Harrowing scenes as woman's body is found floating down Currumbin Creek on the Gold Coast - as police probe her mysterious death
Emergency services were called to Currumbin Creek near Whitsunday Drive at Currumbin Waters at about 2.50pm on Wednesday following the grim discovery by a shocked resident.
It's understood the fully clothed body may have been in the water for several days.
Police divers retrieved the woman's body from the water as detectives launched an investigation and door-knocked residents.
The resident who made the distressing discovery told neighbours that the woman appeared to be Asian and was wearing a child-sized life vest tied at the front with rope.
'It didn't look like a normal life vest,' a local told the Gold Coast Bulletin.
A backpack was also found nearby.
Police say it will some time to identify the woman and determine her cause of death.
It's understood the fully clothed body had been in the water for several days
Anyone with information is urged to call Crime Stoppers.
Currumbin Creek is a popular swimming spot on the Gold Coast.
The latest incident comes after two other bodies were found at Tallebudgera Creek and Palm Beach 24 hours apart on the weekend.
Both deaths have been ruled as non-suspicious.
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Daily Mail
33 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Finally a crackdown on West End's brazen shoplifters: Moment prolific thieves are caught stealing £9k of clothes and £1.3k of board games in lawless London crime hotspot
Prolific thieves have targeted London 's lawless West End as shoplifters have been caught stealing thousands of pounds worth of goods, including designer clothes, iPhones and board games. Over the past week in the West End, a board game thief was caught 10 minutes after stealing as part of a £1,300 crime spree, while a masked gang was cuffed moments after stealing £100,000 of Apple products from a phone shop. And a rampant thief who stole £9,000 from stores in Covent Garden throughout February and March was caught by bobbies on the beat last month. The crisis has seemed to reach boiling point in the West End as the Metropolitan Police has been forced to take action in a bid to contain the shameless thefts. In a crackdown on shoplifting, the number of officers policing the district will increase by more than 50 per cent following a spate of brazen thefts. Knife crime and theft is at record levels in the city – and the force has faced accusations of failing to take the challenge seriously or to be tackling it head on, all while trying to manage with an ever–shrinking budget. Prolific board game thief Omar Innis, 32, was spotted by West End district coppers carrying a large number of board games and toys on July 25. Officers had been speaking to shop owners in the area, who had informed them that board game thefts had been on the rise. Innis was 'acting suspiciously', the Met said – and it emerged he had stolen the games just 10 minutes before. In fact, it was the seventh time he had struck in a month and a half, nicking £1,300 of goods in total from the same shop in Covent Garden. The Camden man is now behind bars after pleading guilty to thefts and receiving a 26–week jail sentence. Similarly, a group of men who allegedly stormed an O2 phone shop on Tottenham Court Road and made off with £100,000 of Apple products were cornered minutes later in Cranleigh Street, just under a mile away. Three men aged 25, 24 and 18 who were suspected of entering the store in balaclavas on July 24 and 7.17pm and making off with goods. Police bodycam footage shows one man getting arrested on a nearby street as he his told he 'matches a description of males who have gone into an O2 store and stolen some phones'. Officers found around 100 iPhones and a number of Apple Watches in a car, along with a large machete. The men were arrested on suspicion of aggravated burglary and remain in custody today. In the West End's shopping hub, Covent Garden, a rampant clothes thief was arrested in June after spending two months stealing £9,000 worth of high-end clothes. Officers happened upon Zenith Lawrence, 33, a stone's throw away in Phoenix Gardens, after he spent February and March pillaging a number of stores. Already wanted for recall to prison, he was caught on camera wrenching clothes from rails and helping himself to jackets off the hangar. Footage showed him downed on the ground beside a Lime bike after trying to flee from cops. He was wearing stolen clothes. The arresting officer can be heard asking him: 'Why did you try to run?' His colleague notes: 'Mate, this is from the dancewear store from round the corner. 'Are you a little dancer?' Lawrence was jailed for 28 days, fined, and banned from entering Westminster for three years. Since the pandemic, the Russia Ukraine conflict and soaring inflation, theft has soared in the UK, recently hitting the highest level ever seen. Shoplifting has become an increasing nightmare for High Street shops, with only a tiny minority of offenders ever charged, as 530,643 offences were recorded in England and Wales in the year to March 2025 - the highest figure since records begun and up from 444,022 in the previous year. The crisis is most acute in London, where the capital has recorded a shocking 50 per cent boom in shoplifting, up from 53,202 in 2023 to 80,041 last year. Norman Brennan, a former police detective in London, said earlier this year that terrified shop staff had been left helpless to prevent crooks from brazenly ransacking their businesses. The 65-year-old - who spent 31 years as a cop and was once stabbed in the chest by an armed burglar - said crippling cuts to policing, which have seen thousands of officers lost in recent years, had left forces stretched too thinly. Problems reached a peak in August 2023 when West End stores were forced to lower their shutters and lock customers inside after large groups of mainly young men and teenagers responded to a call on TikTok to join an 'Oxford Circus JD robbery'. But the biggest issue in recent months has become phone snatching after 80,000 smartphones were reported stolen in London last year at a cost of £50million. In all, the Met has deployed 170 officers in areas of the capital worst for crime, including up to 80 in the West End, where shoplifters, phone thieves and so–called 'Rolex rippers' regularly target the rich and tourists. The crisis is illustrated by sickening CCTV revealing thieves casually walking out of stores with armfuls of high-value goods. Footage from a Waitrose store in London 's Notting Hill earlier this month showed two men leaving with a stash of steak and salmon while staff watched on - forbidden from doing anything due to company policy. While, a Boots store on Baker Street was targeted by a man, who did not attempt to cover his face as he emptied shelves' worth of goods into an M&S Food bag. This happens two or three times a week, according to staff. Many of the shoplifters appear to have no fear of the staff, or of the cameras. In January, a gang of at least of eight hooded youths raided an Apple store in north London in a shocking daytime heist one Sunday afternoon. A sea of shoppers, including parents with young children, could be seen dramatically fleeing the store as the mob ripped out expensive devices around them in a raid that took just 24 seconds. Last year another pair of thieves were filmed calmly clearing the shelves in a north London Boots store just 200 yards from Chingford Police Station. The men carried on impassively as a woman dialled 999 within earshot and pleaded for a police response, before both sauntered out. And in May last year a suspected shoplifter was dragged into the storeroom at a Sainsbury's in east London where staff appeared to give him a kicking. But elsewhere, shops have been fighting back, with two brave security guards seen grappling with a shoplifter trying to steal bottles of fizzy drink from a Greggs in nearby Hammersmith. As part of the Met's clampdown, another 90 officers will be based in Brixton, Kingston, Ealing, Finsbury Park, Southwark and Spitalfields. And the legendary Flying Squad – the elite unit specialising in tackling armed robbery and other serious violent crime – is being supplied with another 50 officers with extra cash from City Hall and the Home Office. The Met's move has been welcomed by Ros Morgan, chief executive of the Heart of London Business Alliance representing central London traders, and the boss of Boots. 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The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan (pictured), blamed previous governments for the Met's dwindling budget – despite the fact the most recent budget allocation was decided under Sir Keir Starmer It is losing 1,700 number of officers and staff and its budget is smaller in real terms than in previous years. Dedicated Royal Parks and schools policing roles have been scrapped, with officers being absorbed into local policing teams. But it says this means it can put more officers on the beat. The Met also says it will use more live facial recognition to recognise individuals with existing warrants for arrest – a move that will likely prompt an outcry from civil liberties groups who are already opposed to what they say is an encroachment on human rights, including the right privacy. The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, blamed previous governments for the Met's dwindling budget – despite the fact the most recent budget allocation was decided under Sir Keir Starmer. He said: 'Despite years of austerity by the previous government, this is the latest example of the Met Police and I prioritising what Londoners want and delivering on our pledge to put high visibility policing at the heart of fighting crime and rebuilding community confidence and trust.'
Daily Mail
35 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
'We are bloodied and we are bruised' Police chief praises officers who put themselves in 'harm's way' during brutal Manchester Airport brawl and thanks public for their support - as student, 20, is convicted of assault
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'They deserve support in that work from the public and politicians. 'The distressing scenes we have seen during this trial show some of the worst side of police work that our officers are faced with. We are bloodied and we are bruised.' Following the incident PC Zachary Marsden was suspended and investigated by police watchdog the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC). After a delay of 150 days the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) announced last December that he would not face any charges, while Amaaz and his brother Muhammad Amaad, 26, would both stand trial. The jury had been shown graphic footage of red-headed PC Ward sobbing and bleeding after being caught by a left hook from Amaaz. Jurors also found him guilty of assault by beating against holidaymaker Abdulkareem Ismaeil. The case gained national attention after shocking footage of PC Marsden kicking a teenage suspect in the head as he lay prone on the ground was viewed millions of times The police officers had been attempting to arrest him for headbutting the Kuwaiti minutes earlier. Amaaz had accused him of racially abusing his mother on an incoming flight. However, jurors at Liverpool Crown Court could not reach verdicts on either Amaaz or Amaad for assault causing actual bodily harm against PC Marsden. Both brothers denied all the charges, arguing that they were acting in self-defence or the defence of one another. The CPS will now seek a retrial of the brothers - both from Rochdale - in relation to the allegations that they assaulted PC Marsden. And while Amaaz now faces a possible prison sentence, PC Marsden could also still face criminal charges. Although no longer suspended, he remains under investigation by the IOPC, which has been monitoring the trial. It could still refer him back to the CPS to consider pressing charges, jurors were told. A second male Greater Manchester Police officer - who along with PC Marsden confronted bystanders filming the brawl - also remains under investigation. The violence erupted at 8.28pm on July 23 last year as officers responded to reports of Amaaz headbutting Mr Ismaeil at a Starbucks cafe in the Terminal 2 arrivals area minutes earlier. PC Marsden and his female colleagues caught up with Amaaz, then 19, as he and his brother were paying for parking, accompanied by their mother and six-year-old nephew. Giving evidence, PC Marsden told jurors that based on the violence of the headbutt they decided to get 'immediate control' of the teenager and take him in for questioning. Instead, shocking footage shown to the jury from multiple angles including police bodycams showed how Amaaz resisted arrest. In court, PC Marsden said he had thrown a pre-emptive punch, fearing heavily-built Amaad was trying to grab his loaded Glock 17 semi-automatic pistol from its holster. Amaaz - who threw ten punches in the melee - hit and elbowed PCs Cook and Ward before tackling PC Marsden, who had managed to fire his 50,000 volt Taser at Amaad. In the flurry of violence PC Cook then managed to Taser Amaaz, who fell to the floor and was kicked by PC Marsden, whose glasses had been knocked off in the melee. Asked about the kick, PC Marsden said he was attempting to 'stun' Amaaz, not immediately realising in the confusion that he had been tasered. PC Marsden said he used the 'soft, laced' part of his boot - adding that he 'strongly disputed' that there was any element of anger or 'retaliation'. He also aimed a stamp next to Amaaz's head - telling the court he had been trying to 'clamp' the wire of his police radio, which was hanging loose. Throughout the altercation, bystanders simply filmed it on their mobile phones, PC Marsden said, describing the watching crowd as 'hostile'. Back-up officers then arrived at the scene shouting 'You f****** move, I'll smash your f****** face in' and handcuffed both brothers before they were hauled off for questioning. Neither made any comment when they were interviewed the following day. Prosecutors had urged jurors to 'trust their eyes and ears' over the multiple angles of footage and police officers' testimony they had seen and heard. All three officers acted in a 'professional' manner throughout, they argued, saying claims by the brothers' defence that the police trio had been 'out of control' was 'false'. Neither brother has been in trouble with the police before, and six members of the family - including older brother Abid - are current or former officers with Greater Manchester Police. A former assistant manager at KFC, Amaad himself twice applied unsuccessfully to join the force - including a 999 dispatch role just three months before the airport incident. Younger brother Amaaz, meanwhile, has since begun studying sport marketing and management at Manchester Metropolitan University. In court, their defence teams highlighted how the officers did not announce themselves or say why they were attempting to arrest Amaaz. Asked why he resisted arrest, Amaaz said he hadn't initially realised PC Marsden was a policeman - despite his uniform and cap marked 'police' - and was 'scared'. As jurors delivered their verdicts after deliberating for ten hours, the public gallery was packed with supporters of the brothers, who stood side by side in the glass-walled dock. Four uniformed police officers were stationed inside the courtroom but there was no reaction from their supporters. The 11-strong jury unanimously found Amaaz guilty of ABH against PC Ward and common assault against Mr Ismaeil. They convicted him of assault by beating against PC Cook by a majority of ten to one. However, they could not reach verdicts on allegations that either brother had assaulted PC Marsden causing actual bodily harm. Amaaz - who did not react as the jury delivered their verdicts - was remanded in custody ahead of a bail application on Thursday. Afterwards Aamer Anwar, solicitor for the brothers, said: 'As proceedings are still live it would be inappropriate to comment further.'
Daily Mail
35 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Man charged with murder for brutal killing of Arizona dancer who planned to testify against him
A man has been charged with the brutal murder of an Arizona dancer who planned to testify against him. Mercedes Vega, 22, was found tortured in the back of a flaming Chevrolet Malibu off a highway around 50 miles west of Phoenix in April 2023. Her battered body was found the day she was set to testify against Cudjoe Young, the man accused of robbing her at gunpoint in 2020 and who has now been indicted on multiple charges related to Vega's death. Young faces charges of armed robbery, arson of an occupied structure, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, first-degree murder, kidnapping and theft of transportation. He was one of three people indicted on charges for the young dancer's brutal killing, including Sencere Hayes, 22, and a third redacted name who both face the same charges. Hayes and the unnamed person were also charged with hindering prosecution in the first degree, azcentral reported. Hayes was arrested on November 11, 2024, in Tennessee, after his fingerprint was found on a bloody grocery bag that had been left in the car with Vega, court documents obtained by azcentral said. He pleaded not guilty. Her battered body was found the day she was set to testify against Cudjoe Young (pictured), the man accused of robbing her at gunpoint in 2020 and who has now been indicted on multiple charges related to Vega's death Vega had been abducted from her apartment in Tempe on April 16, 2023, before she was brutally beaten and shot. She then had bleach poured down her throat and was left in the back of the Malibu that had been set alight, according to court documents. Now, investigators believe Vega's murder was part of a plot to prevent her from testifying against Young after she identified him as the gunman in the 2020 robbery. Young faced charges of following Vega home from the strip club she worked at, Le Girls. Several other dancers at the club had also been violently robbed around the same time. He had allegedly followed her home and sprinted toward her in her building's parking garage, demanding her belongings. 'He shoved her to the ground, told her he'd kill her and held the gun to her face,' Vega's mother Erika told NBC News. Young allegedly stole everything she had on her and fled from the scene, but he was later identified by Vega as the man who robbed her. Yet, Young posted his $50,000 bond and was set free. Now, investigators believe Vega's murder was part of a plot to prevent her from testifying against Young after she identified him as the gunman in the 2020 robbery Vega had moved to a Tempe apartment complex she believed would be safer after she was attacked. Following the incident, Vega was easily startled, her mother said. 'You couldn't walk up behind her without her jumping,' she added. The garage of this building was the last place she was seen alive before she was kidnapped and murdered. Vega vanished after telling friends she was headed to work. 'Uber is $60,' Vega wrote to her friend and co-worker Jelena Gamboa that night, as they were supposed to get together. 'I might just go to work then. I feel like it's a sign I shouldn't go.' Security cameras caught the moment her car, followed by the Chevrolet Malibu she was found in, both exited the garage. Her disappearance sparked a frantic manhunt, but she was found dead a day after she disappeared. Several other women who worked at Le Girls (pictured) had allegedly been stalked and robbed by a masked assailant A third man, Jared Gray, 25, was also arrested in June in connection to Vega's death after his fingerprint was found on the bottom of a plastic cup inside the Malibu where Vega's body was found, the outlet reported. Hayes and Gray were found to have flown to Phoenix on March 3, 2023, using tickets bought with a credit card whose owner had given Young permission to use, court filings stated. Young was also said to have paid two people to pick up the Malibu Vega's body was found in, according to the filing. A man whose phone pinged near the location of Vega's body also told investigators that Young had asked him to 'pick up a package' that same night. He said he had been given a vehicle and a location, and picked up two men to drive them back to the Phoenix area, the outlet reported. Hayes and Gray took a Greyhound bus back to Tennessee together on April 18, 2023. According to court records obtained by azcentral, Young and Hayes were being held at Maricopa County jail on a $2 million cash bond.
