel confident that they are treated with courtesy and understanding if they attend a police station to make a complaint,' he said. In a statement after the decision, Ms O'Connor, 37, who wept as it was handed down at Sutton Police station in south London, called for the police to be abolished. 'My experience has taught me that the police cannot be trusted with women's safety,' the daughter of the late comedian and presenter said. 'I was abused by a police officer who should have been helping me. 'Since reporting his behaviour I have seen first-hand how the police were more interested in protecting themselves than helping me find justice, or protecting other women. 'I have spent many years questioning whether the policing system can be fixed, and have come to the conclusion that if we are serious about women's safety, it needs replacing entirely. 'I believe we need to abolish the police and establish an entirely new public service that actually protects and cares for women and communities.' Ms O'Connor was bruised and suffered a black eye during the attempted robbery in 2011 and was taken to Kentish Town police station after the attack. While taking her statement Mason, then a detective sergeant ten years her senior, asked if he could take her to dinner that evening. The next day he emailed the then 24-year-old, asking her out for a drink and remarking that despite her injuries 'I am sure you still look amazingly hot.' When she asked him to stop, Mr Mason wrote: 'Coming on to victims is positively encouraged, it's all part of the friendly and accessible face of the Met Police. It's the rejection that is frowned upon.' Ms O'Connor had previously been unsuccessful in a 2023 High Court legal challenge against the panel's original decision, but the Court of Appeal ruled in January that it should be reconsidered. Her lawyer, Nancy Collins, of Bindmans Law, said the decision reflects the severity of the harassment her client suffered from an officer in whom she had placed her trust. 'It cannot be right that police officers who abuse their positions of power, undermine public confidence in policing and cause harm to victims of crime, are allowed to continue in their role,' she added. 'Anything less than dismissal would signal that sexual misconduct is acceptable and discourage victims from speaking out.' Mason will be placed on the police Barred list. Detective superintendent Neil Smithson, of the Metropolitan Police, said: 'The Commissioner has made it very clear that officers who abuse their position of trust and authority have no place in the Met.