Latest news with #BritishMan
RNZ News
a day ago
- Politics
- RNZ News
'James Bond wannabe' found guilty of trying to spy for Russia
United Kingdom correspondent Edward O'Driscoll spoke to Melissa Chan-Green about a British man who "dreamt of being like James Bond", and has been found guilty of trying to spy for Russia, as well as British Fighter jet which has finally taken flight after being stranded in India for a month. Tags: To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
Daily Mail
01-07-2025
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Clubber from Newcastle reported missing a week ago by his girlfriend is found in a Cambodian jail arrested on suspicion of drug smuggling
A British man has been arrested in Cambodia after allegedly attempting to smuggle nearly 20kg of marijuana into the UK - just hours after he was reported missing by his girlfriend. Robert Brown, 41, from Newcastle, had been the subject of an urgent missing persons post on social media before he was arrested at Phnom Penh International Airport on June 17. Police found 22 packages of cannabis weighing nearly 20kg hidden inside his luggage. The drugs, which police believe originated from Thailand, are thought to have a street value of around £200,000. Brown has been charged with the use, possession, trafficking, and transport of drugs under Cambodian law and has been referred to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court for legal proceedings. If convicted, he could face a hefty prison sentence of between 20 to 30 years, Khmer Times reported. Shortly after his arrest, the Anti-Drug Department in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, posted a statement on social media confirming a British male aged 41 had been arrested, while police had 'seized 22 pieces of dry marijuana, equivalent to 19 kg 902 grams.' It added that the Ministry of Anti-Narcotics 'states that trading, transportation, storage and growing of marijuana in Cambodia is illegal as provided in the Drug Control Act 2012.' The post included an image of Brown, with his face blurred out and apparently handcuffed, next to the massive haul of drugs allegedly found in his suitcase. His arrest came just hours after a post, which has since been removed, was shared on a social media group for expats in Cambodia reporting him as 'missing'. Posted by user 'Kasey Kasey', the appeal stated Brown had failed to board his flight home to the UK. It also revealed his luggage had been left inside his hotel room in central Phnom Penh, in Cambodia's capital city. The post read: 'Missing in Cambodia. Goes by the name of Robert Brown, he's 40 years of age, Geordie lad, broad accent. 'Was meant to return to the UK today, but didn't board a plane and has left his luggage in the hotel room. 'Please share and hopefully he's found thanks. He was staying at the Old Durbar Hotel Restaurant.' Posts on Brown's social media profile reveal the Newcastle native is a fan of electronic dance music and clubbing. A spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office told MailOnline: 'We are supporting the family of a British man who was detained in Cambodia and are in contact with the local authorities'. The arrest is the latest in a spate of incidents involving Brits being detained abroad on charges of alleged drug smuggling. Earlier this month, airport officials in Mauritius swooped on seven British citizens - including a six-year-old boy - who were found to have £1.6million worth of cannabis concealed in their suitcases. Customs officials at Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Airport were stunned to discover 14 kilos of cannabis concealed in the young boy's bag and 17 kilos in luggage belonging to another individual on June 22. Altogether, 161 kilos of the drug were found hidden throughout several other suitcases. Eleven numbered Apple AirTags were discovered, suggesting the operation may have been linked to an organised crime gang responsible for smuggling drugs from Europe to Mauritius. The six arrested British adults - all from Cambridgeshire - included Laura Kappen, 28, a bar worker from Orton Goldhay, Shannon Holness, 29, a caterer, from Bretton, Shona Campbell, 33, a cleaner from Standground, Lily Watson, a caterer from Peterborough and window fitter Patrick Wilsdon, 21, also from Peterborough. Romanian national, Florian Lisman, 38, a machine operator living in Huntingdon, was additionally arrested. Charlotte Lee May, 21, from Coulsdon, south London, has been locked up in a Sri Lankan prison after police discovered 46kg of 'Kush' - a synthetic strain of cannabis - in her suitcase when she arrived on a flight from Thailand In recent weeks, 18-year-old Bella Culley, from Billingham, County Durham, was arrested in Georgia after allegedly carrying 12kg of cannabis and 2kg of hashish into the ex-Soviet nation from Thailand, where she had been holidaying. She claimed in court that she is pregnant and has confided in legal sources that she was in love with a mystery man who now forms a central part of the investigation. In a similar case, 21-year-old Charlotte Lee May, from Coulsdon, south London, has been locked up in a Sri Lankan prison after police discovered 46kg of 'Kush' - a synthetic strain of cannabis - in her suitcase when she arrived on a flight from Thailand. The former cabin crew member for Tui was placed in handcuff after £1.15million worth of cannabis was allegedly found in her luggage last month. She is being detained in a prison north of Colombo and could face up to 25 years in prison if found guilty. A flurry of cases have since followed including OnlyFans model Clara Wilson, 36, from Nottinghamshire, who allegedly tried to smuggle around £200,000 of Thai cannabis into Spain and 21-year-old Cameron Bradford, from Hertfordshire, who was arrested for allegedly smuggling cannabis into Germany. Meanwhile, British beautician Kimberly Hall, 29, from Middlesbrough, was accused of attempting to smuggle $6.2m of cocaine from Chicago O' Hare Airport to the UK, having come off a flight from Cancun, Mexico. Many of the alleged smugglers face decades in prison if convicted. Phineas Float, Jonathan Collyer and Lisa Stocker were formerly facing the death penalty over allegedly smuggling cocaine from the UK to Indonesia, but prosecutors last week said they would now be seeking a prison term instead. And 79-year-old William 'Billy Boy' Eastment, a bowls-loving pensioner from Somerset, faces dying behind prison bars after he was intercepted at Santiago Airport with £200,000 worth of meth.
Yahoo
25-06-2025
- Yahoo
British man charged over 'wedding' with child, 9, at Disneyland Paris
A British man has been charged in connection with organising the "mock wedding" of a nine-year-old Ukrainian girl in Disneyland Paris. French prosecutors said the 39-year-old man was a convicted sexual offender who is wanted in the UK. His name has not been made public. He was arrested when police were called to the amusement park on Saturday morning at dawn by a "guest" who said he had been hired by the man to play the father of the bride. The man said he had been paid €12,000 to play the role and that he only realised at the last minute that the "bride" was a child, according to a statement by Meaux prosecutor Jean-Baptiste Bladier. The statement also said the Ukrainian girl - who arrived in France two days earlier - had not been a victim of either physical or sexual violence and had not been "forced to play the role" of bride. A woman who says she was hired to play the role of a guest told BFMTV that when she arrived at Disneyland Paris she saw a "little girl dressed in white with her hair all done up and I saw a woman who picked her up in her arms... and I was shocked, I burst into tears". "When I saw [a] child - it was horrific." Around 100 French extras had been recruited to take part in the fake ceremony, which was to be filmed in a private capacity. The British man had reportedly hired Disneyland Paris for several hours for the stunt, in which he was to play the role of the groom. Preliminary findings also stated he had allegedly been "made-up professionally so that his face appeared totally different from his own", according to the prosecutor. Three other people - including the 41-year-old mother of the girl, a 24-year-old Latvian woman who was to play the bride's sister and a 55-year-old Latvian man - were also arrested. By Tuesday only the British man was still being held by police. The British man and the Latvian woman appeared in front of a judge in Meaux on 23 June and the man was charged with fraud, breach of trust, money laundering, and identity theft and placed in pretrial detention. The Latvian remains a witness in the investigation. The prosecutor's statement also said that Disneyland Paris had been "deceived" and that the organiser had used a fake Latvian ID to hire the venue. Disneyland Paris can be rented by members of the public outside opening hours. BFMTV reported that the "mock wedding" may have cost organiser more than €130,000 (£110,000). Mr Bladier's statement said that the British man "was reportedly convicted in the past, including for offences of a sexual nature against minors. "He is, as such, listed in the British database of sexual offenders and is currently wanted nationally by the judicial authorities of his country of origin due to a breach of the requirements deriving from said order." It is unclear, at this stage, what the point of the "stunt" was. The investigation continues.
BBC News
24-06-2025
- BBC News
British man charged with organising Disneyland Paris "mock wedding" of nine-year-old
A British man has been charged in connection with organising the "mock wedding" of a nine-year-old Ukrainian girl in Disneyland Paris. French prosecutors said the 39-year-old man was a convicted sexual offender who is wanted in the UK. His name has not been made public. He was arrested when police were called to the amusement park on Saturday morning at dawn by a "guest" who said he had been hired by the man to play the father of the bride. The man said he had been paid €12,000 to play the role and that he only realised at the last minute that the "bride" was a child, according to a statement by Meaux prosecutor Jean-Baptiste Bladier. The statement also said the Ukrainian girl - who arrived in France two days earlier - had not been a victim of either physical or sexual violence and had not been "forced to play the role" of bride. A woman who says she was hired to play the role of a guest told BFMTV that when she arrived at Disneyland Paris she saw a "little girl dressed in white with her hair all done up and I saw a woman who picked her up in her arms... and I was shocked, I burst into tears"."When I saw [a] child - it was horrific."Around 100 French extras had been recruited to take part in the fake ceremony, which was to be filmed in a private British man had reportedly hired Disneyland Paris for several hours for the stunt, in which he was to play the role of the groom. Preliminary findings also stated he had allegedly been "made-up professionally so that his face appeared totally different from his own", according to the other people - including the 41-year-old mother of the girl, a 24-year-old Latvian woman who was to play the bride's sister and a 55-year-old Latvian man - were also arrested. By Tuesday only the British man was still being held by police. The British man and the Latvian woman appeared in front of a judge in Meaux on 23 June and the man was charged with fraud, breach of trust, money laundering, and identity theft and placed in pretrial detention. The Latvian remains a witness in the prosecutor's statement also said that Disneyland Paris had been "deceived" and that the organiser had used a fake Latvian ID to hire the venue. Disneyland Paris can be rented by members of the public outside opening hours. BFMTV reported that the "mock wedding" may have cost organiser more than €130,000 (£110,000).Mr Bladier's statement said that the British man "was reportedly convicted in the past, including for offences of a sexual nature against minors."He is, as such, listed in the British database of sexual offenders and is currently wanted nationally by the judicial authorities of his country of origin due to a breach of the requirements deriving from said order."It is unclear, at this stage, what the point of the "stunt" investigation continues.
The Independent
24-06-2025
- The Independent
British man charged after ‘mock wedding' with girl, 9, in Disneyland Paris
A British man has been charged after he reportedly organised a 'mock wedding ' in Disneyland Paris involving a nine-year-old girl in the role of the bride. French prosecutors have said the 39-year-old man, who reportedly played the 'groom' in the fake ceremony, faces several counts of fraud, abuse of trust, money laundering and identity theft. Police were called by a 'guest' who later claimed he was hired to play the father of the bride at the entertainment resort in Marne-la-Vallée, France, on Saturday. A statement released by the prosecutor of the tribunal in Meaux Jean-Baptiste Bladier said the man 'explained he was paid 12,000 euros to play the role of the father of the bride and realised at the last minute that she was nine years old.' The prosecutor added that the girl is a Ukrainian national who had arrived in France with her 41-year-old mother two days prior to the mock ceremony. Four people were arrested on Saturday – including the British 'groom', the girl's mother, a 24-year-old Latvian woman who played the sister of the bride, and the 55-year-old Latvian man hired to play the 'father of the bride', the tribunal said. Prosecutors added Disneyland Paris was 'deceived' after the identity of a Latvian man and fake identification documents were used to secure the private event at the park, and that about a hundred hired extras were falsely presented to the company as wedding guests. The British man appeared before the tribunal of Meaux on Monday, after which he was charged. French prosecutors said on Tuesday they have been in touch with British authorities and identified the British suspect as a convicted sexual offender who is wanted in the UK. Mr Bladier wrote in a statement: '(He) was reportedly convicted in the past, including for offences of a sexual nature against minors. 'He is, as such, listed in the British database of sexual offenders and is currently wanted nationally by the judicial authorities of his country of origin due to a breach of the requirements deriving from said order.' Mr Bladier said in a previous statement published on Sunday that the wedding ceremony was 'fictional and meant to be recorded in a private capacity'. Preliminary findings also stated the 'groom' had allegedly been 'made-up professionally so that his face appeared totally different from his own', according to the prosecutor. The 24-year-old Latvian woman currently remains a witness in the investigation, the prosecutor said.
