Latest news with #Bebington
The Sun
a day ago
- The Sun
Gran, 34, caught behind the wheel while high on cannabis as she drove to pick her daughter up from school
DRUG SHAME Gran, 34, caught behind the wheel while high on cannabis as she drove to pick her daughter up from school A YOUNG gran was caught behind the wheel while high on cannabis as she drove to pick her daughter up from school. Samantha Eaton, 34, was stopped during a routine police check in the Bebington area of the Wirral, Merseyside. Advertisement 4 Samantha Eaton was caught on the school run high on cannabis Credit: Cavendish Cops found she was almost one-and-a-half times the limit for delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) - the psychoactive component of cannabis. Her dad later paid for a private blood test to contest the reading but this also showed she was over the limit. Eaton pleaded guilty to drug driving but avoided jail and was instead banned from getting behind the wheel for three years. The mum-of-two was caught drink-driving in 2020 and also has previous convictions for possession of a Class A drug, being drunk and disorderly, and a car insurance offence. Advertisement Sefton Magistrates Court heard she was picking her daughter up from school last September when she was caught by police. A blood test showed she had 2.7mg of THC per litre of blood, with the legal limit being 2mg. Prosecutor Lynne Sayers confirmed there were no passengers in the car at the time. The court heard Eaton had been forced to leave her home in 2023 following a petrol bomb attack by gangsters warring with her jailbird ex. Advertisement Representing herself, she said: "I have got two children and I have had to move out of the area for our own safety. I was petrol bombed and it was associated with who my ex-partner had trouble with. "I left him seven years ago but my family home was petrol bombed and I had to move out of the area. !It was night and I was in the bedroom. They literally petrol bombed the front door. It was horrendous and traumatic." The mum said she had started using cannabis to help her sleep at night and did not realise she would be over the limit. Advertisement Eaton claimed she has since been prescribed alternative medication and has stopped using the drug. She added: "I am a single parent and that is why I thought cannabis once per night would help me to sleep. "I was picking up my daughter on that day. She attends a special needs school. "I would never dream of picking the kids up if I knew I was over the limit." Advertisement As well as a driving ban, Eaton was also fined £160, with £264 in costs and surcharge. Sentencing Judge Timothy Boswell said: "Cannabis is an illegal drug and can cause a lot of damage to your physical and mental health. It can land you in a criminal court with a conviction like this. "It can also impair your judgement and actions which endanger you and other road users. With this case, it was a routine stop. There was no suggestion that your driving was bad. Advertisement "Nevertheless, it is an illegal drug. And if you take it that is the risk you run." 4 Eaton was found to be one-and-a-half times the legal limit Credit: Cavendish 4 The mum was picking her daughter up at the time 4 She was handed a driving ban at Sefton Magistrates' Court Credit: Cavendish
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Daily Mail
Young grandmother, 34, is banned from driving after being caught high on cannabis on the school run
A 34-year-old grandmother has been banned from driving for three years after being found high on cannabis while on the way to collect her daughter from school. Samantha Eaton, from the Bebington area of the Wirral, Merseyside, was stopped at the wheel of her Citroen Xsara when a routine police check revealed that she was one-and-a-half times over the legal limit of the Class B drug. Tests revealed that Eaton, a former carer and mother-of-two, had 2.7mg of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) - the psychoactive component of cannabis which is responsible for the high - per litre of her blood. Her father then paid for a private blood test to contest the reading but this also came back to show that the then-33-year-old was over the limit of 2mg. Further inquiries by officers also found that Eaton had previous convictions for drink-driving, which saw her banned for 19 months in 2020, as well as possession of Class A drugs, being drunk and disorderly, and an offence related to car insurance. At Sefton Magistrates' Court, she pleaded guilty to drug-driving and was fined £160, with £264 in costs and surcharge, as well as the three-year ban on the roads. Prosecutor Lynne Sayers said: 'On September 12 the defendant was on the way to pick her children up when she pulled over a routine stop. She co-operated with the officer and provide a positive reading for a drug saliva test. 'She was taken to custody where she provided a blood sample and which was over the limit. There are no aggravating features in this case. There were no passengers and no accidents.' Eaton had previously been hounded from her home in 2023 following a petrol bomb attack carried out by gangsters locked in a dispute with the jailbird father of her two children. Representing herself, Eaton said: 'I have got two children and I have had to move out of the area for our own safety. I was petrol bombed and it was associated with who my ex-partner had trouble with. 'I left him seven years ago but my family home was petrol bombed and I had to move out of the area. It was night and I was in the bedroom. They literally petrol bombed the front door. It was horrendous and traumatic.' Explaining why she was using cannabis, Eaton said she had initially tried to use sleeping tablets after being kept awake at night but had suffered a bad experience so did not want to try them again. She added: 'I am a single parent and that is why I thought cannabis once per night would help me to sleep. I was picking up my daughter on that day. She attends a special needs school. I would never dream of picking the kids up if I knew I was over the limit. I had one the night before.' Eaton said she did not know that she would be over the limit and has since gone back to her doctors to be prescribed alternative medication. She continued: 'I know I have had a bad past but then I split with the kids' father. I was trying to find my way. I know I am going to get a ban but it is really going to impact my life. We are 30 minutes drive from anywhere we know. Where we are we do not know anybody. 'My dad knows the situation, that is why he offered to pay to questions the blood test. It came back "over". It was "just over". We thought I might possibly be over but my dad's words were "No harm in trying". 'I think I am going to go back into care work. I was a carer in the community but I have really had it tough. I tried to do everything right by the kids and by myself. 'I have a granddaughter who is one in a few weeks. They live in Rock Ferry. We are far away from everybody.' Sentencing, Judge Timothy Boswell told her: 'Cannabis is an illegal drug and can cause a lot of damage to your physical and mental health. It can land you in a criminal court with a conviction like this. 'It can also impair your judgement and actions which endanger you and other road users. With this case, it was a routine stop. There was no suggestion that your driving was bad. 'When police spoke to you the reason they asked for a sample was because you had a previous conviction for drugs. There is no suggestion there were any signs of impairment. 'Nevertheless, it is an illegal drug. And if you take it that is the risk you run. I take into account you have been through an extremely traumatic incident shortly before that and have been suffering from panic attacks. 'But I am sure you now realise that illegal drugs are not the answer to that.'
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Yahoo
Peter Sullivan has murder conviction quashed after 38 years in jail
A 68-year-old man who has spent 38 years in jail has had his murder conviction quashed at the court of appeal in what is thought to be the longest-running miscarriage of justice in British history. Peter Sullivan was wrongly convicted in 1987 for the frenzied murder of a florist and part-time pub worker, Diane Sindall, 21, who was killed as she left work in Bebington, Merseyside. It was alleged that in August 1986, Sullivan had spent the day drinking heavily after losing a darts match and went out armed with a crowbar before a chance encounter with Sindall. Her florist van had broken down on her way home from a pub shift and she was walking towards a petrol station when she was beaten to death and sexually assaulted. Her body was left partly clothed and mutilated. Sullivan has always protested his innocence and lawyers have tried twice before to get his conviction overturned. In a statement read by his lawyer Sarah Myatt outside the court on his behalf, Sullivan said too many horrors had been inflicted on him to detail. 'As God is my witness, it is said the truth shall take you free,' he said. 'It is unfortunate that it does not give a timescale as we advance towards resolving the wrongs done to me, I am not angry, I am not bitter. I am simply anxious to return to my loved ones and family as I've got to make the most of what is left of the existence I am granted in this world.' New tests ordered by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) revealed that Sullivan's DNA was not present on samples preserved at the time. Duncan Atkinson KC, for the Crown Prosecution Service, told the court of appeal that analysis of the DNA showed it came from someone known as 'unknown male one', and that it was 'one billion times more likely that the sample originated from unknown male one, rather than someone else, and it did not match the appellant'. He said: 'Had this DNA evidence been available at the time a decision was taken to prosecute, it is difficult to see how a decision to prosecute could have been made.' Quashing the conviction, Lord Justice Holroyde, sitting with Mr Justice Goss and Mr Justice Bryan, said: 'In the light of that evidence, it is impossible to regard the appellant's conviction as safe.' Sullivan, who attended the hearing via video link from HMP Wakefield, listened to the ruling with his head down and arms folded, and appeared to weep and put his hand to his mouth as his conviction was quashed. As the judgment was read out, his sister Kim Smith tearfully declared: 'We've done it.' Outside court, she said: 'We lost Peter for 39 years and at the end of the day it's not just us, Peter hasn't won and neither has the Sindall family. They've lost their daughter, they are not going to get her back.' Merseyside police said the crucial DNA evidence was not available during the original investigation and officers were now 'committed to doing everything' to find the person whose DNA was left at the scene where Diane Sindall died. Det Ch Supt Karen Jaundrill said that more than 260 men had been screened and eliminated from the investigation since it was reopened in 2023. She said: 'Our thoughts remain with the family and friends of Diane Sindall who continue to mourn her loss and will have to endure the implications of this new development so many years after her murder. We are committed to doing everything within our power to find whom the DNA, which was left at the scene, belongs to. 'Unfortunately, there is no match for the DNA identified on the national DNA database.' But she said that, with the help of the National Crime Agency (NCA), officers were 'proactively trying to identify the person the DNA profile belongs to'. Holroyde said a decision by the CCRC in 2008 that scientific techniques at the time would not yield a DNA profile was 'plainly correct'. He said: 'The brutal attack which ended Miss Sindall's young life also blighted the lives of her fiance, her family and all those who loved her. We offer our condolences to the bereaved.' James Burley, who led the investigation by the charity Appeal into the case of Andrew Malkinson, said: 'Peter Sullivan's exoneration today after nearly four decades of wrongful imprisonment provides further evidence that our current appeals system cannot be trusted to swiftly identify and rectify miscarriages of justice. 'Between them, Peter Sullivan, Andrew Malkinson and Victor Nealon spent over 70 years wrongly imprisoned before finally being exonerated by compelling DNA evidence. Each had their cases previously rejected by both the court of appeal and the CCRC – the institutions which are meant to act as our justice system's safety net. The case for an urgent overhaul of the appeals system is now overwhelming.' His comments were echoed by Prof Rebecca Helm, who runs the miscarriages of justice registry at the University of Exeter law school. 'The case underscores the importance of having a mechanism through which convictions based on evidence that is known to be misleading (including weak or incorrectly described forensic science) can be scrutinised even in the absence of 'new' evidence in order to protect others who have been wrongfully convicted, and to ensure that true perpetrators are brought to justice,' she said. The prime minister's spokesperson called it a 'grave miscarriage of justice' and said: 'We must carefully consider this judgment and look at how this could have happened, to get both him [Sullivan] and Diane's family the answers they deserve.'
The Sun
15-05-2025
- The Sun
Locals ‘knew who REAL 'Beast of Birkenhead' was but were too afraid to tell cops' – as innocent man wrongfully convicted
LOCALS reportedly knew who the real "Beast of Birkenhead" was but were too scared to tell police - leading to an innocent man's wrongful conviction. Peter Sullivan spent almost 40 years in prison over the brutal murder of 21-year-old Diane Sindall in Bebington, Merseyside, in 1986. 6 6 His conviction was overturned on Tuesday following bombshell new DNA evidence. Now a charity set up in Diane's memory has claimed they were several local people who told them police had the wrong man. Josephine Wood, from RASA Merseyside, told the BBC none of these locals would reveal the real killer's identity to detectives and were too scared to come forward as sources. She added: "I know that we were approached on occasions by people who felt they could come to us and talk to us because we'd been set up almost in memory to Diane and as a tribute to her. "We were told on several occasions that the police had the wrong man. "But we didn't have evidence, we didn't have anything to offer, we just knew what we'd been told and the people are adamant that you've got the wrong person. "But without any evidence, without names, without people willing to come forward which is a really big deal, seriously what could be done?" Diane had just left her shift as a part-time barmaid at a pub in Bebington when her small blue van ran out of petrol. She was making her way to a garage when she was beaten to death and sexually assaulted in a "frenzied" attack. Her body was discovered partially clothed on August 2 in an alleyway. Diane's belongings were later found close to where a small fire had been started - with a man seen running from the scene. Ms Wood said some communities around Birkenhead at the time were "tight-knit", which made it difficult for people to come forward for fear of "repercussions". She added: "I would like to think that maybe 40 years down the line we can actually now go back to those people and say 'come on tell us what you know'. "Tell us what happened, you must feel safer now, you must feel a way that you can come forward, because if this guy hasn't done it somebody else has and we need to find out who that was." 6 6 Sullivan - described as a "loner" - was said to have spent the day of the murder drinking heavily. Following his arrest in September 1986, he was quizzed 22 times and denied legal advice in the first seven interviews - despite requesting it. Sullivan later "confessed to the murder" in an unrecorded interview a day after his arrest. He then made a formal confession but the court was told this was "inconsistent with the facts established by the investigation". It also went against his earlier interviews, with Sullivan retracting the admission later that day. Since his conviction, questions have been raised about whether he had proper legal representation during his interviews. Evidence related to bite marks on Diane's body has also been called into question. At the time of the case, DNA technology was not available and subsequent requests for new tests were refused. A breakthrough came when new tests ordered by the Criminal Cases Review Commission revealed Sullivan's DNA was not present on samples preserved at the time. Merseyside Police has now launched a new murder investigation to find Diane's killer. The force said they are "committed to doing everything" to find the person whose DNA was left at the scene . Detective Chief Superintendent Karen Jaundrill said: "Our thoughts remain with the family and friends of Diane Sindall who continue to mourn her loss and will have to endure the implications of this new development so many years after her murder. "Unfortunately, there is no match for the DNA identified on the national DNA database. "We have enlisted specialist skills and expertise from the National Crime Agency, and with their support we are proactively trying to identify the person the DNA profile belongs to, and extensive and painstaking inquiries are underway." 6 Det Supt Jaundrill said the DNA does not belong to any member of Diane's family or her fiance at the time. She revealed more than 260 men have been screened and eliminated from the investigation. The officer added: "Diane's murder sent shockwaves through Birkenhead when it happened and I would appeal to anyone who lived in the area at the time, and has any information which could help us with our inquiries, to come forward. "We believe there are people who have information, or suspicions, about the murder of Diane in 1986 and I would appeal to those people to come forward, as the information they have could be key to finding who the DNA belongs to. "You may have been in the area of Borough Road on the night of the murder and may have seen someone acting suspiciously. "If you were in the area, or had concerns about an individual at the time, let us know so our team can trace and request a DNA sample from the person you suspect, or a relative of theirs if they have perhaps passed away, or they have emigrated to another country." Anyone with information can contact Merseyside Police on 101, quoting incident reference 23000584997. 6
The Independent
15-05-2025
- The Independent
Peter Sullivan was wrongly jailed for 38 years – and it's not a bizarre one-off
has had his conviction for the murder of Diane Sindall quashed. He is not the Beast of Birkenhead. He is an innocent man who got ensnared in a malfunctioning system that then took 38 years to admit its mistake. He was wrongly convicted in 1987 for the brutal attack on the part-time pub worker. The 21-year-old was beaten to death and sexually assaulted as she walked home after a shift in Bebington, Merseyside. Sullivan is now 68 and has lost the best years of his life. Remarkably, in a statement read by his lawyer after his conviction was overturned, he said he was 'not angry, not bitter'. He said he had experienced horrors but would not dwell on them: 'I've got to make the most of what is left of the existence I am granted in this world.' Given he's the victim of the longest miscarriage of justice experienced by a living inmate in the UK, no one would begrudge Sullivan that. But it would be a mistake to see his case as a bizarre one-off. In March, I wrote in detail about how the English criminal justice system continually betrays victims of injustice – from cases like the Birmingham six and the Guildford four to the hundreds of victims of the Post Office scandal. There are also immediate parallels to be made with two other miscarriage of justice cases – Victor Nealon and Andrew Malkinson. The Sullivan, Malkinson, Nealon cases were all exposed as miscarriages of justice thanks to new DNA evidence, but only after a reluctant and incurious appeal system was dragged kicking and screaming into agreeing to new forensic testing. Malkinson was wrongly convicted of rape and spent 17 years in prison. The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) twice rejected his submissions that he was innocent, and he was only cleared when his own lawyers tracked down DNA evidence that proved his innocence. Nealon who was wrongfully convicted of attempted rape spent an additional ten years in prison because the CCRC refused to carry out DNA tests that would have proved his innocence. He applied to the CCRC twice but was rejected both times. In the Sullivan case, the CCRC feels it deserves credit for ordering the retesting that led to his exoneration, and it does. But it's worth noting that he applied to the CCRC in 2021 and it took until now for him to be freed. No compensation Justice delayed is justice denied and all three men spent unnecessary years of their lives behind bars thanks to a sluggish and often inept appeals system. It took decades, but Sullivan is now a free man. He leaves prison with £89 in his pocket, and that's it. There will be no automatic compensation, no system that eases him back into ordinary life. When Victor Nealon was released after 17 years in prison, he would have been homeless if it were not for the kindness of a journalist who allowed him to sleep on his couch. Nealon has never received compensation. After multiple rejections, he and Sam Hallam, another miscarriage of justice victim who was accused of murder, took their claims for compensation all the way to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). They lost. The judges at the ECHR concluded that it was virtually impossible for victims of miscarriage of justice to receive compensation in the UK, noting that 93 per cent of people who applied for compensation were rejected. The two men have never seen a penny of compensation. But it appears that Malkinson may be one of the lucky 7 per cent who do. It has been reported that the Ministry of Justice is to pay him 'a significant sum' and no one in their right mind would object to Malkinson receiving compensation. He is an innocent man who spent 17 wasted years in prison. Hallam, Nealon and so many more are also innocent but have been refused compensation. Why? It is difficult to come to any other conclusion than Malkinson is being compensated because of the media coverage his case attracted. Malkinson is a very impressive person – erudite, thoughtful and reasonable – someone capable of guest editing the Today programme. His case, along with his criticisms, threw the CCRC into crisis and led to the resignation of its chair. But not everyone can be Andrew Malkinson, and they shouldn't have to be. Sullivan is a very different person. 'He's a very quiet, private man,' his lawyer told the BBC. He has so far shunned the media and it's clear that he will not have the same high profile as Malkinson. His story will fade as the news agenda moves on and there will be a danger that the lessons from this case will be ignored or forgotten. For example, Sullivan's case is a reminder that there are still people in prison who were jailed based on false confessions, and these cases should be reviewed urgently. And the project announced by the CCRC to identify cases where new forensic testing could provide fresh evidence needs to happen urgently. As Chris Henley KC, the lawyer who led a review into the CCRC's handling of the Malkinson case, said, more miscarriages of justice cases are 'inevitable' and so it is better to identify them as quickly as possible. No need for more innocent people to languish unnecessarily in prison. Ultimately, the main lesson for the criminal justice system to learn is humility. If a plane crashes, accident investigators will painstakingly piece the wreckage back together to identify what went wrong. If there is an infectious outbreak, medical experts will urgently seek out the source. They do this so that they can find out what went wrong and avoid future tragedies. But somehow the criminal justice system appears to feel it is above this approach, despite the fact that Peter Sullivan was failed by the police, by the legal system, courts and the Court of Appeal. As Henley said: 'I think that there is a fundamental problem in relation to our appeal system generally, that it just won't face up to the fact that mistakes can be made. It stubbornly wants to stick to the original flawed conviction.' But first and foremost, Peter Sullivan must receive the compensation he deserves. He was wronged and the state should swiftly and fairly do what it can to make that right.
