Leeds knife robber who targeted women in Hyde Park jailed
West Yorkshire Police said Smyth was arrested on 16 May last year following a number of reported robberies against women in the Hyde Park area of Leeds. The victims had reported being threatened at knifepoint.The defendant had been released from prison the previous month on temporary licence but had failed to return as per his conditions, the force added.After police officers tried to obtain CCTV footage of the suspect, Smyth, of no fixed abode, was spotted and recognised by a PCSO on his way to work. A knife seized from him was forensically linked to an aggravated burglary in Woodhouse, where a male victim had been stabbed in the face.Det Con Justin Booth said: "Smyth subjected his victims to terrifying ordeals and it is right that he is back behind bars."Thanks to the quick thinking of a PCSO who recognised Smyth's face we were able to quickly arrest and apprehend him, taking a violent offender off the streets."
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Sky News
33 minutes ago
- Sky News
Police warn of mass arrests if Palestine Action protest goes ahead
Police are warning of mass arrests if a protest in support of the banned group Palestine Action goes ahead on Saturday. Hundreds of people are expected to turn out for the demonstration, which is understood to be planned for London. However, the Metropolitan Police said "anyone showing support for the group can expect to be arrested." "We are aware that the organisers of Saturday's planned protest are encouraging hundreds of people to turn out with the intention of placing a strain on the police and the wider criminal justice system," said a spokesperson. The organisers, a pressure group called Defend Our Juries, denied their protest will try to overwhelm the police and justice system. "If we are allowed to protest peacefully and freely, then that is no bother to anyone," said the group in a statement. 1:29 Palestine Action was banned under terrorism laws after two aircraft were damaged at RAF Brize Norton on 20 June. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the vandalism of the planes was "disgraceful" and accused the group of a "long history of unacceptable criminal damage". The ban means membership of, or support for, Palestine Action is a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison. More than 200 people supporting the group were arrested at Defend Our Juries protests across the UK last month, many of whom held placards with the message: "I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action." Downing Street has urged people not to attend this weekend's protest. It comes after around 40 people gathered outside Labour HQ on Monday to protest the party's stance on Gaza. They were watched by a small group of police officers as they chanted phrases including: "Shame on Keir Starmer, shame on the Labour Party, shame on David Lammy." Separately, the Board of Deputies of British Jews has also confirmed it will protest this weekend, with community organisations marching through central London to Downing Street on Sunday. They are calling for the government not to recognise the state of Palestine without all hostages taken by Hamas being released. Last week, Sir Keir Starmer said he planned to recognise Palestine by the UN General Assembly meeting in September, unless Israel met certain conditions including agreeing a ceasefire and improving the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Daily Mail
37 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
'Government needs to get a grip': Southport residents say they STILL fear anti-migrant riots one year on from violence... and they aren't alone
Tearful Southport locals are living in fear there could be a repeat of the anti-migrant riots and have told Labour to get a grip on immigration. Violent scenes that shamed Britain last year were sparked by misinformation on social media following the triple stabbing murders of Bebe King, 6, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, 9. Now, more than 12 months later, terrified residents are pointing the finger at Sir Keir Starmer for being too weak and have told the Daily Mail the PM has not done enough to prevent further disorder. One elderly lady, standing just yards from the mosque on Sussex Road where most of the violence occurred, broke down when asked what she remembers. 'I'm sorry,' she says, 'I'm sorry. It's just too painful.' She is not the only one still feeling the effects of the July 30 disorder last year which left many local people fearing for their lives as a large crowd gathered on the street. Janet McCormick, 62, remembers the riot well, living just doors away from the centre of it. Like many people interviewed, her eyes glaze over as she recalls the events of that night. 'It was a terrible time,' she says. 'The rioters were right outside my home, lighting fires and throwing bricks. 'It was terrifying for people living around here. No-one was sure what was going to happen and the police appeared to be outnumbered. 'It was a horrible thing to witness. I was angry last year at people for being so stupid that they believed every rumour they heard. 'I kept telling them they were being racist, that they should think for themselves but you could see what was driving them on. 'Sadly I do not think the Government has done enough to prevent another riot, not here but I can see it happening in other parts of the country. 'I think people think we should have someone waiting on the shore for the boats to arrive and have the power to send them straight back. 'People can't understand why that is not happening. It's no use telling us about human rights because this is affecting everyone. 'Illegal immigration is killing this country. It is putting a vast strain on the NHS and welfare and schools because too many people are coming into the country and we can't cope. 'I keep reading about how much money we are paying the French to stop asylum seekers crossing the Channel but the boats are still coming. 'Somebody has to address the problem. I don't want to see or read about another riot like we had in Southport but the Government must get a grip.' Businesswoman Kimberley Parker, 37, runs pet groomers Glad Wags just down from the mosque. Liberal in her views, she blamed the riot on 'bigotry and ignorance' and was particularly upset that the rioters targeted a hard-working Asian family who run a local shop doors away from her own. 'The thugs who raided their shop went for the alcohol and cigarettes and got away with more than £10,000,' she says. 'I was just very disappointed in my fellow human beings. The only good thing is that the riot brought his all closer together in Southport, especially around here. 'That was the one big positive to come out of it all. 'But the hard truth is that people will read and accept lies as the truth and I suppose that is because they want to. 'And we have to accept that people are now angry for all sorts of reasons and one of them I think is because they don't see the Government as very strong. It bends too easily. 'On the one hand we are getting misinformation from social media about the dangers of illegal immigration and on the other we are not getting enough information from the Government over how many immigrants are arriving here and what they intend to do about it. 'I don't think Starmer is being proactive enough. 'We need to sort out what is going on. For example, a lot of the people coming across on boats are losing their passports so they cannot be deported because no-one knows where they came from. 'That should be sorted immediately. If you don't have a passport you should be unable to claim asylum and that should be the hard and fast rule. 'The Government need to work with us to calm our fears. Of course people here are frightened of those from different cultures with backgrounds they don't know about. 'Starmer has to understand that and he has got to have a policy that we understand. 'I do hold liberal views but I do realise you cannot have uncontrolled immigration without it having a knock on effect on every part of out lives. 'I do fear there could be further riots in the country but I hope that there isn't. 'I think that since the riot last year we have become closer in Southport but I think what is going on in the rest of the country is a shambles. 'It appears to me that the Government is spending all its time papering over the cracks instead of facing up to problems and doing something about them.' Roofer Craig Johnson, 37, witnessed the riot at first hand with most of it happening outside his front door. 'I was speechless at first,' he says. 'It was horrific to watch. 'The rioters were pulling down the garden walls and using the bricks to throw at the mosque and at police. 'I was one of those who came out the next day and help re-build the walls around here. 'But I don't think the Government is doing enough to stop another riot happening somewhere else. They are not facing up to the immigration problem. 'If you ask me, the sooner Farage gets in the better. 'What do I think Starmer should do? I think the best thing he could do is resign.' Meanwhile, in Tamworth a year ago a rioting mob descended on the old historic town where they tried to set fire to a Holiday Inn which was housing migrants. Hundreds of people gathered as a group of masked thugs threw a burning bush inside the side entrance, while onlookers filmed, cheered and clinked their beer bottles Adam Goodfellow, 39, a surveyor who stood in Tamworth at last year's General Election for the Workers Party, said: 'I came down here when I heard there was a protest being planned, just to say that these people don't speak for all of Tamworth. 'There were a gang of people shouting at the police and it had been going for a good hour when they started throwing fireworks and it got scary. 'Personally I believe uncontrolled immigration is damaging to working peoples' interests. I also believe that when things aren't going so well, people look for scapegoats and there is a lot of hearsay on social media. 'If there is lawlessness then you need more police whoever is committing the crime. 'A year on and nothing has changed under Labour, people are still massively concerned which is why Reform won every seat at the recent elections. 'The only change at the hotel seems to be permanent security guards on reception which shows there is still a high level of threat and concern.' Claire Mitchell, 51, a Tamworth local and a regular gym-goer, said: 'What happened a year ago was horrific to see. I was ashamed and surprised. I did not think Tamworth was that sort of place. 'I don't believe everything I read on social media. There are people with agendas seeking to sew division. 'I have seen people from the hotel sitting around the lake and passing the time of day like anyone else might. It is not something I get concerned about. 'Fake news is a terrible thing and the riots we saw last year were prompted by that. 'Tamworth is a great place. I was brought up here and it has so much more to offer than the terrible behaviour of a minority. I find it sad that its reputation has been tarnished in this way. 'A year on, I do not think it matters which political party is in power. 'For me, anyone who risks their life getting on a dinghy to cross the sea has got something to run from. 'There will always be some who take advantage of a humanitarian situation but we must not let that blind us.' Retired IT guy and gym-goer Alex Freeman, 72, said: 'Whatever your opinion of the immigration situation, there is no excuse for threatening people's welfare and damaging property and that's what happened last year. 'I don't mind peaceful protest but that was threatening harm to other human beings and that is just wrong. 'I am anti the boats, I think immigration should be controlled and if you do something illegal then you shouldn't end up being given free stuff in a hotel. 'It's difficult. These are obviously desperate people but this country is not so big. 'It annoys me when I see homeless people in this country and then I think these people in the hotels have travelled across multiple countries to get to the UK. 'Why are they doing this? I know France and Germany take a lot in but I don't think they are treated as nicely as we treat them. 'We have limited resources – we have a broken NHS, potholes everywhere and we're constantly being told there is not enough money, so of course people are going to be angry. 'This is a terrible situation. 'I don't have any reason to think the people in the hotel are any different or worse than anyone else. 'I see them doing things we all do – going to the lake, looking at the ducks. If some do naughty stuff then that is rare just as it is rare when one of us commits a crime. 'And I know they are a tiny fraction of overall immigration. They get a lot of attention but they are not the ones breaking our system.' A 36-year-old mother of three, and regular gym goer, said: 'I do feel a little bit unsafe in the dark evenings. I park a bit closer to the entrance because the hotel is full of males and they hang around with nothing to do and it does make you feel on edge. 'I did not agree with the protests. Violence is never the answer but people don't feel listened to so it is difficult. 'Yes, you feel unsafe but I also feel a bit sorry for them. Where are they meant to go? 'I saw more police around now than I did before last year's trouble but I don't know whether that is to keep everyone safe or because something has happened. 'There is a lot of hearsay, a lot of rumours. I hear about women being cat-called but I have never have anything like that happen to me personally so it is a difficult one to judge.'
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Fears Russia will sink its own ships in a 'false flag' and blame the West after the Kremlin accused Britain of preparing 'mass raids'
Russia is feared to be preparing false flag attacks on its shadow fleet of sea vessels in order to deter the West from further sanctioning them. According to the Telegraph, a report from the SVR, Moscow 's foreign intelligence service, claimed that the UK was plotting to attack Russia's fleet of ships used to subvert sanctions. The SVR said that the attacks would be designed to look like accidents, causing significant environmental damage and allowing the UK and the rest of NATO to justify further actions against them. The report claimed: 'British intelligence services are planning to use NATO allies to launch a mass raid on the "shadow fleet"; for this purpose, an ecological catastrophe in international waters is being prepared.' But experts said the report's publication raised concerns that Russia is preparing its own false flag operation, a scheme carried out by the Kremlin but designed to look like it has British origins. Dr Sidharth Kaushal, a research fellow at RUSI, told the newspaper: 'One interpretation might be that the Russians are insuring themselves against something breaking down or sinking, in a way that creates a pretext for restricting [their movement across the ocean].' So far, at least six tankers have suffered mysterious explosions since the start of the year. The suspicion has largely fallen on Ukraine, as all of the tankers were docked in Russian ports. Some of them were carrying Russian oil. It comes after the National Crime Agency (NCA) warned UK financial firms that Russian oil trading companies are utilising a complex network of companies with deliberately obscure ownership structures in order to evade sanctions. Britain has banned the maritime transportation of Russian oil as its energy exports are funding the war in Ukraine. In 2024, 30 per cent of Russia's federal budget came from oil and gas sales. But Russian oil trading companies are managing to circumvent sanctions to get Western cash which is continuing to fund the Russian state, investigators believe. One of the companies sanctioned last year used over 100 Shadow Fleet oil tankers, vessels which are usually over 15 years old which secretly carry Russian oil. To avoid detection, flags are regularly changed and the ship's automatic identification system is turned off to avoid its movements being tracked, while the oil is often transferred from one ship to another to obscure its origin before the shipment reaches its destination. Over 400 Shadow Fleet vessels have so far been sanctioned by the UK, EU, US and Canada. An NCA spokesman said: 'Today, the National Crime Agency has issued an alert to financial institutions and other members of the UK regulated sector in relation to the sale of Russian oil and gas through the use of Shadow Fleet vessels and front companies. 'Sanctions imposed on Russia as a result of its invasion of Ukraine have had a significant impact on its ability to sell oil and gas it produces. 'However, in an effort to circumvent these controls, Russian oil trading companies are utilising a complex network of companies with deliberately obscure ownership structures to evade sanctions whilst accessing Western finance and professional services in order to continue to fund the Russian state.'
