Latest news with #MetropolitanPolice
BBC News
4 hours ago
- BBC News
Ex-Met PC's jail term tripled over misconduct with teenage girl
A former Metropolitan Police constable who told a 16-year-old girl he met while on duty that he would "pick her up from school and make love to her" has had his sentenced tripled following an Rigby, the government's solicitor general, referred Che Homersham's original six-month jail term to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence 37-year-old's sentence for misconduct in public office will increase to an 18-month prison sentence. Rigby said: "Homersham abused his position as a police officer – a role that rightly commands public trust – and I welcome the court's decision to increase his sentence." Homersham met the vulnerable girl during a domestic case in December 2018 and drove her to a nature reserve while off duty, under the pretext of taking a statement. He asked to kiss her and she said met again and he drove her to a car park, where after several attempts, he kissed her and touched her thigh and waist, Southwark Crown Court was told in May.A couple of days later, Homersham, who later resigned from the force, texted her and said he was going to pick her up from school and have sex with her. Homersham, from Southgate in north London, had told the girl he would help with her ambition to join the was arrested in December 2023, resigned the following month, and later admitted a charge of misconduct in public would have been dismissed if he had not already left, a misconduct hearing found.
The Independent
4 hours ago
- The Independent
Former police officer jailed for inappropriate relationship with girl has sentence tripled
A former Metropolitan Police officer who was jailed for instigating an inappropriate relationship with a 16-year-old girl has had his sentence tripled. Che Homersham, 37, was sentenced to six months' imprisonment at Southwark Crown Court in May after admitting to abusing his position as a police constable by attempting to instigate a sexual relationship with the girl. He first met the victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, while on duty responding to a domestic incident involving her mother in north London in December 2018, the court heard. Homersham, from Southgate, north London, took the girl's personal details, including her telephone number, and called her the following day saying he needed to take a witness statement. The former officer then drove the girl to the Harrow Viewpoint and asked to kiss her, which she refused. Homersham's initial sentence was increased by 12 months after the Solicitor General, Lucy Rigby KC MP, referred it to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme, the Attorney General's Office (AGO) said on Tuesday. Ms Rigby said: 'Homersham abused his position as a police officer – a role that rightly commands public trust – and I welcome the court's decision to increase his sentence.' The former officer's inappropriate relationship continued with the teenager over several years, including by describing sexual fantasies and making sexual advances, the AGO said. This included Homersham sending the girl a text in which he said he was going to 'pick her up from school and make love to her', the court was told. Texts to the victim from Homersham were uncovered when he was arrested for a separate matter in August 2023. Homersham was charged after an investigation by the Met's anti-corruption unit, which started in June 2023 and was carried out under the direction of the Independent Office for Police Conduct. He resigned from the Met in February last year after joining the force in July 2017.
The Independent
8 hours ago
- The Independent
Ex-Met Pc jailed for inappropriate relationship with girl has sentence tripled
A former Metropolitan Police officer who was jailed for instigating an inappropriate relationship with a 16-year-old girl has had his sentence tripled. Che Homersham, 37, was sentenced to six months' imprisonment at Southwark Crown Court in May after admitting to abusing his position as a police constable by attempting to instigate a sexual relationship with the girl. He first met the victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, while on duty responding to a domestic incident involving her mother in north London in December 2018, the court heard. Homersham, from Southgate, north London, took the girl's personal details, including her telephone number, and called her the following day saying he needed to take a witness statement. The former officer then drove the girl to the Harrow Viewpoint and asked to kiss her, which she refused. Homersham's initial sentence was increased by 12 months after the Solicitor General, Lucy Rigby KC MP, referred it to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme, the Attorney General's Office (AGO) said on Tuesday. Ms Rigby said: 'Homersham abused his position as a police officer – a role that rightly commands public trust – and I welcome the court's decision to increase his sentence.' The former officer's inappropriate relationship continued with the teenager over several years, including by describing sexual fantasies and making sexual advances, the AGO said. This included Homersham sending the girl a text in which he said he was going to 'pick her up from school and make love to her', the court was told. Texts to the victim from Homersham were uncovered when he was arrested for a separate matter in August 2023. Homersham was charged after an investigation by the Met's anti-corruption unit, which started in June 2023 and was carried out under the direction of the Independent Office for Police Conduct. He resigned from the Met in February last year after joining the force in July 2017.
Telegraph
8 hours ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
Palestine Action supporters organise terror ban protest on foreign website
A protest supporting Palestine Action, the campaign group proscribed in Britain as a terror organisation, is being organised on a US website. At least 500 demonstrators are planning to gather on August 9 in central London to hold signs saying: 'I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action.' The Metropolitan Police has warned the protesters to 'expect to be arrested'. The demonstration has been organised by Defend Our Juries, which is leading a campaign to reverse Palestine Action's proscription, under which hundreds have already been arrested. It is using the United States-based website Action Network to tell would-be protesters to express support for the group in such large numbers that the police cannot arrest all of them. But Defend Our Juries has denied the use of a foreign website is a ploy to dodge the UK ban on Palestine Action. '500 is more than double the total number of people arrested under the Terrorism Act in 2024,' the organisers say in an 'action briefing document' published on the Action Network website. 'It would be practically and politically difficult for the state to respond to an action on this scale. Even assuming it had the physical capacity to arrest so many people on the same day, the political fallout from such an operation would be incalculable, causing irreparable damage to the reputation of the Government and the police.' Defend Our Juries said the protest was required because Palestine Action's proscription was 'a major assault on democracy and everyone's rights to freedom of expression'. It added: 'Our assessment is that an action on this scale could be enough for the ban to be lifted. 'Charging and prosecuting at least 500 more people, in addition to the 200 people already arrested, is likely to be beyond the capacity of the state, given the current situation in the criminal justice system.' Palestine Action took down its own website after it was proscribed earlier this month. Expressing support for the group is now a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison under the Terrorism Act 2000. But supporters have since turned out to to protest against the ban, and confronted police outside the Royal Courts of Justice early this month when the court was hearing an unsuccessful bid to block the ban. Action Network allows protest groups to 'organise for progressive causes' without having to set up their own online infrastructure. 'We encourage responsible activism, and do not support using the platform to take unlawful or other improper action,' its website reads. 'We do not control or endorse the conduct of users and make no representations of any kind about them.' Defend Our Juries organised protests across the United Kingdom over the weekend in which more than 100 people were arrested and some pro-Palestinian activists chanted 'f--- your Jewish state'. Demonstrations were held in Manchester, Edinburgh, Bristol, Truro, and London. We have detailed plan, says Met A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said: 'While we would not go into the details of our approach, the public can be reassured that we will have a detailed plan in place to respond to any eventuality. 'Our officers will continue to apply the law in relation to Palestine Action as we have done over the past three weekends. 'Anyone showing support for the group can expect to be arrested.' A spokesman for Defend Our Juries said: 'If the Home Secretary and the Met Commissioner think it's a good use of public resources to arrest, detain and interview more than 500 people for quietly expressing an opinion about the genocide in Gaza, that's on them. 'We have been asked if our use of Action Network is a devious attempt to circumvent the proscription of Palestine Action, since the website is based in the US. 'The answer is 'No'. That never even occurred to us. If our aim was to put ourselves beyond the reach of UK law enforcement, we wouldn't have opted for the US. 'We have always used Action Network for our campaigns, as many other groups and movements do, for its user friendliness and functionality.'
BBC News
9 hours ago
- BBC News
Men charged over 'Grindr targeted' burglaries across London
Four men have been charged for a series of burglaries where victims were allegedly targeted on LGBT dating app group is alleged to have carried out 35 burglaries and 20 related frauds across London between October 2024 and March this year relating to 22 victims, the Metropolitan Police Khan Mohammadi, 22, from Harrow, and Mohammed Bilal Hotak, 21, of Hackney, have been charged with theft, burglary and fraud offences. They are due to appear at Isleworth Crown Court on Rahman, 29, and Ibrahim Yaqobie, 28, both from Harrow, have been charged with burglary and fraud offences and are due to appear at the same court on Friday, 8 August.
