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Sunday, 25 September 2011

Arrested man admits to killings on the Costa del Sol

 

An alleged serial killer, who has been operating on the Costa del Sol and who is believed to be responsible for the deaths of two women, has been arrested. The crimes were on August 11 and September 10 in Calahonda and San Pedro de Alcántara, and in both cases the women had Spanish nationality but were of Latin American origin, and both were stabbed. Preliminary reports from the autopsies show certain similarities between the crimes. The 42 year old man, who has been revealed to be a foreigner although his nationality has not been announced, was arrested in Mijas, and the man’s mother and girlfriend have also been arrested to determine their possible implication in the crimes. The arrest took place on Friday night in a gymnasium near the suspect’s home in Urbanisation Riviera del Sol in Mijas Costa, and he was taken for questioning at the Fuengirola Civil Guard Barracks, while the two women were taken for questioning by the police in Marbella. The investigation was carried out jointly by the Guardia Civil and the National Police. They say that they cannot rule out other victims in other parts of Spain or in other countries, and they will continue to investigate over the next few days to try and establish if the suspect has taken part in other killings. On Saturday they said that the arrested man could have committed two more crimes, and believe that the tortures his victims before death. Latest reports indicate that he has admitted to the two crimes on the Costa del Sol.

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Saturday, 24 September 2011

FALKLANDS war veteran went on a lavish £1million spending spree after ripping off two gangsters

 

FALKLANDS war veteran went on a lavish £1million spending spree after ripping off two gangsters. Ex-Royal Navy officer Dean Priestley had been asked by the crooks to drive the used notes across the Channel to Spain. But instead of sticking to the plan the 47-year-old went on the run and set about leading a life of luxury for six months. Advertisement >> Priestley splashed out on holidays, homes, cars, boats and jewellery as he hid from the villains who put out a hit on him. A court heard the furious crooks, known only as Mull and Steve, vowed to spend £5million hunting him down. The extraordinary case emerged as wife Derry, 48, was convicted of conspiracy to launder money. Her husband was jailed for three and a half years earlier this year after pleading guilty to conspiring to convert criminal property. Detective Constable Graham Duncan said: “This is the first case I have come across in 25 years of someone who allegedly stole £1million from criminals and has not given it back. “Dean Priestley was spending money like it was going out of fashion. He has shown a brass neck to the criminals he stole money from and shown no remorse.” Dad-of-two Priestley fled his £900,000 home in a water mill in Bielby, East Yorks, after stealing the cash. He called his wife to say: “I’ve done something really bad. I’m going to have to stay away for a long time.” He opened bank accounts in his privately-educated son’s names before depositing thousands of pounds in stolen cash. Priestley quickly splashed out on a luxury £230,000 Sealine S48 motor cruiser on Lake Windermere to hide from the villains. He also bought a £162,000 stone cottage for son Nathan, a semi-pro rugby player, in Wilsden, Bradford. He blew £20,000 on a Land Rover Defender 90 to drive between Lake District marinas and two £23,000 Audi A3s for cash from showroom dealers. He soon traded in one of the Audis, swapping it for a £32,000 black BMW 630 cabriolet picked out by his wife. At the time, Priestley was also being hunted by the police as he was wanted for extradition to France after being convicted in his absence of cannabis smuggling in his lorry. Wife Derry told Hull crown court she was threatened by two men from Manchester’s underworld to tell them where her husband was. She was told to take his birth and medical certificates to them just before they attacked his two sons with spray paint and an iron bar at their home. She said: “I got very depressed and suicidal. I was very low for a long time. I fled my home.” She remained in contact with her husband by mobile phone and made repeated visits to the Lake District to see him. The court heard Priestley bought a £5,000 diamond and 18 carat gold pendant from a jeweller for his wife’s birthday. He then paid for holidays to Spain, Amsterdam and a £4,000 trip to Australia. He even roped in his nephews, paying them £1,000 for every £10,000 they could put into banks. Mrs Priestley stopped using her Range Rover after finding a tracking device put on it by the Manchester criminals. It was Mrs Priestley’s call to the police saying the gangsters had told her that her husband had stolen £1million which started the investigation. Twice-married Mrs Priestley denied joining him when he ran up credit card bills on shopping trips. Prosecutor Timothy Capstick said her husband’s empire came crashing down when he was arrested by police coming out of a Leeds Hotel. They knew criminals had put a price on his head. The jury took less than 60 minutes to find Derry Priestley guilty. As well as the money laundering charge, she was also convicted of attempting to convert criminal property and converting criminal property. She will be sentenced at a later date. Her luxury home in Bielby, which the family had a mortgage on, has since been repossessed and sold on. Dean Priestley along with sons James, 23, Nathan, 22, and nephews Simon Taylor, 35, and Christopher Taylor, 32, all pleaded guilty to conspiring to convert criminal property before the start of their trial in March. His sons and nephews got suspended prison sentences. Priestley now faces an assets recovery hearing under the Proceeds of Crime Act to seize any criminal cash he has left.

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Friday, 23 September 2011

Spanish jail-house film shows without on-the-run actor

 

A Spanish prison screened a short film made by inmates Friday with one missing ingredient -- a key actor in the jail-house drama is on the run. Inmates spent months making "Guilty", about a murderer haunted by his victim, to show in an annual festival behind bars in Leon, northern Spain, a prison official and media here said. "Among the inmates taking part, there was one in the final stages of his sentence who was allowed out regularly with leave, but who did not come back from one of those leaves," said a prison service spokeswoman. Prisoners completed the film without the missing actor who disappeared at least two months ago, said the spokeswoman for the Secretary General of Penitentiary Institutions. She denied reports he had the leading role. "He may have had some more important scenes but he was not not necessarily the hero." The actor is being sought for breach of a six-year drug-dealing sentence, which had been due for completion in 2012, she said, stressing that he was not considered a danger.

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Owner of marijuana plantation caused Ibiza fire by negligence

 

Spanish man who was arrested for starting the fire which broke out on Ibiza on Sunday night is believed to have started it through negligence while he was caring for his marijuana plantation nearby. Civil Guard sources have told the EFE news agency that the cause is thought to be either a cigarette he was smoking or a fire he had lit to cook food. The suspect had spent the past few days caring for his crop in the area where the blaze broke out. He spent his nights in a home-made shelter and used a nearby cave to dry out his plants. The Civil Guard seized marijuana plants and dried leaves at the site, amounting to almost 6 kilos of the drug. The man now faces additional charges of a public health crime. The fire which began in Cala Llonga and forced hundreds of people to be evacuated in Santa Eulàra des Riu destroyed more than 80 hectares of pines and just under 9 hectares of agricultural crops. The amount of land destroyed is however lower than the original estimate of 115 hectares. The Baleares Nature Institute, Ibanat, gives the amount as 92.3 hectares.

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Ten Britons arrested in new Ibiza raid against drug traffickers

 

The gang dealt in cocaine and designer drugs at the clubs on the island.Britons and an Irishman have been arrested by the Guardia Civil on Ibiza, accused of supplying drugs to discotheques on the island over the summer. The head of the gang was arrested in Manchester where a search of his flat revealed 40,000 pounds sterling and five kilos of cocaine. Information leading to the arrests came from a previous operation carried out at the end of August against other British traffickers on the Baleares, in which there were 13 arrests, nine Britons, three Irish and a Polish man. The Guardia Civil say the groups only operated in the high summer season, and made the use of several homes on the island to store small quantities of drugs which would be distributed within days. The main store of the drugs were hidden in hard to access parts of the countryside more than 5 kms away from any homes. They were protected in plastic bags, sealed with tape and placed in lunchboxes to avoid damp and any deterioration of the drug.

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Detectives suspect possible serial killer in two murders on the Costa del Sol

 

The National Police are working together with the Civil Guard to solve two recent murders on the Málaga coast which La Opinión de Málaga reports officers believe could have been committed by a serial killer. Both victims were women, of a similar age, and were both from South America. They had both taken out Spanish nationality and were both found stabbed to death in properties which were not theirs. The first victim was Susana M.F. from Argentina, whose son found her stabbed to death in a flat in Calahonda, Mijas, on August 11. One month later, on September 10, the body of Maryuru Alice P., a 47 year old woman from Brazil, was discovered in San Pedro de Alcántara, by the owner of the flat where she was found. The autopsy has shown that she died the previous day. Domestic violence has been ruled out in both cases. La Opinión has spoken to detectives who are working on the investigation, who believe the killer could be related to previous murders with a similar modus operandi.

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Wednesday, 21 September 2011

Authorities confirmed Monday were captured Saul Solis Solis, aka El Lince, one of the main leaders of the group of Knights Templar.

 

The action was carried out by the Mexican Army. The Lynx, is a cousin of Henry Plancarte Solis, also leader of the Knights Templar. The Attorney General's Office offered a reward of up to 15 millions of dollars for information leading to his capture. The action was achieved in the town of Mujica, in the municipality of Nueva Italia, Michoacán. In the raid also arrested Mario Alberto Gallardo Rodríguez, alias El Mayo, and a young child.
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Gunmen halt traffic, dump 35 bodies on busy downtown avenue in Gulf coast city in Mexico

 

Suspected drug traffickers dumped 35 bodies at rush hour beneath a busy overpass in the heart of a major Gulf coast city as gunmen pointed weapons at frightened drivers. Mexican authorities said Wednesday they are examining surveillance video for clues to who committed the crime. Horrified motorists grabbed cell phones and sent Twitter messages warning others to avoid the area near the biggest shopping mall in Boca del Rio, part of the metropolitan area of Veracruz city. 11 Comments Weigh InCorrections? inShare ( no / Associated Press ) - Soldiers and police block off an area where 35 bodies lay under an overpass in Veracruz, Mexico, Tuesday Sept. 20, 2011. Masked gunmen blocked traffic on the busy avenue in a Gulf of Mexico coastal city and left the bodies piled in two trucks and on the ground, according to authorities. The scene was a sharp escalation in drug violence in Veracruz state, which sits on an important route for drugs and Central American migrants heading north. The gruesome gesture marked a sharp escalation in cartel violence in Veracruz state, which sits on an important route for drugs and Central American migrants heading north. The Zetas drug cartel has been battling other gangs for control of the state. Prosecutors said it’s too soon to draw conclusions from the surveillance video. “We’re not going to confirm or deny anything,” Veracruz state Attorney General Reynaldo Escobar Perez told the Televisa network Wednesday. “We’re looking at it in different ways, we’re seeing different numbers, that’s why we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves.” Escobar said the bodies were left piled in two trucks and on the ground under the overpass near the statue of the Voladores de Papantla, ritual dancers from Veracruz state. He said some of the victims had their heads covered with black plastic bags and showed signs of torture. Police had identified seven of the victims so far and all had criminal records for murder, drug dealing, kidnapping and extortion and were linked to organized crime, Escobar said. Motorists posted Twitter warnings said the masked gunmen were in military uniforms and were blocking Manuel Avila Camacho Boulevard. “They don’t seem to be soldiers or police,” one tweet read. Another said, “Don’t go through that area, there is danger.” Veracruz is currently hosting a conference of Mexico’s top state and federal prosecutors and judiciary officials. Local media said that 12 of the victims were women and that some of the dead men had been among prisoners who escaped from three Veracruz prisons on Monday, but Escobar denied the escaped convicts were among the dead. At least 32 inmates got away from the three Veracruz prisons. Police recaptured 14 of them. Drug violence has claimed more than 35,000 lives across Mexico since 2006, according to government figures. Others put the number at more than 40,000.

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Tuesday, 20 September 2011

FIVE HUNDRED MARIJUANA PLANTS FOUND BY BOMBERAS

 

Firefighters discovered five hundred marijuana plants on Sunday when they entered a house in Jacarilla to attend a fire. According to sources from the emergency services, the two-storey building was empty when emergency staff arrived at the scene. The Civil Guard is now trying to locate the owner. The marijuana plants were fitted with an irrigation system and lighting for easy cultivation and a spokesman suggested that the flames could have been caused by an electrical short caused by excessive energy consumption. The Bomberas reported that the fire broke out about 2pm on Sundat afternoon and took about an hour to quell the flames and ventilate the building, which had been affected by smoke.

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Spanish custom officers seize cigarette packs

 

SPANISH customs officers in La Linea de la Concepción seized 2,848 packets of cigarettes last weekend, according to press reports. Contraband tobacco was found hidden in three vehicles crossing the border into Spain from Gibraltar. In a fourth case, the bag of a person walking by the Levante area was searched and was found to be carrying 1,000 packets of contraband tobacco.

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Brits arrested for drug trafficking on the Baleares

 

 

The Organised Crime Squad ECO of the Guardia Civil based on Mallorca completed the second part of an operation against drug trafficking on Sunday. The first part of the operation had been started at the end of August. At that time ten Britons were arrested and on Sunday the ECO agents picked up another ten youngsters of the same nationality. Judicial sources say that seven of the ten were sent to prison in Eivissa, on remand, while two were granted bail of 10,000 € and one was released without bail. Reporting restrictions have been imposed in the case. And in a separate case on Saturday the Guardia Civil have arrested a British man in Sant Antoni, Ibiza found to have 300 ecstasy pills hidden in his hotel room. The investigation is being handled by the Judicial Police of the Guardia Civil. We also have more details about a Guardia Civil drugs raid last Wednesday, also in Sant Antoni, when four homes were searched in the second phase of the Rula operation. 5 kilos of cocaine was recovered along with 5,000 ecstasy pills, and ten more arrests were made. Diario Ibiza reports that all those arrested are men, nearly all of them young and also British, although there are some Irish in the group. Judge Carmen Martín in Instruction Court 3 in Ibiza took their statements on Sunday.
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Saturday, 17 September 2011

Mijas Fire NOT arson Bonfire

 

BONFIRE not been properly extinguished near a stream in Entrerrios, Mijas, was the cause of the wildfire which started on Sunday (12th September) night destroying a vast stretch of land. This was the conclusion reached by the regional government’s fire investigation unit, Brigada de Investigacion de Incendios Forestales, on Monday (12th September). Remedios Martel, from the Junta de Andalucia, dismissed rumours suggesting the fire was an act of arson. Five homes were damaged, two of which were completely destroyed by the fire. But witnesses say minor damage has affected several other houses in urbanizations including El Soto de Marbella, Elviria, set in a UNESCO designated nature reserve.   Jan Mansi, former president of Phase 2 at El Soto de Marbella Urbanization described the landscape after the fire as “a skeleton of what it was.” “People mainly come to live in the area for the greenery,” she said. But residents at El Soto should consider themselves very lucky, she said, as the flames spread to just metres from the properties. The blaze affected 6.8 million square metres of in Mijas, Ojen and Marbella – the equivalent of 958 football pitches – according to Infoca, the regional fire department. Around 300 properties were evacuated in these areas but occupants were able to return to their properties on Monday. Twenty five patients at a drug rehabilitation centre in Mijas were also evacuated after the staff were told by Guardia Civil they were at risk due to strong winds, according to Paloma Alonso from the facility. They spent the night at the Las Lagunas sports centre being allowed to return on Monday afternoon. The fire was brought under control at 9am Tuesday, and declared completely extinguished at 10pm. Five hundred people participated in the effort to extinguish the blaze, as well as 11 fire engines, and 22 planes and helicopters. This is the biggest fire in Mijas since 2001 when a car blaze led to a wildfire that affected 700 hectares of land.
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Torremolinos shooter pushed wife off Eiffel Tower

 

THE man, 79, accused of killing another in Torremolinos town centre served time for pushing his wife off the Eiffel Tower in 1963, according to a Spanish daily. He was 31 at the time, she was 28, and they had emigrated to France and were working in a factory on the outskirts of Paris. Although he denied the accusations, he was sentenced to five years in prison. Last week he was arrested for shooting a man of the same age outside the Entreplazas office building in Torremolinos and has since remanded to prison without bail. Apparently some years ago the victim wanted to sell an apartment and spoke to the other man who found him a buyer, although the transaction did not go ahead at the time, but later, in 2006. The shooter asked for commission and although the victim gave him some money, the attacker wanted €12,000, and was sentenced to four years in prison in 2007 for stabbing the buyer. He was released in January 2009 and began to threaten the victim, who reported him to the police last month. When he was caught by police after the shooting he claimed that a bag containing the weapon which he was carrying was not his.

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Friday, 16 September 2011

Exeter crack cocaine and heroin gang jailed

 

Exeter Crown Court was told the LYNC gang boasted of being able to supply drugs in Exeter "all day, every day". The gang used a park at Cowick Barton in the city as its centre of operations. Two men from Greater Manchester - Kevin Newton, 30, and Billy Downing, 22 - were jailed for nine and five-and-a-half years respectively. Three of the gang were from Dawlish in Devon. James Brooks, 32, and 27-year-old John Rowntree were both sentenced to five years, while 22-year-old John Bullock was jailed for 30 months. Cannabis jail supply Lloyd Simpson, 44, from Exeter, was sentenced to six years. James Prince, 22, from Huddersfield was sentenced to 30 months and 28-year-old Anthony McStein, from Liverpool, was jailed for four years. The gang were arrested after being monitored by police between October 2010 and March this year. The eight ringleaders were jailed for a total of nearly 40 years The force said information provided by local residents had been critical in bringing the "highly organised" gang to justice. The drug dealers brought the heroin and crack cocaine into Devon on a regular basis from Manchester. The court heard that not only did the gang boast about its ability to supply drugs, it also sent mobile phone text messages to addicts advertising when new supplies had arrived in the city. Police said the gang's "utter disregard" for local communities and the welfare of the addicts they supplied "beggared belief". Continue reading the main story “ Start Quote We don't want drugs in Exeter” Insp Jacqui Hawley Devon and Cornwall Police The force praised local residents who worked with officers to provide information on the crimes, in order to "reclaim" their local playing fields. "This is the core bedrock of local policing, working with the community, working with our partners in order to resolve an issue," Insp Jacqui Hawley said. "We don't want drugs in Exeter. We want it to be a safe place and in the main it is." A man and a woman were also sentenced at Exeter Crown Court for conspiring to supply cannabis to Brooks while he was on remand at HMP Exeter. His 30-year-old wife, Donna was jailed for six months, while Blair Murray, 29, from Tyne and Wear, was sentenced to 12 months.

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West Malling drugs gang sentenced

 

gang of four drug dealers have been jailed for conspiring to supply illegal drugs across Kent. Brothers Joseph and Samuel King, Craig Provan and Matthew Newin controlled dealing in towns across Kent from a travellers' site in West Malling. Joseph King, 48, was jailed for 18 years and Samuel King, 47, for seven-and-a-half years at Canterbury Crown Court. Provan, 41, was sentenced to six years, and Newin, 26, to eight years. Joseph King, of Lavender Road, West Malling, and Provan, of The Paddock, Highsted Valley, Rodmersham, were found guilty of conspiracy to supply drugs. King was also convicted of possessing firearms with intent and for possession of criminal property. His brother, of Elm Grove, Sittingbourne, and Newin, of Swanstree Avenue, Sittingbourne, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply drugs. Undercover operation During the seven-week trial, the jury had to be given basic lessons in a 16th Century Romany dialect called Rokker, which was used by two of the gang. They were caught after the travellers' site next to Hoath Woods was infiltrated by undercover police officers. Thousands of pounds worth of heroin, cocaine and ecstasy were exchanged during more than a dozen transactions between June and September last year. The court heard the gang controlled street dealing in a number of towns across Kent and had a particular hold in the Canterbury and Sittingbourne areas.

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Thursday, 15 September 2011

Expat fraud suspects arrested in Spanish mountain retreat

 

According to Spanish local media, police estimate that the couple, known as John and Amanda Treagust, may have netted up to £150,000 by advertising bogus Spanish rental properties, complete with pictures, on their website, Costa Blanca Live. Up to 60 holidaymakers, including Britons, French, Portuguese, Italians and Belgians, are alleged to have fallen for the scam and paid upfront for properties that weren't, in reality, available for rent, or had been rented out to multiple people. The pair ran a blog entitled Life on the Costa Blanca, and boasted of growing their business from a "small project" in 2007 to "a busy and bustling company.....with over five thousand properties managed directly by us, meaning you have the peace of mind that should anything go wrong, or should you have any concerns, we are here to help." Amanda Treagust, referred to as the company's commercial director, is described on the blog as "never resting until her clients are settled into that perfect property and are enjoying the Spanish lifestyle she has come to love and adore". The Treagusts were arrested at a small property in the mountains of Mojacar, Almeria, after an eight-month police operation following an initial complaint lodged back in February. Originally from the Chorley area of Lancashire, John Treagust used to run the Last Orders pub in Wallagate, Wigan. On the pub's Facebook page, created by Treagust, he says: "I had three happy years there, now running a property business in Spain." An online forum about the couple's business dates back to March 2009 and has been inundated with 23 pages of comment, containing more than 200 threads. One comment, posted on August 20 this year, read: "13 girls put down a deposit for a hen weekend away in a villa in Los Balcones also and were informed two days before that the villa was double-booked. As it was a special occasion we have to find somewhere else very quickly and pay the additional fees. "We have still not received any money back and are still chasing. We all want to take action and stop others suffering in the same way." Spanish police were unable to comment on the ongoing investigation.

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Wednesday, 14 September 2011

Thief who swallowed diamond is caught on X-ray

 

The theft happened when two British women entered a restaurant in the luxury southern resort of Marbella and one of them left her handbag on the floor by her chair, police said in a statement. "Two well-dressed men came in, one sitting at the bar and the other next to the woman," it said. When the men left, the woman discovered that her handbag, containing 2,000 euros (£1,700) and £400 cash, a mobile phone, a pendant with a diamond worth 12,000 euros (£10,400) and other valuables, had disappeared. Hours later, police stopped a car at a routine checkpoint and found the four occupants had criminal records. Inside the vehicle they also discovered a handbag as well as valuables and cash, which they later identified as belonging to the British woman. All that was missing was the diamond. "During the operation, officers noticed one of the men putting his hand to his mouth," police said. "This gesture and the fact that they had found the pendant without the diamond made the police think he may have swallowed it. "To find the stone, those arrested were taken to a medical center where they underwent X-rays, and the diamond was located inside the stomach of one of them, who admitted swallowing it."

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Tuesday, 13 September 2011

Smuggler Tosses Passengers Off Jet Ski

 

Spanish police say a human smuggler trying to sneak two Moroccans into Spain by crossing the Strait of Gibraltar on a jet ski threw them into the water when detected by coastal authorities and that one drowned. A Civil Guard statement Tuesday said the incident happened Sept. 9 near the Spanish town of Tarifa. The Moroccan driver has been charged with negligent manslaughter. One of the travelers managed to swim ashore after being dumped 500 meters from it, but the other did not survive. Spain is a lure for poor North and sub-Saharan Africans because it is Europe's southern gateway. Every year, thousands try to reach the Spanish mainland or Spain's Canary Islands off the coast of west Africa.

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PORTUGUESE AUTHORITIES SEEK TRIAL OF ALLEGED GIBRALTAR DRUGS DEALERS

 

An ongoing investigation dating back well over a year continues after a local man aged 73 was arrested last week and remanded on Friday on the strength of a European Arrest Warrant. On Thursday officers of the RGP arrested Angel Vella of No. 7 Maidstone House. The warrant issued by the Portuguese authorities is for alleged offences of conspiracy to import 6000 kilos of cannabis resin into Portugal. Vella appeared before the Magistrates Court on Friday where he was remanded in custody until September 19. Vella, who was granted legal aid and is represented by Carl Rammage, did not agree to being surrendered to the Portuguese authorities. In court the Portuguese Government was represented by Crown Counsel Karina Khubchand of the International Division EU International Department of the Government of Gibraltar.

 

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Sunday, 11 September 2011

Three Britons face a total of 27 years in prison for drug trafficking

 

Málaga Prosecutors’ Office has asked for a total of 27 years in prison for three British men who are accused of trafficking in cocaine. The three, who also face a 3.6 million € fine each, were found with some 15 kilos of the drugs, and one of them is also accused of document falsification for being found with fake passports. The value of the drugs intervened has been estimated at 900,000 €. Europa Press reports that the provisional conclusions of the prosecutor reveal that one of the men was caught by the National Police in Alsasua, Navarra ‘when he was transporting 15 packets of the drug in a rucksack, while driving an articulated lorry. The prosecution alleges that the transport had been agreed with the other two Britons, and the three had intended to sell the drugs to a third party. The oral hearing for the case is expected to get underway in Section Nine of the Provincial Court in Málaga on the 14th of this month.

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Spanish police said their criminal assets agency was investigating properties worth millions including a holiday resort in Brazil.

 

Dissident republican crime gangs in Dublin have split and are feuding in ways similar to the bloody factionalising of the remnants of the terror group the Irish National Liberation Amy (INLA) in the late Eighties and Nineties. Since former Real IRA man Liam Kenny, 53, was shot dead at his home in Chapelizod, Dublin, in June a series of serious incidents including several attempted murders have taken place. Kenny, a former Provisional IRA member had been a member of the Real IRA in Dublin but fell out with other members after it split acrimoniously into two factions in the city. Last Wednesday, an associate of Kenny's, Frank Nolan, 49, was shot and seriously injured when a teenager on a bicycle pulled up beside him at Oranmore Road in Ballyfermot and shot him at close range. There had been a pipe bomb attack on Nolan's home in July. Nolan, who served a term of imprisonment for reckless endangerment in an incident in which a man was shot in the thigh in a Ballyfermot pub in 2000, is recovering in hospital. The incident has created more tension and gardai expect there were will be more attacks. The reasons for the attack were not clear but gardai say there had been a public meeting of republicans last weekend and threats had apparently been exchanged afterwards. It is believed that after his row with his former dissident republican associates, Liam Kenny left the Real IRA faction and moved to the group styling itself as the Continuity IRA. This group has now split in two as well, with one group led by a Limerick man in his late fifties but with support in Dublin and which is opposed to another faction also still styling itself with the same name based in Dublin. In traditional republican style, the various groups send coded claims to newspapers making allegations and threats against each other, followed by counter-claims that the initial statements were from "gangsters" or "drug dealers" and not republicans. This is exactly what went on when the INLA went into its finally destructive round of feuding in the late Eighties. All the Dublin dissident groups are aligned in one way or another with the city's drug gangs and gardai are concerned that they are adding an extra dimension to the already violent state of organised crime in the city. The investigation into Kenny's murder has become highly complicated with detectives trying to work out the reasons behind the killing as Kenny was at odds with not only his former dissident associates but also with drug dealers in the west of the city. There was initially suspicion last week that there might be a dissident link to the murder of Thomas McDonagh, 49, a traveller shot dead at his caravan in Ballymun last Saturday night. Gardai have known for some time of tensions between Traveller and settled gangs in north Dublin and believe that Travellers have been selling pipe bombs to both ordinary criminal and dissident republican gangs. However, Mr McDonagh was not involved in these activities and is believed to have been murdered by a Finglas-based gang of settled criminals involved in the drugs trade and in armed robberies including tiger kidnappings. It is believed he had been involved in drug dealing and had a heroin problem and was shot because of an unpaid debt of €15,000. One of the main current concerns among gardai in Dublin is the re-emergence of the gangland figure Freddie Thompson following a fire-bomb attack on his mother's house in the Coombe area. Gardai in the Dublin South Central Division have been on high alert since the attack on the home of Lisa Thompson, who has no involvement in criminal activity, but is believed to have been targeted by her son's rivals. Freddie Thompson had spent most of the previous 15 months in England, returning only for brief visits to Dublin and the gang violence in the south city had reduced. It is believed he was concerned that he would be arrested and extradited to Spain after Spanish police said they had issued a warrant for his arrest and extradition at the time of a series of high- profile raids in May last year on the mainly Irish gang led by Dubliner Christy Kinahan, who has been living in Estepona, Spain. However, the warrant has not been sent to gardai even though they have informed the Spanish authorities of his presence here. Thompson had been staying in Estepona up until shortly before the launching of Europe-wide raids aimed at the organisation, which Spanish, British and Europol police said was headed by Kinahan. There were 78 raids including 45 here, 21 in Spain and 12 in Britain. Some 34 people were arrested and €1m in cash seized. Spanish police said their criminal assets agency was investigating properties worth millions including a holiday resort in Brazil. Thompson was questioned in February 2007 when his associate, Paddy Doyle, 27, from Dublin was shot dead in Estepona but Thompson was not at the scene and it is thought the murder was carried out by Turkish mafia

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Spanish warship rescues French hostage from pirates

 

Troops from a Spanish warship stormed a pirate skiff in the Gulf of Aden Saturday and rescued a French hostage missing from her yacht but found no trace of her husband, the EU anti-piracy mission said. As a helicopter kept watch overhead, naval commandos in a fast launch fired on the skiff to disable its engine. The boat sank, but the hostage was rescued and seven pirates were arrested unharmed, the Spanish defence ministry said. "She was the only hostage on board the skiff. Her husband was not on board," EU naval spokesman Captain Paul Gelly told AFP, confirming the rescued hostage was Evelyne Colombo, wife and crewmate of missing sailor Christian Colombo. "She is safe and sound," he said, explaining that Colombo and the detained pirates are now on board the Spanish ship. A German warship, the FGS Bayern, found the couple's catamaran the Tribal Kat, adrift in waters off Yemen on Thursday. There was no-one on board and the EU Atalanta naval command launched an air and sea search for the attackers. French officials said there were signs of a struggle on board the yacht, which was towed to Djibouti to be studied by agents from the DGSE spy agency. "It was like searching for a needle in a haystack," Gelly said. "Our priority was to search for any vessel that might have been leaving the area and heading for the coast of Somalia." The French frigate Surcouf detected a suspect vessel and on Saturday the Spanish warship SPS Galicia chased it down. The Spanish defence ministry said when the skiff ignored an order to stop, the commander of the Galicia ordered his men to open fire. "At that time, it was discovered that they had a hostage on board, who was a woman," it said. "The amphibious ship proceeded to intercept the pirate vessel. The operation involved a helicopter and naval warfare team, who fired on the engine of the boat, to disable it." Christian Colombo is a former French navy crewman and the couple were experienced sailors who wanted to see the world and were passing through the Gulf of Aden en route for the Indian Ocean and eventually Thailand. "They knew they were taking a risk and everyone advised them not to go," a relative told AFP. One of the couple's daughters, Emilie, posted a message of concern on the blog they were keeping of their high seas adventure. "The last I heard from Christian was around a month ago. He was south of Egypt and heading for Malaysia," said the skipper's friend Gerard Navarin, who once helped him set a catamaran speed record off Toulon. The waters between Yemen and Somalia are notorious for attacks by pirate gangs, and French yachts have been among the vessels seized in the past. A second yacht went missing at around the same time as the Tribal Kat. Somali pirates frequently seize crew from merchant ships and pleasure craft in the dangerous waters off the conflict-ravaged Horn of Africa and have taken millions of dollars in ransom for their release. According to the watchdog Ecoterra, at least 50 vessels and at least 528 hostages are being held by Somali pirates, despite constant patrols by warships from several world powers. A French couple was kidnapped from a yacht in September 2008 as it headed through the Gulf of Aden. A ransom was paid, but French commandos later ambushed the pirates, killed one, captured six more and recovered the cash. In April 2009, another French yacht was seized. This time special forces troops intervened when the boat was still at sea. In the ensuing gunbattle a French bullet accidentally killed the hostage skipper. In addition, a French DGSE agent is thought to have been held hostage by Islamist militants in the Somali capital since July 2009

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Saturday, 10 September 2011

Spanish police have smashed the drug ring that is believed to have supplied Kenley teenager Jodie Nieman with the ecstasy

 

Spanish police have smashed the drug ring that is believed to have supplied Kenley teenager Jodie Nieman with the ecstasy tablet that probably killed her. Mark Adrian Whitley, 39 from Croydon, was among 13 suspected drug dealers arrested by police last Thursday in Ibiza where the 19-year-old died in July. Spanish police confirmed the majority of the pills seized in the raids were Pink Rock Star, the same type believed to have killed Miss Nieman. It is thought the dodgy pills were also responsible for poisoning eight other individuals in Ibiza over the summer. Police said the drug ring was the biggest British group operating on the island and had now been "completely dismantled". Officers from Spain’s Civil Guard, supported by British officers from the Serious Organised Crime Agency, raided eight properties across the party island. As part of Operation Rula, police confiscated £60,500 in various currencies, 4kg of cocaine, 3,600 MDMA pills, 53g of hashish and 300 doses of anabolic steroids. There were also precision scales, mobile phones and other drug-related paraphernalia in the addresses. A Civil Guard spokesman said: "This one of the most active gangs on the island which is the main supplier of cocaine and other designer drugs around the clubs and bars. "Enquiries were carried out on the basis of intelligence obtained by the Guardia Civil after other gangs involved in drugs trafficking on the island were dismantled. "The majority of these gangs were British and took advantage of the influx of young people during the summer. "The gang, which is now dismantled, only travelled to Ibiza in summer to meet the large demand for drugs on the island during this period. "When some of the drugs were running short, other gangs based in the UK would send new batches via different methods." Miss Nieman, a nail technician at Nails To Be Seen in Warlingham, was holidaying with friends when she fell unconscious at the Space nightclub in the Playa d'en Bossa resort on July 13. She died of a suspected heart attack, with friends admitting to Spanish police they had taken ecstasy. But Croydon Coroner’s Court has ordered a second investigation into the cause of Miss Nieman’s sudden death. Miss Nieman’s mother Debbie and her partner Simon Atkar, along with her brother Mark, recently visited the island to see where the teenager had died and to bring her body home. Her funeral was held on August 16 at Croydon Crematorium but her mother discovered Spanish police had removed the girl’s heart for tests. The family have been told it could be six months until results of the tests, which might give a conclusive cause of death, come back.

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Friday, 9 September 2011

Kicking in shop windows. Setting a police car on fire. Clashes with police. Tottenham? Hackney? Brixton? No. Lloret de Mar on the Costa Brava.

 

Kicking in shop windows. Setting a police car on fire. Clashes with police. Tottenham? Hackney? Brixton? No. Lloret de Mar on the Costa Brava. Last month police fired rubber bullets – but not at rioting Spaniards but at drunk foreigners. After two nights of riots that dragged on until the early hours, there were 20 injured, including nine police officers, and 20 arrests. Significantly – in a city of 40,000 with 25 discos, 261 bars and approximately a million tourists a year – all those detained were foreigners. Now, it’s only a small minority of Spanish resorts that have this problem with drunk foreigners and for every Lloret del Mar, there are hundreds of other resorts where peace reigns. But we have to remember that it was the British, after all, who created many of the bars and discos on the Costa Brava, not the Spanish. The exchange rates were low and everything was cheap. Freddy Laker organised cheap flights and Wallace Arnold cheap coach tours. In the late 60s, many hotels, bars, restaurants and nightclub/ discos were British-owned. The intention was to create a Blackpool with sunshine (and chip shops and … pubs). For decades it worked well but then, as in Blackpool, the clients changed. Spain, too, after the death of Franco. The Guardia Civil and local police lost some of their powers. Somehow the Spanish now need to strike a balance between tourism and civic order but the current economic climate makes that increasingly difficult. Binge drinking is definitely frowned upon and discouraged in the UK. But there’s a whole raft of British teenagers who leave what little common sense they have back at the airport and, when they touch down at some Spanish party town, immediately get blind drunk, in the belief they can get away with even more immoral/ anti-social behaviour abroad because ‘out of sight’ means ‘out of mind’. It’s these same people who get drunk on a Saturday night in English city-centres who go to Spain for longer and cheaper drinking hours. Some attribute this anti-social behaviour to a lack of discipline at all stages of a teenager’s development. British parents can’t smack young children, teachers can’t punish those who behave anti-socially and the UK police are tied up with human rights law. So, drunk teenagers believe they can carry on getting away with it. All of which could, unfortunately, go on longer than those DFS sales …

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The alleged killers of a British teenager stabbed to death at a holiday resort in the Costa Brava have been extradited to face justice in Spain.


Andrew Milroy, 15, died of a single knife wound to the chest in the seaside town of Lloret de Mar on July 17.

Police named the suspects only as Remi Romai A. and Jeremy P. - a plumber and a mechanic both aged 21.

Andrew Milroy and two friends had tried to break up a 3.30am brawl between a gang of young French tourists. 

But instead, the youths turned on them in a shopping centre in the resort popular with thousands of British holidaymakers every year, it is alleged.

A nearby hotel security guard called police after being alerted by the boys' friends. 

When ambulance workers arrived, they found Mr Milroy lying in a pool of blood in an alleyway by a clothes shop.

He died after being rushed to Sant Jaume Hospital in the nearby town of Blanes, 25 miles north of Barcelona.

His attackers had fled before emergency services reached the scene.
Spanish police later identified two of the youths from CCTV footage, and then managed to find their names from local hotel bookings.

 

They passed the information on to French police, who swooped on the pair in their home town of L'Isle-d'Abeau, near Lyon, ten days ago.


Tourist spot: Andrew was a resident of Lloret de Mar in Costa Brava, which is popular with holidaymakers

Tourist spot: Andrew was a resident of Lloret de Mar in Costa Brava, which is popular with holidaymakers

Lloret de Mar map


A French judicial source said: ‘The Spanish police were able to identify the three youths through witness statements and video surveillance cameras.

‘Their names were then established from the bookings they had made for accommodation in resort.

‘This information was passed to us and arrests were made.’ 

Lyon prosecutor Jacqueline Dufournet confirmed today: ‘The two young men have been transferred by plane to Spain.

'They are now in the hands of the authorities there and the Spanish legal process will now run its course.' 

Michel Tallent, the lawyer for the mechanic, added: ‘It seems there was a fight on the night in question, but it is not clear who started it.' 

Andrew was born in Spain after his parents Jackie and Andy Milroy emigrated there 26 years ago.

The family run a popular US-style diner called Route 66 in the resort.
Mrs Milroy, originally from Richmond, Surrey, told French daily Le Parisien after learning of the arrests: ‘We are devastated at the loss of our son, but now very relieved at the arrests.  

'Of course my son will not be coming back but at least those responsible have been caught.

'The police have done very well considering how few leads they had to go on.

'I now await their trial and believe they should each go to prison for at least 30 years.'

Mr Milroy's death sparked outrage among locals, who said that children should have been protected from increasingly violent holidaymakers on cheap package tours.




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Thursday, 8 September 2011

Brit was arrested in Sant Antoni, Ibiza

Local police in Sant Antoni, Ibiza, say that a British man has been arrested in connection with counterfeit money.

Named with the initials J.G. he is charged with the crime of falsification of money and was arrested after he tried to use counterfeit notes to pay at a venue in the West End part of the town.

Local traders supplied the police with a description of the man who they finally tracked down. They recovered fake notes worth 1,100 pounds sterling and 1,310 €.

The Briton has been taken to the local police station in Sant Atoni and is expected to appear in court shortly.


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Two Britons arrested on Ibiza on charges of attempted murder

 

The two are accused of stabbing a fellow Briton five times in a drug related argument.Photo EFE Two British men, 30 year old S.D., and 22 year old D.R.S., were arrested by the Guardia Civil in Sant Antoni, Ibiza, on Tuesday afternoon on charges of attempted murder. They are accused of stabbing a 19 year old Briton on Monday afternoon when arguing about a drug-related matter. Initial reports said that the victim was Irish, but he has now been named as Jack McCarthy from Liverpool. One of the five stab wounds punctured the victim’s lung, and a third saw a cut to his cheek. The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office confirmed that it was aware of a British citizen in hospital in Ibiza, and said that they were providing consular assistance. On Tuesday morning the youngster wanted to discharge himself, but the doctors advised the duty Guardia and they have kept him under treatment. A search of the homes of the two arrested men found 30 grams of cocaine and other substances, and an amount of money in cash, allegedly from the sale of drugs.

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Wednesday, 7 September 2011

British man shot in Arona hold-up

 

British man, aged 58, was injured in an armed hold-up of a currency exchange shop in Arona, on the south of Tenerife, on Tuesday morning. It happened on the Paseo de Las Tosqueras in Playa de Las Américas, shortly before 9am. The injured man is named as Dennis in reports, and it’s understood that he works in the store and was shot in the right arm by the gunman. He is now under hospital treatment with an entry and exit wound in his arm from a 22 calibre weapon.

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British couple arrested for holiday rentals scam on the Costa Blanca

 

British couple resident in Mojácar have been arrested by the Civil Guard for an alleged holiday rentals scam which is believed to have brought them profits of more than 150,000 €. Europa Press reports that the pair advertised properties available for short term let on the Costa Blanca which were not in fact available for rent but were occupied by their legitimate owners. The couple, who are named as John Anthony T., aged 41, and 37 year old Amanda Jane T., advertised online on several sites with photographs and descriptions of each of the properties. Their victims, which the Civil Guard said could number more than 60 in the UK, Portugal, France, Italy and Belgium, made the bookings online and were then contacted by email by the property management company. There was however no further contact once the deposit and then the remainder of the cost had been transferred into the couple’s account. Some of those affected then travelled out to the property they had rented in good faith, only to find them occupied by their owners. The Civil Guard investigation began in February after an official complaint was presented by a French woman to officers at the barracks in Pilar de la Horadada. It was followed by other denuncias from other foreign nationals with similar stories

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Irishman stabbed on Ibiza

 

19 year old was attacked by two men, thought to be British, in what is thought to be a drug-related attackArchive Photo EFE A 19 year old Irish man, named as Jack McCarthy, was stabbed four times in the back and once below one of his eyes in an attack on Monday in Sant Antoni, Ibiza. It happened at 4pm in Calle Barcelona, and it’s thought that the man was ambushed by two others, thought to be British. One of the stab wounds perforated a lung, and the victim is now being treated in the Can Misses Hospital. The latest hospital statement says that he is making progress and is stable although serious. Tuesday morning the youngster wanted to discharge himself, but the doctors advised the duty Guardia and they have kept him under treatment. The Sant Antoni local police say that they found small quantities of drugs in the victim’s home, and materials indicating that he was dealing, and they presume the aggression was therefore drug-related.

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Tuesday, 23 August 2011

Second chance’ for drunk drivers rejected by alcohol charities

NEW PROPOSALS TO reduce the penalties for drivers just over the blood alcohol limit have been criticised by alcohol charities.
Under the new measures, motorists caught just above the new limit of 50mg alcohol per 100ml of blood will only face penalty points and a €220 fine – although if they are caught a second time, they will be banned. It will also be a three-tier system where drivers breath-tested between 80mg and 100mg will be fined €400 and banned for six months, while anyone above 100mg faces a 12-month ban, the Irish Independent reports.
Currently, anyone caught even slightly over the limit will have to appear in caught and faces a 12-month ban if convicted. The limit is currently 80mg, but will be reduced to 50mg – or less than a pint of beer – next month in line with several other European countries. It’s understood the reduced penalties are designed to avoid the courts being glutted with drink-drivers after the new limits come into force.
However, Fiona Ryan, director of Alcohol Action Ireland, rejected the new regime. “We know there are no safe levels for drinking and driving,” she told TheJournal.ie. “It is estimated that one in three crash deaths are alcohol-related.
The penalties involved in breaking the law should reflect the gravity of the situation. The message is don’t drink and drive because someone may lose their life as a result – surely the penalties should reflect this fact?
Fionnuala Sheehan, chief executive of alcohol responsibility group MEAS, also urged drivers to avoid drinking anything at all. “Even a small amount of alcohol in your system will seriously affect your ability to drive safely,” she said. “If people plan to drink I would encourage them to designate a driver or to use public transport.”
RSA chief executive Noel Brett has defended the new system, telling the Irish Independent: “We believe that these are proportionate penalties, fairly targeted and we are comfortable with them.”

 

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Saturday, 20 August 2011

Girl's father was 'never fully in favour' of relationship with Turkish teenager

teenage waiter knifed two British women to death in Turkey after one refused to let him marry her 15-year-old daughter.

The obsessed 17-year-old lured the women to a secluded wood where he cut their throats. The girl, Shannon Graham, had been dating Recep Cetin for two years. He was said to be ‘totally infatuated’ and ‘very possessive’. 

Last week her mother Marion, 53, had a blazing row with Cetin, who uses the name Alex.

Suspect: Suspect Recep Celik, left, is accused of killing the mother of his girlfriend Shannon Graham, pictured, in a frenzied attack

Suspect: Suspect Recep Celik, left, is accused of killing the mother of his girlfriend Shannon Graham, pictured, in a frenzied attack

 

Marion Elizabeth Graham in Izmir, Turkey, was allegedly stabbed to death by her daughter's boyfriend
Kathy Dinsmore was allegedly stabbed to death in Turkey over an alleged row about her friend's daughter's boyfriend

Recep Celik is accused of stabbing Marion Graham (left) and Kathy Dinsmore, both 54 and from Northern Ireland 

After he kicked Shannon during an altercation, Miss Graham ‘went ballistic’ and told him never to lay a finger on her daughter again.

The waiter apparently responded by threatening to kill Miss Graham if she came between him and Shannon.

Last night Turkey’s state-run news agency Anatolia said Cetin had confessed to killing Miss Graham and her friend Cathy Dinsmore, also 53, who both came from Newry, County Down, Northern Ireland.

 


     

    Shannon was being cared for by an Irish Embassy official. ‘She is in an absolutely dreadful state but we are doing our best to comfort her,’ a consular source said.

    For several years Miss Graham, Miss Dinsmore and Shannon have been regular visitors to Turkey, where Miss Graham’s family own a holiday home in the popular seaside resort of Kusadasi.

    Shannon and Alex started dating after she and her mother visited the restaurant where he worked.

    Like many naive British girls who find love on holiday in Turkey, she was bowled over by his attention and soon found what started as a holiday romance turned into a marriage proposal. She travelled to see him every school holiday.

    Media reports in Turkey have named Recep Celik as the 17-year-old Turkish suspect said to have carried out the attacks
    Media reports in Turkey have named Recep Celik as the 17-year-old Turkish suspect said to have carried out the attacks

    Media reports in Turkey have named Recep Celik as the 17-year-old Turkish suspect said to have carried out the attacks

    Foreign affairs that ends in tears 

    Pictures of them together show them holding hands and smiling. But yesterday Shannon’s father, Raymond McGuinness, said her mother was terrified Cetin was abusing her. 

    Mr McGuinness, who was flying out to be with his daughter early today, said he was never fully in favour of the relationship.

    ‘There was always something that was not quite right,’ he said.

    An English holidaymaker who became friendly with Shannon and Cetin said the Turkish youth seemed to be ‘very possessive’ and ‘desperate’ to marry Shannon.

    The woman, who asked not to be named, said: ‘He used to write to Shannon on Facebook when she was back in Northern Ireland. If she didn’t message him regularly enough, he would be messaging her asking why.

    Arrest: Eyup Cetin, the father of the 17-year-old murder suspect named by Turkish media as Recep Celik is pictured being led away in handcuffs for questioning, while right, the Turkish youth and Shannon Graham are photographed together
    Accused: Teenager Recep Celik is a suspect in the double killing of the middle-aged women, whose bodies were found in a forest

    Arrest: Eyup Cetin, the father of the 17-year-old murder suspect named by Turkish media as Recep Celik is pictured being led away in handcuffs for questioning, while right, the Turkish youth and Shannon Graham are photographed together

    ‘He was even strange to people like me, just friends. If I passed him in the street without hugging him he’d hold it against me and act strangely for the next few days.’

    On Thursday, Cetin sent Shannon on a boat tour off Kusadasi while he offered to take her mother and Miss Dinsmore on a sightseeing tour of Izmir, 60 miles away.

    They travelled there by taxi. Once in the city, Cetin collected his father’s car and drove the women to a wooded area in Buca, a suburb of Izmir notorious locally as a crime hotspot, where he slashed their throats.

    Shannon raised the alarm yesterday after the two women failed to return from the trip.

    Search: Emergency crews scour the woods where the two women were discovered for evidence after the brutal killings

    Search: Emergency crews scour the woods where the two women were discovered for evidence after the brutal killings

    Frenzied attack: Officials remove the bodies of two women who have were stabbed to death in Turkey.

    Frenzied attack: Officials remove the bodies of two women who have were stabbed to death in Turkey.

    Mrs Graham's home in Newry, Co Down, after she and Kathy Dinsmore were stabbed to death in Turkey

    Mrs Graham's home in Newry, Co Down, after she and Kathy Dinsmore were stabbed to death in Turkey

    It is believed that Mrs Graham had a property in Kusadasi

    It is believed that Mrs Graham had a property in Kusadasi

    Cetin initially denied to police any connection to the women or involvement with their disappearance.

    But after their bloodstained clothes were reportedly found in a bin near his family home, he admitted driving them to the woods and stabbing them on Thursday night. He then led police to the bodies.

    Mr McGuinness said that after the women disappeared, Alex came back to Shannon saying they had all been kidnapped and he had a bad cut on his hand.

    ‘I don’t know what has gone on really. But there has been some sort of kidnap and then this tragedy has taken place and now Alex is in custody,’ he said.

    In Newry, neighbour Brian Hyland said: ‘Marion was an absolutely lovely woman, very quiet and very polite  and absolutely dedicated to her children.

    “Shannon is a lovely girl and is like any teenager really. But she’s very well behaved and polite.’

     

    It is believed that a 17-year-old has confessed to attacking the two middle-aged women in Izmir, Turkey, pictured

    It is believed that a 17-year-old has confessed to attacking the two middle-aged women in Izmir, Turkey, pictured




     

     

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    Turkish youth is expected to be formally charged today with the double murder of two Irish women in western Turkey on Thursday night.


    Marion Graham and Kathy Dinsmore were found stabbed to death in a wooded area off a road near the port city of Izmir.

    The dead women were both 54 years old and from the Newry area of Co Down. Both were travelling on Irish passports.

    The killings followed Ms Graham’s attempts to prevent her daughter Shannon from marrying a 17-year-old youth she had met in the country.

    The youth was detained by police yesterday, and is the only suspect for the double murder. His father and a local taxi driver were also helping police with their inquiries.

    The suspect yesterday appeared at a preliminary hearing in Turkey and charges are expected to follow today.

    Yesterday it emerged the two women had been threatened in recent weeks during a dispute over a proposed wedding between one of their daughters and a Turkish teenager.

    Marion Graham had recently told family members in Ireland that an attempt had been made to assault her 15-year-old daughter in Turkey, and this led to her to put in place arrangements to bring the teenager back home.

    The Department of Foreign Affairs is offering consular assistance to the families of Ms Graham and Kathy Dinsmore, both of whom were found stabbed to death.

    Ms Graham’s daughter was yesterday being cared for by consular staff at the Irish embassy in Ankara. Her father was travelling to Turkey.

    Ms Dinsmore’s brothers, John and George Dinsmore, said – in a statement issued through Newry SDLP councillor Sean O’Hare – that they were “devastated” by the tragic loss of their “beloved sister Kathy while on holiday in Turkey”.

    Both women were killed on Thursday night. Local media reports claimed the women’s throats had been cut, but this could not be confirmed.

    It is understood that Ms Graham was separated but she continued to use a family-owned property in Kusadasi several times a year.

    Her daughter had been staying with her in Kusadasi where she had struck up a relationship with a 17-year-old boy who worked as a waiter. That relationship dated back to at least late last year.

    Reports from Turkey and sources in Dublin yesterday said it appeared that Ms Graham’s daughter and her boyfriend were planning to get married in Turkey.

    Ms Graham and her friend Ms Dinsmore strongly disapproved of the relationship and the wedding plans and were trying to frustrate those plans.

    While details of the killings were still emerging from Turkey yesterday, it appeared Ms Graham’s daughter had gone on a boat trip on Thursday.

    However, when she returned to her mother’s house she could not find her.

    By the time she had gone to the police to report her missing, they were already questioning her boyfriend.

    He had returned to his place of work, reportedly with a cut on his hands, and changed his clothes after claiming he had been on a trip with a friend and the murdered women.

    When this was relayed to the police they began questioning him about the missing women.

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    Wednesday, 3 August 2011

    Community rallies for Montgomery man run over in Spain

    People in Montgomery are rallying around a young man severely injured on the Isle of Ibiza off the coast of Spain.  Rob McLendon was riding a moped, when he was forced into oncoming traffic.  Both Rob and a friend, Zoe Bromberg from Jacksonville, Florida, were run over.  Bromberg died from her injuries.  Friends here at home have launched an effort to help Rob recover.

    "He has cracked vertebrae, he has multiple fractures on his face, his liver, his kidneys are all damaged, he punctured lungs and he's really been in a fight for his life," said Chip Broadfoot, Associate Rector for the Church of the Ascension in Montgomery.

    McLendon grew up in Montgomery, but his career took him to Europe.  His family and close friends have flown to the Isle of Ibiza to be with him.  And those who can't make the trip have shown their support in other ways.  A Facebook page titled Rob's Recovery has more than 700 likes. 

    A CaringBridge site has more than 20,000 visits. They're encouraging people to send Rob cards for his birthday on the 14th.  But they say what's most important for the families, is prayer.

    "If we can accept the fact that we are all connected like this, we can overcome anything," Broadfoot said   "We can show our connectedness by praying in the church, we pray for one another and we can send those prayers abroad."

    The family said that Rob has opened and closed his eyes, and is making expressions.  Thursday is a key day for him, as he faces spinal surgery.

     

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    Monday, 1 August 2011

    Former St Andrews man jailed for killing in Barcelona

    William Madley (47) had admitted hitting Lanarkshire man Derek Cowan over the head with a bottle before strangling him with his bare hands in Barcelona nearly three years ago.

    The father of two confessed to the crime, which occurred in October 2008.

    Lawyers struck a deal where it was agreed Madley, who spent his formative years in Yorkshire, would serve 10 years in prison. He was also ordered to pay £13,000 in compensation to the family of his victim.

    The court in Barcelona heard a row, believed to have been over a failed business venture, had ended in the death of the 46-year-old Larkhall man in his apartment in the Spanish city's fashionable Eixample district.

    It is thought the two Brits had at one time been business partners but had had a disagreement over money and ended the partnership some years before.

    Mr Cowan, who had lived in Spain for seven years and had a Spanish girlfriend, was found lying in a pool of blood in his flat on October 8, 2008.

    His current business partner, concerned that he couldn't contact Mr Cowan, went to his flat where he made the grim discovery.

    Police launched a manhunt for Madley, who went on the run for five weeks and was only found during a routine police check at the city's main railway station in the middle of November.

    Madley is alleged to have said he picked up a bottle and hit Mr Cowan over the head in anger. Mr Cowan then fell to the floor where Madley strangled him.

    Madley admitted he did not know if his former business partner had been dead or alive when he left his apartment home.

    Madley was originally from St Andrews but moved at a young age to Huddersfield where he attended primary and secondary schools and sixth form college.

    He was 25 when he left the west Yorkshire town to join the Royal Navy. He served as a submarine officer aboard a nuclear vessel.

     

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    Tuesday, 26 July 2011

    Holidaymakers and expats on the Costas have been asked to help track down two dangerous British fugitives believed to be on the run in Spain.

    The two men escaped from a prison van during a dramatic ambush as they were transferred to court in Liverpool a week ago.
    Police believe Kirk Bradley, 25 and Anthony Downes, 24, could be hiding out in Spain and have urged holidaymakers and expatriates living on the Costas to look out for them.
    It is thought they may have joined known associate and fellow fugitive Kevin Parle, who appears on a Crimestoppers "most wanted" list and is wanted in connection with two murders in Liverpool.
    The UK's Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) released photographs of the pair in a bid to trace them but warned that they should not be approached.
    "These are dangerous men and it is very important that nobody approaches them," said Frank Francis of SOCA. "We are asking people who think they may have seen them to call Crimestoppers, either in Spain or in the UK.

    "You can do this free, and completely anonymously. Our priority is getting these two back into custody as soon as possible."
    The two wanted men escaped on July 18 as they were transferred from Strangeways prison in Manchester to Liverpool Crown Court where the jury was to consider verdicts following a two-month trial.
    The pair and four others were in the dock accused of conspiracy to possess firearms with intent to endanger life and conspiracy to commit criminal damage with intent to endanger life.
    But as the prison van slowed in rush hour traffic on the outskirts of Manchester city centre, it was rammed by a black Saab and a gang of masked men armed with guns and wielding baseball bats beat the driver and ordered the guard to release the prisoners.
    They sped off in the Saab which was later founded abandoned in Salford, less than a mile from the ambush.
    During the trial the court heard how the pair were involved in a two year "campaign of intimidation and violence" and were linked to a gangland plot in which a grenade was left outside the home of Kenny Dalglish, the Liverpool FC manager.
    In one alleged incident, a man had to have his leg amputated after being blasted in a phone box. In another, a grandmother had her leg blown off after a hand grenade was launched through the window of her home.
    Kirk Trevor Bradley of Dovecot, Liverpool, was described by police as 5'10", of proportionate build, with green eyes and cropped black hair. He has a Liverpool accent.
    Anthony Downes, of Huyton, Liverpool, also known to associates as Fat Tony, is 5'7" with blue eyes and short straight dark hair.

     

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    Terrorist mastermind' accused of plot to kill King of Spain demands legal aid to fight extradition

    terrorist mastermind' accused of plotting to kill the King of Spain and to blow up Madrid airport has applied for British legal aid to fight his extradition. 

    Alleged explosives expert Eneko Gogeaskoetxea Arronategui is accused of planting bombs at a court house, a bull fighting ring and a town centre for terror group ETA between 1996 to 1998.

    But because at the time of the offences the ETA was not classified as a terrorist organisation in the UK, the alleged terrorist can apply for legal aid.


    Accused: Arronategui is suspected to trying to kill Spain's King Juan Carlos

    Arronategui is believed to have fled Spain to come and live in the UK.

    He lived under the alias 'Cyril Macq' and worked as a computer program designer after his alleged two-year reign of terror.

    He was arrested in Cambridge this month on suspicion of being a part of a ETA cell that plotted to kill Spain's King Juan Carlos when he attended the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao on 18 October 1997. 

     

    At Westminster Magistrates' Court the Spanish Authorities served six further warrants on 'Spain's most wanted terror suspect' all related to planting bombs in Spain. 

    Arronategui was previously charged with the botched assassination on King Juan Carlos, being a member of the ETA, possession of ammunition, murdering a police officer and the theft of three vehicles. 

    He is also wanted for the fraud of public documents, after allegedly transferring licence plates. 


    Mr Arronategi is alleged to have been involved in a plot to bomb the Guggenheim museum in Bilbao in October 1997 as Juan Carlos opened it, before fleeing the country

    Appearing for the Spanish Authorities Ben Watson listed a further six terrorism offences Gogeaskoetxea is accused of carrying out for the ETA terrorist arm Katu. 

    From 1996 to 1998 - when he was 'forced to flee the country' - Arronategui is accused of planting bombs next to two civil guard barracks, a Madrid airport, a Basque Court House and a bullfighting ring. 

    Arronategui is accused of planting a bomb in the centre of a Basque town and used a trip wire to set it off, but the lethal explosive was deactivated by police.

    Two of the six bombs exploded causing extensive damage to the back of the court house and another exploded near a Spanish bullfighting ring causing one injury. 

    He used grenades and anti-tank grenades as explosives for his bombs, the court heard. 

    Appearing by video link from Belmarsh prison, where he is on remand, Arronategui spoke only to deny consent to extradition and ask the court for time to speak to his lawyers. 

    Defence barrister Mark Sumers said at the time of the offences the ETA was not classified as a terrorist organisation and he was allowed to apply for legal aid. 

    He said: 'There is a legal issue in that ETA was not classified as a terrorist organisation in this country when the offences were alleged to have taken place.'

    In a previous hearing before Westminster Magistrates' Court acting on behalf of the Spanish Authorities, James Stansfeld said during the attempt, Gogeaskoetxea had been spotted in the museum gardens filling window boxes with ammunition and grenade launchers.

    Mr Stansfeld said: 'The requested person was stopped while he was in the Guggenheim gardens filling garden window boxes with ammunition and grenade launchers.

    'The police officer who stopped them was shot and killed.

    'In order to effect his escape throughout the city he hijacked three cars to evade capture.'

    He will next appear by video link on August 22 at Westminster Magistrate Court before a full review of all the extradition warrants on September 7.

     

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    Spanish police dismantle a money laundering ring Tuesday run by the girlfriend of a Colombian drug lord.


    The police arrested nine suspects, four of which were Colombian, four Spanish, and one Armenian. Authorities claimed that the ring was run by the girlfriend of Luis Augustin Caciendo Velandia, alias "Don Lucho," a convicted Colombian drug lord who is currently serving time in a U.S. prison.

    The arrests marked the culmination of a year-long investigation that discovered a money laundering network of shell companies that received drug money from Colombia, Mexico, and Panama and white-washed the money in Spain.

    The money was used to buy gold jewelry that was then smelted down into ingots and disguised as copper to fool customs inspectors. They also used the money to buy 30 properties across Spain valued at $17 million and 15 luxury cars worth more than $2 million.

    Don Lucho ran a cartel that specialized in money laundering prior to his arrest, and was thought to have laundered $1.5 billion between 2005 and 2009. He was arrested on drug charges and extradited to the U.S. in 2010.

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    Monday, 4 July 2011

    Estibaliz Carranza, a dual Spanish-Mexican citizen accused of dismembering her ex-husband and a former boyfriend in Austria

    Estibaliz Carranza, a dual Spanish-Mexican citizen accused of dismembering her ex-husband and a former boyfriend in Austria, is asking her current boyfriend not to abandon her and to take custody of the baby she is carrying, the Austrian press reported on Thursday.
    Carranza sent several letters from prison to her 47-year-old boyfriend, identified only as Roland R., asking for his help, the weekly News said.
    "Please, don't abandon me; don't think that I'm a monster; please think of our child, who I am carrying under my heart," the accused double-murderer said in a letter published by the magazine along with an interview with her boyfriend.
    Carranza, who is nine weeks' pregnant and awaiting trial in Vienna, assures her boyfriend that the killings were committed by "a disease" and not by her.
    The woman had been undergoing psychological treatment and took medications for insomnia and panic attacks, Roland R., an Austrian who knew both victims, told the magazine.
    There was nothing unusual, however, about Carranza, who was "the best person in the universe," Roland R. said, adding that he had found "complete happiness" with her and wanted to get married after learning she was pregnant.
    "I am out of sorts, I don't know what to think or what I feel," Roland R. told News.
    The letters are "small explanations for the fathomless," the man said, adding that his world came crashing down when he heard that "Esti," as he refers to his girlfriend, had murdered two men.
    The 32-year-old Carranza revealed in her letters that she planned to write an autobiography with a happy ending, enjoying a good family life in a few years once they found a doctor who knew "what's inside my head" so she could gain her freedom little by little.
    Carranza is suspected of having killed her German husband in 2008 and her Austrian ex-boyfriend last November.
    The victims' bodies, which were dismembered, packed in plastic bags and covered with concrete, were found by construction workers on June 6 in the basement of the Vienna building where Carranza, who was born in Mexico, ran an ice cream shop.

     

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    Wednesday, 8 June 2011

    Lisette Lee, the Beverly Hills woman who used her family's private jet to smuggle 7,000 pounds of weed to the non-medical state of Ohio pleaded for sentencing leniency this week

    Lisette Lee, the Beverly Hills woman who used her family's private jet to smuggle 7,000 pounds of weed to the non-medical state of Ohio pleaded for sentencing leniency this week, saying in a letter to a federal judge that she is ...

    ... shocked and appalled at the devastation caused by drug usage, and cannot even begin to express how sick I feel inside for even having danced around the fringes of this world, ignorant as to its relentless destruction.
    We're going to guess the judge might not be enamored with the wording "danced around the fringes." Smoking a joint is dancing around the fringes. Being friends with Charlie Sheen is dancing around the fringes. Going to a Cypress Hill concert is dancing around the fringes.



    Flying $3 million worth of chronic is being a core part of "this world." Just sayin.'

    Lee could face 10 years to life for the smuggling operation, and she has already served about one.

    That time, she says, has opened her eyes to the "ruined victims of drugs."

    Her attorneys argue that the time she's already served is enough, especially in light of the fact that marijuana is quasi-legal in Lee's home state of California.

    They also allege that co-defendant David Garrett enlisted her in the smuggling scheme "because of her naivety and her access to her family's private jet," according to Associated Press' take.

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    Monday, 30 May 2011

    Sex gang offered buy 10 get 1 free loyalty card

    PROSTITUTION ‘pimping’ gang which offered sex loyalty cards to customers was dismantled in Barcelona, police said. With the card, regular customers would get free sex after paying for ten ‘sexual encounters’. Twelve alleged members of the gang have been arrested.

    When the women arrived in Spain, their documentation was taken by the gang who then forced them to work as prostitutes, handing the takings over to them.

    The network provided a 24 hour service where Chinese women were forced to have sex with customers at five apartments in several neighbourhoods of the city.

    The highly organised gang advertised its services on the internet and in the local press.

    Meanwhile, 15 Romanians were arrested by La Linea National Police for allegedly forcing women into prostitution in Campo de Gibraltar (Cadiz). It is thought they also operated in Malaga Province and northern Spain.

     

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    man has been arrested by the National Police in Torremolinos in connection with the stabbing of another man on May 17th



    It is understood from the reports a 32 year old British man was discovered by a passer by at a bus stop with a deep stab wound

    It is reported that a 48 year old British man, named with the initials P.D who works at a local bar where the victim drank was arrested within 10 hours of the attack

    According to the reports it is understood that the man allegedly stabbed the other man after accusing him of having an affair with his wife

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    32 year old Spanish man was admitted to the Carlos Haya Hospital after receiving two gunshots to the hand and right shoulder.


    It is understood that the man was shot outside his home in an apartment block in the of Trinidad neighborhood of the city by two men who hid their faces with motorcycle helmets.

    It is reported the two men knocked on the victims door and shot the man without warning as he opened it

    The two men then fled the scene

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    Thursday, 19 May 2011

    Civil Guard seizes 250 kilos of hashish at the Ceuta port after inspection of 4 vehicles

    - A Catalan, two Moroccans living in France and two young Belgians, to court accused of separate crimes against public health

    - The estimated market value of the narcotic which had intervened touched the 400,000 euros

     

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    Clashes over jail conditions shake Moroccan prison

    Clashes between security forces and prisoners from the radical Salafist branch of Islam on Tuesday rocked a jail in Sale, close to the Moroccan capital Rabat, officials said.
    "The situation was brought under control at the end of the morning. One policeman was wounded and taken to hospital. His life is not in danger. About 34 Salafists surrendered at the end of the morning," a security official told AFP.
    Security forces intervened on Monday afternoon to break up a rally by Salafist prisoners who sought to protest about their conditions of detention and clashes broke out. The fighting went on overnight, but authorities said Tuesday that the situation "seems to have calmed down".
    "Tear gas grenades and rubber bullets were used this morning by police forces who confronted the detainees inside the prison and even on the roof," a witness said.
    "There is a climate of total anarchy in this prison, which houses more than 200 Salafist detainees," according to Abderrahim Mouhtad, the head of the Annassir association, which defends Salafist prisoners' rights.
    "Clearly the prison administration intends to take back control of the situation and adopt firmer tactics than before," Mouhtad told AFP.
    "These detainees sequestered prison warders yesterday and today. They took on the security forces with stones and the clashes were unusually violent," said a senior official in the ministry of the interior.
    According to a family member of one prisoner, "the prison authorities wanted to lay their hands on a detainee suspected of having recently broadcast a video on YouTube in which you see the Salafist prisoners protest, inside the prison, about their detention conditions."
    Citing eyewitnesses, the MAP official news agency said on Monday that the security forces "intervened to establish order", and added that "eight members of the security forces and prison warders were slightly wounded during the course of this intervention".

     

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    Wednesday, 4 May 2011

    Spanish court has sentenced two Somali pirates to 439 years in jail each for their role in the hijacking of a tuna fishing boat.

     Spanish court has sentenced two Somali pirates to 439 years in jail each for their role in the hijacking of a tuna fishing boat.

    The two men have been detained in a Madrid jail since they were caught after the attack in late 2009.

    The court said government-linked bodies had paid to have the vessel freed, but the government has insisted it does not pay ransoms.

    The vessel and 36 crew members were held off Somalia for 47 days.

    The Somalis were found guilty of 36 counts of illegal detention and robbery with violence, but absolved of charges of terrorism, membership in an organised crime group and torture.

    Maximum sentence

    The National Court identified them as Cabdiweli Cabdullahi and Raageggesey Hassan Aji, according to the Associated Press.

    Under Spanish law, they will serve only a maximum of 30 years in jail, regardless of the sentence.

    They were also ordered to pay 100,000 euros to each person detained.

    During the trial, the suspects said they had been fishing and were themselves seized by the pirates who later hijacked the vessel.

    The court said "public organisations linked to the Spanish government" had paid for the release of the crew.

    Spain's Foreign Minister Trinidad Jimenez said the government did not pay ransoms.

    Piracy is a highly lucrative trade in Somalia, where gangs can often demand millions of dollars in ransoms.

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