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Delivery driver robbed of parcel in Surrey town

Delivery driver robbed of parcel in Surrey town

BBC News08-07-2025
A DPD delivery driver was robbed by two men while he was working, Surrey Police said. The force said the pair threatened the driver and took a parcel he was delivering on Hildenley Close in Merstham on 5 July at around 10:35 BST. Officers described both men as Black, with one wearing a grey Nike tracksuit and the other a black Nike tracksuit. One suspect was tall and had long hair coming out of his hood and was wearing a blue surgical mask, they added.
Both men fled in the direction of Radstock Way, according to Surrey Police. The force urged any witnesses or anyone with information to get in contact.
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There's a royal reason Trump won't escape Jeffrey Epstein fallout on trip to his Scotland golf courses — Prince Andrew
There's a royal reason Trump won't escape Jeffrey Epstein fallout on trip to his Scotland golf courses — Prince Andrew

The Independent

time16 minutes ago

  • The Independent

There's a royal reason Trump won't escape Jeffrey Epstein fallout on trip to his Scotland golf courses — Prince Andrew

The Republican-led House of Representatives shut down early for its summer break to avoid Jeffrey Epstein motions. The Senate GOP has been in see-no-evil mode the past week over the controversy swirling around the seemingly vanished 'client list' of the high-flying financier and convicted pedophile who once palled around with Donald Trump and Bill Clinton among many other power players. So it makes perfect sense that President Trump is hoping for five days away from the Epstein fallout firestorm that has landed him in hot water not just with Democrats but his own MAGA base over the Justice Department's stonewalling on the release of all the Epstein files, as Trump and AG Pam Bondi had promised. Well, Scotland may not be far enough for that. Sure, Trump will meet with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer early next week, but the vast majority of his known itinerary consists of visits to his Scottish golf resorts. One, Trump Turnberry and the other Trump International in Aberdeen, where he is set to open a brand new course that will be named for his late mother, Mary Anne McLeod Trump, who was born in Scotland. And that's the problem for Trump, thanks to a particular member of the Royal family who happens to be a golf-loving frequenter of his courses, is Scotland's Earl of Inverness — and who also happens to be tainted by his past close friendship with Jeffrey Epstein... Prince Andrew. Trump Turnberry, in fact, still boasts of its visits from Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, who was forced to stand down from royal duties in 2020 over his links to Epstein. The former Royal Navy officer — currently eighth in line to the British throne — had a long and controversial relationship with with the late sex offender that predated Epstein's 2008 conviction for soliciting a teenage prostitute but also which continued long after the financier became a pariah in most respectable circles. Andrew's habit of staying at Epstein's residences during travel to the U.S. became fodder for controversy even as the royal claimed there was nothing untoward about the relationship and has vehemently denied any wrongdoing. But the whispers and rumors took on a more urgent character after Andrew became the defendant in a civil lawsuit brought by the late Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre, who alleged that the Duke once had sexual relations with her after she was trafficked to him as a minor by Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell. Although Buckingham Palace asserted in a 2015 statement that Giuffre's allegations — which included claims that she'd had sexual relations with the Duke on three separate occasions — were 'categorically untrue,' the Duke and Giuffre ended up settling the lawsuit, with no admission of liability, in February 2022, one month after Andrew's royal patronages and honorary military titles were revoked by his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II. Prince Andrew has always strongly denied the allegations leveled against him by Giuffre. Giuffre, perhaps the most outspoken survivor of Epstein's sexual abuse, died by suicide at the age of 41 in April. 'It is with utterly broken hearts that we announce that Virginia passed away last night at her farm in Western Australia,' Giuffre's family said in a statement to The Independent after she died. 'She lost her life to suicide, after being a lifelong victim of sexual abuse and sex trafficking.' Since then, Andrew has largely remained out of the spotlight with his reputation tarred by his association with the late sex offender. But that disgrace doesn't appear to bother Trump or his eponymous real estate and resort company, which as of this week still lists Andrew as one of the 'famous visitors' who have enjoyed the 'refined hospitality' at Trump Turnberry. His Aberdeenshire golf resort has even deeper connections to the prince, who played a major role in convincing Trump to build it in 2006, less than a decade before his entry onto the American political scene. According to Agence France-Presse, Andrew met with Trump at the his eponymous New York skyscraper in September of that year to cajole the developer into moving forward with the Aberdeen golf project. He later said the Prince was a 'great guy' who'd made a 'terrific impression' on him. 'He gave a presentation here to make sure I spend one billion pounds in your country, and that's what I'm going to be doing,' Trump added, according to the report. The relationship between the prince and the future president continued for the intervening decade, and when Trump visited Scotland during his second year in the White House, Andrew joined him for a round of golf at Turnberry — a round Trump later claimed to have won. The pair remained cordial enough that when President Trump visited the U.K. for a state visit in his first term in 2019, Andrew was his designated royal escort. The president's escape to his ancestral homeland comes as there continues to be bipartisan furor around Department of Justice records about Epstein, a one-time power-player financier and convicted pedophile who was arrested for alleged sex trafficking by federal authorities in 2019 and was found to have died by suicide in his jail cell while awaiting trial. The years-old prosecution has been a longtime fixation for many of Trump's MAGA supporters who believe they contain damaging information on prominent Democrats and other liberal celebrities. For years, the president's supporters have pushed for release of what they believe was a list of powerful people to whom Epstein is alleged to have trafficked young girls, as well as other information they believe would reflect negatively on members of the Democratic Party, various Hollywood celebrities, and other purported elites who they believe to be part of a sinister cabal controlling world events. Trump has winked and nodded at such beliefs and had indicated during his 2024 campaign that his administration would release the documents in question if he were victorious in last year's presidential election. But many of his most prominent supporters have been crying foul in recent weeks after the Department of Justice announced it would not be releasing the so-called Epstein Files. And Democrats are now joining the chorus of calls for transparency, citing Trump's likely presence in the documents on account of his long-term friendship with Epstein. Trump socialized with Epstein in the 1990s and early 2000s, but reportedly cut ties before Epstein pleaded guilty to state charges of soliciting prostitution from someone under the age of 18. While Trump has not been accused of any formal wrongdoing or charged with any crime, his proximity to Epstein, someone he once called a friend, has heightened conspiracy theories that the government is withholding documents that could reveal embarrassing information about high-profile individuals. Still, being named in the so-called Epstein list of contacts or case files is not an indication of any wrongdoing and Trump has denied having any knowledge of Epstein's crimes before he ended their friendship as has Bill Clinton. Trump has also sued the Wall Street Journal for defamation over its reporting that he sent a bawdy 50th birthday message to Epstein. Clinton, likewise, was reportedly one of many who sent messages to the financier on that occasion. On Thursday, Trump made yet another effort to dissuade his base from caring about the Epstein matter by lashing out on Truth Social, calling the entire affair a 'scam' and a 'hoax' and stating that he hopes the release of grand jury testimony about the late sex offender will quell the entire thing. But if the president is hoping to gain some distance from the scandal with some time on the links, he's gone to the wrong golf courses.

Heartache for Bayesian yacht victim Mike Lynch's family – estate faces bankruptcy after court demands it hand over £700M
Heartache for Bayesian yacht victim Mike Lynch's family – estate faces bankruptcy after court demands it hand over £700M

The Sun

time16 minutes ago

  • The Sun

Heartache for Bayesian yacht victim Mike Lynch's family – estate faces bankruptcy after court demands it hand over £700M

IT was a tragedy that claimed the lives of a ­billionaire father and his daughter, drowned in a storm at sea. British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch was out celebrating his acquittal from US fraud charges when his £38million yacht ­ Bayesian was knocked sideways by a sudden 80mph gust and started taking in water. 6 6 6 As the boat sank rapidly, his wife Angela Bacares was pulled to safety by a crew member — but Lynch, their 18-year-old daughter Hannah and five others on board never made it out. Now, as the one-year anniversary approaches next month, 58-year-old businesswoman Angela is facing a financial battle. There is the potential of court action by the families of the victims who died on the yacht — and earlier this week, the UK's High Court ruled that her husband's estate owes US tech giant Hewlett-Packard more than £700million relating to fraud claims. The case was brought six years ago by HP after they acquired his company Autonomy in 2011. The firm claimed Lynch and the former chief financial officer had fraudulently inflated its value. While Lynch was facing court action in America, HP was already chasing him through the civil courts in Britain — leading to this week's damages ruling. The High Court ruled that HP had paid a lot more than it would have done 'had Autonomy's true financial ­position been correctly presented' during the sale. If his estate — which goes to Angela and her remaining daughter Esme, 22 — ends up having to pay, it will almost certainly be bankrupted, ­leaving no inheritance for the family. It is believed Lynch shielded his wife's ­personal fortune from the messy court cases. She owned millions of pounds worth of shares held in her name in other family firms. I found doomed Bayesian I saw still haunts me And she made more than £15million from the sale of her shares when Autonomy was taken over. One pal told us: 'Mike wasn't ­perfect but he wasn't a ­criminal in any way, shape or form. He had asked various Cabinet ministers and Prime Ministers, including Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson, to help him. 'Rishi and Johnson were more interested in making post- Brexit trade deals than making any trouble on Mike's behalf. 'Rishi and Johnson were more interested in making post-Brexit trade deals than making any trouble on Mike's behalf. 'These cases hung over him for years and he ended up under house arrest in San Francisco unable to leave for months, facing charges that he was ­ultimately cleared of. 'He helped a lot of people make a lot of money but they assumed he was guilty as charged and then ran a ­million miles. 'He was abandoned by his peer group and by his government then, when he won his US case, everyone wanted to be his friend again. 'The irony is he had gone out on the Bayesian to celebrate the US court outcome. "It's been one tragedy after another for his family.' The latest damages ruling had been delayed until this week because of the ­circumstances surrounding the yachting ­disaster on August 19 last year. The judge expressed his 'sorrow at the devastating turn of events' at sea and offered ­'sympathy and deepest condolences'. 'STILL GRIEVING' He even said that he 'admired' Lynch, despite ruling against him. Insiders have told The Sun that the family want to appeal the High Court decision. Our source said: 'It's not just about money, it's about restoring Mike's ­reputation. "The family are considering their next move but we all know that appealing these sorts of decisions is lengthy and costly. "They are also still grieving their loss.' Lynch created software company Autonomy, which processed people's information and data, in 1996. He sold it to Hewlett-Packard for £8.6billion in 2011. The businessman reportedly netted around £500million from the deal before going on to set up tech ­investment firm Invoke ­Capital. Just a year after the mega-bucks deal, HP wrote down Autonomy's value by £6.5billion and brought a £4billion lawsuit against Lynch and ex-finance officer Sushovan Hussain. The allegations that they inflated the value of the company were ­investigated by the UK Serious Fraud Office too, who found 'insufficient evidence' of wrongdoing — but some aspects of the case were then handed over to US authorities. In 2018, Lynch and Autonomy's ­former vice-president of finance Stephen Chamberlain were charged with fraud in the US and accused of making false and misleading ­statements about their company. But both were acquitted following a sensational three-month trial in San Francisco, where Lynch had been extradited to in 2023. If Lynch had been found guilty, he would have faced up to 25 years in prison. 6 He told reporters last year that given his poor health, he would have almost certainly died in jail. The pair were still celebrating their win when Chamberlain, 52, died after being hit by a car while out ­running near his home in Cambridgeshire. Two days later, the Bayesian sank off the coast of Sicily, claiming the lives of Lynch, Hannah, the vessel's cook Recaldo Thomas, high-profile US lawyer Chris Morvillo, his wife Neda and British banking couple Jonathan and Judy Bloomer. As part of a criminal investigation by Italian authorities, the yacht was raised from the sea bed last month. That inquiry may not conclude until 2027, bringing more heartache for the Lynch family. James Healy-Pratt, a US lawyer representing the family of chef Recaldo, said they would push for compensation from Angela, the crew and yacht management ­company Camper & Nicholsons. As one of the country's most ­successful entrepreneurs, Lynch had a life of luxury, enjoying exotic holidays and a £6milliion country mansion in Suffolk, which boasts 2,500 acres. The close family are said to have loved spending time at home, breeding rare livestock, including Suffolk sheep and Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs, which roamed free in the estate's woodland. But the businessman came from humble beginnings. Born to Irish parents — a ­firefighter father and nurse mother — Lynch won a scholarship to a private school in Essex. Mike worked hard but was very much a family man and wanted to make life as normal for his ­children as it could be, given the extreme wealth Andrew Kanter He went on to gain a PhD in mathematical computing from ­ Cambridge University. A friend said: 'He really was a genius. "He was just a brilliant mathematician and his life transformed as he built companies. 'He was a very early advocate of artificial intelligence — the very field in which we need expertise in this country.' Long-time friend Andrew Kanter, who was a pallbearer at Lynch's funeral, said: 'He was never ­happier than when someone asked to see the pigs on his estate. 'Mike worked hard but was very much a family man and wanted to make life as normal for his ­children as it could be, given the extreme wealth. 'He never let his legal issues get in the way and did everything to make sure his kids grew up untroubled by whatever the world lay at his feet.' 'I truly believe that Mike would have looked at the UK ruling as a good day. "Although the numbers are crazy, even the judge has found that Hewlett-Packard had overstated its claim. 'Mike would have continued to fight this. "He always argued that a law that allows America to extradite British ­citizens and not have a return agreement was really flawed. 'It's been the case for 15 years and he was going to have that fight too. 'The legal issues weighed heavily on him but he never let it affect his ­family. 'I never saw him sitting around self-pitying. He wanted to clear his name. 'The loss of Mike is an ­incalculable loss for technology. 'He was utterly devoted to its growth in Britain.' 6 6

Prosecutions of people smugglers tumble under Starmer
Prosecutions of people smugglers tumble under Starmer

Telegraph

time16 minutes ago

  • Telegraph

Prosecutions of people smugglers tumble under Starmer

Only 150 people smugglers have been prosecuted in the past year despite Sir Keir Starmer's pledge to smash the gangs, figures obtained by the Conservatives show. Some 153 prosecutions were brought for the most serious people-smuggling offence of assisting illegal immigration, a crime that carries a maximum life sentence. Overall, 446 individuals were charged with an immigration offence between July 2024 and June 2025, only 1 per cent of the 43,309 who crossed in small boats during that time. The Tories claimed the prosecutions were the lowest on record apart from a year during the Covid-19 pandemic. They said prosecutions under section 25 of the Immigration Act 1971 had fluctuated between a low of 274 in 2019-20 and a high of 471 in 2023. However, Labour said the Tories had miscounted. Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, said: 'Keir Starmer boasted he would smash the gangs, but the gangs are laughing at him. ' They've never had it easier and crossings are up 50 per cent as a result. We're now heading towards being the illegal immigration capital of Europe. 'It's clear Starmer is incapable of stopping the boats and his backbenchers don't want him to. The country cannot go on like this - the situation in the Channel is a national security emergency. 'Those that arrive illegally from the safety of France must be swiftly deported so the message is clear: if you break into Britain, you will not get a life here.' A Labour spokesman said: 'Robert Jenrick can reinvent himself as many times as he likes, but he cannot rewrite history. With Labour in office, more people were charged with assisting unlawful immigration in our first year in government than in the entire time that Jenrick was in charge of the Immigration System. Indeed, we charged more people with that offence in our first three months than he managed in his last six. 'But much more important than Robert Jenrick's failures in the past are the ones he is making now, and we don't just mean screwing up this attempted attack story against Labour. 'If he was truly serious about prosecuting dangerous people smugglers, he would not have voted against our new law to criminalise people who endanger the lives of others in the Channel, and would instead be supporting us to take that action against those who cause women and children to suffocate and drown on overcrowded small boats,' they added.

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