Outcry As Girl Called 'Sex Predator' By Judge

A paedophile who had sex with a 13-year-old girl faces having his sentence reviewed after a judge described the young victim as "predatory" and then let him walk free from court.

The Attorney General's office has launched an investigation after being alerted to the case by a string of emails and phone calls.

It will now decide whether it should ask the Court of Appeal to consider if the eight-month suspended sentence given to Neil Wilson, 41, was unduly lenient.

Meanwhile the Crown Prosecution Service has said the prosecutor in the case used "inappropriate" language when he also called the girl "predatory".

The CPS said: "The transgressor in this case was the defendant and he bears responsibility for his criminal acts."

Judge Nigel Peters said at Snaresbrook Crown Court, in east London, that he had taken into account that the girl looked and behaved "a little bit older" than she was.

The 13-year-old had been "egging on" her abuser, the judge said on Monday, and she was reportedly described by prosecutor Robert Colover as being "sexually experienced".

Wilson, now living in York, had watched the girl strip out of her school uniform at his home in Romford, Essex, before she performed a sex act on him. He admitted two counts of making extreme pornographic images and one count of sexual activity with a child.

Judge Peters told Wilson: "Allowing her to visit your home is something we have to clamp down on and in normal circumstances that would mean a significant term in prison.

"On these facts, the girl was predatory and was egging you on.

"That is no defence when dealing with children but I am prepared to impose a suspension."

After the sentencing, a woman who campaigns on behalf of sex abuse victims launched an online petition calling for a review, which has so far been signed by more than 4,000 people.

She wrote on the Change.org website: "I'm a survivor of childhood sexual abuse.

"I could have been that 13-year-old girl who the judge and prosecutor described as 'predatory'.

"I have seen first-hand how this kind of victim blaming prevents women from coming forward and protects men who commit these crimes."

Children's charity Barnardo's insisted it was wrong to suggest children could be complicit in their own abuse.

A spokeswoman said: "It is plain wrong to imply in any way that the experiences of sexually exploited children are something they bring on themselves."

The Attorney General said a decision on whether the case is referred to the Court of Appeal will be made within 28 days.

12.27 | 0 komentar | Read More

Hannah Smith: Sister Targeted By 'Trolls'

The sister of a "cyberbullying" victim is now being targeted herself by online "trolls".

Hannah Smith, 14, from Lutterworth, Leicestershire, killed herself on Friday after being bullied on website ask.fm, her father Dave said.

Her older sister Jo, 16, has told how she is now being subjected to the same hateful taunts her sister was as they prepare for her funeral.

"I've just lost my sister and now I've got to deal with getting abuse myself," she told the Daily Mirror.

"These trolls don't care what happened to Hannah or what we're going through, they just live in their sad little worlds.

"It's really upsetting. I'm struggling to cope with what's happened and don't need these trolls hounding me."

Jo described her sister as "a beautiful person and so full of life and love".

Mr Smith said the schoolgirl was found dead in her bedroom by Jo.

Hannah had got messages telling her to kill herself. Pic: RIP Hannah Smith

In a statement website ask.fm said: "We have reached out to the Leicestershire Police and would be happy to cooperate with their investigation into the true circumstances of her suicide.

"Hannah Smith's death is a true tragedy. We would like to convey our deepest condolences to her family and friends."

It said it actively "encourages users and their parents to report any incidences of bullying", either by using the in-site reporting button, or via the website's contact page.

"All reports are read by our team of moderators to ensure that genuine concerns are heard and acted upon immediately - and we always remove content reported to us that violates our Terms of Service," the statement added.

Hannah's father Dave has called on Prime Minister David Cameron to ensure social media sites are properly regulated.

He said: "Websites like this are bullying websites because people can be anonymous. If I had not spoken up about this another teenager could be dead next week.

"I would appeal to David Cameron as a Prime Minister and a father to look at this to make sure these sites are properly regulated so bullying of vulnerable people like my daughter cannot take place ... "

The site, which is popular with teenagers, allows users to anonymously post comments or questions on another person's profile.

Hannah and her best friend Georgia Clarke (R)

In the weeks leading up to her death, Hannah received messages criticising her appearance and telling her to kill herself.

The day before she took her own life, she posted a picture online which read: "You think you want to die, but in reality you just want to be saved."

Her best friend Georgia Clarke, 14, told Sky News about the abuse Hannah suffered.

She said: "I knew of it, but she never ... she always said it didn't matter ... she wasn't that bothered about it," she said.

Asked what people were saying, she replied: "Things about her family ... like what she looks like."

:: Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 08457 90 90 90 or email jo@samaritans.org.

:: BeatBullying.org is also available for advice and support.

12.27 | 0 komentar | Read More

Owners Of Killer Dogs May Face Life In Prison

The owners of killer dogs could face life in prison - an increase from the current maximum of two years - under new sentencing proposals.

Higher sentences for owners who allow their dogs to attack members of the public have been put out by the Government for consultation.

For owners whose dogs kill their victims, life imprisonment is an option, while 10 years is the maximum term suggested for injuring a person or killing an assistance dog, like a guide dog for the blind.

Some 16 people have been killed by dangerous dogs since 2005, including 14-year-old Jade Anderson who was savaged by four dogs as she was visiting the home of a friend near Wigan in March.

Animal welfare minister Lord de Mauley said: "Dog attacks are terrifying and we need harsh penalties to punish those who allow their dog to injure people while out of control."

In February, the Government said it would introduce new measures to tackle out-of-control dogs by changing the law to ensure owners can be prosecuted regardless of where their dog attacks.

Jade Anderson was savaged by four dogs at a house near Wigan

The new consultation will run to September 1 and will be used to inform recommendations put forward in the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Bill.

The Communication Workers Union (CWU), which represents postmen and women and telecoms engineers, who suffer around 5,000 dog attacks each year, welcomed the consultation.

CWU general secretary Billy Hayes said: "Current sentencing arrangements do not match the serious nature of offences.

"Sixteen people have been killed since 2005 by dogs, yet the maximum prison sentence is just two years.

"Only one person has ever been imprisoned for a dog attack on a postal worker and as the fatality rate from dog attacks grows, sentencing must get tougher."

Last month, Jade Anderson's parents, along with the parents of four-year-old John Paul Massey, who died after his uncle's pitbull attacked him in 2009, handed in a petition at 10 Downing Street calling for David Cameron to take action to prevent more attacks.

They called for preventative measures and education to put a stop to the 210,000 attacks and 6,000 hospital visits caused by dangerous dogs each year.

12.27 | 0 komentar | Read More

Python Attack: Snake Kills Two Sleeping Boys

A python that escaped from a pet store has killed two children by strangling them in their sleep in eastern Canada.

The two boys - named locally as Noah Barthe, 5, and Connor Barthe, 7 - were having a sleepover at their best friend's flat in the town of Campbellton when they were attacked by the snake.

The animal had escaped from the Reptile Ocean pet store run by family friend Jean-Claude Savoie, located on the ground floor of the building.

Police outside the exotic pet store in Campbellton (Pic: CBC News)

The store specialises in exotic pets.

Police said the African rock python entered the upstairs apartment via the two-storey building's ventilation system.

The boys were sleeping in the living room when they were attacked by the snake early on Monday morning.

"The preliminary investigation has led police to believe that a large exotic snake had escaped its enclosure at the store," the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said in a statement.

Connor Barthe (L) and Noah Barthe (Pic: Facebook / Mandy Trecartin)

"(It) got into the ventilation system, then into the upstairs apartment. It's believed the two boys were strangled by the snake."

The boys' mother, Mandy Trecartin, lives close to the Reptile Ocean store.

Mr Savoie told Global News that he found a "horrific scene" when he checked on the boys about 6am.

A Burmese python in its cage at a zoo in Florida (Pic: File)

"I thought they were sleeping and I've seen the hole in the ceiling, (and) everything has fallen. I turn the lights on and I've seen this horrific scene," Mr Savoie said.

"I have so many mixed emotions right now. I can't believe this is real."

The python has been recaptured.

12.27 | 0 komentar | Read More

Zero-Hours Contracts 'For One Million Britons'

By Liz Lane, Sky News Reporter

Research suggests many more people may be on zero-hours contracts than was previously thought.

The agreements mean that employees are expected to be on call, but are not guaranteed any work from one week to the next.

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) estimates there could be one million UK workers on such contracts.

This contrasts with Office for National Statistics figures which suggest only 250,000 were on such contracts at the end of last year.

CIPD surveyed 1,000 employers and found one in five use zero-hours contracts for at least one member of staff.

Business Secretary Vince Cable has ordered a review into the practice

Firms in the voluntary and public sectors, as well as the hotel, leisure and catering industries, are more likely to use them.

CIPD chief executive Peter Cheese said: "Zero-hours contracts are a hot topic and our research suggests they are being used more commonly than the ONS figures would imply.

"However, the assumption that all zero-hours contracts are bad and the suggestion from some quarters that they should be banned should be questioned."

The Unite union says the government must stop the growth of the zero-hours culture, as these contracts are "the latest attack on workers' rights and dignity".

Business Secretary Vince Cable has announced his staff are going to investigate how they are being used.

"Whilst it's important our workforce remains flexible, it is equally important that it is treated fairly," Mr Cable said.

"This is why I have asked my officials to undertake some work over the summer to better understand how this type of contract is working in practice today."

Separate research among zero-hours contract workers revealed only 14% said their employer failed to give them enough hours to have a basic standard of living.

Sarah Wicks, from Liverpool, used to work as a security guard on a zero hours contract, but sometimes worked 72 hours a week.

But she said that the large number of hours did not equate to job security.

"There wasn't much expectation that your job was ever going to get any better, or that you had any recourse to the employer for anything," Ms Wicks said.

12.27 | 0 komentar | Read More

Bronx Shooting: Teenager Shot By New York Cops

A 14-year-old boy has been shot dead by police in the Bronx after the teenager refused to drop his gun and pointed it at officers.

Shaaliver Douse died of a single gunshot wound to his jaw after the confrontation, the New York Police Department said.

Two officers with the NYPD were on foot patrol when they heard gunfire at around 3am on Sunday.

The officers responded to the scene and found the boy with a 9mm handgun firing at a fleeing man.

The officers identified themselves as police and ordered him to drop his weapon.

Police recovered this bloody 9mm handgun from the scene (Pic: NYPD)

When he pointed his gun at them, one of the officers shot him, police said.

The teenager was pronounced dead at the scene.

The two officers had joined the department in January, according to police sources.

Douse had been in trouble with the law before, the NYPD said.

He was charged in May with attempted murder after a 15-year-old boy was shot in a Bronx neighbourhood where Douse lived.

That shooting took place two miles from where Douse was himself shot dead.

12.27 | 0 komentar | Read More

Homeless: More Young People Sleeping Rough

As statistics show more young people are becoming homeless in the UK, a new play questions why more is not being done to help those forced onto the streets.

Government figures show the number of people sleeping rough in England has increased by a third since 2010.

In London alone, 6,437 people slept rough during 2012-13, a 62% rise in two years.

Campaigners say there is a risk this trend could continue, given youth unemployment, the economic downturn and the pressures on low income families, combined with changes within welfare reform, reduction of public services and the general squeezing of housing supply and affordability of accommodation.

The official figures do not account for the hidden homeless.

Three months after his 18th birthday, Leo was forced to sofa surf for nine months until he received help from Centre Point.

He told Sky News: "I feel lonely and like I don't really have a voice. I'm not really accountable for anything despite going to college. I don't feel like a real person."

Director Nadia Fall's new play opens at the National Theatre in London

Ministers insist they are taking homelessness seriously and have pledged £400m to councils to tackle the issue.

Communities minister Don Foster said: "We have one of the strongest safety nets across the world. If you look, for example, at rough sleeping in London, out of the 6,000 people in the last 12 months only 14 of those were under 18."

After spending 18 months speaking to young people at an east London hostel, director Nadia Fall has used their words for the basis of a new play called Home, which opens at The National Theatre this week.

"There is seriously a whole generation that will not understand what it means to call your home in the way that we do -  somewhere of your own, either to have, own or to even to rent," she said.

12.27 | 0 komentar | Read More

Childcare Scheme To Help Working Parents

Families where both parents are in work could soon be offered tax-payer funded help with child care.

The Government is to announce a formal consultation on the introduction of a £1bn scheme, set to be introduced in 2015.

It is proposed that the online vouchers will be worth up to £1,200 pounds per child, according to the Sunday Telegraph.

For every 80p families pay in, the Government will put in 20p up to an annual limit for each child of £1,200.

The support will benefit around 2.5 million households.

And even families with a combined income of up to £300,000 will be able to get the payments.

The issue of childcare has proven tricky for the coalition

However, about 1.2 million stay-at-home parents - mostly mothers - will not be eligible for the help.

The scheme will be introduced for children under five by 2015 and extended to cover all those under 12 by 2020, under current plans.

Lower-income families where both parents work will get extra payments that will cover up to 85%of their child care costs, compared with the current 70%.

The Treasury will invite comments on the plans on Monday.

12.27 | 0 komentar | Read More

Daniel Pelka: MP Slams School For Failure

Teachers and social service staff "badly let down" an abused boy who was then murdered by his mum and stepfather and should consider quitting their positions, a local MP has demanded.

Daniel Pelka, four, was subjected to a horrifying catalogue of assaults and callous abuse at the hands of Magdelena Luczak and Mariusz Krezolek who were convicted of his murder on Wednesday.

MP for Coventry North West Geoffery Robinson said the case was "horrifyingly reminiscent" of the Baby Peter case in 2007, when Haringey child protection services failed to prevent the death of toddler Peter Connolly.

Daniel's mother Magda Luczak and stepfather Mariusz Krezolek

Mr Robinson has called for the immediate resignation of the city's Director of Children's Services, Colin Green - who intends to step down in September - and said those serving under him should also consider their positions.

"Where were these individuals when Daniel needed them most?" he asked. "Bureaucracy triumphed over common sense, care, and compassion. 

"Those who failed Daniel must examine their own consciences, and conclude whether it is appropriate for them to remain in their posts".

Daniel died of a head injury in March 2012 after suffering months of cruelty and violence which turned him from "a beautiful little boy to a bag of bones", according to police.

Mr Robinson and Daniel's father both criticised Children's Services

He was imprisoned in a room with the door handles removed, fed salt when he asked for a drink, deprived of food, and forced to defecate in his bed.

Mr Robinson expressed anger at Daniel's school which failed to act upon warning signs that suggested he was being abused.

"Daniel was let down," he said. "He was let down badly, by an evil stepfather, an indifferent and selfish mother, but also by the Children's Services in Coventry and by the school that he attended.

"How can the staff at his school have failed to have recognised patterns of behaviour that should have set alarm bells ringing, not only within the school but within the corridors of power within the council?

Daniel runs after his mum as she picks him up from school

"How could anyone believe it to be normal for a child to climb on the top of furniture to get to food; to scavenge around bins to access waste; and to steal food from the lunch-boxes? 

"What human being, with the slightest understanding of children, would not have been concerned enough to take action to set alarm bells ringing?"

Daniel's biological father, who moved back to Poland when the boy was one year old, echoed Mr Robinson and questioned why "nobody reacted in time" to ask why Daniel was so hungry.

"If people in school saw that he was taking a food from bins, they should do something," he said. "Go to Magda, or to Mariusz, and ask why the child is hungry.

"They should send the police or social services to check the situation at home; check what they were doing with the child.

"As far as I know they did just nothing. Of course they failed Daniel. Nobody reacted in time. I am not saying they are guilty, but I know they made a mistake".

Luczak and Krezolek will be sentenced on Friday.

12.28 | 0 komentar | Read More

Daniel Pelka: Magda Was 'A Very Good Girl'

By Katie Stallard, Sky News Correspondent, In Lodz

The mother of convicted murderer Magdalena Luczak has spoken of her shock and deep pain at Wednesday's verdict.

Speaking exclusively to Sky News at her home in Lodz, Poland, Jolanta Luczak said her daughter had sobbed down the phone as she told her that Daniel had died last year, and that she could barely comprehend she had been convicted of his murder.

Ms Luczak: 'I wanted her to return to Poland with the children'

Clutching a framed photo of Magdalena, at times visibly shaking with emotion, she said: "It is just shock, shock, shock. You cannot imagine how big the pain is, how big a tragedy this is.

"You have to experience this to understand how cruel is this feeling."

The mother said she had lost her grandson, her daughter, and also her husband, Magdalena's father, who died earlier this year after a heart attack, which she believes was caused by the stress of the trial.

"Do you know how strong this pain is? It is a pain that you just cannot cure, it is so hard to stand."

She said Magdalena called her several months before Daniel died to say she was in trouble.

"I remember she called me, she was crying, she said she had a hard life, she did not want to be with this man anymore.

"I told her to come back, pack up and come back to Poland. I wanted her to make a decision and return with the children to Poland, but she told me that Daniel had no documents, no passport.

Ms Luczak (L) told Sky's Katie Stallard she asked Magda to return to Poland

"I told her that there would be a way, to bring the child back to Poland. But then I didn't hear from her. He did not allow her contact with the family."

She said her daughter called again after Daniel died, but she could barely speak as she tried to explain what had happened.

"Magdalena just told me 'Daniel is dead' nothing more, because she was crying so much. And then the police came and arrested her. 

"I just remember she was crying, you know, this is a very big tragedy, we all were shocked. I went home and found my husband crying so badly, really badly."

As a young girl, she said Magdalena was a 'good girl' - a normal girl who grew up in a normal home.

Magda and Krezolek arrived in the UK from Poland in 2006

"She was a very good girl. Good to her brother when he was a tiny boy, good to everyone. Completely normal. Normal child, good person. She was not troubled.

"I do not agree with the judgment, for sure. I think the UK is very much at fault. For the whole matter. Social services should work properly there, but they have failed, they have done nothing.

"She was a normal girl, who grew up in a normal home. Not with any problems. She was a normal child as long as she lived in Poland."

"I do not know by who she was influenced, I do not know with what kind of man she met, what she did, what she was thinking. But please, tell the judge that really she was a normal girl and that the social services should also be held responsible. Because they also failed the test.

Daniel was tormented, starved and abused before being murdered by the pair

"It is very painful, very painful. If she was not with this man, if the relevant social services departments had done their job , there would not have been this tragedy.

"I do not know what he was giving her; drugs or alcohol, I just don't know what happened."

Mrs Luczak now fears she will never see her daughter again.

"I do not know how she will stand the prison sentence. I do not even know what kind of sentence they will give.

"Please, let me know will I ever live to see her? Talk to her, ask her why?

"Why that happened? Why she went to the jail? Why there is no child?"

12.28 | 0 komentar | Read More