Latest news with #vapeShop
BBC News
21-05-2025
- BBC News
Teens found guilty of murder in Solihull vape shop stabbing
Three teenagers have been found guilty of murdering a 17-year-old boy who was fatally stabbed in a vape Higgins was attacked on Station Road, Marston Green, Solihull, on 29 October and died at the Summers, 18, and two 15-year-old boys, who cannot be named due to their age, were convicted of murder by a jury at Birmingham Crown Court on three teenagers had denied the charges against them. This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest can receive Breaking News on a smartphone or tablet via the BBC News App. You can also follow @BBCBreaking on X to get the latest alerts.
BBC News
12-05-2025
- BBC News
Man accused of Solihull vape shop murder denies role 'in tragedy'
A man accused of murdering a 17-year-old in a vape shop has said he played "no part in this tragedy", a court has heard. Reuben Higgins was fatally stabbed on Station Road in Marston Green, Solihull, on 29 October last year and died at the Summers, 18, and two 15-year-old boys, who cannot be named due to their age, have denied murdering Mr Higgins and are on trial at Birmingham Crown Summers said in a statement he had met up with friends on the day in question and had gone to a shop to buy drinks and snacks. He denied knowing the victim or attacking him. Mr Summers, from Yardley, added he played "no part in this tragedy".He is also charged with possession of a bladed article, which he court on Monday, the teenagers' defence lawyers said the defendants would not be giving evidence at their trial, but statements they had submitted during earlier police interviews were read court previously heard that a fourth suspect, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is believed to have fled the country. A prosecution lawyer read the statements to the jury as part of a set of "agreed facts" between the two sides, which he outlined before closing his "agreed facts" included a forensic examination that found the three teenagers' fingerprints on the Vape Minimarket's double-door entrance, plus those of Mr Higgins, the lawyer said. A mobile phone belonging to one of the 15-year-olds was also found at the shop, while a cached video of Mr Summers with a knife was later recovered from his phone, the court in the trial, a witness who was working in the shop that day, said Reuben had run inside and tried to block the door, before three or four men began striking the shop's entrance trying to get in. 'Happened so fast' In his statement for police interviews, one of the 15-year-old defendants said he was hanging out with friends in Marston Green when things "got aggressive" between members of his and another said he ended up being involved in "an altercation" in the shop but "I did not stab him", adding that "it all happened so fast."The other 15-year-old boy did not submit statements in his police interviews, and had instead given a "no comment" response to part of the "agreed facts" outlined on Monday, the jury also heard the fourth suspect's mother had booked flights for her and her son to Pakistan in October with a return date in November, but the son had not used his return the prosecution closed its case, the three defence lawyers for the teenagers said they would not bring any further trial continues. Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
South China Morning Post
09-05-2025
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong anti-corruption agency arrests 16 linked to vape shop bribery scheme
Hong Kong's anti-corruption agency has foiled a graft operation involving a local vape shop and delivery workers, who allegedly collected bribes amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars per month. Advertisement Eric Chan Cheuk-hay, principal investigator of the Independent Commission Against Corruption, said on Friday that the agency had arrested 16 in connection with the case last month, seizing more than 200,000 vape pens and oil pellets worth over HK$20 million (US$2.6 million). 'The new law [in 2022] and corresponding policies of the logistics company had made it difficult to send goods to customers. Therefore, they resorted to bribing delivery workers to bypass the company's checks,' Chan said. Hong Kong banned alternative smoking products, including electronic cigarettes, in April 2022 by outlawing the import, sales, promotion, manufacturing, and possession for commercial purposes. The e-cigarette shop's operations are therefore illegal under the 2022 legal amendment. Advertisement The arrests were made last month, after a complaint in mid-2024 triggered a six-month investigation by the agency into the online vape shop's operations. Those arrested were nine staff members of an established local delivery firm and seven people running an online shop selling vape pens and pellets. Those linked to the shop were a 40-year-old man who led the shop's operations, his parents and wife, as well as three employees.
