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BBC News
03-07-2025
- BBC News
Peterborough rapist to feature on 24 Hours in Police Custody
An investigation into a rapist who preyed on young women in a city will be featured in a two-part TV France of Hammonds Drive, Peterborough, was jailed for more than 10 years in March 2025 after admitting rape and filming victims without their case will feature on 24 Hours in Police Custody on Sunday and Monday under the title "Nightclub Predator" on Channel Ch Insp Helen Tebbit said: "This programme will show that sexual predators can cleverly disguise their depraved behaviours - victims may not realise they are being groomed." An investigation into France, 34, began when a young woman came forward in August last year to say she had been a search of France's home, officers found several hidden cameras that had captured more than 6,000 disturbing images and other victims were the told that unbeknown to them they also had been to the amount of footage and the nature of France's offending, officers have said it was possible there were more victims yet to be identified. 'Barely entered adulthood' Det Ch Insp Tebbit said: "France portrayed himself as everyone's best friend – caring, fun, and provided what his victims thought was a safe place to party."But in reality, he preyed on young women who had barely entered adulthood for his own sexual gratification."At Cambridge Crown Court judge Mark Bishop heard France also admit to sexual assault, exposure in a public place, and Police said it encouraged anyone who thought they had been a victim of a sexual offence to contact them on 101 or via web chat on the force website. Follow Peterborough news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Daily Mail
09-05-2025
- Daily Mail
Jockey, 25, appears in court charged with murdering 71-year-old man who died 10 days after fight outside Newmarket pub
A jockey has appeared in court charged with the murder of a 71-year-old man who died following a fight outside a pub. Levi Williams, 26, is alleged to have punched Richard Wingrove during an incident involving four people outside the Waggon and Horses pub in Newmarket, Suffolk, on March 8. Mr Wingrove died 10 days later at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, on March 18. Williams, of Holland Park in Newmarket, Suffolk, spoke only to confirm his name and date of birth during Friday's hearing at Cambridge Crown Court. The court heard the defendant is now facing a second charge, of the manslaughter of Mr Wingrove. Williams was not asked to enter a plea to either count. Judge Mark Bishop remanded Williams in custody until a plea hearing on June 27 at the same court. He told the defendant: 'Levi Williams, I'm adjourning arraignment to June 27 once the prosecution have served the pathology evidence.' A provisional trial date of September 15 was set at an earlier hearing and remains. Suffolk Police said officers were called to reports of an altercation involving four people in Newmarket High Street at 3.40pm on March 8. Mr Wingrove was taken to hospital in a critical condition and died on March 18. Another man, 45, was taken to hospital and was discharged later in the evening on March 8, the force said. Williams had previously been arrested on suspicion of assault causing grievous bodily harm in connection with the incident and had been bailed. He was rearrested and later charged with murder, police said. A 23-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of assault causing grievous bodily harm, and a 45-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of affray, and both were bailed by police.
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Yahoo
Council fined millions after three busway deaths
A council has been fined £6m after three deaths on the world's longest guided busway. Jennifer Taylor, Steve Moir and Kathleen Pitts died after collisions on the Cambridgeshire busway between 2015 and 2021. Sentencing Cambridgeshire County Council at Cambridge Crown Court, Judge Mark Bishop criticised the authority for its "rigid and blinkered response" to the fatalities, as well as numerous near-misses and accidents. The authority previously admitted two safety breaches and said it was "truly sorry". It was ordered to pay the fine over three years. Cambridgeshire County Council runs the transport link that serves Cambridge, St Ives and Huntingdon. It opened in 2011 and much of the 16-mile (26km) route involves a modified bus being guided along a track. Ms Taylor, 81, was hit by a bus when she crossed the track on foot at Fen Drayton in November 2015. Mr Moir, 50, fell into the path of a bus after clipping a kerb with his bicycle that separated him from the busway in Cambridge, in September 2018. Pedestrian Kathleen Pitts, 52, was struck by a bus on the same stretch in October 2021. A fourth person, Leon Leeson, was left with memory loss, a broken collarbone, a tear in his liver and the loss of hearing in one ear, following an incident. The county council previously admitted two charges under Section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, relating to the public trying to cross the busway at designated crossings and being struck while moving alongside the busway. In a statement, the family of Ms Taylor said: "As a family we would like to thank the HSE [Health and Safety Executive] for their tireless efforts in bringing this case to court. "We hope that the lessons learned will lead to sustained safety improvements and help avoid tragedy, injury and suffering in the future. "Jenny was deeply loved by all of us, and we dearly miss her." Mr Moir's brother, Rob Moir, said outside court afterwards: "There are no winners here. It's taxpayers' money at the end of the day. "Hopefully it will be sufficient to make sure that not just this county council but other people, other councils, wake up and make sure they apply the due diligence that they should to health and safety." The council's chief executive, Stephen Moir, said he was "truly sorry for these failures". "This should never have happened," he said. Dr Moir promised the failings the court considered would not be repeated and said changes had been made to the busway's safety regime. It included installing fencing on the southern section of the busway, reduced speed limits and reviews of all signs. He said: "I'd like to reassure all those who use the guided busway that we have learnt our lessons the hard way and changed our approach for the future. "The busway is and remains an important, accessible and safe public transport system for all the people who live in, work in, travel through or visit Cambridgeshire." In court, the council was criticised for its dismissive and defensive handling of concerns that included poor signage, unsafe crossings and poor lighting. It heard there was no risk assessment in place until 2016 - a fact the judge described as "particularly shocking". Several accidents had also never been reported to the HSE, the court was told. It heard that when the health and safety watchdog issued an improvement notice in 2018, the authority appealed the notice. The council claimed it was "unwarranted and unlawful" as it had never been in breach of safety laws, the court was told. Ben Compton KC, for Cambridgeshire County Council, requested that the authority be given six years to pay the £6m, adding: "It's a council - these are hard times." But the judge rejected this, saying it had more than £18m in reserves to cover legal risks. It gave it three years to pay, and ordered that it paid more than £292,000 in outstanding costs. Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. Busway death 'a preventable accident', court told Judge due to sentence council after busway deaths Health and Safety Executive Cambridgeshire County Council The Busway
BBC News
09-04-2025
- BBC News
Masked knife-wielding Peterborough man jailed for robbing shop
A masked man who robbed a Peterborough convenience store at knifepoint has been jailed for six years. Wayne Sharman, 38, brandished the knife at a woman working in Donaldson News, Donaldson Drive, Gunthorpe, at about 09:40 GMT on 4 forced her to open the till and helped himself to £150 in cash and three packets of menthol cigarettes, Cambridge Crown Court, sitting in Peterborough, heard. Sharman, of Elter Walk, pleaded guilty to robbery and being in possession of a knife in a public place. Officers reviewing CCTV of the incident realised he had dropped his balaclava in the were able to link it to Sharman using DNA analysis, Cambridgeshire Police was arrested at his home on 22 Con George Corney said: "This was an incredibly frightening experience for the victim who was simply carrying out her job when she was threatened at knifepoint, putting her in a considerable amount of fear."Understandably, the seriousness of this crime caused concern within the community, but I hope this sentence and the action taken by [us] goes some way to reassuring local people."Sharman was sentenced to six years in prison for the robbery and 18 months in prison for being in possession of a knife in a public place, to run concurrently. Follow Peterborough news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
21-03-2025
- BBC News
Southport attack parents share Andrew Tate 'radicalisation' fears
The parents of a Southport attack survivor said teenage boys need to be protected from the "terrifying" impact of the influencer Andrew Tate. Their daughter, referred to as Child A, was stabbed more than 30 times on 29 July by then-17-year-old Axel Rudakubana, in an attack that killed three young girls. On Thursday the family's local MP Paul Foster (South Ribble) read a statement from them in a Commons debate on knife said Child A's parents praised tougher knife crime laws but said work to tackle the problem needed to begin with educating children. They added "counter messaging" aimed at young people was needed to oppose what they were being exposed to parents criticised Mr Tate's effect on teenagers and praised Netflix drama Adolescence for exploring the topic of misogynistic radicalisation. Rudakubana wiped much of his internet search history before the attack and it is not known whether he ever viewed material linked to Mr Tate. However Cambridge Crown Court this month heard how triple murderer Kyle Clifford viewed Andrew Tate videos before shooting his ex-girlfriend Louise Hunt and her sister Hannah with a crossbow and stabbing their mother Carol Hunt. "The work required is vast and complex," the statement read to the Commons said. "Long term reduction in knife crime will only be seen if we go back to the start and raise our children better."Alice Aguiar, nine; Bebe King, six; and seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe died during the attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance workshop at a studio in the Merseyside town. 'Please work together' Rudakubana was jailed for a minimum of 52 years for the murders, along with the attempted murders of eight other children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, class instructor Leanne Lucas and businessman John Hayes. Child A's family said: "It is sensible to make it harder to purchase knives [and] to tighten the law carrying knives. These are tangible solutions that provide a quick reassurance and results."But, if a young person is looking for a knife, then we are too late, and they are already on the path to causing harm."The family said the upcoming public inquiry into the Southport attacks would "serve the purpose" of improving things for parents, caregivers and Foster told the Commons: "I commend that child's parents for having the courage to write that, and the concern that they have clearly that this is going to happen again."I urge all members of this House to please work together for the victims, for the families, and let's please deal with this once and for all." Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on BBC Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram, and watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer.
