Fox cub found choking to death in Basildon school football net
Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
38 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Greater Manchester police investigating over 1,000 grooming gang suspects
Greater Manchester police are investigating more than 1,000 grooming gang suspects, as a new report found the force was 'trying to provide a better service to those who have experienced sexual exploitation'. The force has made 'significant improvements' in how it investigates grooming gangs and other types of child sexual abuse offences, according to the report by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services. The report looks at the way grooming gangs and other child sexual offences are handled by the police, health bodies and the 10 councils across Greater Manchester. It said police had live investigations into 'multi-victim, multi-offender' child sexual exploitation cases involving 714 victims and survivors and 1,099 suspects. 'We found that since 2019, when Greater Manchester police started to review its non-recent child sexual exploitation investigations, the force has improved its understanding and approach to investigating allegations of child criminal and sexual exploitation,' the inspector of constabulary for the northern region, Michelle Skeer, said. 'It is clear that the force has, for many years, been trying to provide a better service to those who have or may have experienced sexual exploitation. 'But for some, trust and confidence in the police had been lost, and the force would not be able to rectify their experiences. 'It is vital that improvements are led by victims' experiences, and if they do come forward, they are supported, protected and taken seriously.' At a press conference, GMP's chief constable, Sir Stephen Watson, said those who had failed victims in the past 'should face justice like anyone else'. He continued: 'To those who are responsible for these repugnant crimes – as is now very apparent – we will pursue you relentlessly.' The chief constable said the role ethnicity played in grooming gang offending was a 'legitimate question' and may be explored in a future national inquiry. A recent report by Louise Casey found that Asian men were significantly over-represented as suspects in grooming gangs in Greater Manchester, saying authorities were in 'denial', and that more needed to be done to understand why this was the case. GMP is the only force in the country to set up a dedicated team to investigate grooming gangs, which it did in 2021, now called the child sexual exploitation major investigation team (CSE MIT), with about 100 staff and a ringfenced budget. The force approaches child sexual exploitation as it does serious and organised crime gangs, using specialist tactics. The report identified improvements that could be made in order to better address the issue and progress investigations. These included data sharing, with local councils sometimes not willing to provide detectives with information, leading to 'significant delays in investigations'. The report said intelligence provided by Manchester city council took months to arrive and 'was so heavily redacted that some pages contained only a few words'. So far the CSE MIT and the earlier grooming gang investigations have resulted in 42 convictions, with offenders imprisoned for a total of more than 430 years. Other investigations are ongoing, with several more trials scheduled. In a statement, Greater Manchester's mayor, Andy Burnham, said: 'I am confident in my view that the Greater Manchester system is in a demonstrably different and far stronger place today than it was when the failings happened.' He added: 'The effect of the assurance review I commissioned has been to usher in widespread culture change across all GM bodies. Never again will any child here be labelled or dismissed when they come forward to report concerns. 'Now the national inquiry is being put in place, we must allow victims the space and the right climate to have their voices heard, allow the actual truth to be established and accountability delivered.'
The Independent
3 hours ago
- The Independent
Migrant policies ‘creating more barriers to child safety', says charity
Conditions at the UK-France border are becoming 'more dangerous' for young people, a charity has warned, after it was revealed that at least 15 children died trying to cross the Channel last year. Young children hide under tables when they think they hear the sound of sirens because they are commonly scared of the police, according to organisation Project Play, who raised concerns of teargas and evictions. Advocacy coordinator Kate O'Neill, based in northern France, told the PA news agency there has been a rise in police violence which is disproportionately harming children. She said: 'Ultimately the children we're meeting every day are not safe. 'They're exposed to a level of violence, whether it's they are directly victims of it or the witness. 'We're ultimately at all times putting out fires… the underlying issue is these policies of border securitisation… that are creating more and more barriers to child safety and child protection.' She said there was hope when the Labour Government took office a year ago that there would be some improvement, adding: 'This is not at all what we've seen. 'They continued to make conditions more difficult and more dangerous.' She said: 'The smash-the-gangs narrative is not effective and it's harmful because ultimately the only way to put the gangs out of business is to cut the need for them.' It comes as the grassroots organisation published a report that said at least 15 children died trying to cross the English Channel last year, more than the total of the past four years combined. The charity that offers play services, parental support and safeguarding casework to children aged 0-18 living in sites around Calais and Dunkirk, documented rising violence, trauma and child deaths linked with UK border policies and funding to the French to ramp up enforcement in 2024. In February this year, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper agreed to re-purpose £7 million of cash to French counterparts to bolster enforcement action on the nation's coastline to tackle Channel crossings. 'What we really need to see is some cross-border accountability for the incidents and the fatalities in the Channel,' Ms O'Neill said. The campaigner said one of the main calls as a result of the group's research is for an official source of the number of deaths and information on these deaths to be recorded. Figures for the report came from International Organisation for Migration, Calais Migrant Solidarity and other networks in northern France. 'We don't have the identities of all of them. 'In fact, these deaths are going unrecorded and unreported,' she said. One in five crossing the English Channel between 2018 and 2024 were children, according to Project Play. Meanwhile, Ms O'Neill said tactics for French police to intervene in crossing attempts in shallow waters is already happening despite the changes needed to the rules to allow this having not yet come into force. She said: 'This is not a new tactic… it's something that has been happening for a long time in Calais and surrounding areas. 'My feeling is that this is increasing based on the number of testimonies we're receiving from children and their families recently.' 'It's really dangerous because the children often are in the middle of the boats.' But on Friday, Ms Cooper said intervention in French waters was 'critical'. 'That's one of the big things that has changed, the way in which the boats operate in shallow waters,' she said. 'We have to have the action on those because that's that is where the prevention needs to take place.' Ms Cooper also pressed the case for introducing the new criminal offence of endangering life at sea under the Government's Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, after seeing 'awful cases' of children being crushed to death in the middle of overcrowded boats. Project Play worked with more than 1,000 children in 2024, and believes in the last few weeks there have been a 'very large amount' of children they worked with who were born and went to school in a European country, such as Germany, Denmark and Sweden. Ms O'Neill said families' visas granted five or 10 years ago in other European countries for refuge have since expired and they have not been allowed to stay, which she said is behind the increase in crossings to the UK. She said since Brexit meant the UK left the Dublin regulation, the country is a 'viable option'. The European Union law set out that the first EU country an asylum seeker entered was responsible for processing their claim, and the UK can no longer send asylum seekers back to other member states since leaving the bloc. Ms O'Neill said: 'Most people we're speaking to, that is why they're going. 'They're not going to claim benefits from the UK or to do anything for free, but it's the next nearest safe place they can be. 'This needs to be addressed… as a European-wide issue instead of just a UK-France thing.' A Home Office spokesperson said: 'We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security. 'Through international intelligence sharing under our Border Security Command, enhanced enforcement operations in Northern France and tougher legislation in the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, we are strengthening international partnerships and boosting our ability to identify, disrupt, and dismantle criminal gangs.'
Sky News
3 hours ago
- Sky News
Met Police release footage as more than 1,000 arrests made using live facial recognition technology
More than 1,000 criminals, including a paedophile found with a six-year-old girl, have been arrested by the Metropolitan Police using live facial recognition (LFR) cameras. David Cheneler, 73, was among 93 registered sex offenders held by Met officers using the controversial technology since the start of last year. He was discovered with the girl after he was identified by a camera on a police van in Camberwell, south London, in January. Cheneler, from Lewisham, was jailed for two years in May after admitting breaching his sexual harm prevention order by being with a child under the age of 14. The Met said a total of 1,035 arrests have been made using live facial recognition technology - where live footage is recorded of people as they walk past, capturing their faces, which are then compared against a database of wanted offenders. If a match is determined, the system creates an alert which is assessed by an officer, who may decide to speak to the person. They include more than 100 people alleged to have been involved in serious violence against women and girls (VAWG) offences such as strangulation, stalking, domestic abuse, and rape. Image: Adenola Akindutire admitted charges including robbery. Pic: Met Police Adenola Akindutire was stopped during an operation in Stratford and arrested over the machete robbery of a Rolex watch, which left the victim with life-changing injuries after the attack in Hayes, west London. Police said the 22-year-old, who was linked to a similar incident and had been released on bail, was in possession of a false passport and could have evaded arrest if it wasn't for the technology. Akindutire, of no fixed address, admitted charges including robbery, attempted robbery, grievous bodily harm, possession of a false identity document and two counts of possession of a bladed article and faces sentencing at Isleworth Crown Court. Image: Darren Dubarry was stopped on his bike. Pic: Met Police Image: Dubarry was caught with stolen designer clothes. Pic: Met Police Darren Dubarry, 50, was already wanted for theft when he was caught with stolen designer clothing in Dalston, east London, after riding past an LFR camera on his bike. The 50-year-old, from Stratford, east London, was fined after pleading guilty to handling stolen goods. Lindsey Chiswick, the Met's LFR lead, hailed the 1,000 arrest milestone as "a demonstration of how cutting-edge technology can make London safer by removing dangerous offenders from our streets". "Live Facial Recognition is a powerful tool, which is helping us deliver justice for victims, including those who have been subjected to horrendous offences, such as rape and serious assault," she said. "It is not only saving our officers' valuable time but delivering faster, more accurate results to catch criminals - helping us be more efficient than ever before." The Met say "robust safeguards" are in place, which ensure no biometric data is retained from anyone who walks past an LFR camera who isn't wanted by police. Almost 2 million faces scanned But human rights group Liberty is calling for new laws to be introduced to govern how police forces use the technology after Liberty Investigates found almost 1.9 million faces were scanned by the Met between January 2022 and March this year. Read more from Sky News: Leaseholders to get stronger rights, powers and protections PM told to 'use Rayner - people like her' Charlie Whelton, Liberty policy and campaigns officer, said: "We all want to feel safe in our communities, but technology is advancing quickly, and we need to make sure that our laws keep up. "Any tech which has the potential to infringe on our rights in the way scanning and identifying millions of people does needs to have robust safeguards around its use to protect us all from abuse of power as we go about our daily lives. "There is currently no overarching law governing police use of facial recognition in the UK, and we shouldn't leave police forces to come up with these frameworks on their own. "Almost two million faces have been scanned in London before Parliament has even decided what the laws should be. "We need to catch up with other countries, and the law needs to catch up with the use. Parliament must legislate now and ensure that safeguards are in place to protect people's rights where the police use this technology."
