Latest news with #Arr
South Wales Argus
5 days ago
- South Wales Argus
Church worker made girl engage in sex act on video chats
Anthony Arr, 61, appeared at Newport Crown Court accused of offences against a 13-year-old girl in the Gwent area between 2009 and 2010. The court heard Arr – who was 45 at the time – began sending the girl messages calling her beautiful and mentioning the age gap between them after she added him on Facebook. Their conversations moved on to MSN, and they then began talking over webcams, the prosecution said. The chats would happen 'most nights' and occurred during the early hours of the morning – between around 2am and 5am – with the defendant asking 'Are you clear?' to check with the victim that she wouldn't be disturbed. Arr told the victim 'Get your kit off', and incited her to masturbate on the webchats. During this, he was also naked and he would masturbate whilst watching her on the webcam. During the chats, Arr told the girl: 'Don't worry, when we do have sex you won't be able to get pregnant', and referred to his vasectomy – telling her he had been 'snipped'. The defendant was married and employed by a church at the time. This offending stopped after he was caught having an affair with a woman. Arr was interviewed by police on October 5 last year. He admitted engaging in sexual communication with the girl, but said he believed she was '15 or 16'. Church worker Anthony Arr masturbated as he made a teenage girl strip in online chat. (Image: Gwent Police) The defendant, now of Laburnum Avenue in Skegness, Lincolnshire, pleaded guilty to two offences of causing a child to engage in sexual activity and two offences of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child. In a statement read to the court by the prosecution, the victim said she 'continually battled with' the effects of Arr's abuse. 'I was too scared to tell [my mum] and kept it to myself,' she said. 'I fear the impact of [the defendant's] offending is going to affect me for the rest of my life.' Josh Scouller, in mitigation, said: 'This does seem to be a particularly isolated incident. 'This occurred during the course of the breakdown of his marriage. He was in a very unhappy place. 'He acknowledges what he had done is wrong. He has never suggested otherwise. 'He broke off contact with the victim in this case. 'He hasn't sought to extend the pain by denying matters.' Sentencing Arr, Judge Carl Harrison said: 'You should be thoroughly ashamed of the damage you have caused the victim. 'Whilst she was going through this turmoil, you were able to go about your life as normal. 'It took the bravery of [the victim] to bring you to justice.' Arr was jailed for a total of four years and four months. He must register as a sex offender for life, and the victim was granted a life-long restraining order.
Zawya
01-05-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Dubai Duty Free achieves record Dhs713mln sales in April – Fourth best month ever
Dubai Duty Free has announced that sales in April reached a remarkable Dhs713 million (US$195.4 million), marking a new record for the month of April. This represents an 18% increase over April 2024 and positions April as the fourth best month on record for the airport retailer since operations began. Commenting on the April figures, Ramesh Cidambi, Managing Director of Dubai Duty Free said, 'November and December 2024 were record months, joined by January 2025, so it is great to see that April sales are in the top four monthly sales rankings now. April was a busy month passenger-wise with Eid holidays, Easter and the Arabian Travel Market pushing up passenger numbers. However, as far as we know, sales outstripped passenger numbers, which is a very positive indicator for us'. In April, the top five product categories sold were Perfumes, Liquor, Tobacco, Gold and Confectionery. Perfume sales reached Dhs128.72 million (US$35.26 million) contributing 18% of total revenue and showing an increase of 16% over the same month last year. Liquor followed closely with sales of Dhs92.50 million (US$25.34 million) an increase of 13%, while Tobacco saw a 25% increase year-on-year with sales of Dhs73.95 million (US$20.26 million). Gold sales amounted to Dhs71.57 million (US$19.61 million), contributing 10% of total revenue and an increase of 35%. Confectionery continued to demonstrate strong growth, achieving Dhs69.54 million (US$19.05 million), marking an 84% increase from the same month last year and accounting for 10% of total revenue. The Fashion boutiques in Terminal 3's Concourse A and B combined outperformed their sales from last April, recording a 12% increase. This is notable, considering that these boutiques have been lagging in sales since the first quarter of 2024. The Preloved luxury segment, which is available in the airport retailer's Reklaim outlets, delivered impressive results of Dhs9 million since it was introduced in December 2024 of which Dhs3.52 million (US$ 0.97 million) was generated in April alone. Meanwhile, the viral Dubai chocolate continued its remarkable success story with sales hitting Dhs28.60 million (US$7.84 million) in April, which is an average of Dhs1 million (US$274,000) sales per day. Other notable performers include ticket sales for the milestone Dubai Duty Free Millennium Millionaire Series 500, which was sold out within a record 7 days, underscoring strong demand for this popular promotion and adding to the total Millennium Millionaire sales for April of Dhs21 million (US$ 5.26 million). 'This robust performance can be seen across all categories both in-store and online, with online sales increasing by 3% in April. We are also seeing an increase in the average passenger spend and that is also very encouraging,' said Cidambi. Sales in Departures across the operation reached Dhs638.27 million (US$174.87 million) representing 90% of total monthly sales and an increase of 19% compared to the same period last year, while Arrivals sales reached Dhs51.22 million (US$14.04 million), representing 7% of total sales and an increase of 17% over April last year. In terms of top source markets for Dubai Duty Free, India is number one with Dhs72.14 million (US$19.76 million) sales, followed by Russia with Dhs54.62 million (US$14.97 million), Saudi Arabia with Dhs51.23 million (US$14.03 million), China with Dhs39.25 million (US$10.75 million), and the UK in fifth place with sales of Dhs36.19 million (US$9.92 million).
