Body found in Castleford home after welfare check
Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
28 minutes ago
- The Independent
Man charged with murdering father and son in central London stabbing
A man has been charged with murdering a father and son after a stabbing at a business premises in central London. Terry McMillan, 58, and Brendan McMillan, 27, from Chislehurst, Bromley, both died after reports of multiple stabbings inside a commercial property in Long Lane, Southwark, at around 1pm on July 28. Two other men were treated for stab wounds by emergency services and taken to hospital. Hassan Cevik, 31, of Mount Pleasant Lane, Hackney, was arrested on July 28 before being taken to hospital, the Metropolitan Police said. He was discharged from hospital on Saturday and charged with two counts of murder on Sunday. Cevik was also charged with grievous bodily harm relating to a third 47-year-old man, and possession of an offensive weapon, the force said. He will appear before Croydon Magistrates' Court on Monday.
Daily Mail
28 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Inside one of Britain's most notorious gangster families... and how even an SAS trained hitman couldn't take them out
Stephen Gee's mugshot looked similar to hundreds of others released by Merseyside Police when on the hunt for wanted men and women. A grimace, a prison-issue baggy grey sweatshirt, bags under the eyes and look of defiance into the camera. The middle-aged suspect was wanted on recall to prison last week after serving time for a brutal robbery on an OAP. A horrible crime, but small fry when it comes to the Liverpool underworld. But for residents of a particularly notorious estate in the city, the look of this pathetic middle-aged career crook may have sent a shiver down their spine. Gee, 43, is from one of the city's most violent crime families. Along with his brother Danny, Darren and Ian, he turned the Grizedale estate into an open air drug market - and ruled with an iron first. The family - known as the Grizedale Crew - groomed schoolboys to run their drugs and left a trail of broken lives behind them. They then became embroiled in a sprawling drugs war across Liverpool, a battle so explosive their rivals reportedly hired an SAS-trained hitman to finally take them out. But before they became a force in the city's drugs market they built up a network on the streets. Local lads were paid cash to bunk off school and act as spotters, patrolling the warren of streets on mountain bikes. Families that were on benefits started earning hundreds of pounds a day selling crack and heroin to addicts, as the Gee brothers made around £20k a week. Gang members wearing the latest Berghaus jackets and Rockport trainers patrolled the perimeter of the estate, moving around in stolen cars with false plates. At one point in 2004 around 250 Grizedale residents were facing drug offences in court, as police raided homes to recover weapons. In one raid the force recovered a sniper rifle with a telescopic sight. The Grizedale estate was built in the 1970s during an era when the city was still clearing the terraces that were deemed to be no longer suitable for habitation. Unfortunately by the time the Gee brothers grew up the estate was a rat run of dank alleyways and poorly lit underpasses - perfect for dealers and thugs. In response to growing concerns from community leaders across north Liverpool, police set up a special taskforce to take down the Gees. A former officer who played a lead role in the unit told the Liverpool Echo how they were ordered to go out and do 'The Lord's work' which was a euphemism for breaking the rules. The former officer, told how: 'It was a kind of code for what we were doing. So yes we were unorthodox, but for all the right reasons. 'In short it was old fashioned, old school policing. We took the fight to the criminals and I stand by this approach because it worked.' The officer explained how the Gees took over the estate by controlling the drug market and the distribution of cash. The Merseyside man stressed how the majority of locals became 'outsiders' because they were not involved in the Gee dark economy. He told how the Gees would often provoke officers into ugly confrontations in front of witnesses, who would provide statements claiming the police used unreasonable force. However, a second dynamic entered the equation when the Gees became embroiled in an anarchic gang war which spread across north Liverpool in 2004. A key event in this saga was a fall out between the Gees and William Moore, who hired a former soldier to execute one of the brothers. Luton man Darren Waterhouse opened fire on a car Darren Gee was travelling in, riddling it with bullets. Innocent teenager Craig Barker, just 18, died from his injuries. Local gangster Mark Richardson who was in the car at the time was also seriously injured. Waterhouse, who trained with the SAS, had been decorated with the Military Cross for the bravery he showed serving with the Coldstream Guards in 90s Bosnia. He became involved in drug culture after being discharged from the forces and met William Moore in prison, who paid him to murder Darren Gee. Waterhouse and Moore were both later jailed for life. In revenge Darren organised the murder of local businessman David Regan, who was thought to have been Waterhouse's getaway driver. Regan was shot dead on the forecourt of the carwash he managed in the Old Swan area of the city. During this period a wiretap in a prison cell gleaned intelligence suggesting the Gees and their associates were plotting to shoot an off duty police officer. As a result, officers who were targeting the Gees and their associates were advised to wear body armour when out shopping with their families at the weekend. At this time associates of the Gee family were involved in a major dispute with the owners of a famous Liverpool nightclub, which resulted in a wave of car bombs across the city. Nightclubs, homes and then police stations were all targeted. Police intelligence suggested Darren Gee helped orchestrate some of the carbombs. While Darren Gee was jailed for his role in the murder of David Regan, his brother Danny continued to head up the Grizedale Crew. Danny moved into an apartment on the city's plush waterfront, but continued to run drug rackets across the north of the city. He was shot and nearly killed by rival gang member Jamie Starkey in 2008, which led to further acts of violence in north Liverpool. Liverpool Crown Court later heard how the Grizedale Crew ordered the murder of teenager Tony Bromley, who was cut down with machetes in the street. Denis Gilboy and Scott Walker, who carried out the murder, were acting on the orders of the gang's leaders. Andrew Edis QC told the jury that the Grizedale were a gang 'so powerful and fearful' they believed no-one would come to court to give evidence against them. In 2010 Daniel Gee was handed an imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentence after being found guilty of threatening to kill a rival and blackmail. The court heard he had previously been the focus of police surveillance that recorded him making threats and trying to obtain firearms. Daniel fled Category D open prison HMP Kirklevington Grange in North Yorkshire on May 27 last year and disappeared, prompting a huge scale manhunt. He was arrested in a pub in the Aspull area of Wigan a month later with officer bodycam footage showing him grinning as police took him into custody. His brother Darren later bragged on TikTok: 'He's had a f****** scream, look at the smile on his face. Good on him'. Daniel has a reputation as a hardman within the prison system, sources on Merseyside have told the Mail that Gee's reputation is based on his dealings with heroin addicts. A Liverpool man said:'The Gees have always controlled addicts, on the outside and inside. 'Danny's reputation as a hardman is all based on the way he deals with addicts on the inside. 'They work for him and or he batters them. I have seen him with addicts over his knee while he pulls out bags of heroin from their bum with a spoon. 'The addicts work for him - they provide him with an income and a layer of protection. 'But Danny always stayed away from the proper fellas on the wings like me, because I would have smashed him to bits. 'Darren was similar, but had a bit more upstairs. Darren was a clever, cunning and had loads of arse (guts). He will use a blade or a gun if he has too. Dangerous kid.' Darren Gee, who was convicted of conspiracy to murder, is now a successful YouTuber with over 30,000 subscribers to his channel. Darren has focused heavily on the role played by the Kinahan Cartel in spreading drugs and crime across Liverpool over recent years. He has also hit out podcasters who interview guests with alleged links to the Kinahans. Stephen Gee has now been recalled to prison and will serve out the rest of his sentence.
Daily Mail
28 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Labour is flooding Britain's streets with a tidal wave of dangerous criminals: PHILIP FLOWER
As a young sergeant in the Met 30 years ago, I chased and tackled an armed robber who had stabbed a sub-postmistress during a raid. I had a truncheon. He had a whacking great knife, and he tried to wield it against me and another copper as a crowd of schoolchildren in the street watched in mute horror. We disarmed the man and arrested him. The sub-postmistress was badly shaken but recovered from her injuries. And the robber got four years. At the time, I was disappointed with the sentence, but today it's likely he would serve less than half that. Under Labour's shambolic scheme to reduce overcrowding in prisons he might well be deemed a 'low risk' and released after serving just 40 per cent of his time. In other words, if he'd already done a year on remand waiting for trial, he could be sentenced this week – and out by Christmas. Such a travesty of justice is not a rare event. It's happening 100 times a day: According to the Ministry of Justice, criminals are being given early release at the rate of 3,000 a month. Latest figures show over 26,400 prisoners have been let out early in the first seven months of the scheme – with a significant number of them, around 3 per cent, sentenced to ten years or more. To describe such people as 'low risk', as the Government does, is farcical. Judges do not sentence criminals to ten years unless they are a real danger to society. As well as violent offenders, these could be serious drug traffickers, or people who supply guns to gangs, or fraudsters who prey on the elderly. Not only will they have committed a serious offence, but it's very likely their record will also show a long list of previous crimes. Sentencing Council guidelines are stringent. Many judges admit privately that they would like to impose tougher penalties, but their rulings are tightly constrained by directives that must be followed. If a defendant gets ten years, it's because anything less is not safe. Surveys show that between two-thirds and three-quarters of the public believe sentences are already too lenient. Few officers disagree with that. It is demoralising for police to put their safety on the line every day to protect society, only for the thugs and the lawbreakers to smirk as they are once again let off lightly. And if they do get sent to jail, they have the reassurance of knowing they will probably serve less than half their sentence. That undermines the deterrent effect of prison and allows criminals to feel they've beaten the system. It's no wonder that, when the first wave of prisoners won early release in September last year, they were blowing kisses and flicking V-signs at the cameras. There's no way, of course, that the parole boards operating under Labour's hastily devised scheme can begin to assess each case thoroughly. With an average of 100 releases a day, seven days a week, the authorities can barely have time to shout 'Next, please!' – let alone discuss the potential risk each felon presents. Serious issues such as mental health and past history of violence are all too likely to be overlooked. Despite this mass release, Britain's prisons are still gravely overcrowded. Last year, the former chief inspector of prisons, Dame Anne Owers, warned the system could be only days from breakdown. Her successor, Charlie Taylor, says: 'The Government dealt with the problem not by turning off the taps but by letting out the bathwater.' That's an understatement. To flood the streets of Britain's towns and cities with 3,000 criminals a month isn't overflow. It's a tidal wave.
