Latest news with #EastHam
The Independent
20 hours ago
- The Independent
Tube passengers who tackled man with trousers down investigated by police
A group of Tube passengers who kicked and dragged a man off the carriage after he removed his trousers are being investigated by police. In a video shared online, a man who was later detained under the Mental Health Act, can be seen being kicked and thrown to the floor by passengers on a District Line train in east London last week. British Transport Police said officers are treating the incident as an assault and are appealing for witnesses. The clip shows several passengers kicking the man against the carriage door after he exposed his genitals and buttocks and repeatedly refused to pull up his trousers. Onlookers could be seen moving out of the way as the fight broke out during the eastbound journey between Upton Park and East Ham on Thursday at around 3.30pm. The man had reportedly been yelling and placing a belt around his neck during the journey and then dropped his trousers. At the start of the video the man can be seen swearing and shouting when he was challenged by a passenger. A passenger stood up and confronted him and firmly told him: 'You need to get off the train.' But the man yelled back: 'F*** off.' The commuter said in response: 'What do you mean "f*** off"? You need to get off the f***ing train. Now. There are kids on here.' It then escalated into a fight, and he was pinned to the carriage floor and dragged off the Tube onto the platform. An off-duty police officer arrested the man after passengers alerted London Underground staff. British Transport Police are now investigating whether passengers who confronted the man committed any criminal offences. However, no arrests have been made so far. A spokesperson for the British Transport Police said: 'The man had been assaulted by a number of other passengers and was initially arrested by an off-duty officer, before being detained under the Mental Health Act and taken to hospital where he remains having been sectioned. 'One man involved in the assault has been interviewed by officers, and the investigation into the incident is ongoing.' 'Anyone who witnessed what happened, who hasn't already spoken to police, is asked to contact BTP by texting 61016 quoting ref 458 of 07/08/25.'
Times
2 days ago
- Times
Tube passengers face arrest after tackling man with trousers down
A group of commuters face arrest after kicking and dragging a man off a Tube carriage when he dropped his trousers. British Transport Police (BTP) believe that the man, who was later detained under the Mental Health Act, was assaulted on a District Line train in east London last week. In video shared online, up to four passengers appeared to lunge at the man after he repeatedly refused to pull up his trousers at about 3.30pm on Thursday. The man had reportedly been yelling before placing his belt around his neck during the eastbound journey between Upton Park and East Ham. He then dropped his trousers and underwear, exposing his genitals and buttocks. The video showed that, when challenged by a passenger, the man repeatedly swore at him. A fight broke out and the man was held down on the carriage floor before being dragged off the train and on to a platform. He was later arrested by an off-duty police officer after passengers alerted London Underground staff. Police have appealed for witnesses and are investigating whether the passengers who confronted and pinned down the man committed any criminal offences. No further arrests have been made so far. The BTP said: 'The man had been assaulted by a number of other passengers and was initially arrested by an off-duty officer before being detained under the Mental Health Act and taken to hospital. An investigation into the incident is ongoing.' Crimes on the London Underground and Docklands Light Railway have surged since the pandemic and have more than doubled since Sir Sadiq Khan entered City Hall in May 2016.
Yahoo
14-07-2025
- Yahoo
Key CCTV of baby Victoria alive made police chief ‘wince'
The officer in charge of the search for baby Victoria has reflected on the investigation, saying he 'winced' when he first saw CCTV of Constance Marten picking her up like a 'rag doll'. Detective Superintendent Lewis Basford, from Scotland Yard, recalled his reaction to the first sighting of the newborn child. She was captured in a kebab shop in East Ham in London, two days after Marten and her partner Mark Gordon ditched their burning car near Bolton more than 200 miles away. Mr Basford told PA news agency: 'That's the first image we know baby Victoria is there and she's alive. 'But then to see the way they handled her, not as a precious little being that's only days old, I hate to say it, almost as a rag doll-type approach picking her up. 'It makes you wince whilst watching it – and it does me. 'I remember picking up my little girl, when you first do it, you're scared to death and there was none of that.' While they were on the run, Victoria had been kept largely under wraps, beneath her mother's jacket – or carried in a Lidl bag for life which Marten denied. On March 1 2023, two Met officers discovered Victoria's badly decomposed body inside the Lidl bag filled with rubbish on an allotment in Brighton. Mr Basford said: 'Whilst we always prepare for possible outcomes, it's not 'til it happens, you really get the sucker punch in and it really kind of hits home. 'And it's the days and weeks after that you sort of start to comprehend it.' On the defendant's behaviour, Mr Basford said: 'The actions of Mark and Constance are the reason that Victoria is not here today. 'I think whatever day and whatever time baby Victoria passed away, they made the decision to discard her in a bag covered with rubbish, litter, mud, alcohol cans. 'They never wanted baby Victoria to be found by the police. 'They clearly kept baby Victoria close, throughout those weeks and months. 'But ultimately, Constance and Mark, they're intelligent enough to know that as the decomposition of baby Victoria occurred, the likely outcome was that we would never know exactly how baby Victoria died.' Scotland Yard became involved soon after Greater Manchester Police launched the initial missing person inquiry on January 5 2023. Marten and Gordon had previously lived in London and the Met had 'extensive background and interaction' with them, Mr Basford said. The discovery of a placenta in the couple's burnt-out car raised concerns because there were 'clear indications' of domestic violence before their four older children were taken into care. Tracing people on the move nationally – and possibly internationally – opened up 'huge lines of inquiry', the officer said. Yet in this case police could not rely on traditional techniques through electronic devices or financial 'footprints'. When Scotland Yard took over the investigation on January 12 2023, Mr Basford always had the 'feeling of playing catch-up'. By then, Marten and Gordon had already left London to live in a tent on the South Downs where Victoria died. More than 100 Met officers were involved in the initial stage of the investigation with more than 1,000 deployed in the search for baby Victoria after the defendants were arrested. Mr Basford hailed the 'fantastic' support from other forces and the media, which put Victoria 'at the heart' of messages to the public. It was a member of the public who recognised Marten and Gordon from the high-profile appeal and called 999, leading to their arrests in Brighton February 27 2023. Ms Basford said there had been a 'few emotional rollercoasters' in those last days. The first came when he received a phone call from Sussex Police to say the defendants had been arrested, but the baby was not with them. He said: 'As a police officer, you take yourself down a route where you start to play the percentages and the outcome positions. 'Whilst we always remained positive – the reason we deployed so many hundreds of officers down there in Sussex was because we still felt baby Victoria could be alive – there's always that position where you know what the possible outcome could be.' The second 'rollercoaster' moment came just after 2.30pm on March 1 2023. Mr Basford said he had just told the media there would be no more updates that day when he received a call to say that a baby's body had been found. He said: 'In the hours after that, to understand the conditions she was left in, you're a father yourself, it really hits home.' He went on: 'The final piece for me was just how quiet it was, as I came out at about seven o'clock at night. 'I'm walking out of Sussex headquarters to do the briefing to the national media and to the members of the public to say that we'd found a body and you could hear a pin drop. I was quite taken aback by that.' Considering how Victoria was left showed the defendants' four other children were 'lucky' to go into foster care, he suggested. 'Whilst we heard a narrative from them as a couple that they were a loving family, and they were always there to do best for baby Victoria, the reality is, if that was true, and even in trauma, that is not a dignified way to look after and put to rest a baby,' the officer said. He added: 'What Constance and Mark have shown throughout this investigation, throughout their initial interviews when we found them and they had the chance to tell us where baby Victoria was, to what they've said in court, shows that they're living in their own world of lies, and beliefs, and that anything that they deem right is right. 'There was no acceptance of society and standards that we judge ourselves against….Everyone is wrong, apart from them.' Even though Victoria's body was too decomposed to establish a cause of death, Mr Basford said it was ultimately down to her parents' 'selfish actions'. After a six-month Old Bailey retrial, Marten and Gordon were found guilty of manslaughter on Monday.
Arab News
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Student who stabbed Labour MP in east London in 2010 to be freed from prison, says Parole Board
LONDON: A student who attempted to murder Labour MP Stephen Timms in May 2010 can be released from prison following a Parole Board decision. Roshonara Choudhry was 21 when she was sentenced to a minimum of 15 years for stabbing Timms twice in the stomach, and was also charged with two counts of possessing an offensive weapon. Choudhry, a former King's College London student, was radicalized after watching lectures by an Al-Qaeda cleric, and her attack was believed to have been the first Al-Qaeda-inspired attempt to assassinate a politician on British soil. Choudhry attacked the East Ham MP, the minister of state for social security and disability in the current UK government, while he held a constituency surgery at the Beckton Globe community center in east London. Following her arrest, she told police the stabbing was 'punishment' and 'to get revenge for the people of Iraq.' During a Parole Board hearing on May 20, a panel decided to release her from prison. It added that her imprisonment 'was no longer necessary for the protection of the public.' Choudhry, now 36, participated in programs while in prison to understand her extreme beliefs, and her behavior was described by the panel as 'exemplary.' It added: 'Ms Choudhry was assessed as having shown a very high level of insight and understanding of herself. 'She would no longer be likely to be influenced by other people with strong negative views, having developed the ability to critically evaluate information and to seek help from professionals if she needs it.' The panel recommended Choudhry's release on license, with conditions to live at a designated address, follow a curfew, and avoid contact with Timms.
North Wales Chronicle
11-06-2025
- Politics
- North Wales Chronicle
Al Qaida-inspired student who stabbed MP can be freed from prison
Roshonara Choudhry, then 21, was jailed for life for a minimum of 15 years for stabbing Sir Stephen Timms twice in the stomach in May 2010, and for two offences of possessing an offensive weapon. The attack on the now social security minister is thought to be the first al Qaida-inspired attempt to assassinate a politician on British soil. The former King's College London student knifed East Ham MP Sir Stephen as he held a constituency surgery at the Beckton Globe community centre in east London, smiling and pretending she was going to shake hands with him before stabbing him. After she was arrested she told detectives the stabbing was 'punishment' and 'to get revenge for the people of Iraq'. But after a Parole Board hearing on May 20 this year, a panel decided she could be freed from jail. A decision summary said: 'After considering the circumstances of her offending, the progress made while in custody and the evidence presented at the hearing and in the dossier, the panel was satisfied that imprisonment was no longer necessary for the protection of the public.' The document said that at the time of the attempted murder, Choudhry, now 36, had risk factors of problems with family relationships, development of extreme beliefs about the world and willingness to use violence to address perceived injustices. But she had engaged in programmes in prison to understand how her extreme beliefs developed and her conduct in prison was described as 'exemplary'. The summary added: 'Ms Choudhry was assessed as having shown a very high level of insight and understanding of herself. 'She had consistently shown over many years that she no longer held the same beliefs, that she was able to manage her emotional wellbeing effectively and she would no longer be likely to be influenced by other people with strong negative views, having developed the ability to critically evaluate information and to seek help from professionals if she needs it.' The document said the panel did not receive a victim impact statement, or representations from the justice secretary. It was recommended that Choudhry be released on licence under conditions such as living at a designated address, with a specific curfew and subject to an exclusion zone to avoid contact with Sir Stephen. A Parole Board spokesman said: 'Parole Board decisions are solely focused on what risk a prisoner could represent to the public if released and whether that risk is manageable in the community. 'Parole reviews are undertaken thoroughly and with extreme care. Protecting the public is our number one priority.'
