Latest news with #CamdenNewJournal
Sky News
30-03-2025
- Sky News
Alexander Sloley: Police offer £10k reward for information about teen who disappeared 17 years ago
Police have issued a £10,000 reward for information about a teenager who disappeared from his home nearly 17 years ago. Alexander Sloley, a 16-year-old accountancy student, had little money, no wallet and no passport when he went missing in Islington, north London, two days before his birthday in August, 2008. He had been visiting a friend's home in Edmonton, but had set off home at around midday. His family and friends have not heard from him since, and, despite repeated appeals and enquiries, police have never been able to find him. Mr Sloley had no belongings or spare clothes that would indicate he planned to run away, and his phone, bank account, and National Insurance number have not been used since he went missing. He has also never been spotted on CCTV. In 2009, his case was one of the first to be publicised on nearly 13.5 million milk cartons at supermarket chain Iceland. When he went missing, Mr Sloley was described as a light-skinned black male, 5ft 5ins tall and of medium build, with striking blue eyes. According to the Camden New Journal, in 2012 a police officer said about Mr Sloley's disappearance: "It's like he disappeared off the face of the planet." In 2017, Mick Neville, a retired head of the Metropolitan Police's Central Images Unit, said he believed there was a possible connection between Alex and missing 14-year-old Andrew Gosden. Mr Gosden was last seen in King's Cross Station in London after taking a train from Doncaster, where he lived with his parents and sister. There has been no trace of him since. However, in 2019, detectives said there was no proof that Mr Sloley had been harmed and there was no evidence that it was linked to any other cases. Speaking about the Metropolitan Police's £10,000 reward, detective chief inspector Sarb Kaur, who is leading the investigation into his disappearance, said: "Alex was reported missing to police on 8 August, 2008. "Since then, there have been extensive enquiries made by police, but sadly Alex has not yet been found. "We are now offering a reward of up to £10,000 for anyone who has information relating to Alex's whereabouts. "This remains an active missing person investigation, subject to regular review by senior officers, with the aim of locating Alex and bringing some comfort to his family. We have recently met with Alex's mother to outline how we intend to progress our investigation to find him.
The Independent
11-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
I wouldn't want my local park to be a dogging hotspot – it's time cruisy Hampstead Heath cleaned up its act
The militant dog walkers of Hampstead are in trouble. They have asked north London gays to stop having sex in public because its spoiling the woody glades of the West Heath for everyone else, and locals would like to enjoy them, too, as the bluebells start to bloom. This is a sickening and clearly pre-medicated attack on the LGBTQIA+ community. Or so some would have us believe. The suggestion that time be called on cruising on Hampstead Heath has been met with cries of 'homophobia'. One protester, 'sex-positive queer activist' Dan Glass, told the Camden New Journal: 'It's saying that queer people can't do what is legally and rightfully theirs – to have public displays of affection.' I'm all for public displays of affection, regardless of gender or sexuality. I'm old enough to remember the Before Times, when homosexuality was largely illegal, and you risked getting arrested or being bottled for kissing your boyfriend in public. Thankfully, those days are gone. But that doesn't mean I – or anyone else – wants to see a stranger mooning in the bushes, or cruisers making the beast with two backs among the bracken. Hampstead Heath has been a gay cruising ground since the 19th century, its popularity an unintended consequence of Victorian laws that criminalised consensual homosexual acts. These days, police largely turn a blind eye to the Heath being used for anonymous sex around the clock – George Michael was a regular – but locals have upped the ante with signs that include the message: 'Cruising for sex? Homosexuality is legal. Use a hook-up app like Grindr or Sniffies and get a room.' They have a point. A good one. Boys, we no longer live in the twilight world of the homosexual. For us gays, there are bars, clubs and saunas and even, thanks to apps, home deliveries. But in their showdown against Hampstead locals and their labradors, the queer campaigners insist that using the West Heath as an open-air sex club is their 'cultural right', and that they have history on their side. Wait, do I hear Peter Tatchell on line one? The great campaigner has talked about our right to cruise al fresco. I love Peter. But when I see him next, I'll probably say we should be fighting the battles of the real oppressed homosexuals in the Middle East, Russia and Africa (as Peter already does so admirably), rather than pandering to the gays who whine about not being able to do it when they like, where they like, with whomever they like. The Hampstead Heath crusaders have posted pictures on social media showing their "Sodomites' March', on their cruising territory, with several baring their bottoms next to what they call "the F*** Tree'. They sound like naughty children, not freedom fighters. The accusation of 'homophobia' – such a powerful word when we needed it in the recent past – rings hollow. I doubt that the spat over Hampstead Heath is even a question of sexuality. I wouldn't want my local park to be a dogging hotspot, and would be equally averse to seeing the uncovered rear-end of a straight, female thrill-seeker hanging out the window of a parked Ford Mondeo. The gay campaigners on the Heath no doubt think all the world should be interested in their sexual identity. It's not. Shrill identity politics is boring, and providing our enemies on the right with ammunition to twist malleable minds. A cruising-free Heath would mark neither the end of the world, nor the return of Section 28. The people of Hampstead and environs simply want to see daffodils and songbirds rather than quivering buttocks and related detritus. And I'm with them – even if I do object to the ugly gilets they wear. The bottom line, if you'll forgive the pun, is that in a free society we don't have the right not to be offended. We do have some responsibility, though, to make reasonable compromises to ensure that life is bearable for all of us. So, gays – get a room, or go somewhere where you're not going embarrass people on a day out with their children. And take your rubbish away with you. You can still have plenty of fun, even if it's not on the Heath.
