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The Independent
28-03-2025
- The Independent
Amsterdam mayor gives hero award to ‘modest' English tourist who tackled knifeman
The Mayor of Amsterdam has given a 'hero's medal' to an English tourist who chased a knifeman through busy alleys and pinned him to the ground, bringing an end to his rampage. Footage shows a man, in casual clothes, kneeling on top of the suspect and threatening to punch him as he waits for police while shoppers file past him near the central Dam's Square on Thursday. In a message on Instagram, Mayor Femke Halsema thanked him for his heroic actions. He received a hero's badge in her official residence, she told reporters. "He is a very modest British man," Halsema told Amsterdam news channel AT5. "He has no desire to become famous. He is now mainly concerned with the victims, he feels responsible for them." Do you know the hero? Please contact She said the man made a decision in 'a split second for which there should be a lot of appreciation'. 'The tourist was walking on Nieuwendijk and heard a commotion', she said. "He saw someone pass by and instinctively thought 'this is not right, something bad is happening here'. He managed to tackle him to the ground." She said the five victims were now all stable, adding: 'Everything is being done to determine the identity of the perpetrator. 'At this point that is not clear. As long as there is no clarity about that, we know little about the motive.' An Amsterdam police spokesman told Dutch news outlet AD the British man did a great job performing a 'rare citizens arrest'. 'We're very proud of him, but we also want to point out that you need to be very careful if you want to make a citizen's arrest. Most people are not trained for this sort of thing.' The mystery man's actions were hailed on social media with locals saying he should be made an honorary 'Amsterdamer'. One said on a TikTok: 'What a hero! What a stunner! He sees danger and immediately intervenes and ensures that other fellow human beings are safe. Respect!' The stabbings reportedly took place in various locations. The seriously injured victims were identified as a 67-year-old woman and a 69-year-old man from the United States, a 73-year-old woman from Belgium, a 26-year-old man from Poland and a 19-year-old Dutch woman from Amsterdam. Authorities said in a statement that no motive had been established for the attack, but that police were considering a scenario where the man targeted victims at random. An employee of the Febo fast food restaurant told The Independent the suspect was tackled to the ground outside the eatery by members of the public. 'I was trying to get to work and everything was closed down and locked off. The guy was lying there right in front of my work,' the employee, who declined to be named, said.
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The Independent
14-02-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
£3million Oscar Wilde-linked mansion mysteriously burns down after huge drugs bust
Built over 100 years ago for Oscar Wilde's theatre producer, Grade II-listed grand country home The Court once stood proudly at the heart of Chorleywood. But the £3million eight-bedroom mansion was left a charred and smouldering ruin on Sunday morning after a mysterious fire ripped through it overnight. Six fire engines rushed to the 3.5-acre estate at 12.13am, where 24 firefighters tackled towering flames with nearby pond water for around five hours. The tragedy was just the latest development in the 'strange' and 'sad' destruction of the house, residents of the well-to-do civil parish told The Independent. Neighbour Phil Hayes, 57, said: 'The fire came as a complete shock. It was about 1 o'clock in the morning when we saw the flames. Were you affected by the fire? Contact 'It seems to be the last chapter in the building's sad demise. It has fallen into disrepair over the years.' The Court was built in 1911 for Sir George Alexander, an actor who produced Wilde's world-renowned play, The Importance of Being Earnest. The Irish-born playwright wrote a 16-page hand-written letter to Sir George in 1894 trying to sell him the play for £150, which is worth around £25k today. Around 60 years after this, Fay Caplin, a 'generous and welcoming' woman, moved in with her husband Robert Caplin shortly after marrying him in 1954. Mrs Caplin lived on the grounds, equipped with a swimming pool and summerhouse, until her death aged 92 in 2022. A village newsletter dubbed her the 'heart of the community' and said she would often 'throw open her beautiful home' to neighbours, hosting garden parties and dinners. Two years after she died, The Court sat empty and in disrepair when it was bought by 43-year-old property developer Tarun Agrawal after he 'fell in love' with it. Mr Argawal has never lived in the property. But only months afterwards, police helicopters and scores of officers busted and deported an elusive gang using the Tudor-style home as a cannabis farm. Miss Campbell, who lives in a row of former almshouses opposite the estate, said the blaze had left her searching for answers. 'It is all very strange,' she told The Independent. 'I heard something about a cannabis farm being set up there. And now it has just gone up in flames.' Mr Argawal never lived in the house and told The Independent he did not know the cannabis farmers and had tried to install a wall around his tree-lined garden to protect the estate. 'We live locally and loved the property. It had beautiful character and history. I fell in love with it,' he said. 'My friend said I should forget about my house and move in as soon as I could. We wanted to build the wall to protect it. But the council did not let us.' He applied to build a two-metre-high brick wall around his property in June 2024, but it was refused by Three Rivers District Council. The council said the proposed wall would have a 'negative impact' on mature trees surrounding the property, which backed on to Chorleywood Common. Chorleywood ward councillor Philip Hearn said he was 'shocked and upset' by the fire and called for the house to be rebuilt. 'I am shocked and upset by this. Will be working to ensure the cause of the fire is fully investigated,' he said. 'A fire does not automatically remove the listing of a property and while too early to know the exact cause, the starting point should be for the property to be fully restored.' A Hertfordshire Police spokesperson said: 'Police were called at 12.20am on Sunday 9 February by the fire service to reports of a fire at a derelict property on Rickmansworth Road, Chorleywood. 'A number of road closures were put in place and emergency services remain at the scene. 'Investigations with colleagues in the fire service are taking place to establish the cause of the fire.' A Three Rivers Council spokesperson added: 'Officers at Three Rivers District Council are assisting Hertfordshire Constabulary in its ongoing investigation following a fire at a vacant property in Rickmansworth Road, Chorleywood, in the early hours of Sunday morning.'
The Independent
13-02-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
German terror police probe Munich car attack that injured 28 people when Mini Cooper drove into crowd
Counter-terrorism police are investigating a 24-year-old Afghan asylum seeker suspected of deliberately plowing a car into a crowd in Munich, injuring 28 people. At least two people are fighting for their lives after a Mini Cooper rammed the protest organised by trade union Verdi, with children among the dozens of injured. The attack took place a mile away from the venue of the Munich Security Conference which begins on Friday, with US vice president JD Vance and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky due to arrive in the city on Thursday. Did you witness the incident or do you know anyone who did? Contact Police fired gunshots at the car after it weaved between the police vehicles tailing the demonstration and drove into the crowd. Shellshocked witnesses told of hearing an 'engine roar' and 'wheels spinning', with images showing dozens of police surrounding a smashed-up Mini Cooper as debris was strewn across the floor in the wake of the crash. At a press briefing on Thursday lunchtime, Bavarian governor Markus Söder said the incident was 'suspected to be an attack'. Investigations are being carried out by the Bavarian Central Office for Combating Extremism and Terrorism, state minister Georg Eisenreich added. Although eyewitnesses told Bild that two men were seen in the Mini, police said they 'cannot confirm' whether more than one person was involved. Udo Kunte told Merkur, a local newspaper: 'Suddenly there was an engine roar behind us, wheels spinning and then there was just a clattering.' Another demonstrator told Bayerischer Rundfunk: "I was in the demonstration and saw that a man was lying under the car. Then I tried to open the door, but it was locked." Munich's mayor Dieter Reiter told Bild: "The police chief has just informed me that a vehicle drove into a group of people and unfortunately many people were injured, including children. I am deeply shocked. My thoughts are with the injured." The alleged attacker was already known to police for drug-related offences and shoplifting, Bavarian interior minister Joachim Herrmann told reporters. Verdi, Germany's second largest trade union with around 1.9 million members, had called a strike for childcare workers to call for better wages and working conditions. Frank Werneke, the union's chairman, told The Independent in a statement that they are 'deeply dismayed and shocked' by the incident. ' This is a difficult moment for all colleagues. We unions stand for solidarity, especially in such a dark hour.' The strike had been called after employers failed to submit a final offer in January negotiations. The union promised to 'noticeably increase the pressure until the second round of negotiations on February 17th and 18th'. Journalist Sandra Demmelhuber wrote in a post on X: 'A person was lying on the street and a young man was taken away by the police. People were sitting on the ground, crying and shaking. Details still unclear.' Traffic disruptions are expected around the scene and police have asked people to avoid the area so emergency services can carry out their work. Authorities have set up a collection point for witness statements and a care centre for those psychologically impacted by the suspected attack at Löwenbräukeller on Stiglmaierplatz. A large-scale police operation was underway near the southern city's central train station due to the Munich Security Conference.
The Independent
30-01-2025
- The Independent
UK community worker flying home from US ‘questioned for over an hour' after eVisa refusal
A community organiser says they feared they would miss their flight home from Chicago when airline staff challenged them over their eVisa for more than an hour. Marzena Zukowska's ordeal at Chicago O'Hare airport is the latest in a series of worrying episodes involving foreign nationals resident in the UK using visas after the switch to a digital system at the start of this year. Holders no longer have physical immigration documents to show airline staff. Instead, they are dependent on carriers digitally verifying their immigration status. Marzena, 35, told The Independent that Tap Portugal staff in Chicago insisted on seeing physical proof of their visa status - and when they could not get it, asked they apply for a visitor's visa, despite Marzena living in Liverpool as a settled UK resident. Marzena, who has dual Polish and US nationality and is non-binary, said they remained locked in discussions with staff for more than an hour, and feared they would miss their flight back to Manchester and a booked appointment for egg-freezing treatment. Have you been impacted by the change to eVisas? Contact Holly Bancroft by emailing They told The Independent: 'I turn up at the Tap Portugal desk, I give them my Polish passport. The person at the desk and her manager were looking at the computer, and said 'we need to see proof of your visa to the UK'. I told them that I have settled status, and that it is digital only.' Marzena said that the airline staff told them to apply for an Electonic Travel Authorisation, a visitor's visa to the UK that is only available to certain non-EU nationalities - and ended up trying on their mobile to show they did not qualify for one with a Polish passport. They said: 'It just became a circular conversation. The manager was questioning me, and because the airport was quite empty all the other employees were watching this happening. I kept trying to tell them, it's not your fault, the UK government has given really mixed information. 'I actually work for an immigration rights organisation but it just kept making things worse and worse. I was genuinely worried that they would not let me board the flight.' The airline manager at the airport tried to call the UK Home Office hotline, which is supposed to be open 24 hours a day, but was unable to get through to anyone, said Marzena, who then said they were asked for other proof of UK residency, such as a drivers licence or tenancy agreement. Marzena, who is co-director of POMOC, a rights group for Eastern European migrants, was worried that they would miss the flight and miss crucial egg-freezing treatment that they had scheduled for their return to the UK. They said: 'You have a very small window of time when you have to take medication and administer the shots. I was scared that if I wasn't able to get back to Liverpool, then that treatment would be delayed.' Finally, after Marzena showed the UK visas and immigration website on their phone and their eVisa share code, the airline staff allowed them to board the plane to Manchester on 15 January. Marzena said the experience showed them that 'the UK government doesn't want to take responsibility for the eVisa system they've set up'. They added: 'They're forcing airlines and landlords to police people's rights, and decide who they accept and who they don't.' 'It is such a massive accessibility issue. If I can barely get through and I have so much knowledge, how about someone with a language barrier, or who is less able to use technology?' Also impacted by the introduction in eVisas was one Indian national working in the UK who told The Independent that he was travelling back from Las Vegas to Newcastle on 1 January when he faced airport staff unaware of the changes. He said he was allowed on his British Airways flight after staff said they would take his word for it that the visa process had changed. An Australian citizen with indefinite leave to remain in the UK said he also encountered difficulties on his trip back from New York in early January. A Home Office spokesperson said: 'We are listening to concerns people might have, provided additional support and processes for people's status to be proved and checked when travelling, and are working closely with carriers and international stakeholders to ensure the rollout of eVisas is smooth. 'eVisas bring significant benefits. They cannot be lost, stolen, or tampered with, unlike a physical document, and also increase the UK immigration system's security and efficiency.' UK Border Force are running a 24/7 support service for carriers to deal with enquiries about passengers travelling to the UK, and there is also a 24/7 passenger support helpline.
