Three People Arrested Over New Forest Murder

Three people have been arrested in connection with the murder of a mother-of-five in the New Forest.

Pennie Davis, 47, was tending her two horses in a paddock off Hatchet Lane, near Beaulieu, when she was killed.

She suffered multiple stab wounds and her husband Pete found her body on Tuesday afternoon.

Police have said they have arrested one person on suspicion of murder, one for perverting the course of justice, and another for assisting an offender.

Mrs Davis, from Blackfield, worked in a supermarket and was recently married.

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Scottish Tech Firms Fear Impact Of 'Yes' Vote

How Scottish 'Yes' May Impact Invisible Border

Updated: 10:34am UK, Tuesday 02 September 2014

By Poppy Trowbridge, Consumer Affairs Correspondent

For those that live along the invisible border that divides Scotland and England, daily life could change dramatically with a Yes vote in the September 18 referendum.

These communities, from Berwick-upon-Tweed to Coldstream to Gretna, will certainly feel the effect of any changes first.

While business and families could suddenly find themselves exporting and travelling abroad, currency is the top concern for most people.

Harry Frew, owner of Cheviot Trees - a farm based in Scotland, but so near the border it has an English postcode - says the uncertainty is damaging.

"Currency is our biggest issue," Mr Frew said.

"It would be a major impact on the business, a lot of extra admin and costs. If Scotland was to end up with euros, we would have to become used to invoicing in euros. Personally I think it is something we'd rather avoid."

Whether Scotland keeps the pound, adopts the euro or produces its own tender will determine the ease and cost of doing business on both sides if the Yes campaign bridges the six point gap with Better Together.

Cross-border workers may find themselves subject to two different tax regimes.

Eventually there could be two entirely different systems for borrowing, saving, buying and selling, working and retiring between the two countries.

Stephen Hay, head of tax at Baker Tilly in Edinburgh, said: "Of course people are going to be concerned about the pound in their pocket.

"A pensioner in Scotland will receive a pension, but the tax he pays on that pension could be higher or lower than a pensioner in England under independence.

"If the tax rate is higher in Scotland then clearly the less they'll have and equally if the tax rate is lower in Scotland the more they'll have, so I would imagine that will be a particular issue for a lot of people."

The Scottish Government plans to set the state pension at £160 per week, while the UK will set the new single tier rate next year, it's likely to be slightly lower around £148.

The current Scottish Government's White Paper also suggests that in the event of independence, it would review (and possibly withdraw) the UK Government's decision to raise the retirement age to 67 - keeping it at 65.

Home Secretary Theresa May has threatened checkpoints along the boundary should an independent Scotland pursue an immigration policy more lenient than that of the UK.

That could mean commuters would require passports.

The Scottish Government proposes one major simplification though.

An independent Scotland would replace the 95 ombudsmen that deal with a range of consumer issues within the UK: from roofing, to renewable energy, to financial services, with a single Scottish Consumer and Competition authority.

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Police Chief Warns Cuts Raise Risk Of Terror

Police Asking Victims To 'Investigate Own Crimes'

Updated: 2:49pm UK, Thursday 04 September 2014

Hard-pressed police forces are "encouraging" victims of high-volume crimes to carry out their own investigations, a policing watchdog has warned.

Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) said the "emerging trend" was identified in an investigation into 43 forces in England and Wales.

In a report summarising its findings, HMIC said its inspectors had witnessed call-handlers asking victims of offences like vehicle crime and "burglaries of properties other than dwellings" to assess the likelihood of the crime being solved.

It said some forces asked victims whether there was any CCTV footage of the area, any potential fingerprint evidence and whether the victim knew if there were any witnesses to the crime. 

In some cases victims were asked to interview their neighbours and to search for their property on second-hand sales websites.

"HMIC finds this expectation by these forces that the victim should investigate his own crime both surprising and a matter of material concern," the report said.

"The police have been given powers and resources to investigate crime by the public, and there should be no expectation on the part of it."

Teacher Louise Kimpton told Sky News she was surprised by the response when she called police after her car was stolen from outside her home near Rochdale in July.

"The police came round and they explained that unfortunately they only had very few officers on the beat in the area so it was highly unlikely they'd find the car" she said.

"They said they would try their best but obviously if we could look round as well that would help.

"My husband and his friend drove around and eventually they found the car."

She said they contacted police and within days received a letter saying that their case was closed.

Inspector of Constabulary Roger Baker, who led the inspection, said overall police forces have "done a good job in tackling crime and anti-social behaviour".

However he said the emerging trend suggested many officers have essentially "given up" on investigating high-volume crimes.

"It's more a mindset, that we no longer deal with these things," he said.

"Effectively what's happened is a number of crimes are on the verge of being decriminalised.

"So it's not the fault of the individual staff, it's a mindset thing that's crept in to policing to say 'we've almost given up'."

The report, named 'Core Business: an inspection into crime prevention, police attendance and the use of police time,' investigated a number of aspects of modern policing, including response to calls, quality of investigation and the use of technology.

Among its findings, HMIC said some forces were losing track of suspects and wanted persons as their systems for actively pursuing them were not up to scratch.

It also identified a policing "postcode lottery", saying attendance rates at crime scenes varied widely between police forces.

In the year to November 30, 2013, for example, 100% of crimes in Cleveland were attended by a police officer. In Warkwickshire, however, that figure stood at just 39%.

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Beheading Suspect Appears In London Court

A man has appeared in court charged with the murder of 82-year-old Palmira Silva who was beheaded in north London.

Nicholas Salvador, of Enfield, north London, is alleged to have killed the elderly woman with a machete in the garden of her home in Nightingale Road, Edmonton, on Thursday.

Salvador, 25, was led into the glass-fronted dock with his hands cuffed behind his back, escorted by four uniformed police officers at Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court.

He was remanded in custody to appear at the Old Bailey on Tuesday.

He has also been charged with assaulting a police officer.

Salvador had been taken to hospital and remained under police guard before being questioned by officers and charged.

Ms Silva was found collapsed in the back garden before being pronounced dead at the scene.

The house in the busy street where Ms Silva's body was found became the scene of a major police operation after officers were called to the area.

Metropolitan Police officers said after the operation that there were no signs of a link to terrorism.

Tributes have been paid to the elderly woman of Italian descent who ran a nearby cafe.

Dilek Solma, 19, who works next door, said: "I'm so upset. She was a very smiley lady, always had a smile on her face, and loved the community."

Another shop worker Raj Thangavelselvaraj, 50, said: "She was a nice lady, she was a good lady to everyone. It's very sad."

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Blackpool Pen Stabbing: Police Hunt Attacker

Police have released pictures of a 66-year-old woman who was stabbed in the arm with a ballpoint pen in the an attempt to track down her attacker.

Cynthia Bell was helping her husband's coach firm last month when the man boarded one of the buses in Seasiders Way in Blackpool and refused to leave.

After tampering with the controls near the driver's seat, he grabbed the pen and stabbed Ms Bell before running off.

Mrs Bell's attacker ran off after the assault

Detective Superintendent Mark Dickinson, from Lancashire Police, said: "As you can see from Mrs Bell's photograph, significant force must have been used by the offender who stabbed her.

"She was lucky to have escaped without serious blood loss or any nerve damage. We are pursuing a number of lines of inquiry, including CCTV and forensic opportunities.

"I am particularly keen to identify and speak with two young women who were with the offender and I would ask them, or anyone who recognises them from their descriptions, to contact me as soon as possible."

Police described the suspect as a white male in his late teens or early 20s, 6ft and of stocky build, with short dark hair.

He was with two young women. The first is described as white, wearing a pink top with a floral pattern, with a pram or pushchair. She walked with a limp.

The second woman had blonde hair and was wearing a cream jumper. She had a tattoo on the right side of her lower stomach on display.

Anyone with information should contact Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111 or online.

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'Huge Leap In The Dark': Boris Island Rejected

Boris Johnson's proposal for a new four-runway airport to be built in the Thames Estuary has been rejected by the Airports Commission.

The grounding of an airport in Kent leaves three options for expanding airport capacity - two additional runway plans at Heathrow and one at Gatwick.

These are being considered by the Airports Commission, which was established by the Government to recommend the best option for expansion, and will issue its final report after next year's election.

How a Thames Estuary airport would have looked. Pic: Foster and Partners

Mr Johnson, who is against a third runway at Heathrow, spoke of his disappointment ahead of the decision, which was widely expected.

The London Mayor said: "In one myopic stroke the Airports Commission has set the debate back by half a century and consigned their work to the long list of vertically filed reports on aviation expansion that are gathering dust on a shelf in Whitehall.

"Gatwick is not a long term solution and Howard Davies must explain to the people of London how he can possibly envisage that an expansion of Heathrow, which would create unbelievable levels of noise, blight and pollution, is a better idea than a new airport to the east of London that he himself admits is visionary, and which would create the jobs and growth this country needs to remain competitive.

One of the proposals for a third runway at Heathrow

"It remains the only credible solution, any process that fails to include it renders itself pretty much irrelevant, and I'm absolutely certain that it is the option that will eventually be chosen."

Sir Howard Davies, head of the Airports Commission, told Sky News: "This would be a huge leap in the dark and we simply don't think it's a practical scheme."

He added there were "a lot" of reasons to rule the idea out.

Boris Johnson attends a rally against Heathrow expansion

"We think that it is too expensive; we don't believe that a future government would be prepared to spend the public money, between £30bn and £60bn that would be necessary to get even the smaller version of his airport up and running," he said.

"We think that is too risky, the logistical problems of moving an airport 70 miles and of doing so in an environmentally extremely sensitive area are, we think, awe-inspiring and we're not entirely sure in fact it's the right model for London to think of one huge airport in a very diverse market where we think that competing airports produce a better solution."

The Heathrow and Gatwick options had been shortlisted by the commission last year, with Sir Howard announcing that further studies would be made on the estuary plan with a decision towards the end of 2014.

Sir Howard Davies said he didn't think Boris Island was 'practical'

The issue of airports is a thorny one for Mr Johnson, who is trying to become the Conservative candidate for Uxbridge and South Ruislip at the election.

That constituency borders Heathrow and contains many people who depend on it for their livelihood.

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Calls Grow For Ashya To Be Reunited With Family

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg joins mounting calls for Ashya King to be reunited with his jailed parents as Portsmouth City Council calls for a halt to extradition proceedings against them.

Brett King and his wife Naghemeh, from Portsmouth, remain in police custody in Madrid while a Spanish court considers whether to grant a British extradition request.

A hearing will be held at the family court this afternoon.

Ashya, who has a brain tumour, is under police guard at the Materno-Infantil hospital in Malaga, about 330 miles south of the capital.

He has not seen his parents since they were arrested on Saturday after taking Ashya out of Southampton General Hospital to seek specialist cancer treatment abroad.

Ashya's parents arrive at court on Monday

The five-year-old's six siblings are also being prevented from visiting him at the hospital.

Nick Clegg told Sky News it was a "heartbreaking" situation.

"I've got a five-year-old son and the idea of leaving him in a hospital with no contact with parents and siblings fills me, as I imagine it fills all parents, with horror," he said.

"I would like to see the family reunited and then hopefully people can calmly make a decision about what should happen next.

"Throwing the full force of the law at two parents who in a state of despair and anguish are acting they say because that's what they think is best for their child, doesn't seem to me to be the appropriate thing to do."

Meanwhile Portsmouth City Council Leader, Donna Jones, issued a statement calling on the Crown Prosecution Service to review the case.

Naveed King, Ashya's brother

"Like others who have been watching this upsetting case unfolding in the media, I have been moved by the plight of the King family and am most concerned about Ashya. I believe what he needs now is to be with his family," she said.

"That's why I am urging the CPS to urgently review the case involving Ashya King's parents and remove any extradition proceedings, so the family can be reunited with their five-year-old son."

A petition calling for the family to be reunited has been handed in to Downing Street.

It has emerged that Ashya's parents are planning legal action against Southampton General Hospital.

Juan Isidro Fernandez Diaz, the couple's lawyer in Spain, said they are "so sad", adding: "They are going to prepare legal demands against the hospital in Southampton. Legal action will be against the hospital."

A spokesman for the hospital said at the weekend that "our priority has always been Ashya's welfare".

Ashya and Brett King in a video the family posted online

He added: "Throughout Ashya's admission we have had conversations about the treatment options available to him, and we had offered the family access to a second opinion as well as assistance with organising treatment abroad."

Former children's minister Tim Loughton wrote on Twitter that the Crown Prosecution Service should drop the case against the family, called on the police to apologise and for the NHS to fund treatment for Ashya.

Meanwhile, British police officers are understood to have arrived in Spain to question Ashya's parents.

Hampshire Police's Assistant Chief Constable Chris Shead said he was aware the police's approach had led to a "significant amount of debate" but he would rather be criticised for "being proactive" than "potentially having to explain why a child has lost his life".

Simon Hayes, Police and Crime Commissioner for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, said: "Hampshire Constabulary's role, as in many other cases, was to safeguard the interests of a very vulnerable sick young child and find Ashya."

The Crown Prosecution Service said the case was under "immediate review" and a decision on whether to prosecute would be made.

Ashya's grandmother Patricia King has accused the authorities of treating the couple "like murderers".

Patricia King earlier said her son was selling his holiday home in Spain to pay for proton beam therapy, which costs an average of £100,000 per person.

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Rotherham Abuse: 'Complete Dereliction Of Duty'

Rotherham Victim 'Verbally Abused By Police'

Updated: 8:43pm UK, Wednesday 27 August 2014

A victim of the Rotherham child sex abuse scandal has told Sky News she was verbally abused when she sought help from police.

She said the violence she suffered was ignored by authorities because her attacker was Asian and they were worried about causing racial unrest in the South Yorkshire town.

The woman gave a disturbing account of how she was treated by some police officers - claiming they called her a string of derogatory names.

One even said her attacker had every right to abuse her, she said.

Her grooming began when she turned 14 and was introduced to the man through friends in Rotherham.

She said he treated her well to start with and she fell in love with him, but after a few months he became violent.

"The more time we spent together the more he started to change," she said. "He became controlling, violent ... a relationship that was domestic violence."

She said she felt so scared at times she thought about killing herself.

"I had a fear of heights and he did a lot of things to try to scare me through that," she said.

"He once drove us to the edge of a cliff and said he was going to kill us both. He then dragged me out of the car and said he was going to throw me off."

She added: "He once tried to throw me over a balcony, luckily two people kind of stopped him from doing that.

"I had a child with me at the time, that were only a few months, in a pushchair, and he even kicked the pushchair over."

She said during her two years of abuse, the attacks went from once a week to two or three times a week.

His brothers were grooming other young girls, she said, but unlike many child victims in Rotherham she was sexually exploited by one man.

She was 16 when she went to police, but said her complaint was ignored.

Her abuser was even granted immunity from prosecution, she claimed.

"I explained to him (the police officer) what relationship we had and he said: 'Well, what do you expect? I think he's got every right to.'

"My Dad went absolutely mental and told him to get out of the house. The police officer then apologised, and we put a formal complaint into the police about him.

"But just his manner of how he dealt with it - he didn't seem to care about it, he was so unprofessional."

When asked why her abuse was ignored by social workers, police and council bosses, she said: "I think it was because of the fact he was Asian.

"I don't think they wanted to start communities colliding together, and starting confrontation between communities."

She said Rotherham Council chiefs should face action for ignoring the plight of the 1,400 child victims targeted in the town.

"The people that were involved back then ... I think they need hanging," she said.

"I don't know what legal stuff can be done, but I think they all need to be in a courtroom and tell people exactly what they knew.

"I think it should be some kind of criminal offence that 1,400 girls have been allowed to be abused by professionals."

South Yorkshire Police say they have no knowledge of allegations concerning derogatory remarks made against the victim.

A spokesman said the suggestion a deal was struck with her abuser has been fully investigated and no evidence was found to support the claim.

"This case forms a part of Operation Clover looking into a series of child sexual exploitation investigations in Rotherham," he added.

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