Man, 18, from Ware charged with kidnap and a firearm offence
Officers have urged people to come forward if they have anymore information that could help with the force's inquiries.PC Cameron Oliver said: "Our work to make this case as strong as possible is ongoing."
Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
2 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Now shopkeepers are warned putting shoplifters' pictures in their windows breaches data protection - days after row over sign calling them 'scumbags'
Shopkeepers have been warned putting shoplifters' pictures in their windows risks breaching data protection. It comes days after a business owner was told by police to remove a sign calling thieves 'scumbags'. Now the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) suggested the practice 'may not be appropriate' behaviour. On an advice page for tackling shoplifters, the watchdog said stores 'must only share personal information that's proportionate and necessary to achieve your purpose'. In response, shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick told The Telegraph: 'Shoplifters should be named and publicly shamed.' He added that the recommendation was 'data protection gone mad'. Richard Tice, Reform UK leader, said: 'We should be letting the general public know of the photographs of people who have a track record of stealing in towns. 'This highlights the complete insanity of GDPR which is damaging to healthcare, it's damaging to law and order. It's damaging to businesses and our economy.' He claimed that the suggestion was siding with thieves over shopkeepers, who should be able to decide who enters their premises. Shadow home office minister Katie Lam recounted a story on X about a constituent who had been ordered by police to remove pictures of suspected shoplifters. The ICO, a non-departmental body sponsored by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, added in a blog post from 2023 that thefts could be tackled using data protection laws but only 'as long as it's necessary and proportionate'. In lieu of posting photos of suspected thieves, the body suggests retailers share details of the shoplifters with police or any information they may have about the incident with another store nearby. It also said that sharing photos on messaging platforms had the potential to be similarly inappropriate. Last week, it was revealed that a defiant shopkeeper who was told by police to remove a shoplifting sign in case it caused offence was planning to put up an even bigger one. Police caused a free-speech row when they turned up at Rob Davis's vintage store in North Wales and told him to take down a handwritten sign that referred to shoplifters as 'scum bags'. They told him they had received a complaint about the notice, which stated: 'Due to scum bags shoplifting please ask for assistance to open cabinets.' But Mr Davis, who says he was driven to put it up on his shop door because of escalating shoplifting in Wrexham, told The Mail on Sunday that he had no intention of taking it down. He added: 'The sign is staying – and I may even get a bigger one. 'It's a simple point, in my opinion, and succinctly put, and can't cause offence apart from to anyone intending to steal from me. 'I was even polite and put "Thank you" on the bottom.' Mr Davis, 59, said he put it up a month ago in frustration after discovering that he was losing almost his entire monthly profit because of thieves – but was astonished to then get a visit from the police. He said: 'A police officer and PCSO came in. They said the sign was provocative and potentially offensive. 'When I asked, 'Why, who it could be offensive to?' the officer didn't answer. The only person who can be offended by the words 'scum bag' is a scum bag who wants to steal from me!' Mr Davis said he had received overwhelming support from fellow shopkeepers in the face of a tidal wave of theft in the town. 'There's been massive support everywhere since the sign went up,' he added. 'Shopkeepers are all in the same boat; everyone is having stuff stolen, even cafes.' He began locking goods in cabinets after he said police failed to deal with earlier shoplifting incidents. He added: 'Over the past year I have caught five people shoplifting. After the first, I called the police. They handed the stolen shirt to me and let the shoplifter go. Now I don't bother reporting them. Almost every day I get shoplifting.' He said that after putting out 30 sets of fishnet stockings, 20 were taken, adding: 'Theft has definitely got worse. 'If you are £200 down because of shoplifting that might be my profit for the whole month.' Mr Davis said retailers in the town were facing a number of prolific shoplifters and criticised police efforts to tackle them. 'I pay two lots of rates, business and residential, and part goes to policing. I'm not getting the service I'm paying for. 'If I had a builder and he didn't provide the service properly, I wouldn't pay.' He urged police: 'Just do the job you are there for. You are a public service. You don't need to be coming here telling me anything unless I am doing something wrong, otherwise leave me alone.' North Wales Police said: 'All reports of shoplifting are taken extremely seriously. We are committed to combatting retail theft.' Shoplifting figures released this week by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) showed just 2.5 per cent of offences were recorded by the police each year. It said 50,000 shoplifting incidents go unreported every day as firms give up on the police. BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said: 'Many retailers do not see the point of reporting incidents to the police.'
Daily Mail
2 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Kerem Bulut could have been the next Harry Kewell - but instead he's spent years in jail after he fell into a life of petty crime and meth addiction
A soccer star once tipped for greatness on the international stage has been languishing in prison for almost two years after descending into crippling drug addiction and a life of petty crime. Kerem Bulut seemed to have the footballing world at his nimble feet until he was caught using cocaine in 2018, but more than three years after vowing to get himself off meth, he's still behind bars. Since 2020, he has been prosecuted in courts across Sydney for a string of offences under the names Kerem Bulut, Karem Bulut, Kerim Bulut, Keiran Bulut and Kerim Bulet. The 33-year-old most recently pleaded guilty to demanding property by force while in company at Downing Centre District Court in June and will face a sentencing hearing later this month. The one-time A-League cult hero with Western Sydney Wanderers was living in a notorious inner-city public housing block when he was arrested in September 2023. Bulut initially pleaded not guilty to a robbery charge which related to the theft of cash and luxury goods including a Louis Vuitton wallet and Fendi jumper from a man in the city's eastern suburbs. That arrest came 15 months after Bulut had begged a magistrate for help overcoming an ice addiction he said began in jail. Before his downfall, Bulut had been considered a potential successor to Socceroos legends Tim Cahill or Harry Kewell who would ultimately fill the goal-scoring gap left in the national team by their retirement. The gun striker played for the Australian U17, U20 and U23 sides before securing European contracts with clubs in Germany, Greece and Turkey, as well as his two stints with the Wanderers. But Bulut's life began to publicly unravel in October 2018 when he was banned from football for four years after being caught using cocaine while playing professionally in Turkey. Upon his return to Australia, Bulut was arrested over a series of offences and eventually found himself at the Metropolitan Remand and Reception Centre at Silverwater. In June 2019, Bulut told the Daily Mail he was 'trying to put everything behind me and move forward' as he appealed his drug ban in an attempt to return to the football field. Bulut vowed he had finished with drugs and was even considering having his trademark teardrop face tattoos removed. 'I am sick of the bad boy image,' he told Fox Sports at the time. Two years into his drug ban in May 2020, Bulut opened up about his personal struggles, saying he was close to breaking point. 'I don't know if I can last any longer,' he told The Sydney Morning Herald. 'I try not to break because if I break, that will be it. 'You have to show your face to your family, friends and the people who look at you. You let a lot of people down. 'My biggest enemy and my biggest problem is myself.' Bulut still has his face tattoos and has sometimes been disruptive during his latest stint in jail. In August 2020, Bulut was convicted in Burwood Local Court for breaching a conditional release order imposed for behaving in an offensive manner, and sentenced to another two-year CRO. At the same time he was placed on a third CRO for two years for stalking, destroying or damaging property and contravening an apprehended violence order. Bulut was also sentenced to eight months in prison, to be served by way of intensive correction order for common assault and made the subject of a two-year AVO. In January the next year, Bulut was convicted and fined $600 for possessing a prescribed restricted substance after he failed to appear at Sutherland Local Court. In November 2021, he was convicted and fined $330 for using offensive language by a magistrate at Sutherland Local Court. Two months later Bulut was behind bars on charges of wielding a knife in a public place, having breached the community correction order for contravening an AVO and destroying or damaging property. In May 2022 he was jailed for a minimum of four months, backdated to January, and fined $600 for those three offences after facing Central Local Court. That non-parole period had barely expired when, in July 2022, Bulut was sentenced to a year's imprisonment for assault occasioning actual bodily harm. That sentence was again to be served as an intensive correction order with the condition that he perform 80 hours of community service work and undergo an anger management course. The previous month Bulut had breached his bail conditions by using ice while awaiting various court appearances. When Bulut appeared in Parramatta Bail Court over the breach, he pleaded with magistrate Eve Wynhausen not to be sent back to jail. 'I wasn't aware of my bail conditions,' Bulut said. 'I thought I was just on parole, but there's still no excuse. 'I came out of jail with a drug problem... I don't think going back to jail is the best thing for me. I need to be out there and on top of my drug problem.' Ms Wynhausen allowed Bulut to remain at liberty under conditions including that he live with his father and stepmother at Woolloomooloo, abstain from alcohol and drugs, and follow a 9pm-7am curfew. In July 2022, Bulut was also charged with intimidating his father Suleyman Bulut and stepmother Nicola Papadopoulos at their home. Those charges, which Bulut was set to defend, were finally withdrawn in January 2023 when a hearing could not go ahead because police were unable to tender any evidence. Downing Centre Local Court heard a mistake on the police computer system listed the matter for mention rather than hearing. While Bulut's father had told police he would not be assisting the prosecution, his stepmother was willing to give evidence but could not do so at short notice. Bulut was taken back into custody on September 11, 2023 when he was charged with aggravated robbery and robbery in company. At the time Bulut listed his address as the Northcott public housing estate in Belvoir Street, Surry Hills - known locally 'Suicide Towers'. Police alleged Bulut was one of three offenders who robbed a man of $2,100 in cash, a blue Louis Vuitton wallet, blue Fendi jumper and Bose speaker at South Coogee. In June 2019, Bulut told the Daily Mail he was 'trying to put everything behind me and move forward' as he appealed his drug ban in an attempt to return to the football field The offences were said to have occurred between 11.30pm on August 31 and 3am on September 1 that year and originally included an allegation Bulut had inflicted actual bodily harm on the man. Bulut pleaded guilty to demanding property by force while in company at Downing Centre District Court on June 12 and will face a sentencing hearing later this month. He will also face sentencing for an offence of larceny, while the charge of robbery in company will not proceed on the indictment. Bulut was remanded in custody at the time of his arrest until bail was granted under extremely strict conditions in October 2024. His bail was revoked a month later. In May this year, Bulut had two charges of contravening a restraining order and one of stalking dismissed in Downing Centre Local Court.
The Guardian
24 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Trump orders homeless he passed en route to golf course to leave Washington DC
In a social media post on Sunday, Donald Trump has demanded homeless residents of Washington DC leave the country's capital or face eviction, and again promised to use federal officers to jail criminals, even though violent crime in the city was at a 30-year low when he took office in January. 'The Homeless have to move out, IMMEDIATELY,' Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform Sunday morning, shortly after being driven from the White House to his golf club in Virginia. 'We will give you places to stay, but FAR from the Capital.' The post was illustrated with four photographs, all apparently taken from the president's motorcade along the route from the White House to his golf course. Two of the images showed a total of 10 tents pitched on the grass along a highway on-ramp just over a mile from the White House. The third image showed a single person sleeping on the steps of the American Institute of Pharmacy Building on Constitution Avenue. The fourth image showed the line of vehicles that whisk Trump to his golf course passing a small amount of roadside litter on the E Street Expressway, near the Kennedy Center. Trump's post promoted a previously announced news conference on Monday, which he has promised, 'will, essentially, stop violent crime' in the capital district, without explaining how. In a subsequent post, he said that the news conference at 10am Monday, 'will not only involve ending the Crime, Murder, and Death in our Nation's Capital, but will also be about Cleanliness'. The Free DC movement, which advocates for self-determination, immediately scheduled a protest on Monday to coincide with Trump's news conference. Despite Trump's claims, there is no epidemic of homelessness or violent crime in the capital. According to the Community Partnership, which works to prevent homelessness in Washington DC, on any given night there are about 800 unsheltered persons sleeping outdoors in the city of about 700,000 people. A further 3,275 people use emergency shelters in Washington, and 1,065 people are in transitional housing facilities. Trump's repeated claims that it might be necessary to federalize law enforcement in the city to make it safe also ignores data collected by the Metropolitan police department, released in January by the federal government, which showed that violent crime in Washington DC in 2024 was down 35% from 2023 and was at the lowest level in over 30 years. 'We are not experiencing a crime spike,' Washington DC's mayor, Muriel Bowser, told MSNBC on Sunday. 'We have spent over the last two years driving down violent crime in this city, driving it down to a 30-year low.' She added that Washington DC police statistics show that violent crime is down a further 26% so far this year. 'Federal law enforcement is always on the street in DC, and we always work cooperatively with them' Bowser said, adding the the Washington DC national guard, which Trump has threatened to deploy, is under the control of the president. Earlier this week, Trump ordered a surge of federal officers from a variety of agencies to increase patrols in Washington DC, pointing to the assault on a young federal worker who came to Washington to work with Elon Musk as evidence that the city's police force was failing to combat violent crime. Washington DC police, however, had stopped the assault Trump focused attention on, and arrested two 15-year-old suspects at the scene. Asked by Reuters, the White House declined to explain what legal authority Trump would use to evict people from Washington. The president controls only federal land and buildings in the city. Sign up to Headlines US Get the most important US headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning after newsletter promotion The US Congress has control of the city's budget but the DC Home Rule Act, signed into law in 1973 by Richard Nixon, gives Washington DC residents the right to elect the mayor, council members, and neighborhood commissioners to run day-to-day affairs in the district. Trump told reporters on Wednesday that White House lawyers were 'already studying' the possibility of legislation to overturn the law granting the Washington DC self-rule and imposing direct federal control of the capital. 'Even if crime in D.C. weren't at a historic low point, President Trump's comments would be misguided and offensive to the more than 700,000 people who live permanently in the nation's capital,' Eleanor Holmes Norton, who represents DC as a nonvoting delegate in congress said in a statement. 'D.C. residents, a majority of whom are Black and brown, are worthy and capable of governing themselves without interference from federal officials who are unaccountable to D.C.' 'The only permanent remedy that will protect D.C.'s ability to govern itself is enactment of my D.C. statehood bill into law,' the 88-year-old congresswoman added. Reuters contributed reporting
