Archived news

4:01pm UK, Monday August 25, 2008

An 18-month-old boy is in a critical condition in hospital after being shot with an airgun in what police believe was a "tragic accident".

The unnamed boy suffered serious head injuries in the incident in the Washwood Heath area of Birmingham at 6.40pm Sunday night.

He was at home when the incident happened.

A police spokesman said: "The toddler was playing with other young children in the garden of his home in the Washwood Heath area when he sustained a pellet wound to the back of the head from an air weapon.

"A strong line of inquiry is that young children, aged under five, somehow managed to access the air weapon and accidentally caused it to go off."

He added that officers were not seeking anyone else in connection with the incident.

"While we are still trying to establish precisely what happened, this does appear to be a tragic accident involving young children," said Detective Inspector Simon Vowles.

An ambulance, two rapid response vehicles and a doctor were immediately sent to the scene after the 999 call.

Two paramedics travelled with the ambulance crew to provide additional assistance en route to hospital, where the boy was described soon after as being in a critical but stable condition.

A policeman, who punched a 12-year-old boy so hard a colleague thought he had broken the youth's nose, has been jailed.

PC Daniel Gaffney, 30, was given a 12 weeks' sentence for the assault, which drew blood.

Gaffney, a seven-year servant for Greater Manchester Police, was sentenced by deputy judge Timothy Gascoigne at Halton Magistrates' Court in Cheshire.

The court heard that Gaffney "had a sudden and momentary loss of temper" after the boy "tried his patience", claiming to have a gun in his pants.

The boy, described as "vulnerable" by the district judge, had been brought into custody along with a young girl on November 10 last year after threatening staff at his children's home with a fence post.

The pair had also been drinking vodka on the site.

When he arrived at Didsbury Police Station, Manchester, the boy - who has several convictions for assaulting adults - was taken for a strip search.

As soon as they got to the cell father-of-one Gaffney hit him and lied that the boy fell over. The next day he altered his statement, claiming self-defence.

The district judge described the action as "an abuse of the position of trust" and noted from a pre-sentence report that the officer still denies assaulting the boy in question.

The 999 response officer of Northwich, Cheshire, was convicted of assault last month after a two-day trial.

His barrister Bernadette Baxter has said he will appeal today's conviction.

Ms Baxter described the incident as a "profound tragedy when one weighs it against the positive good character and contribution this young man has made to society".

She said it was now "inconceivable" that Gaffney - whose father and brother have both served in the force and who joined the GMP in 2001 - would keep his job.

Tosca wrote:I guess this police officer has to pay the price for his actions, however, I wonder what provocation took place.

I know dont but what harm can a 14 year old do to a grown man in a police station?

The police should be able to deal with these situations with violent people they arrest and moreso with children and police brutality is not on!

Unless its on Leonor Cipriano

Shia Muslims in central Kandahar, Afghanistan, beat themselves in a more extreme version of the ceremony. Photograph: Adam Butler/AP




A Shia Muslim was convicted of child cruelty yesterday after he forced two boys to flog themselves during a religious ritual.

Syed Mustafa Zaidi, a warehouse supervisor, told the boys, aged 13 and 15, to beat themselves with a zanjeer zani, a wooden-handled implement containing five curved blades used when commemorating the death of Hussain, grandson of Muhammad and one of the most important figures in Shia Islam. Zaidi is due to be sentenced on September 24.

Manchester crown court heard how Zaidi, 44, flagellated himself at an event held in January in Manchester until his back was bloody and cut. Others at the event also flogged themselves. Some of those present, fearing Zaidi would seriously harm himself, asked him to calm down. Zaidi agreed, only to turn his attention to the two boys.

The 14-year-old, who was 13 at the time, told the jury that neither he nor the other boy wanted to injure themselves. He said Zaidi was insistent with the older boy, "pulling him and pushing him, 'keep doing it', telling people 'this is a sad moment and look, he's not doing it'.

"He goes, 'I don't want to do it, I don't want to do it'. He kept pressuring him, make him do the knife thing, pulling him, trying to get his T-shirt off, pulling and pushing him. He was saying, 'just do it, just do it'." He said the 15-year-old "swung it once or twice and said 'I don't want to do it any more'." The older boy was then pulled away by another man.

After the ceremony, the boys went home to their mother, who noticed several deep wounds on their backs and multiple slash wounds. She took them to Manchester Royal infirmary and the matter was reported to the police.

The boys, who cannot be named for legal reasons, admitted they wanted to beat themselves, but not under duress and not using Zaidi's zanjeer zani. They also said they had flogged themselves with a smaller zanjeer zani from the age of six in Pakistan.

Carol Jackson, for the Crown Prosecution Service, said the prosecution was not an attack upon the practices or ceremonies of Shia Muslims, adding that the prosecution relied partly on evidence given by the president of the local Shia community centre. It was the first case of its kind to be prosecuted by the CPS.

For Shia Muslims the death of Hussain is a period of intense mourning, leading some to beat and whip themselves. The practice is not compulsory and some Shia authorities prohibit it, while others say it should be done only if certain conditions are met.

Safdar Zia, general secretary of the Jaffria Islamic Centre, said Shia Muslims in Manchester would now try to work with the police and the CPS towards a code of practice: "We are not above the law."



http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/aug/28/islam.religion

Jacqui67 wrote:

lincs wrote:Any one heard how this little boy is?

The poot little mite didnt make it.

22:08 GMT, Monday, 1 September 2008 23:08 UK

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/west_midlands/7592608.stm

Shot baby dies from airgun wounds

An 18-month-old boy, believed to have been shot at his home with an airgun by his sister, dies in hospital.

OMG!!!! that is awful!

I feel so sorry for his sister too...imagine how she will feel when she's older for being responsible for this tragic accident!!

eddie wrote:Amber that is the first thing i said too! His sister will grow up with the knowledge that she killed her brother. It is a terrible shame as she is only a child - the real blame lies with the stupid parent who thought it was safe to leave an air gun just lying around in the garden.

RIP liitle one x

I agree and its up to the parents to get her some help to overcome that to the best of their ability....

RIP for the little boy

I hope parents could help the sister and give her a nornal life in the future!

religious nutters..

thank god I'm an agnostic


.

Evil sex trio jailed

Sep 6 2008 By Sinead Keller

AN EVIL sex trio - a man and two women - abused two children and filmed the act for their own gratification.

And today they are starting jail sentences after their sordid crimes were revealed at Coventry Crown Court.

Adam Thompson, 42, Kim Carrie, 36 and Tara Bowen, 36, had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to a string of sex offences.

Thompson, from Coventry, was sentenced to 10 years for sexual offences with a child, possessing a controlled class C drug, two counts of supplying a controlled drug and three counts of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

Carrie was given three years for cruelty to a person under 16 years and Bowen was given four years for sexual activity with a child.

Adrian Keeling, prosecuting said the incidents took place in 2007 at Thompson's home in Cargill Close, Longford.

He said the three defendants were "swingers" who had sex with each other at drug-fuelled orgies at his home.

Thompson provided the drug GHB which was used as an aphrodisiac and ketamine which makes people lose their inhibitions.

The teenagers were made to watch the defendants taking drugs and having sex with each other. Mr Keeling said the teenage girl was given drugs, before being abused by Thompson.

Mr Keeling said the teenage boy was given drugs and made to engage in sexual activity with both women.

Mr Keeling said the horrific activities were discovered when police were called to Thompson's house on an unrelated matter. They were tipped off about video tapes.

In one of the videos Thompson boasted on an internet chatroom that he had installed spy cameras in his bathroom and above the sofa in the lounge.

He bragged to another user about the girl coming to his house and how he would use the film for his gratification as well as showing it to others.

Glyn Samuel, defending Thompson, said: "He had an unfortunate childhood which gave rise to his behaviour."

Wilbert Harris defending Carrie, of Parson's Hill, Oldbury, said: "Before her relationship with Thompson drink and drugs were alien to her. "It is following that relationship that this all began."

Mohamed Riaz defending Bowen, of Blandford Road, Quinton, Birmingham, said: "She has expressed regret and she is ashamed."

Thompson was disqualified for life from working with children, barred from having internet access in his home, having children under 16 in his home and from possessing any equipment for recording visual images.

Both Thompson and Bowen were ordered to sign the sex offenders register for life.
http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/2008/09/06/evil-sex-trio-jailed-92746-21702187/

Glyn Samuel, defending Thompson, said: "He had an unfortunate childhood which gave rise to his behaviour."


Lots of other ppl have a unfortunate childhood but thats not an excuse for this!!!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1056994/Mother-arrested-home-children-rescued-blazing-house.html

Six children, including two babies, almost burnt to death after their mother allegedly left them 'home alone' with a simmering chip pan.

Firemen were called to the locked semi-detached house after neighbours saw the tiny hands of the children banging on the windows of their smoke-filled house and heard their desperate screams for help.

One neighbour said: 'They were screaming: 'Help us. Help us. Fire. Fire.' They were obviously completely terrified.

'They couldn't get out of the house and no-one else could get in and there was real panic for their safety.'

In a dramatic rescue, firefighters smashed their way into the locked property and found the children taking refuge in an upstairs bedroom.

Just as they were being carried to safety their mother returned and demanded to know what was happening.

Police were called and the 36-year-old woman was later arrested and questioned on suspicion of child neglect.

The youngsters, aged 11, nine, seven, five, one and eight months, were all taken to hospital where they were treated for shock and the effects of smoke inhalation before being discharged.

One neighbour said: 'You could hear the kids screaming desperately for help. Their little hands were pressed against the windows but all the doors were locked and people could not break down the door to get in.

'The fire service arrived and smashed in through the front door and within seconds they were carrying them out. Some of them were holding two, carrying one in each arm. They did a brilliant job and their quick response obviously saved lives.'

Another resident said: 'The mother arrived back around five minutes later and wanted to know what all the fuss was about.

'It was incredible really. The children could quite easily have been burnt alive and it just shows the dangers of leaving pans on the hob - even for just a few minutes.

'I think the woman was absolutely stunned when police officers arrived at her house and decided to arrest her.'

A spokesman for the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service said there was acrid smoke filling the house when they arrived at the property.

He added: 'There was a smoke alarm but the children were unattended. Four fire fighters wearing breathing apparatus went in and did a great job. We could see little hands waving from the upstairs window. Two minutes later everyone was out.

'Fire fighters acted promptly and effectively. We are still trying to trace where the call was made from.'

The blaze broke out at the house in Oldham, Greater Manchester at around 9.50pm on Tuesday evening.

Early indications suggest the house fire was caused by a pan containing fat which had been left unattended on a cooker.

It caused serious smoke damage to around half the house and the property was boarded up yesterday.A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said: 'Six children aged between eight months and 11 years old were removed from the house and taken to the hospital as a precaution.

'A woman aged 36 has been arrested on suspicion of child neglect and remains in police custody for questioning.'

'It was incredible really. The children could quite easily have been burnt alive and it just shows the dangers of leaving pans on the hob - even for just a few minutes.


No mention of the dangers of leaving children alone?????

Hallo all, I think this is an appropriate moment to remind you of my petition on the Prime Minister's website calling for it to be made a criminal offence for children under 12 to be left on their own without reasonable excuse:

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/no-to-neglect/

With 264 signatures, the petition is lying in 337th place out of nearly 5,000 petitions on the PM's website.

Just a few dozen more will put it in to the top 300 and from there on more and more people will see it and be likely to sign it.

Please use this near-tragedy to step up the demands for clear laws discouraging parents from leaving young children on their own.

It is my personal tribute to Madeleine.

Madeleine's law. Never leave young children on their own.

Please sign and pass details to all your friends and relatives. Thanks!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Three year old boy left alone in a London flat with a bowl of milk and a doughnut. The mother left a boiling egg on the hob and went out to the shops. House caught on fire only by the grace of God was the little lad unharmed. Strange that the Daily mail are not taking comments. Now I wonder why that is, she says tongue in cheek!

pm wrote:Three year old boy left alone in a London flat with a bowl of milk and a doughnut. The mother left a boiling egg on the hob and went out to the shops. House caught on fire only by the grace of God was the little lad unharmed. Strange that the Daily mail are not taking comments. Now I wonder why that is, she says tongue in cheek!

Because the public will say why are the Mccanns allowed to get away with neglect when others are prosecuted!

6:02pm UK, Monday November 17, 2008

A father is demanding police say sorry for jailing him overnight after he smacked his son on the leg.


Mr Frearson was arrested after smacking his son on the leg



Mark Frearson said he told off his seven-year-old son Harry for walking off alone after dark while they were out shopping.

But three hours later, four police officers and a specialist child support officer arrived at his house to take Harry away.

They arrested Mr Frearson on suspicion of assault, and locked him in a cell.

Officers told him they could not carry out an interview because the witness "was not in a condition to give a statement".

He had to spend the night in jail and was released the next day after the witness withdrew the accusation.

The 47-year-old director of a parcel company has made a formal complaint to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

He said the police reaction was "massively over-the-top" and the experience was traumatic for his son.

Mr Frearson, from Plymouth, said: "I appreciate the police's concern but even if they felt they had to take Harry away, I don't understand why they felt it necessary to arrest me and lock me up before interviewing me or the witness.

"I want an apology, I wasn't given any after being released without charge, and I am still angry and bewildered at the events of that night."

Mr Frearson said he had told Harry to stay with him because it was dark. But the boy left the shop, and after a 10 minute search he was found in a nearby park.

He smacked him once on the back of his leg, and the two returned home.

Mr Frearson said later: "There were about 20 people around at the time I told Harry off and CCTV, but they still locked me up."

A spokesman for Devon and Cornwall police has said they cannot comment after a formal complaint is made.

I agree that people/public should complain about this...depending how hard he was smacking him of course but to put him in prison??

Shame they didnt put little Peter Connollys mum in prison instead of letting her go so often!

Ambersuz wrote:I agree that people/public should complain about this...depending how hard he was smacking him of course but to put him in prison??

Shame they didnt put little Peter Connollys mum in prison instead of letting her go so often!

hE SMACKED HIM ON THE LEG BECAUSE HE WENT MISSING. IT WAS PROBABLY THE SHOCK OF NOT BEING ABLE TO FIND HIM. I WOULDNT SAY IT WAS THAT HARD IF HE IS ON SKY NEWS WITH HIS STORY. AT LEAST HE DIDNT TORTURE THE CHILD. I SWEAR THE LAW IS A JOKE.

Afternoon All.I think this is a really tricky one.I see both sides..whilst i don't think for one minute the dad should have gone to prison..i do think its good that people are starting to report people who hit their children.I grew up in a very loving home..but if we ever stepped out of line we would get a smack on the hand or the bottom,we would never do the same bad thing twice lol.
The other day i took my 2 children to the wildlife park near us..as we were playing in enclosue my 14yr old son went very quiet..i asked what was up and he told me he had just seen a mother smack her little boy of 4/5 very hard across the face.Shocked i went straight out after them to ask what had gone on ..but they had left.I don't really know what i would have said or done had i caught up with them.So sad..if they can hit their children in public like that..i hate to think what they do at home.

poinksy wrote:

lubelle wrote:Afternoon All.I think this is a really tricky one.I see both sides..whilst i don't think for one minute the dad should have gone to prison..i do think its good that people are starting to report people who hit their children.I grew up in a very loving home..but if we ever stepped out of line we would get a smack on the hand or the bottom,we would never do the same bad thing twice lol.
The other day i took my 2 children to the wildlife park near us..as we were playing in enclosue my 14yr old son went very quiet..i asked what was up and he told me he had just seen a mother smack her little boy of 4/5 very hard across the face.Shocked i went straight out after them to ask what had gone on ..but they had left.I don't really know what i would have said or done had i caught up with them.So sad..if they can hit their children in public like that..i hate to think what they do at home.

Hi lubelle, That's a really good point. I think we have to use common sense, I personally would have nothing to say if I saw a person giving their child a little smack on the bum. However, if I saw anyone hitting a child across the head or smacking a face then I would probably poke my nose in too.

I dont see why parents should even smack their children in the first place....

Violence breeds violence....if your boss or employee upsets you dont smack them around the face so why hit a child?

.....education begins at home and talking to children is the best way to get them to understand you....punishment like...no sweets for a week works...but children get used to getting smacked and become immune to it long term anyway!

A dad butchered his own children, their mother and uncle before telling police, "I have just murdered my entire family", a court heard yesterday.

Neil Crampton (below), 36, could not bear the thought of ex-partner Liz Sobo, 36, and their kids Abigail, 12, and Steven, five, living without him, a jury heard So he "set out to destroy what he could never possess".



Liz's brother Yemi, 41, was also in the family home in Kenton, Newcastle, on the night of the killings.

Neighbours in the quiet residential street had heard loud screaming shortly before midnight on November 13, 2006.

The ex-taxi driver had inflicted 305 stab wounds on his victims, Newcastle crown court heard.

Police, who arrived after Crampton's call the next morning, entered a scene of "absolute carnage". Crampton had spent all night in the house with the bodies attempting to hang himself, slash his wrists and then drown himself in the bath, the jury heard.

Paul Sloan, prosecuting, said: "At 8.46am he dialled 999. He immediately confessed, 'I have murdered my entire family'.

"Nothing could have prepared the police for what they were to discover. As the defendant was to later describe it, it was a scene of 'absolute carnage'."

The court was told that Crampton had first met Liz in 1993 and she fell pregnant with Abigail the following year.

They moved into a flat in Newcastle but, by the time she was expecting Steven, they were estranged due to Crampton's "increasingly possessive and jealous" behaviour.

Liz, also known as Olufunke, moved back in with her mother Tunde in Kenton, and "consistently resisted" his attempts to reconcile, claiming that he would "flip" during their arguments.

In May 2006, when he learned Liz and the children were going on holiday to Turkey with her mother, Crampton booked to join them. But it was an "unmitigated disaster".

Liz slept with him on November 5, which she "immediately regretted", and made it plain to him their relationship was over, said Mr Sloan.

She was last seen alive at a local garage at 8.47pm on the night of the killings.

The jury heard that he later told police: "I couldn't hack the fact she was a beautiful woman and I was losing her."

Mr Sloan told the jury: "He let his temper get the better of him and set out to destroy what he could not possess."

Crampton admits the killings but denies all four murders on the grounds of diminished responsibility. The trial continues.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2008/11/18/dad-murdered-his-whole-family-115875-20904058/

Abigail Crampton, Yemi Sobo and Steven Crampton died at the house

Holy mother of God. How many more stories are we going to see like this.

Antoinette wrote:Holy mother of God. How many more stories are we going to see like this.

I really dont know...this is making me really sick!!

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2008/11/24/mum-accidentally-flushed-baby-down-toilet-before-hiding-body-in-car-boot-115875-20921212/

By Mirror.co.uk 24/11/2008

A mother today told an inquest how she accidentally flushed her baby down a toilet before hiding his body in her car boot.

Claire Jones became pregnant after an affair with work colleague Marcus Bezerra, Cardiff Coroner's Court heard.

She hid her condition from friends and family, including partner of 11 years David Stoneman, by claiming a wheat allergy caused a hard mass to form in her stomach.

When she experienced pains in the early hours of December 28 last year, a week after her due date, she put it down to the diarrhoea she was suffering from.

Ms Jones said did not realise she had given birth to son Daniel until she flushed the toilet at her partner's parents' home in Penarth, South Wales, where she had been celebrating Christmas.

Ms Jones, of Pontnewydd, Cwmbran, South Wales, told the inquest: "While I was still on the toilet, I flushed it, and I felt something pull.

"I stood up slightly, and I could see a foot in the bowl of the toilet."

Cardiff Coroner Mary Hassell asked Ms Jones if she realised she had given birth, but she replied: "No".

She said the baby was underneath the water covered in toilet paper, and that the sensation of pulling was the placenta being delivered.

Sobbing, Ms Jones said: "I could see the baby's foot, so I pulled the baby out.

"I sat by the toilet. I put him on my lap. He wasn't crying. I was trying to feel for a pulse and there was nothing."

When asked why she did not call for help, Ms Jones said: "Because nobody knew I was pregnant. Because he wasn't breathing, I just panicked.

"I didn't know what to do."

She said she tried to revive him by blowing into his mouth and massaging his heart.

"I just kept trying and trying, and it wasn't working," Ms Jones said. "There was nothing I could do. He was blue.

"I wrapped him in a towel. I don't remember how, but I must have put him in the boot of the car."

Daniel's body was found in his mother's Vauxhall Astra at the home she shared with Mr Stoneman in St Mellons, Cardiff, after she was arrested 10 days later.

A post-mortem examination could not confirm if Daniel, who weighed seven-and-a-half pounds, died before or after birth.

Pathologist Andrew Davison said if Daniel did survive birth, it was likely he drowned.

Ms Jones said she "blocked out" what happened, and did not remember Daniel was in her car until police arrested her.

She said: "I wish I had done something more, but I just panicked. I miss him every day."

Ms Jones said she planned to leave Mr Stoneman, and that she and Mr Bezerra, who was aware of the pregnancy, bought items for the baby in preparation for his birth.

Asked why she did not leave Mr Stoneman before the baby was due, she replied: "Things had got in such a mess with the two relationships. I didn't want to hurt anybody. I just messed everything up."

Ms Jones was sentenced to 48 weeks' imprisonment, suspended for two years, at Cardiff Crown Court in August after admitting concealing Daniel's birth.