Latest news with #Louis'
Irish Independent
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Another major title for Louis with New Ross Pipe Band
'Louis has been consistently winning prizes in the juvenile grades and has won every major title on numerous occasions, including twice World Champion. This is Louis' first year competing in the adult grade, which is a fantastic achievement to have reached third place in the All Ireland Championships on his first year amongst the adult drum majors,' said Brian Mac Mahon, director with the band. 'We are so proud of Louis,' he added. It doesn't stop there for the talented Louis as he travels to the UK Championships in Edinburgh next Saturday, and after that, he's off to South Africa for an exhibition with the wonderfully talented Armagh Drum Majors under the tutelage of the maestro Brian Wilson. Louis will be leading the massed pipe band parade of the Irish Pipe Band Association on the first day of the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in Wexford on Sunday, August 3 at 3 p.m. and he'll also be performing with the New Ross and District Pipe Band in the Library Park on Saturday, August 23 at 7.30 p.m.. Admission for the Library Park concert is free of charge.
Irish Daily Mirror
29-06-2025
- Politics
- Irish Daily Mirror
'Delete it' - Judge orders man off Facebook after he breaches Safety Order
A judge has told a man to delete his Facebook account after he breached a domestic violence Safety Order by posting 'Well done Louis' when congratulating a newly elected Sinn Fein TD on his ex-wife's Facebook page. At Gort District Court, Sgt Claire Henaghan said that the post caused the woman 'great distress'. In the case, the man posted 'Well done Louis' under a photo on Facebook of newly elected east Galway TD, Louis O'Hara (SF) celebrating being elected to the Dail. The man - in his early 60s - pleaded guilty on December 2 to contravening a Safety Order in place since September 2022 in that he made contact with his ex-wife by electronic means by commenting on her Facebook page belonging to her. Judge Alec Gabbett told the man: 'Come off Facebook. Delete it. Do you need to be on Facebook? Is it adding to your life? I doubt it very much.' Judge Gabbett said that in the future rather than congratulate the TD on Facebook, he should send a card. Judge Gabbett described the offence as 'a very technical breach'. He said: "This was the man waving a flag and coming a little bit close to his ex-partner for my liking.' With two previous convictions for breaching the same Safety Order, Judge Gabbett said: 'There is an underlying current here which I don't like. This must stop today." He said: 'This lady needs to be left alone. She has a five year order which speaks volumes and judges don't hand out five year orders like confetti. I rarely make five year orders." Sgt Henaghan said that it was the third time that the man had breached the Safety Order having already been convicted on two previous convictions. Sgt Henaghan said that it was very obvious 'that it was his ex wife who shared the post'. Solicitor, Colman Sherry for the man said: 'I was surprised that something like this would end up in court.' Mr Sherry said that his client had met the case in the proper fashion by pleading guilty. He said: 'He now understands that he can't do anything like this again in the future.' The Irish Mirror's Crime Writers Michael O'Toole and Paul Healy are writing a new weekly newsletter called Crime Ireland. Click here to sign up and get it delivered to your inbox every week From the body of the court, the man said it was 'a genuine mistake' stating that he had voted for the TD in the general election. Judge Gabbett said: 'I understand that these things can happen.' He said: 'Ludditery comes into it sometimes - men and women of a certain age who use Facebook may not be fully au fait with what is happening. Judge Gabbett said that he would adjourn the case for one year in order that he can monitor the man's future behaviour. He told him: 'You just have to keep your nose clean and stay out of this lady's life completely." Judge Gabbett told the man he is at risk of going to prison after three breaches of the Safety Order. The man agreed when Judge Gabbett said he had never seen the door of a prison. Judge Gabbett adjourned the case to June 25, 2026.
AsiaOne
27-06-2025
- AsiaOne
Thai teen says he threw himself out of a window to escape Cambodia's brutal scam farms, Asia News
BANGKOK — Lured to Cambodia, tortured and forced to defraud strangers online, a Thai teenager said he barely survived after he threw himself from an eighth-floor window last year in a desperate bid to escape one of the Southeast Asian nation's prison-like scam compounds. The 18-year-old, who asked to be identified only by the nickname Louis, told Reuters he endured brutal conditions for about a year, alongside children as young as 13, in an operation run by Chinese criminals. Trafficked workers lived like "slaves", he said, forced to work from early in the morning until midnight in buildings surrounded by high walls and barbed wire where they were subjected to brutal punishments and guarded by men with electric batons. The transnational scam industry emerged in Southeast Asia during the pandemic and is believed to generate billions of dollars a year for organised crime as people across the globe are defrauded of their life savings. Louis spoke to Reuters in the Thai capital of Bangkok, a day before London-based rights group Amnesty International published a report on Thursday accusing the Cambodian government of "deliberately ignoring" human rights abuses by cybercrime gangs, allegations the Cambodian government rejected, saying the report was "exaggerated". Reuters was unable to independently verify Louis' account but details matched other accounts by trafficking survivors published by numerous groups including United Nations agencies. While Louis declined to share his full name, he was willing to be interviewed by Reuters TV. A highly paid job A softly-spoken teenager, Louis said he was 17 when a woman contacted him on Facebook offering him a well-paid role, meals and accommodation after he posted that he was looking for work. She persuaded him to travel to Bangkok — the first time he had left his rural home province — but he was then told to go to the border where he was taken to one of at least 53 scam compounds in Cambodia identified by Amnesty. Louis was put to work using deepfake video software to dupe Thai women into sending money. He said he "felt pressured" and after a week he was sold to another compound near the Vietnamese border that looked "like a prison". Escape In a room with eight Thai men and women, Louis said they were ordered to scam at least one million baht a month (about S$40,000) and shocked with electric batons if they were late, rested too much, or failed to meet the quotas. Louis said he decided to escape after he was confined to a dark room. Breaking through a window, he crashed down several storeys and smashed his chin. "My mouth filled with blood, it was everywhere, and my teeth were broken. Then I passed out," he said. The bosses stripped him naked, but took him to hospital. From there he managed to get home. Louis said he wanted to tell Thai people looking for work not to go to Cambodia. "It's for your own safety… You might never come back." [[nid:715334]]
The Star
26-06-2025
- The Star
Thai teen says he threw himself out of a window to escape Cambodia's brutal scam farms
Louis, 18, a Thai victim of scam centres who was trafficked into working in Cambodia and escaped last year, looks on during an interview with Reuters, in Bangkok, Thailand, June 25, 2025. - Photo: Reuters BANGKOK: Lured to Cambodia, tortured and forced to defraud strangers online, a Thai teenager said he barely survived after he threw himself from an eighth-floor window last year in a desperate bid to escape one of the Southeast Asian nation's prison-like scam compounds. The 18-year-old, who asked to be identified only by the nickname Louis, told Reuters he endured brutal conditions for about a year, alongside children as young as 13, in an operation run by Chinese criminals. Trafficked workers lived like "slaves", he said, forced to work from early in the morning until midnight in buildings surrounded by high walls and barbed wire where they were subjected to brutal punishments and guarded by men with electric batons. The transnational scam industry emerged in Southeast Asia during the pandemic and is believed to generate billions of dollars a year for organised crime as people across the globe are defrauded of their life savings. Louis spoke to Reuters in the Thai capital of Bangkok, a day before London-based rights group Amnesty International published a report on Thursday (june 26) accusing the Cambodian government of "deliberately ignoring' human rights abuses by cybercrime gangs, allegations the Cambodian government rejected, saying the report was "exaggerated'. Reuters was unable to independently verify Louis' account but details matched other accounts by trafficking survivors published by numerous groups including United Nations agencies. While Louis declined to share his full name, he was willing to be interviewed by Reuters TV. A highly paid job A softly-spoken teenager, Louis said he was 17 when a woman contacted him on Facebook offering him a well-paid role, meals and accommodation after he posted that he was looking for work. She persuaded him to travel to Bangkok - the first time he had left his rural home province - but he was then told to go to the border where he was taken to one of at least 53 scam compounds in Cambodia identified by Amnesty. Louis was put to work using deepfake video software to dupe Thai women into sending money. He said he "felt pressured" and after a week he was sold to another compound near the Vietnamese border that looked "like a prison". Escape In a room with eight Thai men and women, Louis said they were ordered to scam at least one million baht a month (about $30,000) and shocked with electric batons if they were late, rested too much, or failed to meet the quotas. Louis said he decided to escape after he was confined to a dark room. Breaking through a window, he crashed down several storeys and smashed his chin. "My mouth filled with blood, it was everywhere, and my teeth were broken. Then I passed out," he said. The bosses stripped him naked, but took him to hospital. From there he managed to get home. Louis said he wanted to tell Thai people looking for work not to go to Cambodia. "It's for your own safety … You might never come back.' - Reuters
