Britain's NCSC detects 'limited number' of UK victims in Microsoft hack campaign
Microsoft on Saturday issued an alert about "active attacks" on SharePoint servers used within organisations. It said that SharePoint Online in Microsoft 365, which is in the cloud, was not hit by the exploit, also known as a "zero day".
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BreakingNews.ie
19 minutes ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Man charged with murdering great-grandparents in Merseyside arson attack
A man has been charged with the murder of two great-grandparents who died after an arson attack on their home. Eric Greener, 77, and his partner Sheila Jackson, 83, died following the fire at their home in St Helens, Merseyside, in the early hours of July 15th. Advertisement Lee Owens, 46, of no fixed address, was charged with two counts of murder and arson with intent to endanger life on Friday, Merseyside Police said. He has been remanded in custody and will appear at Liverpool Magistrates' Court on Saturday. A 31-year-old man from St Helens who was arrested on suspicion of murder remains on conditional bail, the force said. Merseyside Police said an accelerant was used to start the blaze at the home on South John Street, where the couple had lived for 15 years. Advertisement The pair were rescued from their home and taken to hospital after emergency services were called at 12:40am on July 15th. Mr Greener died on Wednesday night, while Ms Jackson died on Thursday morning. In a tribute released on Thursday, the victims' family said they were 'the life and soul of the party' and would 'forever be devastatingly missed but eternally loved'. Detective Chief Inspector Steve McGrath previously described the arson attack as 'sickening' and 'a truly shocking incident'. Advertisement
Daily Mail
19 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Drugs kingpin who ran UK arm of Kinahan Cartel must pay back £1m of his criminal fortune after making £12m from international drugs racket
A drugs kingpin who ran the UK arm of the 'Kinahan Cartel' has been given three months to pay more than £1million of his criminal earnings. Thomas 'Bomber' Kavanagh, 57, was jailed for 21 years at Ipswich Crown Court in March 2022 after he pleaded guilty to conspiring to import class A and B drugs and money laundering offences in July 2020. The same court today concluded that the Irish national made an eye-watering £12,235,047 from the major drug importation conspiracy. It included a half share in his £1million pile in Tamworth, which was fitted with bullet proof windows, equity in a property in Majorca, cash in banks and made from rents, designer watches and clothing, a family holiday to Cancun and about £40,000 seized by police during the investigation. The Kinahan drugs operation is said to be run by Irish man Christy 'Dapper Don' Kinahan, 68, and his two sons Daniel, 48, and Christopher Jr, 44, who are based in Dubai. In April 2022 the US Department of State placed $5million rewards for information that leads to their arrest and prosecution, branding them the heads of a major international drugs cartel. Kavanagh's henchmen Gary 'Flash' Vickery, 42, and Daniel Canning were jailed for 20 years (reduced to 18 years on appeal) and 19 years and six months, respectively. Canning's sentence included five years for possession of a firearm to be served concurrently. Judge Martyn Levett, who sentenced the three and heard the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) case, accepted that financial investigations by the police and CPS had found that the recoverable amount identified from Kavanagh's existing assets is £1,123,096, which he was ordered to pay within three months or face further time in prison. Today he made POCA orders against Kavanagh and Vickery giving them each the same time to pay the money or face extra prison time. Separately, Vickery was found to have benefited to a total amount of £10,966,619, but only £109,312 was found to be available. He was also given three months to pay or face an extended sentence. The court heard Vickery's assets were assessed from money in bank accounts, a half share in a property in Lanzarote, where he was extradited from, vehicles, money spent on a wedding, holiday deposits, watches and a boat. Kavanagh's home was jointly purchased with his wife, Joanne, sister of Kinahan associate Liam Byrne. The couple purchased the luxury pad for £565,000 after Kavanagh's Dublin home was earlier seized by the Irish Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) in Ireland. There is no suggestion Mrs Kavanagh had any involvement in or knowledge of her husband's criminal activities. Other assets that were seized during a January 2019 raid on the address include designer goods estimated at £500,000, including around 100 pairs of designer shoes, 120 handbags, 36 pairs of Armani jeans, Hugo Boss suits, Canada Goose and Moncler jackets as well as flashy watches and jewellery. The £40,000 cash was also found stuffed in a sofa and in Moschino, Gucci and Chanel handbags. Before being extradited to the UK from Lanzarote in November 2021, Vickery had a limited-edition Sunseeker Superhawk power boat, which had featured in the James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace. Vickery and his wife Nicola O'Connor, who had no involvement in or knowledge of her husband's criminal activities, were living in a stunning gated villa in Macher on the island. On January 12, 2019, Kavanagh was arrested at Birmingham Airport as he returned from a holiday in Mexico. He was jailed at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court in September 2019 for three years for possessing a 10,000-volt stun gun disguised as a torch, which was found with other weapons during the raid on the house. In August 2023, Kavanagh, and Liam Byrne, 44, and Shaun Kent, 39, from Liverpool, were charged with firearms offences in connection with an informant plot which was hatched while the former was in jail over the stun gun conviction. Kavanagh later admitted at the Old Bailey that he had plotted to fool the NCA by saying in May 2021 that he had intelligence about where a stash of weapons from Holland was hidden buried in a field in Newry, Northern Ireland, in the hope of getting a lighter sentence in the drugs conspiracy case. The firearms: seven machine guns, three automatic handguns, and an assault rifle and ammunition, were recovered by police. The men had discussed the plot on the encrypted mobile phone system EncroChat, which was infiltrated by French police in April 2020, meaning the NCA had access to the messages. In October 2024 Kavanagh was sentenced to six years in prison to be served consecutively to his 21-year sentence. Byrne was sentenced to five years while Kent received six years. Investigations found Canning only has 16 euros and 19 cents left in an Ulster Bank account in Ireland. The CPS argued that he should be liable for the full amount of the drugs assessed at about £10.4million, but his defence barrister Richard Craven Furlong argued he had a lesser role than Kavanagh and Vickery and had no shareholding in any of the drugs. Canning's defence said he should only be held liable for various transactions into his various bank accounts that totalled around £145,000, about £80,000 of which he used to pay the rent on a unit where some of the drugs were taken. Mr Furlong said he was not disputing that he played a leading role in the conspiracy, but that he had no ownership of the drugs or any shareholding in the 'Kavanagh Cooperative'. Judge Levett said there was a 'huge discrepancy' between the amounts. The CPS argued due to the scale of the conspiracy involving 'multiple importations' he should be found liable for the full amount. Canning's POCA case was adjourned for further argument about Canning's assets. The case continues.
BBC News
19 minutes ago
- BBC News
Newport: Accountant stole £2.4m to fund gambling addiction
An accountant stole more than £2.4m from companies she worked for in order to fund her gambling Lewis, 40, who was on a £200,000 salary, stole money from five businesses within the same family of companies, Newport Crown Court heard. Her actions caused considerable stress to other members of staff, causing one director to leave, another to lose out on his salary, and one woman unable to access her pension. Lewis, of Wolverhampton, pleaded guilty to five counts of fraud by abuse of position and was sentenced to five years in prison, with each charge to run concurrently. Her actions also meant that the companies, owned by James Davies, did not contribute enough Davies said Lewis was like a daughter to him, and felt like five companies she committed fraud against included Daisy Vale Limited, Charnwood Accounts, Edward Davies Construction and Fastnet Properties Orndal, prosecuting, told the court that Lewis began working for Mr Davies in 2007, first holding a role as a 2017 she was the accountant for the group of companies after she had her accountancy training funded by the company. However, when the company moved over to an online banking system financial problems began to arise. For the first time, the company began to see a substantial and unexplained downturn in suspicions were raised over an increase in third party payments, Lewis officially resigned in 2023 and a new accountant took Lewis contacted Mr Davies about her severance payment he noticed a link between her account details and a number of other payments on the account. 'Crypto companies' Mr Orndal said: "Instead of paying third party people she had been paying herself and disguising them as proper payments."Between 2018 and 2023, the total payments to her account exceeded £3.6m, with the total being more than £2.4m after her salary and other legitimate payments had been deducted. Mr Orndal said that £1.4m of this was sent to known gambling companies but this figure is likely to be higher as it is difficult to identify all gambling also spent £67,000 on crypto companies and £9,000 on FairFX, a bank which accepts payments in different already fraudulently stealing millions from the businesses, Lewis also asked Mr Davies to loan her £163,000 to help her buy a house, but the money was eventually repaid by her mother and a victim impact statement, Mr Davies said Lewis's crimes had "affected the lives of countless people" and she had also taken money from the Davies said one member of staff had been unable to withdraw her pension, despite working at the company for many years, because Lewis did not fund it a victim impact statement, former director Mark Cotter said that the stress on him had led to his GP making him take four to six weeks off work. "I felt forced to leave the company that I had spent a lot of my life trying to build," he added."I'm in disbelief that all of this happened because of Jemma Lewis."Neil Corre, for the defendant, said she was in this position due to her gambling said she did not gamble to win but to continue gambling, adding she had now been free of the addiction for more than a Corre said she hoped to use her experience to help others. "She has lost her job, her home and she may lose her liberty, but her moral compass has been restored," he Lewis, Judge Daniel Williams said: "You have been a gambler for years, since you were 18 and long before you were employed by James Davies. "Your upbringing was privileged but also blighted by trauma and sadness."
